AHFSA Membership Meeting

September 23, 2014

Indianapolis, IN
Welcome:
Alison Gibson, President welcomed everyone at 2:40 PM EST.
Roll Call: x indicates present:
Officers present:
Alison Gibson, President X
Kathy McCanna, President Elect X
Otis Woods, Vice President X
Mike Cook, Treasurer X
Dean Linneman, Corresponding Secretary Absent
Laura Hudspeth, Recording Secretary X
Fran Keeler, Past President X

Regional Representatives present:

Barbara Cass (Reg. I) X
Stefanie Mozgai (Reg. II) X
Margie Heald (Reg. III) X
Polly Weaver (Reg. IV) X
Becky Maust (Reg. V) Absent
Amber Espinosa-Trujillo (Region VI) X
Tracy Niekamp (Reg. VII) X
Darleen Bartz (Reg. VIII) X
Keith Ridley (Reg. IX) X
Debby Ransom (Reg. X) X

Bob Goodnow, Director of Operations: X

States present: Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii, Washington, Louisiana, Delaware,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Idaho, Oregon,
New Jersey, North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Maine, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida,
Colorado, Oregon, Connecticut, and Alaska.
President Alison Gibson announced the format for this meeting will be based on the AHFSA
strategic plan. The plan will be reviewed and revised as necessary during the January meeting in
San Antonio.
Officer Reports:
Recording Secretary (Laura Hudspeth): Laura thanked Otis for taking the minutes for
the 9/9/14 teleconference. The minutes for the 9/9/14 teleconference were approved with the
addition of Missouri as a participating state.
President-Elect (Kathy McCanna): No report.

Vice-President (Otis Woods): Otis distributed handouts of the Professional Development

and Mentoring Programs. He announced the programs were also on the AHFSA website and to
contact the board with questions or suggestions.
Treasurer (Mike Cook): Mike discussed the status of the budget and explained the
budget is healthy. The goal is to have $30,000.00 in savings.
Corresponding Secretary (Dean Linneman absent reported by Mike Cook): The
contact information on the website was mentioned with a suggestion to change the current e-mail
to AHFSA-Info@nc.rr.com. It was also suggested that the e-mail be linked to the calendar and the
members could be reminded of meetings. It was mentioned that perhaps AHFSA could take over
the CMS contact list. Bob will be sending out the annual report.
Past-President (Fran Keeler): Fran distributed the bios of the individuals who were
being nominated for the AHFSA Board. Fran mentioned this would be her last AHFSA
conference. She thanked everyone and encouraged the members to be active and participate in
the monthly teleconferences. Alison thanked Fran for her outstanding contributions to AHFSA
and wished her well with her future endeavors.
Strategic Plan: Alison mentioned the purpose of the plan was to give the association direction.
Dean and Mike are responsible for the website; member advocacy is a focus. Alison will send a
copy of the plan to all of the states within the next couple of weeks.
Regional Reports:
Region I: Barbara Cass mentioned Massachusetts Senior Care is reviewing the G level
citations and are concerned in terms of consistency. There is also a concern with the
Memorandum of Agreement with the QIO the QIO does not want the state language in the
agreement. Also, pharmacy inspections in hospitals are a significant problem.
Region II: Stephanie Mozgai reported she will continue as the Regional Representative. The RO
has branch managers over both certification and enforcement. The SSA recently terminated a
SFF. Pharmacy practices are also an issue.
Region III: Margie Heald reported there was a new branch manager for certification. Also
Sharon Lowe represents AHFSA on Advancing Excellence in Americas Nursing Homes.
Region IV: Polly Weaver reported Dr. Geary will be the new Regional Representative. Also, the
region meets regularly with the RO. Polly discussed challenges with terminating a facility that
had filed bankruptcy.
Region V: Otis Woods reported a ROSA meeting was scheduled in the near future. Otis also
mentioned that there was some congressional activity in the area of hospice that would increase
the frequency of the surveys.
.
Region VI: Amber Trujillo-Espinoza introduced Judy Parks from New Mexico. Amber reported
New Mexico was having an issue with their CLIA budget and was recruiting for both CLIA and
health surveyors. She mentioned the need for more frequent CLIA training and for CMS to
update the 670 instructions. The need for more guidance on evaluating synthetic marijuana from a
survey perspective was also discussed.

Region VII: Tracy Niekamp reported their RO will be adding more staff. Helen Meeks from
Nebraska has retired. Tracy also mentioned that both Missouri and Texas were having difficulties
with the CMS definition of distinct parts. There was also discussion regarding the federal
regulation classification of Hydrocodone.
Region VIII: Darleen Bartz reported both Wyoming and North Dakota were having issues with
staffing as well as construction plan review times. Also, Montana had a limited number of
hospital surveyors and has a need for more HHA, hospital and EMTALA training. The RO has
been approved to hire a health surveyor and both of the branch manager positions have been
filled. Darlene also mentioned that she attended the Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials meeting as AHFSAs representative.
Region IX: Keith Ridley mentioned complaints were an issue for that region and the ROSA
meeting had been postponed.
Region X: Debby Ransom mentioned the RO had a new surveyor and Debby would continue as
the Regional Representative.
AHFSA Board Elections: On behalf of the nominating committee (Otis Woods, Darleen Bartz,
Keith Ridley, and Stephanie Mozgai) Fran Keeler presented the proposed slate of officers for the
upcoming year:
Kathy McCanna - President
Otis Woods - President-Elect
Dean Linneman Vice President
Mike Cook Treasurer
Laura Hudspeth Corresponding Secretary
Corinna Getchell Recording Secretary
Byron Plant made motion that the nominations be closed and put forward to the membership.
The motion was seconded by Darleen Bartz. The membership voted in favor of the slate of
officers as presented.
The meeting adjourned at 3:45 PM EST.