West Virginia Rural Health Association

West Virginia Rural Health Association<= /b>

Board of Directors Meeting

Braxton County Learning Center

July 25, 2005

=

Present:           April Vestal

           &n= bsp;            Sandra Pope

           &n= bsp;            Phil Schenk

           &n= bsp;            Al Michaels

           &n= bsp;            Sharon Giles

           &n= bsp;            Patti Crawford

Joining by

Phone:            = Rosie Cannarella

           &n= bsp;            Elaine Bowen

           &n= bsp;            Dave Sotak

Absent:           Alic= ia Tyler

           &n= bsp;            Henry Taylor

           &n= bsp;            Sarah Jane Gainor

           &n= bsp;            Sonnie Strader

           &n= bsp;            Sister Rebecca Fidler

           &n= bsp;            Dick Meckstroth

Roll call was conducted b= y April Vestal, President. Minutes of= last meeting was reviewed and approved.

April introduced Elaine B= owen, our newest Board member. She = was elected by the Board during Executive Session at the last board meeting, to replace Steve Gavalchik. Stev= e has resigned from his position as CEO of Webster County Memorial Hospital and l= eft the state. Elaine is currentl= y an Extension Specialist in Health Promotion, and her office is located at WVU = in Morgantown. She is a Ph.D. in Education Leader= ship. Email address is epbowen@mail.wvu.e= du

Committee Reports:

Conference Stipend Committee:&= nbsp; Reported by April Vestal and Sharon Giles. April is serving as intermediary b= etween the Association and DRH to finalize an agreement on cost of stipends. The p= lan is to present the DRH a written agreement which will outline the costs associated with awarding health professions stipends on behalf of the WVRHA= , as well as agreeing upon the processes to be utilized to accomplish this task.=

Rural Health Conference Planning Committee: Reported by Sandra Pope. Sandra reported that all speakers for the WVRHA Day of the Conference have been confirmed. Becky King and Nancy Tonkin will present a Legislative Advocacy Session and they will invite a legislator to join them. Dr. Martin Merry has been confirmed for closing keynote. Patti Crawford stated that she has invited Dr. William Rodney to speak, however, the DRH has invited Henry Lop= ez for the same presentation period. Patti has asked DRH to contact Dr Rodney about the time allotted for= his presentation.   It was no= ted that the WVRHA website is showing an incorrect date for the WV Rural Health Conference.

Phil Schenk stated that t= he Association should get involved in the planning of the Conference at the beginning. He felt the conference theme, “Quality through Collaboration” had so much potential, but the DRH has not sufficiently built upon it. Sandra explain= ed that the Association was in fact involved from the onset with conference planning, and the Association has played a key role in organizing sessions = and obtaining speakers that will focus on the conference theme. All agreed that the Association ne= eds to work more closely with the Bureau (DRH), and that a meeting between the Bur= eau and the Association prior to Conference planning is needed. We will initiate a meeting with the DRH Director and the OCHS Director with the goal of defining the roles of Conference sponsors/planners.

A question: Does the Association have any fina= ncial responsibilities for Speakers on the Association Day? April will confirm.

Rosie Cannarella pointed = out that the Conference dates are incorrect on the WVRHA website.

Financial Report: Presented by Sharon Giles. The Association’s bank balance at the end of June was $11,818.06. Expenditures were made for Board m= eeting space, office supplies, postage, and payments to part time clerical support. Expenditures totaled= $1,037.12 and funds received were = $1,325 received from the Division of Rural Health for memberships gained through t= he 2004 Rural Health Conference. Current balance of account on July 22^nd is $12,105.94.   Only identified outstanding payment is a payment to Derrick Day for Web services of up to $500.

Fundraising Committee: Reported by Phil Schenk. The Committee is prepared to conduct a Golf= Scramble during the final day of the Conference. The Committee will need additional volunteers to assist. The Committee feels that if the scramble is held in association with the Conference again, another date should be considered instead of the final day of the Conference. Other mechanisms for fundraising w= ere discussed such as a 50/50 drawing and a silent auction. In the case of an auction, all Board members may be asked to donate items for auction.

Policy Committee: Reported by Dave Sotak. Dave states that an activity of the Policy Committee would be to address cooperation with the WV Bureau for Public Hea= lth in addressing rural health issues. He states that there is no coordination = on state level to address health related issues. There was discussion among Bo= ard members on possible activities to be undertaken by Policy Committee. It was felt that, in general, it is important for the Association to make public policy statements. The Policy Committee is working wi= th April to set a date for a face to face meeting.

By-laws Committee: Reported by Patti Crawford. Revised by-laws and voting ballots have been sent out to all Associa= tion members. Members will be able= to vote to approve or disapprove revisions through August 26.

Membership: Repor= ted by Sandra Pope. The Association has been receiving requests for letters of sup= port from various persons and organizations.&nb= sp; The Board should consider a policy to address these requests. Al Michaels asked whether the Association has a membership category for major organizations. He suggests = that the Association consider addi= ng Associate Members. Associate Members would have a lower fee than organizational membe= rs, and they would have no voting rights.

Other Business:   Conference registration is $135 for early bird and $160 afterward.

Board members have learne= d that Dr. Henry Taylor, Board Member, has resigned his position at WVHEPC, and is planning to leave the state. = April will clarify Dr Taylor’s intentions with regard to serving on the Board. The following positions are curren= tly vacant: President Elect and T= reasurer.

April announced notificat= ion by the NRHA of Doc Hollywood Day. NRHA suggests that state associations consid= er activities surrounding that day. April will send out information on that topic.

Skill Building Workshop in Nebraska: April states that her travel = plans were disrupted as she attempted to travel to this meeting. Her flight was cancelled and another flight would have arrived when the Workshop was well underway. She states that she would have missed ½ day of a meeting c= onsisting of 2 half days.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon M. Giles