Health Services Professional Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 21 June 2011 Sheraton New Orleans Grand Ballroom A Welcome and Introductions CAPT Sheila Merriweather The meeting was called to order at 1550 CDT and a welcome was extended to the HS PAC by CAPT Sheila Merriweather. The meeting was conducted as part of the 2011 USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium Health Services Category Day activities. Roll Call A roll call was conducted and voting members stood to be recognized by members of the category. For this meeting a teleconference bridge was not offered so members not in attendance in person were counted as absent unless represented by an alternate. CDR Town was represented by LCDR Scott Klimp. General PAC members in attendance were not polled for the minutes. CAPT Merriweather announced that a quorum was present. HS PAC Voting Members Name Attendance Name Attendance CAPT Bill Wyeth Absent CDR Cecile Town Alternate CDR Todd Alspach Present CDR Iris Valentin-Bon Absent CDR Susan Bonfiglio Present LCDR Tracy Branch Present CDR Ali Danner Present LCDR Janet Cliatt Absent CDR Jean-Pierre DeBarros Absent LCDR Nicole Glines Present CDR Travis Fisher Present LCDR David Lau Present CDR Michelle Pelkey Absent LCDR Brett Maycock Present CDR Rhonda Plake Absent LCDR Raquel Peat Absent CDR Scott Salvatore Absent LCDR Morrisa Rice Present CDR Karen Sicard+ Present LCDR Joseph Shurina Present Ex-officio Members Name Role Attendance RADM Epi Elizondo CPO Present CAPT Sheila P. Merriweather Chair Present LCDR Todd Lennon Executive Secretary Present + Chair-elect Approval of April Minutes CAPT Merriweather noted that no corrections were received after distribution of the draft April meeting minutes. MOTION (CDR Bonfiglio) and second (LCDR Shurina) to approve the April 2011 minutes. (Passed unanimously via voice vote) HS PAC 21 JUN 2011 Meeting Minutes Page 1
CPO Report RADM Epi Elizondo RADM Elizondo expressed appreciation for all involved in planning Category Day and presenting excellent educational sessions. Thanks to the CPO support team and members of the PAC and PAGs who helped develop comprehensive edits to the appointment standards. Officers should check their readiness status in Direct Access when they return from the Symposium and ensure basic readiness. Thanks to officers who keep their readiness status current. The following three accomplishments occurred between July 2010 and December 2010: o Congratulations to the Public Health Professional Advisory Group (PHPAG), the newest PAG within the category. Thanks to all of the officers involved in the PAG development process and to the charter members of the PHPAG. o The category has recommended a Commissioned Corps Instruction for frocking. This o policy is pending the Surgeon General s approval. Thanks to LCDR Janet Cliatt and others for planning and everyone that participated in the change of command ceremony in October last year. Special thanks to RADM Michael Milner for helping to ensure a smooth transition and his continued support of the PAC. RADM Elizondo and CAPT Merriweather work with the Office of Commissioned Corps Operations as needed to resolve issues regarding the qualifying degrees of officer candidates. Continuing to work on the issue of social work licensure with regard to current officers and recent policy issuances. Continuing to work with RADM Clare Helminiak and a workgroup to resolve issues of special pays for certain clinical specialties within the category. The Senior Officers Advisory Group (SOAG) has been created as a pilot, ad hoc subcommittee for senior advisors to exchange information in the areas of mentoring, uniform etiquette, readiness, retirement and separation and other areas to support the full continuum of an officer s career. Once the program is piloted, the program will be shared with other PACs and eventually across the PHS. Thanks to all the senior officers that are working on this very important effort. HSOs are encouraged to look for opportunities to advance their careers. Subcommittee Reports Awards LCDR Joseph Shurina for CDR Cecile Town The subcommittee completed the process to review and award the category s three main awards. These awards were presented earlier during HSO Category Day activities. The subcommittee anticipates completing work on a process to streamline category awards processes by 1 August 2011. Career Development CDR Ali Danner Career counseling sessions were successfully conducted as part of the 2011 PHS Symposium activities. The subcommittee conducted several mentor (career counselor) training sessions led by LCDR Ken Monahan via teleconference prior to the PHS Symposium. The subcommittee led by LCDR Mike Garner successfully updated and implemented the HSO display booth for the PHS Symposium and rotated enthusiastic HSOs to staff the table. The 2012 promotion benchmarks were posted to the HSO website. HS PAC 21 JUN 2011 Meeting Minutes Page 2
