Cook County 'point man' lacks rules, program - Cook County, Illinois, Department of Public Health liaison Frank Barnes

Chicago Reporter, The, April, 2002 by Rupa Shenoy

In early June 1999, Cook County Board President John H. Stager gave a speech about his fight against prostate cancer. Loop lunch-goers filled the James R. Thompson Center Plaza in downtown Chicago as Stroger helped unveil a U.s. prostate cancer awareness stamp and pledged Cook County's strong commitment to preventing the disease.

As part of the ensuing effort, the county's Department of Public Health targeted south suburban African American communities to reach those at highest risk for prostate cancer: black men. And the county hired Frank Barnes, a longtime acquaintance of Stroger's and a former employee of the Cook County Department of Building and Zoning, to be its public health liaison to churches in the area.

State Sen. Donne E. Trotter, a South Side Democrat who also oversees outreach efforts as the county's minority director for public health, called Barnes the department's "point man" on prostate cancer. "He has been very successful in helping us get in some of the churches in the south suburbs," said Trotter.

But, after a six-month investigation, The Chicago Reporter found that Barnes can show little proof that he does what he is supposed to. County officials who should be able to answer questions about Barnes can't--or won't.

In October 2001, the Reporter received an anonymous tip that Barnes had a no-work position.

Barnes told the Reporter that his principal responsibility was to arrange prostate cancer screenings in south suburban black churches. He presented evidence of having organized nine screenings in three years, but has produced no literature or reports on his work or its progress. The Reporter asked leaders of more than 50 African American congregations in the south suburbs about Barnes. Two had heard of him, and one of them had worked with him to do prostate screenings.

While Barnes is one of the highest-paid employees in his department, he avoided answering questions about his formal experience in public health.

Barnes agreed to be interviewed only in the presence of Rendy Jones, communications director for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, which includes the Public Health Department.

He said he works hard to communicate with church leaders. "I have a routine," he said. "I come to the office, I go to the field, I check with churches, I meet with ministers. Sometimes it's very difficult to see them on the first try. I have to sit there for hours and hours."

Stroger declined to comment on Barnes or his job, according to Jack Beary, his press secretary.

The Cook County government has recently been beset by a series of financial problems. In January, FBI agents resurrected an investigation into people on the county payroll who did no work. Budget woes over the last several years have left the county's forest preserve system with a deficit of between $10 and $17 million, and bond money raised to build a new domestic violence courthouse was spent elsewhere.

Cook County commissioners Jerry "Iceman" Butler, the chair of the county board's Health and Hospitals committee, and Earlean Collins, who chairs the Public Health subcommittee, said they had never heard of Barnes.

"If he's got a high paid position at Cook County Public Health, I probably ought to know him," Butler said. "I'm surprised that you found as many [screenings] as you did."

Collins said Stroger bypasses her subcommittee when he makes decisions on the Public Health Department, and never assigns it work. The subcommittee never meets, she said, and "doesn't do anything."

No Complaints

Barnes, 66, is an "intergovernmental/faith-based liaison" for the Public Health Department, according to his job description. The county budget shows he is paid $81,071 a year.

His duties include offering public health services to "faith-based organizations, particularly in providing outreach to their populations and assist[ing] other service unit directors in meeting program goals requiring community outreach," according to the description. He is also responsible for meeting with elected officials to address public health concerns and for helping the department respond to emergencies.

"Well, that's one of those catch-all titles--intergovernmental liaison," said Butler. "That could be anything."

But Barnes said he spends a normal workday talking to ministers on the phone or waiting to speak to them in person so he can arrange cancer screenings at their churches. "And that can take a while," he said. "If you've ever tried to talk to a minister, you know what I'm talking about. Ministers like to be kept in contact with [so that they] know that you're still thinking about them-even though you don't have anything going at their church at the particular time." He added that he targets "the larger churches, not the smaller ones," mainly in the south suburbs.

After contacting ministers, Barnes said, he explains his program, then suggests a few dates for screenings. He checks to see if nurses are available before finalizing the arrangements.

"We have it on a Saturday or a Sunday," he said. "We go out at 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning and we stay there all day until we finish. And I am there all day long with my team. Because I'm the one that set it up--my team didn't set it up."