Meeting times will be the same.
The full board meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 8 p.m. in the Blakely Room of the hospital. The joint management committee - comprised of three doctors and three board members - will meet the Tuesday before the board meeting at 8 a.m.
The joint conference committee meeting, which includes all the doctors and all the board members, meets quarterly on the second Tuesday of the month at 6:45 a.m.
Reelected as officers for the coming year were Don Thomes of Zion Township as chairperson; Doug Ruhland of Eden Valley as vice chairperson; Carolyn Swyter of Paynesville Township (who serves as an at-large member of the board) as treasurer; and Diane Rothstein of St. Martin as clerk.
The board expanded two committees. Previously, each board committee had three members, but with the expansion of the hospital district and the enlargement of the board both the building and grounds and the personnel committees were expanded.
Joining Rich Philabaum of Roscoe, Mel Jones of Roseville Township, and Dr. Mike Hansen of Union Grove Township on the building and grounds committee will be Rothstein and Grace Peteler of Paynesville Township. Joining Ruhland, Swyter, and Thomes on the personnel committee will be Vickie Ruegemer of Richmond.
Serving on the joint management committee will be Thomes, Bob Brauchler of Regal, and Don Anderson of Paynesville.
The board reappointed Farmers and Merchants State Bank as its bank of record; the Paynesville Press as its newspaper of record; Frauenshuh and Spooner as its legal counsel; and Deloitte and Touche as its auditing firm.
The board kept their per diem reimbursements at $40 and their mileage reimbursements at the IRS rate, currently 34.5¢ per mile.
Other business
•The board discussed establishing procedures to handle the evaluation of physicians. The idea stemmed from a patient complaint about a physician, which was discussed in depth during the joint management committee meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Complaints about physicians are rare, but currently no system exists to review physician performance. Dr. Bob Gardner, current chief of staff, will be working with the administration to establish some review procedures.
•Several board members recounted what they had learned at the recent trustee conference in the Twin Cities.
•The board welcomed its newest member, Sara Olmscheid, who will represent the city of Lake Henry for the next two years. Olmscheid was appointed by the Lake Henry City Council and will serve until the next hospital board election in November 2002, when her seat will be up for election.
•The board approved turning over a $2,785 overdue account for collection. •The board approved an educational loan request from Naomi Nelson for $1,008. PAHCS now has designated $50,000 for educational loans for its employees. Nearly $21,000 is still available to employees in the fund; the rest is currently out in loans.
•The board expects to open bids for its remodeling project at its February meeting. That meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28, will start an hour earlier, at 7 p.m., to accommodate the bid opening.