Health and Hospitals Committee Meeting - May 12, 2026: Agency Reduction Report and Workforce Updates
Health and Hospitals Committee Meeting - May 12, 2026: Agency Reduction Report and Workforce Updates
The Health and Hospitals Committee of Cook County convened on May 12, 2026, at 7:45 PM CT. The committee reviewed and accepted a semi-annual report on Cook County Health's (CCH) agency utilization, received a presentation on workforce reduction progress, and discussed recruitment strategies, including partnerships with Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The meeting included a roll-call vote on the item.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: Item 26-1486, the minutes from the April 14, 2026 Health and Hospitals Committee meeting, was approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Item 26-1101 CCH Semi-Annual Agency Utilization Report (October 2025 – March 2026): Chief Human Resource Officer Wynn Bier and Executive Chief Operating Officer Craig Williams presented the report. Key data points: Agency full-time equivalents (FTEs) fell from 1,366 (18.6% of workforce) in September 2024 to 698 (9% of workforce) by March 2026 – a 51% reduction. Agency spending peaked at $212 million in FY23; FY24 actual was $190 million, FY25 actual $155 million, and FY26 projected at $118 million, with expectations of a lower final number due to conversions. Reductions occurred across multiple job classifications, including food service workers (-83%), corps 5 (-78%), and clinical nurse 1 (-50%). The uptick in December 2025 was attributed to guidehouse billing work transitioning into agency staffing; 135 permanent revenue cycle positions have been budgeted to insource that work. The committee discussed the agency request approval process, which now requires a business case, senior sign-off, and exhaustion of internal options before agency use.
- Commissioner Questions and Commentary:
- Commissioner Trevor noted the difficulty in reading the graph due to the baseline starting at 600 and requested clearer data presentation. He also asked about the December 2025 guidehouse uptick; Mr. Bier explained it was an outsourced vendor transition.
- Chairman Daly asked about the role of absenteeism; Mr. Bier confirmed absenteeism is a factor and offered to provide data later.
- Commissioner Stamps inquired about the effectiveness of job fairs. Mr. Bier reported that since December 2025, 14 hiring fairs (4 CCH-hosted, 10 external) resulted in 142 offers extended, 101 external hires, and a 71% offer acceptance rate. Commissioner Stamps requested this data be included in future reports. She also pressed for expanded high school pipeline programs, noting the presence of Crane Medical Prep High School and Malcolm X College. Nick Shields, Chief External Affairs and Civic Engagement Officer, confirmed that CCH is meeting with CPS to develop a pipeline plan for fall 2026, including sending doctors and nurses into schools, and expanding to suburban Cook County. Commissioner Stamps emphasized the need for innovative, sustained career pathways for youth.
- Commissioner Stamps also praised the Providence Scholarship Fund, noting over $4 million awarded to 200 scholars, with 106 scholars in the last year and a new cohort of scholars to be honored on June 23, 2026, with an additional $1.5 million investment. Shields shared a story of a Providence Scholar now attending Yale.
- Chairman Daly suggested that presenters include past performance data in their materials to address recurring questions.
Key Outcomes
- Vote to Receive and File Item 26-1101: Motion by Chairman Daly, seconded by Commissioner Aguilar. The roll call resulted in 13 ayes, 4 absent (Commissioners Degnan, Gainer, Marita, Scott). The item was received and filed.
- Adjournment: The committee adjourned with a motion by Vice Chair and second by Commissioner Moore, with all present in favor. The next meeting was noted as the following day (May 13, 2026) at 9:30 AM.
Meeting Transcript
So now reconvene the meeting of the Health and Hospitals Committee. Madam Secretary Secretary, do we still have a quorum? Yes, sir. And let me revisit your uh role. Uh all members are present. We have added Commissioner Moore to your row. The following members are remote, Commissioner Britton, Commissioner McCasco, Commissioner Marita, and Commissioner Scott. You do have a quorum, sir. Thank you. We've already done our remote participation motion. Do we have any additions to the agenda? Chairman, I'm not aware of any additions to your uh agenda, and there are no speakers for this meeting either. Great. Vice Chair and I now moves approval of item 26-1486, the minutes from the meeting of the Health and Hospitals Committee held on April 14th, 2026. Seconded by Chairman Daly. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. Okay. Chairman Daly now moves to receive and file. It's a receive and file, correct? Correct. To receive and file item 26-1101, a report titled CCH semi annual agency utilization report for the reporting period October 2025 to March 2026, seconded by Commissioner Aguilar. And we will now have a presentation. I think Wynn Biran is going to lead us off. Is he online? Or he's he's back. All right, come on up. Okay, great. Okay. Okay. When you're gonna start, and I understand Craig Williams is online as well. Okay. And I believe we have the presentation. Awesome. Thank you. All right. Good afternoon, Chairman Lowry. Good afternoon. Commissioners. I'm Wynn Bier and Chief Human Resource Officer at Cook County Health. I'm here to present our semi-annual update on the agency reduction plan, item 26-1101 on today's agenda. Uh joining me today is Craig Williams, our executive chief operating officer presenting virtually, and RJ Dabney, Associate Chief Human Resource Officer to my left. Last year I was here uh with early progress to report. Today the data shows we've continued to move in the right direction. Um before the workforce numbers, I want to uh I want to set the frame. Reducing agency dependency is a physical resilience strategy. Every position we convert to permanent staff, every agency request will be redirect overtime or internal redeployment. That shows up in the budget, and you'll see that on the spending side spending slide.
openpublica.com