DUKES COUNTY HEALTH COUNCIL
Thursday, March 22, 2007 Meeting Minutes
West Tisbury Public Safety Building
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Cindy Mitchell called the meeting to order at 7:30 AM and determined that a quorum was present. Attendees included: Terry Appenzellar, Tom Bennett, Julia Burgess, Jacque Cage, Sharon Clauss-Zanger, Jane Cleare, Tad Crawford, S. Patrick Donegan, Jay Ferriter, Judie Flanders, Janet Holladay, Christopher Knowles, Sarah Kuh, Michele Lazerow, Karen Meeks, Paddy Moore, Maxwell Nunes, Ardell Otten, Dan Pace, Sandra Polleys, Bob Tonti, James Weiss, Dedie Wieler, Winn Davis County Manager, and Jennifer Caton, Executive Assistant to record minutes.
NEXT MEETING:
The next meeting was set for April 26, 2007.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Terry Appenzellar presented the Treasurer’s Report. Terry explained that this month there are two new grants under the Vineyard Health Care Access Program. They are the Commonwealth Care Grant and a Prescription Fund. Terry said she was able to reconcile all the accounts.
Terry Appenzellar said that there was a request for additional funding from the Youth Task Force for the website. She explained that a total of $1650 could be reallocated, $650 from the Coordinating Committee, $450 from Chronic Illness and $550 from Elder Affairs.
James Weiss/Paddy Moore Moved to reallocate $1650 to the Youth Task Force for the website, So Voted, unanimous.
Nominating Committee Report
County Commissioner New Member & By Law Amendments Approval
Tad reported that the County Commissioners approved the slate of candidates that the Health Council presented as well as the recommended by-law changes. Tad explained the new quorum requirement as being 17 people.
Tad Crawford explained that an updated contact list is needed. He also said an orientation will be needed for the new members.
Coordinating Committee Elections
Cindy Mitchell explained that the Coordinating Committee needed to be reconstituted. There will be at least one vacancy and anyone can be nominated. She said there will be a short election in April. Cindy explained that the Coordinating Committee elects the officers.
Coordinating Committee Report & Discussion – Health Council Assessment/Part II
Cindy Mitchell distributed a list of questions that were derived from the previous month’s discussion.
- Do the Health council’s successes reflect its mission/goals/strategies? If not, should they be changed? How? (More data/needs-driven?)
- How can we enhance the networking value of the Health Council?
- Are there committees or workgroups that need to be added (data)? Deleted? Status Clarified (C3)?
- How might the Coordinating Committee best operate? (Health Council meeting agenda composition, committee interaction/oversight, etc.)
- How should committees and workgroups report to the full Council?
Winn Davis summarized an email from Ron MacLaren with comments on the assessment:
He said the purpose of the by-laws is pretty clear. A plan is to be created for integrated health care, facilitate the implantation of that plan, annually review and revise the health care plan. The purpose of the Council is to create a cooperative, integrated, consumer centered health care system. Ron asked the question “If that is the Council’s purpose then do we have a plan? If there is a plan, what are we doing to implement it? What are the obstacles in making the plan a reality? Are we reviewing it? If there is no plan, where do we stand on it? That is what the coordinating committee and council should be working on. He also objects to the email voting of the revisions of the by laws. He believes the coordinating exists to keep the Health Council focused on the
charge. That is the charter set forth by the County.
Winn said that the County is going through an introspective period with the Charter Study Commission. Now would be a good time for the Health Council to address any changes they would like to see made.
Cindy Mitchell asked if an integrated Health System could be created. She also asked if the Council should have a Vision Statement.
The question on how to integrate the different pieces and organizations of the health care system and what an integrated system is was raised.
Sarah Kuh pointed out that what makes people healthy could be looked at as a pyramid with the tip, the smallest portion, being medical care. She feels that health is broader than medical care.
Paddy Moore cautioned that the purpose of the Health Council is in the by-laws, which were well thought out and highly developed. If they were changed the Council needs to look at what it is intent on doing.
Deidi Wieler stated that the mission statement has to be something that the Health Council has the ability and authority to do.
It was discussed that what has developed in the Health Council is collaboration and working together on projects. That discussion led to the question of how to structure a plan to keep the groups connected and if the structure could be changed. It was also pointed out that the Health Council serves at the pleasure of the County Commissioners, they might need to be asked if changes were made.
It was also pointed out that the Health Council has developed to work in response to the community’s pressing needs. The Health Council represents the community. Once integration is defined and plan created, the community should know there is a plan and the Health Council is working to put the plan in place.
The discussion returned to what an integrated system would look like and how it would be structured. Some felt there is currently a loosely coupled structure that needs to evolve. There was caution that before any changes were made, one needs to know what the next level is to insure the evolution is in a forward motion.
A suggestion was made that from an organizational standpoint integration would have to have incentives, such as a financial benefit. Another suggestion was to remove the word “integration” and replace it with “collaborate & cooperate”.
Cindy Mitchell asked if the structure of the Health Council should be changed to accomplish the mission or if the mission statement should be changed to fit reality.
Paddy Moore pointed out that it is important to keep a vision and the word “integration” so that the Council can keep working towards it.
It was agreed that the word “integration” meant something different to everyone and that the Council would work on defining it.
It was recommended that a more formal way of committees reporting to the Health Council should be instituted.
Other Business/Announcements
None
ADJOURNMENT: Cindy Mitchell adjourned the meeting at 9:10am
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Randolph
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