* Crain’s…
Chicago Public Media is offering Sun-Times and WBEZ staff members buyout offers as the company comes up on the three-year anniversary of its high-profile merger.
Sun-Times staff and WBEZ business teams, but not WBEZ’s newsroom, are being offered a voluntary separation, according to a memo obtained by Crain’s. Employees who opt to leave Chicago Public Media will be offered an incentive package, though details are unclear.
* Excerpt of the WBEZ announcement…
Today, we announced a voluntary separation program across parts of our organization, including the Chicago Sun-Times staff and WBEZ business teams; the WBEZ newsroom will not be impacted. We are offering our employees the opportunity to voluntarily leave Chicago Public Media with an incentive package. Our hope is that this action and other efforts will reduce our costs so that we can avoid more significant cost-cutting measures down the road.
This is a proactive decision that allows us to align our organization’s size with our goals while strengthening our most valuable and impactful initiatives and ensuring our financial sustainability. While we’ve made strides in adapting to the rapidly changing media landscape, these efforts haven’t yet translated into the sustainable revenue we need. Making this adjustment now is a necessary step to position us for long-term success and fully realize the transformative potential of our combined organization.
…Adding… The Chicago Sun-Times Guild…
We are disappointed by today’s announcement that Chicago Public Media will seek voluntary staff buyouts.
Our union is frustrated that our organization’s management did not secure more revenue in the past three years to avoid staffing cuts and secure our sustainability.
While we understand this move is meant to cut long-term costs, it’s harder to swallow knowing the exorbitant executive salaries and bonuses we’ve seen CPM shell out in the past few years.
We hope everyone at the organization will share in the pain on our path to sustainability.
We have questions about what these labor cuts could mean for our newsrooms. We urge CPM management in the strongest terms possible to focus all efforts on securing the revenue necessary to support our journalism.
We also urge CPM to find savings in areas other than labor so that our newsrooms can continue serving Chicago. We need all hands on deck to produce the quality print, digital, audio and visual reporting that has made the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ the institutions that they are.
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* I’m sure more will come out on this. Lots of rumors floating around about the reasons. Also, as you’ll recall, Planned Parenthood of Illinois announced earlier this month that its president and CEO Jennifer Welch was stepping down. Emphasis in this press release was added by me…
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF ILLINOIS RESTRUCTURES TO ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE FUTURE
PPIL Closing Four Health Centers, Downsizing Administrative Staff, Expanding Care at Key Locations and Increasing Patient Care Through Telehealth
Realignment Needed due to Increase Patient Volume + Low Reimbursement Rates from Insurers + Rising Health Care Costs
CHICAGO – Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) is facing a financial shortfall brought on by rising health care costs for in-person care, increase in patient volume needing financial assistance, uncertain patient care landscape under a new national political administration, and the need to create a sustainable future after the overturning of Roe v Wade. To ensure financial health into the future, PPIL has made the difficult decision to close four health centers; Ottawa, Decatur, and Bloomington in Central Illinois and Englewood in Chicago. None of these health centers provide procedural abortion care. Patients will be welcomed at the 13 other health centers across the state and PPIL is expanding patient care at Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, Roseland and Waukegan and through the PPDirect app to minimize patient disruption. Patients will be welcomed at the 13 other health centers across the state. PPIL is planning on expanding appointment availability and access at the Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, and Roseland health centers as well as expanding virtual options via telehealth appointments and the PPDirect app to minimize patient disruption. [Updated by PPIL]
“Patient care is and will always be our number one priority,” said Interim President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois Tonya Tucker. “We made plans for the patient surge however rising care costs and lower reimbursement rates from insurers is jeopardizing PPIL’s sustainability. Unfortunately, this is the reality many other Planned Parenthood affiliates are facing in the rapidly evolving health care environment. We are making the difficult decisions today so we can continue providing care tomorrow and well into the future.”
Illinois has seen the highest volume of abortion patients coming from other states. Since Roe was overturned in 2022, PPIL has seen a a 47% increase in overall abortion care patients and an unprecedented number of out-of-state patients traveling from more than 40 other states making up nearly a quarter (25%) of our overall abortion patients (before the Dobbs decision it was 3-5%). However, that increase in patient volume, coupled with low reimbursement rates from insurers and rising costs of providing care has resulted in PPIL needing to realign its health centers and staffing.
Appointments at the four health centers will end in March 2025. Patient appointments at Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, Roseland and Waukegan will expand to meet patient demand as needed.
