Dukes County Health Council
Minutes May 29, 2003
Present: T. Crawford, R. Sawyer, C. Brennan, B. Tonti, J. Cleare, C. Silberstein, J. Steward,
L. Andrade, E. Membrano, M. Loberg, P. McCormack, S. Desmarais, K. Logue, J. Cage, J. Murphy, K. Rose, N. Gilfoy, I. Klein, C. Mitchell, M. O'Connor-Ropp, M. Lipke, T. Walsh,
N. Robinson-Lynch, F. Rundlet, C. Knowles
Absent: P. Moore, M. Lazerow, S. Kuh, D. Seklecki, S. Lothrop, M. Dutton, D. Greenberg, M. Bergstrom, J. Murphy, B. Toomey, P. Strock, F. Case
Guest: T. Sweet
1. Next meeting - June 26, 7:30 am. The Wellness Committee volunteered to provide breakfast.
2. Approval of minutes was deferred to next meeting.
3. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Logue reported that there is a $26,777.99 balance, all of which has been committed so there are no funds available for general use. The report was approved unanimously.
4. Tad Crawford reported that the orginal DCHC budget request for $84,000 to the Dukes County Commission was decreased by $10,000 at the request of the Commissioners and may have to be trimmed further. County revenues are not meeting the program needs of the island. He also noted that the County will pick up some operating expenses for the VHCAP New York Avenue building. The Dukes County Commission will review the budget at a meeting Monday, June 2.
5. Data and Funding Committee Report - Kathy Rose talked about plans to convene a brainstorming meeting with members of DCHC who have experience grant writing and members of the larger community with experience fundraising for the purpose of thinking through how to raise funds to support the efforts of the Health Council. It will be an ad hoc group with a time limited life. Kathy will convene it in the next 2 weeks.
Committee Reports:
6. Ilene Klein reported on the progress of the Primary Care Working Group looking into the application on behalf of the Vineyard and Nantucket to be designated an Exceptionally Medically Under Served Population. Prior to a conversation with Captain Andy Jordan, people should submit questions to Ilene by Friday 5/30/03.
7. Tad Crawford made the VHCAP report for Sarah Kuh, who was busy working on the New York Avenue building renovation prior to the office's move June 1. Any help people could give between now and then would be appreciated.
8. Health Report - Bob Tonti reported that there will be workshop June 13 with Diane Becker to look at the raw data from the health survey. He has sent out a letter asking groups involved with the report to submit questions they would like to find out from the data. They are also in the process of getting the free form comments typed up so themes can be analyzed using a computer program and by individuals.
The Health Report Symposium is scheduled for Sunday, August 10. It will be the first formal presentation of the data to the general public. Diane Becker will make a presentation and there will be a roundtable or panel discussion with health care professionals from the island. He asked for volunteers to work on the Symposium, which is a joint project of the Foundation for Island Health and the DCHC.
9. Island Health Plan - Tad Crawford noted that today's report would be an update and he would like to schedule a meeting June 19 at 7:30 am to have a more in depth discussion of developments with the Island Health Plan.
Cynthia Mitchell talked about actions on a number of fronts that will impact the insurance program:
- Legislation currently under discussion at the State level which will expand income eligibility in a demonstration project on Martha's Vineyard under the Insurance Partnership program
- Senator Kennedy filed a $1 million appropriation to fill the gaps that the state subsidy wouldn't fill
- Receipt of $15,000 from Nantucket's local health and human services grant appropriations
All these efforts are proceeding positively and the Health Plan is ready to begin talking with providers about fees and will be determining premium rates within the next two weeks.
Cynthia also passed out a draft of a brochure for consumers about the Health Plan. which she asked for input on.
The Health Plan has applied for grants on behalf of the VHCAP with the March of Dimes for prenatal care and funds for dental care and is holding money for the Access Program. which has come in from LHAA and contributions to the building renovation. They are also working on getting Medicaid reimbursement funds for VHCAP, which are projected to be $40,000-50,000 per year.
Beginning this week, the MV Times will be running a regular column about island health issues called "Health Matters." It was Murray Frank's idea to approach the newspaper and others are invited to use this forum and submit columns to the Times.
The Island Health Plan is moving to the second floor of the Mansion House when it is finished. In the meantime, they will be located in an upstairs office at Cronigs Market.
10. MV Hospital - Tim Walsh and Tim Sweet talked about the clear and pressing need for a new hospital facility and their desire to engage the community and groups on the island in the planning process. They came today to talk about the best way of engaging the DCHC in that process. Tad tentatively scheduled a meeting for Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 am for the DCHC to meet with the consultant about the hospital building project, depending on the availability of the consultant.
11. Key Relationships - Joyce Steward passed out a chart defining the DCHC in relationship to other island health organizations including the Island Health Plan, The Foundation for Island Health and the Dukes County Commission. Still unresolved is the issue of how to effectively engage MV Hospital and MV Community Services, large organizations with multiple departments and services.
Respectfully submitted, Nancy B. Gilfoy
| 
