Wisconsin EMS Association
Board of Directors Meeting
July 14 , 2002 - Stevens Point, Wisconsin

 

Present:  Meeker, Hunjadi, TeStroete, Schilder, Allen, Schultz, Werner, Bennett, Merrill, Covelli

Notified Absent:  McCarrier, Hackett

Absent Without 48-Hour Notice: None

Called to order by the President at 12:00. The meeting was started with brunch.

Motion by TeStroete second by Schilder to approve the April 2002 minutes as written. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carries.

Officer/Division Items

President: Meeker presented a plaque from the New York City Fire Officers Association that was presented to Mark Bennett on behalf of the Association at the Madison Rhythm and Booms celebration. The plaque will be placed in the office.

Vice President: Nothing

Secretary/Treasurer: Nothing

Executive Director:  Board member handouts included current membership and financial data. Current membership is 4,421 individual members and 196 Service/Corporate members. The Resource Kit CD Second Edition was presented to the board. 300 CDs were manufactured and contain about 25% more content than the first version. A complete list of what is on the CD is included on the association’s web site (as well as the CD itself). The CDs are scheduled to be mailed to all Service and Corporate members of the Association during the week of July 15th. As new Service/Corporate members join they will receive a copy with the rest of their membership materials.

Sales and Public Relations Director: Covelli reported that all contracts for the medical supply portion of the group buying program are signed and in affect. Price lists are contained on the new Resource Kit. He is working on several additional items including wireless telephone and Internet service. Additional focus on obtaining New Service and Corporate members has begun. Joe reports three basic categories with those he is contacting: 1. Services who don’t know about WEMSA 2. Service who need to justify the cost of membership 3. Services ready to join right away. The Association is continuing its contacts with WPS and the Regional Medicare Office in Chicago. WEMSA has been invited to represent Wisconsin at a regional meeting next month. Jerry Miller has agreed to be one of the representatives on behalf of the Association. A second representative is still being sought. Covelli displayed a name badge that he has been using as a gift to members who assist the association as well as for those who are promoted, etc. The badges are providing to the association free of charge and contain our name and the name of the company providing them on the reverse side.

Conference: 2003 Conference Meeker handed out a tentative line-up for the conference. As in past years the hardest sessions to create and identify are for the pre-conference. Discussion was held with the board for input on session topics for both the pre and general conference days. Contracts should be out by the end of July. The majority of other conference activities are on schedule. 2004 Conference: Meeker reported that our current contract with the Four Points Sheraton ends after the 2003 conference. The conference division staff toured the recently remodeled and expanded Hilton Hotel along with the Midwest Express Center about two weeks ago. The Hilton has provided a proposal in conjunction with the Midwest Express Center. Members of the Board who are also part of the conference division spoke regarding the potential change. It is understood that the decision to move the conference to the Midwest Express Center is more than a change in location – it is a complete change and increase in the conference. Space availability would virtually not be able to be outgrown. It would also mean much more work with the potential for 2,000 or more attendees.  Motion by Allen second by Werner to direct the conference division to negotiate a multi-year conference contract with the Midwest Express Center and Hilton Hotel. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Legislative:  Hunjadi reported on the status of the Budget Repair Bill which includes language that would reverse the March decision to allow DHFS to provide existing paramedic services with the flexibility to staff differently than they currently are. The issue is now 100% political and being used only as a pawn in a much larger game. No part of the issue is being decided on its merits. Letters and contact have been made with the governor’s office to ask him to veto the language.

Old Business

Recruitment Drive Final Report:  Hunjadi and Covelli reported on the recruitment drive. Complete coverage is also provided in the current issue of EMS Professionals. Hunjadi has created an edited video of the coverage for the Resource Kit Second Edition. A video tape with all of the television coverage will be sent to board members shortly. The final tasks include contacting some of the national EMS media for their coverage of our event. Best Practices has a story scheduled for their August issue. Covelli will work with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to see if they will continue to provide public service information regarding EMS in Wisconsin. Some discussion was held on holding the event again next year. No action taken.

Association Cruise:  Hunjadi reported that there are currently 206 cabins booked for the cruise. The pre-night stay in Miami has been extremely difficult to put together with both the airlines, and to a lesser degree Carnival, being extremely difficult to deal with. The largest problem is the refusal of the airlines to provide bulk seats to the association. The only proposal we currently have involves using scheduled air through Carnival and a stay at the Intercontinental Hotel next to the Port of Miami. Hunjadi feels the price is average at best and that passengers could do better on their own, through the Internet, or on an individual basis with Magic Carpet or another travel agency. The Board instructed Hunjadi to use his abilities and judgment to obtain the best deal and then educate the passengers through the Cruiser’s Newsletter.

