Report of the Forest Preserve of Cook County (FPDCC) April 14, 2015 Meeting

Board meetings often begin with the reading of resolutions honoring an individual or organization for achievement, or commemorating the life, accomplishments, and memory of a notable person with Forest Preserve connections.  The April 14 meeting was no exception, as both the late Billy Casper and the non-profit Neighborspace were so honored.

Many commissioners remarked about the kindness and generosity of national golf champion Billy Casper the individual, as well as the professionalism of his business Billy Casper Golf, which has had a contract for a number of years to operate all the District's golf courses.  Prior to retaining Billy Casper Golf, the District golf courses were in poor shape; today, they are well-managed and in very good condition.  Billy Casper Golf also runs the FPDCC campgrounds.

Commissioner Deborah Sims sits on the board of directors of Neighborspace, a partnership between the private sector, community organizations (churches, block clubs, schools), and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the City of Chicago, and the Chicago Park District.  Neighborspace secures land that is too small or too fragmented to be part of the FPDCC holdings.  It  has acquired more than 100  parcels that are utilized for nature play areas, community gardens, small parks, and natural areas and are maintained by volunteers.

Agenda items of interest included:

#15-0213 & 15-0214:  In Palos Park, the $5 million proposed acquisition from the Catholic Bishop of Chicago (aka the Chicago Archdiocese) of 162.64 acres of high quality open space that includes a large, mature oak woodlands, and a diverse habitat mixture of wetland, lake, and open field.  It is in the watershed and includes the headwater of the stream that created and still flows through the nearby Sagawu Canyon Nature Preserve.  This property is adjacent to the Cap Sauers Nature Preserve, one the District's largest natural areas. 

#15-0237 & 15-0243:  Proposed fee schedules for the new aerial adventure & zipline course (depending on activity, the rates will be $12-57 with a 30% reduction for nonprofit organizations) (15-0237); and boat rental fees (ranging from $15/hour for rowboats, single kayak, or paddle boats to $20 for canoes, tandem kayaks, &  electric motor boats)(15-243).   

#15-0245:  Proposed amendments to contracting provisions (Title 1 Chapter 8 Section2 of the FPDCC Code), including conditions & restrictions on awarding a contract, exceptions to those conditions & restrictions, and selection of professional services for debt transactions.

#15-0248:  Proposed changes to the section of the code governing when permits are required.

#15-0249:  Proposed change on the types of boating devices that can be used on designated District properties, to include kayaks and SUPs (stand-up paddleboards).  Advocates for SUPs, a newer phenomenon in Chicago but commonly used on the east & west coasts, supported their inclusion but encouraged the FPDCC to provide qualified instruction in their use. 

#15-0303:  Proposed amendment expanding the ban on use of tobacco and marijuana in any form  (smoking, inhaling, exhaling, burning, consuming, carrying of any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, vaporizer, snuff, snus, chewing tobacco) on FPDCC property or in owned or leased District vehicles.

#15-0238:  Approved a 3-year contract with Chicago Canoe and Kayak, Evanston to operate the boat concession at Busse Boat House.  At this time, canoes and kayaks only will be available but Superintendent Randall will explore the possible addition of stand-up paddleboards. #15-0239:  T&M Lakes, Inc., Orland Park was awarded the 3-year boat concession contracts for the Tampier and Maple Lake Boat Houses.

#15-0257:  Receipt of a 3-year, $452,000 grant (through the Cook County Department of Public Health) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Partnerships to Improve Community Health program.  The purpose is to increase residents' awareness and promote physical activity in the forest preserves as part of the Healthy HotSpot Initiative.  #15-0246 goes into detail about preparation of a 10 site "Gateway Plan"  to engage visitors.

#15-0263:  Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Rosemont to construct a pedestrian bridge over the Des Plaines River near Bryn Mawr Avenue that would provide access to the Catherine Chevalier Woods.  Rosemont will be responsible for the design, construction and maintenance and there will be no cost to FPDCC.  Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens was in attendance.

#15-0272:  Through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, this Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant ($439,000 + $95,000 match by FPDCC) is for control of buckthorn and garlic mustard at the Calumet City Prairie, Jurgensen Woods, Thornton-Lansing Road Woods, and Wampum Lake.

#15-0291:  Filing of the FY2014 Business Diversity Report

The final item of business is always a list of the upcoming monthly conservation and experiential programming activities occurring throughout the FPDCC. Publicity does not appear to be the District's forte.  Please consider contacting your local media to post these events, most of which are free.