Ongoing subcommittee projects include review of the HSO career web content for promotions, the COER, and career development. Communications LCDR Morrisa Rice The subcommittee sends weekly announcements to all HSOs and maintains the HSO website and the HSO section of www.usphs.gov. Permission was obtained from PHS leadership to establish an HSO Facebook presence. The deadline for submission of items for the weekly announcements is each Wednesday. Membership CDR Todd Alspach The subcommittee has been receiving voting member applications. The deadline is 30 June. Only complete applications will be considered for review. The subcommittee reviewed the applicant scoring sheet to ensure any necessary revisions to the process were made and committee members were using the current version. After the 30 June deadline has passed the applications will be distributed to the subcommittee and will be evaluated. The chair will engage the subcommittee prior to the August 2011 HS PAC meeting to review the applicant scoring results. Mentoring CDR Robin Hunter-Buskey for LCDR Raquel Peat CDR Hunter-Buskey briefly reviewed the subcommittee s 2010 accomplishments. Accomplishments in 2011 include Senior Officer Advisory Group development, outreach to senior officers, mentoring brochure development, and conversion of evaluation instrument to Survey Monkey. Ongoing projects include training and recruiting activities, SOP development, PAG coordination activities, and evaluation. All HSOs are encouraged to participate in the Mentoring Program either as a mentor or as a mentee. Policy CDR Susan Bonfiglio The subcommittee reviewed the PAC Chairs group s bylaws. The HS PAC Charter and Bylaws were submitted to CAPT Merriweather for review and appropriate action. The Resource Directory Workgroup has met weekly since April to accomplish a target completion date of August 2011. Readiness LCDR Brett Maycock The HS PAC goal for basic readiness is 96%, but the June 2011 readiness check is projected to be much lower than that. The Readiness Subcommittee continues to assist HSOs in meeting their basic readiness requirements via phone calls and e-mails on a quarterly basis. Recruitment and Retention LCDR Tracy Branch The subcommittee has updated the HSO Welcome Packet. The subcommittee will conduct a retention survey twice annually and is working on an exit interview for separating officers. HS PAC 21 JUN 2011 Meeting Minutes Page 3
Other activities include the development of an HSO applicant website where an FAQ and links will be available for review by individuals interested in commissioning and HSO applicants. Working on a discipline-specific brochure for recruiting. Ad Hoc Subcommittee Reports Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) CDR Christopher Duncan The SOP Subcommittee s charge is to complete and implement an HS PAC SOP by October 2011. The subcommittee conducted three one-hour conference call meetings. Members have modified the meeting frequency from once per month to twice per month in an attempt to meet the October 2011 deadline. The subcommittee reviewed and updated six of the nine sections of the SOP draft by means of comparing the 2009 SOP version to the 2010 version. Senior Officer Advisory Group (SOAG) CAPT Sheila Merriweather The SOAG is in its development phase right now and will be piloted in the HSO category by the end of this year. Billets CDR Karen Sicard The anticipated roll-out for new HS clinical billets is still September 2011. PAGs have worked hard to turn around the review of their discipline-specific billets. The release date for multidisciplinary billets has not been announced. AMSUS Update LCDR David Lau The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) annual meeting is planned for 6-10 November 2011 in San Antonio, TX. Planning for the USPHS Section meeting on 8 November is completed. The call for AMSUS awards has gone out with not much response. LCDR Lau encouraged officers to nominate deserving officers for AMSUS awards by 30 June. Planning is taking place for a 5K at AMSUS with USPHS sponsoring. COA/COF LCDR Joseph Shurina LCDR Shurina thanked the many Category Day planning committee members, including CDR Delia Jones-McHough, LCDR Tracy Branch, HS PAC leadership, PAG representatives, and team leads, for their hard work. COF Liaison Update LCDR Todd Lennon for LCDR Lynda Bishop Five HSO coins were sold during April-May 2011. Coins cost $10 each. Anyone interested in purchasing a coin may contact LCDR Lynda Bishop at LBishop@hrsa.gov or 301-594-6331. HS PAC 21 JUN 2011 Meeting Minutes Page 4
Adjournment CAPT Merriweather announced that PAC subcommittees and PAGs may anticipate an e-mail from her asking them to describe their accomplishments through the first six months of the year and to outline their planned activities for the last six months. She encouraged all HSOs to meet her call for all hands on deck to help make the category the best in the Corps. The meeting was adjourned at 1659 CDT. The next HS PAC meeting is Friday, 5 August 2011, tentatively from 1000 to 1500 EDT at the Parklawn Building in Rockville, MD. Draft minutes prepared by: LCDR Todd Lennon, HS PAC Executive Secretary Submitted by: CAPT Sheila Merriweather, HS PAC Chair CDR Karen Sicard, HS PAC Chair-elect Reviewed by: RADM Epi Elizondo, Health Services Chief Professional Officer Approved by: HS PAC, 5 August 2011 HS PAC 21 JUN 2011 Meeting Minutes Page 5