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Regular Session Minutes
Monday, June 24, 2019
12:00 Noon
The Board of Trustees of North Colorado Medical Center met in Regular Session on Monday,
June 24, 2019, in the Richard Stenner Boardroom located at North Colorado Medical Center.
Mark Lawley, Chair, declared a quorum and called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE ROSTER
NCMC Board of Trustees: Mark Lawley, Catherine Davis, Kevin Mullin, Michael Simone, Jason
Yeater, and Sean Conway (Commissioner, non -voting member), with Kay Kosmicki and
Brian Underwood being Excused
Banner Health: Margo Karsten (NCMC CEO) -Excused, Derek Strader (NCMC COO)
Staff: Jeff Carlson (INC. Board Exec. Dir.)
Recording Clerk: Esther Gesick (Weld County Clerk to the Board)
PUBLIC COMMENT - There was no public comment.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
It was MSC (Davis/Yeater) to approve the minutes from the May 20, 2019, Regular Session
meeting.
NCM CEO/COO REPORT
Derek Strader reported the ED Chatbot system was launched on June 12th and has received
a good response. He explained it is an artificial intelligence notification system for patients
and family members to receive medical imaging messages on their smart phone devices. He
stated the Central Logic software program became operational three weeks ago and will
provide more data insight concerning the transfer center and improved efficiencies. The
agreement includes some risk share and the timing of the launch is important to increase and
enhance outreach to patients in rural communities, especially considering some patients may
be lost to the new UC Health facility in west Greeley. Mr. Strader commented it has been a
tough legislative session for Colorado; however, he was pleased to share that, effective in
August, there is a new measure which expands the scope of paramedics which should help
address the nursing shortage. He explained it allows them to function more in the in -patient
units, and NCMC is looking at innovative staffing solutions, including the submission of an
application to CMS to participate in a five-year ET pilot which allows them to respond to 9-1-1
calls, in which the paramedic can transport the patient to urgent care, primary care, or
tele-visit on scene depending on the circumstances. He stated they are also talking to the
local RAE (Regional Accountable Entity) which manages Medicaid patients, as well as
coordinating through the ongoing partnership with the Greeley Police Department and local
mental health facilities to work collaboratively to determine the appropriate facility for the
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June 24, 2019 NCMC Board of Trustees
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patient needs, versus defaulting to the Emergency Department, which should help address
their volume issues and help manage costs. In response to Mr. Lawley, Mr. Strader
speculated the broadened scope may change the paramedic pool and balance the pay
between the two positions of paramedics and nurses. He stated the goal is to connect to
students through the Bright Futures program to channel them into the work force to
supplement the position vacancies each season. They are also looking to equalize the job
responsibilities among the emergency responders so that they are capable of filling multiple
roles, the pay is equalized and job hopping is reduced.
COMMISSIONER'S REPORT
Commissioner Conway was excused.
NCMC, INC. REPORT
Jeff Carlson reported the NCMC Inc. Board of Directors currently provides funding to Aims to
put people through the medical training program regardless of where they gain employment;
however, they are currently discussing affording students with employment opportunities
within the Banner system in exchange for their education tuition. He further stated $750,000
has been awarded to eight non -profits which are working with the homeless population,
human trafficking victims, schools, etc. Lastly, they are gearing up for the Fitch update and
then the S&P audit in a couple of months.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Strader mentioned the State is going through a new process to submit waivers to CMS to
assess substance abuse disorder diagnosis and they are requesting consideration for payment
of in -patient therapy at appropriate sites. He stated, conceptually, this would be very
beneficial; however, it must be budget neutral through the Emergency Department (ED) care
and budget maintenance. He stated management is anticipating an initial backlog and
bottleneck in the ED as the public recognizes the quality care which is provided, so they are
hopeful to gain additional data to support capital improvements to address any additional
capacity. Lastly, there was discussion concerning the challenges of screening and preventing
robo-calls.
VISITATION REPORT FOR JUNE 24, 2019
BANNER CORPORATE (PHOENIX) CHATBOT: Due to technical difficulties, the Skype session
with Josh Snyder, PMO Portfolio Director, to provide an overview of the Chatbot technology
was postponed until July 31, 2019.
ADJOURN
There being no further business to come before the Board, it was MSC [Yeater/Mullin] to
adjourn the meeting at 12:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Esther Gesick
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June 24, 2019 NCMC Board of Trustees
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