Present:
Carol Olson, Jennifer Frew, Chuck Hottinger, Amanda Mathiowetz, Molly Kennedy, Michelle Chalin, Meghan Goodrich, Tom Christensen, Rochelle Fischer, Tim Headlee, Shannon Pech, Cindy Jungers, Tom Kolstad, James Hemshrot

Management:
1. Budget Update
a. There are Security Counselor interviews being conducted. We are looking at hiring 20, some going to MSH some to CRP.
b. We have been appropriated additional funding, 12.4 million, for 2016 and 2017. The 12.4 million will have to be split between the two years. Tom and Carol have been working on looking at the current position new base budget and what it will support. They are looking at where we have vacancies, if in fact we have some. Previously a lot of positions were filled without being budgeted for. They received support for these additional positions to meet terms and licensing. Carol stated that they have to be budget neutral and that this is more complicated than ever thought it would be. They are trying to figure out what positions will the additional 6 million fund. Carol said that they will represent what they need but what legislators will approve is out of our control. When funding was requested to cover the deficit and the facility received 10.4million that was to cover a lot of one-time costs like the remodel, installing cameras, training, etc. The 2016 budget dollar amount is out there but the allocations for the FTE’s (all positions) are churned through to see what that budget supports. AFSCME asked, “At what point do you know if it covers the positions we have?” Carol replied, “It is fair to say it covers. Does it fill the allocated positions we ran? No.” Carol is trying to get a list of dead bids and that is difficult. They hope to have the number very soon. AFSCME asked to see these numbers when found. Carol said that when she gets the numbers she will share with managers/supervisors. Ultimately AFSCME will get this information.
AFSCME:
1. Forensic Nursing Home Radio usage
a. There has been confusion on this as far as ICS etiquette. Michelle Chalin stated that they had an all staff meeting Wednesday, June 17th and also met with Brian Wills. The option of the FNH using channel 3 on the radio has been discussed. If we go this route and there is an ICS, the staff will need to switch to channel 1. The initial call will be on channel 3 and then will switch to channel 1. If someone forgets to switch there is usually a call for other nursing home staff to respond but they will still need people to be aware. This will take some getting used to. Staff thought it was a good idea. Campus Security does scan between the channels. Michelle said that she is expecting a final decision next month. She would like time to hear feedback from staff.
2. Forensic Nursing Home 1st & 2nd step grievances
a. There is some confusion on the process and the stewards are feeling frustrated along with staff. The process is stretching out a lot further than what it should. Michelle Chalin said that she usually looks at the 2nd step grievances and that she does not consult with Human Resources but the response does go to them. HR acts like a conduit because they need to track grievances. HR is not writing the responses at step 1 or 2. AFSCME asked, “If the supervisor is writing the response is HR approving it?” Management said that they will look at it to make sure it makes sense or if further articulation is needed. HR is there to help understand the interpretation of the contract, not the responder.
b. Some responses appear to be carbon copied. HR said that this could be because of some supervisors working in the same area. This could happen even if it is different people reviewing the grievance. Management asked that Eric Hesse track it and get back to them.
3. MSH vacation
a. Scott Melby was out on vacation for this meeting so AFSCME will schedule a meeting with him when he returns. AFSCME has some data that corresponds with what Scott is working on in regards to vacation.
4. Forensic Nursing Home Roll Call
a. AFSCME has gotten reports from staff there that they are being reprimanded for being a couple minutes late when they are present. Management stated that a month ago they switched the location of roll call to the conference room because there is more room. At the roll call the RN looks around the room and marks who is present. That time is based upon the time on the clock. AFSCME said that it may benefit to have the name called out and the staff respond with, “Here.” Management stated that they did not know there was an issue. Michelle said that she will look into this.
5. MSH Sick time usage
a. Recently there was a staff who received a coaching session for having 5 occurrences in a year. This staff has been here for a long time with a sick leave balance of over 600 hours. AFSCME asked management to think of the bigger picture before counting occurrences. There is a difference between abuse and excessive use. AFSCME stated that contractually there is no such thing as excessive use. Jenn Frew said that there is in policy. AFSCME stated that contract trumps policy.
6. Management’s responsibility to keep staff safe
a. Due to the serious incident on Unit 300 people are wondering if there will be something sent out to them about what management plans to do to better the situation. AFSCME stated that there was enough information to avoid the situation on the 2nd day. 1st day, maybe not. On a team level there is a need for more information on imminent risk. People feel they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do.
b. Why is nothing being done? Staff would like some assurance that management notices it and is taking action on it. HR asked, “What would that look like? A personal conversation? A town hall meeting?” AFSCME said, “You won’t be able to do too much.” Management stated that they thought this was brought to every level to discuss and that it has been charted. They feel that throughout it was recognized that there was an issue. Management said that there was no reflection of any increased concern in any documentation. Carol said that she cannot speak to it because she was not there and that they did not want to come in and be a Monday night quarterback. No one likes when questions come later on what was done. In hindsight it was not the right decision. We need to keep getting better and better. This will be taken back to clinical leadership. Carol also said, “want to address we do know how difficult your job is and we know the risk you put yourselves in and when bad things happen it affects us also. We are always trying to do the right thing. I don’t know how it comes to be when there is a patient acting out that there is no documentation about it.” Please remember to document, document, document.
c. What is seen by staff is, “if you don’t have the final assessment, just do it, move later.” Would like to see assessments then done on Unit 800. The impression Sunday night was that the client would be moved to 800 the next day. AFSCME asked if the Admin on Call was contacted. Management said that, “yes, there is a procedure.”
7. Qualification for MSH overtime as a SC/SCL
a. There are staff who are not SC’s doing overtime but recently a WTA was turned down. Human Resources said that WTA’s are allowed to do overtime as a SC. All WTA’s do need to receive some training however to work overtime as a SC.
8. Carpenters job description
a. Carpenters are feeling forced into signing a job description update. The update has added mowing and weed whipping. They do not understand why they would be asked to perform these duties because their work load as-is is heavy. Tom Kolstad did not know about this and will look into it.
9. Seniority list
a. There has been 1 appeal and there OT list has some mistakes as far as CRP staff. Shannon Pech said that he forwarded the correct list for CRP to Scott Melby. Management stated that they do have a staff on light duty working on this and looking at the differences. Hopefully it will end with using the seniority roster because there have not been any issues. It seems that the OT sign up may not be using this list. Meghan Goodrich said that she has a template formed of the two lists and is checking for the differences.
10. MSH grievance timeline/responses
a. No issues to report