Healthcare Facilities Management Society of New Jersey, Inc.
Serving Healthcare Since 1949
*** General Membership Meeting***
Minutes to the Meeting of
April 20, 2006
President John DiGirolomo, CHFM, called the meeting to order on Thursday, April 20, 2006, at the Galloping Hill Inn, Union, New Jersey, commencing at 6:04 p.m. Our Sergeant at Arms, Mike DiPadova was not in attendance; therefore President Elect, Ben DiFranco initiated reciting The Pledge of Allegiance. There was a moment of silence observed for the men and women who are serving abroad. Self-introductions were made by all in attendance.
TOPICS OF DISCUSSION
SPONSOR
The sponsor for the evening's event was "Unimed & System Sales".
EDUCATIONAL SESSION TOPIC
Our presenter for the evening's education session was Joseph C. Hoose of Cool Systems. A copy of his presentation is attached hereto and made a part hereof.
DINNER BREAK AT 7:03 P.M.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
John DiGirolomo, CHFM reported that the new logo was approved 70%-30% in a vote by the membership. Thank you to Ben DiFranco for his hard work in getting this job done. A final proof will be generated and then pins will be made and distributed to the members. Stationary and brochures will be changed when the graphic is made available in jpeg format.
John DiGirolomo, CHFM, indicated that the next item for consideration by the membership will be the survey concerning the meeting format. Harry Segner of Ewing Cole will finalize the survey questions which will then be posted by our webmaster on the HFMSNJ website.
John also brought to the attention of the membership that the annual ASHE conference is July 9-12 in Boston. ASHE is presently 7000 members strong. ASHE provides members with advocacy and education relative to the careers of the health care management professional.
We are honored to have the Region 2 Representative, Joe Rawson in attendance tonight and he spoke to us about upcoming ASHE events.
PRESIDENT-ELECT'S REPORT
Ben DiFranco reminded everyone to keep the date open and to participate in this years "All Day Seminar" which will cover Electronic Statement of Conditions. This year's seminar will be sponsored by six vendors. There will be six sponsors present, each of which will contribute per exhibition table.
Ben indicated to everyone that there will be a "Regular Meeting" in November. Our annual Holiday Party will be held on Friday, December 8th.
Ben urged all HFMSNJ members to join ASHE. He also asked present ASHE members to verify that their membership is current.
SECRETARY'S REPORT
Rick Ciullo asked all committee chairs to submit their reports to him electronically at rdciullo@ashland.com.
REGIONAL REPORT
Joe Rawson, SASHE, presented the Slate of Officers FOR region 2. Two people within the region have been selected as candidates. They are John DiGirolomo, CHFM, and Dan Campbell, CHFM.
Joe Rawson indicated that two SASHE designations have been received this year within the region. They are Dan Campbell and John DiGirolomo. Six new CHFM designations have been earned within the region, although none were from the HFMSNJ Chapter. Joe Rawson urged the members of the HFMSNJ strive for CHFM. He indicated that the region and the local chapter will help you in any way that they can. The CHFM test can be taken at the Annual ASHE Conference in Boston, MA. Please sign up for the test as soon as possible inasmuch as there are only thirty positions available in Boston to take the CHFM. Joe also urged all those with the CHFM title to keep up with their CEU credits. Forty-five credits are required every 3 years. If one does not earn the required credits within the 3 year time frame, their CHFM designation will expire, requiring the individual having to sit for the test again. CEU credits can be maintained by attending the Annual ASHE Conference each year. Conference attendance accounts for about 15 CEU's.
Bill Anderson indicated that it would be best to refer to the ASHE website for the CHFM CEU requirements.
Joe Rawson urged the group to take advantage of ASHE's chapter websites. Please post upcoming conferences, events and trade shows on the web sight through ASHE's webmaster.
