Board of Health

Skokie Board of Health April 9th, 2015 Present Excused Absent Mr. Abbasi Mr. Pandya Dr. Gaynes Dr. Sood Dr. Dave Dr. Prince Ms. Jones Thorne Dr. Drachler Dr. Usman Mr. Nidetz Ms. Langguth Ms. Varma Dr. Topouzian Dr. Luka Dr. Vernon Ms. Urbanus Ms. Nikitsch Dugan Dr. Werner Dr. Williams Guest Rich Casey, FACHE Vice President Skokie Hospital North Shore University Health System Dr. Counard, Director of Health David Clough, Staff Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m. by Dr. Drachler, Chairman. Approval of Minutes –The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Chair’s Report Dr. Drachler reported on the proposal to include e-cigarettes in the clean indoor air ordinance presented at the April 6th Board of Trustees meeting. Dr. Timothy Sanborn; Chairman of Cardiology at North Shore University Health Systems, Don Zeigler from the Evanston Board of Health, and a representative from the American Lung Association were present to support the amendment. Presentations by both Dr. Williams and Dr. Drachler were very well received and the ordinance will be brought back for a second reading on April 20th. Dr. Drachler proposed that the next step will be to increase the age to purchase tobacco products to twenty one. Dr. Drachler reported on rewards and recognitions. Dr. Usman was recognized during the Boards and Commissions dinner for serving on the Board of Health for 25 years. Public Health Partners in Excellence awards were presented to Rich Casey on behalf of Skokie Hospital and the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors at the Board of Trustees Meeting. Skokie Hospital was recognized for excellence in collaboration with the Village during Ebola preparation exercises and drills. Rich Casey, Vice President of Skokie Hospital Advocate Merger The driving force behind the advocate merger is the trend of hospitals taking on greater risk. To be successful in caring for populations as a whole, hospitals will need to have greater scale. Advocate North Shore Health Partners (ANHP) will be the parent organization but both organizations will continue to exist under their own brand names. The State of Illinois has approved the merger and they are currently seeking approval from the Federal Trade Commission. Once completed, ANHP will be the 11th largest not-for-profit system in the United States, serving 3 million patients annually. ANHP will have 45,000 employees, 2,000 employee physicians, and 6,000 physicians on staff total. The academic relationships held by both hospital systems will remain unchanged. Accountable Care Entity (ACE) North Shore has joined an ACE called Community Care Partners (CCP), which will include Vista health system, Erie Family health center, and the Lake County Health Department. The ACE will create a network to provide services to the Medicaid population including Turning Point. The network will eventually have to expand to include other services like nursing homes, home health, and dentistry. CCP currently has 40,000 Medicaid recipients as members. The whole network has a capacity for 60,000. CCP is meant to allow Medicaid patients to take charge of their own health. Outreach calls and welcome packets have been sent to 14,000 households, 7,800 of which were answered. Care Coordinators are meant to identify and reach out to high risk populations. Population assessments are done proactively rather than waiting for patients to come to them. Community Involvement Skokie Hospital believes that the more they work with the community the stronger both will become. Skokie Hospital is also required to meet community health needs, relieve the burden of government, and file an annual report of community benefits with the IRS in order to maintain their not-for-profit status. North Shore provides $252 million in community benefits each year. This includes $21 million in charity care, $123 million in unreimbursed Medicare and Medicaid services, subsidized health services, and health education. Programs that served Skokie residents in the last year include: • Charity Care – Provided financial assistance to 3,000 Skokie residents for 3.6 million dollars. • Evanston Hospital Community Health Center – Served 1,000 Skokie residents. • Erie Evanston/Skokie Health Center – Established with a $10 million contribution from North Shore. • District 219 job shadowing and health careers – Job shadowing opportunities for 550 high school students each year. • The Living Room project at Turning Point – Allows patients in crisis to receive psychiatric care without having to go to the Emergency Room. Additionally, Skokie hospital is the largest employer in Skokie with over 1,900 employees. Campus Development Skokie hospital was built in the early 60’s when health care had a primarily inpatient model. Campus renovations are part of a larger strategy to move to an outpatient model of care. The goals are to bring additional physician resources, improve