Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Pam Davis - Hero

If you ever doubted that one person can make a difference then the story of Pam Davis, CEO of Edward Hospital, will change your mind.

Last week, for the third time, the Illinois Health Facility Planning Board rejected Edward Hospital proposed full-service facility in Plainfield. Even though Plainfield and Will County has one of the state's fastest growing population base and one of the lowest hospital beds to population ratio in the state. Despite this setback the planning board did approve a facility that will provide emergency care and for this we can thank the vigilance and courage of Pam Davis.

In 2003 Edward Hospital first proposed a full service facility to be built in Plainfield, IL. Davis was told that she would only gain approval for the new facility if she used a specific contractor. Instead of playing Illinois' favorite game, pay for play, Davis decided to go to the FBI. For eight months she wore a wire and the information gathered by the recorded conversations exposed corruption on the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, leading to indictments of two of the four board members, Tony Rezko, and a corrupt governor.

In the state of Illinois, where turning your head and playing the game, is often easier than doing the right thing, Pam Davis shows us that when you stay true to your convictions change can happen. This is why ABC News named her Person of the Week and new Governor Pat Quinn appointed her to be on the Illinois Reform Commission. Thank you Pam Davis!

Here is the link to see the ABC News feature on Pam Davis.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6615027

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