Ruth Rothstein, the former chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services who was credited for turning around what was once an outdated public health system in Chicago into one of the country's leading models and was considered a major figure among public hospital leaders, has died at the age of 90.
Rothstein began her career in healthcare when she took a job as a laboratory technician at Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago in 1952. After taking a position as an assistant to the general director of operations at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago in 1966, she worked her way up through ranks to eventually become president and CEO of the hospital in 1977, a position she held until 1991 when she was named hospital director for Cook County Hospital.
Known as a no-nonsense administrator who was a tireless advocate for the county's low-income and uninsured patients, Rothstein took charge of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, now known as Cook County Health and Hospitals System, at a time when the area's health system was viewed by many as a place that offered little in the way of quality care.