MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING OF THE NORTH FORK AMBULANCE HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICT

The Regular Monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the North Fork Ambulance Health Service District located in the Counties of Delta, Montrose and Gunnison, Colorado, was held at 110 E. Hotchkiss Ave, Hotchkiss, Colorado, on Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am.
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: No additions to the agenda.
ROLL CALL: Board members present – Dan Miller, Marcus Roeder, Dave Kreutz, Bonnie Eisenberg and Peter Pruett.
Others present include: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Steve Simpson and Marvin Pemberton.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE: No conflict of interest.

AFLAC PRESENTATION: Sean Foster, Regional Manager for AFLAC out of Grand Junction, gave a presentation of some of the major plans that AFLAC offers. These include:
Short-term Disability about $40/month
Accident Indemnity about $26/month
Hospital Plan a little over $40/month
Cancer Protection about $30/month
Critical Care about $30/month
Also have Term and Whole Life and Dental and Vision policies available.

Kathy proposes that NF EMS pays for the Accident Indemnity portion. It would cost about $12,000 per year and employees could add other options, if they want to. Marcus and Bonnie would like to see it added to next year’s budget.
PUBLIC COMMENT: No Public Comment.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the August 10, 2023 Regular Monthly Meeting were reviewed. Peter Pruett made a motion that the minutes be approved as written. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
Minutes from the September 5, 2023 Special Meeting were reviewed. Dave Kreutz made a motion that the minutes be approved as written. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
REPORTS:
FINANCE REPORT: Financials for August were presented and reviewed. Marcus Roeder made a motion to approve the financials for August. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
APPROVAL OF APPROPRIATIONS: Peter Pruett made a motion to approve the appropriations for August as presented. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT: Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report (see attached).
Administration: Diane is attending the SDA conference virtually this week
Finance: Starting the 2024 budget calculations.
HR: Researching AFLAC for the crews and met with the HR Committee about the PTO policy changes.
Operations: Arranging for crews to attend regional medical conferences.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Changes to the PTO Policy. Bonnie gave a summary of the discussion at the September 5, 2023 meeting. Based on those discussions, Bonnie Eisenberg made a motion that the HR policy be changed so that eligible employees automatically get paid quarterly 75% of their salary for any leave over the cap. This will take effect beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
NEW BUSINESS: Transportation van. There is a need in the community for wheel chair accessible transportation to medical appointments. Senior Connections has their Neighborly Rides program up and running and hope to take some of the courtesy rides away from NF EMS, but wheel chair accessible transportation is the piece that is missing. Steve reports that we have only needed it four times this year. Peter thinks we should keep looking into it and get some hard numbers on both a van and possibly getting an ambulance re-fitted. There might be grant funding available for transportation in rural communities.
This brought up a discussion of other things that might be on the wish list for capital expenditures, since it is budget time. The other item is an offroad ambulance. Steve knows of an ambulance body on a 6x6 that will accommodate a full-sized cot. These run about $65,000.
Kathy and Steve will move ahead with getting some more facts and figures.
Peter will probably be attending the next meeting via Zoom or phone.
Steve has a 4-hour ride-along scheduled with New Orleans EMS next week while he is attending EMS World.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next Regular Meeting is Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 11 am.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further matters before the board, Dan Miller made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 12:33 pm.