Karuk Tribe of California

1. Approval of the Minutes for December 11, 2003

Old business needs to be put on the agenda. They would like it added under approval of the minutes.

Florrine Super moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the Minutes for December 11, 2004. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 maanata (Roy Arwood).

1. Lairy Dobbins

Lairy Dobbins, Jr. was present as his father could not be present tonight. He is in Medford picking up Hazel Joiner who had a pace maker put in. His father is upset due to the fact that in this recent snow storm there were numerous elders that could not get in and out of their homes. His father had to chain up to get in an out of his driveway. The ambulance also had trouble getting into Hazel’s driveway to pick her up as well. They would like to request that the Tribe use their equipment to make the elder’s homes accessible. Robert asked if the made any attempts to contact Fred Burcell or other maintenance staff to see if they could help, he feels that if they make the maintenance staff available and then the individuals can contact him for assistance. They all agree that the staff will not know who needs help but if they contact them there should be no problem with them assisting elders with plowing their driveways. There were also a lot of people that did not have phones without power so it made it hard to communicate. Lairy wants to know what staff person would be responsible for notifying the elders that this service can be made available to them. Robert states they will need to work with Fred to develop a policy for how to handle this situation if it happens again. They can also involve the elders workers so that they can help put together a list. Wes states they have also discussed the fact that they need to develop a list and check on the elders and gather information such as who has electric heat, electric cook stoves, well pumps that run on electricity, etc. Vickie also suggests developing a list of neighbors and/or family members that could go and check on them as well and make it a group effort. They can also meet with them and find out what areas they needed assistance in and how they could help should it happen again. Arch said he was also contacted by Debbie Wilkinson to see if they could get a meeting together to plan for these types of events in the future and be better prepared next time. They advised Lairy to contact the Chairman initially if they have a need as he can usually help or direct them to someone that can help when needed. They would like to also try and get the cell phone numbers out to people so that they can get a hold of people. They can put together an emergency listing of cell phone numbers and put them in the newsletter. They can address the personal use of phones by allowing specific employees to take them home for situations like these. The Council would like to spend some additional time discussing ways they can address this problem and come up with some ideas to fix the problems. They would like this under old business so they can follow up on it at the next meeting. Florence states that the Elders worker would be their best source for getting help.

They suggest doing mailings to specific areas and members of a specific age to gather the information. This might be better then sending the information out to all members in the newsletter. They could do a specific mailing to gather the information they need and get the information out to them regarding emergency services for elders. There can be a list put together for each of the three communities. Robert suggests that they try to negotiate some monies through BIA Roads for these types of emergencies since they have three communities with roads that require maintenance and winter clearing.

1. Old Business

Arch inquired about the community meeting in Orleans regarding the Saint Joseph’s Contract cancellation. Wes states it needs to be scheduled soon and he will work on that next week.

Robert asked about the generator that was supposed to go to Parry’s Market. It is at the store and they are working on getting the wiring finalized and inspected, but they do have it in their possession.

Florrine asked if Wes would like anyone with him at the meeting in Orleans. Florence states she will be there. Wes would like as many Council members as possible to attend, he plans on talking to Leaf as well since he lives in the community.

Robert inquired if Blue Cross was willing to negotiate on the arbitration language. Wes states there was no negotiation so they contacted United Indian Health Services to see how they handled it as a Tribe, and they informed them that they signed it so they could receive the income. Since there is nothing Blue Cross can come after the Tribe for there is really no risk and UIHS also has stated that they have had not problems with their contracts. Robert continues to feel that anytime you allow anyone to enter into arbitration outside of the Tribal jurisdiction such as State courts, etc. that you are opening yourself up to weaknesses in the future.

Tina asked about the Higher Education computers for people that were interested in getting them. Sara can have Marty find the list and then let them know what they have to work with. Marty can then clean the hard drives and they can then donate them out of the system as they have exceeded their useful life.

1. David Eisenberg

David was not present and did not have any action items. He was going to request approval of two policies, however, they were not approved by ACQI so he will present them next month. Wes states he can answer any questions they may have. Wes updated them on what was going on with the GPRA indicators. He states they have made significant progress over what their numbers were last year.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve David’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

1. Lessie Aubrey

Lessie was present to request approval of health policies. They were reviewed at the ACQI meeting yesterday and there was one change made to the Code of Ethical Behavior and she distributed the change for their review. The Decorations and AED Policies were not addressed as they did not have time. The Nitrous Oxide Policy also had some changes made by the ACQI Committee and is a new policy and will be assigned an appropriate dental policy number.

She requested approval of the Code of Ethical Behavior 06-006-030 as revised today.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Code of Ethical Behavior, 06-006-030 with the revision. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Nitrous Oxide Policy with a number to be assigned. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

She also asked them to review the list of abbreviations that cannot be used. JCAHO has developed a list of abbreviations that they are requiring be removed as well as some they are suggesting be removed. It has been approved by ACQI and she is requesting approval of this new policy tonight. She states these are to avoid problems in the charts with misinterpretations of what the writing reads.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the list of abbreviations that cannot be used. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

She also distributed some information to them regarding a hospital challenging the OIG and telling them that they did not have to have an audit by OIG. The court upheld that OIG does have the right to audit medical facilities. Her point is that the cost of compliance is much lower than the cost of non-compliance. She wants the Board to understand that compliance is a necessity as they must report to a higher authority.

