• Max Queen - Represents Community College allied health programs.

• Approved

• Bill Milner, DDS and President of Access Dental Care. Dr. Milner shared with us his program of providing dental access for persons with special needs (need special equipment or are too infirmed to travel).
  • Handout online
  • Currently, Access Dental Care has three units located in Charlotte, Greensboro and Baptist. Chapel Hill has expressed interest in providing office space for Access.
  • Dr. Milner explained his plans for national recruitment of dental students who want to do “something different.” Currently UNC dental students cannot do a rotation with Access because of NC Dental Board regulations, which do not allow students to do an internship for non-profit organizations.
  • Dr. Milner is requesting Medicaid for $500/day in addition to regular reimbursement. This money will fund six additional units.
  • Dr. Milner also expressed a need to educate facility aides in dental care for patients. He pays monthly visits to facilities to check progress.

A. Announcements

• March 5 Council Meeting with Presidents of the Professional Associations at the Friday Center with lunch served following the meeting. Special topic will be: Bio-terrorism preparedness as related to allied health professionals.
  • Each President will do 5-7 minute presentation on issues their association deals with.
  • Information/invitation will be sent out this week.
  • Reports from Presidents have helped the Council to define important issues, helped to pick workforce study professions.
• Replacement: Department of Health & Human Services
  • Flo Stein: Substance Abuse Program; replaces Pat Porter.

B. Discussion and Action

• Coalition 2001 and CAHNC (attachment).
  • At September’s meeting, Karen Luken suggested Council affiliate with Coalition 2001. The Council recommended that Dr. Yoder should attend a few meetings and make a decision. Dr. Yoder attended and researched the Coalition’s operations. He concluded that at this time, the Coalition is not a group the Council should officially become a member of.
    • Reason #1: The Coalition is an advocacy group, which is interested in going to the General Assembly through the Department of Health & Human Services for funding. The Council will want to do the same, and this could be conflicting.
    • Reason #2: The Coalition focuses on mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse. The Council’s mission is broader than that of Coalition 2001. Dr. Yoder will still attend meetings as a guest and stay abreast of Coalition activities. Ms. Luken is a Coalition member and will also keep The Council abreast of issues.
  • Ms. Luken suggests keeping the idea of Coalition affiliation open for future consideration and will keep the Council informed.
• Guidelines for appointing persons to an Advisory Board of the Council (attachment).
  • Dr. Yoder asked attendees for member recommendations. One of the Council’s goals for 2003 is to assemble and Advisory Board. A couple of Governmental Lobbyists have made recommendations.
  • The Advisory Board will be on the Council’s email list and will be welcome at Council meetings, but will not be voting members. Dr. Yoder will attend Advisory Board meetings, but will not be a voting member. There will be discussions as to whether the Chair of the Council would be an Advisory Board member.
  • Motion to begin establishing an Advisory Board, approved.
• Revisiting a “best fit” for professional association groups. Task Force led by Karen Luken.
  • Groups were put together 11 years ago. Since then, names and missions have changed. It is time to revisit groups and/or develop new groups.
  • Dr. Yoder consulted Bob Thorpe and Carolyn Taylor to learn rationale of group sorting. Carolyn Taylor mentioned that associations were grouped according to who was initially interested in participating in the Council. The arrangements were never intended to be permanent.
  • Ms. Luken has asked the representative from each group to serve on the task force (Ms. Luken, David Wysocki, Charyl Allison, Bill Croft and Marge Ottofy). The goal is to have recommendations for the Council in March.

