Karuk Tribe – Health Board Meeting

July 9, 2009 – Meeting Minutes

 

Meeting called to order at 3 pm, by Arch Super, Chairman

 

Present:

Arch Super, Chairman

Leeon Hillman, Treasurer (late-3:30pm)

Florrine Super, Secretary

Florence Conrad, Member at Large

Roy Arwood, Member at Large

Bud Johnson, Member at Large

Sonny Davis, Member at Large

Verna Reece, Member at Large

 

Absent:

Leaf Hillman, Vice-Chairman

 

The Health Program Mission statement was read aloud by, Florence Conrad.

 

Agenda:

Florrine Super motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve the agenda with changes, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Health Board Meeting minutes from June 11, 2009:

Florrine Super motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to approve the minutes of June 11, 2009, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Guests:

1.) Tiraterra Painting:

Mike is present to seek input on the Orleans facility painting job. He would like to change colors to but stay within the same color scheme. He spoke to the staff in Orleans but there is a difference in opinions so he would like clarification from the Council on what colors they would like. Florence referred Mike back to Lessie to make the color selections but keep in mind the facility is professional and it is recommended that the stencil design stay on the wall when the project is complete.

 

Director Reports:
1.) Daniel Pratt, TANF Director:

Daniel is present to review his written report with the Board.

 

He thanked the Council for the approval of the policies and procedures for the TANF program.

 

When the TANF program began in December they were operating off Council Discretionary funding, and with the receipt of the State funding things have moved forward and the program is operating with TANF funding. Daniel discovered that he was supposed to be submitting Federal reports quarterly. He did not spend federal funding right away so he unaware of the reporting requirements. He has begun to calculate the data needed and is preparing to submit those reports Now that he understands the reporting requirement the staff will be preparing and submitting them on time.

Next week he will be attending the State Tribal Caucus. Currently the TANF program is operating on the full Federal funding which assists the program. The State funding wasn’t received right away and there were issues receiving reimbursements by the State. He is hoping that the State will be able to reimburse a little more quickly but with operating on Federal funding that keeps the program and its operations operating smoothly. Historically when there was a stale mate, the State would pull reimbursements but hold off on advancements. He will hopefully determine what State funding will be received next week while in travel status.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Daniel’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara (Sonny absent for vote).

 

2.) Mike Edwards, Behavioral Health Director:

Mike is present to review his written report with the Board. They are currently working toward receiving the Title IVE plan and Mike is seeking approval of a resolution approving the Title IVE plan. Mike sought approval of the actual plan last month and it was approved but without the resolution and now he understands that the approval requires approval of a resolution and it needs to be attached to the plan when it is sent in.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve resolution 09-R-094, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

The Department has had to absorb two positions into the program and the have not reduced any services due to the recent layoffs.

 

The program is beginning another parenting class for Orleans but will not be holding it until ceremonies are over and the schedules open up.

 

Mike did announce that Ron Reed was present at the Yav Pa Anav meeting to discuss the upcoming cultural camp project that he would like to see implemented.

 

Mike was seeking approval of another grant which will be for 2009-2010. Mike stated that Laura Mayton sought approval of the proposals to Title IVB and it is for two different amounts. The funding goes toward foster care and services. There are two resolutions for two different amounts to the same funder.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Florrine Super seconded to approve resolution 09-R-080 authorizing submission of a grant proposal to Title IVB in the amount of $5,418, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to approve resolution 09-R-081 authorizing submission of a grant proposal to Title IVB in the amount of $13,749, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

The adoption that was held through Tribal Court was updated to the Tribal Council. Humboldt County previously handled this and made the payments, however once the adoption takes place the Tribe will be required to make the payments. Mike will be holding a Title IVE staff meeting on Monday, July 13, 2009 to review the new requirements.

 

Verna Reece motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Mike’s report, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

3.) Chad Tiraterra, RPMS Site Manager:

Patti introduced Chad Tiraterra as the new RPMS Site Manager for the Health Program. Chad is present to review his written report with the Council. Chad thanked Patti for her assistance in the transfer of duties.

 

Chad reviewed the requests for IT support and also the clinic workload reports attached to his monthly report. Patti assisted Chad in explaining the reports to the Board.

 

Dr. Willett is doing approximately 90% of his documentation in EHR and that may attribute to his low patient count. Taking the time to enter data will slow the visit counts for a couple weeks until the provider is familiar with the system and then their numbers should increase back to normal.  

 

Dr. Burns complimented Patti, Amy and the entire EHR staff. The EHR implementation has gone really well; he saw sixteen patients and used EHR and entering each visit. He noted that the providers were reluctant in the beginning but it has worked well.

