The Rock Island County Health and Human Services Committee met Monday, July 11.
"This committee shall be responsible for the examination, review, analysis, and oversight of the County's health, education, and public welfare work of the County. To work with the associate judge assigned to the county division and his/her assistants to ensure dependent and delinquent children are properly cared for and that those who are under court order to pay for the care of those children make prompt payments as directed."
Here are the meeting minutes as provided by the Rock Island County Health and Human Services Committee:
Health and Human Services Committee Minutes Monday July 11, 2016 8:30 am
The Health and Human Services Committee of the Rock Island County Board met at the above date and time in the Conference Room of the Administration Office on the second floor of the County Building, 1504 Third Ave, Rock Island, IL. Chair Kim Callaway-Thompson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Minutes as follows:
1) Call to order and roll call
Committee members present: Kim Callaway-Thompson, Pat Moreno, Steve Doye, Don Johnston, Ron Oelke, Brian Vyncke, Bob Westpfahl
Committee members absent: None
Others present: Kenneth Maranda, Todd Harlow, Mike Steffen, Hayleigh Covella, Bill Long, Ben Prince, Jeff Deppe, April Palmer, Louisa Ewert, Gary Bryant
2) Approval of the minutes from the June 13, 2016 meeting
Motion to approve: Bob Westpfahl 2nd: Don Johnston Voice vote Motion carried
3) Public Comments
There were no public comments.
4) Consider transfers of appropriations
Motion to approve: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Pat Moreno Voice vote Motion carried
5) Consider approval of claims
Motion to approve: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Pat Moreno Voice vote Motion carried
6) Consider approval of treasurer’s disbursements (TDs)
Motion to approve: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Steve Doye Voice vote Motion carried
7) Report to the Committee
a) Condition of Funds – Ms. Palmer i. State of IL Payments
Ms. Palmer presented two of her three standard reports. She noted that they did not have a chance to get all of the information gathered last week with the holiday, so the cash report will be forthcoming. She presented the trial balance and the budgetary standings as far as the funds and departments this committee are concerned with. Ms. Palmer noted that only one is under the 42% left. She explained that that’s because the schools only bill a couple of times a year. They’re not actually over-budget. All others are fine.
Ms. Palmer referred to the fund balance page and reported that the current fund balance compared to last year in the General Fund $1 million dollars higher than last year at this same time after the first distribution. Revenue is up and that is why that is where it’s at. The expenses are also down $300,000 with $14.5 million in the top row in the expenditures to date versus the $14.8 million spent last year as of the end of June. That’s also a positive.
Ms. Palmer reported that under Hope Creek, they’re even further in the hole than last year, unfortunately. Revenue is up and the new year expenses are down, which is really good. They’re working on going in the right direction, but because of that huge fund balance fall of $775,000 last year, that just barely makes up for this year. They’re not quite able to turn that over yet. They’ve got some work to do there. Ms. Palmer said she would kind of expect it to be making up for it at this point. It’s more than halfway through the fiscal year and they’ve already consumed the IMRF and FICA into those funds, so their expenses are about $0.5 million lower just because of that at this time. She doesn’t know what’s going on there, but hopes that through the year they’ll turn that around.
Ms. Palmer noted that the Health Department, even though they’re not quite at a three month reserve, comparing their fund balance to last year, it’s almost double. They’re doing a good job of holding expenses down considering grant revenue from the state isn’t anywhere near what it was last year. That’s commendable. The expenses are down way down, around $400,000.
Ms. Palmer reported that today’s General Fund cash balance as of this morning is $1,589,500, rounded a little bit to the nearest hundred. She doesn’t have a cash report. The State of Illinois payments are healthy. They’re bringing in exactly what they need to be bringing in right now for another month and brought in pretty much the whole month of March’s payments in June, so they’re still going a month and collecting a month. That keeps the General Fund going. Ms. Palmer also provided her standard Budget by Organization report for the General Fund accounts.
