Proposed Merger
of
Mountain Health Consortium (MHC), Little Kanawha Area (LKA),
Northern WV Rural Health Education Center (NWVRHEC) & Rural Ohio Valley
Education Resources Consortium (ROVER)
September 1, 2004
Introduction
The Restructuring Task Force approved a series of recommendations at
its May 17, 2004 meeting. Included in
those recommendations are guidelines related to the Baker-Brody-Jackson Medical
Student Distribution Plan, Combining RHEP & AHEC Staff Positions, Enhancing
the Interdisciplinary Educational Component of the Curriculum, Developing and
Implementing Summer Placements in Rural Interdisciplinary Teams (SPIRIT), and
Exploring Partnering with Regional Workforce Investment Boards.
In addition, MHC, LKA, NWVRHEC, and ROVER were given the task to
consolidate within the twenty-three (23) county service area they manage. Included are the tasks to consolidate the
current six (6) offices, eliminate two (2) secretarial positions, hire three
(3) Community Service Coordinators, restructure the Site Coordinators’
positions and have the RHEP OSCD and the NWVRHEC Medical Director be the same
position in an attempt to achieve a 15% reduction to the combined operating
budget and adhere to the recommended funding level for FY 2005-06.
This proposed timeline, budget and justification will
allow the merged region of MHC, LKA, NWVRHEC, and ROVER to successfully
implement the recommendations set forth by the Restructuring Task Force and
represents a true collaborative effort on the part of the MHC, LKA, NWVRHEC,
and ROVER Boards. Members of the
Transition Committee are confident that the proposal will strengthen their
ability to provide university level programming; secure long term state
funding; begin to build a foundation for sustainability; and act as a model for
other RHEP/AHEC mergers in West Virginia, ultimately increasing access to
quality health care through the recruitment and retention of health
professionals throughout the NWVRHEC region and the state.
Sincerely
Transition Committee Members: Susan Barnes, LKA
Kathie Brown ROVER
Kathryn Greenlief, MHC
Tom Hefner, MHC
Lew Holloway, NWVRHEC
Anita Mattingly, LKA
Jay Prager, ROVER
Anna Reno, LKA
Dalena Riggs, ROVER
Allen Wilson, MHC
Sonnie Strader, MHC
(ex-officio)
Steve Thomas, MHC
(ex-officio)
Northern WV
Rural Health Education Center, Inc.
BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION 2005-06
|
Current RHEP Budgets |
||
|
MHC |
$377,898 |
|
|
LKA |
$195,100 |
|
|
ROVER |
$161,096 |
|
|
SUBTOTAL |
$734,094 |
|
|
15% Reduction Recommended For FY 2005-06 |
($110,114) |
|
|
POTENTIAL RHEP BUDGET FOR FY 2005-06 |
$623,979 |
$623,979 |
|
Current RHEC Budget |
$218,077 |
$218,077 |
|
MERGED RHEP/NWVRHEC BUDGET FY
2005-06 |
$842,057 |
|
|
|
||
|
ACTUAL BUDGET SUBMITTED WITH THIS
PROPOSAL |
$842,000 |
|
DIRECT SERVICES EXPENSES
Student/Resident Housing ($72000): Rent, lease or mortgage expenses,
furnishings, utilities, e-mail and internet access, telephone, cable, property
insurance.
LRC/Office Rent
($42700): Within the NWVRHEC region there
are currently six (6) office locations.
This budget includes costs associated with the rent or lease of space
for three (3) offices within the NWVRHEC region. The proposed location of office space will include the current
ROVER office at Cameron Clinic, closing the LKA office in Grantsville and
combining it with the NWVRHEC in Glenville at Glenville State College and
closing the MHC offices in Gassaway and Rock Cave and combining them at an
undetermined location along the I-79 corridor.
The MHC office located in Grafton will be closed. In addition, the proposed budget includes
funds for the rental or leasing of space to conduct IDS/IDT in Grafton.
