Karuk Tribe of California
Health Board Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2005
Happy Camp, CA
Ayukii,
The meeting was called to order at 5:01 PM by Arch Super, Chairman.
Roll Call
Present
Arch Super, Chairman
Florrine Super, Secretary
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Roy Arwood, Member
Florence Conrad, Member
Robert Goodwin, Member
Robert Grant, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Absent
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman - excused
Quorum is established.
The Health Program mission statement was read aloud by Florence Conrad.
Approval of the Agenda for February 10, 2005
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Agenda for February 10, 2005. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
1) Approval of the Minutes for January 13, 2005
Florence Conrad moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the Minutes for January 13, 2005. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 2 pupitihara (Florrine Super and Alvis Johnson).
2) Mary Kelly
Mary was present to address the Board and discuss a way to raise funding for the Patient Assistance Program. Her proposal is to charge each Non-Native client a $2 fee for processing their application for discounted/free prescriptions at the Clinics. These funds could go toward the Health Program. Some of the providers feel this may increase the usage of other programs such as EAPC and discourage clients from applying. She would like to do a survey to see how many clients would be willing to pay the application fee and then discuss/present the results to them. It would probably be about $100-$200 per month that was brought in. The dollars would be like other Third Party Revenues and would need to be used for a Health Program function. Dr. Burns states he has concerns and feels that a study would be the best action to take at this time to determine what the level of cooperation would be with the application fee. Wes asked if one of the patients qualifies for EAPC, and they have to have a mechanism to provide the prescription without charging the patient (which is the goal of the program), why don’t they charge the application fee toward the EAPC visit and then it wouldn’t cost the client anything and then she can process the refills through the Patient Assistance Program so they don’t have to come back each month. She said the patients she spoke to said they would be more than willing to pay the fee to get their medications for free or discounted. She feels she could have almost all of the surveys done before the next meeting and they could discuss it further. It is also suggested to do a per-application fee with a monthly cap as many take several medications.
3) Old Business
Florence asked about obtaining approval to attend the Nutrition conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 16-20, 2005 if she can get accepted into the conference. There is funding available.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve out of state travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 16-20, 2005 for the Nutrition Conference. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
4) Joe Snapp
Joe states he does not have any items to add to his written report. Robert Goodwin asked if Joe has ever had a chance to meet with Laura Mayton regarding the Oak Knoll project and the funding for the services to be provided. Florrine asked if he knows what the hold-up is from Housing on the project. Joe states Sami called and said that she was working on getting some architectural work done on the building. Florrine suggests setting a meeting to get everyone back on the same page to see where they are at and where they are going. Joe states he can set up a meeting with the Church, Housing, Laura, Trista, Florence, Leaf, and Florrine to discuss the project. Joe states that he is still waiting on the County for the DUI School Application; he feels it is moving forward at this time. He states he should have an answer by the Health Board meeting in March. He states the next step will be the County Board of Supervisors.
Florrine Super moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Joe’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
5) Lessie Aubrey
Lessie asked if there were any questions on her written report. She states that she will not be attending the Colorado meeting but would like to attend a conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2-3, 2005 with the Greely Company as it will be a better seminar. She will be attending the IHS meeting in Reno in March instead of the Colorado trip. She would also like approval for Barbara to attend the Las Vegas meeting.
Roy Arwood moved and Florrine Super seconded to approve out of state travel for Lessie Aubrey and Barbara Snider to Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2-3, 2005. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florrine Super moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Lessie’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
6) Vickie Walden
Vickie was present in case they had any questions on her written report. She explained the numbers for the patients and why they are so high.
Robert Goodwin moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Vickie’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
7) David Eisenberg
David Eisenberg was present to review his report. He requested approval of Policy 02-002-006 for Smoke Detectors, Fire Alarms, Emergency Lighting, Fire Extinguishers, and Environmental Checklists. He pointed out the changes that have been made to the policy and how the deficiencies in the policy were identified. This has been reviewed and approved by ACQI.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Policy 02-002-006. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leeon Hillman moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve David’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
8) Dr. Steven Burns
Dr. Burns has no new items to present at this time. He is present if they have any questions.
9) Wes Valentine
Wes’ first item is approval of a letter to be sent out to the Orleans/Somes Bar community announcing the availability of Dr. Willett at the Orleans Clinic. He would like to send it out to the residents in Orleans, Somes Bar, Forks of the Salmon, and Sawyers Bar. The cost will be about $100.
Florence Conrad moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve the mailing. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara. The postage will come from the Third Party budget.
He requested approval of an updated position description for the Assistant Social Worker to change the title to Case Manager to more accurately reflect the duties of that employee. It has been reviewed by the ICWA Committee.
Florence Conrad moved and Florrine Super seconded to approve the revised position description for Case Worker. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
He distributed an employment offer for the Dentist vacancy in Yreka. It has been negotiated with the individual. She has been interviewed by the staff and has wonderful references. She is willing to start on June 14, 2005 and his goal is to use a temporary dentist until that time. Her husband is also a Physician that may be interested in the other vacancy they have and they are both interested in relocating and remaining in the area for quite some time. She has asked that her name not be released until she informs her current employer of her intent to leave.
Consensus: To move forward with the employment offer.
