By: Mark Glennon*
Dr. Allison Arwady is the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health. She called Friday with some comments on my June 28 column that was republished in the Chicago Tribune about continuing spending on contract tracing, which I had characterized generally as having failed. “At last check, local health departments across the state received approximately $230 million. Community-based organizations have received another $60 million,” according to a recent report by CBS Chicago that I quoted.
She primarily made the point that Chicago had pivoted its contact tracing hires, which are funded with federal money, to other COVID-related efforts. That effort, she believes, has been very effective and will produce lasting benefits
Working in partnership with various Cook County community and workforce groups, the program shifted to hiring people who are performing a variety of outreach and other COVID support efforts in underprivileged areas where vaccination rates have been particularly low. For example, they go door-to-door, make calls and provide at-home vaccinations. The services they offer go beyond vaccination efforts and also try to ensure that victims are aware of the other services available to help them through. They provide the services surrounding the city’s Coronavirus resource hub and staff the city’s COVID call center.
Hiring for the effort has been focused on those people needing a break-through into a new employment opportunity, she said. The hires typically have had no prior medical expertise and have disadvantaged backgrounds but have connections to the community. The program therefore has been very effective addressing both COVID and unemployment, she believes.
All the new employees’ efforts are COVID-related, she said, and they continue to provide the contact tracing service.
I questioned whether a two-year contract, that started last year, needed to be that long in light of at least the possibility that the pandemic could be well over by then. She answered that COVID will still be with us through the term of that contract and that offering employment for two years was needed to attract the workers.
She believes the redirected program is working so well that it might serve as a model.
So, did what was called an “army” of contract tracers drift into a role of little value, as I implied in my initial article is a concern with government hires?
Or is the redirected program successful, as Arwady believes?
There’s no way to say for sure and it’s too early to draw firm conclusions, but I give Arwady the benefit of the doubt for now. I think she is exceptionally smart and that she was being candid – in contrast to many of the health experts and government officials we have seen. I also respect her career commitment to infectious disease control, which included work in Ebola outbreak in Africa. Yes, we have criticized some elements of Chicago’s handling of the pandemic, but you have to remember that Arwady has to answer to politicians and the federal money she is working with presumably had to be used within the confines of federal rules.
It’s even possible that the program will end up saving money by lowering expenditures on Medicare and other healthcare assistance. And using disadvantaged workers might well be the best way to reach disadvantaged communities, where healthcare is deficient.
Arwady didn’t really disagree that COVID contact tracing programs generally haven’t been as successful as hoped. That has been the case nationally, as wrote in my initial article. She added that COVID has turned out to have distinctive features that have made contact tracing more difficult.
One reason why contact tracing failed in most areas is that the tracers were overwhelmed when the pandemic was going strong. With tracers now being repurposed, I asked if there is risk of that happening again if the new Delta variant turns out to be as dangerous as some have claimed. (A Chicago Sun-Times article last week was headlined, “Delta variant of COVID-19 ready to ravage unvaccinated in Illinois: ‘Some areas are going to blow up.”) No, she said she believes vaccinations have been working well enough that enough tracers should be available.
Hopefully, we’ll eventually see a full review of the repurposed program.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Arwady is a LL hack!
Stay in the city!
Good they read your blog, Mark but please don’t feel the need to give these Grifters any shade.
There are people with intelligence in government service but it’s very rare, particularly here in IL, to find any with intelligence AND integrity. Anyone with the latter would have resigned in objection to the callous manner these sociopaths have damaged/destroyed lives and livelihoods of ordinary folks while their criminal DC paymasters make sure their taxpayer funded misdeeds continue.
Disgust for these creatures runs high particularly on the 4th of July.
“She primarily made the point that Chicago had pivoted its contact tracing hires, which are funded with federal money, to other COVID-related efforts.” So, like I said in an earlier point, the point was never contract tracing, but to provide good playing jobs to connected Democrat operatives. As for the contract tracing itself: useless. They called me once, said I may have been exposed to coronavirus though my kid, but wouldn’t tell by whom, and then wanted to know who I came in contact with. It seemed more like government surveillance instead of medicine. My answer was to hang up… Read more »
I think Arwady,Pritzker,and Lightfoot should donate thier paychecks to those hurt by the closures.These elitists that think theyre much smarter than us ignorant little people werent affected financially at all by the ignoramus closures they imposed.I can only dream of being as intelligent as the political leaders and the so called ” doctors” that ruined many businesses and lives
Your description of her total disregard for business owners and workers when making knee jerk statements and recommendations is spot on. And this is the type of unprofessional behavior that JB idolizes. What a disaster it has been for this state.
It’s obviously a SIFM program Lori thought up with the approval of the big guy. It’s call the Supplemental Income For Mopes. Participants are provided a badge and snappy plastic ID badge, no picture. If you would like to participate apply at the Post Office. If no SIFM positions are available you may be hired as a mail lifter.
I appreciate her trying to address the issues raised in the article. Why the Governor, who made contact tracing a key component of his Covid stopping strategy, never addressed the shortcomings of the tactic is not mentioned. He went on and on about how important it was. He simply can’t acknowledge his blunders. The re-purposing of the contract tracers is nothing more than another government handout. Those formerly unemployed individuals are monitored how? And by whom? A complete and total joke. At this point 99% of the people who are going to get the vaccine already have it. Nice try… Read more »
Information is the key — including the hiring criteria for those with “no prior medical expertise and [with] disadvantaged backgrounds but [with] connections to the community.” Also one would like to know what they are being paid and what metrics and supervision are in place to assure they are doing what they were hired to do. Understood that oversight adds to the cost, but a bit of self-reporting and periodic auditing might be in order. (One hopes they can read and write.) I often see our postal worker parked in the shade, out of sight of the street. Perhaps it’s… Read more »