She states yesterday was the first time they had all health meetings on the same day. She states it was hectic when the meetings run over to make sure that everything gets taken care of. She states that February 11, 2004 has already been scheduled for their internal compliance audit and that is the same day as their monthly meeting and David Eisenberg has also scheduled another meeting that day. She states that something needs to be done to make sure that everyone is at the meetings they need to be at and she needs some control over setting her meetings and making sure that the providers and staff are there and available for the meetings. There has been a Family Pact training scheduled in Yreka that day and that is the only day that they could get to the training. Lessie states she is trying to give the providers more time to see patients but she needs them to attend the required meetings also. She states there needs to me more communication so that everyone is on the same page and can have their business taken care of when it is scheduled to be done. The Council states it looks like there will have to be two days set aside to make sure they can attend the providers training and also get the compliance audit done. Previously all health directors were to check in with Lessie and Barbara to make sure events don’t conflict with the monthly health meetings. Wes states as it is a new process it will take some time to get on track.

Leeon Hillman moved and Florrine Super seconded to approve Lessie’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

1. Marsha Jackson

Not present, written only. Her report indicates that PCC+ is now up and running in Happy Camp and the staff love it. They are going to have Yreka started very soon. PCC stands for Patient Care Component. They asked if there is a way to add a figure that tells them what percentage of their balance has been obligated just for their information. Because there is such a lag time for reimbursements it will not be a true number since they come is sometimes a year later that is why if they use it as their guide they will usually always be ahead at the end of the year. Wes took the opportunity to explain in detail what the reports mean and what all of the numbers, percentages, and symbols stand for.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Marsha’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

1. Vickie Walden

Vickie submitted procurement to purchase a replacement compressor for the Happy Camp Dental Clinic. There are two different options with about a $1,000 price difference. The more expensive model has twin engines so that they have a backup if the machine goes down. The funding comes from the State Indian Health Grant and there are dollars available for either model. Sullivan-Schein Dental has the lowest prices at $2,320.13 with a single motor and $3,321.70 with a twin motor. She also let them know that they have had the current compressor for about 12 years so they last a long time. This piece of equipment is absolutely necessary to be able to operate the clinic.

Florence Conrad moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the purchase of a compressor with twin engines for the Happy Camp Dental Clinic in the amount of $3,321.70. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

She states that Dr. Tran will be back on Monday for another two week stay. They will be working on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and taking Friday off as an alternate day. There are a couple of other dentists that would like to come and visit to see the community and are very interested in the position.

Leeon Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Vickie’s report. 5haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

1. Joe Snapp

Written report only.

Leeon Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Joe’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

They would like to table the MOU for the Stop the Violence Program until it can go through the formal review process and have more discussion with the entire Council.

1. Wes Valentine

Wes was present to review his report with the Council. His first action item had to do with ICWA training for himself and the Council members that are on the ICWA committee. They were going to attend a training in Phoenix, however, it has been canceled. He has located another training in Temecula, CA, January 26-28, 2004 and it appears to be a better training. He needs to know who will attend and if it appears acceptable. Wes, Florence, and Florrine will attend.

He presented a CPS training that is being offered by Siskiyou County which Lisa Goodwin will be attending. She would like permission for Tanya Busby to attend as well, however, since she is not an employee the Council must approve her travel expense of per diem only, she will share a room with Lisa to reduce the costs. The total cost would be $87.50 and it could be charged to Lisa’s budget.

Florence Conrad moved and Roy Arwood seconded to approve per diem for Tanya Busby. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

He presented the close out report from State Indian Health which shows they achieved 91.7% of their goal, this will be helpful in demonstrating the need for the program in July of this year when it is due for re-funding.

He announced that the IHS Tribal Leaders meeting is going to be held March 31-April 1, 2004 at the Silver Legacy in Reno. He would like the Chairman and any other Council members to attend with him if at all possible so they may meet the IHS staff and network with them. The California Area Director and her staff will be in attendance.

He presented a proposal that was put together between Jesse Drake, LCSW and Philip Albers, CHR to develop a cycling program. The program would involve riding and training this summer by riding to other Tribes to promote the prevention of diabetes, obesity, and substance abuse. The program would end with a cross country ride stopping at Tribes throughout the nation in September. They are requesting a $1,000 donation from the Tribe to start and he has identified a $10,000 grant to pursue for the project. The individuals would be between 17 and 21 years of age. They feel they can raise additional dollars through fund raising and donations to make the cross country trip in September. The money would be used to acquire contributions, it will not go to Philip or Dr. Drake directly. There would be an application and interview process to select who will participate in the program. They suggest recruitment through the newsletter as the training will begin in April. They could set aside $1,000 for expenses and then track the donations and grant dollars through the finance office. They would also need to address liability insurance needs to cover the participants. They could pursue corporate sponsorship for items such as insurance and bicycle donations, etc. There would be specific guidelines for the program. As it will be a Tribal project, they will use the Tribe’s logo and Tribe’s name. It would be a group of 12 youth and 3 staff. They would like Philip and Dr. Drake to be at the next Council meeting to answer any questions they may have and give a more detailed presentation.

Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve a $1,000 for the start up of the cycling project. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

The remainder of his report is closed session and he volunteered to go last.

Leeon Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Wes’ report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 maanata.

Closed Session from 7:55 PM to 12:15 AM

Consensus: To send the knee rehabilitation equipment back and get paid half price what we paid for it.

Consensus: To do an emergency four day posting for accounts receivable in billing.

Consensus: To pay employees for Monday 12/29, Tuesday 12/30, and Thursday 1/1. With option to use sick or annual leave on Wednesday 12/31 and Friday 1/2.