HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93009_04150
FES 1 1994
residents do not have visitors. A member of this committee is
required to spend from eight to twelve hours a month in addition to
meeting attendance. Mrs. Lee thanked the county commissioners for
their commitment to this program and to the Domiciliary Home
Advisory Board program.
Chairman Haire thanked Mrs. Lee for her report and expressed
appreciation for the work the Nursing Home Advisory Board does in
the county.
REPORT ON ACTION ON THE BOARD OF HEALTH REGARDING HOME HEALTH
PROGRAM: Mr. Don Carney, chairman of the Iredell County Board of
Health, came to give a report on the action of his board in
reference to the Home Health Program. Mr. Carney recapped the
report he gave at the January 18, 1994 meeting. His board has met
again and rescinded the action taken at the December meeting. The
now action taken at the January meeting recommended that the home
health agency be sold to the hiahest bidder with the stipulations
that the bidder who is awarded the service would maintain the
service for indigent patients maintain the same level of care for
all the patients in the Iredell County service for a two-year
period will hire all the employees of the present agency at their
current pay schedule or better for a two-year period
Mr. Carney said there was much discussion on this motion and
it did pass with a 6-3 vote. There are eleven members of the
board, and at the December meeting there were three members absent;
at the January meeting there were two members absent, Carney said.
Mr. Carney said as chairman he felt he should try to represent both
sides of the issue to the county commissioners.
Regarding the Certificate of Need, Mr. Pope said he believed
that the Certificate of Need goes with the services and the CON
defines the services that are required by the CON. To change the
services would require a modification of the CON, Pope said.
Mr. Carney said there had been no disagreement on the health
board about moving the home health program, the concern had been
how to achieve this move. He said he hoped if the board of
commissioners could not accept this recommendation that they would
again refer it back to the health board for further consideration.
Others speaking on this subject were:
Dr. Ronnie Milam - Dr. Milam is the Optometrist member of the
board of health. He wished to give some observations from his
point of view. He commended the 25 employees who are established
and are doing a service for the residents of Iredell County,
regardless of their ability to pay. It is financially self-
supporting at this time, he said. The recommendation for the
change came with the premise that the agency may not have the
patient load in the future to be self-supporting. His concern
about the change of ownership of the service is would it be kept at
the same level of quality service and would it serve the indigent
patients as they are now doing, or would responsibility fall back
to the county health department. His personal feelings were that
the agency was worth "the suffering of the first person that falls
through the cracks."
Mr. Jeff Corbett speaking for Steven Blaine CEO Davis
Community Hospital - Mr. Corbett said Mr. Blaine was detained at an
out-of-town meeting and he was speaking for the hospital in his
place. Mr. Corbett said they agreed with the decision of January
20th Health Board members to bid the home health agency. He
presented his hospital's position. They are interested in
providing such a service at Davis and it is a part of their long-
range plan, Corbett said. He said they would submit a bid if they
were given an opportunity. He assured the county commissioners
they planned to care for the indigent patients and plan to maintain
or exceed the current level of service. They also plan to hire any
and all of the current staff who desire to continue at the current
or possibly higher rate of pay. He supports reasonable policing