Cook County Health & Hospitals System Recognizes Auburn Gresham Resident

Kim Waterman
Published: July 27, 2016

Dr. Zorina Oakley, PharmD, a resident of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, is one of 14 staff members recently recognized by the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) for completing the System’s Leadership Development Program (LDP). This selective program identifies up-and-coming staff members and provides them with training and resources to hone their leadership skills.

Oakley, Pharmacy Supervisor at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, underwent three months of training on strategies and skills to successfully create excellent patient experiences. In addition, participants developed unique projects to implement these approaches into everyday practice. Oakley’s project focused on the effects and causes of sick calls on the pharmacy department.

“The goal is to engage and empower people to understand how vital their attendance is to the successful operation of the department. We want pharmacy to provide an excellent patient experience via our staff showing up for work healthy,” said Oakley.

LDP is an empowerment program that helps managers grasp and understand the heart of CCHHS. It demonstrates that staff engagement is achievable and is the best way to ensure excellence in patient care and satisfaction.

"This program is an integral part of our system-wide patient experience initiative. As a result of the Affordable Care Act, many of our patients now have choice in where they can seek medical care. We want to earn the privilege of being their provider of choice. By lifting up some of our most promising team members, we hope to empower them to be agents of change as we continue to improve our patients' interactions with CCHHS," said Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO, CCHHS.

LDP lesson topics included motivating staff, providing feedback, managing a diverse workforce, ensuring quality and safety, managing performance expectations and leading through difficult situations. Since the program was initiated in Fall of 2013, over 60 leaders have completed the program.

One of the largest public health systems in the nation, the Cook County Health & Hospitals System serves as the safety net for health care in Chicago and suburban Cook County. CCHHS is comprised of two hospitals, 15 community health centers, the Ruth M. Rothstein Core Center, the Cook County Department of Public Health, Cermak Health Services and CountyCare, a managed Medicaid health plan. The system cares for more than 300,000 patients each year and its physicians are experts in their fields, committed to providing their patients with comprehensive, compassionate and cutting-edge care. Today, CCHHS is transforming the provision of health care in Cook County by promoting community-based primary and preventive care, developing a robust, collaborative health plan and enhancing the patient experience.

Keywords: Cook County Health & Hospitals System, healthcare, John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, patient experience