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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNursing Home Steering Committee 03-16-01ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Thomas Dorsey, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: John Borup, 246 -8223 COMMITTEE TITLE: St. Croix County Nursing Home Steering Committee DATE: 03/16/01 TIME: 10:00 a.m. LOCATION: St. Croix County Health and Human Services Complex, New Richmond CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: ANNOUNCEMENTS APPOINTMENTS: UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Contract for services with Keefe & Associates 2. Meeting with John Keefe of Keefe & Associates 3. Funding source for the Nursing Home study 4. Other business pertaining to Nursing Home study 5. Tour of facility ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) John M. Borup and Chuck Whiting 03/07/01 COUNTY BOARD OFFICE COUNTY CLERK NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE SUBMITTED BY: DATE: COPIES TO: • 4 NURSING HOME STEERING COMMITTEE March 16, 2001 The Nursing Home Steering Committee met on March 16, 2001 at the St. Croix County Health and Human Services /Health Center complex. MEMBERS PRESENT: Robert Stephens, Chair Richard King Stan Krueger Ralph Swenson Esther Wentz MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: John Borup, Health and Human Services Director Carolyn Krieger, Nursing Home Administrator Malva Berg, Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Chuck Whiting, Administrative Coordinator Ralph Robole, Facilities Manager John Keefe, Keefe and Associates Sandy Hays, Keefe and Associates Chair Stephens called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM noting the meeting was properly and legally publicized. AGENDA Motion A motion was introduced by Wentz, seconded by King, and unanimously adopted: That the agenda be approved as circulated. MINUTES Motion A motion was introduced by Swenson, seconded by Wentz, and unanimously adopted: That the minutes of the 03/02/01 Nursing Home Steering Committee be approved as circulated. Stephens announced that the Committee will tour the facility at the end of the meeting and lunch will be served at 12:15 PM. Whiting distributed the contract for services received from Keefe along with a cover letter noting changes made in the contract and the scope of responsibilities of the architect. Whiting noted that the first payment in the contract was changed from $4,000 to $3,000 and the final payment changed from $6,000 to $7,000. Whiting said Timmerman is in the process of drafting another resolution to go to the full County Board on March 20 regarding additional funding for the architect for this study along with identifying the funding source for the full nursing home study. It was the consensus of the committee that the agreement should not be signed until the County Board passes this resolution. Stephens asked Swenson to make a presentation to the County Board regarding the resolution and Swenson felt Stephens should do this as the lead person on the Nursing Home Steering Committee. Committee discussed meeting dates. Stephens said the Committee should meet regularly to obtain progress reports. Keefe said he would like to come back to the committee with finish segments of work but would also work with set J '^ times. Keefe said meetings would probably last from two to four hours, depending on the information covered at the meetings. Keefe suggested the middle or end of April for the next meeting date and Stephens requested information that Keefe will be discussing be sent to the Board several days previous to the next meeting so Committee members may review this information prior to the meeting. Swenson suggested meeting dates be set in coordination with County Board dates to keep the County Board updated. It was the consensus of the Committee that a joint recommendation with Health and Human Services Board and Finance will be presented to the County Board when the study is complete. The tentative date for the next Nursing Home Steering Committee meeting was set for April 20 at 1:00 PM. Stephens said it would be more appropriate to hold the meeting in New Richmond, but it could be held in Hudson if necessary. Hays said she will be doing a demographic analysis and separate out the senior data from the population growth information but won't have the updated data from the 2000 census until early summer. Keefe said he will be doing an assessment in terms of privatization of the facility including prices, market for sale, continuing responsibility of the county if the facility is privatized including residual and hidden costs. Keefe said the contract is a sum certain amount of $55,000 including expenses. He said he will finish the study even if the money runs out and will give information needed for the committee to make the decisions that need to be made. Keefe said if the Committee is not satisfied with the study at any time, the Committee can stop the study. It was suggested $40,000 be a benchmark to see if the study is meeting our needs. Whiting said this may also be a good time to present some information from the study to the County Board. Keefe said it would be a reasonable projection that the study will be completed in early September and a presentation will be made at the completion of the study. Krueger asked if there were any hidden or additional costs for the