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ExCEL
Committee Meeting
November 13th
Minutes
Present: Zail Berry, Annette Blanchard,
Fran Brokaw, Diane Caccavo,
John Campbell, Fred Crowley, Ellen Fein, Ginny Fry, Deb LeMoy,
Sharon McDonnell, Leitha Mills, Magdeleine Mongan, Judy Murphy,
Denise Nemura, Diana Peirce, Barb Segal, Don Shwarz, Olivia Weed
I. Minutes were approved.
II. Rallying Points evaluation was
completed by Diana Peirce within the requested time frame.
III.
Progress Reports:
A. Transition Team
1) Administrative home at
VPQHC - The VPQ project team requested a more in-depth presentation before making a
decision about our partnership offer. Zail, Leitha, Madeleine and
Diana have met and created a power point presentation for the
project team’s December 18th meeting which they will
attend.
2) Mission and Vision statements
were reviewed and clarified to the satisfaction of those present
(see attached).
3)
ExCEL will be guided by an
Advisory Board consisting of organizations and agencies with an
enduring interest in end of life care, termed “Partners”. One of
these Partners will serve as the “home” of ExCEL, providing
logistical and administrative support. The ExCEL Advisory
Board will meet once or twice a year to review ExCEL’s progress and
determine direction for the following year, with electronic updates
and opportunities for feedback in between. Each Partner on the
Advisory Board will designate a representative as a primary
participant and contact, with a term length determined by the
Partner entity.
The
leadership of ExCEL projects and activities will be carried jointly
by three Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs will be responsible for the
implementation of the Advisory Board’s stated directions, and will
be accountable to the Advisory Board. The Co-Chairs will lead the
ExCEL Leadership Council (see below), serve as a primary link with
the Advisory Board, and work closely with the home entity. Each
Co-Chair will serve a three-year term, with one Co-Chair rotating
out and another rotating in each year. The three Co-Chairs must
represent a diversity of region and discipline.
The majority of the working activities
of ExCEL will be carried out by a membership of individuals, many of
whom may belong to the Advisory Board entities. Six working
committees will be formed. Three of the committees will be specific
to the workings of ExCEL: Membership, Funding, and
Communication/Outreach. The other three committees will be
project-related, and initially will work within the realms of Pain
and Symptom Control, Choices in Planning for End of Life Care, and
Access/Availability. The project committees’ activities may include
determining current practices, providing education or other methods
of effecting system or behavior change, engaging the community,
developing standards, and developing resources.
The chairs of the six committees will
join with the three ExCEL Co-Chairs and a representative from the
home organization to form the ExCEL Leadership Council. The
Leadership Council will meet at least quarterly to further the
activities of ExCEL, with additional individuals joining the
meetings as determined by the meeting agenda. The responsibilities
of the Leadership Council will include planning, reporting,
evaluation and the promotion of collaboration and teamwork in ExCEL
endeavors.
Leadership succession plan includes
three-year terms, with one person leaving each year, as well as
assuring diversity of region and discipline. The process of
nomination and selection of leaders has yet to be determined. We
also need a succession plan and process for committee chairs. Don
suggested that committee projects be no more than one year in
length. Zail noted that we should not fully complete structure plans
until our administrative home is determined. This will encourage
input from the “home” and help to enhance the partnership.
B.
Process/Structure Committees
1)
Funding – Seeking funding
requests/suggestions from groups. Some of this may be clarified once
our administrative home is determined.
2)
Membership – Updating the
membership list. Once we know who the membership actually includes,
we’ll be able to determine who is missing and issue invitations to
assure inclusivity.
C.
Project Committees
1)
Pain – Continue to
research sources of data and information.
2)Choices in Planning for End of
Life – (minutes attached). Current focus is out of facility DNR
project. It was mentioned that the Attorney General’s office has
interest in this project and might work in tandem. Denise briefly
outlined new ACLS guidelines which also mirror some of the elements
of the project (comfort care by EMT’s, etc.).
3)
Communication – A document
was circulated outlining how to access our
current
website (attached). Discussion ensued about the current website –
changing it, etc. We decided to wait until our administrative home
is determined. Perhaps the website can be created and maintained at
our new home. Maybe a grant could be obtained to support this
endeavor. VMS would likely archive the current information since it
really is part of organizational history.
Diana offered a copy of Quality of
Life Matters, a newsletter containing information relative to
end of life care. Perhaps this publication could be circulated
statewide as an example of researched, state-of-the-art information.
This could also be a grant-funded project.
Sara Conji of WCAX TV was noted to be a
good communication resource. Diana will be serving on an
informational panel with her next week and will begin a discussion
with her regarding ExCEL.
4)
Access/Availability –
Committee has not met. Contact will be made with
Roseanne Palmer. Perhaps there’s a role
for our administrative home partner here.
IV.
Next Steps
It’s clear that much depends upon the
identification of our administrative home. The VPQHC project meeting
is December 18. Word of their decision will be shared with the
membership as soon as it is known.
Next membership meeting was set for
January 14, 2004, 5:30-8:30 PM at CVHHH. There was discussion of
holding committee meetings for either the first or last hour of this
time.
Respectfully submitted,
Diana Peirce,
Co-Chair |
