The Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District - Mission

The Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District

Text Box: Our Mission The mission of The Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium is to diagnose, treat and care for all persons afflicted with tuberculosis who are residents of suburban Cook County. The services provided by the District may include education, research, testing and other services aimed at the prevention, detection and treatment of

Text Box: President’s Message In accordance with the Illinois Tuberculosis Sanitarium District Act, 70 ILCS 9201, et seq. (the “Act”), under which the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District (“the District’) is organized, the District’s Board of Directors is pleased to enclose its 2005 Annual Report which provides in-depth and detailed statistical data regarding the District’s tuberculosis caseload within suburban Cook County. Also, enclosed is an independent audit report, which is prepared annually for the District by a certified public accounting firm. I trust you will find these reports both informative and educational.

Text Box: The District reported 82,776 clinic visits in 2005 in which care was provided on an ongoing basis. In addition, new active tuberculosis cases totaled one hundred and twenty (120), a thirty-two percent (32%) increase over last year. The District continues to be very aggressive in programs to identify and treat patients with latent tuberculosis infections. In 2005 we treated 2,519 patients for latent tuberculosis infection with 81% of these patients being of foreign born origin. It is estimated that ten percent (10%) of these people with latent TB infection will develop active disease if preventive treatment is not completed.

Text Box: The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has recognized and praised our organization for its contribution to the community. The District collaborates with many community and health care agencies and organizations. These interagency relationships serve to expand the District’s surveillance, health education, and prevention programs and add strength to the overall TB control effort. The District collaborates on patient care as well as programmatic issues with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH), the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tuberculosis Information Management System (CDC’s TIMS) reporting areas. The District and the Hines VA Hospital have a long history of cooperation and work together on federally funded clinical trials of new drug therapy regimens in treating tuberculosis. The Illinois Department of Public Health has provided the District with preliminary results of its 2005 TB Surveillance and Program Planning Report commending the District’s performance and reporting that the District is above national objectives and significantly above average state performance as it relates to the care and treatment of tuberculosis.

Text Box: If you have any questions or need any additional information concerning the District’s current, past or future activities, please do not hesitate to contact me. Respectfully submitted,

Text Box: It is important to understand that the nature of tuberculosis disease has not changed over the centuries. Tuberculosis is still an infectious disease that kills approximately 2 million people world wide annually. What has changed is that we can treat it effectively with Directly Observed Therapy (DOT). The District has established a (DOT) program that requires health care workers to go to the home or place of work to watch patients take each dose of their tuberculosis medication for a period of six months. The District’s field nurses, who administer DOT, are our primary and most effective means of treating and preventing the spread of TB. They go almost anywhere, risking both their health and safety, to accomplish their mission. They travel throughout the District’s large jurisdiction of 719 square miles to locate patients to assure that their medication is taken. DOT has been shown to be cost-effective and can significantly reduce the frequency of the development of drug resistance and of treatment failure or relapse after the end of treatment. In 2005 alone, there were 8,658 DOT visits. This is an increase of 1,169 visits over 2004.

Text Box: On a financial basis, the District made services available to approximately 2,480,000 suburban Cook County residents at a relatively small cost, approximately $1.20 of tax money per resident in 2005. The District has adopted a plan to reduce its net assets to approximately one year’s operating expenses over the next several years, while at the same time retaining its ability to levy taxes in future years to continue District operations after the net assets have been reduced. The Board of Directors has been involved in re-engineering the services it provides to the residents of suburban Cook County and continues its pursuit in fulfilling the mission of the District. We are developing an electronic health record system, a digital radiography system, and, are at the cutting edge of new laboratory technology in testing for tuberculosis using Quanti-FERON Gold, the latest method of detecting TB.

Text Box: The District owns and operates three outpatient tuberculosis treatment centers located in Des Plaines, Forest Park and Harvey, Illinois. Other real property owned by the District consists of a sanitarium facility situated on approximately twelve (12) acres of land. A lease transaction by and between the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District and RML Specialty Hospital was established on April 18, 1997. Pursuant to the Lease Agreement between the District and RML, the specialty hospital will continue to lease all twelve acres of land and the building facility for a minimum of an additional fifteen (15) years. The District also leases space at the Evanston Health Department providing tuberculosis care to the residents of that area. There is no other property owned or leased out by the District.

Text Box: In addition to working with other local health care agencies and organizations, the Board of Directors is proud and honored to help the beleaguered people of New Orleans regain control in their efforts to identify d treat tuberculosis patients as a consequence of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The District entered into a cooperative endeavor agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and on December 8, 2005 the District’s fully equipped tuberculosis mobile clinic was loaned out to the State of Louisiana.

Text Box: _____________________________________ Raymond J. McDonald, M.D. President of the Board of Directors SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY TUBERCULOSIS SANITARIUM DISTRICT Stephen A. Martin, Jr., Ph.D., Vice President Terrance M. Carr, Secretary William R. Quinlan, Treasurer

Text Box: The District owns and operates three outpatient tuberculosis treatment centers. Other real property owned by the District consists of a sanitarium facility situated on approximately 12 acres of land. RML Specialty Hospital leases this property from the District and is under a lease agreement for an additional 15 years. The District also leases space at the Evanston Health Department, There is no other property owned or leased out by the District.

Text Box: CDC commends the District’s performance and reports that the District is above national objectives and significantly above average state performance as it relates to the care and treatment of tuberculosis.

Text Box: “In 2005 we treated 2,519 patients for latent tuberculosis infection with 81% of these patients being of foreign born origin.”

Text Box: “the District made services available to approximately 2,480,000 suburban Cook County residents at a relatively small cost, approximately $1.20 of tax money per resident in 2005.”

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