A. Data Committee Report - Alan Brown

• HIM Report is out and the UNC Press Release is available on the Council website.
• Susan Dyson, Mr. Brown and Cassina Hunt will meet with the NC Health Information Management Association (NCHIMA) Executive Board to give guidelines on implementation.
• Ms. Dyson and Ms. Hunt sent a proposal to the American HIMA (AHIMA) to present at a conference later this year.
• At September’s meeting, follow-up guidelines to the Workforce studies were established, and will be published on website.
• Radiation Science study update: Sheps is still collecting data, with 75% return. Spring 2003 is the completion deadline. A panel meeting will be held in March. Send panel member suggestions to Ms. Dyson (susan_dyson@unc.edu) and Mr. Brown (alan_brown@med.unc.edu).
• The Council adopted the expert panel workforce model 3 years ago, and did reports for Speech Language Pathology, Physical Therapy, and Health Information Management. The Data Committee recommends a move to the survey model, and the Executive Committee approved this at their last meeting. Following the Radiation Science study this spring, the Data Committee will return to developing a surveying model for employers of allied health personnel. There are many details to work out, and the Sheps team will not be able to concentrate on it until the Radiation Science study is complete. The goal of survey approach is to help secure funding.
• Dr. Yoder explained that the survey model will encompass all professional groups represented by the Council. The survey data will be able to provide more comprehensive information to the Board of Governors and to Community Colleges, so decisions can be made with respect to how training programs are supported as well as helping employers know what the workforce trends are. There is nothing wrong with the studies now, and they have been done well. However, they do not give the broad workforce perspective that the Council feels is needed.
• Mr. Brown suggested that the best plan might be to alternate models every few years.
• Ms. Dyson added that things have changed in the 3-4 years since a study on a particular group has been done; a broad study would update that information.

B. Activity of the Executive Director - David Yoder

• Handout – The Council’s Accomplishments & Goals

• Karen Luken explained that Flo Stein is not just with Substance Abuse. Recently, new service definitions have been posted under “Announcements” on the Division’s website (http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/). Area programs are submitting business plans as to how they will function under the new plan. These are not yet available on the website. There will be public meetings this month sponsored by the Division of Health and Human Services, and an email with dates and times has been sent to the Council email list. The meetings are for students, families and professionals to get information on downsizing plans and community capacity plans.
• Putting off $1500 cap until July. Gives time to contact congressmen. The $1500 cap means Speech and PT shares cap, and OT has $1500 cap. Speech and PT are more utilized than OT.
• Max Queen announced that enrollment in Allied Health programs is up 7% at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Elizabeth Rogers announced that Elon University seated 28 students in their DPT program, and has seen a slow and steady increase over the last 3 years. She hopes for 36 enrolled next year. The job market for Physical Therapy is in full swing. All Elon graduates have found positions. Sylvia Flack has also seen an upward trend in Physical Therapy at WS State University and said that Occupational Therapy has not changed. She also noted that Clinical Laboratory Science is not coming up the way it should be. The Internet program is full, but traditional programs are suffering. Brenda Mitchell stated that UNC is anticipating lower enrollment for Speech-Language Pathology, OT and PT for Fall 2003 due to budget cuts. Medicaid reimbursement is a factor whether you’re in a school system, private or state facility. Wayne Foster, President-elect of the NC Speech-Language-Hearing Association said that for the first time, there have been more physical therapists and speech pathologists applying for school positions. Professionals who have left private practice because of Medicaid have filled all school-based Allied Health positions. Pam Horton noticed an increase in enrollment from displaced workers in allied health programs.
• Pam Horton expressed her appreciation for the Council’s email communication.
• Tom Bacon said that there is a lot of talk about the need to create more jobs and prepare people to fill jobs. The Council has not done a good enough job publicizing the health industry as a growing field, which has an economic impact on the state. Allied Health professionals will find jobs, and we need to make a better point of this to legislators and businesspeople.
• James Sadler serves on a task force of Community College and UNC representatives. They have a comprehensive agreement, which covers core courses to enter 4-year degree program. Many programs have prerequisites and Community College programs don’t exactly align with UNC’s programs. Dr. Sadler said he’d be glad to bring that to the attention of the task force. Elizabeth Isler (not in attendance) is also a member. The task force’s next meeting is January 30. Email him with input (jcs@northcarolina.edu).
• Gregory Cooper: NC Health Career Access Program (HCAP) announcements
  • Handouts
  • March 27: Hosting annual Spring Health Professions Forum with a lecture by Kay Johnson-Graham (NIH), who trains minority nurses in research.
  • Science Enrichment Preparation Program – for minority and economically disadvantaged high school students. 8 weeks, 150 contact hours, seminars, tours of local facilities.
  • Newsletter – “Access”, published twice a year.

Adjourned at 12:00PM.

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