SUMMARY MINUTES
CHAIRMAN’S MEETING
Indian River County Hospital District Conference Room/ Zoom
January 18, 2023
TRUSTEES: Marybeth Cunningham Karen Deigl
Barb Bodnar Paul Westcott
Kerry Bartlett Michael Kint
William Cooney, M.D.
ZOOM: Marie Andress Allen Jones
Ann Marie McCrystal Lenora Ritchie
STAFF: Ann Marie Suriano Dawn Carboni
Kate Voss Jennifer Frederick
Jennifer Peshke, Esq. (via Zoom)
ATTENDEES: Bill Stengel Pat Knipper
Freddie Woolfork William Roller
Convene Meeting – Marybeth Cunningham, Chairwoman
Mrs. Cunningham convened the meeting of the IRCHD Board of Trustees at 10:00 AM by welcoming those participating via Zoom and in person. She also extended a welcome to the three new Trustees, Dr. William Cooney, Paul Westcott, and Michael Kint. Ms. Suriano also introduced the newest District employee Kaytlin Dickens, who will now handle all matters concerning the Districts financial assistance program and database. She is also working to create the Districts annual report for 2022. Ms. Cunningham announced that well respected community leader and VNA Foundation Board Chair Kathy Pierce passed away suddenly over the weekend and her thoughts and prayers are with her family and colleagues.
HSB Lease Negotiations- Marybeth Cunningham, Chair & Jennifer Peshke, Esq.
Ms. Peshke provided an update concerning the status of the notice of intent to vacate received from the Visiting Nurse Association (“VNA”) concerning their lease of the Human Services Building. Their original move out date was in April but they have now sent correspondence requesting an extension to May 31. Additionally, Ms. Peshke sent correspondence to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital (“CCIRH”) notifying them of the VNA’s intent to vacate the property and CCIRH right of first refusal. The correspondence also requested that CCIRH provide the District with a written response outlining their future intentions of the usage of the building. Follow up correspondence was received from CCIRH and they expressed their interested in entering into negotiations with the District in regards to the property. However, Ms. Peshke indicated that a formal proposal has not been received, but she will bring forth any new information to the Trustees as soon as possible. Mr. Westcott made a recommendation for the board to formally accept the VNA’s request to extend their move out date to May 31st, and made a motion to approve the same. Ms. Bodnar seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
Strategic Framework discussion- Ann Marie Suriano, ED & Kerry Bartlett, Vice Chair
Ms. Suriano stated for the last several months there have been Trustee discussion concerning the roll out of the District’s Strategic Plan and Framework, and the best way to communicate this to the public. Now that the newly elected Trustees have taken their seats on the board, Ms. Suriano and Ms. Bartlett have been working to develop action steps to facilitate the roll out. Therefore, they drafted a proposed memo which would include a survey, that would be sent out to local community leaders and provider partners that the District funds. The survey would consist of questions concerning the future of healthcare and healthcare services within Indian River County. Ms. Deigl recommended that the survey also be sent to Board members of the non-profit agencies for their feedback as well. Dr. Cooney recommended that the presentation and communication be shared with the medical staff within the community, to Indian River Medical Society and Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital leadership in addition to the non-for-profits. Ms. Bartlett addressed the board and reiterated the importance of the information referenced in the Collective Impact White Paper article that was circulated to the Trustees. She would like to move in the direction of funding community-based solutions that will take a more of a higher level of thinking, and obtaining feedback from the leaders of these organizations is key to this exercise being successful. There was further Trustee discussion concerning the memo and survey, and all were in favor of moving forward with this process. Ms. Bartlett also informed the board that she and Ms. Suriano have had discussions with the CEO of the Health District of Palm Beach and invited her to attend the next Chairman’s meeting, to provides some insight as to their strategic efforts and operations. The Trustees were very receptive to the idea and looked forward to hearing her perspective and experience.
