Karuk Tribe - Health Board Meeting
September 11, 2008 - Meeting Minutes
Meeting called to order at 3:04 pm, by Florrine Super,
Council Secretary
Present:
Florrine Super, Council
Secretary
Robert Goodwin, Member at
Large
Roy Arwood, Member at Large
Alvis Johnson, Member at
Large
Sonny Davis, Member at Large
Absent:
Arch Super, Chairman (absent
/ excused)
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
(absent / excused)
Leaf Hillman, Vice-Chairman
(absent / excused)
The Health Program
Agenda:
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Roy Arwood seconded to approve the agenda with changes, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Minutes of August 14, 2008:
Directors Reports:
1.) Daniel Pratt, TANF Director:
Daniel provided his written
report to the Health Board.
He would like to review the
three items from last month. The TANF budget, TANF plan, and the TANF position
descriptions have been completed including advertising and posting the
positions. During a TANF infrastructure meeting it was discussed not to
duplicate the services offered through various departments of the Tribe, and
the different department directors are evaluating what services are offered on
behalf of clients. Daniel met with KTHA to discuss office space at the Yreka
Housing Administration for the Yreka division of TANF. He will meet with Sami
to finalize the plans.
He was previously seeking
authorization for travel to
Daniel went on to explain
that he and the Social Services department have been working with Domestic
Violence in Yreka providing and partnering in training. Daniel presented a
request for a donation from Yreka domestic violence and he understands that it
is the end of the fiscal year, but all programs and entities that are
participating have contributed to the costs through donations. Most organizations have committed to $1,000; he
understands that there are budget issues currently but would still request to
provide some monetary assistance. This will be tabled to the next planning
meeting.
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Florence Conrad seconded to approve Daniel’s written report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara,
0 pupitihara.
2.) Mike Edward, Behavioral Health Director:
Mike is not present, but his
report was provided for the board to review.
Florence Conrad motioned
and Sonny Davis seconded to approve Mike’s written report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
3.) Martha Schrock, EDHHS:
Martha provided her written report to the Health Board. She thought that the Title
IVE project was going to go live October 1, 2008; however that timeframe is not
feasible. Laura, Martha and the department directors have been reviewing the
health program departmental budgets and they will be reviewed with the Council
for final approval later this month.
Martha provided an update on
the third party budgets with the Health Board. Martha found interesting information
regarding retention and recruitment of physicians. She found that most
physicians are not opting for primary care as their field and this is leaving a
shortage of routine healthcare for patients.
Martha updated the Health
Board on Suzanna Hardenburger’s reporting, explaining that there are several
obstacles to receiving funding in a timely manner; in particular there is low
revenue from MediCal funding since it is currently on hold and the provider
enrollment applications are not being approved in a timely manner. Suzanna
continues to work with providers and staff to comply with applications and
processing to ensure when the availability to bill and receive payment is open
that the health program, specifically the billing office is ready. The EAPC
grant was received and if there is remaining EAPC funds, then it will be redistributed
amongst tribes that have demonstrated a need for additional funding. This is
the process for the EAPC grant.
Dr. Burns addressed the
Health Board. He is excited to become a trainer for non-violent crises
intervention and anticipating training other health staff and eventually the
administration staff of the Tribe. Dr. Burns has realized with his recent
training that some recent situations would have been potentially diffusible had
he had the training prior to those instances. He thanked the Health Board for
allowing him to attend.
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Sonny Davis seconded to approve Martha’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
4.) Vickie Walden, Dental Office Manager:
Vickie provided her written
report for the Health Board to review, however she has no action items.
Florrine questioned why the emergency hours were changed at the Yreka dental
clinic. Vickie believes that the determination was made based on an internal
review of what would work best for the staff and the emergency visits that the
clinic was receiving. Vickie would like any further questions about the working
of this new hours be directed to Dr. Bardonner as he made this determination.
Dr. Bardonner does see patients based on the triage process, but the new hours
for emergencies seems to work better for the routine care that is being
provided to regularly scheduled visits. Vickie will ask that Dr. Bardonner
write the Council regarding this determination and provide that information to
the Health Board.
Vickie is going to provide
training to the CHR’s on different aspects of the care related to teeth and
dental care and will provide a report back on that for the Health Board at
their next meeting. Too often outreach staff focus on the medical health of
their clients and the dental health is overlooked, so Vickie is excited to have
a working relationship with the outreach staff to include dental care.
Florence Conrad motioned
and Sonny Davis seconded to approve Vickie’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
5.) Patricia White, Database Administrator:
Patti provided an update to
her report for the Health Board. She explained that there were a couple issues
with RPMS operating slowly or the system going down in the last month, but the
system is up and running smooth lately. The operations summary is up to date since
July and the budgets are on schedule to date. The Blue Shield Grant was
received and was provided an additional $10,000 for the next granting period.
