The meeting was called to order by
Acting Chairman Jorge Ramirez. A vote of
the membership chose David Carvalho as
Chairman and Ramirez as Vice-Chairman, each a one-year term. Carvalho, a deputy director for the Illinois
Department of Public Health, then chaired the meeting. The four new board members introduced
themselves: (1) Carmen Velasquez,
executive director of Alivio Medical Center; (2) Rev. Calvin Morris,
retired executive director of the Community Renewal Society; (3) Dr. Doreen Wiese, president of the American Indian Association of Illinois;
and (4) Ed Michael, retired
executive vice president of diagnostics at Abbott Laboratories. Carvalho asked that new members identify
their committee preferences, and reminded them that “we are serving ALL
residents without respect to their ability to pay.” The audit
was approved, noting that there had been major improvements since 4 years
ago.
Gina Besenhofer, system director,
supply chain, presented contracts for
approval, including contracts to procure (1) Stryker knee systems; (2) HIV
genotyping by Siemens Healthcare; (3) temporary admin staffing; (4) translation
of remittance notices into format useful to hospital system; (5) maintenance
and repairs at CCHHS; (6) PET/CT imaging; (7) radiopharmaceuticals to nuclear
medicine departments; (8) maintenance of AIX mainframe by IBM; (9) courier
services to pick up patient fluid samples; (10) professional services for 2
clinical pharmacists; (11) physical, occupational and speech therapy; (12)
maintenance of Pysix drug dispensing equipment; (13) maintenance of HVAC
system; (14) orthopedic surgery services from residents at Midwestern
University. The board members posed
questions concerning competitive bidding process, costs, reasons for needing
the services, duration of contracts, compliance with Minority and Women-Owned
Business Ordinance requiring that providers must comply directly or indirectly
with provision that they be 25% minority-owned and 10% women-owned. Carvalho explained CCHHS participation in
GPO, a Group Purchasing Organization, with other hospitals nationally to secure
better pricing. Dr. Raju said CCHHS now
has a new computerized monitoring system for contracts. All
contracts were approved by the board.
Dr. Raju addressed the $152m budget gap. Some of the deficit will be offset by the
Medicaid waiver (still pending); improved physician billing and collection; IT
changes; and consolidation of billing. When will the CCHHS budget be ready for approval by the full Cook County board? The finance committee will meet soon, then
submit its budget for approval by the full CCHHS board. Carvalho pointed out the importance of having
the CCHHS board involved in negotiations with the full Cook County
board, not cut out of the process and informed at the end.
Anna Ashcraft, Director of Real
Estate Management for Cook County, explained that the ground floor of Oak Forest Hospital will be renovated
by December as a regional health center. Additionally, 176 acres of Oak Forest property were conveyed to the forest preserve
district, now to become Oak Forest
Heritage Preserve, opening this fall, to be entered through the Oak Forest Hospital entrance where parking will be
available.
The board adjourned to closed
session at 10 a.m.
Submitted by Linda Christianson, League Observer
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