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Bridget Gainer Offers Sneak Peek At 2012 Uptown Health Assessment

By Adeshina Emmanuel | February 22, 2013 9:50am
 Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer.
Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer.
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Facebook/Bridget Gainer

UPTOWN — Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer gave DNAinfo.com Chicago a sneak peek at preliminary findings from her office's 2012 Health Needs Assessment of Uptown.

The report will be released by mid-April, Gainer said. Chief of staff Katie Sabo said the 10th District is only halfway to its goal of surveying and interviewing 500 community members and 75 social service agencies and health providers.

But Sabo and Gainer offered insight into some of their findings to date.

The top five health problems in Uptown

1. Depression

2. Back pain

3. Dental problems

4. High blood pressure

5. Mental health

Uptown residents' top five hurdles to receiving adequate health care

1. Inability to pay for services and medications

2. Long waiting times for services

3. Lack of evening and weekend services

4. A lack of knowledge about facilities and services available

5. Transportation

Gainer's office said it still has "hundreds of surveys in circulation," at Uptown schools, high-density residential buildings, and area health care and social service providers.

The assessment, Gainer said, will give Cook County a focused look at how it can do a better job keeping Uptown healthy.

"I am proud to say the results of the 2010 survey did not go unnoticed and with the help and support of the Cook County Health and Hospital system and our neighborhood partners, we were able to fund additional services in both the dental and mental health area," Gainer said after launching the 2012 survey in October.

She said said there are "many opportunities to use the county health system to meet local health needs by coordinating with providers across the county."