He reminded them that HRSA will be on site Wednesday and Thursday next week and would like to have lunch with the Council and Management Staff on Wednesday. The Council already has a Planning Meeting scheduled for that day so they can break for lunch to meet with them. The HRSA representatives will also be in Yreka on Thursday if they would like to stop by and see them then from 9 AM to 12 PM.
Roy asked about the Pharmacy issue mentioned in his report. Wes would like to discuss this once Mike DeHart comes over when the Pharmacy closes.
Robert Goodwin moved and Florrine Super seconded to approve Wes’ report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florrine Super and Arch Super excused themselves from the meeting.
Consensus: To discuss Robert Super’s request at their Wednesday meeting further and get staff input from Enrollment regarding the policies and then find out about funding to assist with respite foster care.
Florrine Super and Arch Super returned to the meeting.
Mike DeHart was present to discuss issues that have been raised regarding the $5 charge to send medications out of the Pharmacy. Many Elders either don’t have the money or don’t want to send in the money for the charge. Arch would like to know if it is absolutely necessary to charge this fee. Mike states they do not charge the Elders (60 and Over) currently. Wes states maybe they should meet to review the Pharmacy Charging Policy and who is charged and what the reasoning is behind those charges. Mike states they are paying several hundred dollars in postage each month for medications sent out as they must mail them certified mail to track if they are delivered which is at least $4.42 per prescription. Wes will email the policy out to them and they can discuss it at the Orleans Council meeting. They can also gather some statistical information as well. Mike states since the charge has been implemented, the number of prescriptions being mailed out has dropped as there were several people abusing the mailing policy.
Wes also announced that they have made more progress with Medi-cal and the State has finally admitted that they do not know how to process the application and Karen Tracy is helping them.
10) Approval of the Scope of Work for Stephanie Dolan
This should be ready for the Wednesday Planning Meeting. Stephanie is no longer working with CILS and the current projects she is involved in such as the Election Committee, Constitutional Amendments, and ICWA casework need to be put into a contract.
11) Informational
Hector distributed an MOU for the Bunker Hill negotiations for them to review. He would like them to discuss this and have final approval at the Wednesday meeting. There was discussion regarding the status of Bunker Hill. He also discussed the current status of the Trust Reform Consortium. There will be a trip to Washington, DC on March 1, 2005 and the Karuk Tribe needs to determine who they will send to that meeting to discuss the Trust Reform Bill and the additional dollars to carry those requirements out, there can also be a possible discussion regarding the Karuk Tribe’s other issues such as fishing rights. On the same day there is a government to government consultation in Portland, Oregon regarding recordkeeping.
In Sacramento on February 23, 2005 at 10 AM the meeting with NIGC to review the petition for reconsideration. Legal counsel will be attending this meeting as well. Arch, Alvis, Roy, Hector, Scott, and Dennis will attend in addition to anyone else that is interested. Dennis is trying to coordinate a meeting with the Governor on the same day.
He also announced there will be a Consortium meeting at the Arcata Hotel on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 10 AM.
12) Approval of Revised ICWA Policies
At the last Council meeting there was discussion regarding the absence of wording referencing other Indian children in the Karuk Tribe’s area of jurisdiction in the ICWA Committee’s mission statement. It still needs to be updated and can be presented either at the Wednesday meeting or the Council meeting. They will do it on Wednesday and Florrine will get it emailed out before then.
Closed Session from 7:30 PM to 10:40 PM
Robert Goodwin moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to uphold the denial and pay 50% for Case #133 from Third Party in the amount of $213.38. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Roy Arwood moved and Florence Conrad seconded to uphold the denial for Case #134 and pay $200 from Third Party. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to uphold the denial for Case #135 and pay $780 from Third Party. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Grant moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to uphold the denial for Case #136 and pay $600 from Third Party. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and Florence Conrad seconded to uphold the denial for Case #137 and pay $325 from Third Party after Anna verifies the child is a Tribal Member. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florence Conrad moved and Roy Arwood seconded to transfer $50,000 to KCDC for operating expenses. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 2 pupitihara (Florrine Super and Robert Grant).
Consensus: To inform the individual that the final offer stands and if she does not accept by February 18, 2005 the offer will be withdrawn and the dollars will go on to the next eligible HIP applicant.
Consensus: To increase the Orleans Senior Center Cook to 6 hours per day.
Consensus: To approve an increase of $0.50 per hour to Employee #0349.
Robert Goodwin moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to appoint Florrine Super to the Community Services Council as the Siskiyou County Representative. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Roy Arwood excused himself at 10:05 PM.
Directive: To have Tanya talk to Alice and the Tribe in her area to see if they are willing to help with this expense as the Tribe does not have dollars to cover the entire expense.
Consensus: The request from San Diego is denied due to lack of dollars for that type of assistance.
Consensus: To approve the Newsletter for mailing.
February 16, 2005 at 5 PM was set to discuss revisions to the Election Ordinance.
Alvis Johnson moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to loan $5,500 at 5% and $100 per pay period payments to Employee #1690. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Robert Grant).
Consensus: To not have Barbara Norman sit on the CSDA and DCSS platforms.
Meeting adjourned at 10:45 PM.
Next Meeting Date: March 10, 2005 at 5 PM in Happy Camp.
Yootva,
_________________________________
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence