HC3 Members and Partners:
In April, the city of Chicago launched the COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce (RTF) to help city government officials develop an economic recovery plan in the wake of the pandemic. Last week, Mayor Lightfoot shared insights from the taskforce’s recently-published RTF Advisory Report at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago.
In Lightfoot’s remarks she urged the private sector to engage proactively in the recovery activities via five tactical activities:
1. Procurement: Update procurement practices and policies to ensure discretionary dollars are equitably going to Black and Brown-owned businesses/services
2. Hiring: Align hiring practices to diversify your workforce and influence your corporate values
3. Direct Project-Based Investments: Make catalytic debt and equity investments directly in community-driven real estate projects
4. Investment Allocation: Dedicate a portion of the company’s balance sheets to invest more capital in marginalized communities to generate valuable returns for generations to come
5. Footprint Expansion: Bring businesses to Chicago neighborhoods where there is an abundance of affordable real estate to create jobs and economic opportunities for local residents
The goal of HC3 has always been to cultivate opportunities to advance efficiency and innovations capable of transforming Chicago’s health status. Now more than ever we have an opportunity to disrupt the status quo and respond to the mayor’s call.
HC3 will soon launch the Transformation Series to address how Chicago’s health care community can leverage its resources to catalyze sustainable, durable health care solutions that will influence system transformation and help rebuild our community.
More information about opportunities to participate in this virtual series is forthcoming. In the meantime, I invite you to share your thoughts on potential topics, speakers, or other ways we can drive change in our community through our events and activities.
Stay well,
Meghan Phillipp
Executive Director
Health Care Council of Chicago
Connect for COVID-19
Earlier this month HC3 Co-Founder David Smith and HC3 Executive Director Meghan Phillipp had the opportunity to join volunteers from Connect for COVID-19 to supply and deliver 40 electronic tablets to Saint Anthony Hospital in the underserved community of Little Village.
Understandably, hospitals across the U.S. have established no-visitor policies to prevent the spread of the virus. Connect For COVID-19 has been helping local communities nationwide collect donations to purchase used and refurbished smart devices to enable patients to stay connected to their families and communities.
HC3 is proud to partner with Connect for COVID-19 to support our local Chicago community. Read the full story here.To learn more about Connect for COVID-19 and to support the campaign’s effort, please visit https://www.dhcproject.org/covid19.
25th Anniversary of Chicago's 1995 Heatwave
This week is the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Chicago Heat Wave. Recently, PBS re-broadcasted the documentary film COOKED: Survival By Zip Code to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of the 1995 Chicago heat wave that killed almost 800 people. Nearly 1.5 million people watched the documentary’s premiere February 3 on PBS Independent Lens.
COOKED is based on a book written by Eric Klineberg called HEAT WAVE: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. In the book, KIineberg examines the ways in which the 1995 heat wave exposed health disparities among racial groups and disproportionately affected low-income and Black residents.
Black residents made up one-third of the death toll during the 1995 disaster. Today’s pandemic continues to disproportionately affected Chicago’s Black and Brown communities, underscoring a continuation of this underlying issue of systemic disparities and racism.
“The COVID-19 virus, the current crisis that is literally stopping our world dead in its tracks, is much deadlier for some than others, and points to the underlying crisis and disease of acute systemic disparity and racism that is there every day and has been killing people daily for decades.” - Judith Helfand, COOKED Documentary Director
PBS is currently streaming this documentary for free.
NEWS & INSIGHTS FROM HC3 MEMBERS
Oak Street Health, which operates primary care centers for the Medicare-eligible population, filed an initial public offering on July 10 of up to $100 million with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It plans to be listed as OSH on the New York Stock Exchange. (Press Release here; Articles here, here, here, here, and here)
During a recent Outcomes Rocket podcast, Jason Montrie, President of Pareto Intelligence, discussed the impact of siloes in health care and how Pareto delivers data-based analytics in real-time. He also shares his thoughts on looking at members holistically so providers and payers can make smart decisions about where to put dollars and resources, data science, modern technology, and more. (Listen to the podcast here)
Christine Achre, CEO of Primo Center for Women and Children, was recently featured in Authority Magazine’s series on social impact heroes of the COVID-19 crisis. Primo Center is the largest provider of services and shelter for homeless children and their families in Chicago. (Article Here)
Congratulations to HC3 Member Advocate Aurora for being listed in Modern Healthcare’s list of the 150 Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2020! (Full list and article here)
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