Strive Health opens Chatham location

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Strive Health, which is headquartered in Denver, Colo., has three locations in the Chicagoland area, including Mount Prospect, Lombard and its Chatham/ South Chicago location. It bills itself as complete care for people with kidney disease.

“When you think of people with kidney disease, they are often the most complex and underserved patients in the United States. Patients who are on dialysis, going in for dialysis three days a week, often have a high multitude of comorbidities they are dealing with, with other specialists,” said Greg Sieman, Strive Health’s Vice President of Membership Growth.

Sieman added, Strive Health helps patients with kidney disease by coordinating their care; provide care where they want care, which is often in the home; and provide them additional resources not typical with a medical practice, which means dietitian services and social work. The aim is to provide resources to improve their care, lowering the cost of care and improving their health.

According to Sieman, Strive Health chose the Chatham/South Chicago location, because it goes to “where the disease is.” Strive Health strategically chooses locations. The data showed the community was in need of assistance. Strive Health partners with healthcare partners, Nephrology Associates of Northern Illinois (NANI) and through them, they have a good read on patients battling kidney disease.

The care team is comprised of a doctor, registered nurse, social worker, dietitian and primary care provider. While Strive Health has the clinics and location and wants to care for patients in the locations, the majority of the care happens inside the patients’ homes. Sieman said that there are some patients who want to be seen at the offices. From the Chatham location, the team goes out a 10-12 mile radius. He added, the care is available 24/7, because the patients have complex needs. “We want to make sure patients are getting the right care they need and where we’re able to help prevent them from having to go to the hospital,” he said.

If a patient needs further care, Strive Health will coordinate it. For instance, if a patient doesn’t have a nephrologist, according to Sieman, Strive Health would make sure the patient gets referred to one. If a patient is in need of a cardiologist, Strive Health would refer them to one.

“We will make sure we stay in touch with all of the doctors of that patient to make sure care is being coordinated amongst everybody. We like to be the quarterback of their care, whenever and where possible, and making sure specialists are working together moving in the right direction as a team,” Sieman said.

Strive Health also has a team of patient navigators who will be in the community, at health fairs and health events. They will set up tables and educate community members. The goal of the patient navigators is to be culturally relevant and getting the word out where patients could be.

For more information about Strive Health, visit strivehealth.com.

Flowers Bill Would Raise Compensation for Wrongfully Convicted Illinoisans

CHICAGO – A bill introduced by Illinois House Deputy Majority Leader Mary E. Flowers, D-Chicago, which recently advanced out of committee, would reform compensation for Illinoisans who are wrongfully convicted and then exonerated, as well as remove a great deal of uncertainty from the process.

“More and more, we see people being exonerated after shoddy police work, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial failures or even outright prejudice and systemic inequality left them unjustly convicted of crimes they didn’t commit,” Flowers said. “It’s clear that more needs to be done for those whose lives have been turned upside down by this type of flagrant injustice. That’s why I’m working to increase compensation and eliminate limits for those impacted by failures of justice.”

Currently, there is no minimum compensation for those exonerated after a wrongful conviction, and the amount—if any—a person can be awarded is mostly at the discretion of the Court of Claims. There are, however, statutory maximums of $85,350 for five years or less of imprisonment, $170,000 for five to fourteen years and $199,150 for more than fourteen years.

Flowers’ House Bill 1016 would remove entirely these statutory maximums and replace arbitrary awards with guaranteed and fixed award amounts of $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, including pretrial incarceration or detention while awaiting trial; along with $25,000 per year wrongfully spent not incarcerated but on parole, on probation, or on a sex offender registry. These amounts would be prorated for partial years and the Court of Claims would retain the ability to raise them by up to 5% per year to account for increases in the consumer price index. The bill contains other measures as well. Full details are available at ILGA.gov.

“It’s true that this opens the door to much larger payments to the wrongfully convicted, but that’s the whole point,” Flowers said. “Miscarriages of justice shouldn’t be affordable. Instead of placing limits on compensation, if the state doesn’t want to pay massive settlements, it should ensure that police, prosecutors and courts do their jobs correctly and in good faith. Tolerating official incompetence, prejudice and bad convictions is a choice. And it is a choice that should have consequences.”

Flowers’ office can be reached at 773-471-5200 or tsnow@hds.ilga.gov.