WVRHEP Advisory Panel Minutes July, 19, 1999 Attendees: Peg Callaghan, Jim Stookey, Lynne Welch, Annie McIntosh, Jim Welshonce, Bill Duty, Sarah Lee Neal, Malinda Turner, Gaye Mitchell, Sharon Boni, Nancy Alfred, Norman Ferrari, Richard Meckstroth, Kelly Blake, Jennifer Allen, Robert Blake, Jacquelynn Copenhaver, Imogene Foster, Penny Rose Asbury, Carla Campbell, Kathryn Greenlief, Amy Thomas, Tabitha Danley, Patti Crawford, Bill Shires, Bonnie Stanton, Parr Thacker, Joan Hypes, April Vestal, Elizabeth Richmond, Bob Walker, Hilda Heady, Dennis McCutcheon and Sandra Baker Dennis McCutcheon called the meeting to order at 2:20 PM. Recognition of the new Site Coordinators and introductions of those in attendance were made. Dr. Ferrari made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda; this motion was second by Lynne Welch and unanimously approved. Hilda gave a report on the School Committee discussions regarding the Board of Risk coverage and community service activities of students. The committee has formed a workgroup to further develop these issues and recommendations for the sites to insure adequate supervision while engaged in these activities. Bill Shires recommended that students be completely supervised during these activities. The role of the Lead Field Faculty or On-Site Clinical Director needs to be discussed jointly with the School Committee and the Faculty Development Committee. There is a need to re-examine the two-(2) month continuous block and look at student experiences of taking tests by computer. There have been five (5) instances where there have been conflicting grades from field faculty for students. The preceptors/field faculty need to get together and send one (1) grade for each student. WVRHEP is participating in the Southern Rural Access Grant request to be funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Benedum Foundation. The Center for Rural Health Development is the Lead Agency for this grant request. WVRHEP is proposed as the network for a student rural leadership stipend program. Also, funds are being requested to support the development of a database network for the state and placement services at each of the health sciences centers. The R&R Advisory Committee has been involved in this effort along with some of the site coordinators. Policy 98-03 “Approval of Out-of-State Students…” was presented for discussion. Dr. Stookey suggested the following revision to the policy: “An out-of-state student accepted for a clinical experience in the Rural Health Education Partnership (RHEP) Program must have a letter from the academic dean of his/her health science school authorizing participation in WVRHEP and that the individual is covered by health and malpractice insurance.” Hilda pointed out that the issue of health insurance and malpractice coverage was included in item 5 on the policy. The policy was approved upon motion (Ferrari/Meckstroth) pending language clarification for item # 4. Hilda Heady was authorized upon approved motion (Ferrari/Neal) to make changes to the proposed policy. Dennis McCutcheon felt that the retreat held on the June 14 was a fascinating day with a lot of reflection and that we were well on track in meeting our mission, and that there were lots of good ideas generated. Other partners offered these comments: 1. Dr. Meckstroth stated that the structure of the retreat seemed weak in meeting the objectives of the retreat as he understood them and there was a lot of reminiscing. 2. Gaye Mitchell thought the retreat was very good, but the issue of how can we grow was not addressed. 3. Sarah Lee Neal was impressed with the speakers trying to get others involved. 4. Annie McIntosh wanted us to look at the mechanics of the program and find a way to start moving forward. 5. Norman Ferrari conveyed that if this program was to be a statewide program, then every county needs to be a part of RHEP, whether we create new consortium or expand existing consortiums. Counties not involved at this time are not rural enough to be part of RHEP. A lead agency must exist in an underserved area. We should not leave any area of the state untouched. Dr. Stookey brought up the question “Are we underserved and not rural or rural and underserved. 6. Imogene Foster suggested developing strategic plans and focus areas to work on in a specific time frame. 7. Another suggestion is to look at issues of policy, definition and intent and do more with private school. 8. Annie McIntosh thought more networking for example with health departments. 9. Analyze and identify programs with success and ones without, in order to make decisions toward improvement. Hilda expressed the need to look at topics from the retreat and possibly re-assess our core value and mission statements, posing the question to the panel if we work with the ideas that came out of the June retreat? Issues could be delegated to existing committees or we could form a sub-group of the partners to come up with recommendations to the Panel. Enough issues surfaced out of the retreat for us to look at, set goals, and dates for resolution. More activity with residents and nurse practitioners is needed in relevance to recruiting. Jacquelynn suggested recognizing former students that ended up in the same consortium as a physician and to have a forum and discussion with those health professionals that stayed in West Virginia. Ask if the program influenced them to stay or if they had already made up their mind to stay. Annie McIntosh stated that in her experience, the acronym, RHEP, is not recognized. We are not identified as RHEP, but identified as one of the schools (Marshall, WVSOM or WVU). How do we get recognized out there? At Spencer, there is a radio program and students are writing articles for newspapers. At WVSOM there is an awareness program. Gaye Mitchell suggested that the community members maintain contact with former students while they are in residency. Norman Ferrari and Sharon Boni recommended a strategic planning committee or a task force be implemented to report to the panel within a one year time limit. This committee or task force should be made up of all levels of the partnerships. Hilda will organize a group to examine this issue by looking at RHEP’s mission, and opinions of the partners including students. This group will be charged with examining this information and information from the retreat, and making recommendations on what direction will RHEP take in the future. Hilda announced that as of July 1, 1999, April Vestal was hired as the new Associate Director/Site Liaison at RHEP. Hilda also announced that Nelson and Chris Tilden would be in Charleston on November 4th and 5th to conduct recruitment and retention training sessions for teams from each consortium. Meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM upon approved motion (Ferrari/Stookey).