Meetings with DHFS:  Meeker reported that the last meeting held between DHFS and WEMSA was in November of 2001. Repeated attempts to schedule have fallen through with one of the individuals or everyone’s schedule. The latest problem has been attempting to include John Chapin’s schedule for a meeting. It does appear that progress is finally being made to license First Responders, which was one of the topics on the agenda. Rules are expected at the September EMS Advisory Board meeting. Motion by Werner that we schedule a meeting within the next 30 days to address the growing number of concerns of the Wisconsin EMS Association with the EMS office, second by Schultz. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Association Medical Director: After talking with Dr. Wesley, he has agreed to stay on as the Wisconsin EMS Association Medical Director/Advisor. He was concerned that he may not have been providing enough time to the association. Meeker confirmed with him that his roll is mostly to respond to questions, guide medical policy, continue his magazine column and serve as a medical consultant and advisor to the association – much like our attorney does for legal issues. Attendance at meetings, etc. is not necessary unless a particular issue will need significant input from him.

Strategic Planning: Discussion was held regarding setting up our strategic planning session. Covelli will contact each board member by telephone to individually discuss with them their goals and objectives for the planning session. Further discussion was held regarding using the Hilton Hotel for the session so board members could view the facility as well as the Midwest Express Center. Motion by TeStroete, second by Schilder to hold our strategic planning session at the Hilton Hotel in Milwaukee on Oct. 5th.  Saturday session to start at noon with the remainder of the session and the regular board meeting starting at 10:00 AM on Sunday. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Interfacility Guidelines Document: Activity with the Interfacility guidelines has appeared to die down since the Hospital Association’s letter and since a meeting Dr. Barney and Terry Gonderzik had with government officials in Chicago. Motion by Schultz to investigate and report the status of the Interfacility Guidelines document. Second by Merrill.  All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Executive Director’s Evaluation:  Hunjadi asked about his evaluation that was directed to be completed for this meeting and then made a brief statement about no report being available. No other action was taken in open session. Motion by TeStroete second by Schultz to move to closed session.  Hunjadi and Covelli excused themselves from the meeting as it continued in closed session. Motion by TeStroete second by Teale to return to open session. Motion carried.  The meeting continued in open session. Hunjadi and Covelli returned. Motion by TeStroete, second by Merrill to provide an additional free 2003 cruise with air and $3,000 as a bonus for Hunjadi’s performance and accomplishments during the 2001 contract. All in favor, none opposed. One abstain. Motion carried.  Hunjadi’s current three year contract will expire at the end of March 2003. A committee was appointed to negotiate a new contract. TeStroete to chair.

Sales/Public Relations Director Contract Binding:  Covelli’s contract contains a provision for either party to terminate the contract prior to August 1, 2002. Covelli was asked if he had any comments prior to moving to closed session. He does not intend to opt out of his contract. Motion by Schilder, second by Bennett to move to closed session.  Covelli was excused as the meeting continued in closed session. Motion by Bennett second by Werner to return to open session. The meeting continued in open session and Covelli returned. Motion by Schultz second by Schilder to bind Joe’s contract under the listed terms. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

New Business

2003 Premium Items:  A brief discussion was held for input on a potential premium item for 2003. Hunjadi stated that a revised and updated pharmacology guide will be the item unless something better is identified. Covelli offered several suggestions and examples. No action was taken.

Part-Time ALS Care:  A lengthy discussion was held regarding the benefits and liabilities of allowing EMTs in Wisconsin to practice to their level of licensure regardless of the level of the ambulance service they are operating with. The additional topic of licensing non-transporting agencies at ALS levels was raised by Werner. It was decided both issues should be further explored between board members with an interest before being placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

Group Buying Meeting with Other Groups:  Meeker reported that we have been contacted once again by the Provider Alliance to meet with them and several other group buying organizations already in existence for the potential to combine all of them into one. He reported that the Wisconsin EMS Association had made a proposal to the Alliance prior to hiring a person to create and administrate our own group buying program. Several board members expressed multiple reasons for their concern of making any commitments to combine our program with others at this time. Motion by Teale, second by TeStroete to not enter into any affiliations with other group buying organizations at this time. 9 in favor 1 opposed. Motion carried.

Requests for Assistance from Other States: Hunjadi reported that the association has been receiving an increased number of requests for help and information on our programs. Examples include other states wanting to start or improve their EMS/EMT organizations, groups wanting access to our products and services and those needing guidance. A written request has been received from Northwestern EMS in Minnesota to distribute our recruitment program to their members. They have offered a donation of $500 for the use of our materials.  Motion by Werner Second by Schilder that we license Northwestern EMS to use our recruitment drive program and materials and that we place any additional requests for services or consulting of information on hold until the October Board meeting.  All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

IV Tech Training and Affiliation: Members have reported to the association that some training centers have received a request from Deb Crawford at DHFS to no longer allow EMT-Basics not affiliated with IV Tech services to attend and complete IV Tech training. At least one school has honored this request and will no longer provide this training unless students are affiliated with an IV Tech service. This is completely different than all other levels of training including EMT-Basic, Intermediate and Paramedic where affiliation is not required. It is also not supported by DHFS rule or state statute. Motion by Schilder to investigate the apparent moratorium on IV Tech training and that both DHFS and the Wisconsin Technical College System should follow current rules and regulations that allow anyone currently licensed at the EMT-Basic level to obtain IV Tech training. Second by Bennett.  All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Motion by Werner second by Allen to adjourn the meeting. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.  The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 PM.

Action Items