Northfield Hospital Board Report: May 2018

Opening

1. Chair, Charlie Mandile, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The Agenda was approved.

The Consent Agenda was approved.  The Consent Agenda included Minutes for the April Board Meeting and Minutes for a Governance and Planning Committee Meeting.

Reports

1. Hospital Chief of Staff—Jeff Meland for Randy Reister. The applications for Medical Staff Membership/Privileges were presented to the Board. The Board approved the applications.
2. Chief Medical Officer—Jeff Meland. Dr. Fulco has been working with the hospital to form a high-risk breast cancer registry and support group. The addition of 3 new hospitalists to the staff appears to be encouraging the retention of higher acuity patients at NH&C.
3. NH&C Report—Dr. Ben Flannery. The Express Care Clinic in downtown Northfield is up and running. Three new associate providers have been added to the staff.  The feedback from patients has been positive.

Presentations/Discussions/Action Items

1. Approval of City/Hospital Governance Committee—Rhonda Pownell and Charlie Mandile. This item was brought back to the Board after some editing. The motion would establish a temporary committee composed of 3 City Council members and 3 NH&C Board members. The charge to the committee is to explore best practices for working together and building a stronger relationship.  The committee will bring recommendations within 6 months, and then could be disbanded.  Motion passed.
2. Patient Care Update: Include Always—Tammy Hayes. This is a Minnesota Hospital Association campaign to establish a functioning Patient and Family Advisory Council in every hospital to provide a new perspective on care and a shift in the culture of hospitals.  The Council is up and running at NH&C, but they hope to add additional members to broaden the perspective.

Executive and Committee Reports

1. CEO Report—Steve Underdahl. a) The Open House for the Express Care Clinic was well attended.  The Clinic will be open weekends starting June 9^th.  b) The initial data from the ACO (Accountable Care Organization) indicates that there are significant differences between current medical practices at NH&C, and the goals of the ACO.  An example is the “annual wellness visit” recommended by Medicare and the ACO, but not currently promoted by NH&C. There is work to be done in order to meet the goals of the ACO.  c) staff is continuing to study the electronic health record problem. d) the long term care facility at NH&C again received a 5-star rating. This is the 7^thyear in a row that the facility has been so recognized.  d) planning for the ambulatory surgical center continues.  e) the cost rebasing effort continues; another $1 million needs to be cut.  f) the Omnibus Supplemental Spending Bill vetoed by Gov. Dayton contained financing to counter the opioid epidemic.  g) a health price transparency bill did pass and the clinics will now be required to post prices for their 25 most frequently billed services. h) The MN Health Records Act did not pass so providers in MN will continue to be held to higher privacy standards for patient records than providers in other states. This can complicate interstate sharing of medical records.  i) a revision to the Workers’ Compensation program will reduce the revenue NH&C receives from Workers’ Comp.
2. Financial Report—Scott Edin.  Net Operating Revenues for March were $222K over budget, and Deductions, Bad Debt, and Operating Expenses were under budget. The result was a Net Operating Income of $421K.  Income from operations is well above budget for the year thus far.  It was noted that even years (2014, 2016, etc.) seem to generate much better financial results than the odd years.  Maybe 2018 will continue this pattern?

Roundtable

A Board member inquired as to whether the art work displayed in the hospital related to the clientele; can patients see themselves in the art?

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.    Closed Session began.

Next meeting:  June 28, 2018