Wheatland Memorial Healthcare
Board of Trustees’ Meeting
The Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Wheatland Memorial Healthcare was held on January 24, 2012 in the Health Education Center.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Leta Nash, Chairman
Mark Taylor, Vice Chairman
Lorraine Peterson, Secretary/Treasurer
Don Amundson, Susan MooreKen Deboer Terry Freeser Jeri Pavlovick
Terri Donovan, CEO
MEMBERS EXCUSED:
June Voldseth
OTHERS PRESENT:
Diane Jones- FNP, Peggy Hiner, Jane Moe, Lauri Cooney,Kathie Newland, Russ Young, Vicki Weller, Kathy Jutila-MD
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Chairman Nash called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm. She asked everyone to model expectations through team building with the goal of patient centered quality care for the residents of our community. She also asked everyone to be mindful and respectful of our mission, vision, core values and governance philosophy.
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. CELEBRATE SUCCESSES
Chairman Nash wanted to take the time to start recognizing board members and employees that have done good things. Tonight Mr. Taylor was recognized for his two years of leadership and commitment while serving as board chairman.
II. CO-WORKER UPDATE
Ms. Cooney and Ms. Newland were thanked for jumping in to make sure inventory was completed. Ms. Weller was welcomed as the new Dietary Manager and thanked for jumping right in and helping when Dietary was short staffed.
III. DEPARTMENT HEAD UPDATE
Every month a different department head will attend the board meeting to give an update on what is happening in their department. This month Ms. Moe talked about what she has been doing with fundraising and marketing. Ms. Moe recently attended a planned giving workshop and is excited to start setting up seminars and seeking out donors. Almost $15,000 was raised last year through the Gala, Tree of Remembrance and End of Year Letter. The next fundraiser is the Newlywed Game at the Moose on February 12th and this event is a free will offering. Save the dates will be coming out for the 2012 Gala as soon as the date is finalized.
IV. OLD BUSINESS
a. Stress Tests
Cardiac Stress Tests are on hold until the necessary space comes available. Julie Thompson will be administering the tests. The forms are ready for the Coumadin Clinics and work is in progress on the Diabetes Quality Control Project. Ms. Moe will be working on the marketing for all the services that are being offered at the facility.
b. Program Development
Ms. Jones hasn’t been able to focus on program development as much as she had hoped because she has been busy seeing patients. She plans on continuing the men and women’s screening events and adding some lunch and learn sessions. We are in the process of getting the necessary equipment and policies in place to do DOT drug screenings through the clinic and breathalyzer tests. Setting up Saturday Clinics has been a frustration with the barrier of not having an available pharmacy on weekends.
c. MDG Machine
There is a partner that has shown interest in purchasing MDG which recently filed for bankruptcy. We can still purchase the drawers that will give the expanded space that is needed in the machine. The drawers are $5,000 each and Ms. Donovan asked the board if she could use the oil and gas money to purchase them. The MDG system has been very beneficial especially when it comes to charge capture. Upon motion that was duly made and seconded the board approved the $10,000 purchase of two drawers for the MDG machine from the oil and gas funds.
V. NEW BUSINESS
a. Drug and Alcohol Policy
The old drug policy was suspended while the facility worked on getting the policy updated. Associated Employers has been assisting us to make sure the policy meets federal and state laws. When the new policy is put in place all staff will have sixty days before a baseline test is performed. The first priority is patient safety so any employee testing positive will have one chance to get rehabilitated and test negative or they will be terminated. Having a medical marijuana card will not make a difference and a positive test will still be treated the same. Pre-employment, random testing and reasonable suspicion testing will also be performed. Thirteen staff members attended reasonable suspicion training that was given through Associated Employers.
b. Financials
Financial oversight will be added to the board agenda allowing the board to choose indicators they want to track monthly. Because of the date that the board packets need to be completed financials aren’t always ready. Ms. Newland will speak with Dave Schuler about his recommendations for the timeliness of financials. Benchmarks are a work in progress that Ms. Newland will be working on. Cash has been coming in, reserves are starting to build back up and Ms. Donovan is happy with where things are right now.
c. Staffing Assessment/Recruiting and Retention
The pros and cons of having a staffing assessment done were discussed. It would cost a minimum of $15,000 to do an assessment. Over and understaffed departments were recognized along with recruitment and retention tools. Instead of spending the money it was decided that now would be a good time to reestablish the Recruiting and Retention Committee. Mr. Deboer volunteered to represent the board on this committee. The committee will discuss ways to recruit for all open positions including providers and look for incentives and ways to keep the staff engaged.
d. Other New Business
If we receive the HEART grant we applied for the Quality Care Committee will take time at two of their meetings to show a training video on culture that will be very helpful for the facility. The staff that have already viewed the training found it very helpful. The Quality Care Committee is open to all staff and board members that would like to attend.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Conflict of Interest
The conflict of interest attestations that need to be completed annually were passed out to all of the members to be signed and returned. The policy and form will be going to Patsy Elings to update as soon as she is settled in to her new role in corporate compliance.
b. Recognition of Donors
One thank you card for a donation was passed out to a member to have a personal handwritten thank you added to it. Ms. Donovan also expressed her appreciation to Thrivent for their donation of matching funds from the Cream Can Dinner sponsored by the American Lutheran Church.
c. Other Other Business
The board has offered to host a potluck for the staff on St. Patrick’s Day. Ms. Hiner will reserve the room and let the staff know the details.
VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Board went into executive session to do a QI update, a board self-evaluation and discuss a legal issue at 6:54pm. The executive session ended at 7:55pm.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to be brought before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm.
