The new independent board overseeing Cook County's vast public health system wants an extra $100 million next year to hire more than 400 new workers.
The health board's proposed 2009 budget, presented this morning, includes a $103 million spending increase. Of that, $47 million would be spent to pay for both salary increases already approved by the County Board and increased costs caused by inflation, said Warren Batts, chairman of the Health and Hospitals System Board.
But the board also wants to hire 415 new employees, which County Board President Todd Stroger later said he did not anticipate.