 

Verna Reece motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Chad’s report, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

4.) Vickie Walden, Dental Office Manager:

Vickie arrived late, and distributed her report for the Board to review. She has a short report and is attempting to catch up on her data entry. She has been reviewing her budgets that have been identified as short, but there is funding being moved around, and they should level out. They are reviewing Native American lab from State Indian Health and trying to determine if that is going to be feasible. The staff changes that have been approved for Happy Camp dental have been implemented. As Vickie catches up on Data entry and patient visit reports, she should provide a visits count and graphing for March, April, May and June 2009. The dental chair that was stored in Orleans was picked up by Johnny Jerry, of Quartz Valley and that Tribe is very thankful for the donation.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Vickie’s report, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

5.) Lessie Aubrey, EDHHS:
Lessie is present to review her written report with the Board. Lessie explained that she is having difficulty in receiving a final determination in the ability to bill for services rendered by the LCSW’s. Even the Business Office Manager is unable to receive a complete answer. The staff will continue to bill however, until it is determined to be unallowable, as the first response to the question was that the clerks were correct. They will continue to bill under this understanding until a clearer answer can be provided.

 

Lessie also has run into a problem with the mileage log for the white wheel chair van quarterly reports. The van’s use was supposed to be tracked and a report submitted to Caltrans on its use.  Lessie thanked Patti and Flo for working on this, however there is still data missing so the last report is unable to be sent.  The audience assisted Lessie in announcing who may have used the van and will send that information to her or Patti as well.

 

Leeon Hillman arrived.

 

The painting has begun in the Yreka clinic and on Friday the painting will begin at the other sites. The painting companies were selected, specifically keeping in mind the time frames in which the work needed to be completed. They are all in the planning phases and working within the timelines.  

 

Sonny Davis motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Lessie’s report, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

6.) Karen Daniels, DQMCH:

Karen is present to review her written report with the Board. Karen announced that there have been fire drills and emergency training done with the staff. She has been working on credentialing and privileging a great deal of time has been spent on attempting to get a provider who can cover the Orleans area.

 

There have been a lot of staff changes within the last month and the staff has done a great job in accepting additional duties.

 

The budgets are good but she did identify that the diabetic grant is over spent. She is unsure at this time what is causing it, but she will review this. She attached the meeting minutes from the ACQI and Medical Records meetings. She asked that the Council familiarize themselves with the CQI projects.

 

Verna Reece motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Karen’s report, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

7.) Eric Cutright, IT Director:

Eric arrived late to the meeting but he did arrive to present an agreement for approval. The agreement was tabled until Thursday’s meeting. It needs to be in Tribe’s format for agreements and reviewed internally according to policy.

 

Eric went on to present procurement for the Tribe and IT to perform some tests on technology capability to determine what kinds of services the new equipment is capable to provide. The bid is with Tech Depot in the amount of $5,555.86.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Verna Reece seconded to approve the procurement and allow the purchase of IT supplies in the amount of $5,555.86, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara. 

 

Eric then informed the Council about the meeting he and Chris attended in Yreka. He is and has been attending meetings in regards to ARRA funding availability for broadband access to the downriver communities. This particular ARRA funding is available for groups that are applying rather than individual persons or entities. Siskiyou County is working very hard toward getting information on all the telephone companies and services that currently provide service and what restrictions there are. The group is still sorting through who can apply. It appears that the Tribe is within the top 10% of applicants for the funding. The meeting today was only for Siskiyou County; however he is working with a contact for Humboldt County for the Orleans area. The mission statement is to provide affordable services to link the rural areas together and provide services. He is hoping to have more formal information by the next Council meeting and then he will present some further information at that time.

 

Florence commended Eric and his whole department because they work together with outside agencies for the best service to the communities.  This generally isn’t the case with a lot of entities in these rural communities, so she is happy to see that the IT department can work cooperatively serving all areas.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Eric’s report, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Guests: Non-Health Employees:

1.) Sandi Tripp, Land Department

Sandi presented a line agreement resolution for a service line between the Karuk Tribe and PP&L regarding the Amkuuf Smoke Shop in Yreka. The Land Department completed all the necessary paperwork previously but the resolution wasn’t done and it is a requirement.   

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve resolution 09-R-099, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Verna Reece).

 

Sandi then presented resolution 09-R-098 which is a tribal transportation improvement program (TTIP) for fiscal years 2010-2013. She provided information on the roads and construction that will be done with the funding; including the ARRA funding that was approved for the Anavkaam road project.

