Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2013-02-14

Skokie Board of Health
 February 14, 2013

Present____________________ _ Absent Excused
Dr. Drachler Mr. Shah Dr. Kaplan Mr. Nidetz
Ms. Nickisch Duggan Dr. Sood Dr. Luka Dr. Plotkin
Dr. Gaynes Dr. Topouzian Mr. Pandya Dr. Polin
Mr. Gordon Ms. Urbanus Ms. Varma Dr. Vicencio
Dr. Herwitz Dr. Usman
Dr. Prince Dr. Williams

Bruce A. Jones, Staff

Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at 7:31 p.m.

Approval of Minutes – The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Presentation: Mr. Rich Casey, Vice President, Skokie Hospital; Vision for the Future of Skokie Hospital
Mr. Casey gave a very informative presentation on the “Vision for the Future of Skokie Hospital”.
A copy of the presentation is attached.

Mr. Casey mentioned he has been with North Shore since 1995 and in the position of Vice-President for
the past five years. Mr. Casey outlined and gave detailed information on each of the following areas:

Skokie Hospital Enhancements
 • Clinical Services
 • Campus Development
 • Strategic right-size
 • Improve experience and flow (patient and staff)
 • Upgrade and enhance technology

Components & Infrastructure
 • Ambulatory Care Center Opened January 2013
 • Clinical Ancillary Services Expected completion – January 2014
 • Surgical Pavilion expansion Expected completion – January 2017
 • Patient Bed tower Expected completion – December 2016
 • Other campus enhancements (Administrative relocation, Kitchen / Café updated, Conference
 space, etc.,) Expected completion – September 2015

Mr. Casey also indicated that the number of licensed beds would actually decrease once the renovations
are completed as shown below:

 Category Change Current Licensed beds

 ICU -4 16
 Medical / Surgical -35 140
 Total -39 156
Dr. Sood asked if Skokie Hospital was going for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) certification. Mr. Casey said that there should be some areas where this could be accomplished.

Mr. Gordon brought up several topic areas where he thought Skokie Hospital could improve and
suggested that there needed to be more community outreach on how things might be completed. Mr.
Casey mentioned that they have conducted community outreach through various organizations such as
Chamber of Commerce, Skokie Rotary, etc. community advisory council (which includes various
individuals from different organization (Skokie Park District, Skokie School Districts, Seema Terry -
worked on the IPLAN process, etc.)

Dr. Herwitz questioned if the new Primary Care Center design was modeled after a POD system. Mr.
Casey said yes that was the intent to have the patient only have to navigate a smaller portion of the
hospital and be much more efficient.

Mr. Casey spoke about their computerized Personal Health Record (PHR) system which allows data
mining on a variety of health issues. He gave examples on following the incidence of flu, health
outcomes, re-hospitalization’s etc.

Dr. Williams asked with their data mining if Skokie Hospital does any proactive messaging to patients on
Health and Safety topics. Mr. Casey mentioned their “Epic System” which sends out information to
physicians. Dr. Williams stated he was more interested in proactive messaging to the Community since
this is what the Board of Health is concerned about and using it to improve the health of the community
and reduce health care costs. Mr. Casey stated that they have “North Shore Connect” to inform their
patients. Dr. Drachler mentioned that patients must first connect with the system to receive these alerts.
There was more discussion on increased partnering with Skokie Hospital on messaging to the community
on a variety of health topics.

Dr. Drachler stated that Skokie Hospital is not lacking in patient and community feedback as he sees
these items on his computer on a weekly basis.

Dr. Drachler asked about the Skokie Hospital day to day census. Mr. Casey explained that their current
census is about 90 patients and during the peak flu season they had between 110-120 capacity and
average census of 80-90, so the new capacity of 156 beds should be sufficient to serve the community.
Dr. Drachler mentioned that the two issues that will drive Skokie Hospital is the need for cardiac care
and cancer care.

Dr. Topouzian brought up the topic of Hospital readmissions and Ms. Nickisch Duggan commented that
some key factors are patient adherence to instructions and mentioned recent studies showing that
education on the first day helped reduce readmissions.

Chair’s Report
Dr. Drachler mentioned that he has been reappointed to the Board for a two year term and that he has
been reappointed as Chair for a one year term.

Dr. Drachler reminded the Board that the Village Skokie Boards & Commissions reception is scheduled
for Monday March 11th starting at 6:30 p.m. Members should receive a RSVP card in the mail.

Personal Statements
Dr. Kaplan was absent from tonight’s meeting. Dr. Drachler asked that Ms. Varma be prepared to give
her brief background overview to the Board at the March meeting.
Director’s Monthly Report
Mr. Jones presented the January monthly report (attached). The highlights included:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives Department Emergency Preparedness plans and
preparations high marks.
The Department was selected by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to undergo a rigorous
all–day evaluation by CDC of existing emergency preparedness plans, focusing on mass distribution of
pharmaceuticals. We are pleased to report that we received a 96%!

