Cook County Board Commissioner Dennis Deer Joins Cook County Health Board and Assumes Role of Vice-Chair

Cook County Health (CCH) Board of Directors Meeting - December 21, 2018

What did the Board Discuss?:

• Commissioner Deer, 2nd District, has a background in health care.  After being appointed to replace retired Commission Jerry Butler as Chair of the Cook County Board Health Care Committee, he was then appointed to the Cook County Health Board and assumes the role of Vice-Chair.  Newly elected Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller (6th District), also in attendance at the meeting was introduced to the Board by Chairman Hammock.  She expressed her long-held interest in the health care services provided in and by Cook County.   Commissioner Deer noted that he will be advocating for more minority contract opportunities.
• CountyCare, the county's managed care health plan, is aggressively marketing its benefits to current and potentially new customers during this year’s Medicaid open enrollment period due to close the end of January 2019.   Current membership stands at 333,704 against a 2019 target of 345,000.    Of particular note - two out of every three CountyCare members do not use Stroger, Provident, or Cook County ambulatory clinics as their primary provider. CCH is aggressively working to change this metric.
• The interim Human Resources (HR) Director implemented a new technology and outreach plan in an effort to achieve its goal of a 90 day hiring cycle (current average is 96.4 days).   In 2018, 15 new bilingual hires were added to the work force with another 10 in the pipeline, and 30 more job titles with bilingual ability as a minimum requirement are under review to establish new job codes.  In addition to adding bilingual staff and working to improve cleanliness perceptions, CCH is focusing on decreasing waiting times and improving phone access.  A revised performance management policy [employee evaluation] is to be rolled out early in 2019 with on-line performance management to follow.
• The Finance report through the first eleven months showed no new surprises.  The CFO noted that CountyCare has contributed $184.5 million to date to the Revenues.  He also noted that while Cermac Health Services, the correctional system health operation, has seen fewer patients, those seen require more resources.  The top three referrals are oral care, ear, nose, and throat, and visits to the hand clinic.
• The Quality and Patient Care Committee noted that the willingness to recommend Stroger to others has increased but statistics were not cited.  Each Tuesday the in-charge coordinator for cultural improvement is going on rounds throughout the hospital and asking two questions:  1) What are your concerns?  and 2) How can we help?  One other item pulled from committee metrics is that at any given time, about 80 surgical residents are working in the County hospitals.
• Board member Gonzalez asked Dr. Mason, CC Public Health Director, for a geographic mapping for HIV, Hepatitis C, and all sexually transmitted disease cases.  This request followed a slide presentation mapping the “suburbanization of poverty” areas in Cook County.  Dr. Mason added that the mortality rate for African American mothers is 3 times that of Caucasian mothers, and he said that the number of African Americans living in Chicago has dropped by 15% while the number of Hispanics in Cook County has risen by 20%.
• Dr. Shannon recognized the retirement of the highly esteemed IT Director, and she gave a brief presentation to the board including what the future in IT holds for the System:  artificial intelligence, predictive analysis, and prescription analytics.    Dr. Shannon also noted that the newly implemented Kiosk check-in is being well received.

Items to Watch For in the Future
Ongoing:

• Director Lowery asked for a comparison of the System’s nursing openings to other like institutions across the country.
• Board Chair,  Hill Hammock, asked for feedback on what percentage of claims are never collected because of coding, timeliness, and/or processing issues.  
• Chair, Hill Hammock asked for a detailed dive into pension costs, projections, and percentage of takeover from the County by the Cook Health System.
• A Board decision on CountyCare’s proposal to stop paying providers who treat CountyCare patients when the patients’ visit is outside their assigned network of providers.

New

• The Fiscal Year ended on November 30.  Watch for final revenue/expense variances, and metric results vs targets (e.g., hiring cycle and higher revenue specialties such as surgeries and maternal deliveries).  
• The new Vista Clinic in Arlington Heights with preventive and specialty care services such as dental and behavioral health delayed its opening to January 14, 2019 with the grand opening to follow sometime soon.  A similar model clinic in Riverside is scheduled to open by mid-year.  Look for details on the openings as tours will also be scheduled for those interested.
• 2020-2022 Strategic Plan presentations and discussions will likely get under way in earnest at the January Board Meeting and go on through the May meeting.

Observer - Diane Edmundson                                   Meeting Length:  2 ½ Hours