New Jersey State Affiliate Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 American College Of Nurse Midwives New Jersey State Affiliate Meeting Minutes June 27, 2012 Location: University Medical Center of Princeton 1 Plainsboro Road Plainsboro, New Jersey Attendance: 1. Louise Aucott 2. Georgia Blair 3. Patricia Brown 4. Patricia Cassaro 5. Dawn Durain 6. Grace Fimbell 7. Stephanie Ippolito 8. Yelena Laber 9. Jenny Lee 10. Barbara B. Lutz 11. Donna Mangione 12. Kathryn McElroy 13. Noreen McManus 14. Ursula Miguel 15. Lonnie Morris 16. Kristen Orlofski 17. Elizabeth Ottoson 18. Asha Proctor 19. Barbara Reale 20. Pamela Rosser 21. Rachel Siegel 22. Courtney Slaton 23. Tova F. Smolensky 24. Allison Stinson 25. Kristina Trombly 26. Patricia Whyte Presentation: Title: Delayed Cord Clamping: Its effects on neonatal and maternal well-being Presenter: Mamie Guidera, MSN, CNM Sponsor: Princeton Midwifery

2 Legislative Report: Thea Chrupcala, Lobbyist Insight Consulting Services Thea Chrupcala was unable to attend this meeting. She submitted her legislative update to Lonnie, who read the report to those in attendance 1. Trenton activity revolves around the state budget right now. Both houses passed their respective budget bills on Monday, sending it to the Governor s desk. He has until Saturday to either sign it or veto it. He can also choose to veto parts of it. Governor Christie has been vocal about not supporting the current version as it was crafted by the Democrats. He has been pushing for an income tax credit that his opponents do not support. They ve attempted a different version of a credit through property taxes. Another issue they are working on is a return of funding for women s health services and family planning services. This is the funding that has been cut the past two years. Consequently, with the Governor s history, it s likely he won t approve that. 2. Our fundraiser for Senator Menendez looks to be a great opportunity to meet him and discuss his support for the privileging legislation. We need to show him the strength of midwifery in New Jersey and how important this bill is for the profession. It would be great to have as many members of the affiliate attend as possible. Please consider joining us Friday night to show support. 3. At the last meeting we briefly discussed looking at where midwifery students are going after graduation. If you have students working with you, it would be helpful if you could let us know if they are planning to stay in state or leave. We d like to compile some type of data to show where they are going. 4. We ve been working to get a meeting with Senator Weinberg to discuss, among other things, the discrepancy in reimbursement issue. One of the big problems is with Amerigroup. Lonnie s been trying to get answers from her representative but hasn t heard back from her. We ll be pushing to go to the next level of representation. 5. On the issue of CMs within hospitals, our letter to the hospital licensing division within the Department of Health is being reviewed by several of my contacts to ensure it will have the proper affect. I expect to have their assistance with getting it to Mr. Calabria, as well as the appropriate people within the Department. I also intend to share it with the Commissioner.

3 President s Report: Lonnie Morris, CNM, ND Lonnie called this meeting to session at 7:38 PM. ACNM National Convention, Long Beach, California: o Lonnie announced that she just returned from convention that took place in Long Beach, California the first week of June. She spoke of how wonderful it was. o As people present announced: Lonnie won the prestigious Distinguished Service Award at convention. Many in the room congratulated her. Lonnie declared it as an awesome experience. She thanked everyone, and told us that she is still in shock over it all. ACNM NJ Affiliate Election: o The next NJ Affiliate election is due to take place in the spring. o Lonnie informed/reminded the Affiliate that her term is almost up. o She told the Nominating Committee that they have work to do. o Candidates for her position must be nominated. o These are the positions up for this election: 1. President 2. Treasurer 3. Nominating Committee (two) 4. Corresponding Secretary 5. There are several committees that need members. o The positions NOT up for reelection are: 1. Vice President 2. Recording Secretary 3. Nominating Committee (one) o All positions last a term of three years. They used to only last two years. Some people take their position for two terms. o Lonnie expressed that she can t believe that it has been almost 6 years! o We have done a lot in six years and we have come a long way a real long way. But we still have more to go for the future, and we need everyone s help. o The affiliate has a lot of young people. Lonnie encouraged them to get involved and help out. She stressed that this is about our profession s future.

