SUMMARY MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT
Regular Monthly Meeting
Zoom Meeting
August 20, 2020 @ 4:00 p.m.
TRUSTEES: Marybeth Cunningham Allen Jones
Barbara Bodnar Tracey Zudans
Karen Deigl Dr. Michael Weiss
Ann Marie McCrystal
STAFF: Ann Marie Suriano Jennifer Peshke, Esq.
Kate Voss Jennifer Frederick
Convene Meeting – Marybeth Cunningham, Chairwoman
Mrs. Cunningham convened the regular monthly meeting of the Indian River County Hospital District (“IRCHD”) at 4:00 p.m. Ms. Zudans provided the invocation for the meeting.
Consent Agenda-
Mrs. Cunningham asked for a motion to approve the budget discussion meeting minutes dated July 8; Chairman’s meeting minutes dated July 15; regular monthly meeting minutes dated July 16 and an August disbursement of $1,310,633.85. Dr. Weiss made a motion which was seconded by Ms. Zudans. The motion carried unanimously.
District Chairwoman Report- Marybeth Cunningham
Mrs. Cunningham indicated that the District will continue to hold their meetings virtually per Governor DeSantis executive order. The Districts budget hearings will take place on September 10th and 17th, and begin at 5:01 PM. The regular monthly meeting will be held on the 17th immediately following the final budget hearing.
District Counsel Report – Jennifer D. Peshke, Esq.
Mrs. Peshke provided her report and stated that she continues to track and follow the Governors executive orders and updates, concerning the physical quorum exemption for board meetings. She continues to work with District staff and the county concerning the 11th drive extension. There is a draft agreement currently beginning circulated and they are making progress. She hopes to have the document available for Trustee review next month.
Financial Statement Review – Allen Jones, Treasurer
Mr. Jones stated that the District remains in sound financial condition and through the end of July there was approximately $7.9 million in the bank accounts, less the $1.3 million for this month’s disbursements. This will leave around $6.6 million in the bank for the remainder of the fiscal year. He estimates that the District will carry over approximately $4.2 million into the next fiscal year. As the District prepares its budget for the next fiscal year, he recommends adding additional reserves, in order to support any uncertain expenditures that may arise due to COVID-19. There could also be a surge in medical needs throughout the county as well. He also discussed the idea of expanding the Districts healthcare coverage eligibility guidelines to include those with low coverage insurance and Medicaid.
Executive Director Report- Ann Marie Suriano
Mrs. Suriano stated that she prepared a five-year capital major maintenance plan for the Trustees information. The District will continue to maintain the HSB building and conduct possible renovations to the GHC when needed. The GHC has aging air conditioner units which will eventually need replaced. Ms. Zudans recommended replacing all units at the same time for warranty purposes. Mrs. Suriano further explained that construction at the new office space is coming along but is slightly behind schedule. The staff will be conducting a walkthrough in the next few weeks. The plan is to relocated to the new space the first week of October.
Program Liaison Report- Jennifer Frederick
Mrs. Frederick stated that she and Mrs. Zudans will be participating in the final Fetal Infant Mortality Review meeting with Healthy Start via Zoom. The next step from this process will be to develop a Community Action Team to review the discovered data and implement improved systems, services and resources for families.
She has also been in contact with, PD-GO Web development, Mrs. Soule, and the TCCH accounting team to develop a report of District qualified patients who fall within 151%-200% of the FPL and provide a list of visits involved since October 1, 2019 to current. TCCH provided an estimate of visits from Oct, 2019-June 2020, and there were 296 visits with a total cost of $59,064 to the District.
Lastly, she received a response from Tykes & Teens with regard to the question of direct services in their funding request, which was forwarded to the Trustees for review. Mrs. Frederick explained that program they are requesting funding for is a therapeutic program with education provided to the teachers, and parents on how to best support those students struggling. Mrs. Suriano stated that this program has had success and two students who have participated have already been moved in with the general population classes at their school.
New Business- GHC Annual Review Update
Ms. Soule provided an update concerning the 1-year anniversary of the transition to TCCH operating the GHC and reviewed data for the last ten months. She explained that they did see an overall decrease in service volumes due to COVID and while they have seen some increase the last few months, volumes remain lower than normal. She further explained that TCCH has now implemented a call center with ten employees to manage scheduling appointments and COVID testing results. The volumes at the COVID drive thru testing sites have also decreased. On a positive note, TCCH has worked hard to improve the patient visits no-show rate and have decreased that rate from 28% to around 15%-18%. Mrs. Soule stated that TCCH still continues to provided telehealth services with the large amount of those visits being behavioral health services. Mrs. Zudans asked if decreasing extended hours were still in consideration at the GHC. Mrs. Soule stated that there is still need for extended hours so it has not been considered due to the decrease in volumes, but this coming Saturday there will be three pediatricians at the GHC to help assist with back to school physicals and immunizations. The Trustees thanked Mrs. Soule for her continued efforts and support to the GHC.
Other Business-
Mr. Jones addressed the Trustees and stated that he would like to explore expanding the District eligibility to 250% over the next fiscal year. He would also like to redefine insurance criteria in the District eligibility guidelines. It was suggested that they set a max cap amount and reduce that based off of income, with a sliding fee scale. There was further Trustee discussion regarding the same. They also discussed the challenges of redefining the insurance criteria. They agreed this matter will need to be researched further for subsequent discussion.
Public Comment–
Dr. Weiss made a motion to adjourn which was seconded Ms. Bodnar. Motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 5:00 PM
