Sister Sheila Lyne left Chicago a better city
Upon reading of the death of former Chicago Public Health Commissioner Sheila Lyne, we were reminded of what a true public health hero she was. Sister Lyne was credited with dramatically increasing funding for AIDS, and she will be remembered for much more than that. During her nine years running the Chicago Department
of Public Health:
◆ She established the department’s first epidemiology office to better use data to drive public health decision-making.
◆ She was taken into custody for defying a court order to conduct lead poisoning testing on older students who were not viewed as high risk. She refused to waste public health resources, and upon intervention from the Illinois Supreme Court she was released.
◆ She built a day care center at the Robert Taylor Homes to remove access barriers to the Grand Boulevard Clinic.
◆ She successfully pushed for the passage of the Managed Care Consumer Protection
Ordinance, and she established the nation’s first municipal effort to monitor the managed care industry.
◆ She released one of the nation’s most comprehensive violence-prevention strategic plans.
◆ She established the department’s first Office of Lesbian and Gay Health, recognizing that the LGBT community should not be defined by AIDS.
Chicago is better for having had the leadership of Sheila Lyne. As we are now in the midst of another public health crisis, we should take comfort in knowing we still have strong leadership at the Health Department. Erica Salem and Patrick Lenihan, Lake View
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