4 Senator Menendez Fundraiser: o This Friday night, at 7 PM, we will be having a fundraising event for the Senator Menendez s campaign. o There have been several s circulating containing all the details. o Menendez will be coming to one of Lonnie s collaborative physician s house. o Dr. Andrew Garber, a perinatologist, is hosting the event at his home. o Lonnie told us how she is in an interesting situation because her husband is a staunch conservative and I could not have this event at my home. o Lonnie said: I understand and I live with a conservative. But I think that this issue is so important for us midwives that I am there. o Menendez happens to be the Chairperson of the Senate s Finance Committee. o This committee controls all the money coming out of the Senate. o Menendez is very supportive of midwifery. o Menendez cosponsored the Equal Reimbursement Bill, which passed; forcing Medicare to pay midwives the same rate as physicians. Medicare is the blue standard. This means that all the insurances look at the Medicare rates and follow suite, therefore paying midwifes the same rate as the physicians. o Menendez has said that if reelected he will support and cosponsor the Privileging Bill, which is due to come out this fall, from the ACNM. o This Privileging Bill has two parts: First, the Privileging Bill says is that if a midwife applies for privileges at a hospital, the hospital has to respond back to that midwife. In other words, the government can t force the hospital to give anyone privileges at their institution, but they can force the hospital to declare why they won t grant someone those privileges. This then leaves the midwife with a course of action if denied. If the hospital says: We don t like your kind or we are not letting your kind into our hospital, etc the midwife then has legal recourse against the hospital to say why won t you let me in? That is not legal I am entitled to gainful employment, etc. The second part of the Bill is as follows: If a hospital does have midwives privileged, they would be equal members of the staff. This would allow midwives to have due process so that physicians can t decide that they no longer want midwives anymore, or that they no longer wish to back midwives and at their discretion say good bye and suddenly those midwives are out of work.

5 You can t serve on committees in many hospitals in the state, and all over the country. So, even though a hospital staffs midwives, they can t serve on committees. They are treated as second class citizens. This Bill would make midwives first class citizens. o Keep in mind that if this Bill passed, it would not only affect midwives. o Nurse Practitioners, for example, would also benefit. o This Bill would have an impact on several organizations and many of them have signed on like: American Nurses Association National League of Nursing American Congress of Nurse Practitioners. o ACNM is supporting the Affiliate in doing this fundraiser for Senator Menendez and supporting him in his journey to put forward this bill. o ACNM has given us $2000 to present to the Senator. o Thea Chrupcala and I have been working endlessly on this and trying to get people to come. o Some people we expect to be attending the event include: Senator Loretta Weinberg, Connie Wagner, a Bergen County Congress Woman, Chosen Freeholders of Bergen County, Andrew Garber, and Andrew Garber s cousin, who happens to be the Governor of Connecticut. o We have a lot of good people coming. o Lonnie encouraged all to attend. o Lonnie is imploring everyone to participate somehow; if you cannot attend, please write a check because we need the help. o We are trying to raise enough money to get to the $10,000 mark. o Lonnie said that she making a plea for checks tonight. o If you can t come to the event on Friday night, please show your support tonight by giving a donation towards the cause. o Please give as much as you can afford. o No amount too small. o Please make your checks out to Menendez For Senate. o Lonnie informed the group that she will carry this money to the fundraiser.