patient experience and flow, and to upgrade and enhance technology. Last year most of the work completed focused on improving infrastructure. This summer multiple outpatient Physical Therapy locations will be consolidated on campus. A new surgical pavilion and GI lab will be completed as well. A healing garden will be also be added for patients wishing to go outside during their stay. Mr. Casey showed pictures and renderings of some of the updated renovations. Dr. Drachler asked about improvements to the parking situation. Mr. Casey reported that they have grown faster than expected and as a result have insufficient parking. The current goal is to take down the Kenton/Knox buildings to make space for additional parking. A multistory parking structure is part of a longer term plan. Dr. Usman asked if any alternative medicines will be available at Skokie Hospital. Mr. Casey reported that there is a center for integrative medicine but most of the medical staff are not as accepting of those treatment modalities. Dr. Werner stated that a pillar of health care reform is the triple aim: improvement of the patient experience, improvement of population health, and decreasing the cost of care. It would seem a collaboration with the health department would make sense for this. Mr. Casey agreed, pointing out that the Erie health center couldn’t have been possible without leveraging their relationships with the Evanston and Skokie health departments. Mr. Abbasi asked which hospitals currently belong to NorthShore University HealthSystem? Mr. Casey replied that they are Evanston Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital, Highland Park Hospital and Skokie Hospital. Dr. Drachler acknowledged all of the improvements and changes that have been made at Skokie Hospital since it was acquired by NorthShore. Personal Statements Dr. Vernon gave a brief overview of his background for the Board’s information. Dr. Drachler asked that Dr. Werner be prepared to give the same brief background overview to the Board at the May meeting. Directors Report Highlights Good Samaritan Act Amendment - Director of Health Testifies in Springfield Dr. Counard thanked the Board of Health for their support of the Good Samaritan Act Amendment to provide the Medical Reserve Corps with liability protection when they assist the health department during an emergency. The bill passed out of the House with unanimous support. Skokie Draft Environmental Sustainability Plan is Taking Shape Dr. Counard reported that Health Department and Public Works staff with be travelling to UIC next Wednesday to review the draft environmental health plan with the class that helped to develop it. The students have compiled programs from similar municipalities across the country. E-Cigarette Ordinance Scheduled for April 6 Dr. Counard congratulated Dr. Drachler on a successful presentation to the Board of Trustees on e- cigarettes. Dr. Drachler reported that Dr. Williams provided an excellent presentation as well and did a masterful job of utilizing his personal experiences growing up on a tobacco farm to convince the Board of the dangers of second hand smoke. Community Health Plan Initiatives Access to Health Care Dr. Drachler pointed out that bringing two Federally Qualified Health Centers to Skokie may have completed most of this objective. Obesity Dr. Drachler received an e-mail from Don Zeigler about the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Act. The act proposes to tax sugar sweetened beverages and has been brought at the state level. Dr. Counard reports that the act is still in committee. Dr. Drachler would be interested to see what happens when attempting to reduce obesity through financial disincentives. Dr. Counard reported that Dr. Leslie Cordes will come to the May Board of Health meeting to present the childhood obesity data collected at Skokie public schools. Tobacco Mr. Clough reported that Turning Point has been enrolled as an Illinois Tobacco Quitline referral partner. Brief tobacco interventions will be included as part of their intake process. They have also completed their first Courage to Quit class with four of six individuals completing the entire course and three of those successfully quitting. Mr. Clough reported that using grant dollars to support the effort allowed them to offer the class without charging for it. Healthy Environment Dr. Drachler pointed out that the crisis in California is raising awareness about water conservation issues. Dr. Usman asked if we had received any calls regarding the K9 influenza virus. Dr. Counard reported that we have had none at this point. Dr. Usman wondered if this was more of a media scare than a serious outbreak. Dr. Luka reported that there is a very recently developed vaccine, which she has ordered. Dr. Usman and Dr. Luka agreed to bring more information about K9 influenza to the May meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:56PM.