WASHINGTON STATE SOCIETY
FOR HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING

EASTERN CHAPTER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
VALLEY MEDICAL, SPOKANE, WA
June 5, 2009

MINUTES

Present:
Host: Greg Palmenteer
President: Doug Sowers
President Elect: Bruce Price
Sec/Treasurer: Randy Kaiser
Members Present:
Brad Jones, Doug Sowers, Bill Oeder, Greg Palmenteer, Ed Luebben, Susan Dellwo, Wade Gleason, Sandy Buchanan, Ray Garner

Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 10:10am.
Attendee introductions

Approval of Minutes:
The minutes from March 6th meeting were approved.

Treasurer Report:
Deferred - Email to be sent to members by Randy or information posted on website. Doug stated the Eastern region is in great shape financially. Randy reported at time of minutes that the Eastern Chapter current balance as of 5/26/09 is 18,658.56

Newsline Articles 2009:
Doug discussed that articles can be on many various topics and all members can participate in submitting newsline information. Susan Dellwo will submit for month of June. All articles are reviewed and scheduled by the State Secretary to help better manage postings on website..

Advocacy:
Discussed the ongoing dialogue taking place with State Fire Marshal Office (SFM) based on SFM inspections of two Hospitals and the SFM citing the hospitals. Steve Grose, WSSHE Advocacy Chair, and Geoff Glass will be meeting with a panel from WSHA and SFM to review these citations. A tentative meeting date is scheduled for June 15, 2009. There will be more information available after this June 15 meeting. Stay tuned!

WSSHE Scholarship:
Deferred as the information was not available at time of meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

ASHE News, ASHE Membership, ASHE Gold: Brad:
• WSSHE is a GOLD Affiliated Chapter again this year. YEAH!! !Congratulations, WSSHE.

• We meet all the Affiliation goals of a Platinum Chapter (Top Affiliation Status) other than the requirement that 50 % of our WSSHE members are also members of ASHE

• The goal is to become a Platinum chapter under ASHE, which requires 50% ASHE membership. ASHE Membership benefits the member and his/her hospital at the National level in all areas of Healthcare.

Board Report: Brad
• Brad Jones informed members a new position of advocacy chair was appointed to the State Board of Directors and Steve Grose has been appointed by the WSSHE President to fill this position.  Brad also pointed out there may be opportunities in the future for members to participate on committees to assist our advocacy efforts and Steve in his new role. Steve will work with Phil Kercher,  our ASHE Liaison, as needed for advocacy at the National level.
 
• New reserve account and additional account set up at State Level

• Semi–Annual conference results 370 attendees, 77 Vendor reps great participation waiting on the final financial results, but preliminary results looks very good.  A survey was sent out by AMI utilizing Survey Monkey.  Approx. 80 responses, very favorable responses, by all but 1-2 members. The survey results are available on the website. >> see survey results

Annual Conference Yakima: Brad
• The WSSHE annual conference is being held in Yakima October 13 -16.

• This years conference theme is “The Healthcare Gauntlet: Reducing Costs While Improving Care”

• The keynote speaker is Dan Swanson of McKinstry Company in Seattle

Region 10 Conference: Brad
• Spokane September 21-24, 2010

• Possible participants include Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska

• Phil Kercher is instrumental in coordinating this event and will be seeking assistance from chapter members. There will be more information so keep an eye on our website.

ASHE Region 10 Representative Election: Brad
• Steve Grose is a candidate for the position of ASHE Region 10 Representative. Please make sure you cast your vote for Steve. The State Board of Directors and I support Steve in this role and believe he will do a terrific job representing us at this level. The election will be held in August, so please make sure you cast your votes and vote for Steve.

June Staff training Moses Lake dates/topic: Doug
Where: Moses Lake
When: June 11th
Time: 8am - 3:30pm
• Training is based on the “Fundamentals of Pneumatics”
o The Air Station (Overview of Pneumatics)
o Thermostat Calibration
o Control applications
o Troubleshooting and much more

You must RSVP to Randy Kaiser to reserve your seat as seating will be limited. To make reservations, contact Randy Kaiser at (509) 962-7337 or send Randy an e-mail at rkaiser@kvch.com
 

Questions From Chuck: Doug
• Green Sustainability: recycling costs vs. benefits

• Fire Inspectors finding: Thumb turn locks on older exterior store front egress doors need to be replaced with keyed lock on interior side of door. Inspector stated his concern with someone on the inside having the ability to deny egress by using thumb turn lock.

• Electrical work at facilities by non-licensed electricians?

Greg Palmenteer is a licensed electrician and he shared what work he allows his staff to do within their hospital. He suggests that permits be pulled to prove that the work was inspected and passed when doing any electrical work.

• Projects: Bid vs. Negotiated work was discussed

• Project scope can be broken into phases to make projects more manageable

• Vendor relationships and the importance as it relates to quality of work, ability of contractor to consistently follow policies/procedures

• Discussed the importance of pre-construction guidelines for all parties involved with project to have a clear communication of expectations and the end results expected.

• Infection Control and Interim Life Safety Measures policy training/orientation for all persons associated with project.

• Group purchasing benefits.

• Combustible storage (Shredded documents) cannot exceed 32 gallons in a single container and area must be approved for this purpose.

Educational Topic Speaker:
There was no planned educational topic at this meeting and Doug opted to have discussions with members related to any subjects or concerns they may be experiencing at their facilities or businesses. See the questions from Chuck discussions.

Next Meeting:
September 11, 2009: Kittitas Valley Community Hospital, Ellensburg

Meeting Adjournment:
Meeting was adjourned at 1:15 pm.