6 o On a final note, Lonnie wanted to let the Affiliate know that she is aware that there are some of us who are upset about this campaign and fundraiser. o Lonnie informed us that she received some poison pen letters. o Lonnie understands that there are midwives in our group that do not believe in abortion and/or do not believe in birth control. Senator Menendez supports birth control. He supports abortion too. o Lonnie states that she can only respect their opinions and she does. o However Lonnie stresses, that this is a very important journey because this Bill can put midwives on the map going forward and she feels that is enough said. Reimbursement Issues: o We have been working to get a meeting with Senator Weinberg, to discuss discrepancy in reimbursement issues. o Apparently, Amerigroup is paying midwives 1/3 of what they are paying the physicians. o This has a major impact on midwives. o Lonnie explained for example, if you are in a clinic situation, and they don t pay you adequately, your services become unnecessary. Your employer doesn t get enough reimbursement from your service; they have no reason to employ you. o The situation here in New Jersey is actually what we are finding around the country. o We are hoping to address this head on. o Lonnie states that she has made many calls to the Amerigroup Rep. She has not returned any of my calls. o Lonnie informed us that she is writing a letter, as our president, to the Insurance Commission with a complaint that Amerigroup is not following federal regulation by not reimbursing midwives with an equal amount to what they are reimbursing the physicians. o As for Aetna, we are really not getting anywhere. o Aetna does not want to reimburse for homebirth. o The only thing that will work with Aetna is to get people to file complaints. o If people with valid health insurance coverage cannot get reimbursed by their insurance carrier for care received by a licensed provider, regardless of where their birth took place, and they write letters of complaint - that is the only way the Insurance Commission will pay mind. o Lonnie confirmed that she did send out the letter that Louise gave her in April intended for the Clinical Director of Aetna. But, there has been no response received. o Lonnie stressed that this is a perfect example of why we need this Privileging Bill to pass they will HAVE to respond.

7 CM Hospital Privileging: o Lonnie says that we continue to work on the CM component of our issues. o Lonnie reports that she has met with the State Health Department one time regarding this issue. o Lonnie and the committee will continue to meet with them in attempts to address the issue of not accepting and privileging CMs within the hospitals of N.J. Treasurer s Report: Molly V. Walker, CNM Molly Walker could not attend this meeting. Please the report she submitted. It is attached at the end of the minutes. Attendee Comments: CME Credit o Gee Gee Blair will be sending each person that signed today s roster a certificate of attendance for today s talk Delayed Cord Clamping: Its effects on neonatal and maternal well-being. o If you don t receive your certificate, please contact her and she will get it to you. ACNM NJ Affiliate Election o Current members of the Nominating Committee lead this discussion. o The committee needs members to volunteer for positions interested in. o Do this by submitting a bio. To the committee. o This time the election will be much easier because it will be done electronically. Position Descriptions: o Nominating Committee: This position is going to be much easier than it was in the past. In the past the committee has to manually create the ballots, organize their production, and then mail them out to the members. Many moons ago, we even had to address envelopes by hand. We thought it got easier when labels came out! Now everything will be done electronically so it will be so much easier. o Treasurer: This position will also be a lot easier than in the past because now National ACNM collects dues for all affiliates.

8 o Corresponding Secretary: Is responsible for informing the Affiliate membership. This is done by sending out s to the affiliate member list. s include announcements for upcoming meetings or events and any updates that the affiliate members need to be informed about. The Corresponding Secretary is also responsible for sending out sympathy cards. Discussion regarding the election: o Barbara Lutz: Does Molly wish to continue in this position? o : No she does not. She has been doing it for quite some time now. o Barbara Lutz: Does she want to run for something else? o : Barbara, does this mean you wish to run for this position? o Tova Smolensky: Barbara already volunteered for something at our last meeting. She is our Membership Chairperson. o Barbara Lutz: said that she could be the Corresponding secretary. o : Do we have anyone else for Corresponding secretary so that we can vote? o Ursula Miguel: I nominate Grace Fimbell for the position of our future president. Grace is a savvy midwife and extremely knowledgeable. She knows the scene in New Jersey, and the scene in New York. She knows so many midwives. o Lonnie Morris: I second that motion. A matter of fact, I am willing to do what ACNM national does and create a President Elect and have a transitional period. o GraceFimbell: I really appreciate this. Thank you, but I already spoke to Lonnie about this, one on one. My mom is at the end her life with Alzheimer s disease and I have a lot of responsibility. Every minute I am not working, I am with her. I just don t think I could give it my all. But thank you all.. o Lonnie Morris: Lonnie asked Louise Aucott if she could take on the position of President. o Louise Aucott: I am very flattered that you asked me but I don t think that this is the right time for me to start something new. I am just managing I am dealing with some health related matters. I can t do it at this time. But, thank you. o Lonnie Morris: OK well, we need to get some youngsters here. We need someone to step up. o Ursula Miguel: I would like to make another nomination: Barbara Reale. o Lonnie Morris: That would be a great, great thing Barbara. We really need somebody right now.