 

Verna Reece motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve resolution 09-R-098 authorizing submission of the TTIP for fiscal years 2010-2013, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

2.) Harold Tripp, Fire Program:

Harold provided a map of the backbone fire that is burning in Willow Creek and the downriver area. There is one in the Salmon Summit area and the USFS is planning to back burn. They initially stated that they were not going to try and burn it all; however it appears that it may get out of control if not back burned. The USFS is spent days arguing over who has jurisdiction between both national forests near the fire. Klamath wants to burn from Norhammer north, however Trinity is opposing that decision. After determining who has seniority over the fire and decisions made regarding it, the back burn will take place beginning Saturday. Harold and Bill are the agency representatives for the Tribe and have been working with both forest service entities. Harold announced that there are several cultural concerns over some areas that the fire may get near too; however they continue to monitor those areas. The fire is close to the Hoopa reservation and they are attempting to keep it clear. Merv George, Tribal Liaison, came up from Tribal Relations and that has helped a great deal with communication of the Tribal perspective. The most recent information on money spent on this fire to date is approximately $3 million. Bob stated that in the first news release they had spent $500,000 in the first day. Harold will attend the Thursday planning meeting to provide another update to the Council.

 

3.) Robert Goodwin, Self-Governance Coordinator:

Bob is requesting to change the resolution template to insert a second resolution number spot on the template. Currently the resolutions may be drafted on two pages, leaving one page with just a signature and approval certification section. He would like to see all resolutions repeat the resolution number in brackets to ensure that the correct resolution is with the correct approval page.

 

Florrine Super motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve amending the resolution template to have the resolution number in the certification section of all resolutions, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Bob explained that during a recent meeting with the BIA it was determined that there is website access availability with the BIA. The requirement for access to the website information is that the Council approves a resolution noting the staff names that are approved to access the self governance portion. Bob is requesting that Laura, Erin, Scott and himself be approved for access.

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve resolution 09-R-097 authorizing Scott Quinn, Laura Mayton, Erin Hillman and Robert A. Goodwin access to the BIA Self-Governance website, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

As informational Bob noted that the suction dredge bill (SB670) passed overwhelmingly on the assembly floor; the next step is the Governor’s desk.  

 

Bob thanked the Council for assigning him to the Intertribal Fish Commission. He announced that they were out of compliance and had to name the officers and he was named as the Secretary. He is hoping this will be an interim appointment and it will be changed once the bylaws have changed. The Inter Tribal Fish Commission would like to have everyone sit down and discuss options for the restoration project. Bob would like to determine dates and availability of the Tribal Council to meet with the other Councils. He will forward more information on the suggested meeting time to the Council.

 

Bob did find the land use agreement that was drafted with the USFS and the Tribe regarding Katamin. He will be having copies of the agreement put into the Council mail boxes to ensure they have adequate time to review the document.

 

Closed Session:

Florence Conrad motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to uphold the CHS denial and pay $239.08 for CHS Case # 204 from Third Party for Tribal Member #309, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to uphold the CHS denial and $308.69 for CHS Case #205 for Tribal Member #506 from Third Party, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Consensus: to table requests from Tribal Member # 506 to Thursday’s planning meeting.  

 

Florence Conrad and Leeon Hillman excused themselves from the meeting.

 

Consensus: to deny loan request from Tribal Member # 390 and have the Chairman update the Council on loan report once monthly to Tribal Members so they will understand the limitations on loans and the outstanding balances.

 

Consensus: to table request from employee # 9333 to Thursday’s planning meeting.

 

Consensus: to uphold previous denial for Tribal Descendant # D00913 loan request.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Florrine Super seconded to approve Credentialing and privileging for contractor # 6324 and add the additional scope of work, 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florrine Super motioned and Verna Reece seconded to approve contracts 09-C-064 & and 09-C-065, 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Florence Conrad).

 

Florrine Super motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve contract 09-C-063 between the Karuk Tribe and Downriver Impressions, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Florence Conrad).

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Sonny Davis seconded to approve out of state travel for Florrine Super and Florence Conrad to Scottsdale AZ July 30-August 3, 2009, 3 haa, 2 puuhara (Bud Johnson & Verna Reece), 2 pupitihara (Florrine Super & Florence Conrad).

 

Consensus: for the Chairman to speak with employee’s # 5421 and # 1653 to determine funding availability for language meetings.

 

Informational: the men’s and boy’s culture class that is held in Happy Camp are going to attend a gathering with other tribes in Smith River September 26, 2009.

 

Consensus: for employee #2267 to follow up on the Council’s questions regarding the Cage Fight agreement and to have it presented back to the Council via phone vote.

 

Consensus: to refer request from Tribal Member # 2645 to TANF.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Florrine Super seconded to remove Tribal Member #1088 and Tribal Member #0027 from the KTHA board effective immediately, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara (Verna Reece, Bud Johnson and Leeon Hillman absent for vote).

 

Leeon Hillman, Verna Reece and Bud Johnson returned to the meeting.

 

Next meeting date: August 13, 2009

 

Meeting adjourned.  

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

________________________________

Arch Super, Chairman

 

Recording Secretary, Barbara Snider