The Health District Board is comprised of seven community-elected members. Board members are elected on a rotation basis for four-year staggered terms.

Board members work closely with the community and Harney District Hospital administration. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month in the Hospital Conference Room. The community is always invited and encouraged to attend the public portion of Health District meetings.

Current Board members are Chair Carolyn Bauer, Sam Caizza, Treasurer Ann Clark, Bob Otley, Tim Smith, Ann Vloedman and Secretary Shana Withee.

Health District Board
July 30, 2008, Meeting Highlights
Note: Minutes from this meeting are not yet approved.

l Presentations: Hospital Foundation, Debra Raymond
l Public Comments: Written Comments, Buck Taylor
l Old Business: None
l New Business:
ll ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS ll
lCEO Jim Bishop; CTA Architects are developing construction blueprints on the Racine building for the VA Clinic. Steve Bull has a temporary office in the clinic and is working on a pricing list for patients to be seen at High Desert Medical Center prior to the VA Clinic opening.
lCFO Financial Info, Jim Bishop; Jim reviewed inpatient census. July was a lower census month, following the trend of other critical access hospitals and St. Charles Medical Center. Summer is a historically slow time. Sandra reported Medicare had caught up on its payments in August.
lCNO, Barb Chambers; The three students in the distance learning program (Matt Cole, Carolyn Dawson and Jessica Draper) are moving forward. Shannon Elia-Tyvoll will be their clinical faculty member in the hospital. Several nurses will precept the students. Dr. Courson has been working here since September 19th with many good reports from patients. Obstetrics has remained busy. A nurse manager candidate from Ohio will be arriving for a site visit soon.
lCCO, Jim Bishop for Ron Wulff; We have had close to a 100% return rate on the employee satisfaction surveys. Patient satisfaction surveys are being distributed hospital-wide and are being attached to patient orders. Jim explained the RPM report; a goal column will be added. The lab is fully staffed and the self-referral testing service is being used. The Radiology department will be expanding its hours with the hiring of a new Tech. The old CT machine was sold and one of the EMT trucks is being serviced.
lChief of Medical Staff, Dr. Scott Spence; The High Desert Medical Center is still actively looking for another provider. Dr. Johnston has been in contact with a physician met during a recruiting conference in Salt Lake City. The computer system will be evaluated by the Clinic.
lChief of Surgery, Sue McRae; Sue reviewed the Surgery report; August was a good surgery month. Patients and staff like Dr. Courson who will return for 2 weeks in September. The department is still looking for a provider of cataract surgeries. Surgery is considering flexing their schedule 5 days to accommodate locum surgeons. Surgery is also tracking the referral process; rescheduled visits have been caught up.
lDevelopment Coordinator, Denise Rose; Surgical coverage is now good. Tammy Bauer-Jones is moving to Colorado so recruiting will begin for a Komen coordinator. The Respiratory Therapy department will be shifting to 12-hour coverage, Monday through Friday; he is looking for a full-time Respiratory Therapist. The hospital will have a booth at the fair. Denise also explained the website statistics report.
lHuman Resources, Sammie Masterson; There will be only a 1.7% increase for our medical insurance renewal. The hospital had budgeted 15%. An employee assistance program will now be offered to staff; the aprogram allows employees to use services like counseling on-line or by phone.
l Other Board Discussion:
* Ann Vloedman moved to accept the resignation of Steve Olson as a Harney District Hospital employee as of August 31, 2008.
* Strategic Planning; Ann Vloedman listed upcoming community meetings for the Board to attend with brochures and surveys. She also suggested members go to the tribe in January; the tribal council meets only twice each year. Shana and Bob agreed to do so. The surveys will also be available at the fair booth. Anne Clark will get a fall retreat scheduled in November with all board members.
* Revised policies review; No policies available at this time.
* Reports of Standing and Special Committees.
* Public Comments: None.
* Review and Approval of Confidential Committee Reports and Credentialing applications.
* Agenda items for next meeting.

Health District Board minutes are a matter of public record and available by contacting Jennifer French at 573-8312.