9 o Barbara Reale: Oh my, thank you! No, I am sorry, I can t do it right now...maybe in a couple more years. o : Then can you do secretary? o Barbara Reale: No sorry, I can t do anything right now. o : Can you do secretary?...how about Ursula? Since she is nominating everybody! o Lonnie Morris: OK, let us circulate and and try to get somebody. o Lonnie Morris: How about Dawn, are you up for doing it again? o Dawn Durain: Been there, done that. Not up for it again. Lots of fun I highly encourage you to do it. o : Dawn, will you be on the nominating committee? o Dawn Durain: Yes, I will be on the nominating committee. o : OK, got you for something! Thank you. o Lonnie Morris: I wonder if Roxy or Lisa Letterer would want to run for office. I will give them a call. o Lonnie Morris: Let us move on. We need a membership chair person. A membership chair person would access the ACNM site and maintain membership matters. o Tova Smolensky: Barbara Lutz has already agreed to that position. She must have executive board status so she may access the WEB site. You asked me to make sure to include that information in April s minutes. o Lonnie Morris: I wasn t sure that Barbara actually took the position because she didn t go to the meeting. So who is doing the WEB chair? We need someone young for that job. o Tova Smolensky: It is also on the minutes. There were three positions. All three were filled. Jennifer Barraclough agreed to assume the position of the WEB Chairperson. Noreen McManus agreed to assume the position of Memorial Chairperson. Lonnie: The ACNM WEB site is a powerful tool. Coupled with our WEB site we can have a lot of communication, we can have a list serve, and we can be communicating with one another. Our WEB site needs work. Please get me Jennifer s address so I can get her started. The WEB site needs updating. It needs information added to it.

10 Senator Menendez Fundraiser o Several members in attendance stated that they were planning to attend Friday night s fundraising event. o Gee Gee Blair: I want to say that Lonnie has put this all together herself without any help from the chapter. The affiliate has done nothing to help raise money to do anything political. We have Louise on the Liaison Committee, but otherwise we have no Chapter/Affiliate committee related to politics. As a group, we have been very lax. So please support Lonnie after all she has done to put this together. Please support all her effort. Please show her your support. o Tova Smolensky: A Bill such as this one is near and dear to my heart. I really want to see it succeed. I hope that in the future, regions where types of obstetrical care choices are currently limited, will suddenly offer women more obstetrical care options. Women that yearned for midwifery care, that had limited or no access will suddenly have access. Hospitals are businesses. They are influenced by dollars. Historically, why are physicians treated by hospitals the way they are; with private parking spots, food-filled lounges, every beck and call answered to, etc...? Because if the physician continues to bring patients to that hospital, the hospital will make more, and more money. So, let s keep the physician happy so that process continues uninterrupted. It is all business. My vision for us midwives is that once we gain access into the hospitals, women who seek our services will utilize them more and more. Hospitals will turn a leaf because midwives will also be recognized as money-making staff members within these institutions. We will bring them monetary value. Hospitals are businesses, so we will be welcomed we will be sought by them. o Lonnie Morris then told us that she went into the CEO of her hospital just today, with her student, to ask him for support for the Senator Menendez fundraiser. Lonnie explained to the CEO that Menendez supports hospitals, etc Lonnie says that in the end, she walked out of there with a monetary commitment, a promise to have two CEOs from the hospital to attend the fundraiser, and three salary lines for three new midwives. The Hospital is opening up this company that bought Mountainside Hospital and Pascack Valley, where I used to be. They are looking for me to go there and start another service because the service that I have at Mountainside has been so successful. Administration wants to know if I could replicate it there. So, not only was I able to raise a thousand or two for the fundraiser, I was also able to raise three salary lines. This is what we have to do to make sure that we go on. What impresses them even more is when you know people like Loretta Weinberg, because then they want you to get them in contact with them. That is how these hospitals work. All they know and all they see are numbers. Hospitals are willing to state positions, and do all sorts of things but only if you bring money into them. So, we have to work towards this goal but the only way we can do this is with everyone s help.

