Sun-Times file
The Chicago Board of Health was established in 1833 to provide the expert medical advice needed to fight the cholera epidemic at a time when there was no Department of Public Health to set policy.
That board has remained largely unchanged ever since, with outdated rules and members who serve indefinitely, some since the 1990s.
On Thursday, the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to start over in a way that would mandate diversity and guarantee a range of expertise needed to meet the public health challenges laid bare by the coronavirus.