I. Attendance

A. Present: Wally Strauch, Jane D’Ovidio, Dennis Pancoe, Tom O’Connor, Ralph Littlefield, Carol Plumb, Jean Mahler, Margo Grevior, and Erin Lorden.

B. Staff Present: Rick Silverberg, Tobie Avery and Janice Mistler.

C. Excused: Martin Feurestein and John Kontoes.

D. Absent: Doug Smith and Judy Dunne.

II. MOTION Carol Plumb made a motion to accept the minutes from the January meeting as presented. Jane D’Ovidio seconded the motion and was passed unanimously.

III. Nominating Committee.

A. Two resignation letters were read aloud from Marie Fogg and Diana Caldwell. Rick has spoken with both of them and offered to help with transportation, but the personal circumstances were to great. With the two recent resignations, we need to check with the consumer members more regularly to see if we can help them with anything. A motion was made by Tom O’Connor to accept the letters as presented and to have Rick compose a letter to Marie Fogg and Diana Caldwell thanking them for their service on the Board. The motion was seconded by Ralph Littlefield and was passed unanimously.

B. Recruitment. Rick has asked staff to think of any possible clients to recruit as board members. When names are given, Rick will contact and discuss the possibility with the clients and forward the information on to the Nominating Committee with client permission.

IV. FQHC 330 Discussion / Update.

A. A letter was submitted indicating the need for FQHC 330 money in this region and that we would explore all of our options regarding this.

B. Rick met with Anne Peters, the Executive Director of Lamprey, to discuss working with them on this. It was determined, after speaking with Dick Bora, that the only way Health First would qualify for FQHC 330 New Start monies would be if we became a part of Lamprey, not a separate entity. Anne said that the Lamprey Board would entertain the idea, but doubted that we would be interested in it, since we would have to dissolve as a corporation. $100,000 would be the most likely possible amount available to us from the Federal 330 expansion grant. This year getting this would, however, jeopardize getting money from the United Way and possibly other granting foundations.

C. We would could only consider an expansion 330 grant because we don’t fall into the new criteria for the new start 330 program. The criteria for new start 330 grants are for frontier towns or inner city health facilities with a high minority rate. We will have to look at this on an annual basis.

D. There is nothing we need to do since we are not applying. Rick will send a letter to Tom Moran, out of courtesy, indicating our decision not to apply this year.

E. These discussions with Lamprey for a connection are kept open. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors showed no objection to meeting with the Lamprey people to hold future discussions regarding this matter.

VI. Executive Director Report. The written version was mailed out to the Board in the last mailing.

A. There has been a change in the hours of operation at Health First. The hours are now as follows: 8:30 - 5:00 on Mondays and Thursdays; 8:30 - 6:00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The total slots have been increased by 4 or 5, but the are rearranged differently. We’ve already started booking patients at these new hours. We are going to put out an ad in the local papers once we’ve given the new hours a few weeks to adjust.

B. We now have in hand a letter from Tom Moran regarding the FQHC cost based reimbursement rates back logged with Medicare.

C. Heathy Kids Program. We have sent out a notice to all clients with the information regarding it. All clients are meeting with the Financial Office to start the process and then referred on to Sherri Trombley, the Case Worker, to finish the process. We now have 13 children enrolled. We will be doing another mailing to the parents of children in the over 300% category.

VII. Update on State Contract. We have the package now. The Primary Care Contract is for $270,000. The Breast & Cervical Cancer Contract is for $8,179.56. The BCCP contract is for a little less than last year. There is no more dental or immunization contract. We have submitted a small grant to supplement the Dental Program for next year. The contract proposal is due on march 12th and we are working on it.

A. Certificate of Vote. MOTION We need a certificate of vote to validate that we will accept the funds from the State, if the money is granted, and that Wally Strauch authorized by the Board for the Corporation. Tom O’Connor made a motion to have Wally Strauch sign on behalf of the Corporation. Ralph Littlefield seconded the motion and was passed unanimously.

B. The Breast & Cervical Cancer Program has been a paperwork nightmare. We can now start to bill for the time spent doing the paperwork.

VIII. Monthly Financials.

A. Actual vs. Projected. The money is out there, it is just slow in coming in. The number of encounters is good, just slow in revenue.

B. We have begun the process of following up on the money that is slow in coming in. Cris Tilton has been doing this for the past two and half weeks for about 3 hours a day.

C. The "Projected" is based on last years numbers and income. The "Actual vs. Projected" in Projected is not directly tied with the income statement.

D. We are encouraged by the numbers. There is a good trend developing.

E. On the Expense Sheet - the Salaries are a little low. This is because of not having the two new positions filled as early as the salaries were budgeted. The expenses included depreciation, which is not included in the budgeted amount. The budgeted amount is only actual expenses. You can easily drop the depreciation below the line, so that you can compare the two. This will be done on the statement for February.

F. The cost report related items are not on here. The Auditor recommended not putting a project amount on there till we get it since there is no history. This process could take up to a year due to the long process of submitting it, they audit us, we negotiate and then we settle.

IX. Executive Committee met with Rick as a part of his annual review. All agreed this was a good meeting and all goals are on track or appropriately adjusted. This will be done three time a year to check up on his goals and how such things are going.

X. Adjournment. The next meeting will be on March 25th at 2:00 pm in the Board Room at Franklin Regional Hospital.