Cook County Board President Todd Stroger not only opposes cuts recently announced by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System but said the independent board should be overseen by the Cook County Board.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger not only opposes cuts recently announced by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System but said the independent board should be overseen by the Cook County Board. “There is no oversight here. They can do what they want and do not have to be held accountable to anyone and that needs to change,” said Stroger. “Now is not the time to be cutting people from their jobs especially those who are long time health employees who helped build the hospitals into what they are now.” On Monday Stroger, Alderman Walter Burnett, whose 27th ward includes Stroger Hospital on the West Side, union leaders, and county hospital employees, held a news conference outside Stroger Hospital to voice their concerns about the job cuts. In 2008 Stroger gave up control of the hospital system and agreed to allow it to be managed by an independent board. However, William Foley, CEO for the CCHHS, defended the board’s decision to reduce its workforce. “When the Cook County Board established the independent health system, they required us to undergo a performance improvement assessment study,” Foley explained. “We have completed that study and found that there were some areas that needed adjustments in staffing. “[And] this is a rebalancing effort to make sure that we have the right amount of people in the right place at the right time to make sure our patients are getting the quality care they deserve.” The $887 million budget proposal the CCHHS submitted to Cook County commissioners is less than the $1 billion it took previously to run the health system, said Lucio Guerrero, director of Pubic Relations & Community Affairs for the CCHHS. He added that the CCHHS is only requesting $308 million from Cook County Board commissioners. The CCHHS is also proposing eliminating 1,035 jobs, which includes 700 vacant positions. The job cuts, which are expected to save taxpayers $60 million, would mainly be non-clinical employees, such as food service, clerks, painters, drivers, and telephone operators, Guerrero told the Defender. He added that the Cook County Board approved the job reductions when they were first announced during the previous two budget cycles, and that a portion of the reductions are part of the 2009 budget, which ends Nov. 30. At Provident Hospital of Cook County, 500 E. 51st St., 34 positions will be eliminated, and at Stroger Hospital 107 positions. The cuts will come mostly from south suburban Oak Forest Hospital where 200 positions will be cut including 70 nurses. But layoffs are being delayed until Jan. 12, 2010 even though union rules calls for layoffs to go into effect 60 days from the date of the notice, Guerrero explained. “We opted to move it past the holidays (although union rules only require 60 days). There isn’t really a steadfast target date, but we anticipate the ‘bumping’ will be complete by next month.” Bumping is when an employee who receives a layoff notice but bids on another employee’s position that has less seniority than them. Brenda Langford is one of those nurses at Oak Forest who received a layoff notice this week. “I received notice Monday that I am being laid off,” she said. “These cuts will paralyze health care at the county hospitals.” Laid off nurses are encouraged to seek vacant nurse positions within the county, added Guerrero. “We hope to help nurses who have been displaced find jobs within the (county) system in our nursing vacancies,” he said. “Also, we are going to be providing outplacement services to the affected employees to help them with resume skills and interviewing techniques.”
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