Minutes of the June 14, 2021 Executive Committee Meeting.
Pennsylvania Alliance of Retirement Community Resident
Minutes of PARCR Executive Committee
ZOOM June 14, 2021
Welcome: Nancy Hann, President called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.
Attendance/Declared a Quorum: Nancy Hann, Lowell Starling, Susan Martin, Gail Stelger, Bill Stelger, Anne Henry (LeadingAge PA), Terry DiGruttolo, Linda Heck, Elvin Heck, Cheryl Rhodes, Dan Seeger, William Clement and guests Dale Meadowcroft and Terry Wright. Quorum declared.
Minutes Approval: Motion by Lowell Starling, seconded by Bill Stelger to approve the minutes from the March 8, 2021 Zoom meeting.
A discussion on the approval process of Quarterly Meeting Minutes followed and the final decision was that the secretary would prepare the minutes and forward to Nancy Hann and Susan Martin to review and then return to the secretary for any additional correction. The final copy will be forwarded to Susan Martin for distribution and the minutes would be approved at the next Quarterly Meeting. Motion by Lowell Starling and seconded by Bill Stelger. Motion approved.
Correspondence: Nancy received a request from Senior Mobility (will be discussed during the Web Site presentation). Lowell Starling received a letter from the PA Department of State with a bill for the renewal of our business name. This is to protect the use of that name legally by only one entity. Terry DiGruttolo will prepare the check and Nancy Hann will submit the renewal form and mail it along with the check to the PA Department of State.
LeadingAge – Anne Henry: This week is very busy with the LeadingAge PA Conference and legislative issues. In the General Assembly the House and Senate with changes again approved by the House terminated the Pennsylvania Emergency Declaration. For nursing homes, waiver from the Federal Government will continue, and those Pennsylvania specific waivers will expire on September 30, 2021. The Secretary of Health oversees the vaccine program. Currently several bills in the Legislature will strip the Secretary of some duties but Governor Wolf has said he will veto. Personal Care and Assisted Living waiver will end on September 30, 2021. The Legislature is to begin working on the budget. LeadingAge is asking that all nursing home licensed beds receive funding due to the Pandemic. The request is for $396 Million for nursing homes and $50 Million for Assisted Living and Personal Care. It is questionable how the billions the legislature receives will be dispersed. Last month there were 38 outbreaks of COVID in Personal Care and Assisted Living and most didn’t get sick.
Ann provided another email address: ahenry@leadingagePA.org.
Web Site Update: Lowell Starling presented two proposals to the committee for general approval to proceed.
Proposal for a Community Question Page on the PARCR Website: It is our intention to provide new methods for dialogue and sharing of information. By adding a page called Community Question it would allow a member community to seek information on how to solve a particular problem that may have already been solved by another member community. When the question is submitted it will be reviewed by the Webmaster and if approved posted to the Community Question Page. Once the question is posted it will remain for 14 days. After the time limit is reached, the answers will be pulled from the database containing them and posted or provided to the PARCR member asking the question. There are several options to be reviewed by the Communication Team. Motion to move forward by Lowell Starling and seconded by Bill Stelger.
Proposal for a Resources for Seniors Page on the PARCR Website: One of the primary goals identified in the strategic planning process is to be an information resource for senior living communities. The proposal is to add Resources for Seniors Page. The concept is a result of an email Nancy Hann received from an organization called Seniors Mobility asking us for feedback and provide a link to their website from our website. Several members of the Communications Team have reviewed the Seniors Mobility site and have not found anything inappropriate in their research of the Seniors Mobility. In reviewing our website the Communication Team realized we do not have links to two current partners, NaCCRA and LeadingAge PA. A prototype has been developed and a demo was provided. A motion by Lowell Starling and seconded by Bill Stelger to set up a link to these three sources. Motion passed with one opposing vote by Terry DiGruttolo due to concerns with their affiliation with Amazon.
PARCR Meeting Dates & Hosting Communities:
The last meeting we had a time issue and our guest speaker was not allotted the time for her full presentation due to the previous presentations exceeding their time. For the zoom meeting in July there will be a temporary format change with the Guest Speaker being first followed by LeadingAge PA and NaCCRA.
July 14, 2021 – via Zoom
(Executive Committee: June 14, 2021)
October 13, 2021- Masonic Village, Elizabethtown
(Executive Meeting September 13, 2021)
January 12, 2022 - Bethany Village, Mechanicsburg
(Executive Committee: December 13, 2021
April 13, 2022 – Landis Homes, Lititz
(Executive Committee: March 14, 2022)
A discussion followed concerning the October meeting at Masonic Village. The location of the meeting will be at the Patton Conference Center. It was decided that since this will be the first in-person meeting since COVID that a flat $15.00 rate for lunch will be paid at the door. Terry DiGruttolo would like to keep the standard format of the meeting so that Masonic can do the afternoon presentation and a tour of the campus if there is enough interest. Nancy Hann had mentioned reviewing the Strategic Plan during the afternoon but it was decided that since we do not have a speaker for the January 2022 meeting the Strategic Plan will be presented to the members at that time.