John DiGirolomo, CHFM, indicated that the ASHE campaign on damper testing was successful. There was a proposal to make damper testing an annual requirement, however this proposal was not widely accepted and eventually ASHE negotiated to change the test interval to every 6 years. The final compromise set the damper testing interval at 4 years, instead of the proposed every year.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Treasurer Robert Thompson, was absent, therefore no report was available at this meeting.
AD JOURNAL
Margaret Nesby needs people to submit art work for the next Ad Journal. Margaret urged Chapter Members to assist her in the ad journal compilation. If there are any questions relative to the Ad Journal, please contact Margaret at margaretnesby@truevalue.net .
Joe Rawson indicated that his chapter requires vendors to submit an Ad Journal fee with the annual membership fee. Joe suggested that we consider this approach for the HFMSNJ.
ADVOCACY
Robert Roop, P.E. reported that "Pull Station Testing" required by NFPA is much lower than the requirements by State of New Jersey. A letter was sent to the State, urging them to match the NFPA guidelines. A copy of this letter is to be posted on the HFMSNJ website.
ASHE
Ben DiFranco, CHFM urged everyone to visit the ASHE table and to consider becoming an ASHE Member.
MEMBERSHIP
Pete Applemann presented two new candidates for membership:
1. Brian Acres St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital
2. Bob Mulcahy St. Barnabas Medical Center
There was a motion to accept these candidates made by Bill Anderson. James Corueil seconded the motion and the members unanimously approved.
WEBSITE
Oscar Gonzalez, CHFM, solicited any suggestions for improvements to the website. All suggestions should be forwarded directly to Oscar.
NEWSLETTER
Mary Padgett reported that the first quarter Blue Line is out. She indicated that many new segments of the newsletter have been included in the latest edition. It includes such items as the promotion of Jim Corueil to the position of Director of Plant Operations at St Joseph's Hospital's Wayne Campus.
EAB
James Corueil reported that the Corzine Administration is seeking to institute a $50 per bed, per day tax for all hospitals in the State of New Jersey. It has been estimated that $430 million dollars in income would be generated by this tax. It has been reported that approximately $215 million of the dollars generated by the suggested tax, would go to the State General Fund. Jim urged everyone to vocalize their disapproval of this tax through the following websites: www.njha.com and www.njhadvocacy.com. The NJHA estimates that eleven hospitals will close if this tax is approved.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Frank Keller reported that Blue Jeans are desperately needed by the homeless community. The next Bridges Run will be Friday May 5th. Frank informed us that the typical Bridges Run schedule is NYC on Fridays; Newark, New Jersey on Saturdays, and Irvington, New Jersey on Sundays.
Frank Keller also reported on a program that would make a difference for homeless people. The program allows homeless people to utilize various YMCA facilities throughout NYC for the purposes of personal hygiene and counseling. The cost to sponsor a person is $75 a year.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION COMMITTEE
George Thomas, FASHE urged all in attendance to nominate HFMSNJ members for Regional Leader, Manager of the Year, or Special Recognition for services that go above and beyond our normal duties.
DOH UPDATES
Oscar Gonzalez reported that the DOH had recently inspected his facility with a crew of nine people. The group focused on locations that were sighted before. Over all, the impromptu inspection went well. The lead inspector wanted to view the old, abandoned Emergency Department to see if any devices (syringes, etc) were left behind.
GOLF COMMITTEE
Roger Ennis indicated that 20% of the Outing spots are already filled. Applications for the outing are coming in at a feverish pace. Roger suggested that we reserve the day for the 2007 HFMSNJ Golf Outing for the 1st Tuesday in June of 2007.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business to report on.
NEW BUSINESS
John DiGirolomo, CHFM, reported that ASHE had sent a Regulatory Advisory/Alert to all Joint Commission Surveyors with a clarification on Code 797. The code changes are related to RFI scores/ratings.
GOOD OF THE ORDER
Bill Savino reported that Nalco will perform an Energy Conservation Seminar at the Old Mill Inn/Grain House.
Frank Keller is now a grandfather. His daughter gave birth to a girl a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:55 P.M.