1. Introductions
Present: Tim Headlee, Matt Stenger, Molly Kennedy, Chuck Hottinger, Amanda Mathiowetz, Scott Grefe, Lynda Klersy, Pat Marcus, Kristine Wahlberg, Melissa Gresczyk, Wade Brost, Georgia Schroeder, Deb Burger, Tracy Johannsen, Gus Grawe, Tonya Yates, Judy, Pam Bajari
2. Review previous meeting minutes – 12/11/2014
• No changes to be made.
3. Management Updates • CARE St. Peter: 5 positions are vacant, 4 are LPN’s and one was cancelled. 3 LPN’s have gone through interviews, waiting on final approval. 1 HST position is on hold • CBHH St. Peter: 4 positions are vacant. 2 are LPN’s, 1 filled, 1 has been interviewed and waiting final approval. 2 HST’s, 1 is on hold, and 1 has been moved forward to fill. • CBHH Rochester: Nothing to report.
4. Labor questions and updates
• Staffing Issues – All Programs a. With current staffing issues in St. Peter why would anything be on hold or cancelled? Wade Brost said that he made a request to the commissioner this week. This should be getting reviewed today or tomorrow. These are on hold because some positions requested when the staff pattern was to serve 22 people. To serve 16-20 should have a few less staff. b. CARE is experiencing a problem getting candidates that meet the requirements for hire or a solid enough candidate for approval. AFSCME asked why there is a lack of applicants. Management stated that they are looking at ways to make the job more appealing. One challenge in St. Peter is that LPN’s have gone directly into the RN program. Management has had several conversations with Ridgewater College in Hutchinson. AFSCME mentioned that this is not in the area so would require moving. Suggested trying local schools in Mankato. AFSCME mentioned that any perks offered to possible recruits should also be offered to existing staff. Management agreed. c. Pat Sutter is looking at the staffing pattern and how we can be more flexible. Part time employees are working almost every weekend and this is not good. Management stated that they are looking at how to change this. The other part of the staffing pattern is retention. Management and AFSCME agreed that the possibility of working every weekend will result in a short career. d. AFSCME had heard that there was supposed to be some admits? Management stated that they are taking 1 which will bring their population to 14. AFSCME asked if they are going to be capping numbers if the program will not be staffed with more. Management stated that they are hesitant to use the word capping. At this time they are continuously reviewing the census to make sure we are not exceeding. Wade stated that this is done at all sites at all times. If we can fill our schedule, we will raise our census. AFSCME asked if management is accounting vacation in their staffing needs. Management stated that they are. Wade stated that for 1 FTE, it is filled with 1.7 – 1.75 FTE’s. e. CBHH – Wade stated that he will have to look further into this. Was unaware that there were any positions in need of a 2nd approval. Had thought these positions were approved for hire. f. Why is there a hold on CBHH Rochester getting any new hires? AFSCME employees are extremely minimal at this location. They are down to 3-4 LPN’s compared to approximately 12 previously. The census here is almost always full. Management stated that they do have position requests in. Wade stated that he will be looking at the staffing pattern here over the next few weeks. The positions he has seen on the list are not AFSCME. They are still working on looking at what positions are crucial. Scott Grefe stated that the problem is that there are not less AFSCME tasks to be done but less AFSCME staff. Management stated that they have a hard time recruiting staff in Rochester. They are looking at the most cost effective way to staff the facility, job classifications aside. Every RN vacancy that comes up is looked at very critically and it is looked at if hiring an LPN or HST would be more beneficial. Management said that they are looking at what we need to serve and if it fits in our budget. AFSCME raised the issue of RN’s not getting overtime on the weekends causing many AFSCME employees to get inversed. Pam would like specifics sent to her who will talk to Denise McLain. g. One the night shift there is 1 LPN and 1 HST to cover the whole pay period. Lynda stated that she is interviewing for a night shift lead. There are 3 needs left, all night shifts. There is an intermittent LPN that took 3 of the night shifts. Pat Suter is working with Lynda to get someone from an agency to help. It was brought to management’s attention that there is an intermittent that has not been picking up any hours. Kristine Wahlberg said that she would run the hours. From there HR can send a letter to the person and if they do not respond, it is an automatic resignation. h. An intern is not able to monitor by themselves. They are an extra body but they are not adding help because they have to be monitored. It seems that they are being counted. Wade stated that he would be looking into this. This is causing staff to not be able to take their breaks. • Inability to get vacation a. The inability to get vacation is a lot different than restricted vacation because if no vacation is given out it violates the contract. Management asked if there are specifics on people being denied. Scott Grefe stated that this is a contractual piece and that the employer has the ability to restrict vacation, but not eliminate. We have run into situations during staff shortages where all vacation has been denied. Management stated that according to reports it looks like a fair amount is being given out. AFSCME asked about CARE. Management stated that at CBHH St. Peter it has been difficult but not aware of any deniance of vacation. b. Management stated that they do not have any staff in jeopardy of going over the vacation cap of 275 hours. AFSCME stated that they should not use this as an indicator of vacation being granted. Human Resources stated that this is just one piece that they look at when looking at reports. This is just a piece of data. HR said that if there are issues with people being routinely denied, a small work group could be formed to look at this. c. The hours for vacation from 1/13/15 – 3/10/15 (this includes all classifications, not just AFSCME) are as follows: CARE 15.25 Comp, 511.5 vacation CBHH St. Peter 222.667 Comp, 753.75 vacation Rochester 45.55 Comp, 534.95 vacation *AFSCME requested that a report be ran for AFSCME vacation and comp only. CARE seems to be where the real problem is. Gus Grawe stated that he understands this problem with switching the staffing pattern. This leaves a lean crew. There are 2 new hires; 1 an LPN and the other an HST. Also, does the breakdown of vacation and comp include those using FMLA? Human Resources said that this is a general report. HR agreed to go through this person by person to separate it.
• Still no nurses meeting for CARE a. Staffing meetings still have not been done. Management stated that they were started the previous day. Georgia said that because of a critical incident she was unable to attend. This meeting was not mandated. Next meeting is on the 1st. • Oxygen tank that was empty during critical incident still hasn’t been refilled (CARE) a. Lynda had to start a new contract with the company who handles this. Management is working with them to get this initiated. Hoping by the end of today or tomorrow that they will come out and fill the tanks. b. During the critical incident there was one full tank. The first one grabbed, however, was empty. • Purchasing tools that can cut material for critical situations (all sites) a. Ryan Swafford is working on this. Wade stated that it has been mandated that all of the facilities have a cut down tool on site. The goal is to make the tool consistent on all sites.
Wrap up and miscellaneous • 2015 Future Meeting Dates: June 26, 2015, September 24, 2015, and **December 10, 2015 a. AFSCME said that they would like to move the meetings to once every two months instead of every 3 because of the issues going on. A lot of members have said that 3 months is too long. Management stated that they are not opposed and asked to table it. Getting everyone’s schedule in sync is difficult but are aware that that is not an excuse. Would like to get others opinions as well. Management will be in contact with AFSCME via email to get dates set electronically. Next meeting is tentatively June 25th.
**Note December date will need to be discussed as the date gets closer**