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TENNESSEE
EDENIZING FOUNDATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
2011
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith, Kort Nygard
GUEST – Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
TEAC requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Kort convened the meeting at 7:15 p.m.
Laurie informed the group that she read that Governor-elect Haslam has pledged to hold a symposium on aging during the 1st 6 months of his term, which begins in 01/15/11, and she suggested that we remain alert for information on this event so that we can participate in it. Kort added that he has figures from Summit View which he would like to present at the event that show how culture change reduces certain expenses related to long-term care.
Carol told the members that the best time to present our Usage of Federal CMP Funds Proposal will be after the incoming administration is in place and all appointments re the Tennessee Department of Health have been made. She also suggested we review the current year’s budget in case we want to make changes, and she thinks the State will conduct a routine audit soon.
Debbie presented the others with copies of a 2011 calendar she designed to show the many aspects of Bordeaux Long-term Care’s Eden journey through photos and stories. Each month showcases residents, family members, staff or volunteers who explain how specific culture change practices and attitudes enhanced the lives of those involved.
Laurie relayed the story of a 10-month legal battle that a childhood friend of hers persevered through in order to wrest control over her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, from a sibling who was making decisions that were causing rapid deterioration of her mother’s physical and emotional conditions. (This occurred in another state.) The SAGE Movement: Replacing Ageism with Sageism, written by Kort and Melanie and Joe Adair, provided her with a lot of case histories that added understanding of what she was up against and helped keep her motivated to fight for her mother, who is now comfortably ensconced in an ACLF (Assisted Care Living Facility) where staff members are working diligently to bring back as many of her Activities of Daily Living Skills as they can.
Kort adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar:
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 02/03/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., in Nashville; see “TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING SCHEDULE 2011” for details.
- TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 03/03/11, at 7:00 p.m. at Siam Café, 316 McCall Street, Nashville, TN 37211
- TEAC ANNUAL NON-EDEN EDUCATION EVENT – Friday, 03/04/11, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., at the Maxwell House Hotel, 2025 Rosa L. Parks, Blvd,, Nashville, TN 37228; Dr. Al Power
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 04/14/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 05/05/11, 7:00 p.m.
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 06/02/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 07/07/11, 7:00 p.m.
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 08/04/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 09/01/11, 7:00 p.m.
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 10/06/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 11/03/11, 7:00 p.m.
- TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 12/01/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith, Kort Nygard, Ronnie Steinberg
GUESTS: Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
Al Power, M.D. – Eden Alternative Board Member & Educator
TEAC requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Kort convened the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Laurie raised the issue of the slow progress toward Edenizing homes allowing residents to enter with their own companion animals. Al stated that he thinks culture change as a whole has to sink further into long-term care settings before staff will buy into this and that Green Houses are the right place to start because staffs in them are already fully committed to resident-centered care and having a campus of multiple homes with small numbers of residents will make it manageable and give leeway so that some houses can accommodate residents who want to live with animals, and others can accommodate those who would rather not.
Ronnie reiterated her worry about the abuse of elders living at home, where, because of the relative isolation, detection is a lot less likely than in long-term care facilities.
Carol informed the members about proposed state legislation that could impact long-term care facilities and announced that the Tennessee Department of Health has approved the $50,000 for our 10 Eden grants for this fiscal year. She can now put an application package together, but it will be distributed to the facilities later than usual.
Kort inquired about the progress on finalizing our Federal CMP Funds Usage Proposal. Debbie advised that it is ready to be given to the proper authorities.
Kort adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar:
1.TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 04/14/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2.TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 05/05/11, 7:00 p.m.
3.TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 06/02/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
4.TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 07/07/11, 7:00 p.m.
5.TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 08/04/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
6. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 09/01/11, 7:00 p.m.
7. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 10/06/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
8. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 11/03/11, 7:00 p.m.
9. MEMBERSHIP MEETING & TEAC ; Thursday, 12/01/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith
GUESTS – Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
TEAC requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Laurie convened the meeting at 7:15 p.m.
Possible topics and speakers for upcoming TEAC Membership Meetings were discussed.
Carol relayed the disheartening news that the State CMP (Civil Monetary Penalties) Fund, from which the Department of Health has annually provided both our $10,000 operating expenses grant and the $50,000 that is divided into 10 grants of $5,000 each to Edenizing facilities, does not have enough this year to cover all of the grants.
There is a chance that the Department could approve use of the Federal CMP Fund for all or part of the needed money, but this is by no means assured.
Carol cancelled the grant Review scheduled for 5/18-19/11 and has notified all committee members that it may or may not be rescheduled.
The members discussed ways to keep the organization going in light of each of the following scenarios:
1) We are able to obtain total funding from the Department utilizing the Federal CMP Fund, in which case it is likely that only nursing homes will be eligible for the $5,000 grants;
2) We are able to obtain total funding from the Department utilizing a combination of the State and Federal CMP Funds;
3) We are able to obtain partial funding from the Department utilizing one or both of the State and Federal CMP Funds, which might be the $10,000 operational grant only or the operational grant plus less than $50,000 to give to facilities;
4) We receive no funding from the Department for the next fiscal year starting 7/1/11 and ending 6/30/12.
