Covid-19 Initiative

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiative

As Cook County recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening efforts will depend on public health testing, contact tracing, a sustained healthcare system capacity to respond to new outbreaks and public compliance with existing containment and mitigation efforts. The Hektoen Institute in collaboration with Cook County Department of Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health will participate in addressing the contact tracing component. The Hektoen Institute is currently accepting resumes from residents of Cook County who are interested in working to stop the spread of COVID-19. Hektoen in collaboration with the Cook County Department of Public Health will offer full-time, temporary Case Investigator positions with full benefits, and will provide training to develop skills and career paths in public health and patient care. These positions are temporary in nature and will last up to 6 months. Hektoen will directly employ these positions who will function as part of the CCDPH COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiative. These employees will be dedicated to helping suburban Cook County residents who have tested positive with the COVID-19 virus in identifying available resources for them and in identifying individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. Interested applicants should click on the link below to review the position descriptions and apply: Case Investigator (Team Lead) Case Investigator (Team Lead) (Bilingual) Case Investigator Supervisor Case Investigator Manager Eligible applicants should be familiar with suburban Cook County and have a background in public health. Multi-lingual applicants are encouraged to apply.  

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Community Supports Program

The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH), the state-certified public health authority for most of suburban Cook County and an affiliate of Cook County Health (CCH), has contracted with the Hektoen Institute for Medical Research (Hektoen) to provide contract management and oversight for the Suburban Cook County COVID-19 Contact Tracing Community Supports Program. This program recognizes the value of community-based organizations as credible, trusted entities, and the importance of leveraging existing community assets and infrastructure to share timely and evolving COVID-19 information and provide resources to communities and populations most impacted by the pandemic. To support this effort, the Illinois Department of Public Health allocated nearly $41 million to CCDPH as part of the COVID-19 Local Health Department Contact Tracing Grant.  An expanded team of CCDPH contact tracers in suburban Cook County is important in the process of safely lifting regulations and increasing COVID-19 testing that will require additional case investigations and contact tracing. Nearly $5.5 million will be awarded to successful applicants who have the commitment and ability to quickly implement activities within a 6.5 month period that will ensure effectiveness of the CCDPH COVID-19 contact tracing program, slow the spread of COVID-19, and lessen the social and economic impacts — especially for communities and populations most adversely affected by the pandemic. The awarded Community Based Organizations (CBOs) will participate in the activities below:  

Option 1: Regional Learning & Action Networks

All awardees will be participating in a series of meetings of the equity lab, “Changing Hearts and Minds for Leadership,” and collaborating in their respective Regional Learning and Action Network. Additionally, all awardees will be disseminating timely, relevant COVID-19 information to the communities they serve.  

Option 2: Providing Community Supports

In addition to participating in the Option 1 activities, Option 2 awardees will be providing one or more of the following community supports: Education & Outreach, Expansion of Existing Program or Service, and/or Community-Based Testing.