Staff Salary/Fringe ($406900):
The proposal includes the consolidation of office space as outlined above. Due to this consolidation plan staff needs
will also change. A total of three (3)
current positions will be eliminated and two (2) new positions will be created
to serve the twenty-three (23) county NWVRHEC region. Total proposed staff is eleven (11). Please Refer to chart below.
|
PROPOSED POSITIONS TO BE ELIMINATED |
||
|
Position Title |
Location |
Explanation |
|
1
FTE ~ Secretary |
Grafton |
Office
to close |
|
1
FTE ~ Secretary |
Rock
Cave |
Office
to merge w/Gassaway eliminating one (1) of two (2) positions |
|
1
FTE ~ Site
Coordinator |
Grafton |
Office
to close |
|
PROPOSED POSITIONS OF THE RHEP/AHEC
CONSOLIDATION |
||
|
Position Title |
Location |
|
|
1
FTE ~ Administrative
Assistant (existing) |
Located
& shared at the merged Grantsville/Glenville office |
|
|
2
FTE ~ Community
Service Assistant (existing) |
One
(1) located & shared at the merged Grantsville/Glenville Office & One
(1) located at Cameron |
|
|
1
FTE ~ Community
Service Specialist (proposed), BS in Community Health or related
field minimum requirements |
One
(1) located at the merged Gassaway/Rock Cave I-79 corridor office &
shared with Cameron office |
|
|
1
FTE ~ Director
of Continuing Ed. (proposed), BSN, RN minimum requirements |
TBD |
|
|
1
FTE ~ Executive
Director (existing) |
Glenville |
|
|
1
FTE ~ Office Assistant (existing) |
One
(1) located & shared at the merged Gassaway/Rock Cave I-79 corridor
office |
|
|
4
FTE ~ Site
Coordinators (existing) |
One
(1) @ Cameron, one (1) @ Glenville, two (2) @ I-79 corridor office |
|
IDS/IDT Prep & Presentation ($32000):
Payment to preceptors/field faculty for preparation and facilitation of
the interdisciplinary sessions (IDS) and the interdisciplinary teams (IDT) throughout
the NWVRHEC region. These individuals
will work closely with the NWVRHEC Medical Director and Performance Committee
to centralize, manage and focus all NWVRHEC learning activities on health
problems found in its twenty-three (23) county region.
Graduate Medical Education ($7900): Expenses other than those included in the
student/resident housing and student/resident LRC that relate directly to
resident rotations.
Recruitment & Retention ($10000): Activities that are used to recruit and retain
preceptors/field faculty in primary health care fields in the NWVRHEC region.
Community Service ($30000):
Disease prevention at the community level as required in the legislation
and determined to be applicable by the Medical Director Performance Committee
and preceptors/field faculty.
Medical Director
($25000): One Medical Director will be contracted to
serve the NWVRHEC region. This
individual will assist the Ex. Dir. and Site Coordinators in the recruiting of
the IDT members and scheduling of IDS/IDT rotations. Working with the contracted preceptors/field faculty (IDS/IDT
Prep & Presentation line item), and the Performance Committee, the Medical
Director will provide clinical leadership to design and implement the Faculty
Development Plan for the NWVRHEC in addition to providing leadership for the
curricular aspect of the IDS/IDT sessions, research and community service. This position will serve on the NWVRHEC
Performance Committee and the RHEP Faculty Development Committee.
Faculty Development ($25500):
Coordination and assistance to preceptors/field faculty in meeting their
CE requirements and obtaining required faculty appointments at West Virginia
schools of health sciences.
Equipment ($11000): Any
necessary computers, printers, software as needed for new staff, and to replace
or upgrade equipment being used during the normal business of the NWVRHEC
offices.
