WEST VIRGINIA RURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION

West Virginia<= /st1:State> Rural Health Associati= on

Conference= Call

February 25, 2008

(Approved 3/24/08)

Members Participating: Micha= el Thompson, April Vestal, Jeff Graham, Alicia Tyler, Laura Welch, Elaine Maso= n, Patricia &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Crawford, Lew Holloway, Lisa Scarberry, Norma Bowyer, Lynn McCormick

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Not Participating: &n= bsp; = ; Hilda Heady, Sally Richardson, Jill McDaniel

Agenda Items	Discussion	Board Actions
Call to Ord= er	Michael Thompson called the meeting to order
Roll Call	There were 11 members in attendance via conference c= all and 3 members absent
Minutes	Minutes of the 1/25/08 meeting were approved with the following changes. Add Norma Bowyer to list of members participating.= Change information regarding hill visits to indicate meetings were held after the board meeting.	Motion to approve minutes with changes (Holloway/Thompson) Motion passed
Treasurer&#= 8217;s Report	Patri= cia Crawford reported on the treasurer’s report. No income to report. Expenditures were for board meet= ing costs and PCA 6% administrative fee.&nbs= p; YTD January – December, net income $12,946.76. At the request of Lew Holloway, = to be able to show month by month expenditures and income and that is reflected= in this report. We still have = over $8,000 in remaining funds to be used for forum dissemination or some other area related specifically to the forums.= Sally or Hilda was not available for further discussion, so there = will be follow-up at a later meeting.	Motion to approve new formatting as presented in the January treasurer’s r= eport (Mason/Scarberry) Motion to approve November 30 and Dec. 31 treasurer’s reports (Welch/Scarberry)
Old Busines= s:
Replacement= for Dr. Shaik	Michael Thompson said that Dr. Shaik has another yea= r on his term and has resigned. Patricia Crawford asked if anyone had recommendations of someone to serve at the last meeting and did not receive any recommendations. Patricia said that Sandra Pope i= s a regular attendee as a guest and Patricia recommended as nomination chair = that Sandra Pope be considered by the board as the person to fill Dr. Shaik= 217;s vacant position for the next year.	Motion to accept Sandra= Pope as the person to fill Dr. Shaik’s board vacancy (Crawford/McCormick) All Approved
NRHA Techni= cal Assistance Grant Update	Michael Thompson announced that we had received the = check from NRHA and this was sent to the PCA for deposit.
NRHA Policy Institute Update	Norma Bowyer said it was very interesting day. Jill Cochran, Michael Thompson a= nd Norma did hill visits with Hilda joining for the last couple of visits. We should be thankful to the per= son who scheduled these appointments. Scheduling was very good. Jennifer Funk at Preston Memorial did the scheduling and Michael w= ill pass along the compliment. = Jill Cochran was able to give real world examples of how decisions affect communities = and this was viewed as very helpful. Two areas of emphasis were Title VII<= /st1:stockticker> and VIII. NHSC was also ano= ther area of focus. Norma invited anyone who is interested to join for the policy institute if available. As soon as they hear of the sche= duled dates for next year’s institute, Norma or Michael will let the board know.	Norma or Michael to inf= orm the board of dates for next year’s policy institute
Mid-Atlantic Roundtable Discussion<= o:p>	Michael Thompson reported that this meeting was a gr= oup of state rural associations held January 30, 2008. One of the goals for NRHA is to = have an Association in every state. New Jersey and Delaware do not have an Association. The thought was to have a meeting to develop a roundtable to discuss ways to have an Association presence in every state.&nbs= p; There are some advantages as well as disadvantages to having a multi-state Association. Th= ere may be another meeting in March or April to continue discussion. Laura Welch suggested that if we decide on an affiliation, that this affiliation should be Appalachian due= to the vast difference in cultures among states. Elaine suggested there could be sub-groups with Appalachia as a sub-group. Michael said he = felt this could be an option but there is some additional work needed before t= his can move forward.	Motion for Michael Thom= pson to continue participation in these meetings with the understanding there wou= ld not be any cost associated with participation (Mason/Welch) All Approved Michael Thompson will k= eep the board informed as he learns more during these meetings
