West Virginia Rural Health Association

Board of Directors Meeting

Phone Conference

Monday, May 23, 2005

Members Participating: Dr. Rosemarie Cannarella, Patricia Crawford, Steve Gavalchik, Sharon Giles, Sandra Pope, Dave Sotak, Sonnie Strader, Henry Taylor, Alicia Tyler and April Vestal

Guest: Susan Anderson-Borror

Roll Call/Approval of Minutes:

April Vestal called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm. Dave Sotak moved to approve minutes from the May 9^th phone conference. Henry 2^nd. No Discussion. All in favor motion carried.

Financial Report [Sharon Giles]:

Sharon reported that RHA recently received the check from the Bureau of Public Health (membership fees from the Rural Health Conference) in the amount of $1325.00. Outstanding bills include: $425.00, expenses for meeting held 4/18 and expenses for meeting held on 2/25 at the Embassy Suites, in Charleston (No amount was given.) Sharon met with accountant at Community Voices regarding the way RHA handles finances. Charge discussed for fiscal management was 9%. Sharon will send letter requesting the percentage be lowered to 5%.

Benedum Grant to Support Stipends at RHC [Sandra}:

Sandra spoke with Beverly Walters at NRHA Conference. It appears the grant will work out. Beverly requested 501c3 information for Community Voices along with contact information. However, she has not given Sandra a deadline date for the grant. At first Beverly said no go… then said it should work.

Sandra reported that Joe Thornton is comfortable with WVRHA taking over stipend. Present some lists, etc. Any information going out pertaining to the Bureau would have to run thru Bureau. Follow up with award letter, estimated $491.00 for each stipend, including registration & lodging. Not planning to pay travel (runs about $6000.00). Mental Health stipends are covered thru Mental Health committee. Funds come from Mental Health. Patty asked how many stipends will be awarded. Reply was “20” as grant is $10,000.00. Depend on where students come from, they may not require lodging. Sharon said additional funds will come from WVRHA (matching fund). Alicia-how will this compare with stipends given last year? Answer was 40 last year. Another question was what about match. Suggestion was made to get committee together to discuss Higher Education Policy Commission as a sponsor of program in past. Could we use that money to match? Could mean that the money would be administered thru WVRHA and used to get residents! April questioned time line for application. Sandra replied it would follow same time line as Bureau. Send stipend info out same time as conference information. Application to Benedum is due in the next two weeks. Sandra was clear that stipend money would not be available without the association and stated that Benedum was not going to give the funds to the Bureau.

Committee Reports:

WVRHA Day at Rural Health Conference [Sandra]: Participated in planning call in last month. 2 sub groups formed. Questions: 1) What would occur for plenary sessions? 2) What is going to be done regarding legislative forum/session? (Norma)

Show interest in session with legislators. Sandra will have topics to vote on during next planning call. Rural Health Forum will precede kick off. “Quality thru collaboration” - Tim Size (confirmed) per Sandra. Speaker Forrest Calico was moved from opening, day to last day (closing) of conference. He will assist in discussion with issues and address policies.

Patty expressed some concerns. Said she spoke to Joe Thornton at NRHA. He indicated speakers are locked in. Joe feels a need for a face to face meeting. (Threat Prep Issues) Sandra concerned that committee chair has not part in conference calls. Patty also voiced concern that no agenda has been provided for the phone call, scheduled for Wed. May 25. Sandra will ask for the agenda. Sandra said that she noticed that most sessions in the Mental Health track do not have speakers.

Fund raising: Phil Schenk was absent, report will be provided at June meeting.

Policy [Henry Taylor]: Committee includes: Henry, Renate, Sally Richards, Norma. Identified 5-6 areas need to develop a statement for. 1) Medicare & Medicaid 2) Coverage for uninsured (universal coverage) 3) Pharmacy and what happen in WV the past year 4) Self care management for chronic pain management 5) Rural Education for chronic disease management and how tie with students on rotations. 6) Technology- people get what just fills their needs. Rural Health. 7) Rural Health. Henry said that most of the issues discussed have policy paper in place with NRHA. We should be able to review those policies and adapt to meet state needs.

During Quality Chasm session at NRHA, IT issue with electronic medical records was discussed, problem with providers connecting with other entities.

Discussion regarding Policy Statement/NRHA- WVRHA could align with policies promoted on state level but not in conflict with NRHA. Sandra will send email in next 2 weeks to committee. Patty-voiced concern regarding opposition to CAH ban. Asked if policy issues come up, can the committee take a stand, or does it need board approval? Henry suggested the committee present policy issues to board, then present to general membership for vote. We would need to get message out in advance to get attendance at meeting. Suggestion, send an email regarding: proposed policy positions to general membership prior to RHC and then present forum.

By-Laws [Patty]: Patty will make recommended changes to by-laws and send to committee for review.

Communication: Alicia Tyler, Susan Borror, and Sharon Giles recently participated in phone conference. Discussed E-news being perpetual on WVRHA web site. Susan will lead effort. Sharon will develop a calendar of events for WVRHA. Will include board meeting dates, conference dates, etc. Alicia volunteered to lead web review process. She will provide recommendations at next meeting. Derrick Day will continue work as web master.

Nominations: Committee includes Patty Crawford, April Vestal and Sandra Pope. Sandra there needs to a President Elect by the next meeting-should be approved by board. Assuming By-Law changes are approved. Also reported that Steve Galvachic’s last day is June 17.

Membership: Sandra agreed to chair the membership committee as Rosie does not have the time. Rosie will continue to serve on the committee. A brief discussion followed on providing membership cards and/or certificates to members. At the NRHA Conference, Sandra, April and Sharon attended the state associations meeting. The discussion included “How to Grow Membership.” April suggested certificates versus membership cards as they could be displayed on wall in office and we could provide sticker for years of service (more visible). Some concern voiced with expense in mailing out certificates.

Another idea discussed was providing free membership to NRHA, included in conference registration fee. Patty suggested more communication with general membership, feels that we need more “state” involvement and suggested that we get names of WV attendees off NRHA conference participation list and send out invitations to join WVRHA. Attendance at the NRHA was just under 1000!

Meeting Dates:

Our next face to face meeting is scheduled on June 27. Will e-mail board to see who will be attending. Possible location is the DHHR office, in Flatwoods. Next board conference call date is July 25, 2005. Built in board meeting during Rural Health Conference, Oct. 24, 2005.

Meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm: