DEKALB COUNTY COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH BOARD

FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES

       February 2, 2009               

Approved

Committee Members Present:  Cynthia Luxton, Charles G. Rose, Thomas Kirts                                     

Other Persons Present: Michael Flora, Jerry Strachen, Joe Bussone, Mark Leach, Bill Davey

Office staff:  Kathy Ostdick

1.  CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Luxton called the meeting to order at 7:16 p.m.

2.  AGENDA

The agenda was approved by consensus.

3.  MINUTES

The December 2008 minutes will be approved at a later date.

4.  OFFICE REPORT

The ACMHAI yearly dues statement was received.  The total due is $11,172, which is .5% of the total levy.  A short discussion took place as to whether or not we should continue with this Association.  This will be discussed at the March Board meeting and Ms. Ostdick will provide a summary of the benefits in continuing with ACMHAI.

5.  BEN GORDON FINANCIAL REQUESTS

Mr. Flora presented his financial requests.  The Psych RN position has been challenging to fill.  The APN position has also been challenging, but they have a candidate interested who will be coming in to discuss benefits with the Center.  A case-manager for Reality House has been hired as well as an adult MH therapist out of the 3-position funding.  The Psych RN portion of that funding is still open.  There will be unused dollars, due to not being able to fill positions in a timely manner.

Regarding the” 3-position up-to $150,000” funding, BGC has hired an additional masters level therapist that will see adults and children who started the first of the year.  Mr. Flora would like to apply her salary and benefits to the unused portion of this grant.  Her salary from January through June 2009 would be approximately $19,970.

Since there will still be available funding from the “3-position” grant, Mr. Flora is asking for $25,000 for a record keeping system.  The old system is very slow and time consuming.  Other organizations will be contributing to the purchase of this record keeping system; the Bersted Foundation will contribute $25,000, the Gordon Center Foundation will contribute $25,000, the Community Foundation will contribute $10,000. 

Regarding the “APN reimbursement up-to $120,000” funding, there will be unused money due to the inability to hire for this position.  Mr. Flora requested that the available funding be used to pay the recruitment fee of $28,000 for a new Psychiatrist named Dr. Qasi who will start in September or for newly indigent clients who have requested financial hardship.

Regarding the “RFP Psychiatrist salary reimbursement up-to $101,500”, Mr. Flora is requesting that Dr. Qasi’s  salary be applied to this funding.  Dr. Qasi will start in September.  Mr. Flora said that in 12/07 & 01/08 the Gordon Center had 4 in-patient admissions and that in 12/08 & 01/09 they had 26.

Mr. Rose asked Mr. Flora how they planned to fund these positions in the future?

Mr. Flora replied that the Psychiatric RN position has been difficult to fill and the Gordon Center is contemplating dropping the idea of this position.  Reality House utilizes the Psych RN for medical concerns by consumers also.

Ms. Luxton asked Mr. Flora about the 4^th position that he is requesting to be added to the 3-position funding.  This person started in January and was hired with other funding, is that correct?  Mr. Flora said that this was correct but he would like to move the salary to CMHB funding.

Ms. Luxton asked Mr. Flora how he saw next year in terms of positions he has now and what he anticipates he will have in his budget, taking into consideration times we are living in right now?

Mr. Flora stated that DMH had reinstated some funding and that their DASA funding had been restored.  He is hoping to reduce the 3-position funding, reduce the APN funding and continue the Psychiatrist RFP funding from the Mental Health Board for GY10.  He is hoping that he can reprioritize some of his other current funding like prevention or adult mental health to Psychiatry support but still looking for an increase in GY10.

Ms. Ostdick asked if the DASA funding for the Drug Court had been reinstated and Mr. Flora stated that it had and services for the Drug Court started again on Friday 1/30/09.

After the Ben Gordon Center representatives left, the Committee continued a lengthy discussion of the financial requests.  Ms. Luxton is still wondering what is the Gordon Center long-term plan to manage their money responsibly?  During the Finance Committee RFP meeting with the Gordon Center in December, Mr. Flora was asked to prioritize his requests and he stated that he wanted Psychiatry over the medical record keeping system.  He is now asking for funding for that system.

After a thorough discussion, it was agreed to recommend to the Board that reallocation of current funding be denied.  It will also be recommended that $25,000 be given to the Center for the record keeping system out of reserve.

6.  GY10 APPLICATIONS

Ms. Ostdick reported that applications were requested from the County Drug Court, RAMP, and the YMCA.  No completed applications have been received to date.

7.  BOARD MEETING AGENDA APPROVAL

The February 2009 Board meeting agenda was approved by consensus.

8.  DATE OF NEXT FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING:  3/2/09

9.  ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________________         __________________________________

Cynthia Luxton, Chairperson                                          Kathy Ostdick, Recording Secretary

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