The Illinois Hospital Association today named long-time Democratic congressional aide Kimberly C. Parker as its first vice president of federal relations, opening the powerful state lobby’s first-ever office in Washington, D.C.

As health reform is implemented during the next four years, IHA said it wanted a stronger presence in Washington. Hospitals in Illinois are particularly concerned about rates they are paid by the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, which is funded partly from federal dollars but also from state coffers that are bleeding red ink. Get the full story »