Cook County Health & Hospital Systems (CCHHS) Board Meeting - May 26, 2017
Significant Decisions Made:
Significant Topics Discussed: Finance:
Items to Watch in the Future:
Observers: Diane Edmundson, Bill Edmundson Meeting Length - 2 1/2 hours
1 Comment
Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board Meeting - March 31, 2017
Significant Topics Discussed: Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS), in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, will submit a proposal to revamp its Medicaid Managed Care Program. With goals of (1) improving healthcare quality, (2) ensuring access, and (3) controlling costs for Illinois Medicaid patients, applicants must commit to providing the full spectrum of Medicaid-covered services.
$4m in contracts were negotiated with 2 nursing home organizations to provide short- and long-term care. Costs to care for patients in these facilities can be $5000-$6000 per month, and Deputy CEO Doug Elwell explained that these contracts won’t be renewed in the hope that these 400-500 patients can receive home care. He said CCHHS is considering providing long term care for its CountyCare and indigent patients. Current Data Presented:
Observer - Linda Christianson Meeting Length: 3 hours Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board Meeting - July 29, 2016
Significant Actions Taken: The Proposed 3 Year Strategic Plan was approved unanimously with commendations from board members for its
Board Election/Changes: The Board re-elected Hill Hammock as HHS Board Chairman and Jerry Butler as Vice-Chairman. Dr. Shannon commended outgoing board members Carmen Velasquez and Dorene Wiese for their dedication and leadership. Contract Awarded: Morrison Management Specialists were awarded a $13,900,000 contract to provide labor, supplies and software for food and nutritional services, replacing former contractor Sodexo. Significant Topics Discussed:
Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board - April 29, 2016
Significant Decisions Made: Approval of $112,700,000 Contract for New Health Center which will adjoin John Stroger Hospital, replacing 3 aging structures: Fantus Clinic , the current administration building on Polk St. and the Hektoen Building.
Significant Topics Discussed: Concern was expressed by Director Erica Marsh, MD, that the nearly 800 employed HHS physicians are not being assessed for productivity. The number of physicians per patient is high compared to other hospitals.
Unexpected Events: CCHHS Board Member, Lewis Collens, has unexpectedly resigned. The resignation was announced by Chair Hammock who noted the dedicated service as Chair of the Finance Committee that Director Collens had given to CCHHS. He mentioned that the resignation was for family reasons. In an unscheduled visit to the Board meeting, Senator Dick Durbin, our Illinois US Senator, cautioned the Board on the heroin epidemic. He noted that opiate abuse was on the rise and HHS will be at the forefront.
Observer: Susan Kern Meeting Length: 3 hours 45 minutes CCHHS Board of Directors Meeting - February 26, 2016
Significant Decisions: A new unit for women and children in remodeled space at Stroger is planned to be open by the end of the year that will consolidate pediatric and maternity inpatient and outpatient services. This is an urgent response to retain patients.The Peds ER has already merged with the Main ER. Physicians and other Stroger staff were present as public speakers to oppose this plan because of their concern that quality would suffer. Administration said that there would be no staffing cuts of physicians or support staff with pediatric expertise. Two sole source contracts were approved:
Significant Topics Discussed: Director Collins reported that CountyCare (Medicaid managed care) is failing to capture the business of its members who continue to use other Hospitals & Clinics in the network resulting in a $10m shortfall from budgeted income in Dec. 2015. Corrective action plans include:
The 5 principal objectives of the Strategic Plan:
Items to Watch For:
The CCHHS Board, are dedicated, represented by a diverse background of experiences and in Chair Hammock, CEO Shannon and Deputy-CEO Elwell have strong, focused and business-orientated leadership. Net operating margin loss of 199 million for 2015 is less of a loss than in 2014 by 9 million. Challenges include labor unrest, 30% uninsured patients, and stiff competition from other Hospital Groups. CCHHS will continue to require subsidies from Cook County to survive and budgetary deficits at the State level will be aggravated in 2017 when 5% of the cost of new Medicaid patients will revert from federal to State payments. Observer: Susan Kern Meeting Length: 3 hours CCHHS Board Meeting - January 29, 2016
Topics Discussed: Patient Satisfaction at Stroger Hospital: After one year of data keeping there has been no improvement as indicated in the latest metrics. Chief Quality Officer Dr. Krishna Das attributed the problem to perceived wait times and cleanliness as key issues. Dr. Das and CEO Dr. Jay Shannon stressed the importance of educating managers to understand the critical link between service quality and patient retention. Emergency Room Visits: CountyCare 2015 data reveal only a minimal decline in Emergency Room visits from the same period in 2014. County Care was intended to provide a "medical home" for patients to receive care so as to decrease the need for Emergency Room care. Reasons for the minimal decline identified in board discussion included:
CCHHS has a professional, effective board of directors. The 11 board members have carefully developed metrics to measure quality and patient safety, human resources, managed care, and finances; managers now provide these data on a monthly basis. The board will begin benchmarking their data against Kaiser and other major national health care providers. Check out the latest metrics presented to the board. Observer: Linda Christianson Meeting Length: 3 hours |
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