This week, as temperatures in Chicago soared above 100 degrees, multiple hospitals—including Weiss, West Suburban, and Provident—reported serious air conditioning failures. Patients were relocated, outpatient services were paused, and families were left scrambling for safer care. Some rooms reached nearly 90 degrees.

As a parent, I find this terrifying.

If hospitals can’t guarantee a safe temperature, what about clinics, shelters or child care buildings? How are families supposed to protect their children—or care for elderly relatives—if public infrastructure fails when we need it most?

Extreme heat is no longer rare. It’s becoming a recurring crisis. And yet, there’s no citywide guarantee that public-serving buildings will be safely cooled during the hottest days of the year.

That’s why I’m calling on the City of Chicago and the Illinois Department of Public Health to ensure that all public-serving buildings—including hospitals, clinics, senior centers, and shelters—have functional air conditioning and emergency backup cooling in place during declared heat waves.

My child should be safe at daycare. My neighbor should be safe in a hospital. My family should be able to rely on basic infrastructure in the middle of a public health emergency.

Sign this petition if you agree that no one in Chicago should suffer—or die—because a public building didn’t have working AC.