WASHINGTON STATE SOCIETY
FOR HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
CAMPBELL’S RESORT
CHELAN, WA
APRIL 25, 2007

MINUTES

PRESENT:
Steve Grose, Dee Tiedemann, Jim Mead, Mike Dodson, Mike Chitwood, Geoff Glass, Rhonda Cutler, Ray Tiedemann, Gregg Bergstrom, Kevin Krogness, Tim Mason, Mike Kelly, Norm McLarin; Phil Kercher; Heather Warner, Randy Kaiser.

ABSENT:
Don Rainey, Tom Pitts

GUEST:
Bruce Reim – Cantfield & Associates. Bruce provided a one hour instruction on the duties and responsibilities as members of the Board of Directors for Non-Profit organizations. Cantfield and Associates provide this education to all their Non-Profit organizations and I think everyone came away with new information.

CALL TO ORDER:
President Steve Grose called the meeting to order at 3:25 PM. Steve stated that he has the 1993 President’s manual created by Geoff Glass. Steve plans to get with other board members to update the President’s manual.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Dee stated that she did not have time to type the minutes from the last meeting and apologized. She will type the previous minutes after the conference and send them out via email to all members. Steve stated that Dee has been very busy putting all the details together for this conference and had been asked by him to do many extra things. Dee will also prepare the quarterly report and email that with the minutes to all board members. Steve stated that this is the first time we have raised this type of money and wanted to recognize Dee and Heather for all the work they have done on this conference.

Jim stated that he recognized changes and wanted to know why. Is it because of the attendance, the relations with A.I.A. or the outlook of the organization, or our relationship with D.O.H.? D.O.H. has information on their website and ¼ of that information is about this conference. Steve stated that we raised more money with this conference and need to do the right thing with those funds.

Mike Dodson stated that there is an offer from our Associate Members to provide additional funds but they would like to see a better return on their investments. Dee Stated that she has heard from some of the Associate Members that they don’t hear back when they provide door prizes. They don’t hear from the person that won the gift but they also don’t hear from WSSHE to even say “Thank You” for providing the door prizes. Dee printed Thank You cards this year and would like all the board members to sign them so she can send them out to all the companies that purchased a booth, sponsored any part of the conference and donated any door prizes. The Thank You cards were passed around the room and all board members signed them.

Geoff stated that by increasing the number of booths, we have lost sight of what the organization used to represent. We need to provide support to the Members not the Associate Members. Phil stated that the evolution of WSSHE is to promote vendor relations as a drive for financing but we have now lost sight of the organization goals and we need to reduce the number of booths attending the Semi-Annual Conference. Question to the board: Has this conference gotten to big and where is the organization going?

Ray stated that the increase in booths at this conference was to raise money to improve the health of the organization because of the increase in expenses. Associate members assisting with the funds promote active roles within WSSHE.

Steve stated that typically this conference has been topic related until this year. By increasing the number of booths it has improved relations between the Associate Members and Members. Steve suggested we get feedback from both groups to discuss.

Gregg stated that the additional funds raised bring the possibility of getting better speakers and more valuable information and education.

Steve stated that the increase in money could be additional funds for our scholarship fund. It is also these additional funds that are used for our annual conference.

Mike C. stated that WSSHE needs a 5 year plan to outline where we are going and what our goals are, what our accomplishments are and who will benefit in what ways.

Geoff asked what a 5 year plan will give us. Education should be our main goal. Members should be networking with each other instead of Associate Members vs. Members.

Steve stated that this is a great debate for the board to come up with a 5-10 year plan.

Phil stated that not providing the minutes of the last meeting was unacceptable. Steve said that we covered that and everyone would realize and understand why there was no time when the conference proceeded. We have set some new traditions for WSSHE and we should all come up with more fluent traditions and Steve challenged the board for some additional clever ideas.

Steve stated that this is our 35th Anniversary and he is giving all the past Presidents a Sport jacket at the President’s Reception. This is to promote recognition because it is an honor to be a past President and to spark interest from other members to get a jacket. All of the past President’s of WSSHE have been invited to this conference to receive their jackets. We have a “Keynote Speaker Reception” which is a BBQ picnic theme as another tradition.

Chad will introduce Doug Erickson on Thursday morning and Geoff will introduce Chad. Geoff stated that he has put together a document of “35 years of WSSHE history” that will be presented in a 20-30 minute presentation. He also asked for a few of the Board Members to stand and highlight a brief story on a few of the photos in the history presentation.

