Ghost Payrollers In Cook County Government Medical System

The Chicago Sun-Times reports on the less than honest and efficient system of government called Cook County:

Frank Barnes, an old friend of President Stroger, was the subject of a 2002 Chicago Reporter magazine article for allegedly having a "no-show" job at the department as the $81,000-a-year "intergovernmental/faith-based liaison."

He was supposed to be setting up prostate cancer screenings for men in black churches but could provide the Reporter with evidence of only nine screenings in three years. A survey of 50 black pastors found only two had ever heard of Barnes.

When former Cook County Commissioner Bill Moran tried to ask Stroger about the story at a County Board meeting, Stroger shouted him down, saying, "It's very bad for you to talk about things that you don't know anything about. . . . This is somebody I have known since his days at the city when he was one of the top people at the Building Department."

When the heat passed, Stroger and Martin promoted Barnes, 72, up to the No. 2 spot in the $18 million-a-year department: assistant operations officer, drawing an $88,000-a-year paycheck. His promotion came despite critics' claims he still does little work and has no medical background or expertise.

If we ever get "universal health care" in America this is a glimpse of what we'd get.Private medical insurance companies don't have ghost payrollers but Cook County sure does.