Membership = List Update	Michael Thompson said he had received a list of memberships from OCHS. Ther= e were some additional names received over the weekend from Sherri Ferrell and t= his was sent to the board. Michael = said this was an improvement to the list we previously received. Discussion of ways to develop/im= prove membership. Lew Holloway sa= id we need to get a better handle on our membership and revising how we go about getting new members. Michae= l has sent a welcome message to new members.&n= bsp; Laura Welch confirmed she had received this email. There was some confusion as to t= he most up to date membership list. Lew said there were some decisions regarding membership for this y= ear that need to be made. The membership committee does not have a membership plan in place. We also need to decide if we are = going to send a renewal letter to those who were members in 2007 and any other decisions regarding membership. We have a membership form and application. Elaine suggested that a small gr= oup of board members have a meeting and determine membership of the committee and get some other items clarified and report this at the next meeting. Jeff suggested we compare member= ship for this year with membership from 2007 and possibly send a letter to tho= se that are not members this year asking them to renew their membership.	April will have Carmell= a Walker send the updated 2008 membership list to all board members Laura Welch will meet w= ith OCHS and confirm we have the correct membership list
Strategic D= irection Update	Michael Thompson suggested that the forums could be = used as a Legislative guide. Norma said she had spoken with Alan Morgan to write a brief synopsis of the forums for publication in Rural Roads, the NRHA newsletter.
Resignation= of Treasurer	Michael Thompson said that Lisa Scarberry indicated = she would not be able to serve as Treasurer.= Lisa said she was asked to resign the role by the Primary Care Association Director due to it being a potential conflict. The board decided to have an ele= ction for Treasurer at the next board meeting.	The board will elect a = Treasurer at the March board meeting.
New Busines= s:
West Virginia Rural Health Conference=	Mich= ael Thompson said the conference would be held October 21-23 2008 at Glade Springs.= Norma, Alicia, Laura, Patricia a= nd April serve on the planning committee.&n= bsp; Michael and Jeff said they may be participating as well. If interested in participating, contact Shawn Balleydier or Melissa Wheeler. There has not been a designated = person serving on the committee in the past to represent the WVRHA.
Support Sta= ff (.2 FTE) conversation with Sherri Ferrell<= /o:p>	Michael Thompson said the board discussed in Novembe= r the possibility of having someone to provide some support to the Association. Sherri Ferrell= from the PCA has indicated that they would be able to provide some support. Michael will get additional deta= ils about this.	Michael will provide ad= ditional information at the next board meeting.
MOU with WV= PCA	Michael Thompson sent an attachment of the MOU that = was developed for January 1-December 31, 2008 for the board’s review. Many members indicated they were unable to open the document. Michael read the agreement to those on the call. This is the same wording used on= last year’s agreement.	Motion to sign the MOU = and forward this to the PCA (Welch/Holloway) All Approved
NRHA Skill<= /st1:PlaceName> Building Workshop (Aug 15-16)	Michael Thompson said the workshop would be held Aug= ust 15-16 in San Diego, CA.= The board was in agreement that someone should attend and bring information back to the group. Additional information regarding the workshop can be accessed at www.nrharural.org	Board members should lo= ok at their schedules and let Michael know of their interest in attending.
Other Busin= ess
Open Discus= sion	No items brought for discussion
Committee R= eports	Membership/Communication – report discussed ea= rlier in the meeting Fundraising – no report Nominations & election process – no report= Policy – getting out forum information but Hil= da and Sally will give a formal report at the next meeting.
Adjournment=	Meeting adjourned at 11:59AM	Motion to adjourn (Crawford/Bowyer) All Approved

Submitted by = April Vestal

Future Meetin= g Dates: March 24, 2008 at the Braxton Learning= Center beginning at 10AM and future meetings on the 4^th Monday of each month.

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