UTMB Faculty Senate

October 11, 2010

4:00 – 6:00 pm

MINUTES

 

Present:  Drs. C. Utsey, Chair, G. Anderson, K. Beal, I. Boldogh, B. Bryant, C. Cooper, S. Croisant, P. Crane,  Y. Davila, L. Farmer, S Gerik, S. Higgs, C. Houston, C. Jansen, J. LeDuc, L. Massey, N. Mendias, M. O’Keefe, H. Pine, D. Powell, E. Protas, T. Riall, P. Singh, E. Smith, D. Solanki, H. Spratt, C. St. John, P. Watson, C. Wiggs, D. Wild and C. Wisnewski

Absent:  Dr. A Torres

 

4-4:30 pm

      Orientation for the new senators was completed.  Dr. Utsey presented the new members with a PowerPoint presentation and then opened for Questions.  

 

I.      The meeting was called to order at 4:38 pm by Dr. Carolyn Utsey, Faculty Senate Chair.

 

II.    Provost, VP and Dean’s Report

Dr. Watson mentioned that UTMB’s Mission, Vision, and Values, has the words “commercialization of such research, as appropriate” included at the end of the sentence to now read, “We advance understanding and treatment of illness and injury through groundbreaking research, in the lab, and at the bedside, including the commercialization of such research, as appropriate.”

 

Dean, School of Nursing and Vice President for Education – reports provided by Dr. Watson

Dean, School of Health Professions – report provided by Dr. Protas.

Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences – report provided by Dr. Cooper.

 Dr. Anderson submitted Dr. Callender’s Mission, Vision and Values presentation and asked that it be sent to the Senators asking for their input.  Dr. Anderson also talked about a Testing Center (300 people) on the ground floor of the Children’s Hospital.  This testing is to meet National Guidelines.  This new center will allow for more testing of medical students, residents and perhaps faculty.  Senator Pine inquired about the computers on the first floor and if the plans include wireless?  Dr. Anderson mentioned perhaps Ipads or the state of the art equipment, but will have to take into consideration the variety of computers and software on campus and the cost; Consultants are coming in.  Construction update, there will be substantial improvement in a year from now especially with the elevators; Asbestos will be taken out of five buildings and then torn down.  The first floors’ goals are to have items that will not absorb water and electrical outlets that will not short out any systems.  Senator Smith asked about the faculty lounge, when we might see the plans, and stated that the faculty would like to have input on this.  Dr. Anderson could only say that he has seen a spot where it might be located.  Dr. Utsey stated that Dr. Callender was asked about this at the September meeting and he indicated that the faculty lounge was not a priority at this time. 

IV. Ambulatory Operations Update – Diana Browning, Vice President for Ambulatory Operations

Ms. Browning gave a PowerPoint presentation and some topics from her presentation include: 

utmb Health Ambulatory Operations Goals for FY11: Excellent customer service; Patient access to Care;

My Chart Implementation; Employee Engagement; Restoration of all services on the island that were available pre-Ike; and provision of all services on the Mainland; and Partnership with the Faculty Group Practice.

 

Work Groups FY2010-11: Access Center; Clinic Locations; Victory Lakes Opening and Pilot Project – Patient Service Specialist; My Chart Implementation; Epic Registration Implementation; and Ancillary Productivity.

 

Clinic Location Analysis:  Mainland and Island Clinic Locations, Definition of Service Areas, UTMB Specialties Available, Primary Care Network, Population Trends, Chronic Disease Management.

 

Mainland Clinic Location Analysis: 

Completed.  Identified primary and secondary markets, based on Victory Lakes Specialty Care Center; Evaluated specialty services available through UTMB clinics; and Analyzed the need for primary care providers (UTMB and non-UTMB) based on current and 2014 population projections.

Conclusions.  Current and future shortage of primary care providers in both the primary and secondary market areas: 

·      Primary Care Expansion with full-time clinical physicians, Family Medicine, General Medicine

·      Add faculty to PCP practices east of I-45 to grow market share and referrals

·      Expand or open new PCP practices west of I-45 to meet needs of population growth in area.

             Recommendations specifically for Primary Care. 

Existing Facilities

·      Expand capacity for adult primary care in League City and in Friendswood

New Facilities

·      Relocate and expand Family Medicine clinic in Dickinson for adults and pediatrics

·      Establish a new primary care clinic in the Alvin/Manvel area

·      Add specialties to practices as appropriate for the patient population

 

Island Clinic Location Analysis:

Draft Completed.  Relocate Primary Care out of UHC to accessible patient friendly Island locations (possibly PCP).  Reconfigure specialty clinics in UHC to provide appropriate adjacencies, Expand clinic space for specialties to meet patient needs (Neurology), Provide clinic space for specialties currently not offered on the Island (Adult ENT, Pain management).

Conclusions. 

·      Identify locations for Family Medicine, General Medicine, and Pediatrics out of UHC.

·      Free parking for patients, easy in and out

·      Evaluate walk in, late and Saturday clinic times

·      Consider high traffic locations for walk in clinics (Strand)

·      Develop Health Home strategies to meet accountable care criteria

Timelines.  Recruitment of faculty and identification of facilities under way on the mainland – 12 to 18 month implementation and Island location analysis recommendations will be presented to Clinical Leadership and Ambulatory Council in October – decision on PCP mitigation pending, other facility options being considered.

