Present:
Jenn Frew, Michelle Chalin, Tom Kolstad, Rochelle Fischer, Tom Christensen, Colleen Ryan, Carol Olson, Cindy Jungers, Scott Melby, Chris Hanson, Tim Headlee, Eric Hesse, Amanda Mathiowetz, Ryan Cates, Shannon Pech, Molly Kennedy, Katie Gleason, Lisa Vanderveen, Mike Homer, Luke Frederick

AFSCME:

1. Bartlett 1 South sick usage reviews a. AFSCME has fielded a few concerns lately in regards to sick time being reviewed on B1S. Would like some clarification. This is being done as part of the annual review process. SC’s are being required to sign a sheet with their sick occurrences on it and it is then being placed in their file. Rochelle Fischer said that she was unaware of this. AFSCME stated that for someone who does not have a problem with sick time it looks like this will be a step taken in giving a discipline. Employees have brought this concern to the immediate supervisor doing this and received the answer, “This is something I do until I’m told not to.” Scott Melby stated that this is not a guidance received from him or Rochelle and that they would do follow up.

2. Forensic Nursing Home inverse refusals a. AFSCME was notified by staff at the FNH that in the RN meeting minutes inverse refusals were discussed and it stated that it was patient abandonment. Management stated that the wording in the minutes is not accurate. A patient abandonment is a very serious thing and do not think that would be said unless it was a concrete thought. Is this being thrown out there as a scare tactic? Management stated that that is not the case but can see why employees are interpreting it that way. AFSCME asked if we can change the minutes by making an amendment. Michelle Chalin stated that she would be more comfortable with sending an email addressing the error with the meeting minutes since the minutes are already out there and have been read. b. There is a concern that when someone is improperly inversed and it is refused that this will lead to discipline. Human Resources said that refusals will be evaluated on a case by case basis depending on the reason the employee is unable to stay. AFSCME stated that improperly inversing a staff is breaking contract and then giving that employee a discipline. Management stated that they know sometimes people are inversed when they shouldn’t be. They are trying to clean this up and educate. Sometimes an improper inverse occurs because there is a need and no one can be inversed. c. The reason for this discussion is because there have been many numerous inverse refusals lately. None of them have led to discipline. Staff have been coached that it is an expectation that they stay. This will not impact someone’s license. Management stated that they know there are staffing issues and it has been discussed. The shortage is largely due to having a small pool of employees with 11 out on medical leave. Have been looking at creative ways to fill the shortages. Shannon Pech said that there was an overnight shift that Carrie Archer came in to cover. Michelle Chalin and Becky Kern have also covered shifts when short. Management said that they are open to ideas. We cannot hire to backfill medical leaves. Trying to hire for a temporary spot is next to impossible. Colleen Ryan has visited Rasmussen College and South Central College. d. AFSCME stated that there may be some Security Counselors with CNA license. Management stated that they looked into 3 who thought they had CNA licenses at Transition. 1 came back expired and the other two are most likely expired due to having to fulfill so many hours per year. This has not been looked into with the MSH program because there is so much overtime.

3. Doctor / Nurse Practitioner a. Have seen patients decompensating due to medications not being refilled in time. This is taking months and is affecting the acuity levels. AFSCME asked where the liability is and responsibility behind it. Colleen Ryan stated that she is attending a meeting this afternoon for this. The problem is that this is a manual process yet. There is a process in place but there is a manual piece to it that has some fail ability. Management recognized that there is 1 patient who has decamped and that it shouldn’t have happened. Colleen said that they are trying to work on ways to prevent that from occurring. b. Transition had this happen about a year and a half ago. The procedure was changed immediately and now we are changing it again. The provider has set a good standard for how they should handle this. There are only two locum tenens now; Dr. Crook and Peter Barnett. Management said that they believe people filling positions as permanent reassignment will help because it cuts down on coverage staff. Ideally eMar would flag a prescription about to expire but they are unable to make this happen. Hoping that communication will improve. Management is looking at what we are doing and trying to make improvements. We need to think of a process where less human error it possible.

