Board meeting minutes for Nathan Adelson Hospice, November 3, 1981

MINUTES MEETING OF THE NATHAN ADELSON HOSPICE BOARD OF TRUSTEES DATE: CALL TO ORDER: ATTENDING: November 3,1981 4:00 p.m. Irwin Molasky, Co-chairman Merv Adelson , Co-chairman Muriel Stevens Susan Molasky A1 Benedict Dr. Stephan Dick Thomas Renny Ashleman Dr. Bill Russell Lovee DuBoef Hal Erickson Sharon Brandsness David Brandsness Dr. Kilduff Thalia Dondero Don Baepler Parry Thomas Ernest Libman John Mayer Rev. Jerry Blankinship Fr. Ben Franzinelli Linda Holland Janet Bubnis CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS The meeting was chaired by Co-chairmen Merv Adelson and Irwin Molasky. The minutes of the August 12,1981 meeting of the Executive Committee and the May 28,1981 meeting of the Board of Trustees which had been mailed to all members were approved. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT All the technical requirements necessary to begin construction have been completed?zoning, etc. Bids will be received the week of November 9th. When the bids have been analyzed to assure that they are in line with anticipated available resources?a total of two million dollars to be borrowed from Valley Bank?a date for construction will be established. Plans are underway for the next 30-45 days. the groundbreaking ceremony within Joyce & Martin and Thalia Dondero are handling the local fund raising effort. Julius Ratner is working with Merv Adelson to seek contributions from the Los Angeles area. Alexander Grant has volunteered (without charge) to prepare the annual audit and to provide other financial consultive services. Plans for the annual meeting of The Nathan Adelson Hospice Corporation in March have begun. The Nominating Committee, consisting of Renny Ashleman, chairman, A1 Benedict, Muriel Stevens and Dr. Willis Russell, will be responsible for recommending a slate of trustees. November 3,1981 page 2 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT Lionel, Sawyer & Collins are handling an appeal regarding state sales tax. This matter is of some importance in that it could represent as much as $50,000-$60,000 of pass-through savings of construction dollars. Ninety percent of our reimbursement is from Medicare. The dollars received from Medicare represent reimbursement of approximately one-third of our operating cost. Our Medicare reimbursement will improve significantly in that Medicare has now recognized their responsibility to reimburse the hospice for the administrative cost associated with volunteer training and supervision. They are also considering a petition for special status which would remove the current cap on reimbursement. We will be concluding our fourth volunteer training course the week of November 9. There were 17 participants in this group. Total volunteer hours to date total approximately 4,000. A projected operating budget will be prepared for trustee review and approval by the end of November. FACILITY DESIGN: John Mayer of Nevada Architronics, and Dr. Russell discussed the layout of the facility and its unique characteristics. Nathan Adelson Hospice will be one of the few free-standing facilities developed anywhere in the country. Most other inpatient facilities will be established as part of existing acute hospitals or converted nursing homes. CLINICAL REPORT: Dr. Russell discussed the clinical progress report prepared by Linda Holland, R.N., Patient Care Coordinator. See the attached paper. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 P.M. Ernest W. Libman Adminis trator I.R. Ashleman Secretary-Treasurer 11/6/8/ # * HOSPICE CARE for the terminally ill be-comes a new employe benefit. More than 500 hospice programs, up from 115 in- 1978, offer such specialized care, either at home or in separate facilities. Some major employers add this care to workers' other health insurance. Among them are RCA and Westinghouse. Big auto makers test the benefit in Detroit. IBM and Xerox are considering it, a hospice trade group says. Usually free to employes, the coverage may include family bereavement counseling. But so far, few workers or family mem-bers take advantage of hospice coverage, says Blue Cross, which offers the benefit through 39 plans. Of 750,000 eligible at GE, only seven persons have used the benefit since last year. "Hospices aren't uniformly available" nationwide, notes GE's John Morris. Ford puts off a second test of hos-pice coverage in Cleveland. While proponents say hospice care cuts hospital costs. Ford says it doesn't ' know yet "what the economics of this j will be." # ? *