Commissioners voted for renovation of the historic Cook County Hospital Main Building for administrative office use for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS). Once renovated, the building will replace the 1900 West Polk facility, which will be demolished. This is the most affordable and lowest risk option. The estimated cost is $107,700,000. TIF funds will be sought.
The memory of Commissioner Carl R. Hansen was honored by passage of a resolution. Hansen was on the Board from l974 to 2006. Commissioners stated that his sense of duty and responsibility to the taxpayers of Cook County was widely known. He did not shrink from debate.
The state of Illinois lacks resources and is passing responsibility to Cook County. This is becoming a major problem. The end of the Duran and Harrington Decrees will save some money and enable some cases to end. [From a Sheriff's Office press release:
Four County mental health consultants were appointed to report on compliance at a cost of $600,000. They will report back to the Board in four months, though they have an eighteen month time frame."...the Cook County Board voted to move forward with plans to settle the Duran Consent Decree, an agreement governing jail conditions which took effect in 1982 after a lawsuit was filed in 1974. It has since hovered over the jail and cost taxpayers millions in attorneys and monitoring costs.
The settlement discussions would find an end brought to the Duran Decree, as well as an older Harrington Decree governing mental health care. In its place, the U.S. Department of Justice would agree to a new set of monitoring standards making the Cook County Sheriff responsible only for corrections issues at the jail."]
The Board discussed Court Decrees at length. State's Attorneys have discussed bench marks and costs for new decrees. The budget will be in the Health Dept. or Jail Dept.
CCHHS experienced a $4 million deficit in December. Stroger Hospital has a very large deficit. Oak Forest and Provident Hospitals have had fewer patients than anticipated and therefore have had a 54% drop in revenue. Michael Ayers, the health system Chief Financial Officer, stated that he believes the deficit can be overcome in the future because CCHHS is getting Disproportionate Share Hospital, or DSH ("dish"), payments to replace reduced Medicare and Medicaid funds. DSH payments are federal financial assistance to hospitals that serve a large number of low-income patients and the uninsured. In addition, CCHHS finances should be improved by the closure of some neighborhood facilities.
--Submitted by Arline Doblin
