April 20 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes – April 20, 2016

 

Quote:  “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”  - Albert Einstein

 

Thanks to our Greeter:  Diane, KJ and Turner – who did a rousing, job.  Todd Murchison has agreed to greet next week.

 

Thank you to our morning’s scribe, Jen, filling in for Turner’s fill-in.

 

Welcome Guests:  Kevin Curry, a fuel distributor from Connecticut, Jeff Kelliher of the Brattleboro Retreat, and Lewis Josefson the new CEO of the Brattleboro Retreat

 

Announcements:

 

Bowl for Kid’s Sake:  We are booking two lanes for 1pm, Saturday May 7th.  We need some team members to fill those lanes.

 

Overflow Shelter Dinners are over for this year – let Jen know of any feedback before the next board meeting

 

Farewell Party for Jill – Marina, Tuesday, April 26 at 5:30pm all are welcome

 

Battle of the Boards Trivia Night – May 9th.  Reserve early through Sandy Shriver

 

Future Guest Speaker Assignments:  4/27 Jon Secrest, 5/4 hosted by Will Shakespeare, 5/11 hosted by Sandy Shriver, 5/18 hosted by Valerie

 

Birthdays:  Nick 4/23 and Amelia 4/13

 

Anniversaries:  Bob Fagelson 14 years of rotary service!

 

Cards:  2 of hearts – no winner

 

Brags:

 

Toni bragged for Kevin and WKVT for many 3 on 3 radio spots donated to our event

 

Damon:  Kudos to Ali and North End Butchers for the extra entrée just in the nick of time, and the whole club for all the Overflow Shelter Dinners.  Great success.

 

Toni:  leaves Friday for her wedding N.C.  They’re driving down and will be married when they return in two weeks.

 

Todd:  $600 brag for Jill, whose apartment he is moving into and even buying some of her furniture.  Fined himself $1 for missing last weeks greeting

Jon:  5 days remaining as a solo parent while Keri is in Lithuania with Alinna (sorry for spelling errors)

 

Turner:  Thanks Jen for scribing – no problem, Turner – and what a pleasure to sit with two guests, Kevin and Jeff, welcome!

 

Jill:  4.5 years at the Brattleboro Retreat – loved it and it’s hard to say goodbye.  Her last day is Friday.  Brags to Jeff Kelliher and the Outreach and Education Department

 

Kevin Curry:  bought a house in Chesterfield, but usually only here on weekends.  He bragged for making it up on a weekday to check out our Rotary Club – he called a friend in Sugar bush to come this morning, but he didn’t answer the call.

 

Bowl of Life:  I was once part of a food relief caravan to help Native Americans in Arizona:  Jen guessed Todd, who guessed Turner, who guessed Damon, who guessed KJ, who guessed Dan, who guessed Drew (who wasn’t here) so then guessed Tristam, Jon Secrest, Tristan toleno, Kevin, Jim V, Bob Fagelson and finally we got the answer…..  Josh Traegger!

 

Guest Speaker:

 

Jason introduced Lewis Josefson, the new president and CEO of the Brattleboro Retreat

 

The Brattleboro Retreat is the largest employer in Windham County with 900 staff.  It serves 7,000 people each year.  Most people think only of the in patient psychiatric care, but it has lots of other programs.  The average length of stay in in-patient care is 7 days.  There are 7 different units.  Some examples are state hospital patients, emerging adult, adolescent, child, LGBT (the only one in the country), to name a few.  There are also many out- patient programs for which patients have to be fully subscribed.  Patients have a lot of rights in Vermont and cannot be treated with the patient’s permission.  This is a challenge for the staff to manage the needs of patients.  Examples of the out patient programs are:  hub and spoke for opioid dependency, residential care for adolescents and kids, first responder and uniformed services program.  The goal of the Retreat is to get patients back into their lives.

 

Their challenge is funding.  They just got hit with a provider tax bill of 1.2 million dollars (6% of net revenue).  The state gets these funds matched by the federal government, but these bills are unmanageable for the organization and they have to negotiate them down.

 

Lewis Josefson started as a therapist in NYC, and was there for 9/11.  He studied social work at Columbia in undergraduate and NYU for his graduated degree.  He then worked in the mental health field in Concord, N.H. and Vista Del Mar, CA before coming to Vermont.  His daughter is graduating in May in Los Angeles and going to college in New York.  His son, who’s 22, will be staring in Los Angeles.  He currently lives in Chesterfield, N.H.

 

Damon thanked Dr. Jim Benton of the Retreat for the mind and body program, providing intervention for people with chronic pain that’s not drug based.

 

Sadie thanked Lewis Josefson for explaining the patient’s rights law and the challenges it presents.  Where might the Retreat fit in the new Global healthcare initiatives?  The answer – the upside could be moving away from paying for each service provided and therefore putting an end to incentivizing billing.  The fees should be base on population numbers.  Chronic illness and mental health are the most expensive costs of health care because they often end up in the E.R.  Managing mental health could decrease the over costs of the health care industry.  But the Retreat is always the last one in the pool when it comes to budgeting.

 

Jon asked how does Vermont differ from N.Y., N.H. and CA?  Lewis Josefson answered that mental health is poorly funded everywhere but wishes the Medicaid commissioner in the state of Vermont would work smarter, rather than nickel and diming everything.  The overall restructuring is what needs to be looked at in the budget.