11 Update: Midwifery Liaison Committee State Board Of Medical Examiners o Louise Aucott reports that the Midwifery Liaison Committee was scheduled to meet last Monday. That meeting was cancelled. There will be another meeting in August. o Louise also reported that there has been no progress with the changing of regulations regarding the mandatory need to have a physician s name on a midwife s prescription blank. We are still pushing for this change. Louise thinks that there had been a letter sent out regarding this matter. Louise says that she will make sure that it s on the agenda for the upcoming meeting. o Louise told the Affiliate that there have been some issues within the committee because Maria Bertorelli, who was the secretary and was handling all the midwifery issues lost her job at the state. She was a temporary employee and she was laid off. Bill Roeder has been acting as the executive chairman of the committee and he is doing a great job. However, getting items on the agenda has not been so easy, but we are still rolling along. o Midwifery Liaison Committee is as follows: Karen Criss, C.N.M. Chair Louise Aucott, C.N.M. Chris Danser, C.N.M. Karen Shields, C.N.M. Bevin Cahill, C.M. CM Representative Dina Aurichio, C.P.M. CPM Representative o All terms lasts for three years. o If interested in serving a term on this committee, submit your resume to the committee for review. New Business > Future Meetings: o Lonnie Morris reported that ProMutual, which is now Coverys, is charging approximately $8000 per year for midwives to have malpractice insurance. It is now open in 5 states. (NY, NJ, DE, PA, RI) They have offered to run an inservice education program for the midwives. By attending, we would receive CEUs. In addition, and most importantly, we would receive a 10% discount on our already super low insurance premiums. $800 to go to a meeting? I m on!... I would love to see this program come about!! o Lonnie mentioned that this was discussed at the Regional ACNM meeting and there was interest from some of the other states. Maybe they would do it twice? o Lonnie agreed and added that they are looking for our business they are looking for more midwives! o Lonnie reminded us how she remembers when I was on Contemporary Insurance. I was paying over 30K for my malpractice insurance and now I m only paying 8K!! It is unbelievable how great these rates are!

12 o Stephanie Ippolito from Capital Health spoke on behalf of all the Capital Health people present. o Capital Health offered to host the next meeting. o There was a long discussion over when this meeting would take place. o No date was settled on after much debate. There was much disagreement. o There were some who suggested having an extra meeting in the summer. o There were many who wanted to skip September due to the busy Jewish High Holiday Season. o In the end, the following was settled on: Lonnie was to provide Stephanie with Michael Henry of ProMutual's contact information and vice versa. Michael and Stephanie were then supposed to contact each other and figure out what worked out between both parties schedules' pending the meeting was to be held on a date that would be no where's near the High Holidays. o Also, the group settled on that the event would take place on a weekend, since we were expecting midwives to come from far out. o Lonnie again reminded us that we need to have dates lined up for all our meetings for the upcoming year. We need to have dates, and places to have each meeting. o Lonnie offered to have one in north Jersey if interested. o Lonnie states that she likes having affiliate meetings at restaurants because more people seem to attend. People just come out of the woodwork when it s in a nice restaurant! o Lonnie suggested scheduling one more central to everyone, but getting a drug company to sponsor it at a restaurant. o A member suggested that this sort of happening is slowly becoming extinct. It is getting harder and harder for these reps to sponsor our dinner meetings. They won t be hosting our dinners much longer. Soon hosting/paying for such events will be against OSHA rules, or another similar authority. They simply will not be allowed to. o Lonnie suggested that we can also get the labs to sponsor our meetings, if they want us to use them. And they do want us to send our patients to their labs. o We all reminisced about last year s meeting at Ruth Chris and how nice it was. Lonnie informed us that she has been doing the sponsor s blood test, the Materna 21. You know, one Materna 21 would pay for all of our dinners! She (the sponsor) would do another one, in the hopes that we will all start referring more of our patients to that laboratory to have the Materna 21 test done. The Materna 21 is 99% effective.