The TEF/TEAC Board of Directors is committed to continuing to serve those who are facilitating long-term care culture change even though we may have to limit the scope of our offerings for the immediate future. We will advise TEAC members of developments as they unfold.
Laurie adjourned the meeting at 9:35 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar:
1. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 06/02/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 07/07/11, 7:00 p.m.
3. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 08/04/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
4. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 09/01/11, 7:00 p.m.
5. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 10/06/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
6. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 11/03/11, 7:00 p.m.
7. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 12/01/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith, Kort Nygard
GUESTS – Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
TEAC requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Kort convened the meeting at 7:20 p.m.
Carol declared that, because there is currently very little money in the state’s CMP (Civil Monetary Penalty) fund, it is a virtual certainty that TEF/TEAC will not receive any grant money from the State of Tennessee this fiscal year.
Kort will submit our Federal CMP Fund Proposal to Commissioner Susan Cooper this month. The Board hopes for the best but spent most of the meeting discussing what we can and cannot do this fiscal year without funding.
The biggest sting is that the Department of Health will not be awarding the 10 $5,000 grants to assist facilities in their culture change endeavors. We will also not be able to bring in non-Eden educational speakers free to members as we have almost every year. And Board members will have to totally pay their own way to attend any Eden and other culture change meetings and conferences.
But there are several services we can still provide to our members. TNAHSA currently offers us a meeting room free of charge, so we should be able to continue the TEAC Membership Meetings through at least the end of this calendar year. Carol will continue to keep us up to date on relevant developments in the Tennessee Department of Health. Laurie runs the TEAC list-serve from her home office, so the information e-mail stream will continue just as it has since inception. And our webmaster, Hugh Davis, is generously donating his services for 1 year, so our website, www.tneden.org, will remain up.
Debbie suggested that, in light of the changes we must now make, we start a new communications vehicle for members to share with and learn from each other, and she offered to compose a quarterly PDF based on member input on various topics. The other Board members enthusiastically approved. Kort suggested that the first topic be “Culture Change Innovations”. TEAC members are encouraged to contact Debbie at Debbie.Meredith@NashvilleHA.org with stories of different approaches they have used to make life better for long-term care residents and why these attempts were successful or not, or just to posit their thoughts or hopes for culture changes that are not yet happening but would be of benefit to long-terms care residents, family members and/or staff.
Kort informed the group that he and Dr. Al Power will be presenting a session entitled “Dementia Beyond Drugs” on 8/1/11 at the Pioneer Network Conference in St. Charles, Missouri.
Laurie announced that the guest speaker at our next TEAC Membership Meeting on Thursday, 8/4/11, will be Stephanie Gibbs. Stephanie is a TEAC member and an executive at AmeriChoice. She will speak about the progress of the “Choices” TennCare program and its effect on long-term care. Laurie will send out an outline closer to the time so that members who wish to apply to their respective licensing boards for CEUs can do so.
Kort adjourned the meeting at 9:35 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar:
1 TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 08/04/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 09/01/11, 7:00 p.m., at Allium Restaurant, 501 Main Street, Nashville, (615) 242-3522
4. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 10/06/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
5. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 11/03/11, 7:00 p.m.
6. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 12/01/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith, Kort Nygard, Ronnie Steinberg
GUESTS – Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
Meredith Burrus – Eden Alternative Education Coordinator, Home Office
TEAC requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Kort convened the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Kort stated that it was imperative at this meeting that we find our direction for the rest of this fiscal year, given our change in circumstance. He wondered if changing our name from “Eden” to a more general culture change moniker would increase participation. To our knowledge, we are the only statewide culture change organization still carrying “Eden Alternative” in our name. The pros and cons of changing were discussed, the pros being that a more generalized name might broaden our appeal and put us in step with organizations around the country, the cons being that we do have a strong longtime identity as the Tennessee Eden Alternative Coalition, and the 2 laws currently in the Tennessee Code Annotated state “Tennessee Edenizing Foundation d/b/a Tennessee Eden Alternative Coalition”, and changing the name could complicate things if we manage to get funding resumed. The Board decided to seek opinions from the membership re this possible name change. Members who would like to share their thoughts with us are invited to send them to Laurie at lldoublel@yahoo.com.
