Published: September 4, 1996

Chicago Hope

CONTINUED

As a former reporter, Vander Weele is sometimes asked by her colleagues to help deal with press inquiries. So today, a Monday in mid-July, chief operating officer Ben Reyes has summoned Vander Weele to his office to help respond to a local television reporter who claims to have found high levels of lead paint on the playground equipment at an elementary school. Reyes, accompanied by several members of his staff, calls up the reporter, puts him on speakerphone, and lets Vander Weele do most of the talking.

"We are spending $40 million this summer on lead and asbestos abatement in the classrooms," she tells the reporter, "because that's where the kids spend...