Cook County Health System Gets a New Name and Opens State of the Art Clinic Facility

Cook County Health (CCH) Board Meeting - October 26, 2018                                            


What did the Board diiscuss:

• As part of its goal to attract patients to The Cook County Health and Hospitals System, CEO, Jay Shannon, announced a name change to “Cook County Health” and the ribbon cutting for the new Fantus Clinic & Professional Building for Monday, October 29.   He also announced that the new “model” Arlington Heights Ambulatory Clinic will open sometime in December with preventive and specialty care services such as dental and behavioral health.   A similar model clinic will open early in 2019 in Riverside.
• The County Health’s insurance plan called, “County Care” is aggressively marketing its benefits to current and potentially new customers as the open enrollment period for Medicaid patients is from October 2018 to February 2019.   See the LWVCC October 18, 2018 Managed Care Eyewitness Report for more details.  As a reminder, County Care is the largest Managed Care Medicaid Provider in Cook County followed by Blue Cross Blue Shield.   
• Cook County Health continues to decrease the hiring cycle – from 203 days in 2014 to 95 days in 2017 and 2018.  The interim HR Director acknowledged that even more needs to be done and has implemented a new technology and outreach plan to achieve its goal of 90 days.  Overall vacancies stand at 725 of which 244 are nursing positions.  Filled positions stands at 575, separations through the 3rd quarter are 367 including 161 retirees.  Turnover 6%. 
• Dedicated efforts including new hires and a change in contractors has resulted in an improvement in the cleanliness of the hospital environment.  Guiding principles in 2018 and going forward include improving the patient experience, patient safety and satisfaction, and the health system’s reputation.  A recent in-house inspection found no cleanliness issues.  Changing patient perceptions will take longer, and the System continues to educate and train its workforce on the importance of patient experience to the success of the system.  In addition to cleanliness perceptions, CCH is focusing on waiting times and phone access.  
• The Finance report through the first eight months showed no new surprises.  Revenue is 33% higher than budgeted due to the influx of new Managed Care Patients from Health Network and Aetna.  However, revenue is offset by the expenses incurred to service these new members.  The System serves the highest number of Charity Care patients [by visit] at 42%.  The next highest is Northwestern Hospital at 7% and Mt. Sinai at 4%.  The YTD net loss is almost $17 million above budget or $98.8 million against a budgeted loss of $72 million.  
• noted that the System has been successful in getting the State Legislature to lift the “moral or philosophical objection clause” for health care workers.  Workers will now or soon be required to take the Flu Shot.  
• He also mentioned the $8 billion Federal package to address the Opioid epidemic in the US is a good first step but the problem will not be effectively addressed by grants alone.  Federal laws are needed.
• CEO Shannon gave a brief overview of the 2020-2022 Strategic Planning and a recap of the 2017-2019 Plan. To see the Strategic Plan update report delivered by CEO Shannon go to this link.

Items to Watch For in the Future

• Director Lowery asked for a comparison of the System’s nursing openings to other like institutions across the country.
• Board Chair, Hil Hammock, asked for feedback on what percentage of claims are never collected because of coding, timeliness, and/or processing issues.  
• Chair, Hil Hammock asked for a detailed dive into pension costs, projections, and percentage of takeover from the County by the Cook Health System.
• In the context of the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan, CEO, Jay Shannon, mentioned that that System will be evaluating “incentive based” motivation for management to hit targets.
• A Board decision on County Care’s proposal to stop paying providers who treat County Care patients when the patients’ visit is outside their assigned network of providers.

Observers - Diane Edmundson & Sarah Edwards                          Meeting Length:  2 ½ Hours