13 o Dawn Durain discussed the midwives of Pennsylvania and having a joint meeting. Dawn said that they would likely welcome being invited to one of our meetings. They haven t come together in a long time because they have been so busy and caught up in what is happening with the bill in Harrisburg. They would enjoy an opportunity to come together. They need to be informed, and preferably soon. They have a list serve. I can certainly get it out there; it s not a problem. Dawn stated that she didn t know if they would have interest in this meeting particularly. Lonnie said why wouldn t they? They would get cheaper malpractice insurance. Dawn questioned if Coverys would write for midwives licensed in Pennsylvania. Lonnie confirmed that they wrote for 5 states: NJ, NY, PA, DE, and RI. New Business > Barbara Reale Update: o Barbara Reale has just been inducted as a Fellow of the ACNM. o All present applauded and congratulated her. o Barbara is on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania s Midwifery Program. o She is also in private practice up in Flemington at All Women s Health Care, out of Hunterdon Medical Center, which is baby friendly. o Barbara thanked everyone and told us how her group struggled with all the issues we had been discussing throughout the meeting. New Business > Gee Gee Blair Update: o Gee Gee Blair, our Vice President was at Long Beach, California s recent National Convention. o At convention, Gee Gee became the Region II Ongoing Group Representative. o Many applauded and congratulated Gee Gee. o Lonnie explained to us how Gee Gee has done all sorts of birth, including homebirth. o Lonnie also stated that Gee Gee is a fabulous midwife and one of our most wonderful supporters. o Gee Gee then explained that the purpose of the Ongoing Group is to honor and / or collect history on retired midwives or Granny Midwives. o Gee Gee stated that if you know anyone in your region that you would recommend for an interview, the group is collecting these histories that will be kept in the national office. o There will likely be an education session or presentation that would present some of these histories at each national convention. o Gee Gee said that she will send out an with more details.

14 o Dawn Durain wanted to add information about the Ongoing Project discussed. o Dawn told us that that it was added to the Professional Issues class at Penn for last year s students. o There were probably about 20 midwives who were interviewed. o It is really a lovely link to our history. o The pieces that the students and younger midwives write up about the older midwives just bring you to tears. They are just beautiful. It is really an appreciated moment by both generations of midwives. It is very special. New Business > Miscellaneous: Dawn Durain made a motion that we all introduce ourselves to each other, since many of us don t know each other. Dawn suggested that this may help us work together a bit better. All agreed this was a great idea. Lonnie started and we continued around the room until each midwife had a turn. Lonnie closed by telling us a personal story of how her friend/colleague Betsy Hide, from Yale, reminded her on her Face Book page about her testimony at a house subcommittee hearing for Gore about the limitation of midwifery practice by physicians and how far we have come since That was a time when we were fighting to survive, and for the right to practice. Only 1% of babies were being delivered by nurse midwives now we are up to 7 or 8%! We are growing! Look at the NY Times article that just came out: It s cheap to have a midwife. Lonnie said that she is trying to excite us and make us realize that we really are great! Lonnie made a motion to call the meeting to close at 8:32 PM. o All in attendance agreed unanimously. Peer Review Committee: There is nothing new to report. Fundraisers: See detailed discussions above. Planned Meetings: Please see detailed discussion above. Minutes respectfully submitted by Tova Smolensky, Recording Secretary with sincerest apologies for its very lengthy and embarrassing delay.

15 Treasurer s Report NJ Affiliate of ACNM Business Premium Money Market Account Beginning Balance $4, Interest ( 2 month) $0.37 -Transfer from CD 0 -Transfer to Checking account 0 Ending Balance $4, Business Plus Premium Checking Account Beginning Balance 3/1/12 $5, Transfer from Money Market $0 -Dues by check $.00 -Dues through ACNM (May and June) $ misc $0.00 Total Deposits $ Disbursements -Lobbyist monthly fee (2 months May and June, 2012) ($1,500.00) -Reimbursement Martin Eitel for mailings 0 -Post office CEU appl ($6.60) -Bank fee (2 $3.00) ($6.00) -ACNM CEU fee ($50.00) -NJ Register subscription 0 -Web Mistress biannual fee.00 -Donation to Menendeez Senate campaign ($500.00) Total Disbursements ($ ) Ending balance 4/26/2012 $4, PNC Bank % APR, matures 12/11/2012 $6, CD 2425@ PNC Bank % APR, Matures 8/26/2012 $6, Total Assets $ 22, Interest from CD 1589 = $37.60, CD 2425 = $35.67 TAX NOTE: All of our state Affiliate dues at this point go toward paying our lobbyist and are therefore not tax deductable. ACNM deposits membership dues on ~ 20 th of each month. All Membership dues go through ACNM. You cannot be a member of NJ Affiliate without being a member of ACNM. One can make a donation to the NJ Affiliate.