4. Work Comp claims a. Workman’s comp is now using video footage as part of their claims investigations. This is allowed. AFSCME asked who is reliable and who is reviewing this because they would like to point members in the right direction. Would like to work together on a process and what that looks like as far as who is reviewing and who the contact person should be. Management stated that they are not prepared to address this today because the Workers’ Compensation area is not managed locally but that in the future the right people can get together with AFSCME to discuss. AFSCME stated that we are fighting a battle with imminent risk and do not need members having the perception that their injuries are being nit-picked over film. b. Molly Kennedy stated that MSOP does not take video footage into account when a staff is injured by a client. It is reviewed if you are injured by, for example, slamming a hand in a door. Management stated that they are not the ones requesting the videos, it is workers comp. They say they get this information from all places with video footage. This is happening across DCT. The wording is scrutinized. For example, “a slip” versus “fall” is being dissected. Management has no say over workers comp. It was brought up that there needs to be a conversation with the DCT Labor Management team. c. AFSCME stated that members feel if they get assaulted it will get scrutinized and they will get apprehension. Members were told cameras were put in for safety and now it is seen as a way workers comp can be denied. Management stated that they can see how it would be perceived that way and that they have used video many times, like when patients make allegations against staff. The videos are used to clear staff more than anything.

5. Term 9 of the Conditional License a. Carol Olson along with Tim Headlee, Matt Stenger, and a few other members got a copy that can be shared. Last fall there was a group compiled of all bargaining units, a patient, parents of a patient, NAMI, licensing, and the health board setting parameters to the new variance to Rule 36 that we will live under. It was then submitted to licensing who pulled together a smaller group. For 6-7 months they have been working on putting together a draft of what would be covered. This group met yesterday with a broad group. There they looked at the draft section by section getting through 3-4 so they will need to come back to the table to review the remaining. Depending on how far they get there may be a smaller focus group. b. The intent for licensing is once we move forward this will be put into law. This has been successful with a recent law and is usually easier.

6. Kitchen schedule and implementation a. Those in the Kitchen all voted for a 5-2 schedule. Tomorrow HR and Kitchen Leadership will get together to discuss some of the questions and the implementation. Trying to move quickly because this department has been waiting awhile. It was discussed that a decision day would be the most efficient. b. Part time employees wanting to go full time will be part of the discussion; if it makes sense to get these people full time before we set employee’s days off. Management asked if AFSCME is interested in an MOU to get those people to fulltime without posting all of the positions. AFSCME and management agreed it would be best to do an MOU. Cindy Jungers will draft this and work with MMB. c. There was confusion among staff thinking that because they are AFSCME days off would go by seniority. For clarification this piece applies to Security Counselors. On Decision Day days off will go by seniority. From then on if someone would like to change their days off it will have to be bid into. There will be no bumping out of days off. d. Will Holidays be handled with a sign-up sheet like MSOP and MSH? Management said that this can be discussed at the meeting tomorrow. The sign-up sheet would be for those not wanting to work certain holidays. e. Discussion back to the MSOP MOA- Tim Headlee said that he will sign it. Language will be changed for Forensics.

7. HR Department on campus a. Members would like a face to face interaction when it comes to HR issues like benefits and FMLA as opposed to phone tag with Central Office in St. Paul. Cindy Jungers said that she will share AFSCME’s input with the appropriate people and it is acknowledged that employees sometimes feel they have lost personal touch when they can’t connect directly with someone on campus.

8. Policy Committee a. There is a policy committee right now on staff searches. AFSCME asked for a rep, management thought that Shawn Wilking is on that. AFSCME stated that they will discuss and follow up. AFSCME should let Cindy Jungers know by Friday, October 23rd. b. There is a committee on restraint and seclusion right now as well. Robert Miller is on that. c. Management stated that they will improve on the effort to let AFSCME know who they have on the committee’s. AFSCME stated they would like to know so they can keep in touch with that individual.

9. Inversing 12 pm – 8 pm shift a. This shift is inversable but will need to be out by 4 am to have 7.5 hours off. Staying until 6 or 7 am would violate the contract. Scott Melby, Tom Christensen, and Rochelle Fischer will talk about this some more. They have to look at business needs. Would like an opportunity to discuss further and then respond.

Management: 1. Update on panel discussion October 21st a. This will be in regards to patients and felony charges and will be presented by Nicollet County Attorney’s Office, St. Peter Police Department, Office of Special Investigations, and DHS Legal. b. This will be a repeat of the presentation a little over a year ago. This is being held up at MSH so it is easier for staff to free themselves up. It will be October 21st at 1:45pm, 2:45pm, and 9:45pm.