MINUTES

 

                                                WVRHEP RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

COMMITTEE MEETING

 

May 17, Days Inn, Flatwoods

 

Attending: Linda Atkins, Deborah Curry, Tom Hefner, Lew Holloway, Jill Hutchinson, Judy Koehler, Imogene Foster for E. Jane Martin, James W. Nemitz, Sandra Y. Pope, JoAnn Raines, Bob Whitler. Staff: Alicia Tyler.  Absent: Penny Rose Asbury, Jay Bonfili, Patti Crawford, Norm Ferrari, Marilyn Fox , Mike Holt, Sharon Lansdale, Jill McDaniel, Shirley Neel, Jessica Sharp, Guests: Elaine Mason, Jodie Jackson, Lynn Mugaas, Anna Reno, Devney Friel, Lora Adkins, Dalena Riggs, Sarah Miller.

 

Bob Whiter, serving as chair, opened the meeting. He welcomed the AHEC directors as new members of the Committee. Minutes of the March 15 th meeting were approved.

 

Medical Student Distribution Plan

 

Jodie Jackson reported that the plan came out of the RHEP/AHEC Restructuring Task Force. Jodie discussed Recommendation #1: the Baker-Brody-Jackson Medical Student Distribution Plan.  It would require all medical students to complete one RHEP rotation in a Level II or Level III RHEP site and allow the schools the option to give medical students who complete a rotation in a Level III site additional credit toward meeting their 3-month rural rotation requirement. Jodie explained that the plan would encourage rotations in the most underserved areas. The report is to be presented to the Advisory Panel today. (Details are on the RHEP website.)

 

AHECs and Rural Residency Development

 

The three operational AHECs received $10,000 grants from the Higher Education Policy Commission to support rural residency related projects.

 

·         Southwestern: Debbie Curry, the executive director, reported that the grant helped expand their AHEC rotations. Stipends were given to top third-year residents to lead AHEC teams in four counties. Students gathered data for a paper they hope to publish. The AHEC is working to establish a pipeline of students, emphasizing grassroots activity. In Wayne Co. a science and math club has been formed, which they hope will expand into a HSTA site. A summer pre-med academy will be held at Concord. Debbie is working with Patti Crawford to recruit minority students.

·         Northern: Lew Holloway, the executive director, reported that he was hired in January and has established an office at Glenville State College. This new AHEC covers 23 counties in central WV and the northern panhandle. Lew is working with residencies in Clarksburg, Wheeling, and Morgantown and three site coordinators. The first rotation was conducted in Grafton. He developed a marketing brochure on AHEC and the link with RHEP. He is collaborating with HSTA to develop Interdisciplinary Teams for HSTA clubs. Lew is also dealing with logistics, such as 501(c)3 forms and the bioterrorism grant.

 

Alicia reported for the following AHECs because their executive directors were out of town.

 

·         Eastern: Jay Bonfili, the executive director, works closely with the Harpers Ferry family medicine residency to develop a network of rural sites. The grant enabled Dr. Nau to participate in the Rural Medicine Educators workshop in D.C. Dr. Nau has had several conference calls with Dr. Bob Walker to discuss rural residency approaches in other states and rural fellowships. The grant also supported a first-year resident who will rotate in Grant Co.; next year she will lead an AHEC rotation in the same county. The AHEC is developing rotations for third-year residents and Rural Fellowships for new physicians.

·         Southeastern: Patti Crawford, the executive director, reports that the grant is supporting maintenance of the AHEC team website (www.wvhealth.org) by an FP intern at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. The website posts information for community health education. The grant will also support enhancements to distance learning and videoconferencing capacity for 2 interns and 3 residents at Greenbrier Valley hospital and to offset the cost of startup and line charges for a new internship program at Princeton Community Hospital. 

 

Sandra Pope said that all four AHECs have the same mission, but operate differently.

 

Report of the Division of Recruitment

 

Linda Atkins gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Division’s programs and placements. Highlights include:

·         Benefits and requirements of the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) and the Recruitment & Retention Community Project (RRCP).  The Division receives 8-10 applications for SLRP each year and funds 5 to 6.  The Division receives 40-50 RRCP applications and funds 30 or so.

·         J-1 Visa Waiver Process – now 30 placements (not 20) can be made under the Conrad program. It is up for reauthorization this year. There is more flexibility under this program. The ARC J-1 program is limited to primary care and HPSA sites.

·         The federal government has designated community health centers, FQHCs and RHCs as automatic HPSAs.

·       Maps showed the county locations of Division placements from 1994-2003:

o     184 nurse practitioners and physician assistants (112 with financial incentives);

o     149 physicians (118 with financial incentives); and

o     193 J-1 visa physicians.

·       A map showed a total of 774 health care providers recruited from 1989-2003.

 

Linda said that the Division receives $255,000 annually for the RRCP and $150,000 match for the State Loan program, totaling $405,000. Bob Whitler asked that retention of providers placed by the Division be added to the September meeting agenda. He asked that a few examples be presented as illustrations.  Elaine Mason noted that we need to consider physicians leaving as well as placements in rural areas.

 

The accomplishments of Linda and her staff – Melissa Wheeler, Devney Friel, and Martha Endres – were applauded, and the chair asked that the minutes reflect the Committee’s appreciation.

 

Round-the-Table Updates

 

Jill Hutchinson – West Virginia has more health centers per capita than any other state. Focus now is on looking at outcomes and quality.

 

Elaine Mason – The 2nd Annual Job Fair will be held Friday, November 19th, at the John E. Jones Conference Center at the WVU Health Sciences Center.  Last year, the Fair had 46 sites, 60 or so residents and 100 students in various fields.

 

Melissa Wheeler – The Office of Rural Health is holding the 12th Annual Rural Health Conference at Stonewall Resort on October 25-27, 2004.  A mini Job Fair will be held on October 26th.  Fred Moskol will do a plenary session on Recruitment & Retention.

 

Jim Nemitz – Jim announced that he has accepted a position as Associate Dean for Pre-Clinical Education, so he will be leaving the Committee.  He said he would bring the new director of the school’s Rural Recruitment & Retention Office to the September meeting. That individual will serve on the Committee. He also announced the retirement of Lynn Mugaas, the placement coordinator.

 

Imogene Foster announced that WVU graduated its first doctoral student, Alvita Nathaniel.  She said that nursing enrollment at WVU has increased by 33.3%.

 

The meeting was adjourned.