Dee stated that Art Campbell will not be able to accept the plaque but has arranged for his cousin Clint to accept it. We also want to give recognition to the ladies, who work for Campbell’s, that help organize our conference by presenting to each of them a flower . Steve asked that Dee be present to give out the flowers to the ladies.

Board Assignments for the conference:
CLEAN UP CREW – Mike C, Jim, Steve, Kevin & Geoff
CHANGE SPONSOR BOARDS – Mike C.
TRANSPORT FOOD - Jim, Randy
GOLF SIGNS – Ray, Rhonda
RECORD DOOR PRIZE WINNERS – Mike D.

Geoff stated that Janet Smoot is leaving DOH and going to Oregon to take care of her Mother. Geoff purchased a picture frame and has a picture that he would like to present her with. Dee stated that we have another long time member that is leaving the organization, Art Broszeit. Steve stated that he would do this on the final day at the luncheon.

Geoff stated that we should all seek out and welcome all the new members that are attending this conference.

ASHE GOLD AWARD
Phil stated that ASHE has a new Platinum award. One of the requirements of this award is that you must have 50% of your full members that also belong to ASHE. We have 96 full members but still need an additional 40 members to belong to ASHE. Steve stated that we have received a large package from ASHE with applications and information and this would be placed on a table close to registration. ASHE has their “ASHE FLASH” and we should come up with a similar name for our newsletter. Chuck Cole suggested we do this years ago and now we should follow through with the plan.

BYLAWS COMMITTEE
Steve stated that the bylaws committee never met and therefore he was replacing the committee. He requested that the new committee be formed from one member from each chapter and would accept nominations. Mike Kelly volunteered for the EA Chapter. Ray nominated Dave Cady, who had offered to be on the committee for the SW Chapter and would like to chair the committee. PS Chapter said they would decide and provide the members name at a later date.

Steve said that the committee could maybe meet for 3-4 hours and hammer out the bylaws that need to be addressed. Steve wants the final changes to be presented to the board by the August board meeting so they can be voted on by the membership at the annual membership meeting.

Jim stated that the chapter bylaws are all different and the PS Chapter was waiting until the State completes the changes before their chapter makes changes to their bylaws. Jim stated that one of the problems is no one knows if the State bylaws supersede the chapter bylaws or the chapter bylaws supersede the State.

Steve stated that the State always supersedes the chapters and the chapter bylaws should coincide with the State bylaws. Steve also stated that he wants the chapter bylaws to be presented to the board for approval at the August meeting. Jim stated that he wants direction from the state for revisions and support from the members of the board.

Mike C. stated that the State bylaws should reference ASHE bylaws for guidance and terminology.

Gregg requested that we seek legal council to advise us on the subjects for implementing the bylaws.

NEW LAPEL PINS:
Dee stated that she is almost out of the WSSHE lapel pins and requested approval of the board to purchase new ones with our logo and the correct name of the organization. The previous ones were made with the old name. The board voted unanimously in favor of purchasing the new pins.

SECRETARY/TREASURER’S POSITION:
Steve stated that Dee is resigning from the position of Sec./Treas. We will be seeking a non-member to play the role of secretary and will be looking at hiring a professional company to handle the treasury duties. Gregg offered to contact one to see if a CPA firm would take this type of assignment.

Jim stated that the PS Chapter is concerned about what type of service would be provided to their chapter when this takes place. Jim wants the titles separated and feels the CPA should report to the Secretary. Jim also asked if they would be a voting member.

Steve stated that they wouldn’t be a voting member. Ray stated that it sounds confusing and maybe we should have a sub committee to determine a resolution. Steve stated that Dee’s new title will be Special Assistant to the President and would still be a voting member of the board and is valuable at all costs.

Mike D. suggested that we have an event coordinator to help grow and focus the organization and would like defined job descriptions for such.

Steve stated that we need job descriptions and this would lead to a positive direction of the organization and strategic planning. Steve said that job descriptions should be emailed to each board member.

Ray stated that strategic planning should be the chapter responsibility.

Steve stated there is no alternative and we need to move forward. We have 40 days to complete the task.

NEXT MEETING:
To be determined

ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM

Ray stated that the value of the Scholarship fund is at $65,000.00 + and we are again giving 6 scholarships at $750.00.

Recorded and Submitted by: Rhonda H. Cutler