Sonny
6.) Eric Cutright, IT Director:
Eric is present to review his
written report with the Health Board. He presented an action item for procurement
regarding the
Florence Conrad motioned
and Roy Arwood seconded to approve procurement and allow the purchase of IT
equipment with SDW Government Inc. in the amount of $3,583, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Eric then provided
procurement for network switches to provide data and phone service to the
Eric provided highlights of
his written report to the Health Board. Verizon has agreed to provide more
space for data storage to the
The other sites may use the
new equipment purchased for
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Roy Arwood seconded to approve Eric’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
7.) Lessie Aubrey, DQMCH:
Lessie followed up with the
Health Board on the Susanville Rancheria and IHS lawsuit. Lessie discussed the
issue with Susanville Rancheria and nothing has developed or progressed. Susan
Dahl was reached and IHS is not looking for a tribal consultation regarding
this situation, but did attempt to discourage charging copays.
Lessie announced that during
her last HRSA training, they had wanted to have the Karuk health program to
become a member of the California National Primary Healthcare and due to costs that
option was not feasible. Lessie will still be eligible to receive trainings at
a reduced rate for her healthcare trainings without being a member of the
association.
Lessie then went on to seek
approval of several policies attached to her report. Her report contained
policies for the Senior Center Nutrition Program, HIPAA policies (Emancipated
minors and adult representatives, law enforcement), Patient Responsibilities,
Child passenger protection, smoking policy and personally owned electrical
equipment related to Safety and Infection Control.
All the policies should be updated
to reflect the official name of the Karuk Tribe; it is no longer Karuk Tribe of
Florrine would like further
information sent to the Tribal Members and clinic users regarding CHS including
the application for MediCal. She believes that there is still some confusion of
when to apply for MediCal and when a patient is eligible for CHS. Dr. Burns explained
that when he provides a referral Tracy Burcell determines if a patient has
MediCal and if not then she assists clients in obtaining the needed information
and working with CHS.
Moving forward the health
program policies will be distributed to the Health Board and then be tabled to
the following planning meeting for approval. This will allow more time for the
Health Board to thoroughly review policies and procedures.
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Lessie attached performance
improvement reports from the health staff meetings held for the second quarter.
She attached the substance abuse program reports including Happy Camp relapse
group, Yreka relapse group, Orleans relapse group, Yreka dental department
medical records report, Yreka dental department blood pressure report, Happy
Camp dental department medical records report, Happy Camp dental department
health history report, and the colon cancer screening report. Attached to the
reports are the staff’s findings for improvement along with graphs
demonstrating growth and areas for improvement.
Robert Goodwin motioned
and Sonny Davis seconded to approve Lessie’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Guests: Non-Health Employee:
1.) Jennifer Goodwin, Education Coordinator
No Show – removed from the
agenda.
2.) Dion Wood, TERO/Childcare Director:
Request to be removed from
the agenda.
Closed Session:
Robert Goodwin motioned
and
Roy Arwood motioned and
Robert Goodwin seconded to uphold the CHS denial and pay $85 from Third Party
for CHS Case # 195, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: to deny CHS
Case # 194.
Robert Goodwin motioned and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve issuing CHS a tribal
visa credit card for prescriptions, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin motioned
and Florence Conrad seconded to enter into an educational agreement for the
three years of school including this year for employee # 5138, 4 haa, 0
puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Roy Arwood).
Consensus: to send a
letter to contractor # 4222 explaining that the contract will remain unchanged
and the request for an increase is denied at this time.
Roy Arwood motioned and
Florence Conrad seconded to provide insurance coverage for a Halloween party
initiated by Rita Manly-King, 4 haa, 1 puuhara (Robert Goodwin), 0 pupitihara.
Informational: employee # 0506
provided an overview of the tribe’s current finances and recommendations moving
forward for the remainder of the fiscal year including recommendations on
caution and restriction on spending. Employee then announced resignation of
position effective at the end of the calendar year.
Robert Goodwin motioned
and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve procurement and allow the purchase of
moving equipment and pay invoice to Pittman Trucking in the amount of $2,820, 5
haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: to deny payroll
deduction and send a letter to Tribal Member # 0744 and inquire of their
ability to pay.
Consensus: to deny loan
request of $6,000 due to lack of funding.
Robert Goodwin motioned
and Roy Arwood seconded to pay for rock delivery to Yreka site in the amount of
$1,300, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Informational: employee # 1017 has been invited to attend a hearing by
California Commissioner on Aging. The conference is in
Robert Goodwin motioned
and Alvis Johnson seconded to allow vehicle rental for Lemoure travel if it is
the most economical based on policy, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Roy
Arwood).
Robert motioned and Roy
seconded to approve credentialing and privileging for Tracie Lima, 5 haa, 0
puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Next meeting date: October 9, 2008 in Happy Camp, CA.
Alvis Johnson motioned and
Florence Conrad seconded to adjourn meeting at 7:47 PM, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Respectfully Submitted,
________________________________
Florrine Super, Council Secretary
Recording Secretary, Barbara Snider