- Geographic representation
- through representation by AHEC regions
- through representation by the various types of medically underserved areas (rural, urban, suburban)
- Legislative representation through ex-oficio advisory members
- Representation by under-represented racial and ethnic populations
- Representation by State agencies/officials (e.g., Education, Health and Human Resources, SCHEV, DHP Healthcare Workforce Data Center, VCCS)
- Representation by health professions, health-related associations and organizations and health facility sectors (e.g., academic health centers, public and private businesses and institutions, EMS, hospitals, philanthropies)
- Each major sector should have its own subcommittee, with each subcommittee electing one representative to serve on the Board
- Organizational representatives should hold a position that has both decision making authority and an understanding of how to access and leverage resources
Edits made as a result of public comments posted on this blog are in blue.
Please use the comment section to provide us with feedback...do these recommendations provide us with the type of representation needed to efficiently and effectively accomplish the mission and objectives of the authority? Are there some individuals or organizations missing that must be at the table? Do you have any recommendations for additions or edits?
The representation should also include racial/ethnic diversity representative of those groups that are underrepresented in the health workforce. And diversity representative of urban and rural medically underserved areas.
ReplyDeleteI hope that academic representation is not limited to academic health centers. Private and public universities with significant enrollment of health professions students should have a voice.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Miller
Shenandoah University
I would like to expand representation to include EMS personnel and/or administrators from designated emergency medical service regions. The Board of Health is authorized by Code to designate EMS regions every three years. The BOH will be requested in May 2010 to designate seven (7) regional service areas.
ReplyDeleteScott Winston
Asst. Director
VDH, Office of EMS
I continue to have some interest in seeing how to leverage all of the agencies, societies, associations and whatever else an entity might be called to work for the more common good for the commonwealth. Is there any reason the proposed affiliates exclude the higher ed coordinating agency (SCHEV) or the VCCS? Is there a reason the office of the Secretary of Ed is not among the senior players? It seems peculiar that many of the pipeline decisions are made at the post secondary institution levels and the state level folks are not active in this.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the tender nature of the scope and overlap of state agencies, but I suspect if business sector and philanthropic sector players are invited to help in implementation at some point, these folks may be less than sympathetic to such issues.
A thought: I recognize that health profession shortages are most prevalent in rural and selected urban areas. Is there any recent data suggesting that there is a growing number of uninsured in the suburban ring? Is there any correlation between voting patterns and areas of shortages? Are there any correlations between aging communities and shortages?
I am not proposing one politicize the issues as much as consider if there are new allies in the so-called New Economy.
I think you are headed down the right track and that clusters make sense. We also have an initiative called the Older Dominion Partnership that may be informative. It is a coalition of philanthropy, government, higher education and business looking at the age wave and its potential impact across the commonwealth. It may be useful to your thinking. You can access the site at: http://www.olderdominion.org/index.php
I would like to see a representative of the DHP Healthcare Workforce Data Center on the Advisory Council so that the groups can coordinate workforce information activities.
ReplyDeleteBev Beck
DHP Healthcare Workforce Data Center
Under bullet #4 (not numbered) should it be “health PROFESSIONS and HEALTH facility sectors (e.g., academic HEALTH centers…”?
ReplyDeleteThe composition of the Board in Code could potentially be a sticking point in getting this legislation through the General Assembly. It may be more effective to have someone (Governor?, Commissioner of Health?) appoint an Inaugural Board whose primary task within the first 6 months would be to establish by-laws for the Authority that assures the types of representation found in this list of recommended representatives.
ReplyDeleteAll the groups noted need to play a role, but it may be useful to think about a more nimble group to help lead the larger Board?
ReplyDeleteDenise Konrad
I would want to somehow make sure that whoever is appointed has to ensure and demonstrate that they are garnering input from throughout their sector.
ReplyDeleteGeographic representation through representation by AHEC regions (Or use the Health Planning Districts) through representation by the various types of medically underserved areas (rural, urban, suburban) (since this changes infrequently, I wouldn’t use this delineation)
Representative from citizenry
Representative from public health providers (e.g. school nurses, county public health officials, etc.)
Representation by under-represented racial and ethnic populations (I would make this in direct relationship to the % population statistics)
Representation by State agencies/officials (e.g., Education, Health and Human Resources, SCHEV, DHP Healthcare Workforce Data Center, VCCC) (I would make sure that the number of state agency reps are limited and not be dominated by staff residing only in Richmond)
Representation by health professions, health-related associations and organizations and health facility sectors (e.g., academic health centers, public and private businesses and institutions, EMS, hospitals, philanthropies) (Representatives from the insurance sector, too.)
I believe this Board is too varied to be the AHEC Advisory Board. The AHEC Advisory Board should be created and have a representative on this Board.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this section has the most concerns written
" Representation by health professions, health-related associations and organizations and health facility sectors (e.g., academic health centers, public and private businesses and institutions, EMS, hospitals, philanthropies)
Each major sector should have its own subcommittee, with each subcommittee electing one representative to serve on the Board.
Organizational representatives should hold a position that has both decision making authority and an understanding of how to access and leverage resources"
should be replaced by the following
Two different groups:
1. "Representation by health professions schools and colleges. This representation by health professions schools/colleges should require one representative from the group of allopathic medical schools, osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, advanced practice nursing, physician assistant, pharmacy, and other health professions schools.
2. The second group would include a representative from the health delivery sectors including academic health centers, hospitals, and health professions organizations.
The above are two very different groups and bring two very different mindsets to the table.
Finally, group 1 and 2 should serve as the AHEC advisory board and not the entire Authority Board as AHEC is by definition and funding to support the education of health professions and so the health professions schools should not have such small input as this new authority structure provides. I am afraid that while the structure proposed may bring more funding it has now become a more political board rather than the one that has been meeting which has focused more on education, (the reason I believe the AHEC should report to these groups as a subgroup).