Committees: Human Resources; Managed Care; Audit and Compliance

Cook County Health and Hospitals System
Health

Chicago, IL 60612 (Directions)

This is a remote assignment to document the following committee meetings of the Cook County Health and Human Services Board:

  • 8:30 a.m.: Human Resources Committee
  • 9:45 a.m.: Managed Care Committee
  • 11 a.m.: Audit & Compliance Committee

To access the remote meeting, go to Cook County Health’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Cookcountyhhs. The live stream should appear at that link, at the top of the feed, though it may not appear until at or a few minutes after the scheduled start time. If you don’t see it right away, wait a few moments and try refreshing the page.

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Jennifer Bamberg

Employee COVID-19 vaccination rates, Contact tracing hiring, Exit survey, SEIU Local 73

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 2/20

The meeting is being live streamed on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Cookcountyhhs

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 3/20

The only person to sign up for public testimony comes from SEIU local 73’s Diane Palmer. She starts by saying that local 73 represents the largest number of workers in the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, and serves those left behind by the private health care system.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 4/20

She says it’s in both the union and the board’s best interest to work together, but unfortunately their relationship with Cook County pres Prekwinkle has disintegrated.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 5/20

Local 73 members voted by 90% in December for a 12 hour day strike for PPE and pandemic pay.

The CCH administration offered a $5/hr hazard pay to the nurses, but nothing to the housekeeping staff who work side by side with nurses, being exposed to the same hazards.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 6/20

Palmer calls Prekwinkle a union buster and cites the fact that instead of negotiating with the union, that she spent $1 million in court against them, threatened workers w/ disciplinary action, & held workers in criminal contempt for striking.

https://seiu73.org/2020/12/cook-county-spends-millions-on-strikebreakers/

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 7/20

She urges the CCH board to not stay silent and for Cook County Health Human Services to protect their workers.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 8/20

Carrie Pramuk-Volk, Employment Plan Officer for Cook County Health, is going over CCH’s semi annual report. She oversees compliance with the health system’s employment plan, and related employment policies and procedures.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 9/20

This first slide shows human resource metrics.
The 2nd shows staff members who have left/quit/retired from CCH. Volk mentions that most people leave due to retirement, but that there’s a low response rate for the exit survey. https://t.co/l2xY450F7E

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 10/20

The most responses they get in any given month are 10.
One commissioner asks if a lot of health care providers, particularly nurses, are leaving due to burnout because of the pandemic?
A: “We don’t get a significant amount of information on our surveys. We’re working on it.”

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 11/20

Contact tracers:
One year into the pandemic, CCH has hired 285 contact tracers. Their goal months ago was to hire 500, and they’ve only filled around 65% of that goal. https://t.co/S4pb6ZQNeX

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 12/20

These slides show the 304 national guard members who have been onboarded by CCH to assist with COVID vaccine distribution. 18 of the guard members are training at the McCormack Center with Chicago Police. National guard members are paid by the military, and not CCH. https://t.co/F24LR8vlkV

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 13/20

These slides show rates of CCH staff vaccination rates. Note in the last one that doctors are non-union employees. https://t.co/789exkOQB7

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 14/20

Commissioners commend each other for their efforts to hire and onboard emergency level staff during a pandemic. https://t.co/XmJjiVGV4V

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 15/20

We’re on to the report, compiling hiring, disciplinary, and exit data from July1-December 31st, 2020. https://t.co/L4Jnavb7Py

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 16/20

There were 150 disciplinary actions of the staff during this period. 13 of them had issues that needed correction. 28% of disciplinary action was due to attendance (not sure which category that falls under). How many strikers were brought up on these charges? https://t.co/IpjEykWXlp

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 17/20

Individuals terminated for cause, for reasons “of significance”, go on an ineligible for hire list, and cannot be rehired for 5 yrs. 4 individuals have been put on that list during this period. 14 got off the list during this time because their 5 years was up.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 18/20

Many of these cases were referred to the EEO for investigation.

Many cases were dropped because the complaints were found to be a misunderstanding of policy and procedures, that showed there were no employment violations.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 19/20

The three largest categories are harassment, retaliation, and discrimination.

Jonathan Lesbian Seagull @gremlina333 20/20

The Commissioners have moved on to the closed session of the meeting, and that concludes my live-tweeting! Thanks for following along. Follow @CHIdocumenters and @city_bureau for more coverage of local politics. https://t.co/xdrA7ZKpH7

Agency Information

Cook County Health and Hospitals System

The Cook County Health and Hospitals System is charged with delivering integrated health services with dignity and respect regardless of a patient’s ability to pay; fostering partnerships with other health providers and communities to enhance the health of the public; and advocating for policies that promote the physical, mental and social well being of the people of Cook County. The CCHHS Board of Directors is a 9-member committee with five standing committees: Audit and Compliance Committee; Finance Committee; Human Resources Committee; Quality and Patient Safety Committee; and Managed Care Committee.

Remote meetings are live-streamed via Youtube.

In-person meetings: If you drive, be sure to allow for extra time, as finding parking in the Medical District can be challenging. There is limited space in the Stroger parking garage and some on-street parking on Wood, Ogden and some surrounding streets. Alternatively, you can park at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (1100 S Hamilton Ave, Chicago, IL 60612) and there is continual shuttle service to Stroger campus.

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