PPIL is also downsizing its administrative staff proportionally to match the changes in the health centers. Where possible, health center staff being displaced by the closures will be offered comparable positions at other locations or transitioned to telehealth.
To meet patient needs through digital means, beginning in February 2025, PPIL is offering medication abortion through the PPDirect app. Currently, PPIL provides birth control, UTI treatment, at-home STI testing and emergency contraception through PPDirect. Adding medication abortion to the suite of services expands access, reduces wait times at health centers and provides the right care patients need wherever they are.
Patients using PPDirect fill out a questionnaire that is reviewed by a PPIL medical professional. PPIL either mails the medication abortion pills to the qualified patients or works with them to schedule an appointment at a health center. Patients can receive follow up care at a PPIL health center if needed and they can make an appointment through the PPDirect app.
“Offering medication abortion through the PPDirect app allows patients to connect with us through their phone,” said Dr. Virgil Reid, Interim Chief Medical Officer. “This expands access because patients can receive the same great care they associate with Planned Parenthood from the comfort of wherever they are in the state. And we are there to answer any questions or schedule an in-person appointment if needed.”
PPIL has been around for 100 years and is committed to being here for our community’s future generations. The decision to close health centers and downsize staff is difficult but necessary to operate a sustainable organization that can continue to provide our community with essential health care and education. PPIL continues to offer medication and procedural abortion, birth control, gender-affirming care, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, at health centers across the state. For more information visit ppil.org.
Fascinating timing considering what’s going on in DC right now.
…Adding… Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick…
“Illinois remains a critical access point for reproductive care and family planning for people from all across the country. Illinois independent providers, abortion funds and advocacy organizations are prepared to stand in the breach and make sure everyone seeking care in Illinois can continue to access what they need.”
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* Background is here if you need it. Fran Spielman…
As for the Bears’ quest for a new stadium, [House Speaker Chris Welch] sought to temper remarks he made recently seemingly suggesting that the team could gain some traction on public funding for infrastructure if they shifted their Chicago focus away from the lakefront site south of Soldier Field and toward the old Michael Reese hospital site.
“People want to see tax dollars being used to uplift people who need it—not subsidize stadiums for the wealthy. Whether it’s a stadium at Michael Reese or a stadium in Arlington Heights,” Welch said.
“I made a comment that the Michael Reese site is a different conversation…because you would be talking about infrastructure with road fund dollars. But, we haven’t even had that conversation.”
…Adding… More from the interview…
Q: Should the Bears focus - if they want to stay in Chicago - on Michael Reese? Is the lakefront dead? Should it be and can a better case be made for Michael Reese, which would help spur development in a part of city that needs it?
Welch: I want to be clear about something, you know, just so that we can stay focused on what’s really important here in the next few months, the only discussion about the Bears Stadium in Springfield is in the media.
Right now, people want to see tax dollars being used to uplift people who need it, not subsidized stadiums for the wealthy. I want to be clear about that. Whether it’s the current stadium at Soldier Field, whether it’s a stadium at the Michael Reese site or a stadium in Arlington Heights, taxpayers do not want to see taxpayer money subsidizing that. I made a comment that the Michael Reese site is a different conversation, a conversation that the Bears haven’t even had, because you would be talking about infrastructure, Road Fund dollars. We haven’t even had that conversation.
Q: But should we have it? I’ve seen the plans. They’re beautiful, and you can see the lakefront from there. It is a site that could really be spectacular for the city. Do you think the Bears should give up on the lakefront and if they want to stay in Chicago, focus exclusively on Michael Reese, where you say infrastructure funds might be made available?
Welch: I think we should be talking about tax dollars being used for the people who need it, not subsidized stadiums for the wealthy. If the Bears want to build a stadium with private dollars, and they do it with at the Michael Reese site, you know, they should go for it. And I certainly would love to see them develop an underdeveloped neighborhood like the Bronzeville area.
Q: Is that better than the lakefront?
Welch: Oh, I think it gives them less opposition. You don’t have to deal with Friends of the Parks and things of that nature. And I think that gives them an opportunity to own their own stadium, but those are things that the Bears have to decide.
Q: But you’re saying flat out, there would be no subsidy for the stadium itself, and they never asked for that. But they need infrastructure help, and they need access to the hotel tax that funded, whatever, Rate Field, or whatever it’s called now for the White Sox.
Welch: Is there a question there?
Q: Well, yeah, because they never asked for stadium subsidy. They asked for infrastructure help. Are you saying that the only infrastructure help would be at Michael Reese and not for the lakefront, or [crosstalk].
