Cook County Health Board (CCH) of Directors Meeting
April 29, 2022 Israel Rocha, CEO and Andrea Gibson, Chief Strategy Officer presented a draft FY23-FY25 Strategic Plan for Board consideration and input.
The presentation evoked a great deal of input from the Board concerning its lofty goals given the ongoing shortage of staff as well as having heard the same goals in years past. This was addressed by CEO Rocha who indicated that although it was currently necessary to continue using agency nurses while they continued their ongoing efforts on retention and recruitment outlined in the Strategic Plan. Further, he referenced an announcement made on April 26 by himself, President Preckwinkle, Commissioners Deer and Lowry, and the County Health Foundation of a $1M Provident Scholarship Fund to support students who are from, and committed to caring for, underserved communities. The Fund will administer 60 scholarships this summer as follows:
CEO Rocha announced that the 1 millionth dose of COVID vaccine was administered on April 28th. It was also reported that the Report Contact Tracing effort was scaling down from 300 staff at its peak to a core of 50 trained tracers while the balance of staff have either left or are being absorbed into other duties. Beyond the immediate goal of tracing, the team increased relationships within the communities through networking and education which is being sustained and expanded. Committee Reports
Item to watch for in the Future: During his presentation CEO Rocha referenced establishing a “Mental Health Authority” to build out the behavioral and mental health footprint throughout the county. He was challenged by several of the Commissioners on the term “Authority” and ceded that it might be an office or department as the Board cannot create an authority which implies a taxing body. Observed By: Peg Moster
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Cook County Health (CCH) Board Meeting
March 25, 2022 Enrolled in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), since 2014, Stroger is now winning big for patients by decreasing surgical site infection rate from 1.5 times the national (NSQIP) average in 2016 to 0.77 of the rate in 2022! Annual Stroger savings of $237,210 with avoidance of prolonged hospital & ICU stay and even death of patients who suffer from post-op wound infections is the bonus. Accomplished by implementation of rigorous procedures for disinfection of skin prior to surgery, additional pre and post-op antibiotics, changes of gowns, gloves and instruments twice: for surgery and again for wound closure and patient education were key elements of this successful plan. Surgeon Wille notes that this is an ongoing process, with direct comparisons of outcomes to other hospitals nationally on the numerous targets of enhanced quality with decreased cost that are being studied. Initially there was skepticism of the program Dr. Fegan, Chief Medical Officer, at CCH commented but the successes are now making believers of surgeons from all CCH specialties. CCH’s low rate of surgical morbidity/complications for its patients places it in the top 20% of all NSQIP hospitals for 2021. Highlights from Board Reports:
Items to Watch for in the Future:
Observer - Susan Kern, MD Cook County Health Strategic Plan Town Hall Meeting #2
March 2, 2022 The meeting opened with a welcome and thanks from Israel Rocha. He then turned it over to Andrea Gibson. She gave an overview of CCH’s scope and accomplishments. She next explained the SWOT process to be used to obtain feedback from employees, community, labor, and the CC Board of Commissioners. S=strengths W=weaknesses O=opportunities T=threats.
Cook County Health Strategic Plan Town Hall Meeting #3 March 3, 2022 The Thursday morning virtual meeting began with an introduction by CEO Israel Rocha followed by Chief Strategy Officer, Andrea Gibson, presenting the initial process for the 2023-25 Strategic Plan which included three town halls (one in Spanish) the week of March 1. A survey was sent to Stakeholders using the SWOT process of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Ms. Gibson stated that no ideas would be presented by CCH at the town hall meetings as the purpose is to gather opinions and suggestions from the Stakeholders and the Public. General feedback regarding CCH and the Public Health Department included:
Strengths:
Opportunities:
3) Create sustainable programs. 4) Increase birthing opportunities - for example "free standing birth centers." 5) Can long term care be made available? 6) Need more health services in the South Suburbs - population not dense but covers a wide area – therefore, it is not easy to get to CCH health care sites. 7) Increased emphasis on the fact that "housing is health care". 8) Role out a #988 phone number for crisis calls. 9) Incorporate "peer support groups" into county services particularly for addition and Mental health. Weakness/Potential Threats:
3) Medicaid application process for immigrants. 4) Turnover of nursing staff. It was stated by a speaker that 50% of the current nursing staff is from outside contractors. 5) Length of time needed to fill positions - particularly nursing. Observer: Diane Edmundson Cook County Health (CCH) Board Meeting
February 25, 2022 The timeline for the FY23-FY25 Strategic Plan introduced
Finance Committee
Managed Care Committee
Human Resources Committee
Quality and Patient Safety Committee
Observed by: Michele Niccolai Cook County Health (CCH) Board Meeting
January 28, 2022 Presentation - Stroger Hospital Stroke Program by Dr. L. Warrior
Public Testimony from Nursing Staff
Finance Committee
Managed Care Committee
Audit and Compliance Committee
Human Resources Committee
Report from CEO Rocha
What to watch for in the future:
Observer - Michele Niccolai Cook County Health Board of Directors Meeting –
December 17, 2021 Human Resources:
Managed Care
Quality & Patient Care
Finance Committee
CEO Report: Last month, CEO Rocha reported that moving forward, divisional updates will be provided to ensure that the CCH Board of Directors “has a deeper understanding of operational successes, opportunities and challenges”. Areas to be covered include: Stroger Hospital, Correctional Health, Provident Hospital, Public Health, Ambulatory Care, Cook County Health Plan Services, Administrative [regulatory, legislative, strategic initiatives, etc.] Highlights for this month include: Provident Hospital:
Observer: Diane Edmundson |
AuthorIndividual authors are credited at the end of each report. Archives
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