HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-11-27Meeting of November 27, 2007
11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
2 Fairgrounds Rd.
Agenda
^ Call the meeting to order
^ Minutes November 1St,13th
^ 11:00 to 11:30 NCH
^ 11:30 to 12:00 NEW-Community Action
Committee of Cape Cod and the Islands
^ 12:00 to 1:00 deliberations
Next meeting date Tuesday November 29, 2007 at 2
Fairgrounds Conference room
*Next Agenda Items -Elder services, MV Community Services, ASAP
Contract Review Committee
November 27, 2007
2 Fairgrounds Road
Attending: Jack Gardner, John Belash, Patty Roggeveen, Alice McWade, Rachel Rosen,
Christy Kickham, Maryanne Worth and Ann Medina.
Absent: Mary Wawro
This is the 16th year NCH has presented an application for the Social Services
department. This department provides a wide variety of services to the community.
Healthcare access, insurance enrollment, information on obtaining heat and help if a
family member is ill all fall under social services. NCH works with the churches and
NBHS with the homeless population which has increased. A lot of the services provided
by this department fall outside the function of the hospital, they help the community at
large, not just the hospital. What aspect of the services provided has grown? A health
care advocate was added in 2003. She assists people in applying for health care, births
have increased and a majority of these have been non-English speaking. The health
care advocate is bi-lingual and someone has been hired just as an interpreter plus we
also use volunteers. What is the difference between the health care advocate and the
enrollment specialist? The Health care advocate goes into the community and attends
workshops and the enrollment specialist helps clients with commonwealth care, WIC
program, heating programs among others. Is that similar to what Maryanne does?
Similar yes, but not in competition with Maryanne. People will sometimes come to us
first then recommend us to friends.
Last year you spoke of the merger with Mass General Hospital. NCH did not merger
with MGH; it is an affiliation, they do not own us they are a managing member of the
organization. How will the affiliation with Mass General change NCH? We will see the
change in the finance department in how we do our billing. NCH will still be a separate
entity and will run much the same as it has been. Some people do not understand the
relationship; public perception is that there is a lot of money coming here. The services
that we will be receiving from MGH are not free. NCH loses around 1.3 million dollars a
year and MGH is here to help with that loss. What about the grant that NBHS received
from MGH? That was totally separate from the hospital; it went directly to NBHS and
believes it was a one time donation for community outreach. If the money were not
available from CRC would MGH support the social services program? MGH does not
support specific programs, the services would probably continue however someone
would have to be let go. So if the town does not fund this position is MGH responsible
for this position? No. The bottom line is we will not turn anyone away; this position
benefits the whole community. We respectfully request that you support us. We would
have to look at streamlining it. The needs have become bigger. NCH is often the first
point of contact for some people and not necessarily for insurance but in other ways.
The committee would like to know what agencies the hospital collaborates with. Jane
will speak to Peter about that list. The committee would also like to know how the
hospital is meeting the needs of the community's needs as mentioned in the Human
Needs Assessment Survey.
Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & the Islands (CACCI) $5,000
Estelle Fritzinger and Camila De'Olivera
The amount of the request, $5,000 will be used to off-set the cost of travel to the island
for CACCI employee (Camila De'Oliveira) who comes to Nantucket once a week and
works out of Maryanne's office to enroll residents in health insurance programs. CACCI
is an anti-poverty agency that serves Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket,
helping their clientele access everything they are entitled to. One program is Project
Hope which helps low income individuals enroll in health insurance. Having health
insurance is now mandatory in Massachusetts and according to the 2006 Nantucket
Human Needs Assessment Survey 45.8% of the neediest residents do not have health
insurance.
Have you received referrals from NCH? No. We have communicated to everyone that
we are here. The hospital enrolls people in insurance programs and so does CACCI,
however we also provide the education piece. Our hope is that through prevention we
are insuring people before they go to the hospital. We are not only there for immediate
problem we are there for more. Along with assuring their enrollment we are also
providing cross referrals for child care subsidies, housing subsidies and any other works
that are not here we also give cross referrals for those. Camila is in Maryanne's office
once a week and does outreach with the non-English speaking community. Camila
started coming here 6 months ago, an ad went into the paper for 4 weeks and she sent
mailings to the schools, and day care centers. She has created a support group for the
isolated folks who are afraid to come out. She sees an average of 3 people a week.
Camila does the health insurance applications and follow-up, she sees small business
owners, individuals and self-employed. Is there a specific issue that brought you here?
There was a change in leadership at CACCI and we took a look at Nantucket and
realized there was a need for these services here. We spoke to Maryanne and we also
received a grant to make sure Commonwealth Care was available to all who qualified.
Their target population is low income individuals and families (200% of the federal
po verty guidelines). There is a huge misperception that it/ega/ aliens are the main users
of these programs The immigration population is growing and making a big impact
here. CACCI's first year here is to find out what the needs on Nantucket are; we cannot
bring everything over at once. Is CACCI able to get the town's rate on airline tickets?
No, however the town is providing office space.
Does Maryann's office have the means to get funds for these programs outside of the
town? No, a few years back she received a small grant for $3,000 from DPH but it just
went into the "big black hole" so the following year when she received a $1,000 it
stayed at the Barnstable County Human Services. It would be a good idea to look into
being able to set up a separate fund.
In order for a department to have a revolving account you must speak to Connie Voges
(finance director) and then goes to town meeting to be voted on. Another thing is that
Catholic Charities needs to have a bigger presence here; they get lots of money from
Nantucket and none of it comes back here. As a group, how much leverage would we
have with Catholic Charities?
The meeting adjourned at 1:00. The next meeting will be Thursday November 29~' at
11:00. Elder Services, MVY Community Services and ASAP are on the agenda.
Respectfully submitted by .inn .~lec~ina