Emergency Epinephrine Auto-injectors (EPI-Pen) meeting with District 219 Representatives
The Department met with representatives from District 219, who requested assistance with obtaining
EPI-Pens for students who have not been identified with potentially life-threatening allergies. Every year
there are several episodes of serious allergic reactions in students without known allergies, and the
schools currently are only able to call 911 as they do not have spare EPI-Pens on hand. In compliance
with the Emergency Epinephrine Act, P.A. 97-0361, the Department will work to ensure that EPI-Pens
are available in all Skokie schools that have a school nurse.

Former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site clean-up begins
On January 10 excavations began at the former MGP site located at Oakton and McCormick Blvd. The
contractor immediately began sending the Health Department the results of daily ambient air monitoring at the
site. None of the measurements in January were above levels requiring remedial action.

Ongoing Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) preparations continue for May 23 evacuation exercise
Representatives from the six Skokie LTCFs attended another training focused on preparing for the May
regional flooding exercise, which will include practicing to evacuate residents and transferring them to
other facilities. The exercise will conclude two years of preparations.

Dr. Gaynes asked why a school nurse is required to assist with EPI-Pens for students. Ms. Urbanus and Mr.
Jones explained that it is the new law which requires this issue. Dr. Williams explained that there are many
students not identified with potentially life-threatening allergies and each year there are episodes of serious
allergic reactions in students without known allergies. There was a lengthy discussion concerning the issue of
schools not having nurses (some public and Parochial schools). Dr. Drachler stated that Dr. Counard can place
the Emergency Epinephrine Act, P.A. 97-0361 on the March agenda for discussion under old business

Health Department Internal Assessment/FY2014 Objectives
Mr. Jones presented the Health Departments Internal Assessment as part of the 2012 IPLAN Process. A
copy of the presentation is attached. Six areas for improvement that were identified:

 • Ensure the systematic analysis of data the Department collects and make the results available to
 the public,
 • Periodically review and revise community health programs on the basis of the community health
 plan,
 • Develop written policies for all programs,
 • Ensure that contact lists for community partners are updated annually
 • Establish professional development plans tailored to each employee’s job functions,
 • Train at least two employees for each program to prevent interruptions in services.

Dr. Drachler, asked the Board of Health for a motion on the acceptance of the Health Departments Internal
Assessment. Motion made by Dr. Williams, seconded by Dr. Sood, the motion passed unanimously
Mr. Jones gave a short presentation on the Health Departments FY2014 Objectives:
A copy of the presentation is attached. These were identified as:

 1. To continue working with the IPLAN Committee and other community partners to fulfill the
 goals established in The Skokie 2012 Community Health Plan.
 2. To develop a comprehensive patient-centered personal health records database, in conjunction
 with fully utilizing the new scanning software purchased with grant funds.
 3. To revise the Cruelty section of Chapter 18, Animals, of Village Code, and update the Animal
 licensure fee structure.
 4. To have all Health Department personnel complete at least one training program pertinent to
 their job duties.
 5. To include a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget line item for a new Animal Control
 Vehicle and Transport Module, specifically designed to provide safe animal containment, and
 storage for needed equipment and supplies.
 6. To include a CIP budget line item for a shared Health/Public Works storage closet in the lower
 level of Village Hall.
 7. To continue to aggressively seek grant funds to support and develop Department programs and
 services.
 8. To conduct an Emergency Preparedness exercise with Skokie long-term care facilities, as part of
 a regional flooding exercise, utilizing grant funds obtained specifically for this purpose.
 9. To create a comprehensive annual report covering FY13 by August 2013.
 10. To develop written policies and procedures for all department divisions.
 11. To support and promote any Board of Health initiatives during the year.

Community Health Plan Initiatives Updates
 • Access to Healthcare – Erie Health Center is doing great, full every day, breaking ground on the
 new facility which is expected to be open by mid-July this year. New facility will have a capacity
 for 5,000 patients.

 • Obesity Prevention – Will begin conducting collecting BMI data from Skokie schools on
 children at kindergarten 6th and 9th grades. The sub-committee has gathered a large amount of
 great information on other existing programs (one being done by DuPage County). Looking to
 collect only aggregate data and then decide what to do with this data. Dr. Drachler mentioned
 that Dr. Sood has joined the obesity sub-committee.

 • Tobacco Use Prevention – Mentioned that Oakton Community College (OCC) campus will be
 going smoke free. Details still need to be worked out and this may not take effect until 2014 but
 this is a major accomplishment. Signs were posted at the meeting which had been placed on CTA
 trains and buses. A Skokie Public Middle School student anti-tobacco poster contest will
 conclude on 2/14/13 with the hope that the winning poster will be displayed at the Skokie library.

 • Healthy Environment – The most notable item is the Sustainable Environmental committee is
 very interested in the food scrap recycling program which can remove a vast amount of food
 from the waste stream turning it into compost or fuel as a renewable energy source. Also, we will
 continue to work with the Village Planners on obtaining grants to expand our walking and biking
 paths within the Village.
Old Business
None


New Business
Dr. Drachler mentioned that we will have the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District (NSMAD)
presenting at our mext meeting on March 14, 2013.


Adjournment The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:03 p.m.