Mr. Johnston noted that under expenses to date, these sheets always show 12/1/15 and 12/1/14 rather than 6/30/16. Ms. Palmer explained that it shows from 12/1/15 to date so she doesn’t have to keep changing it. She just puts the words “to date” in there so they know it’s from that time period to current.
Ms. Ewert noted that the reason Hope Creek is low is maybe because the county did take the loan that was owed to the General Fund and might be taking the cost allocation as well. Ms. Palmer thought they did take the cost allocation. Ms. Ewert said maybe it’s the opposite then. Ms. Palmer noted that was budgeted. She doesn’t think they’ve taken the loan yet. Ms. Ewert said they might do that this month. Ms. Palmer said that’ll put the cash balance even lower. Mr. Johnston asked why take the loan out when they need it. Ms. Ewert said otherwise the General Fund will have to go out to a bank for one. Mr. Johnston asked if it was for $500,000. Ms. Palmer said it’s the $396,000 loan the General Fund has carried on behalf of Hope Creek for many years.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson thanked Ms. Palmer for taking the time a couple of weeks ago to provide the clarification she was looking for. Ms. Palmer said she’s glad that was helpful. Ms. Callaway-Thompson said she’ll be able to answer some of those questions at full board.
Motion to approve report: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Bob Westpfahl Voice vote Motion carried
b) Veterans Assistance Commission – Mr. Harlow
Mr. Harlow presented his monthly reports to the committee.
Motion to approve report: Bob Westpfahl 2nd: Brian Vyncke Voice vote
Motion carried
Mr. Harlow presented his petty cash report.
Motion to approve report: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Pat Moreno Voice Vote Motion carried
c) Health Department – Ms. Ludwig
Mr. Bryant presented the Health Department’s monthly report. He noted that they did have a round of layoffs at the end of the month due to the state grant situation. They are currently working on the grants the state is issuing. They’ve been very slow on numerous ones. Some that they haven’t paid they are still issuing. The Health Department is trying to figure out the possibility of getting paid with those. Right now, they remain with 13 people on layoff and are working with the state and all the sources they have to figure out which grants, even if they come out, if the Health Department can accept them.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if the county offered any kind of assistance through HR here for the Health Department employees. Mr. Ross said absolutely.
Mr. Maranda asked what the mix is on the federal and state grants and if he federal is coming through or is being held due. Mr. Bryant explained that the state has been told under court order to pay the federal dollars that pass through the state. They have been doing that. The ones that need to be paid for FY17, they need a continuance of the court order. They believe that will happen. They’re pretty confident on that, but it does need to be court ordered again before 2017. Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that she works under a federal grant and historically they’re still slow with those.
Motion to approve report: Steve Doye 2nd: Bob Westpfahl Voice vote Motion carried
d) University of Illinois
No one present from University of Illinois.
e) Regional Office of Education – Ms. Muerhoff
Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that Ms. Muerhoff is on vacation. She did contact her and submitted her report and it was posted.
Motion to approve report: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Pat Moreno Voice vote Motion carried
f) Hope Creek Care Center
Mr. Prince, Interim Administrator at Hope Creek, introduced himself. He noted that he’s not sure what reporting format they’re used to. He asked if everyone has copies of the report. Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that it was posted. She explained that the committee usually hears about the occupancy report. Mr. Prince explained that obviously in long-term care occupancy drives everything. They started the month at 207 residents and ended at 216. That’s quite a ways under. He noted that May was a very bad month. June has been a beginning of a recovery.
Mr. Prince noted that in addition to occupancy, the other major factor that is not only affecting Hope Creek, but long-term care throughout the Midwest, is the labor shortage. He noted that Hope Creek uses an atrocious amount of agency there and agency is very expensive and is not really conducive to good quality care. He said they really need to move on that and get their own people in, and the key to that is getting HR more involved. He asked if everyone is aware of the change of Ms. Gomez coming to the county building. He noted that an HR Assistant was hired and she’ll be starting on the 12th. Ms. Gomez has several applicants for the HR Generalist, also. Mr. Prince explained that having those people at the building day in and day out will make a difference. Mr. Prince explained that there still is a pretty small labor pool out there. That is something they’ll be fighting for a long time. The new HR staff will get out in the community and do job fairs and spend more time in the recruitment effort.
