OPENING: The meeting was officially opened and called to order by Steve Klick at 7:30am followed by the pledge of allegiance. INSPIRATION: The inspiration was given by Larry Wasem ….wonderful as usual, however, when I attempted to figure out which one he had shared from his “hit list” of 100, I failed. Just know that his “words of wisdom” were well received!! SONG: “God Bless America” was lead by Susan Cole. GUESTS: Paxton Law – classification GRANDSON of Michael Juric Rolly Atkinson – classification “Newspaper Owner” Jana- classification “Exchange Student” Dominic Foppoli – Classification “Vice Mayor” Abigail Resendez – Classification “baby” Joe Herrington, Healdsburg District Hospital Allison Hoover, Classification “Manufacturer” Pam- Classification “Assistant to Dick Bishop” Lee Coates, Classification “Marketing with “At Home Nursing” Olivia Leman Classification ”Management Analyst” Bruce Okrepkie, Classification “Mayor” John Jansons, Classification “Town Manager Donna Legge Classification “ Parks and Recreation Director” ANNOUNCEMENTS
- A special “hello” from Wally and Sandy Krutz, from Colorado
- Michael Juris presented the club with four flags from the clubs in District 1700 (France) he visited while on the Rotary Friendship Exchange. The Rotary Clubs included Perpignan, Grenada, Balma and Font Romeu. He announced that the French RFE team from District 1700 will be visiting in September 2018 and May 2019.
- Steve Klick reviewed the conference highlights with a focus on the theme of “Dreams Take Flight.” He announced the number of awards that the Windsor Rotary Club which included awards for Youth, Public Relations, Club, Service, Vocational and Community Service. Steve showed a video of some of the highlights from the Transcendence Performance and the Youth Exchange portion of the conference. He made an announcement that Transcendence will be having two evening performances where Rotarians are invited. The two Rotary Nights are June 24th and August 3rd. He also made note that the Rotary Conference in 2019 will be held in Reno at the Peppermill Casino.
- PROJECT GRAD: Questions were put to the club asking how many members had signed up to volunteer at the Casino night on June 1st.
- KIDS SUMMER MOVIE SERIES: A check for $12,000 was presented to the Town Council members as part of the Club’s Community Donation. JB Leep, who has spearheaded this project, reviewed the logistics of the movie night events, which will be staring on June 5th. He reminded the Club members that the activities start at 6:00 pm and end around 9:00pm. He made note that a new piece of literature was being produced on Rotary to share with the community. He indicated that a “looping” y video would be shown before the movie, highlighting Rotary and its activities! JB indicated that he had connected with three companies who would be selling food, which includes “Extreme Pizza, Just Popped up Kettle Corn and Gaga Café. He indicated that the Club would receive $50 from each of the vendors resulting in approximately $1200 for the summer! The Club is looking for Volunteers for the movie series!!
SPEAKER
Joe Harrington, CEO for Healdsburg District Hospital Introduced by Tom Boylan With 35 years in the field of Hospital Administration, Joe came to Sonoma County from Lodi, California. He mentioned that he had originally in 2015, but came out of retirement after “doing all the right things” and returned to work because he was “bored,” and “like other Baby Boomers” “lives to work!” Joe mentioned that he had been a Rotarian, but is not currently in any club! He reviewed his having received a Fellowship to travel abroad and study Hospital Administration, where he was able to choose any destination. He chose Ethiopia where he lived for 6 weeks. He mentioned that while in Ethiopia, he and his wife attended a Rotary Club Luncheon, where, despite the fact that they were the only Non-Ethiopians, they felt welcome. He mentioned that working with the Healdsburg District Hospital has been a change for him, as he has always worked with Private Hospitals. Healdsburg is a public facility. He received the funding differences between the two types of facilities and made note that revenue generally comes from the subacute services that are provided. He indicated that the “outpatient” services are the “bread and butter” of hospitals. Joe reviewed the major services and supports at Healdsburg citing the Emergency Room, where they serve an average of 23 to 24 patients a day, and the “certified” Stroke program who serves up to 6 patients a month. He also reviewed the relationship that the Healdsburg Hospital has to CPMC (in San Francisco) which supports, through SKYPE, diagnosis for stroke victims. He made note that due to the high cost of living in Sonoma County, it has been challenging to review personnel, citing the challenges of the Behavioral Health Clinic who is “overwhelmed” with patient demands. He also made note that at the County level, the competition of Kaiser, Medic-Care/Medicaid, and Aetna, has been significant in keeping some of the rural hospitals open. Of note is the opportunity for Hospitals, like Kaiser, to compete with the insurance plans offered to employees. He stressed that focus on Wellness Programs is important, however, can run contradictory to the “natural” funding sources for hospitals. Joe reviewed the horrifying events of the October fires on local hospitals, citing the evacuation and closure of two hospitals, and the role of the smaller hospitals in serving the public. He indicated that there was “chaos” with “no internet and no cell service.” He made note that due to concern regarding the safety of the public, that there was a need to evacuate several patients and potential patients to outside the county. Mr. Harrington indicated that the hospital was in “Command Mode” for 10 days and that there was “lots of traffic” in the ER. As a result of this tragedy, Joe mentioned that the “eye-opening “event tapped into several skills, and allowed him to meet people from all over! He admitted that one of the challenges was being able to “calm” the staff, strengthen communication, and to “get the right people in the right place.” When asked about the long-range issues for hospitals, he identified the concerns surrounding a potential earthquake and being “seismically” prepared. He acknowledged that attending to inpatient care facilities would potentially cost $20 – $30 million dollars, however without an inpatient area, there is no need to upgrade. The other area of need is the upgrade of the information systems which is also a multi-million expense. At present, all hospitals are looking for both partners and loans to offset these inevitable costs. Joe reviewed the relationship that hospital statistics of the traffic flow in Healdsburg. He made note that 37% of patients are from Healdsburg, 22% from Cloverdale, 13% from Windsor, and 12% are from “out of town” (tourists). The additional 16% are from various other areas, but not tourists. The meeting ended at 8:30pm, with an announcement for the Next Week’s meeting which will be honoring our Fire and Police. Submitted by Pam Moulton, Scribe for the Day!