Ms. Suriano stated that staff continues to review the framework and she would like direction as to the next actions steps or areas of focus the board would like be involved in. Ms. Cunningham stated that she believes there are other initiatives within the community that the District should be more involved in, specifically the housing crisis. It was discussed that a few months ago the United Way held a housing forum discussion, but the group was unaware of any follow up action that had taken place since those discussions. It was further discussed that County Commission Susan Adams has been leading discussions on the housing crisis in Indian River County as well, and that a representative from the District should be in contact with her to gain a better understanding of the county’s position on this matter, and how the District can be more involved in developing solutions. It was also discussed how the housing crisis impacts so many other areas of the community including efforts to recruit healthcare workers, which has been an issue for many of the District funded agencies.
Mental Health and Substance Use Committee Activities- Ann Marie Suriano, ED
Ms. Suriano explained that she and Ms. Cunningham are part of the Mental Health/Substance Abuse visioning committee who has been meeting over the last year and half. Many of their discussions have been surrounding the need for detox services within Indian River County. It was discussed that most often detox services are provided on an emergency basis through the ED or in the jail, and that many times individuals are sent out of county to receive services which poses difficulties to the referring entity and the patient. Therefore, it has been discussed by the committee how the District could better help in assisting with this process by providing support through direct funding, the purchasing of property or leasing of actual space. Additionally, there have been discussions surrounding the creation of an RFP to gather responses from potential interested parties who would operate the facility. There was Trustee discussion concerning the District the same. It was also discussed that they would like to see further data supporting the need for this service specifically. Therefore, Ms. Bodnar made a motion to approve the District moving forward with further exploration into the District supporting detox services. The motion was seconded by Dr. Cooney and it carried unanimously.
Board of Trustee Orientation- Ann Marie Suriano, ED & Jennifer Peshke, Esq.
Ms. Peshke addressed the board and stated that with the election of three new Trustees, she and Ms. Suriano conducted a board of Trustee orientation for the new members. It was discovered that the current orientation packet provided needed some additional updating and Ms. Suriano stated that District staff will work to make those corrections. Ms. Peshke further discussed the importance of board decorum, the Sunshine Law requirements, and Roberts Rules of Order which are followed for conducting meetings. She also stated that if other Trustees had and further questions or concerns, they can contact her directly.
Program Liaison Update- Jennifer Frederick
Ms. Frederick stated that she provided the Trustees with a draft of the District Request for Funding Application for FY 22-23 for their review and comments. The application outlines the process, funding eligibility criteria, and timeline. She would like to submit the application to the current funded agencies no later than February 10th, for their completion and return to the District by March 31st deadline. Therefore, she asked for any recommended changes from the Trustees to be provided to her by February 6th. Additionally, she has created a request for funding scoring rubric that will be utilized to ensure that the agency’s request meeting the funding criteria of the District. She also asked for feedback from the Trustees concerning the scoring rubric as well. There was Trustee discussion and it was suggested that the agency completing the application provide data with their request that supports the District strategic priorities and that a question specific to this matter be added into the application. Ms. Frederick stated that she would like to further review the current metrics in place for the funded agencies to see if they are truly capturing meaningful and relevant data that is useful in measuring their effectiveness to the overall improvement of health in the community. Next, she discussed the District funded agency semi-annual reporting process and explained that with the increase to the number of funded agencies the District is supporting, the verbal report process has become the majority of the time taken at each regular monthly meeting. Over the last year each agency verbally reported on a few pertinent questions posed about their organization which allowed for less lengthy presentations of their written reports. Therefore, she asked for Trustee feedback concerning the semi-annual reporting process. It was suggested that only newly funded agencies provide an in person update to the board and that all other semi-annual reports be submitted in writing. If the Trustees have questions regarding the report submitted, that agency will be asked to present at the next month to provide follow up to their report. Many of the Trustees were in agreement to this process and Ms. Frederick stated that she would follow up with the Trustees to confirm the process moving forward for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Public Comment & Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM
