West Virginia Rural Health Association

Board of Directors Meeting

Embassy Suites-Charleston, WV

Monday, February 21, 2005

Members Attending: Sharon Giles, Alicia Tyler, Rosie Cannarella, Norma K. Bowyer, Richard Meckstroth, Dave Sotak, Al Michaels, Patti Crawford, April Vestal, Phil Schenk, Sandra Pope, Sonnie Strader and Henry Taylor.

Absent: Sister Rebecca Fidler, Sara Jane Gainor, and Steve Gavalchik.

Roll Call/Review of Packets/Review and Approval of Minutes: April Vestal called the meeting to order at 4:40 p.m. Introductions were made around the table. April reviewed the contents of the board packets.

Phil Schenk moved that Board Meeting minutes and the Membership Meeting Minutes for Oct. 25, 2004 be approved, seconded by Sandra Pope. Call for discussion. Following a brief discussion both sets of minutes were approved, with changes. (Membership Meeting minutes. Page two, under Q & A, 5% of Medicare budget was changed to .5% of Medicaid budget. Page two, first sentence, word legislature was changed to legislation..)

Membership Report by Sandra Pope/Sharon Giles: Board packet included 2005 WVRHA Membership List. List included names of 51 individuals who received FREE Memberships through RH Conference registration, 22 paid memberships and 11 organizational memberships. Total number of memberships is 84. Sandra and Sharon reported that some names were added following the RH Conference. Total number of voting members is 108. (Organizations can have 3 voting members.)

Sandra reported that at this time the RHA has not received any membership money from the Primary Care Association for RHA membership dues.

Rosie Cannarella questioned the number of FREE RHA Memberships through the RH Conference. Approximately 273 individuals attended the conference, yet only 53 received free membership to RHA. Sandra and Sharon explained that individuals registering online had to manually check the RHA membership box. Conference sponsors and exhibitors were not eligible for FREE RHA membership.

Discussion was held on the WVRHA calendar year. Does calendar year run from Conference to Conference, October 1 – Sept 30, or January 1 – December 31? Sandra reported that membership dues paid during conference (October) covers membership through December of following year.

Patti Crawford suggested that RHA provide membership cards at next conference.

It was noted that a quorum was not present at the RHA Membership meeting held on October 25, at Stonewall Resort. A suggestion was made that at next years RHA conference announcements should be made during various sessions inviting individuals to attend the RHA membership meeting.

Financial Report by Sharon Giles (See Attachment): The association has a balance of $10,500. There is one outstanding payment to Webmaster of $500.00 (no bill received at this time). In addition, we will be receiving money from the RH Conference for membership fees. (See attached Financial Report.)

Golf Tournament at WVRHC: Phil Schenk reported that in general the golf tournament was a success. Twenty golfers participated in the tournament with everyone receiving a prize. There was a profit of over $750.00. Phil said that it takes a lot of work to organize a golf tournament and he was not certain the profit made was worth the effort. He suggested this kind of event generally declines rather than accelerates. He also noted that October is rather late in the year for a golf tournament, due to colder temperatures and shorter days. During the tournament there was some confusion regarding participants receiving lunch. Box lunches were provided for golf participants at an unexpected cost of $150.00.

April said the planning committee for next years RH Conference wants to see another golf tournament next year. Phil said that he is agreeable to make it happen if that is what the committee wants. A brief discussion was held regarding holding the golf tournament earlier in the conference, as it is difficult to get individuals to stay at the end of the conference.

A brief discussion was held regarding holding some fund raising activities at next year’s RH conference. Dr. Taylor suggested a silent auction. He said we might be able to get some items from Tamarack. Another suggestion was to lean on RHEP and AHEC for donations. The RHA display could include silent auction items. Then auction the items later in the evening, perhaps following dinner.

