Finances Occupy CCHHS Board

CCHHS Board Meeting--April 24, 2009

Chairman Batts reported on a meeting with President Stroger, et. al., at which the two discussed where new money from the State, derived from the re-negotiated Inter-Governmental Transfer (IGT), would go. CCHHS wants to use the funds for professional liabilities, capital expenditures, and operations. It is not clear whether the County will keep it for County operations. The accounting system is frustrating, making it difficult to track what actually goes to CCHHS. County Board Finance Committee Chairman Daley cautioned that a roll back in the sales tax rate could impact CCHHS funding. Staff still does not know if dollars anticipated from the sales tax were built into the current budget.

Many policies still need to be approved by the Board, especially policies regarding co-pays, accounting procedures, and procurement/purchasing. Sub-groups of the Board will review and forward.

Executive staff is over-stretched in meeting the budget timetable.

CEO Small reported that on short notice an update of capital budget requests was due today. All requests approved but not purchased in '07, '08, and '09 may be cancelled if not justified. On May 6 at 1 pm there will be a line-by-line review with the County Board. $11 million in projects have been approved, but not purchased due to delays in the process.

CCHHS does have one-time-money coming in this year that may be available for purchases.

In Information Technology (IT), 41 projects are on-going; all but 4 are on target. Most are clinically related: billing, site coordination, ambulatory surgery, and prescriptions.

180 positions are vacant, representing $10 million.

The adopted budget cannot yet be used; it has only generalized summaries.

CCHHS Committees:

Finance expects all vendors to comply with Minority- and Women-owned Business (MWB) requirements with no added stipulations.

Two Executive Search firms are under two year contracts, one in health care, the other in governmental resources. Their fees are 25% of a new hires' first year salary, as well as approved expenses. Both contracts were approved by legal and compliance departments at the County. A Strategic Planning Consultant, ICS, was chosen out of 4 candidates for a six month contract at $500,000.

A Retreat for Board and staff will be held all day Saturday, May 16, time and place to be determined. It is a public meeting. 8-10 more public meetings will be scheduled.

The Board adjourned to closed session to discuss an issue of collective bargaining.

--Submitted by Observer Nancy Staunton