Submitted by Sheri Latash

Cook County Committees & Board of Commissioners Meeting Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The board meeting was called to order at noon as committee meetings took longer than scheduled.   Three Committee items of note:

Commissioner Boykin introduced an Ordinance [15-1565] banning the use of Choke Holds by Law Enforcement within the County.  Some commissioners felt the ordinance was a duplication of state law being considered and could lead to a increase in law suits filed.  The Ordinance passed in the Criminal Justice Committee and later by the full board.

Legislative & Intergovernmental Relations Committee:  Amy Patton Campanelli was unanimously approved in Committee and then at the full board meeting to be the next Cook County Public Defender serving a 6 year term, effective April 1, 2015.

Ms. Campanelli spoke about how delighted she was to be appointed the county’s second female Public Defender since the department was established in 1930, in the second largest Public Defender’s office in the country. Ms. Campanelli listed her five goals, with reasonable bond her top priority. The other four goals are to end the practice of prosecuting children in adult court, proactive community outreach, expand the special courts, such as mental and drug courts, and to offer consistent training programs to public defenders.

Finance Committee:  Commissioner Gainer expressed serious skepticism about the Hospital Systems efforts to take in-house its collection efforts and asked for calls to be made to other Chicago hospitals to see if any have in-house collection operations and their experience.

Board Meeting: At 12:10pm, Commissioner Daley offered the consent calendar for approval. Calendar discussion continued until 12:25 and included a tribute to Jan Ortwell, former President of the League of Women Voters of Illinois and Director of the IL Dept. of Aging.

Resolution 15-2499. Lengthy discussion occurred regarding this resolution urging the General Assembly to pass legislation to reform percentage based bail bond fees. The issue is whether the current 10% of posted bail bond, which is a state statute, should be changed to cap the bond fee at $100 which is closer to the cost of processing.  Several commissioners wondered whether requesting other levels of government to take action is worthwhile. Others felt that passing resolutions is a way to ask other government levels to listen to the County’s concerns particularly when the issue in question primarily affects Cook County.  The resolution passed.

Resolution 15-2421. Commissioner Schneider introduced with sponsorship from Arroyo, Fritchey, Gorman, Goslin, Moore and Silvestri, which stated: “The members of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County ….shall oppose a property tax increase and look for other methods to fill the budget shortfalls in the 2016 CC fiscal budget.”  Daley moved that the resolution was out of order and President Preckwinkle agreed.  A roll call vote was called which resulted in the motion being defeated by a comfortable margin.  Schneider stated that he would contact the States Attorney for validation of the motion and ruling.

Resolution #15-2463 offered by Commissioner Tobolski and sponsored by all attending commissioners to engage in outreach for Veteran-owned businesses was moved to the Veteran’s Committee.

Resolution # 150961. The Bureaus of Technology, Finance, and Assessor’s office asked for a $1,633,594 increase and a contract extension through 2019 with Acxiom Corporation in order to run parallel systems while implementing the new platforms. Several commissioners expressed frustration at the continued request for money with no concrete assurances that the problems are resolved and a solid plan and timetable are in place. The new Chief Procurement Officer stated that she is confident this money is needed and that over the next two years more platforms will be up and running with the entire project completed by 2019. The Contract extension passed. 

15-2372. The Assessor’s Office proposed a contract amendment to add $600,000 for [tax] fraud  collection research. Sixty percent of the data gained via this contractor have been good hits. Commissioner Gainer expressed privacy concerns with all the data generated. It was stated that the data was deleted shortly after the search was completed.

Resolution #152543 opposing right to work zones was referred to the Legislative Committee.

Commissioner Gainer asked commissioners to support colleges in reporting sexual abuse attacks on campus. 

A note: 16 commissioners were in attendance at the start of the board meeting and 13 were in attendance at conclusion.  We observers were very pleased to see Commissioner Suffredin back from his medical absence.

Submitted by:  Laura Davis & Diane Edmundson

Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board of Directors Meeting March 27, 2015

Meeting called to order by Chair H Hammock at 9am

Public Speakers   There were 2 public speakers. A man commented about high cost contracts being approved without apparent dissent by the Board, implying that they are being rubber-stamped. Second speaker was a woman whose son died at Stroger Hospital after being shot. She donated his organs.  She was distraught when her son’s personal belongings were not released in time for the service by the hospital due to a problem with the paperwork which the staff left in charge could not fix.  She was crying and stated that staff left in charge should have the ability to make decisions that are important to the public. Chair Hammock and CEO Dr. Shannon expressed their regret to Ms. Lewis and intention to enact corrective action to address this issue.

Board and Committee Reports

BoD meeting minutes from the 2-27-15 meeting were approved.