study. Keefe said he did not know of any but that some of the recommendations may have a cost attached to them. Keefe said if the committee identifies issues beyond the scope of the study then there may be additional cost but he will try to accommodate any changes within the cost of the contract. Keefe said he wants to understand what the committee is assuming so he is on the same track as the committee. The committee will need to provide feedback and direction for any findings. He said the responsibilities of the committee will continue after the study is complete, as the committee will need to provide a leadership role. Stephens said to accumulate a lot of knowledge from this study and not follow through would be a waste of time and money. Keefe said he will provide a range of information on the nursing home environment to educate the committee so members may make informed decisions. Stephens suggested at the end of each meeting there be a summary of what has been accomplished and the committee reaches a conclusion as each step of the study is completed. V, . Finance approved the additional $10,800 for architect fees for the study and a resolution will be presented to the full County Board on March 20 to approve these additional monies and identify a funding source for the study. Keefe said Hoffman Corporation is the architect he recommends to complete the architect portion of the study. He said they have background in the nursing home business and he has confidence in this firm. He said they will do a planning study including cost estimates for any issues regarding remodeling, assisted living, etc. Keefe said these costs estimates will be general ballpark estimates, not detailed estimates and any drawings will be general block drawings, not detailed specifications so the committee has flexibility to make decisions. The architect will also evaluate the structure to assure that the nursing home is in compliance to code. Stephens said we are also subject to City of New Richmond building inspector inspections. State engineer surveys on almost a yearly basis and does a physical plant audit. Waivers are requested as needed. Keefe said nursing home care has become more acute care in the past few years. Swenson asked if the committee would vote on any changes in direction for the study. Stephens said there would be a vote or motion if items of change arise or a new direction taken from the ten points outlined in the resolution regarding the Nursing Home study. Stephens asked the committee's feelings on polling the committee via phone if issues arise and decisions need to be made on a timely basis. It was the consensus of the committee that this would be all right. Census is an important part of the Nursing Home. The quality of care given at the Nursing Home is excellent and is not an issue. Borup asked if assisted living is a realistic approach to nursing home census, or is it too late or even a function of the County? Keefe said the study will also look at other providers in the county communities as part of the study. Stephens said it is the responsibility of government to provide care not provided by the public sector and government has no right to compete with the public sector. Keefe said there are currently 28 protectively placed clients in the nursing home and the study will examine if these clients could be placed somewhere else and what the cost would be to the county. Stephens said if the Nursing Home acted like a business and developed new services to offset other areas that may suffer a loss, this also brings the potential that the Nursing Home would compete with the private sector. Keefe questioned doing a survey of the full County Board or if the committee was comfortable that there will be sufficient feedback from reports given. Stephens said the full County Board should be allowed to express their opinion. Keefe said more honest opinions are given if the surveys are anonymous. Keefe said a survey is a useful way of getting County Board involvement. He will draft a questionnaire and have available at the next Nursing Home Steering Committee meeting with possibly sending the questionnaire out the end of April and giving members a couple of weeks to respond. Members discussed possibility of a second questionnaire being sent after the final presentation of the study is given. No decision was made. Whiting said he got the impression at the Finance meeting that the funding for the study will be a transfer from the general fund and doesn't see that as changing and this will be stated in the resolution. 3 Motion A motion was introduced by Krueger, seconded by Wentz and unanimously adopted: That the Nursing Home Steering Committee recommends to the County Board that the total cost of the Nursing Home study and /or architect fees will come from the County's general fund. Krieger said there is a possibility that some of the funding for the study may be recouped from the Nursing Home cost report. A tentative date of April 20, 2001 at 1:00 PM at New Richmond was set for the next Nursing Home Steering Committee meeting. Whiting said that the agenda and minutes will be posted on the County's website. Keefe asked for a tour to acquaint himself with the facility. The Committee toured the Nursing Home. Motion A motion was introduced by Wentz, seconded by Stephens, and unanimously adopted: That the meeting be adjourned. Time: 11:37 AM Chair: Attest: (secretary) 4