SUMMARY MINUTES
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
County Commissioner Chambers/ Zoom
May 20, 2021 at 4:00 PM
TRUSTEES: Marybeth Cunningham Allen Jones
Ann Marie McCrystal Barb Bodnar
Kerry Bartlett
ZOOM: Michael Weiss Karen Deigl
STAFF: Kate Voss Jennifer Frederick
Jennifer Peshke, Esq. Ann Marie Suriano
Convene Meeting – Marybeth Cunningham, Chair
Ms. Cunningham convened the regular monthly meeting of the IRCHD at 4:00 PM by welcoming those in attendance and via Zoom. Reverend Bingham provided an invocation and Mrs. Cunningham led the group in the pledge of allegiance.
Consent Agenda- Marybeth Cunningham, Chair
Mrs. Cunningham asked for a motion to approve the chairman’s meeting minutes dated March 17th, regular monthly meeting minutes dated March 18th, and a monthly disbursement of $1,248,722.18. Mrs. McCrystal made the motion to approve, which was seconded by Ms. Bodnar. The motion carried unanimously.
District Counsel Report – Jennifer Peshke, Esq.
Mrs. Peshke provided her District counsel report and stated that she is actively following the current legislative session for bills related to Hospital Districts, as well as Senate Bill 1624 and House Bill 1103, as it relates to auditing and reporting additional requirements that may be required of Special Districts. She has completed the right of way transaction with the County and is working with Cleveland Clinic’s counsel and the VNA’s counsel to amend the existing Agreements the District and the hospital entered into in 2018 to reflect these changes. Lastly, she has confirmed all Trustee bonds that are up for renewal are now in place and she is in the process of bonding Ms. Bartlett.
Financial Statement Review- Allen Jones, Treasurer
Mr. Jones stated that the District is in sound financial condition and as of April 30, the District bank account and liquid investment assets total $11.9 million. After the reduction of this month’s disbursement, there will be approximately $10.4 million left. The District has budgeted and anticipates to spend around $5.2 million on programs and expenses for the remainder of the fiscal year, which will leave approximately $5.2 million left to be carried into next fiscal year. He explained that Mrs. Suriano provided him with some calculations for upcoming fiscal year millage rate. Currently the Districts millage rate is .8011. Assuming that all funding requests submitted to the District for the upcoming fiscal year are approved, the millage should fall between .6687 and .7149, depending on the property appraisers taxable value estimate. Mr. Jones noted that due to the increase in property values and the end of the Districts financial support to CCIRH for indigent care, the Districts millage rate will likely drop, making this the third consecutive year that the District has maintained or lowered its millage rate.
Executive Director Report- Ann Marie Suriano, Executive Director
Mrs. Suriano stated she provided her report during the Chairman’s meeting, as the items in her report were slated to be discussed at that time. She has followed up with representatives from FASD in response to House 1103 passing through this legislative session, to get further clarification on the reporting requirements of the bill. She also plans to meet with Senator Mayfield and Representative Grall to discuss the same.
Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey Reviews- Carrie Lester, Executive Director
Ms. Lester stated that the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey is a collaborative effort between the Florida Department of Health; Education, Children and Families, Juvenile Justice; and the Governor’s office of Drug Control. The survey is conducted annually with county specific data every two years. The results she will discuss included responses from 814 Indian River middle and high school students. She reviewed data from the survey concerning tobacco, alcohol; and drug use. She also reviewed data concerning student’s perception of harm in engaging in these behaviors and stated that over 50% of IRC youth do not perceive these substances as harmful. Much of the data collected shows that Indian River County ranks higher than the state average in many areas of the survey. She also discussed Adverse Childhood Experiences (“ACEs”) and identifying those youth who have experiences characterized as ACEs. The ACE study showed a powerful association between emotional experiences as children and adult emotional and physical health, and major causes of mortality in the US. Lastly, she reviewed the takeaways from the survey, with the areas of concern which will need future focus. A few of those include youth’s low commitment to school attendance and a lowered negative perception on marijuana and binge drinking. Ms. Lester stated her facilitators at SAC are constantly working to engage these students with positive support and education, to help combat these issues.
Funded Agencies Semi Annual Report-
New Horizons- William Winns, CEO
Mr. Winns, who was hired as the new CEO earlier in the fiscal year, thanked the Trustees for their support. He reviewed the report for the period of October, 2020-March, 2021. He stated that New Horizons delivered services to 1,557 residents which included 1330 adults and 227 children. Mr. Winns asked the Trustees if it would be possible to allocated some of the funds from the current fiscal year budget, to another program that the District currently does not fund. This program is offered at the Learning Center in downtown Vero and provides classes on skills for daily living. Some classes include anger management; computer skills; job hunting; and cooking. The cost of attending three classes a week is $108, or $5,616 a year, per student. They are asking to reallocate $28,000 in funds to this program. There was Trustee discussion and the Trustees agreed to the reallocation.
Treasure Coast Community Health- Vicki Soule, CEO
Mrs. Soule provided a 6-month review of TCCH. She began her presentation with a brief historical review of patient data from Oct. 2019-Sept. 2020. She stated that the main focus and health service line at TCCH has been for COVID related testing, treatment and administering of the COVID-19 vaccine. She then discussed patient volumes for all their service lines, from the last 6 months and stated that volumes are down, with the exception of behavioral health services. Lastly, she discussed the items TCCH will be working on over the next year, which include the addition of clinical staff; vision services expansion; UF in Diabetes ECHO project; opening of a pharmacy at the Gifford Health Center; and a new Strategic Plan for 2021-2023.
UF Psychiatry- Wayne Creelman, M.D.
Dr. Creelman provided the semi-annual report for UF Center for Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine through the period of October, 2020- March, 2021. He reviewed patient visits for psychiatry and addiction services and explained that volumes have decreased from last fiscal year. He stated this is in part due to COVID and patients utilizing telemedicine, which has been challenging for some. The medication voucher program has also seen a reduction in this last quarter as well. Further, he discussed the future initiatives that UF will be working on for the next year. The first being a collaboration with the McCabe Connections Center by providing psychiatric evaluation and addition services. To date, they have received 425 psychiatric referrals. Additionally, they continue to support post-doctoral training for psychologist under the supervision of Dr. Gold. They also continue to support a 6-week rotation for up to three medical students from St. George University. Lastly, he discussed the provider and trainee growth at UF. Currently the center has 5 faculty; 1 resident; 1 psychology postdoc; 6-8 medical students; and 4 staff. Dr. Creelman indicated that he may be coming to the board in the next month or so to request additional funding for the center, but is waiting on the final state budget to be passed in Tallahassee, to see if they will still need the funding.
New Business- Adoption of Resolution 2021-03
Mrs. Cunningham stated that Resolution 2021-03 stated that the District supports the IRC Board of County Commissioners decision to dedicate, each year an ad valorem tax, in order to promote and improve children’s health and well-being, and to fund quality programs and services for children residing in Indian River County. Additionally, Mrs. Cunningham stated that the Advisory Committee being formed to oversee funding for these projects will include a Trustee from the District. Mr. Jones made a motion to adopt Resolution 2021-03, which was seconded by Mrs. McCrystal. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comment/Adjourn
There was no public comment and the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM
