WINNEMUCCA - Humboldt General Hospital's CEO and board members are looking at several possible dates for a planning session/retreat - and apparently, it would be a first.
County commissioners, Winnemucca city councilmen, and other boards have been getting together for some years, away from their regular meeting locations, for a less formal, no-time-limits discussion of issues and future directions, but this would be the first time Humboldt General's leadership and board have done so.
HGH Administrator Jim Parrish said, "I would like this board and members of the medical staff to take a full Saturday in March for a planning session."
Parrish gave board members three dates in March that he wanted them to consider, saying the reason for the proposed range of dates was two-fold; first, the planning session would come right before budgets are due to the state, and second, the American Hospital Association (AHA) meeting (which Parrish will attend) will be held on March 7 - 8.
Parrish said the AHA meeting will give him the latest legislative updates - as well as any regulatory changes that will have an impact on HGH. Parrish said the AHA will also be covering the effect that President Obama's Affordable Care Act will have on hospitals.
Parrish explained he hopes the meeting will be, "An opportunity for the board, administration, and medical staff to meet and discuss trends in health care, and what HGH needs to do to meet future challenges related to the Affordable Care Act and the potential population growth in Humboldt County."
Parrish said specific things he would like to see come out of the planning session would include the ideas for a creative planning document, which could later be considered for adoption by the board.
He added that the planning discussion will drive the capital and operational budget process for the year, focus board administration and medical staff on common goals and objectives, and provide a framework for evaluation of administration and the board - moving forward.
Parrish explained later that the evaluation framework would provide goals, direction, and benchmarks by which the board could evaluate his performance as HGH CEO, and would provide some specific goals that the board wanted to accomplish during the coming year, which they could check back with in the future and evaluate whether they have accomplished what they planned.
He confirmed that the meeting would be held in Winnemucca, and, as is the case with other entities' planning session/retreat meetings, it would be open to the public.
Parrish received a positive response to his suggestion. Board member Mel Hummel commented that in the two years he's served on the board they've never had the opportunity to really talk and informally discuss issues and future direction.
Parrish asked board members to respond to him soon as to which one of the three proposed Saturdays, March 16, 23, or 30 would work best with their schedules.
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