Bremen Township Resident Graduates from the Leadership Developmen

Alice Collins is one of seven members of this year’s Leadership Development Program at Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS). Collins, of Bremen Township, began the LDP in September 2017. The LDP is a signature initiative that serves to continue building the culture at CCHHS, and this is the 9th cohort of CCHHS employees to receive this high-level, intensive training. Ms. Collins has worked for CCHHS for three years and makes a significant impact on her team every day.

The LDP concludes in with a self-designed capstone project. Collins is a Community Outreach Worker with the Community Affairs Department at CCHHS, which means that she works closely with our community clinics. Part of the CCHHS mission is to “foster partnerships with other health providers and communities to enhance the health of the public.” Giving back to the communities where we are located means that we don’t just exist to provide Medical services, but really shows that we have a stake in helping the community thrive. Her project aims to develop a framework for the Health System that reinforces community connectedness, and to create multiple new community partnerships a year. In the past, Collins has been instrumental in forging partnerships like the sponsorship of a baseball team in Ford Heights, and in working with doctors and local school districts to provide essential immunizations and physicals.

CCHHS runs two Leadership Development Program sessions each year, with the purpose of developing leaders from within the organization. Participants have monthly workshops during which they have lessons in essential topics such as patient experience, positive relationship building, quality & safety, managing performance expectations, and leadership during difficult situations. The LDP works on the belief that an excellent patient experience is dependent on the strong teamwork of their healthcare providers. In addition to learning new skills, the program incorporates a lot of discussion around implementing those skills within CCHHS.

Karen Williams, long-time facilitator of the LDP and System Manager for Learning & Development in Human Resources, notes that Cohort IX truly knows how to shine within the program, and that they already displayed critical leadership skills in decision making and discussion within the context of their small group. In the past, the graduation ceremony speaker has been chosen by secret ballot, but Cohort IX decided that the anonymity was unnecessary, and was able to discuss who should speak at the ceremony. “It may seem like a small decision compared to the huge ones that members of Cohort IX will face in the future,” Williams says, “but it’s great to see the group practicing their new leadership skills already. “