Dr. Eric Whitaker, Obama Friend And University Of Chicago Hospital Executive, Defends Controversial ER Policy

Dr. Eric Whitaker, a close friend of President Obama's and an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center, defended the South Side hospital's controversial policy of sending patients elsewhere for primary care while speaking at a City Club luncheon Monday, the Sun-Times' Abdon Pallasch reports.

"You should not use the emergency department as the place to get primary care," Whitaker said. "For some reason, this is controversial. Emergency rooms should be used for emergencies. I'm shocked we should be getting into debates about this. An emergency room visit is $1,000. A doctor's visit is $100."

The hospital's Urban Health Initiative has come under strong criticism for diverting neighborhood patients, many of whom are lower-income minorities who use the emergency room for primary care, to other hospitals to clear space for what Pallasch called "the more challenging -- and potentially more lucrative -- cases such as cancer and transplants that the university has a national reputation for treating."

Whitaker, who was responding to a question on the policy from former State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, said the goal was to ensure the hospital's financial well-being in a difficult economic climate and keep the emergency room from being used for non-emergency care.

Last month, University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer sent an internal memo stating that a committee will "review, refine and modify" the Urban Health Initiative.

First Lady Michelle Obama, then a hospital vice president, and Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, who was chairman of the board, were involved in the creation and approval of the original plan.

Whitaker also said Monday that he has talked about health care with Obama and assured the audience that the "issue of community health has been on his radar screen."