Cook County Health Board and Board Committee Meetings

Cook County Health (CCH) Board of Directors Meeting
May 31, 2024

Stroger Hospital was awarded a “B” safety grade by The Leapfrog Group. This Grade is the only hospital rating focused exclusively on hospital safety and ranks nearly 3000 hospitals
CCH’s 2024 state legislative priorities:

• Secure annual appropriations to fund the Equity and Representation in Health Care Act (Public Act 102-0942)
• Protect and strengthen Medicaid. (Governor’s proposed FY2025 budget included $629M to continue Medicaid-like coverage for immigrant adults 42+ year but would not allow for a lift of the enrollment freeze in place since 2023.
• Support legislation that promotes harm reduction and prioritizes treatment instead of imposing criminal penalties (HB2/SB78 and SB1830) 
• Advocate for increased funding to local health departments (HB4823)

The new Neurocritical ICU at Stroger opened on May 28 which includes Board certified physicians and specialized APNs as well as state-of-the-art equipment to provide advanced care to patients with complex neurological conditions and injuries.
Additional report of interest:  Value-Based Care Strategy goals are to improve quality, enhance member 2024 Goals:

• Execute new value-based agreements
• Enhance core capabilities
• Align value to equity through appropriate measures and incentives

Observer:  Susan Gregory (reported from slides.  Virtual audio was not working]

CCH Finance Committee  – May 20, 2024 

• Execute contract for community triage and wellness center. This center was opened by the County Health System in Nov 2019 located in the former Roseland police station on 115th Street. The contract with Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI) lapsed in 11/30/23 but is now being reactivated for $500,000.00. The services provide a diversion from emergency departments for those experiencing a mental health crisis but who do not require psychiatric hospitalization. There is nationwide dearth of crisis care services, and the Roseland community has been identified as an area of need.
• Extend and Increase contract for $16,800,000.00 to Guidehouse Managed Services for the expansion of current operational teams and the creation of new support functions/teams. Additionally, this partnership is being leveraged to transition our professional coding, billing, collections and authorization operations in house. CCH is exercising the second one-year renewal option.

Observer:  Sue Avila

CCH Quality & Patient Safety Committee – May 20, 2024

• Provident Hospital underwent the radiation safety inspection survey with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) on 4/18/24. They were in compliance with all regulations. 
• Stroger Hospital and the Ambulatory services continue to prepare for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations (JCAHO) survey. 
• Provident Hospital is actively working to improve the LWBS (left without being seen) goal. When ambulance service started at Provident the Emergency Department was overwhelmed with both ambulance patients and walk-ins who now realized the Emergency Department was open. There was also a nursing staff shortage. Many patients left without being seen. The staffing situation has eased. Some changes that were put in effect included a rapid evaluation by a provider in triage right after registration and a “pull to full” strategy which entailed keeping the patients in the care section instead of sending them back to the waiting room after triage. There are now daily and weekly reports on LWBS patients. 
• There has been an increase in mental health volume since most mental health patients arrive via ambulance.

Observer:  Lisa Slankard
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CCH Human Resources Committee – May 20, 2024
Report from Interim Chief HR Officer C Pramuk-Volk on Strategic Plan Areas of Focus:

• Increased & Accelerated Talent Acquisition
  • 439 filled position YTD (68% offer acceptance ratio); 302 external filled positions (100 net gain)
  • 1400 vacancies in budgeted positions as of April 30, 2024, 815 are posted or in the interview process, 351 in the decision to hire process, and 138 have an offer accepted
  • Accelerated nursing hiring (8/23-4/24): of 459 offers, 251 (57%) accepted, 17 pending, 191 (41%) declined
  • 72% of nurses hired (8/23-8/24) came from agencies
• Increased Retention & Decreased Turnover
  • Exit surveys indicate that retirement is the number 1 reason for leaving; others include family/personal, my manager, and career progression
  • 77% of employees had a positive experience with their team and leaders
  • Implementing programs to improved team experiences, e.g. Building Workplace Relations and Harmonizing Guidance and Templates
  • Implementing Employee Recognition Programs

Observer:  Sue Gregory