Title
Medical Director Report - Dr. Zun
Body
Physical Health
Provider Collaboration
• An internal medicine physician, Istiklal Arikan, MD has accepted a full-time position at the Zion Health Center.
• A number of APRNs and one physician assistant have interviewed for the two open midlevel positions.
Clinical Operations
• Provider and medical assistant staffing remains a challenge as leadership continues to look into staffing alternatives.
• Focus on Patients - Physical Health, in partnership with Prevention, has embarked on a focus of antibiotic stewardship for the clinic system. The CDC describes antibiotic stewardship as the effort to measure and improve how antibiotics are prescribed by clinicians and used by patients. Improving antibiotic prescribing and its use are critical to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harm caused by unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antibiotic resistance. The attached graph shows our reduced use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections.
External Relations
• A tour of the Grand Avenue Health Center along with presentations from Physical Health, Behavioral Health, Prevention and the Executive Director was given to a number of the Deans from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science on Thursday, January 6, 2022.
• Physical Health and Behavioral Health are working with Region X EMS systems on implementation of the new 988 call system.
Regulatory
• Continuous readiness preparation to ensure regulatory compliance remains ongoing.
Psychiatry/MAT
Provider Collaboration
• No updates
Clinical Operations
• No significant FQHC-related changes in clinical operations. Most services continue to be provided using phone or video, though face-to-face appointments are available daily.
• The Behavioral Health Medical Director position remains posted.
• New Psychiatric APRN, Kathryn Ellis, began full time at the Belvidere Medical Center on December 6, 2021.
External Relations
• Nothing new to report.
Regulatory
• No updates at this time.
Dental
Provider Collaboration
• Recruitment continues for the position of Dental Assistant at Midlakes and we are working with a potential candidate.
• Recruitment is underway for the position of Dental Hygienist/Community Dental Worker Coordinator.
• There are currently no open provider positions.
• We welcomed RDH, Olga Kalegina, to our Midlakes Health Center and Zion Health Center. Olga comes to the FQHC from the Naval base in North Chicago.
Clinical Operations
• A third dental chair has been added to the Zion clinic site. Upon arrival of additional equipment it will be operational and will increase access to dental care for the residents of Zion and surrounding communities.
External Relations
• The Delta Dental Community Grant start date was January 1, 2022. We have engaged in several meetings with the American Dental Association with the rollout of this project. We hope to enroll several Community Health Workers into the Dental Community Worker online training programs soon.
Regulatory
• We continue to monitor for any updates related to dental patient care during COVID-19. Promotion of the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters to our dental patients continues. In some cases, vaccinations are administered on the same day as their dental appointment through the COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Clinics.
• During the 2021 fiscal year, dental saw just over 13,000 encounters. Patient services were greatly impacted by the pandemic.
• Our HRSA key performance indicator of Dental Sealants has exceeded 8%. This is a great accomplishment as we were under 50% about a year ago. The staff has done an exceptional job complying with this measure.
Suggested Motion
None, for information only.