Title
Medical Director’s Report - Dr. Zun
Body
Physical Health
Provider Collaboration
• During this challenging time, there has been fairly frequent communications with providers. These communications include one-on-one provider meetings, weekly email updates, monthly All Provider COVID-19 Updates and Agency Response sessions, and monthly All Provider Question and Answer sessions.
• Dr. May Hassib is leaving LCHD/CHC on July 17, 2020. She has been a respected provider since 2008 and at one point served the health department as Interim Medical Director and Regional Medical Director. We have begun to interview candidates for her position.
Clinic Operations
• The patient volume has decreased in the Respiratory Illness Clinic (RIC) and COVID-19 Telehealth service since the Waukegan Testing Center came online. We continue to make daily and weekly staffing changes to best utilize our resources.
• Some of the staff working in COVID-19 services have been redeployed to the Zion clinic in order to meet patient need.
• Wellness calls to patients who have not been to our clinics in a while are rolling out. The plan is to contact as many of our patients as possible to determine how they are faring during COVID-19 and answer their questions and concerns.
External Relations
• Chicago Medical School has offered to have 30 or so students do contact tracing over the summer.
• Discussions with the other Rosalind Franklin University schools to provide students for contact tracing on a longer-term basis are ongoing.
Regulatory
• Quality improvement activities and preparation for The Joint Commission visit has taken a renewed focus.
Behavioral Health
Provider Collaboration
• A new psychiatrist, Dr. Sue Lin, is scheduled to start as a 0.8 FTE at Midlakes on June 22, 2020.
Clinic Operations
• We are continuing with remote care for all patients. Visits have been primarily phone appointments, but steadily increasing Zoom video appointments.
• Lab results and medication injections remain as in-person visits.
External Relations
• Dr. Joshua Nathan, Behavioral Health Medical Director, gave a Zoom presentation to Park Place Senior Center in Waukegan about mental health during a pandemic and stay-at-home restrictions.
Regulatory
• Temporary regulatory changes remain in effect:
o Governor’s Executive Order and various federal agencies have relaxed regulation on telehealth, so patients can be physically located at home, with provider being located at the office or elsewhere.
o DEA and SAMHSA have also implemented emergency temporary regulatory changes, to allow remote visits for addictions and less frequent dosing of methadone.
• Preparation for The Joint Commission visit continues.
Dental Health
Provider Collaboration
• Presently, clinical services are operating under the guidance of the CDC. We are providing emergency care only, Monday thru Friday, at the Zion and BMB clinics.
Clinical Operations
• Beginning May 11, 2020, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) recommends that oral health providers resume provision of routine oral and dental care consistent with this guidance for minimizing risk of transmission of COVID-19 in an oral healthcare settings.
• Services under the revised state guidance will initially be rolled out at Zion and BMB. We will then phase in our other practice locations over time.
Regulatory
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on the use of amalgam separators <https://www.epa.gov/eg/dental-effluent-guidelines> was recently finalized and the final rule is effective as of July 14, 2017 with the date for compliance being July 14, 2020.
• All LCHD/CHC sites are compliant.
• There are 7 units operational within the agency.
Suggested Motion
None, for information only.