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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CONGRATULATING DR. RAM RAJU ON HIS SERVICE TO THE COOK COUNTY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS SYSTEM
WHEREAS, Dr. Ram Raju joined the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) as the Chief Executive Officer on October 2, 2011; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Raju was recruited to transform CCHHS into a patient-centered, financially stable organization in a post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) world; and
WHEREAS, in his first two years with CCHHS, Dr. Raju was instrumental in turning around the financial status of the system and placing it on a more sustainable path; and
WHEREAS, under Dr. Raju's leadership, CCHHS received a meaningful use designation for advancements in information technology, specifically electronic medical records; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Raju's business acumen led to significant improvements in supply chain and contract management and the staffing of a performance-improvement department, initiatives that will yield continued savings for taxpayers in the years to come; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Raju's commitment to the patient experience is reflected by the improved Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAPHs) scores and in the reduction of wait times in the Emergency Department to less than two hours; and
WHEREAS, the clinical improvements Dr. Raju implemented led to Joint Commission accreditation for Stroger and Provident Hospitals as well as the Ambulatory Clinic Network; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Raju's vision initiated the effort that would become CountyCare, an Illinois Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to low-income adults in Cook County in advance of the implementation of the ACA; and
WHEREAS, his recognition that patients are more likely to use care they can access near their home resulted in the development of a network of more than 130 primary care access points by partnering with FQHCs, safety-net and community hospitals, academic medical centers and private doctors; and
WHEREAS, between ...
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