Stroger Hospital of Cook County

The John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County is the main public hospital in Chicago. It was established in 1835 as Cook County Hospital, was rebuilt several times, and by 1928 had a bed capacity of 3,400, making it one of the largest hospitals in North America. In 2002 it was rebuilt as a modern inpatient facility with extensive general and specialty outpatient clinics. Since its inception, Hektoen has been its main research affiliate.

Currently, Hektoen provides grant management services to most of Stroger Hospital clinical departments, which maintain their research or service grants and accounts at Hektoen, and is the direct employer of 357 persons. Among the many benefits provided by Hektoen is a “grant recycling” program that provides Stroger Hospital with salary and administrative support. Other grants management services provided by Hektoen to Stroger Hospital and other of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services (CCBHS) agencies are hiring of grant personnel; access to an on-line grant reporting system, HECTOR, that allows investigators and project directors to view their accounts; recording and tracking of grant specific financial transactions and the submission of required financial reports; purchasing of supplies and other expenses for each grant program; information technology support and computer purchasing consultation; and administration of a professional development and continuing education program for all employees.

Hektoen has managed grants for Stroger Hospital researchers and their research teams for many different clinical research areas. These include asthma management and psychosocial determinants of asthma severity; pre-diabetes mellitus (PDM) management and prevention; violence and elder abuse prevention; high risk breast cancer services through the provision of genetic counseling and testing; basic science activities of the Divisions of Nephrology and Urology; and cancer research protocols offered through the Minority-Based Clinical Care Oncology Program (MBCCOP), which is one of five sites in the US funded by the National Cancer Institute. Currently, new grants awarded to Stroger researchers include projects investigating the cost and effectiveness of routine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV), and referral of services among patients receiving services at various CCBHS facilities and trust in health care through the development of instruments that provide reliable, comparable measurements among patients from different racial/ethnic groups.