West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships

Advisory Panel Meeting Minutes

Monday, July 21, 2003

Days Inn, Flatwoods

Members in Attendance: Dennis McCutcheon, Elizabeth Degges, Hilda Heady, Jim Welshonce, Steve Smith, Alison Witte, Gaye Mitchell

Guests in Attendance: Chuck Conner, Shannon Bell, Alicia Tyler, Sonnie Strader, Ken Shannon, Elizabeth Richmond, Debra Riggs, Penny Asbury, Derrick Day, Lora Adkins, Ralph Utzman, Judy Koehler, Parr Thacker, Malinda Turner, Anna Reno, Jane Sullivan, Sheryll Tennant, April Vestal, Sonya McClelland, Jodie Jackson, Sandra Pope

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Dennis McCutcheon.

Call to move the Consent Agenda – The consent agenda was passed unanimously

(Ferrari/Welshonce)

Review of Student Definitions –

Hilda stated LPN students from a LPN program at Reynolds Memorial Hospital were entered into Tracker for 9 months, but only students of higher education institutions are to be entered. They can train at the sites but not be counted in Tracker. It would confuse the issue to have vocational students in the database and would open the door to entering other various vocational programs. The nursing shortage is for RNs, not LPNs. Policy 98-02 was passed unanimously. (Ferrari/Welshonce)

A sympathy card was circulated to sign for Annie MacIntosh, an original member of the Kellogg program and active supporter of RHEP, whose husband passed away.

Jane Sullivan, new Site Coordinator for Eastern West Virginia Rural Health Education Consortium in Martinsburg was introduced.

Committee reviews and group reports –

Evaluation – Jodie stated the committee submitted new changes to the student evaluation of rural field experience (SERFE). As soon as they are approved she will send them to Mike. The committee worked on their Visions statement today and will give to April in the upcoming week.

Finance – Margaret read the wording changes to Policy 2004-01, which will be posted on the web site. The amended policy was passed unanimously. (Ferrari/Smith) She also stated the Chancellor wants the budgets by August 15, which are due to the Governor by August 31.

Faculty Development – April stated the committee is working on a rewrite of policy 1995-04 and will present this to the advisory panel in September. The Faculty Development conference mailings will go out this week and flyers were distributed to members and guests. There are several prestigious speakers on the agenda. There will also be a golf tournament on Sunday. Any interested participants should contact Derrick.

IT – Derrick reported the committee has responded to the Visions document. They are currently working on county profile links for the web site. They want to have internet access for all sites. The specific goal is for all to have high speed internet access. Once this is in place all medical students can have access on rural rotations to MD Consult. It is pretty much complete but the logistics need to be checked to ensure it is working properly. The committee plans to provide 4-5 laptops at the Faculty Development Conference for the field faculty to use. They are also getting feedback from the faculty on favorite websites they can share at the conference.

Executive / Associate Director’s Report –

Hilda stated Little Kanawha Area Consortium requests to annex Doddridge County. Anna Reno stated a lot of students have requested rotations there. There is currently only one field faculty in that county. The motion was passed unanimously. (Ferrari/Degges)

Dr. Ferrari requested a new map be made available with Doddridge and Mercer counties included. Derrick will add new counties and make recent consortium name changes and email to the list-serve. April pointed out that now 50 out of 55 counties are included.

Hilda stated the Chancellor has requested a budget meeting with the Deans of the health sciences schools and RHEP finance committee. It will take place this week. Those to be present also include financial officers at MU and WVU and the Dean of WVSOM. They will discuss the overall budget of RHI funds and work on getting in the budget for the fall legislative session.

The response for WVRHEP to the PERD (Performance, Evaluation, & Research Division of the WV Legislature) request was sent to the list-serve by email but anyone requesting a paper copy can contact Hilda’s office. The final report from PERD is not back in writing but is expected soon. We will be scheduled for an exit interview before the report is delivered to the Jont Committee on Government Operations during one of the fall interim sessions.

Hilda reminded the panel and guests that this is a reauthorization year and everyone needs to start campaigning now. There are only 2 legislators left that were involved ten years ago. She urged everyone to contact their legislators about the value of RHEP and ensure they know the influence it has on recruiting medical providers to West Virginia.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. (Ferrari/Mitchell)