FROM WHERE I'M SITTING...By jeff mero, executive director

Even though the legislative session is over, there seems to be plenty of news coming out of Olympia. A group calling itself "Protect Washington NOW" (PNW) has submitted draft initiative language to the Secretary of State that would require all government service providers to verify the identity of any person seeking services that are not federally mandated. Failure to verify identity would result in a Class 2 Misdemeanor. The Secretary of State's Office will work with the initiative's promoters to clarify the language, but it is likely that signature gathering will begin in early May. The Mercer Island-based PNW says it expects to put the measure on the ballot this November. A broad array of initiative opponents, led by the Washington Association of Churches, is preparing for the campaign.

Last week saw the first meetings to address areas of the hospital licensing regulations that need updating, and the nursing unions showed up in force. The unions will attempt to use the rules process to make gains in staffing requirements and other familiar territory--gains they were not able to make legislatively. WSHA's Brenda Suiter and Kristin Peterson, however, are working to ensure that the state is not unduly swayed by the unions' efforts and any regulatory changes are consistent with the state's authority under the existing licensing statute.

To encourage local efforts aimed at improving access to care, $1.5 million is being made available to regional community groups that can show multi-sectoral leadership and matching funds. The state Health Care Authority will manage this demonstration project which is targeted at--though not limited to--communities that have gotten Community Action Program (CAP) grants from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.

Signup for the AWPHD Administrators Only Retreat, May 2-4 at the Cave B Inn at SageCliffe in Quincy is brisk. It will be an outstanding program, with the attorneys at Foster Pepper developing a substantial share of the agenda. Please note that registering for the retreat does not get you a room at the resort, you will need to do that on your own. If you have any questions, please contact Beionka Moore at (206) 216-2530 or beionkam@wsha.org.

The AWPHD Board met last week and, among other things, agreed to encourage members to become Participating Organizations in the Washington Health Foundation's Healthiest State in the Nation campaign. The campaign, the largest civic effort aimed at health in our state's history, has captured partners from all sides of the social, political and economic continuums. Each of you is doing things today that support the campaign's goals, but much of your work is going unrecognized. I have asked Wendy Ray to work toward having every AWPHD member as a Participating Organization by the time we get to Chelan for our mid-year meeting in June. You can sign up today by visiting www.whf.org and filling out the brief (about 15 minutes) survey. About one-third of you are already signed up.

Looking forward to seeing more of you as the snow in the mountain passes melt and the days lengthen. My allergies are kicking in, which can only mean one thing: Spring has sprung!

SNAPSHOTS

AWPHD members will find that the 2006 legislative session was a success when they look at how activities in Olympia impacted their operations as municipal corporations. Overall, AWPHD legislative staff reviewed 63 bills with the potential to affect PHDs; this is almost 40 percent of the bills that lobbyists Lisa Thatcher and Len McComb passed along to the entire AWPHD-WSHA Policy/Advocacy Team during the session.

Earlier issues of In Focus kept you abreast of how major bills were--or weren't--moving through the House and Senate. With the session ending one day earlier than scheduled (March 8th) and the Governor just about finished taking action on all the bills presented to her, here's an update:

• Senate Bill (SB) 6504, which prohibits district employees from concurrently serving as commissioners of that district, and House Bill (HB) 2713, which expressly authorizes governing boards of special purpose districts to take collective stances on ballot propositions affecting their activities, were signed by the Governor and will go into effect on June 7, 2006.
  
• Although HB 1341 and House Joint Resolution 4202 were scheduled for a vote by the full Senate, these bills--along with many others--fell prey to a reported slowdown by Senate Republicans on bill actions in the closing days of the session. Together these bills, along with voter approval in November 2006 of a constitutional amendment, would have authorized the larger PHDs to invest in corporate bonds and equities. (It should be noted that getting a Senate floor vote meant progress for these bills, which were introduced in 2005: last year there were not enough supporters in the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee to move them out to the floor.)
  
• The Governor partially vetoed SB 6555, which authorizes the Municipal Research Council to provide special purpose districts with research and analytical support on policy and legal issues. Although she left the authorization intact, the Governor vetoed the section of the bill that funded these services through a small portion of state liquor tax revenues.

Shortly, Dick Goldsmith, AWPHD's director of legal services and public policy, will give district CEOs and Administrators a matrix that summarizes the new laws affecting district operations.

Many thanks to Foster Pepper attorneys Julie Kebler and Rosa Fruehling-Watson for donating their time to put on "Creating A Peer Mediation Program for Your Public Hospital District." The March 17th session at SeaTac--like the presentation at Kennewick--received rave evaluations. Because of the interest in instituting peer mediation programs and teaching people how to successfully negotiate resolutions to conflicts, AWPHD will be exploring whether group training programs in peer mediation and negotiation techniques could be offered to members at their facilities.