A fund raising committee was formed. Volunteering for the committee was Phil Schenk (chair), Henry Taylor and Dick Meckstroth. Sharon and Patti suggested pulling some action from the general RHA membership. Sandra will provide membership email addresses to Phil.

Officer Election Process: April reviewed the election process as stated in the WVRHA Bylaws. Page 3, Section 6 Election/Appointment Term and page 4, section 11 Officers/Terms/Duties.

According to the current by-laws the Board of Directors shall be elected by the membership of the Association and shall take office at the beginning of the next calendar year. The mechanism of nominations and elections shall be determined by policy of the Board and shall be circulated to the membership at least sixty day in advance of an election. Officers shall be elected by the Association’s membership.

A committee was formed to revise the bylaws. Patti Crawford (chair), April Vestal, Sandra Pope and Sonnie Strader. Time frame for by-laws revision is 90 days. The committee will have 60 days to formulate changes, put changes in e-mail to membership and 30 days for members to reply/vote on the revisions.

April suggested electing the officers before we change the by-laws. First the Board must be elected. Phil asked where it is stated that an officer has to be a member of the board.

Suggestion was made to amend the by-laws so that the RHA Board will elect the officers at the first board meeting following the election of the Board members. Elect 10 Board members in the general election then elect officers from the RHA membership.

Discussion followed on forming Communication Committee. Sharon Giles expressed interest in serving on the committee. Suggestion was made to appoint interim officers until June RHA Board meeting. Patti suggested that officers not serve more than 2 terms.

Sandra moved that current officers remain same and that the Board discuss the President-Elect at next Board meeting. Rosie seconded motion. Call for discussion. All in favor, motion carried.

Conference planning committee was formed for next RH Conference. Sandra Pope (chair), Rosie Cannarella, Patti Crawford, Sharon Giles and April Vestal. Theme for 2005 conference is “Quality”.

Membership Training with Alan Morgan: Discussion was held on having Alan Morgan, from the NRHA, conduct a membership training session for WVRHA members. The session would include grass roots advocacy-helping WVRHA members become better advocates. The training session would also help explain how policy is made. NRHA funds cannot be used to pay for the training session. Alan’s expenses may include only travel reimbursement, meals and lodging.

Dr. Meckstroth suggested asking the WVRHA membership if they would be interested in attending the training session. Rosie suggested including the training in the next RH Conference.

T/A Funds-SRHA Quality Initiative: Sandra suggested starting with the same group of people who want to work on the RH Conference, to work on Quality Initiative Grant. Application is due at the end of February. Sandra said the letter of intent was not sent but she received permissions to apply for the grant. The funds are wide open. RHA could use the grant money for Board development.

Web site & Cap Wiz demo: Due to heavy agenda did not have time to view web site and demo as planned. Sandra encouraged members to review Cap Wiz instructions included in board packet, pull up web site, put in zip code and gain information about action alerts that are applicable to that area, how votes are going and provides information on local issues. Cost to participate in Cap Wiz was $325.00. Will decide in a year if we want to continue participation.

A brief discussion was held on WVRHA web site. Who will man the web site? Derrick needs to think about how to update the website. Do we want to post board minutes to the web site? Do we want to hire a consultant to maintain the website and be responsible for a newsletter? Can we somehow coordinate information from communication committee to provide newsletter.

Future meeting dates: A brief discussion was held on holding quarterly meetings. Patti suggested two conference call meetings and two face to face meetings. Dr. Taylor said that he felt that since the association is still forming, quarterly meetings are not enough. He suggested meeting every two months.

Dr. Meckstroth suggested that the board dedicate a day to a meeting. Other suggestions included: meeting every other month to work on progress report and committee’s; alternate meetings with focus on structured meeting; would be 3 quality meetings; look at “web meetings”.

Next scheduled meeting is April 18, 2005, in Flatwoods from 11am-2pm, location to be announced later.

Patti Crawford moved to adjourn the board meeting, seconded by Dr. Taylor. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Sonnie Strader 3/14/05.