Mr. Prince noted that overall financials for the month, and these are HDG’s numbers, net income was -$234,000 on a budget of -$215,000 for a variance of $28,500 approximately.
Mr. Prince noted they have a lot of things to do there. They need to get basic housekeeping things done. The front lobby needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Mr. Prince said he needs to talk to Mr. Ross to see if they can get that done prior to the 2017 budget. The other thing everyone should be aware of is there are a lot of new employees there, and in nursing homes, stability is really the #1 factor. If they put an Administrator and Director together for 3+ years, overwhelmingly the statistics show it’s a successful building. There are times that doesn’t work out, but it’s very important. Hope Creek has an interim administrator, a new director, and new assistant director, new vacant positions, and mostly new department heads. He thinks it’s a time of real growth. They need to do some teambuilding, so he doesn’t really want to paint an overly negative picture. They have a lot of really positive attributes. Most people there are very good people and the line staff is very caring. They’re very good folks and have been very welcoming to Mr. Prince. He noted that they’re in the middle of negotiations and that has no impact. It doesn’t feel like it’s management against labor as you walk the halls.
Mr. Johnston noted that last month they had 50 open positions and asked what it is this month. Ms. Callaway-Thompson said she thinks it’s pretty close. Mr. Prince said 46. They just had an orientation class of 12 go through. Mr. Johnston asked who they hired and said he’s gets confused on the Generalist and the Assistant Generalist and the Assistant, Assistant Generalist. He asked if both positions are filled. Mr. Prince said no. Mr. Johnston asked which is. Mr. Prince said the Assistant. Mr. Johnston asked which one that is and if it’s the $30-something thousand one. Ms. Callaway- Thompson said it’s the newest one.
Mr. Steffen noted that a month or two ago, someone explained an external marketing program to recruit new people. He asked if Mr. Prince has been brought up to speed on that. Mr. Prince asked if it was for residents or staff. Mr. Steffen said staff. Mr. Prince said, to be perfectly honest, he hasn’t seen it. Ms. Callaway- Thompson said she thinks that was for residents. Mr. Vyncke agreed. Mr. Prince said he has seen that. Mr. Steffen said they need both. Mr. Prince agreed and said he has seen that marketing plan.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson said she is appreciative to have the opportunity to hear from Mr. Prince’s perspective. She noted that they’ve all seen his resume, so they know he has extensive experience and background in long-term care. She thanked him for sharing. Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked what Mr. Prince’s sense of the morale since he has been there is for the employees and the residents now that he’s been there about 30 days. Mr. Prince said employees, he thinks, are good. Again, he doesn’t feel they’re in mediation at this time. He has been in some union situations where there was a lot of conflict; they wouldn’t look you in the eye when you’re walking the floor and things like that. That’s not the case at all. He would say things are good in that respect. Residents are good. Families, the one thing in this business when you’re the Administrator, you don’t hear from many happy families. It’s mostly the ones with complaints. They have some communication issues within the building within the nursing department and interdepartmentally. Once they get those working a little better, those lines open, he thinks a lot of complaints will go away. A lot of them fall into the category of miscommunication.
Mr. Johnston noted that this question is unfair and will hit out of left field, but the only reason he asks is a family has asked him and he doesn’t have an answer for it.
Apparently there is a building there where at least four times, the elevator hasn’t worked and hasn’t worked from Friday until the middle of the next week. The concern is that they’re on the second floor. Mr. Johnston asked what they do in case of a fire. Mr. Johnston said he told them that it had to be built to regulation, but asked what they do. Mr. Prince asked if he can first say that to the best of his knowledge that is not factual. They have had an elevator out since he has been there. It went out on a Friday morning and it appears that the part was not available and they were going to have to go through the weekend. He asked what they do and they said it had never happened before for that duration. They do have emergency procedures. They have policies and procedures for everything. It would require a lot of work. They’d have to carry wheelchairs downstairs. They have to truck food up and down. If they had to be evacuated, it would be done by hand. Mr. Johnston said he figured there must be some kind of plan.