Welch: Let’s be clear on what the ask was, what the conversation had been the last couple of years, is to grant authority for the Illinois sports facilities authority to extend bond authority to another location and basically use the dollars from bonding authority at the Sports Authority to help pay for their stadium. That’s a taxpayer subsidy. They did ask for that multiple times, and taxpayers don’t want us to do that. They want to see taxpayer dollars right now being used to uplift people who need it, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.
Q: So you’re saying that you’re not willing to use the stadium authority and its bonding authority to help them in any way, to help finance a stadium, no matter where it is, and the only help they can get anywhere is infrastructure?
Welch: People want to see tax dollars being used for the people who need it, not subsidized stadiums for the body. Take that how you want.
Q: It’s not an increase. They say it’s a hotel tax that’s in place right now at a stadium authority created for that purpose, and all they need is to extend those bonds. You’re not willing to consider that?
Welch: Right now, I’m focused on the things that are going to help people around the kitchen table. Talking about a Bears stadium, that’s not it.
Q: Is that a flat no?
Welch: What I’m saying very clearly is that the only ones talking about a Bears stadium are the folks in the media. We’re focused on kitchen table issues in Springfield. We’re not going to give a taxpayer subsidy to build a stadium, whether it’s football, baseball, soccer. We’re not going to subsidize stadiums for the wealthy.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
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* Press release…
Today, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. announced that he will retire from leadership of the nation’s third-largest public transit agency, effective Friday, January 31, 2025. Carter’s retirement ends a 40-year career in public transportation that has included nearly 10 years as CTA president.
“The City of Chicago is grateful to President Dorval Carter for his decades of service with the Chicago Transit Authority,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “His leadership reimagined the movement of our city. His stewardship of the Red Line Extension project is just one of the notable achievements in his historic career.”
* Tribune…
His retirement comes as a debate brews in Springfield about whether to combine the CTA with Metra, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority, and how to fund transit amid a $771 million budget gap looming when federal COVID-19 relief funding runs out. Some lawmakers have pushed for addressing transit oversight and leadership before tackling the funding cliff, which could hit as soon as next year.
Carter’s departure also followed a pointed endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson last week, with the two of them shrugging off the threat of a potential showdown with state leaders over the future of the transit agency during a news conference announcing the final chunk of federal funding for the Red Line extension to 130th Street.
The announcement also doubled as an endorsement of Carter’s job performance, with the mayor sending a blunt message to members of the Illinois General Assembly who were mulling tying a bailout of the CTA’s finances to changes in transit leadership: “Any attempt to hold hostage the people of Chicago for anyone’s political gain, we’re certainly not going to acquiesce to those levels of constraints.”
This post will likely be updated.
But it’s kinda ridic for the mayor to threaten war with the General Assembly over the embattled Carter just a few days ago when he was gonna quit today.
…Adding… Block Club Chicago…
“Today marks a historic and long overdue change at the Chicago Transit Authority,” a spokesperson for advocacy group Commuters Take Action said in a Thursday statement. “Commuters Take Action sees a new hope for Chicago transit. Change will not happen overnight, but we are ready to see a transit agency that delivers frequent and reliable service.
“We also hope the next president works with organizations like ours and engages with the communities they serve, especially by riding the CTA regularly.”
…Adding… One of the legislators working on transit reform…
* Sun-Times…
Ald. Daniel LaSpata (1st), chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee, called Carter’s resignation a “pivot point for the CTA on a lot of levels.”
LaSpata said he was “personally excited for fresh leadership” at the mass transit agency after a decade-long Carter era that “fell short on accessibility and vision,” among other things.
“A lot has been made of the racial politics of this. For my constituents, that was never what it was about. It was about the reliability of service, expansion of service, engagement with bus rapid transit, engagement with the media and social media,” LaSpata said.
“I don’t know why that was so challenging for President Carter. But this is news that will be broadly and positively received by my constituents.”
For all of his strength as a former federal bureaucrat whose contacts helped him deliver $1.9 billion for the Red Line extension, LaSpata said Carter will be best remembered by his transit-dependent constituents as “inaccessible” and for being “unwilling to listen and take seriously concerns people were bringing up.”
…Adding… Sen. Villivalam…
State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) released a statement following the announcement of Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter’s retirement:
“I would like to thank President Carter for his years of public service and I wish him the best in his retirement.
I look forward to continuing to work with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority and all stakeholders to ensure our region has a safe, reliable and accessible world class public transit system that is accountable to our taxpayers, commuters and all of our residents.”
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