Election of New Members at Large: Nancy Hann presented two names to the Executive Committee for Members at Large to replace Elvin Heck and Cheryl Rhodes. Sue DiGruttolo from Masonic Village and Terry Wright from Bethany Village. Lowell Starling made a motion to accept these two nominees and was seconded by William Clement. The vote was unanimous.
Reports:
Secretary – Cheryl Rhodes: We need a new device or means to record the Quarterly Meetings once we return to on-site locations. The small recorder is not sufficient or user friendly for the task. Cheryl will investigate other options prior to the September meeting. Nancy Hann would like to make a visit to Bethany Village and view the library files for PARCR. We will get together and set a date and time.
Treasurer – Terry DiGruttolo: Balance as of April 30, 2021 was $6,782.60 Expenses for this quarter were $368.88 for the Website and $62.02 for membership expenses. Balance $7,210.70 as of May 31, 2021. We have also received $500-600 in membership dues. Terry will get with Nancy Hann off line to discuss next year’s budget and it will be sent out to the Executive Committee by email for approval. Nancy has a person to do the audit. Also, the Treasurer is having a problem getting an invoice from NaCCRA. He has spoken to personnel at NaCCRA and they have been very helpful getting him setup but he is still unable to get a copy of the invoice for our files. Dan Seeger will look into the issue.
Programs – Bill Stelger: Lowell has provided the list of suggested topics for future meetings compiled from the surveys from the April meeting. There were six high scoring topics which are as follows:
1. Legal and regulatory updated from law firms or government officials.
2. More on technology issues directed at seniors and senior living.
3. Eldercare legal and financial issues.
4. An expansion of Dan Seeger’s report.
5. A current or past State Representative or Senator who has been favorable to LeadingAge PA issues.
6. Presentation by a representative from the Office of the Aging, on what they have to offer seniors.
Lowell Starling suggested we put the top six topics in our next Survey for members to vote on their top two. Bill believes that October’s meeting speaker will be very interesting and looking forward to her presentation.
Membership – Susan Martin: The PARCR Post and the ZOOM meeting announcement will be sent out within the next two weeks. After the June 30th dateline, reminders will be sent out to individual members who have not renewed their membership and also to Communities that have not renewed. Terry DiGruttolo will forward any renewal information to Susan Martin he may receive.
NaCCRA – Dan Seeger: The handbook on CCRC Finances is still being processed and is not on the NaCCRA website. NaCCRA is monitoring a legal case that has languished in the courts for many years. It concerns a profit making CCRC located on leased ground at Stanford University named The Bi of Palo Alto. Residents are asking how much of their reserve should be kept in Palo Alto and not sent to corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. They felt their saving was being depleted. NaCCRA is following to see if this case really does come to trial and the outcome.
Legislative – Gail Stelger: One alert has been sent out for advocacy on additional funding for care facilities during the Pandemic. Gail has sent an article to Linda Heck for the PARCR Post.
Newsletter – Linda Heck: Still waiting on a number of articles for the Post. Articles are due to Linda by Friday June 18th.
Strategic Planning – William Clement:
The purpose of this effort is to develop a strategic plan that will guide PARCR’s executive committee as we strive to meet the needs and expectations of our members. The team has been meeting on a regular basis. The group has good dynamics and work well together. They have made excellent progress on a Vision Statement and close to a Mission Statement. They have identified five Strategic Plan objectives to move forward in developing.
1. Strategic and action plan revolving around the PARCR infrastructure.
2. Key things PARCR should be doing is providing information and education.
3. Positioning and branding PARCR so others understand what it is.
4. Advocacy, leaving this topic alone for now.
5. Membership and growth-when are we ready?
The next step is getting approval from the Executive Committee. To have this plan in affect will strengthen the organization. The challenge is not wanting to do all at once, rather to take one step at a time. This will also be an opportunity to get others involved.
Old Business:
• Jonathan Hollinger, CEO of Pleasant View Communities has agreed to be the third advisor for PARCR.
New Business:
• The Communication Committee and the Strategic Plan Committee have both been honored to have two non-members working within their groups to support and advise these committees. In recognition of the service of Dale Meadowcroft and Mary Boulanger, the Executive Committee would like to acknowledge their efforts with a Letter of Recognition and a Gift Card. Motion to proceed by Bill Stelger and seconded by William Clement. Unanimous approval.
• Job Descriptions – Nancy will send out a template to be filled out by each member of the Executive Committee and to be returned to her by August 1st.
Next Executive Meeting on Monday September 13, 2021.
Meeting adjourned at 11:40am.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Rhodes
Cheryl Rhodes, Secretary
PARCR 21-EC01 Minutes
Cheryl Rhodes