SUMMARY MINUTES
CHAIRMAN’S/ BUDGET PRESENTATION MEETING
Indian River County Hospital District Conference Room/ Zoom
May 18, 2022
10:00 AM
TRUSTEES: Marybeth Cunningham Kerry Bartlett
Ann Marie McCrystal Barb Bodnar
ZOOM: Samantha Mesena Daniel Bach
Cathy Whitaker Kathy Orton
Robin Curby Marie Andress
Allen Jones
STAFF: Ann Marie Suriano Dawn Carboni
Kate Voss Jennifer Peshke, Esq.
Jennifer Frederick
ATTENDEES: Bill Stengel Pat Knipper
Lundy Fields Anne Posey
Carrie Lester Moreen Burkart
Ed Love
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.
FY 22-23 Funding Request Presentations-
CCIRH Integration of Behavioral Health to ED- Anne Posey, Director of BH
Ms. Posey addressed the board and discussed the tragedy that occurred recently at the CCIRH Emergency Department (“ED”), where a behavioral health patient was boarding at the ED and became aggressive. This led to the patient being shot and killed by law enforcement. Following this incident, there have been several meetings with CCIRH executives and community leaders, on how best address the increase of behavioral health patients presenting at the ED. Since the pandemic, there has been a surge in mental health issues and they are seeing that increase daily. She provided data on the same and stated that in 2017 there were admitted approximately 1530 behavioral health patients. In 2021, 2100 behavioral health patients were admitted, and year to date they have admitted 690 patients. She further explained that those numbers are only the admissions to the Behavioral Health Center. They also receive admissions from other agencies in the county as they are the designated Baker Act facility in Indian River County. Ms. Posey then discussed the funding request brought before the Trustees. She explained that the intent of this proposal is to provide the CCIRH ED with licensed mental health clinicians, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. These clinicians would perform the level of care assessments and assist with triage and transfer of the behavioral health and substance use disordered patients. The intent is to improve the care provided to the behavioral health patient and improve safety for the patient and the caregivers while in the ED. In addition, the licensed clinician would assist patients, families, and referral sources with the implementation of recommended disposition plans. This clinician will also work closely with the BHC Rapid Behavioral Response Team, ED physicians, tele-psychiatrist, and the BHC, to facilitate proper disposition from the ED. There was Trustee discussion surrounding the position and what the District funding would cover. They also asked for a breakdown of what CCIRH was contributing to the expansion of BH services, and if they would be supporting this position financially as well. Ms. Posey stated that she would provide a breakdown to the Trustees of the contributions CCIRH has done thus far, and what they have committed to doing in the future which includes massive renovations to the BHC. Additionally, she asked if there would be an opportunity to prorate some additional funding for this cause during the current fiscal year. The Trustees agreed that this was a needed service to support the ED, but would like to see the CCIRH contributions before making any decisions.
Substance Awareness Center- Carrie Lester, Executive Director
Ms. Lester provided a brief review of the Substance Awareness Centers’ (“SAC”) mission and vision for those who were not familiar with the organization. She stated that in addition to the many programs that the District funds at SAC, they will also be requesting funding to support another program. She explained that the Universal Prevention Program utilizes evidence-based curriculum and well-trained prevention specialists under the direction of the Clinical Director. In partnership with the Indian River County School District, SAC has been providing the Universal Prevention Programming for over 20 years. In an effort to diversify their funding strategy, they are requesting funds from the District, to support the continuation of the program. She reviewed the details of the program which provides a combination of Prevention Plus Wellness, Erika’s Lighthouse and EverFi Mental Wellness lessons to 6th-9th grade students in the public school system and reach over 5,500 youth annually. There was Trustee discussion and Ms. Deigl asked for clarification in the funding for the Erika’s lighthouse program, which is included in the Universal Prevention Programing curriculum. She recalled that the District funded the same program through the Mental Health Association (“MHA”) and asked if funding was still being provided to them. Ms. Lester explained that SAC is now fully supporting the implementation of the Erika’s lighthouse program at the schools, while MHA is providing support for the referrals that are sent to them for follow up mental health care.
VNA- Pat Knipper, Director of Community Health Services
Mr. Fields addressed the board and introduced the members of the VNA staff present for todays discussion. Then Ms. Knipper led the discussion concerning the VNA’s request for funding. She first began by providing an update concerning the VNA mobile clinic. She stated that many new opportunities for growth have arisen and have moved the location of the bus to different areas of the county to provide further outreach. They have begun to track more demographics and saw a 78% increase in patient encounters. She then provided an update concerning Together for Health, which has also seen growth as well. She explained that participation in the meetings has grown and along with the number of organizations that report out as well. Therefore, it was discussed that there was a need for a website to house information that has been shared at the meetings. They also hope it will be able to be shared with the community and provide information on how to access services within Indian River County. To bring this website to fruition, there are annual technical and content development costs. In addition, the VNA has estimated the cost of content maintenance to continually update the website with necessary changes and posting. The total amount being requested from the District for the site is $21,784, which is an estimate.
Next Ms. Burkart addressed to board to discuss the new program funding request for Music Therapy. She provided a brief review of the program’s history, which began in 2015. She then discussed the positive impacts music therapy provides to clients who suffer from chronic conditions in physical and mental health. The VNA’s music therapy program is the only one of its kind offered in Indian River County and the VNA has 4 board-certified therapists on staff which include one board-certified music therapy manager with specialized training in neurologic music therapy. They also utilize interns and have a successful internship program. She then discussed the funding request and stated the program is growing rapidly, and they cannot take on additional programs with its current staffing model. To best serve and make music available to the entire community, a full-time music therapist and a full-time coordinator are needed to develop and manage a community-based program and create awareness and engagement in the initiative. They believe that having a music therapy program available for vulnerable individuals would help move the needle towards equitable healthcare services previously not available due to lack of funding.
Lastly, Mr. Knipper and Mr. Love provided a review of the new funding request for Community Health Workers (“CHW”). The VNA is requesting funding for two CHW to work on the Community Health services team. One would work with the mobile clinic team, and one with the vaccine, health screening and education initiative team. The intent is for the workers to broaden the reach to the vulnerable populations in Indian River County that are being missed. There was further discussion on the role the CHW would play in connection with the VNA’s other existing outreach programs.
Unfinished Business- Approval of Strategic Plan, Ann Marie Suriano, Executive Director
Mrs. Suriano stated that as a follow up to last months presentation of the Strategic Plan, the District Trustees will need to approve the same. Therefore, Ms. Deigl made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Mrs. McCrystal. The motion carried unanimously. Mrs. Suriano then explained that included in their packet was the final memo from Carter outlining the plan and strategic priorities, as well as the next steps. The plan will be posted on the website and Mrs. Suriano stated that she would like the Trustees to consider having a presentation to the community discussing the plan and the strategic priorities. There was Trustee discussion and Ms. Bartlett stated that there is still work that needs to be done on defining some of the strategic priorities and actions steps. It was decided that the Trustees would hold a separate meeting to discuss just the strategic plan in the next month.
Lastly, due to the length of todays meeting, it was decided that Ms. Carboni would provide her audit update to the Trustees at tomorrow’s regular monthly meeting.
Public Comment & Adjourn
Mrs. Cunningham asked for public comment and there was none. The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 AM
