Board Minutes 5/29/12

Wheatland Memorial Healthcare

Board of Trustees’ Meeting

The Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Wheatland Memorial Healthcare was held on May 29, 2012 in the Health Education Center.

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Leta Nash, Chairman

Lorraine Peterson, Vice Chairman Terry Freeser, Secretary/Treasurer

Don Amundson, Ken Deboer, June Voldseth, Susan Moore

Terri Donovan, CEO

OTHERS PRESENT:

Peggy Hiner, Kathie Newland, Diane Jones-FNP, Cherie Jones, Sharlett Dale, Lauri Cooney, Kathy Jutila-MD, Dave Schuller

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Chairman Nash called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.

CONSENT AGENDA

The consent agenda was presented. Upon motion that was duly made and seconded all items in the consent agenda were adopted as written.

REGULAR AGENDA

I.         AUDITOR REPORT

Dave Schuller from Eide Bailly joined the meeting through televideo to go over the 2011 year end auditor’s report.  Investments decreased and accounts receivable are up from 20 I 0.  Charges are 30% lower than other facilities but Ms. Donovan explained that a price study was done and charges are being inched up slowly so the community doesn’t  get hit all at once.

II.        CO-WORKER UPDATE/STAFF RECOGNITION

Ms. Nash wanted to thank all of the staff for the wonderful care they gave her mother; she was able to see quality hometown care first hand.   Congratulations were sent out to Vicki Weller for passing her Serve Safe test, it will be very good information to take back to the dietary department.  Ms. Freeser was happy to hear from a patient that received services from Dr. Jutila that kept them from having to travel, and another patient that was very happy with the ER care they received from Dr. Cunningham.  Mr. Deboer heard that the provider schedule in the paper was confusing to some, and suggested making it clearer.

III.       DEPARTMENT HEAD UPDATE

Continuing the department head update at board meetings was discussed.  It was decided as long as there is a comfortable exchange of information on current topics and the differences in governance and management were understood it should continue.  This is a good opportunity for open transparent communication between staff and the board.

IV.       OLD BUSINESS

a.   CEO and Board Self-Evaluation Update

The training that was started with Associated Employers and what needs to be done going forward was discussed.  Some of the pressing issues that will be incorporated into Ms. Donovan’s evaluation  will be working on financial stability, staffing, recruiting and retention which are all in the updated strategic plan.  Ms. Donovan asked that the board provide clear direction from the Board as a whole so she can be ce1tain that her actions meet with the Board’s expectations.  Len Stanton from Associated Employers will be doing another training session on June 18th that will work on a performance appraisal system, a board self-evaluation and board policies.  The Western Trustee’s Governance Conference rarely comes to Montana but will be at Big Sky June 31 through the 15th and Ms. Donovan is attending and would really like to have at least one board member join her.

b. Board Member Recruitment

Two names have been submitted for the open board positions.  Frank Brouilette and Robett Willems have shown interest and will be invited to attend the next board meeting.

V.        NEW BUSINESS

a.   Facility Needs- Funding & Grants

Ms. Donovan passed out a list of facility needs and what funds would be used to purchase the items. $20,000 would come from oil and gas money that can only be used towards equipment needs and $49,900 would come from the building fund.  None of this money can be used for operations.  Mr. Blaquiere took the board on a tour so they could see the projects that needed to be done.  Upon motion that was duly made and seconded purchase of the listed equipment and facility repairs were approved as presented.  Removing the concrete planter in the front of the building and adding parking was suggested so Ms. Donovan will get an estimate and add this to the wish list of future projects.

b.  April Financials

Ms. Newland asked the board if they wanted to see some of the benchmarks that show trending like the ones in the audit.  The board is happy with the information they are currently getting but did like seeing the information in the form of a graph with the trending.  Medicare didn’t get our paperwork for the skilled swing bed reevaluation so they are now working to expedite our application.  We hope to see $207,000 from Medicare in the near future.  The business office is working hard on the accounts receivable and the numbers will look much better when the money comes through from Medicare.  The revenue cycle committee is meeting weekly and their meetings are going very well.

c.   Bed Vacancies

There are currently only 16 beds that are occupied with 15 people on the waiting list that are not yet ready to come into the facility.  With 4 vacancies the facility is losing $22,000 a month.  Ms. Donovan asked if she should start advertising outside of the community.  The board felt that Ms. Donovan should run an article in the paper explaining what was going on and then after 2 weeks she could start advertising outside of our community.

VI.       OTHER BUSINESS

a.   Annual Demographics  Report

The annual demographics  report was reviewed and it showed a decline in male patients and an increase in female patients.  The report also showed that less people from Ryegate were coming to Wheatland Memorial but more were coming from Judith Gap.  More outreach will need to be done with the outlying communities to promote our services.  Dr. Jutila will start doing cardiac clinics and stress tests which should help our numbers and revenue.  Ms. Donovan will be following up with Dr. Cunningham  to see if he is interested in the contract that was presented to him.  If Dr. Cunningham isn’t interested in the position Ms. Donovan will be talking with Camp Health which is a company that will help with recruiting without any upfront fees.

b.  Recognition of Donors

Several thank you cards for donations were passed out to the members to have a personal handwritten thank you added to them.