CCH Board Introduces Launch of FY23-FY25 Strategic Plan

Cook County Health (CCH) Board Meeting
February 25, 2022

The timeline for the FY23-FY25 Strategic Plan introduced 

• In February/March an online survey asks for feedback from all employees/communities. 
• Promotion will occur through emails, community newsletters, and social media. 
• Town Hall meetings with employees, communities (one in Spanish), labor management, and Board of Commissioners are scheduled. 
• CCH provides significant amount of charity care as compared to other Cook County hospitals.  CCH includes eight Primary Care Centers, four Regional Outpatient Centers, a Child & Adolescent Service, two hospitals, Public health and two Correctional Health Services. CCH has administered more than 300,000 Covid tests, initiated Covid mitigation and prevention at Cook County Jail, and administered approx 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Cook County Dept of Public Health set up contact tracing program for Suburban Cook County.

Finance Committee

• On an accrual accounting basis, CCH ended Dec 2021 with a $15M positive variance to budget and Health Plan shows an operating gain of $8.7M as of December 31, 2021. 
• The nursing dept request to increase the existing contract with Vaya Workforce Solutions, LLC for Contract Management and Nursing Registry services (not to exceed FY$64M) as needed, for the remainder of the contract through 9/24/2023 was approved. 
• Dr B. Peters, Chief Nursing Officer stated in years past the hourly wages for agency nurses was around $20/hour and now the wages are around $200/hour.  She pointed out the need to continue to supplement the CCH staff, especially nursing, due to vacancies and retirements.

Managed Care Committee

• As of February 4, 2022 Total CountyCare membership is 425,981, of which 10.5% are using CCH clinics.  CountyCare’s enrollment has increased 11% over the past 12 months.  As of 2/4/2022 40.62% of vaccine eligible membership are fully vaccinated.  
• Dr Collins, Chief Medical Officer CountyCare, talked about Homelessness programs in her Health Equity Initiatives presentation.  Medical Respite care is acute and post-acute care for homeless who are not ill enough to remain in a hospital but are too ill to recover on the streets.  The Flexible Housing Pool addresses homelessness by connecting people to stable housing along with health services which decreases Emergency Room visits and hospitalizations.

Human Resources Committee

• FY2022 through 1/31/22: HR received 1,545 Requests to Hire:  1,238 positions in progress, and 82 vacancies filled. Also in this time period there were 149 separations due to retirements and resignations.  The big challenge is the retention of CCH’s nursing staff. 
• HR is actively recruiting by working with colleges and universities, marketing in communities and hosting job fairs. 
• Automation plans include adding Salesforce.  A key initiative is to partner with the new Chief Experience Officer.

Quality and Patient Safety Committee

• The new Chief Experience Officer and  the office’s Strategic Plan were introduced. 
• The Plan includes 4 top goals: Patient Satisfaction Goals, implement “C I Care” behaviors (connect, introduce, communicate, ask/anticipate, respond, excellence), workforce wellness programs, and goal orientation for new hires. 
• Some initiatives are wellness lounge, employee events, art murals for group participation, farmers market, hire chaplains, newsletter, Gemba walk (gemba means “actual”) where leaders actually step out of their offices and walk to work stations to connect with staff to gain knowledge of work processes. 
• All the new initiatives are designed to enhance both the patient and employee experience as positive experiences for both create a stronger organization.

Observed by:  Michele Niccolai