CCHHS Board Urged to Advocate for Undocumented Immigrant Rights

Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) Board Meeting - April 28, 2017

High Priority Concern
Vocal public speakers urged the CCHHS Board to advocate for undocumented immigrant rights, raising the concern that these immigrants would not seek needed health care for fear of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids at the Hospital.  Chairman of the Board, Hill Hammock and CEO, Dr. Shannon reiterated that CCHHS does not collect or share information on citizenship—only elicit information required to establish residency in Cook County; some information on income; and identification to verify that the patient is who they state they are for proper medical records. CCHHS would only share data if an ICE agent provided a warrant.  They are unaware of any such ICE agent episode in the CCHHS system.  To date, there has been no decrease in patient volumes at the CCHHS clinics or in the ER where undocumented immigrants most frequently present for care.  Nor have there been anecdotal reports by CCHHS staff of patients failing to come for necessary health care due to fear of reporting to ICE. CCHHS considers this topic a high priority for internal and external messaging.  Chairman Hammock appointed Directors Thomas and Driscoll to serve on a newly created committee of the Board to further evaluate these concerns.

Significant Topics Discussed:

• RFP (request for proposal) for Managed Medicaid Insurance Plans required by the State of IL. in move to limit the number of Plans statewide is anticipated to be tied to decreased capitated fees paid per patient (federal/state payments) enrolled in plans such as CountyCare
• % of high risk population in CountyCare (managed Medicaid plan) has increased, attributed to large population of HIV, hemophilia, and older, sicker patients and loss of younger, healthier members
• $43M still owed by the State to CCHHS for Medicaid patients, due to lack of State budget
• Industry standard for employee unfilled vacancies is 8-12%, CCHHS falls in upper limit of this range
• Finance Committee reported operating revenue to be 6.1% below budget, partly due to patients using non-CCHHS facilities, resulting in an $89M deficit which Chair Hammock said was a significant loss, needing special Board review
• Dept. Justice’s recent inspection of Cermak Health Service at the Cook County Jail reports “essential compliance” and correction of the findings of unconstitutional conditions of medical and mental health care, including suicide prevention identified in 2010  

Items to Watch for in the Future:

• Fantus Clinic & associated parking garage to undergo demolition in July as the Central Campus Redevelopment new multi-story clinic & administration building are erected.  Services will be relocated to Stroger & Provident Hospitals
• Demonstration of new CCHHS marketing campaign engages the public via digital messaging (smart phone/bill-boards/internet) focused on lauding the system’s specialty medicine, labor & delivery, primary care for children & adults as well as research and medical training programs

Observers -  Susan Kern, MD & Susan Garza                                                     Meeting Length: 3 hours