Be sure your district participates in the annual hospital work force survey conducted by the Health Work Force Institute at the Washington State Hospital Association. This is the fifth year of the survey, which has been an important tool in increasing funding for health care training and education programs by more than $30 million since its inception. Both the State of Washington and local colleges use the survey data to determine whether programs need to be expanded, shrunk or eliminated.

Information on the survey, which will be conducted online, will be emailed to your Human Resources Director next week. If you or your HR director has questions, contact Ed Phippen at edp@wsha.org or (206) 216-2552.

PEOPLE AND PLACES

Last week, the Washington Rural Health Association honored Dr. James W. Lamberton as its 2006 Outstanding Rural Health Practitioner at the Northwest Regional Rural Health Conference. A North Central Washington orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Lamberton performs surgeries and consults for the residents of Okanogan-Douglas County PHD No. 1 (Brewster), Okanogan County PHD No. 3 (Omak), Okanogan County PHD No. 4 (Tonasket), Ferry County PHD No. 1 (Republic) and Douglas, Grant, Lincoln and Okanogan Counties PHD No. 6 (Grand Coulee).

Governor Chris Gregoire recently appointed Sharon Cox, the CEO at Klickitat Valley Health Services in Goldendale (Klickitat County PHD No. 1), to the state's Emergency Medical Services (EMS)/trauma care Steering Committee. The Committee is involved in shaping the state's EMS and Trauma Care systems and Sharon invites AWPHD members who have questions or concerns about these important medical services areas to contact her at (509) 773-4022 or scox@kvhs.net.

Ocean Beach Hospital (Public Healthcare Services District No. 3 of Pacific County) was just awarded a $608,000 Community Development Block Grant to remodel its inpatient care wing.

Columbia County Health System (Columbia County PHD No. 1) will be closing its Booker Adult Family Home by the end of May. This closure marks the end of PHD-operated adult family homes in Washington State.

NETWORK NEWS

Rural Healthcare Quality Network (RHQN)

After Dr. Stagaman's talk, participants should be able to:

• Understand the difference between heart failure as a symptomatic disorder and a progressive disorder.
• Understand the concept of remodeling.
• Be able to explain the role of various drugs in modification of chronic heart failure progression.

For more information contact Brad Vollegraaf at bradv@awphd.org or (206) 216-2550.

UPCOMING EVENTS

WSHA TLC Advisory Committee
April 5 - 8:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

WSHA Safe Table Learning Collaborative
April 6 - 9:00 am • DoubleTree Hotel Seattle Airport, Seattle
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

RHQN Board Meeting
April 6 - 10:00 am • Conference Call
Contact: Brad Vollegraaf (206)216-2550

WSHA Rural Hospital Committee
April 14 - 10:00 am • SeaTac Hilton Hotel, Seattle
Contact: Melissa Waddell (206)216-2510

WSHA Public Policy Advisory Committee
April 19 - 10:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Melissa Waddell (206)216-2510

WSHA Executive Committee
April 21 - 10:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Lisa Rusk (206)577-1852

PHD & WA Workers' Compensation Board Meeting
April 24 - 9:00 am • Radisson Gateway Seattle Airport Hotel, Seattle
Contact: Anita Badri (206)216-2553

WSHA Public Policy Committee
April 28 - 10:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Melissa Waddell (206)216-2510

AWPHD Board Retreat
May 2 - 1:00 pm • Cave B Inn at SageCliff, Quincy
Contact: Beionka Moore (206)216-2530

AWPHD Administrator Only Retreat
May 2-4 • Cave B Inn at SageCliffe, Quincy
Contact: Beionka Moore (206)216-2530

RHQN Board Meeting
May 10 - 10:00 am • Conference Call
Contact: Brad Vollegraaf (206)216-2550

WSHA Hospital Governing Board Committee
May 10 - 11:00 am • WSHA Offices , Seattle
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

WSHA Hospital Governing Board Committee
May 11 - 8:00 am • Homewood Suites, Seattle
Contact: Angela Segerra (206)216-2539

WSHA Strategic Planning Committee
May 11 - 10:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Lisa Rusk (206)577-1852

WSHA Board
May 12 - 9:00 am • WSHA Offices, Seattle
Contact: Lisa Rusk (206)577-1852

The deadline for the next In Focus is Friday, April 21st. Send articles or information to Dick Goldsmith (richardg@awphd.org, Fax: (206)577-1897, 300 Elliott Avenue West, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98119-4118).

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