The proposed state budget cuts all funding, roughly $500,000, for the Acute Care Sickle Cell Center at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago starting July 1. It’s the only outpatient and comprehensive care center in the Midwest focused on treating adults with sickle cell that is mainly diagnosed in African Americans. The center is designed to help patients avoid lengthy emergency room visits by providing emergency pain treatment. More than 800 people were treated at the center during the last fiscal year. Joining us to discuss sickle cell anemia and the proposed budget cut to the center is Ronisha Edwards, a 22-year-old patient at the Acute Care Center, Robert Mackey III, founder and president of the Lydia Smith Sickle Cell Foundation and Dr. Michael Gowhari from the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System’s Acute Care Center.