‘Antiquated’ systems means the Government is not delivering

Aug 11 2009

Dr. Terry Mason, Commissioner for Chicago's Department of Public Health (CDPH), famously started his tenure by telling City Hall to shape up - but he soon discovered that waistlines weren't the only thing that needed to be leaner.

Poor organization meant grants were not being used effectively, and service delivery to the public was subsequently below par.

"We had an organization that was a bunch of castles trying to exist in one kingdom, and each castle had its own siloed operation and it duplicated a lot of things," says Dr. Mason in an interview for MeettheBoss.com.

"Always at the 11th hour we were scrambling because we had unspent grant dollars and because our systems were antiquated, we didn't know."

Dr. Mason estimates that some 10% of all healthcare grant dollars were returned.

CHPD was reorganized with "a structure and the technology and a methodology" that means it can still carry out the functionality and the requirements of each of the grantors, explains Dr. Mason, but that 10% is now "almost less than one percent".

Dr. Mason isn't finished there: "Government has to figure out how it's going to make all of that [its grant management data] transparent, not only internally but externally," he says.

Watch the full interview: http://www.meettheboss.com/Broadcast-Player.aspx?Play=1&MediaID=121