Western Mass Emergency
Medical Services Committee, Inc.
Meeting:
Executive Committee
Date: February 7, 2002
Place: McCallum Building Living Room, CDH,
Northampton
Presiding: Robert Hopkins
Called
to Order: 10:08 a.m.
Adjourned: 11:48 a.m.
Attendance:
Present - Brian Andrews, Ray Conway, Mary Cushman, Dan Harrington, Robert Hopkins and Dana Johnson
Present by Proxy – Linda Moriarty and Jeff Rawson
Excused – Steve Manchino
Absent – Dave Keefe
Guests - Dawn Josefski
Conflict of Interest Statement: The president opened the meeting with a conflict of interest statement. No one present had any conflicts to divulge for any items on the agenda.
Minutes: A motion was made to accept minutes as written. This was seconded and approved unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
WMEMS
Job Descriptions:
Discussion –
Members
had a chance to review the revised job descriptions, draft 1/26/02, and after
lengthy discussions the following changes are noted:
Executive
Director:
Motion made by Mr. Johnson to amend the Regional EMS Council Executive Director position description under education to reflect that EMT certification is required. Seconded by Mr. Andrews. Approved unanimously.
Motion made by Ms. Cushman that if there are references made to interpersonal skills that they be applicable to all positions. All job descriptions should have strong interpersonal skills added. Seconded by Mr. Andrews. Approved unanimously.
There was a discussion regarding the format that the job descriptions are currently in. Mr. Andrews stated that this format does not reflect the current industry standard description. The issues of exempt/non-exempt employee, physical job functions, mental aptitude required and work capacity all need to be addressed in each description and now is the perfect time to revise. Mr. Andrews stated that there isn’t problems with job description content just the format. Mr. Johnson suggested that Mr. Andrews share his template. Mr. Johnson made a motion to put the job descriptions into a template. Seconded by Ms. Cushman. Approved unanimously.
Mr. Harrington made a motion to accept the content of the Executive Director’s job description as amended. Seconded by Ms. Cushman. Approved unanimously.
Executive Assistant
There
was a discussion about the actual job title and qualifications. Dr. Conway
recommended that computer literacy and good organizational skill be required.
Mr. Harrington made a motion to change the job title from Executive
Assistant to Administrative Assistant and for the description to reflect
the requirement of computer literacy and good organizational skills.
Motion seconded and approved unanimously.
Mr. Andrews recommended that this position be looked at more closely. There was some discussion about what the job duties should be. Mr. Harrington suggested the title of Office Assistant. Mr. Andrews requested that this description be tabled until he can research and come up with an appropriate title and description of duties.
Motion to accept changes as first draft contingent upon the return next month with the submitted changes and the qualifications, experience and education. Approved unanimously.
Action – Changes to be made to
current job descriptions
Mr. Andrews to email new job description
template to the office
Mr. Andrews to research job description and title for current Clerk/Receptionist position and get back to the committee with a recommendation.
WMEMS
Personnel Policies:
Discussion –
Each
item in the personnel policy was discussed:
-
Holidays:
leave as is
-
Bereavement:
leave as is with the Executive Director to ensure that interpretation of
immediate family is followed.
-
Leave
of Absence: leave as is
-
Health
Insurance: leave as is
-
Dental
Insurance: leave as is
-
Short
Term Disability: leave as is (but have 1/8/26 defined better)
-
Life
Insurance: Ms. Cushman would like it better defined. Also a question was raised
as to whether $25,000 per person was enough or should it be changed to $50,000
per person. (the office to get a quote from the carrier on cost difference).
-
Pension
Plan: leave as is (Mr. Andrews voiced a concern that the employees need to be
notified once a year of the open enrollment/change of amount period).
-
Professional
Development Funds: Ms. Cushman raised the concern that perhaps $2500 is not
enough. There was then a brief discussion about the upcoming budget submission
and the finance committee would like to see a list of money spent on
professional development in the past year so they can determine if it is
sufficient or needs to be increased. The finance committee will work with Ms.
Moriarty on the proposed budget. Ms. Cushman sees the job of the executive
committee as a more proactive planning role instead of operating in crisis
mode. It was decided to keep professional development at $2500. This issue was
later revisited in regards to office staff and conferences. The executive
director should continue to be allowed to determine if conferences meet the
business enhancement criteria and have their time paid or expenses covered and
the employee takes time off while there.
-
Mileage
Reimbursement: leave as is
-
Staff
Car: substitute “Finance Committee” for non-user Board member to review
log data.
-
Salary
Review: change Executive Assistant to Administrative Assistant to reflect job
title change. Mr. Andrews will supply the office with a revamped evaluation
tool.
-
Annual
Leave: There was a very lengthy discussion about exempt/non-exempt employees;
salaried versus hourly and the incorrect way that Ms. Josefski was applying the
annual leave formula. Mr. Andrews stated that the annual leave policy doesn’t
work as it is currently being applied. He suggested that individuals should be
allowed to carry over a maximum of 80 hours from one year to the next but never
more than 80 hours can be carried over. There was also a discussion about the
current office practice of accruing “comp time” or more correctly schedule
adjustment time. The discussion returned to professional development. Mr.
Hopkins made the decision that annual leave issues to be referred to the
finance committee for further investigation.
-
Termination:
leave as is
-
Advertising
for Positions: leave as is
Action – Ms. Josefski to
get clarification on 1/8/26 STD benefit and request additional cost to increase life insurance to $50 k
Ms. Josefski to make the noted change to the wording in the staff car item
Ms. Josefski to provide the finance
committee with all necessary paperwork
The finance committee will meet and further investigate
the annual leave policy
Worker/Victim
Relief Fund:
Discussion –
Ms. Josefski reported that NAEMT is donating 100% of monies collected to the NYC EMS victims. The Ambulance Association never returned our phone calls. Ms. Cushman made a motion to have all the money sent to NAEMT. Motion seconded and approved unanimously.
Action – The office to send a check to NAEMT.
OEMS
Public Hearing:
Discussion –
The
public hearing has been cancelled and no new date has been set as of today.
Action – None at this time.
Annual
Meeting Guest Speaker:
Discussion –
Mr.
Andrews investigated having the ex-police commissioner of NYC be our speaker
but his fee is $35,000 plus expenses. Mr. Harrington made his annual nomination
that Dr. Conway be the guest speaker. No decision was made.
Action – Continue to research a
guest speaker.
Legislative
Breakfast:
Discussion –
Ms.
Josefski reported that Ms. Moriarty had spoken with several legislators and
their thought was to plan a breakfast on a Friday early in the year. It is too
busy now for the legislators and we would get better attendance if we planned
an event for next January. Mr. Andrews has his electronic device set to remind
him to have this event planning an agenda item for the November meeting.
Action – Legislative
Breakfast to be placed as an agenda item for the November meeting.
Decision to be announced at
the Regional Council meeting.
Next
Meeting:
The
next meeting will be held on March 7, 2002 at 10:00 am. in the McCallum
Building Living Room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
Adjourn: At 11:48 a.m. a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. This
motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Dawn Josefski,
Recorder