Residency Program Reimbursement ($40000): The
NWVRHEC will contract with the family practice residency programs at WVU,
Clarksburg, and Wheeling. This contract
will reimburse faculty time for supervision of four (4) residents/interns and
other trainees for a minimum of two rotations annually for each residency
program. A Residency faculty member
and/or the Medical Director will serve as permanent chair of the Performance
Committee.
INDIRECT SERVICES EXPENSES
Administrative Travel ($36000): The
eleven (11) member staff of the NWVRHEC will require travel mostly within its
service area; some travel to statewide committee and panel meetings; and for
appropriate staff, travel to national workshops and conferences.
Office Expenses ($27100):
Telephone, fax, internet access for the three (3) NWVRHEC offices
throughout its twenty-three (23) county region. Also includes postal expenses and supplies for administration and
educational activities including paper, pens, copying, and other desktop
supplies.
Fiscal Management ($56000):
Charged by the Lead Agency for time spent by its fiscal office
processing payroll, benefits, completing the required reports, invoice
processing, and preparation of annual audit for the entire NWVRHEC region.
Other ($19900):
Includes costs associated with relocating offices (one time expense),
utilizing telecommunications systems for statewide teleconferencing,
consultation, staff meetings, NWVRHEC board and local board meetings and
trainings, travel for regional and local board members to statewide and
national workshops/conferences when appropriate.
Transition
Timeline
Mountain Health Consortium (MHC), Little Kanawha
Area (LKA), Northern WV Rural Health Education Center (NWVRHEC) & Rural
Ohio Valley Education Resources Consortium (ROVER)
May, 2004 – June 30, 2005
Objectives
|
Process
|
Responsibility
|
Time
Line
|
Indicators
|
Outcomes
|
|
a. Organize Transition Committee |
To be made up of three
(3) individuals from each RHEP that will include two (2) board members &
one (1) site coordinator plus the Executive Director of the NWVRHEC |
Initially facilitated by MHC |
May 26, 2004 |
Letter of invitation to all parties |
Develop implementation strategy to lead & guide
partners toward the suggested merger recommended by the State Rural Health
Advisory Panel at its May 17, 2004 meeting |
|
Assure that all
appropriate parties are invited to participate |
Initial Transition Committee invitees |
July – August |
Letter of invitation, phone calls, & emails
exchanged between parties |
Add the two (2) remaining MHC site coordinators to
the Committee as non voting ex-officio members & invite other RHEP staff
to participate in meetings |
|
|
b. Begin formal
discussions |
Schedule 1st
meeting at UHC, Clarksburg |
MHC, Hilda Heady |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes
|
Agree to move forward with formal discussions |
|
Secure formal
agreements from each of the local RHEP boards to merge |
RHEP Site Coordinators, Local Boards |
July – August 2004 |
Local boards to meet & agree to merger &
draft formal letters of commitment to be mailed to appropriate parties |
All
local boards in agreement & all letters drafted by August 16, 2004
|
|
|
Determine (1) Total of
all RHEP budgets, (2) Anticipated 15% reduction for RHEP FY 2005-06 budget,
(3) Total NWVRHEC budget, (4) Total merged RHEP/NWVRHEC budget including 15%
RHEP reduction |
Transition Committee, Hilda Heady |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
(1)
Total of all RHEP budgets = $734,094, , (2) 15% RHEP reduction =
$110,114, (3) Total NWVRHEC budget =
$218,077, (4) Total merged RHEP/NWVRHEC budget minus 15% reduction =
$842,056.
|
|
|
Begin to discuss the
possibility of combining the RHEP OSCD & the NWVRHEC Med. Dir. positions
& agree to develop 1st draft of job description |
Transition Committee & OSCD/Med. Dir.
