June Meeting
Ginny passed around a draft agenda to give the committee an idea of
what the day would look like. She reported that it did not look like
Kathy Foley would be able to speak at the meeting, but that Joe
O'Donnell would be great to speak. Diana or Tim will contact Joe
O'Donnell to check on his availability for speaking at the ExCEL
meeting. There was also discussion of asking DHMC to do a
presentation on Friday morning. Tim also suggested that new things
in symptom management should be included in the program as tid bits
and fast facts.
If ExCEL were to request a grant, the
question was raised as to whose tax ID # would be used. Tim
suggested using the Hospice Council's ID#. Diana and Ginny agreed
that that could be done. If the company did agree to sponsor the
meeting they would received vendor space and dinner with the
providers.
Action: Everyone think more about
the June meeting. Send comments to Ginny. Think about the shape of
the meeting and what you want the two days to look like. The flyer
will need to go to print in February.
Need to reach out to Burlington. We
don't get as much representation from them as we should.
Fundraising:
Tim met with Purdue Pharma. They are trying to get back into
palliative care. They expressed great interest in educating primary
care physicians on pain management. Tim threw out the range of
$25,000 - $50, 000 for ExCEL to be able to do a statewide palliative
care program. Purdue was interested in receiving a request for an
educational grant. The group expressed concern with there being
strings attached when accepting money from pharmaceutical companies.
It was agreed that Tim would begin by asking for a $5,000
unrestricted educational grant for the June meeting of Hospice and
ExCEL.
Tim raised the issue of securing a
non-profit status for ExCEL. He said that it would clear up
questions on whether we are lobbying or representing physician
interests. VMS has a non-profit arm that ExCEL could use, but it was
decided that that would not be a good way to go. Diana asked if
ExCEL should be part of the Hospice Council. Discussion ensued.
Tim told the group that he was going
to suggest to DHMC that he go half time with them and work the rest
of the time to build a statewide palliative care project. If ExCEL
could get non-profit status, and received a grant, then it could pay
half of Tim's salary or that of someone else who would like to come
on. Denise Niemira, M.D. expressed skepticism about accepting
pharmaceutical money. She would rather see the group get a grant
from Robert Wood Johnson. She also discussed the issue of getting a
grant writer and the necessity to build a structure to hire people
and get things going. Judy Murphy from VPQHC, stated that RWJ will
talk to us and go through our previous grant and tell us what we
should be doing and showing to get a grant. Ginny will follow up.
John Campbell asked how it would look
if ExCEL received money from a pharmaceutical company. Judy Murphy
said that there is suspicion if a group receives continuing support.
She continued by saying that it would look better to have two or
three supporters.
Madeleine told the group that it was
possible to set up a non-profit organization. She said that
foundations are more comfortable giving to a 501(c)3 instead of a
501(c)6, or lobbying organization, like VMS. She said that a lawyer
would be necessary, but that we could get a good start with forms
from the Secretary of State's office web page.
How to proceed:
There are still a lot of questions about strings attached when
receiving money from pharmaceutical companies. It is agreed that we
will go for the funding of the conference from Purdue separate from
any larger funding. Tim will get in writing any strings attached for
any larger funding. Tim will also pursue other leads.
Another avenue to explore is the PDIA
(Project on Death in America), which is headed up by Kathleen Foley,
M.D.
Who would go to get funding:
A collaborative effort with ExCEL and DAD. ExCEL needs to get
non-profit status. We need separate staff and resources. Madeleine
was asked to review and give suggestions. ExCEL would be a more
powerful organization if it was independent.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Tim suggested that we need to form a relationship with VPQHC to see
if we make a difference in palliative care. Diana Peirce stated that
she is now on the VPQHC board, so she can see what it will take to
make this happen.
Tim asked DHMC if they would support
a regional plan and reported that it was clear that they would not.
Action: Stephanie will ask Mark to
track each separate link on the ExCEL web page to see how many hits
the sites are getting.
Next Meeting
March 6, 2002 at VMS, 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. May 8, 2002 at VMS,
2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. |