Mr. Prince noted that Ms. Kettler did give him some invitations and some are addressed and some are blank, for an open house. They’ll have a carwash and tours and it would be nice to see everyone there. Mr. Maranda asked when the hotdog thing is. Mr. Prince said that was last week. On Friday they had hotdogs for sale. They were pretty doggone good.
Motion to approve report: Bob Westpfahl 2nd: Brian Vyncke Voice vote Motion carried
8) Closed Session per 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or
formal peer review of physicians or other health care professionals for a hospital, or other institution providing medical care, that is operated by the public body AND 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (2) Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees.
Motion to enter into closed session: Don Johnston 2nd: Bob Westpfahl Roll call: Callaway-Thompson – yes; Moreno – yes; Doye – yes; Johnston – yes; Oelke – yes; Vyncke – yes; Westpfahl – yes The Health and Human Services committee entered into closed session at 8:54 a.m.
Motion to enter into open session: Bob Westpfahl 2nd: Don Johnston Voice vote The Health and Human Services committee entered into open session at 9:42 a.m.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson had to leave during closed session and turned the meeting over to Mr. Moreno.
9) Consider HDG Contract
Motion to approve the county beginning process to end the relationship with HDG: Steve Doye 2nd: Bob Westpfahl Voice vote Motion carried
10) Consider bond refunding
Mr. Ross explained that the county has an option to consider refunding bonds. Right now, the bonds they have at Hope Creek are callable later this year. He has been struggling over this for a while. Last year, the County Board authorized him in a parameters ordinance to refund the bonds. He didn’t do it tactically and strategically because the net present value savings was eliminated and the bond market, because it was an advance refunding, they technically would have been paying interest twice. It didn’t work out. The bond market has rebounded significantly and he has two different options. For both options he has worked with the bond counsel and the underwriter and he asked to frontload the savings. Mr. Ross noted that neither one of the options extends the life of the bonds. Both involve a savings. Both are between $500,000 and $700,000. One of them, almost all the savings is in 2016 and 2017. The other one, it’s in 2016, 2017, and 2018. As it stands, the one for 2016 and 2017, there is an estimated $122,000 savings this year still, plus $505,000 next year, and every year thereafter about $2,000 for a total savings of $647,450. Net present value is $633,000 or 5.8%. That’s a very good scenario. The second option is what he encourages. That’s $106,000 this year, $40,000 next, $535,000 after that, and $2,000 after that. That’s a $700,000 savings or $670,000 of net present value for almost 7% savings, which is excellent. They would still use Moody’s as the rating agency. He and Ms. Palmer have been talking about it. The underwriters encouraged him to use S&P, but he’s worried they’ll downgrade the county and he’s as positive as he can be that Moody’s won’t. This is after they’ve paid legal counsel. They’re looking at saving an awful lot of money over the next three years. The current life of the bonds is 2027. They’re not adding to that. All they’re doing is having savings every single year, with the first three years being a lot of savings.
Mr. Vyncke asked if they should move for either Option A or Option B. Mr. Ross said they can move to allow him to move forward with refinancing the bonds and do a parameters ordinance and maybe throw in other parameters. He noted that these are tax exempt bonds. The taxable bonds are actually looking really good, which won’t go against the bank qualified limit, or BQ limit, which probably won’t matter because he doesn’t plan on borrowing anything, but if they had to for some emergency reason, they want the BQ.
They can make the parameters ordinance pretty broad to allow him to refund using his best judgment.
Motion to approve allowing Mr. Ross to move forward with refinancing bonds: Bob Westpfahl 2nd: Brian Vyncke Voice vote Motion carried
11) Committee member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)
There were no comments.
12) Adjourn
Motion to adjourn: Don Johnston 2nd: Brian Vyncke Meeting adjourned at 9:48 a.m. by Pat Moreno.
Future scheduled meetings on August 8, September 12, October 11, and November 7
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