 

Victory Lakes Pilot Project.  Specialty Care Center opened May 4, 2010 with

Ambulatory Surgery Center

Advancing Imaging

Clinics: Surgery Specialties, Breast Center, Orthopaedics, Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Center, and Pelvic Health

             Patient Service Specialist rolled out with the opening.

 

             My Chart Implementation.  Secure email communication within the EMR.  Steering Committee representing all clinic departments and operations, Executive Committee meets bi-weekly, Define the “base” model to be implemented, Design work flows and response times, Roll out to pilot clinic in November, and Full implementation in FY2011.

 

             Ms. Browning opened for discussion.  Senator Pine asked will we charge a fee with the email communication (in place of a doctor’s visit) – other institutions charge around $25; - UTMB is not planning to offer evisits at this time.  Senator Powell had concern with regard to inpatient care with the shortage of nurses – UTMB is diligently working on recruiting nurses.  Senator O’Keefe asked about Psychiatry out patient service locations - Looking at Webster and to expand on the Island awaiting PCP outcome.  Senator Gerik asked about other institutions and if they have issues with the My Chart emails – A workflow for My Chart is being developed that will allow the clinic nurses to screen the emails and refer to physicians as appropriate.

 

      Faculty and Executive Candidate Experience Coordinator – Sarah Piel

Ms. Piel spoke briefly about her role, which is to give the best possible experience to the faculty or executive (and spouse) being recruited to UTMB.  Sarah assists the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions.  She serves as a liaison with the school districts and realtors for both on and off the island.  Sarah provided two handouts, a Faculty Demographics FY10-11 sheet and a Home Town Stay Option sheet.  If you plan on recruiting a faculty member, give Sarah a call or email @ sepiel@utmb.edu or 772-1019.

 

V. Reports by Faculty Senate Executive Committee

·      Dr. Utsey reported regarding the last meeting with Dr. Callender which included Drs. Croisant and Wisnewski.  Some issues discussed were: The Houston Chronicle article on UTMB and indigent care, which had numerous errors and the reprint correcting the errors, has yet to be sent out.  UTMB is bound by the Regents to remain in budget with indigent care.  Another issue is the new rule on background checks, which will rolled out.  Dr. Utsey stated that this will go into effect August 2011, that all faculty will have background checks completed.  They will check the boundaries to see what kind of information can be checked.  Dr. Callender asked that Dr. Utsey to  invite Ms. Carolee King to one of the upcoming Senate meetings to provide more information.  Dr. Utsey spoke about the recent University of Texas System Faculty (Sys Fac) Meeting (September 2010) and will post their link for the minutes on the Faculty Senate home page for anyone who wants to see the full minutes.  They talked about the finances/shortfall and more cuts to be made.

·      Dr. Croisant mentioned from the Sys Fac meeting that Dr. Pryor supports a shared library with all of UT and to include Texas A&M University, to support and energize research.

·      Dr. Wisnewski welcomed the new Senators.

 

VI.  Business – Dr. Utsey

·      Dr. Utsey mentioned Faculty Credentials draft IHOP policy that the Faculty Senate IHOP Committee sent to COD for revision last year has returned and included in our handouts, which our new Faculty Senate IHOP committee will review.

·      The University’s IHOP Committee presently has four members from the faculty senate to serve and asked for any comments on the number of members serving and wanted to know if they thought two members were sufficient.  The meeting meets monthly and reviews all IHOP policies, our Faculty Senate IHOP Committee only reviews faculty related.  Dr. Utsey opened for discussion.  Senator Smith asked about the length of service on the Committee; it is a one-year appointment, and another Senator stated that two members are adequate as long as they are from different schools.  Dr. Wisnewski added that she believes the number of attendees required was mentioned in the Faculty Senate Bylaws.  Dr. Utsey stated that she would attend the next meeting.  A motion was made and seconded to table this until the November meeting and have checked the Faculty Senate Bylaws, the motion was unanimous.

 

A motion for extending the meeting until 6:10 pm was made, seconded and approved. 

 

·      Dr. Smith reported for the Faculty Quality Committee:  Handout provided.  When Ike hit, there were not any rules set up on financial exigency.  Now there is Regents Rule 31003.   The Faculty Quality Committee has come up with this resolution and is presenting to the Senate for approval.  After review, a Senator commented that the 3rd paragraph, and that a quorum must be met it…The senator wanted to be sure that they were speaking that this was the Faculty Senate and we should make this clear, who the quorum was.  An amendment to the original motion was made and seconded to add “of the Faculty Senate” to the last sentence which would read:  Whereas the UTMB Faculty Senate is a duly elected representative body of the faculty of all the schools at the University of Texas Medical Branch, we recommend that the faculty senate be designated as the institution’s faculty governance body referenced above, and that a quorum of the Faculty Senate must be met in order to discharge the functions described above.  The amendment passed and the main motion was then voted on and passed.

 

At 6:15 pm, the meeting was adjourned.  The Committees met following the general meeting.