Quality and Patient Safety Committee, met on 3-17-15

Director Gugenheim and Dr. Das presented the  Quality Metrics reported for full year 2014 as variances from a stated target:

Stroger: Venous thromboembolism prophalaxis, variance of -14.8% below target (99%);  on-time start of surgical cases -45% (target 80%);  overall rating of hospital by patients -10% (target 85%) 

Provident Hospital: VTE prophalaxis -4.9% (target 99%); ACHN:  diabetes in control 78% (target 78%); Patient experience moving through visit -8% (target 75%); patient experience telephone experience  -13% (target 75%)   

Chair H Hammock said “good summary”.  He wants the Board to be very familiar with the metrics so that discussion will only be on remedial action. 

   

Dir. Gugenheim reported that the Primary Care Medical Home inspection of ACHN was passed with flying colors.

Dr. Das reported on the report “Overview of Linguistically Appropriate Care Presentation” including patient preferred languages (English #1, Spanish #2), and number of  interpreters (in-person vs phone 50/50%).  Dir. Junge requested metrics on language for the Cermak Clinic. Dr. Das said it would be forthcoming.

Audit and Compliance Committee 3-19-15   

Dir. Velasquez and Kathy Bodnar reported on Corporate Compliance issues by category with HIPPA 44% and  Human Resources 18% the top 2 issues for 2015 Quarter 1. CountyCare Health Plan issues were not included (separate report on fraud, waste, abuse etc. for CountyCare to come).

Managed Care Committee 3-19-15   

Dir. Lerner and Steven Glass explained powerpoint of metrics. CountyCare members by age 2015 Q 1 little change (25-44y/o= 29%; 55 + 29%); trending of extended supply of prescriptions (90 d supply vs 30 d) decreasing 10% in 12/14 and 8.6% 2/15.  Mr. Glass stated that the goal is to increase the % of 90 d PX because there is potentially a $2,000,000 annual savings in the labor costs when the total number of Px are decreased by giving patients a 3 month supply. The plan is to make this mandatory and require the patient to pay for any lost portions of the Px.  Dir. Butler was concerned that this would penalize patients unfairly. Mr. Glass reported potential 5,000,000 savings if all HIV Px are filled at CCHHS.  

Membership total (including ACA, FHP and SPD, home community waiver) for 2/15 now 152,995 up from 86,562 (12/14).  Goal based on budget is 156,943 (they are at 97,5% of goal for Feb.’15).

 

CountyCare is the 3^rd largest managed care program in Chicago after Family Health Network and Harmony Health Plan.  Most of utilization is primary care and the goal is to spread utilization more evenly over the services which are being funded even if not utilized. Claims payment data shows metrics reaching goal of 30 days. Brief discussion of hard to reach population efforts by CountyCare. Mr. Glass noted that they work with the Salvation Army. Dir. Velasquez suggested that Catholic Charities be contacted.

Human Resources Committee 3-20-15 

Dir. Wiese and Gladys Lopez, Chief HR, reported that the vacancies on 2-26-15 were 989 with goal of 600 and days to fill a position 195 days with goal of 94 days. G. Lopez commented that “it is hard to compete with Northwestern and Rush Medical Centers at job Fairs because of the CCHHS union contract which requires posting jobs for 2 weeks and other bureaucratic requirements that  prevents on-spot hires”.  

 HR offers a CCHHS Leadership Development Program for employees that are at supervisor or director level (600 eligible) which teach performance management tools. 35 graduates thus far with 50% from the nursing dept.   

Dir. Velasquez asked “who evaluates the supervisors?”  Mr. Elwell responded that they are developing formal processes for evaluating supervisors.

Finance Committee 3-20-15   

Director Collens and Mr. Elwell reported on metrics. He indicated that CCHHS was experiencing difficulty in finding psychiatrists required by federal agencies for Cermak.  There were a decrease in in-patient days over the last 5 months below budget but this has been reported by all hospitals.  A positive is the decrease in uncompensated care from 50% to 24% of patients taken care of.   

Survey of the breakdown of physician work efforts at CCHHS shows time spent:  clinical 57%,  teaching 21%,  administration 20% and research 1%.  Overall financials show a slightly positive income for the 1^st Q.

Report from Chair of the Board       

Chair H. Hammock indicated that attendance at committees of the Board and Board meetings, including Directors and non-Director attendees would be tracked by quarter going forward.  CCHHS fundraiser recently raised $100,000 to be used by the ER.

Report from CEO   

Dr. Shannon provided a legislative update as relevant to CCHHS (CC, State, Federal) including potential funding cuts by the State for the 2016 budget year.  He presented an overview of the Strategic Plan which is required to be for at least 3 years, 2016-2018 by the 2008 Cook County Ordinance.  It may be a 5 year plan.  It covers a wide range of elements.  A more definitive version of the Plan will be forthcoming.

Meeting adjourned to Closed Meeting Items at 11:45am

Submitted by Susan Kerns