Re funding, Carol had some potentially positive news on 2 fronts:
1) Assistant Health Commissioner Christy Allen has directed her to inquire what the final balance was for the state CMP (Civil Monetary Penalties) fund for the fiscal year ending 06/30/11 to determine whether or not the Department would be able to issue any grants for the current fiscal year (07/11-06/12). She is still waiting on that final balance report but expects that the balance will be negligible; and
2) Assistant Commissioner Allen also asked her Division to submit an inquiry to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) Region IV regarding the process that State would need to go through to apply to utilize money from the federal CMP fund. CMS has issued guidance to the States stipulating that these funds may only be used to improve the quality of life and quality of care for nursing home residents. The federal CMP funds cannot be used for physical renovations or additional staffing for State programs or for facilities but can be used for the provision of additional facility staff training and to fund projects to enhance quality of care or life for the residents. CMS Region IV has stated that CMS Central Office is currently developing guidelines for States to apply for use of those federal CMP funds and hopes to issue those in the upcoming months.
(Note: On 09/02/11, Governor Haslam appointed Dr. John Dreyzehner as the new Health Commissioner, effective 09/21/11.)
Ronnie revisited an idea she had brought up during a meeting earlier in the year, that of seeking discretionary funding from local governments to increase activity opportunities for the elders in the community. She knows several members of the Metro Council whom she will approach about this. If they are able to provide us with any money to start a program, we could do a pilot in Nashville and then share the process with all other counties in the state so they can develop their own. This would both promote culture change and raise our visibility.
Laurie expressed concern about the serious lack of attendance at the Tennessee Eden Alternative Coalition Membership Meetings even though we are bringing in relevant speakers and offer the potential for members to acquire CEUs. Meredith answered that this is a trend happening in many other states and that it is most certainly tied to the current state of the economy with those remaining employed shouldering more time-consuming responsibilities. Debbie concurred, noting that with decreased numbers due to layoffs, staffs are struggling just to complete their patient care duties and have little left over to apply to culture change. At Bordeaux Long-Term Care they have no time to go to trainings, and, without the grant money received in prior years, no income to turn their improvement ideas into realities. Meredith thinks that a publication entitled Seed Packets available at the national website, www.edenalt.org, for only $18.00, is an excellent option for facilities low on time and energy for culture change because it is full of ideas on how to implement the Eden Principles in small, easy ways as circumstances permit.
Ronnie noted that her research shows that facilities that have an Eden Educator on staff adapt to culture change a lot more thoroughly and quickly than those that do not. She plans to do more comparisons of homes and may include some from other states. She also suggested we set up Eden trainings in various parts of the Tennessee to make it easier for interested long-term care workers to attend them.
Carol happily told the group that the Green Houses on the Ave Maria Home campus in Bartlett have been completed and that the residents eagerly await moving in in the near future. This means that there are now operational Green House models in East and West Tennessee as well as a Small House model in Middle Tennessee.
Re the Path to Mastery, Meredith informed the members that several facilities have completed Milestones 1 and 2; Milestone 3 will be launched by the end of this year and Milestone 4 in early 2012. She also announced that the Eden Home Office is developing a new position. In addition to Eden Educators and Eden Mentors, there will now be Eden Guides who will work with facilities to develop step-by-step Edenizing plans that best suit each home. They will focus heavily on “warming the soil” prior even to Eden trainings. A very detailed manual is about to be published.
Laurie reported that there were several inquiries following the announcement that Dr. Thomas will be coming to Tennessee on 12/08/11.
At the end of the meeting Meredith was nominated and unanimously elected to the Tennessee Edenizing Foundation Board of Directors. She is committed to strengthening the knowledge and application of the Eden Principles in her home state of Tennessee. We welcome her and know that she will bring energy and good ideas to our organization.
Kort adjourned the meeting at 10:30 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar
1. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 10/06/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2. TEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – Thursday, 11/03/11, 7:00 p.m.
3. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 12/01/11, 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
4. DR. THOMAS COMES TO TENNESSEE – Thursday, 12/08/11 – Details TBD
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
MEMBERS PRESENT: Laurie Loughlin, Debbie Meredith, Kort Nygard, Ronnie Steinberg
GUEST – Carol Mace – State Government Liaison
TEF requested the State Government Liaison’s presence at this meeting because discussion topics included the State of Tennessee.
Kort convened the meeting at 7:20 p.m.
Ronnie brought in some checks and announced that she has mailed others, satisfying our financial obligations from the 2010/2011 fiscal year.
Carol informed the group that she attended a teleconference where CMS gave information pertaining to requirements for State proposals for use of federal CMP funds. She will be participating in a follow-up call at noon on the same day that the next TEAC Membership Meeting is scheduled, 12/01/11, and suggested that we change the location of our meeting to her office and meet in the morning so that we can draw up an outline of suggestions. Please see Item #1 in the “Mark Your Calendar” section below for details. All members interested in having input into TEAC’s proposed uses for federal CMP funds are urged to attend.
The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing various options for our federal CMP funds usage proposal.
Kort adjourned the meeting at 10:10 p.m.
Mark Your Calendar:
1. TEAC MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Thursday, 12/01/11, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Health Care Facilities, Conference Room, Suite 501, 227 French Landing, Heritage Place, Metro Center, Nashville, TN 37243
2. DR. THOMAS COMES TO TENNESSEE – Thursday, 12/08/11 – Details TBD
Submitted by Laurie Loughlin
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