Subcommittee |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Initial
job description draft available for review at next meeting
|
|
|
Begin to discuss how budgets will be merged |
Transition Committee |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Site
Coordinators send local RHEP budgets to NWVRHEC office to be compiled
|
|
|
Begin to discuss the possibility of contracting with
one fiscal agent & one lead agency |
Transition Committee |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Approach
Tri-County Health Care Clinic Inc. to determine interest
|
|
|
Begin to review
organizational structure, job functions, service areas & reporting
relationships |
Transition Committee |
July 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Review
current arrangements to be further developed at next meeting
|
|
|
Schedule 2nd
Transition Committee meeting |
Transition Committee |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Begin
to address “next steps”
|
Objectives
|
Process
|
Responsibility
|
Time
Line
|
Indicators
|
Outcomes
|
|
c. Conduct 2nd Transition meeting |
Scheduled for UHC,
Clarksburg |
Transition Committee |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Begin
to address “next steps”
|
|
d. Agreements letters mailed and on file |
RHEP boards mailed
agreement letter to Hilda Heady, Jim Malone, Chancellor M. Mullen, &
Dennis McCutcheon |
Site Coordinators & local RHEP Boards |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
All
the local RHEP Boards agree to move forward & letters have been mailed
& are on file
|
|
e. Combine the positions of RHEP OSCD &
NWVRHEC Med. Dir. |
Following discussion,
motion was passed to hire one Med. Dir. for the entire 23 county region who
will serve as the Chair of the NWVRHEC Performance Committee & serve on
the RHEP Faculty Development Committee |
Motion passed unanimously by members of the
Transition Committee |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Continue
to draft job description based on the contracting of one Med. Dir. for the
entire NWVRHEC/RHEP region
|
|
Identify cost savings
associated with combining positions |
Transition Committee |
August
16, 2004
|
Meeting minutes |
Projected savings = $78000 |
|
|
Begin discussion
regarding how the RHEP honorarium payments will be determined |
Transition Committee & Connie Simmons
(Tri-County CFO) |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Simmons reported that RHEP Finance Committee is currently
reviewing this issue |
|
|
f. Contract with one fiscal agent & lead
agency |
Following discussion
motion was passed to retain Tri-County Health Care Clinic, Inc. as the lead
agency & fiscal agent |
Motion passed unanimously by members of the
Transition Committee |
August
16, 2004
|
Meeting minutes |
Simmons to report back to Transition Committee
regarding costs to provide services
& possible savings |
|
g. Define Organizational structure of merged
region |
Following discussion,
motion was passed to restructure the RHEP service areas with actual
delineation to be determined by Site Coordinators |
Motion passed unanimously by members of the
Transition Committee |
August 16, 2004 |
Meeting minutes |
Service areas were identified as follows; (1)
Greenlief/Strader, Barbour, Braxton, Lewis, Harrison, part
Monongalia, part Marion, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Upshur (2)
Reno, Calhoun,
Doddridge, Gilmer, Pleasants, Ritchie, part Tyler, Wirt, & Wood (3)Riggs, Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, part
Monongalia, part Marion, Ohio, part Tyler, & Wetzel |
|
Following discussion,
motion was passed to have the NWVRHEC Ex. Dir. supervise all staff through
appropriate chain of command |
Motion passed unanimously by members of the
Transition Committee |
August
16, 2004
|
Meeting minutes |
All merged staff will report directly to the Ex.
Dir. of the NWVRHEC |
|
|
Following discussion,
motion was passed to merge existing RHEP & NWVRHEC offices, & close
the Grafton office |
Motion passed unanimously by members of the
Transition Committee |
August
16, 2004
|
Meeting minutes |
(1) Retain office in the Cameron area, (2) Merge the
Grantsville office with the NWVRHEC office at Glenville, (3) Combine the
Gassaway & Rock Cave offices into one further north along the I-79
corridor, (4) Close Grafton office |
|
|
Identify cost savings
associated with combining/closing offices |
Transition Committee |
August
16, 2004
|
Meeting minutes |
Projected savings as a result of combining/closing
offices = $74,000 |
|
|
Schedule 3rd
Transition Committee meeting |
Transition Committee |