CL South boys soccer rallies to beat C-G in overtime
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013
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ROUTINE AND PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CARE
New model for doctors
$1.4 million loan won’t be recouped Failed agency can’t pay Mental Health Board By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Dr. Bruce Bell talks with a patient of 30 years Tuesday in his Fox River Grove office. Bell has adopted direct primary care, a new model for paying for health care that aims to give better access and more personal care to patients.
Direct primary care provides flat fees, more access By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com FOX RIVER GROVE – About a year ago, Dr. Bruce Bell added a new payment model to his practice. Under this model – a more affordable offshoot of concierge medicine – called direct primary care, about 40 of his patients, about 2 percent of his practice,
pay a flat rate to ensure they get quality time with him. An estimated 5,000 to 5,500 doctors and clinics have adopted direct primary care or concierge medicine systems, according to the Concierge Medicine Research Collective. The most common specialties to use the model are primary care, family medicine, cardiology and pediatrics.
While a majority of doctors who enter concierge medicine or direct primary care would make the same decision again, Bell hasn’t seen it take off at his own Fox River Grove practice. In fact, he has fewer patients going the direct primary care route – which at Bell’s practice is called concierge plus – than
See CARE, page A7
How it works Under the direct primary care model, patients pay a flat fee in exchange for routine and preventative care. They typically get more time with the doctors, and at some practices, they can make same-day appointments or call the doctor directly.
CRYSTAL LAKE – The McHenry County Mental Health Board officially gave up hope of recouping any of the $1.4 million it loaned to a failed mental health agency. But conversation could soon turn to whether it can get back any of the just under $1.1 million an audit alleges another shuttered agency improperly billed. Board members Tuesday instructed staff to write off the $1.4 million loan to Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, which collapsed last year. A September email from the receiver stated “there will be no distribution to creditors,” according to a staff memo. But the board could decide to pursue restitution from The Advantage Group, a youth substance abuse program that closed earlier this month. That talk, however, won’t start until the board hires a permanent legal counsel, likely at its next meeting, Acting President Carrie Smith said. “Truly the discussion was we need more time, and in particular we need time to have permanent legal counsel,” Smith said Wednesday. The Mental Health Board is almost entirely made up of new members in the wake of an ongoing County Board shakeup after years of allegations that it became a top-heavy bureaucracy that spends too much on itself at
At a glance Mental Health Board members on Tuesday instructed staff to write off the $1.4 million loan to Family Service and Community Mental Health Center, which collapsed last year. A September email from the receiver stated “there will be no distribution to creditors,” according to a staff memo. But the board could decide to pursue restitution from The Advantage Group, a youth substance abuse program that closed earlier this month.
See LOAN, page A7
Cary man enters blind guilty plea in shaken baby case By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Alvin D. Santiago, 30, will serve at least eight years in prison.
WOODSTOCK – A Cary man shook a 1-month-old child so violently that her injuries required brain surgery, a McHenry County prosecutor said. Alvin D. Santiago, 30, entered a blind guilty plea Wednesday before McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather. As part of the
agreement, he will serve between eight and 15 years in prison on attempted child abuse charges. Exactly how much time he will serve will be up to the judge. Prosecutors said Santiago on Aug. 27, 2012, was watching the injured child and five others including his own at his Cary home when the child suffered injuries. Santiago ran an unlicensed day care that was described as an “ar-
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rangement between friends.” According to Assistant State’s Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein, the injured girl would not stop crying the day Santiago was watching her. He later told investigators that he “snapped and held [the victim] in front of his body and shook [the victim] causing her head to snap forward and backward,” Eisenstein said. The parents immediately no-
ticed a change in their daughter – she was vomiting and more irritable and fussy, Eisenstein said. Emergency crews on Sept. 17, 2012, were called to Santiago’s home because the child wasn’t breathing. She eventually was placed in critical care for brain hemorrhaging. Doctors believed the September incident could have been caused by a less significant head
LAKEWOOD
VILLAGE WON’T SELL GOLF CLUB The village of Lakewood has backtracked on a plan to sell RedTail Golf Club after residents protested and claimed it was a poor time to consider that option in a down economy and could hurt their property values. Going into the meeting, five of six trustees had supported listing the course. For more, see page B1.
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trauma, such as a bump in the head, Eisenstein said. Santiago denied abusing the child that day. The girl later underwent brain surgery to relieve the pressure in her head. She also had detached eye retinas that required multiple surgeries, Eisenstein said. The child still suffers from a seizure disorder.
See PLEA, page A7