Challenges Remain For Cook County Health

Cook County Health (CCH) Board of Directors Meeting
July 31, 2020                  
Meeting was held remotely with audio only available for observer

Public Comments

• Dr M. Fujara talked about CCH being the recipient of a three year Department of Justice Grant for the Child Safety Forward Initiative, aimed at reducing child fatalities and recurring injuries due to abuse and neglect.  CCH is one of five national sites chosen for this grant.  She said the legacy of child abuse persists into adulthood with the risk of serious medical issues, substance abuse, mental illness, involvement in the juvenile justice system and abusive romantic relationships, all creating community challenges.  The grant aims to develop strategies to address child fatalities and injuries to help families.
• Other comments from staff RNs were about the need for nurses to receive extra non-nursing duty pay for the extra work nurses now perform for their Covid-19 patients. Nurses now deliver food tray and clean patient room, perform dietary duties,  clerk duties and patient transport.

Committee Reports

Human Resources Committee reported that it took 90 days on average to hire, from the time of initial job posting to hiring.  CCH's Employment Plan brought CCH into compliance with the Shakman decrees, Federal court orders, which prohibit political influence into the employment process, but adds steps to the hiring process.  It was suggested that hiring steps be broken down to see if there could be improvement in hiring time and to compare the hiring time of CCH to other Chicago hospital systems.  A request for the diversity breakdown of nurses was requested. Almost half of  nurses are African American; Asian and White each make up about 
one-fifth of nurses.  HR actively recruits bilingual staff and reaches out to local groups and universities.

Managed Care Committee reported that as of July 2, 2020 CountyCare membership was 364,973 with 10.5% of these members using CCH clinics.  July 2, 2020 numbers are an increase over June 3, 2020 numbers.   August membership numbers are projected to be around 369,000 due to increased Medicaid members and IL Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) temporarily stopping the redetermination process during the Covid-19 crisis.  HFS's May data showed CountyCare had a 31.9%  share of the Cook County Medicaid market.  At some future point HFS will startup the redetermination process again and Medicaid numbers will decline.  During Covid-19 pandemic, CountyCare patients are getting care along with food, transportation, specialty care.  James Kiamos, CEO Health Plan Services, is leaving CCH and this is his last report.

Quality and Patient Safety Committee presented a new Quality Dashboard, specific graphs with reference targets for data collection and monitoring.  This dashboard now contains categories at CCH that need to be improved in the CMS Star Rating reports.  These CMS reports let consumers compare hospitals based on quality ratings.  An important area for CCH is clinical documentation to accurately record a patient's problems such as homelessness and other insecurities/illness/case complexity so as to get properly reimbursed for that patient's care.  In the LOWN Institute Hospital Index, Stroger Hospital rated very high in Civic Leadership, Value of Care, and Patient Safety.    

Finance Committee

• Presented the revision of the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) Covid-19 Contact Tracing Grant               1. Hektoen Institute for Medical Research will receive a one year funding of $6 million for the administration of contracts with those Community Based Organizations that provide services in communities most impacted by Covid-19.  Hektoen will monitor progress, have oversight of funding and issue payments.  2. Hektoen will receive approximately $3.5 million to hire a startup contact tracing team of sixty positions so the initial launch phase of contact tracing will not be delayed.  After this, CCH will work to bring on a larger contact tracing workforce taking over hiring.  For the next year, monthly hiring reports will be provided to the Finance Committee. 
• A grant was received that provides wellness kits for patients with chronic illnesses. 
• A grant for Chicago Cook County Breast Cancer Risk Identification screening and Prevention will provide services for underserved CC patient populations.
• CCH Financial Update for the six months ended May 31, 2020: financial results are ahead of budget by $52 million.  Net patient service revenue is below budget due to Covid-19 pandemic.  $77.6 million received from CARES Act received through May to help compensate for the decline in patient activity.  The FY2020 projected year end deficit is $61 million. 
• ​Current financial planning is for FY2021 budget, seek Federal and State revenue for Covid-19 pandemic, and looking at areas where expenses can be reduced.  At the end of this report is the Guiding Principles and Timeline for the FY2021 budget.*

    
Report from Debra Carey, Interim CEO:

• Cermak hospital expanded testing to all inmates and with social distancing and mitigation strategies, the virus is contained in CC jail.

Items to Watch For in the Future:

• FY2021 Budget Request for Approval at August 28 CCH Board of Directors Meeting

Observed by:  Michele Niccolai                                        Meeting Length:  3 hour

*Link to the CCH Statement on Health Equity approved by the Board of Directors