Peoria Standard

The Peoria County Health, Public Safety and Justice Committee met Aug. 18 to discuss telemedicine.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the committee:

Approved 9/26/16

MINUTES

Health, Public Safety and Justice Committee

August 18, 2016

@ 3:30 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT Robert Baietto - Chairman; Brian Elsasser, Thomas

O'Neill, Rachael Parker, Lynn Pearson, Carol Trumpe,

Sharon Williams - Committee Members

MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Phelan, Phillip Salzer

OTHERS PRESENT: Scott Sorrel - County Administrator; Mark Rothert,

Shauna Musselman - Assistant County Administrators;

Jerry Brady, Steve Giebelhausen - State's Attorney's Office;

Andrew Rand - County Board Chairman; James Dillon,

James Fennell, Brad Harding, Steve Morris - County

Board Members: Eric Dubrowski - Chief Financial Officer;

Randy Brunner - Finance; Angela Loftus - Asst. Director of

Human Resources; Gretchen Pearsall - Director of Strategic

Communications; Carol Van Winkle - Auditor; Michael

McCoy, Doug Gaa - Sheriff's Office; Media

Call to Order

Chairman Baietto called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.

•

Discussion

Mr. Baietto advised that the purpose of the meeting is to provide an update and status of

various issues related to Heddington Oaks. 6 Mr. Sorrel thanked the employees of Heddington

Oaks for making resident centered care their first priority.

Mr. Sorrel provided a report on events within the past year, including several projects currently

in progress:

Heddington Oaks

1) Telemedicine

2)

- both a marketing tool for new admissions and an important care delivery

tool. Up to this point and going forward, Unity Point has been a partner, and he noted

that the Director of Medicine is a Unity Point physician. A future resolution on

telemedicine will include a contract with Unity Point's provider. Telemedicine takes

advantage of modern technology to allow a physician into a resident's room utilizing

technology and internet connections in order to provide care more readily and

frequently.

Outpatient Therapy

3)

- a marketing tool to increase admissions. One challenge moving

forward is billing, as the outpatient therapy vendor wants services paid for on the front

end and then seek reimbursement. He stated that this approach is not acceptable, as

taxpayer dollars would be expended without a 100% guarantee of reimbursement. Staff

continues to work with the vendor on an acceptable solution; however, if no solution is

forthcoming, a resolution will be brought forward to engage in outpatient therapy

services.

Electronic Medical Records - this project will increase Medicare bill rates and will enable

better synchronization of accounts receivable function, and potentially connect directly

with a hospitals electronic medical records system in the future.

Financial implementation of the project is ongoing; a clinical phase will take place after

the financial phase is complete.

4) Renal Dialysis

5)

- the vendor originally awarded the contract has gone bankrupt and in the

interim Staff has explored the chance of obtaining a waiver from IDPH regulations that

would lead to both inpatient and outpatient services, although the likelihood of IDPH

approving the waiver is not likely. A new RFP for the service will be issued in the fall.

Agency Staffing Procurement

Mr. Sorrel updated the committee on the events stemming from the reporting of time theft

which occurred nearly a year ago. He advised that five employees were terminated, the Sheriff's

Office conducted a criminal investigation, the employees were arrested, charges were filed, and

the State's Attorney's Office prosecuted those individuals. He stated that the total amount of

payroll dollars stolen was less than $10,000.00. He stated that new procedures have been put

into place to prevent that type of time theft from occurring in the future. He also advised that

the County Auditor conducted an independent audit, and preliminary findings indicated no

additional theft; however, the audit did find a lack of procedures in many areas. A final audit

and management response will be taken to the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Sorrel advised that a change in hiring practices and procedures has been initiated as a

result of those preliminary findings, the time clocks have been relocated to the front reception

area for greater accountability, and the position of Compliance Officer has been filled.

Mr. Sorrel stressed that he and his Staff have been aware and have been managing the staffing

issues for the past several months to the best of their ability, although he commented that the

scheduling process for a nursing home is very intricate based upon the amount and level of care

required by IDPH. Mr. Sorrel further explained that staffing per IDPH regulations is

dependent upon census, and within census dependent on the type of acuity. He added that

Heddington Oaks and its predecessor Bel-Wood have a long-standing history of providing care

at and above the IDPH minimum standards, and although recent staffing levels have for the

most part remained above the minimum regulations, those levels have at times been below

County standards.

Mr. Sorrel advised that from a budgetary process, 14 FTE's have been authorized as registered

nurses, 29 authorized positions as LPN's and 69 authorized as CNA's. He stated that Staff will

examine process improvement and process mapping of the scheduling system.

Mr. Sorrel commented on the concerns of Heddington Oaks staff members regarding the

alleged theft of narcotics and the now retired Director of Nursing. He noted that the Director of

Nursing, from a regulatory standpoint, is allowed to have narcotics in his/her office,

particularly in a situation of disposal. He emphasized that the Director of Nursing is no longer

an employee of the County of Peoria.

Mr. Sorrel advised that he, Ms. Musselman, Committee Chairman Baietto, County Board

Chairman Rand, and County Board Member Sharon Williams met to devise a strategy moving

forward, in response to concerns raised at the latest County Board Meeting by Heddington Oaks

staff and the family members of residents. He also stated that the group visited Heddington

Oaks to speak to residents, family members and staff to better understand issues from their

perspectives. He stated that the three categories identified as critical to the improvement of

service are Long-Term Leadership, Communication and Staffing & Scheduling.

Mr. Sorrel advised that Staff has determined that the Administrator being a County employee is

in the best, long-term interest of the County Board and himself, as that position can be held

accountable to a greater degree than as a third-party, independent contractor. He also stated

- bids for new contracts with staffing agencies were opened

yesterday. A bid analysis and recommendation will be brought forward to the

September meeting of the committee.

that the positions of both the Director of Nursing and Assistant Director of Nursing have been

posted, and the Finance Director position will be posted soon.

Mr. Sorrel commented that both family members and staff relayed that wages related to RNs

and LPNs are an issue. He noted that it would be the purview of the County Operations

Committee to consider any wage alternatives. He also advised that the posting of RNs and

LPNs will be expanded to include a site that he anticipates will not only expand the number of

applicants, but draw a more qualified pool of applicants.

Mr. Sorrel advised that improvements in communication include the scheduling of a Family

Forum on August 31st at 6:00 at Heddington Oaks and the creation of an Advisory Family Task

Force. The Task Force would discuss issues and develop solutions from the family members

perspective, and he assured that Staff would consider all viable options put forward by the Task

Force as well as using the Task Force as a sounding board for feedback going forward.

Mr. Sorrel advised that a courthouse staff member from Human Services will be temporarily

assigned to Heddington Oaks, and Marketing Meetings will be relocated from the courthouse to

Heddington Oaks.

Ms. Williams commented that her mother-in-law is a resident at Heddington Oaks, and

thanked the staff for the quality care given her family member.

Mr. Elsasser noted that one of the biggest challenges regarding staffing is the competition in the

market for RNs with other nursing homes, as well as area hospitals. He also commented that

there are approximately 45 empty beds at the facility, and as a way of increasing revenue,

advocated filling some of those beds with Medicaid residents.

Ms. Roxie Cravens, a citizen who had an uncle placed in Heddington Oaks, addressed the

committee to relay her concern over his poor care at the facility, which she noted was only

partially a result of being understaffed.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by Chairman Baietto at 4:33 p.m.

Recorded & Transcribed by: Jan Kleffman