Notice: the VPA Listserv is now in operation. If you haven=t already done so, sign up by e-mailing Jessa Block at: jblock@vtmd.org. Please tell other Vermont psychiatrists about the Listserv. The Listserv can be accessed at:  vpa@vtmd.org

 

 

VERMONT PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting

September 23, 2004

 

Members Present:  Drs. Carson, Danielson, Deppe, Fassler, Fauntleroy, Kalibat, Laesk, and Weker; and Jessa Block, VMS.

Guest:  Mildred (Mimi) Reardon, MD

 

The meeting was preceded by a luncheon with UVM residents, medical students and attending psychiatrists. Those in attendance included:

Scott Allan, MD     PG1 psychiatry resident

Richard Bernstein, MD   Attending psychiatrist, UVM

Amy Blake, MD       Third year medical student

Chad Brown, MD      PG1 psychiatry resident

Ursel Danielson, MD     Retired psychiatrist, Colchester

Sue Deppe, MD       Private practice, Colchester

Isabelle Desjardins, MD Attending psychiatrist  , UVM

David Fassler, MD       Private practice, Burlington

Jennifer Fauntleroy, MD Attending psychiatry, Rutland Hospital

Suzanne Kennedy, MD Attending psychiatrist  , UVM

Jeff Korcz, MD      PG4 psychiatry resident

Joe Lasek, MD       PG4 psychiatry resident

Judith Lewis, MD        Attending psychiatrist, UVM

Donald Michel, MD       PG1 psychiatry resident

Cory Nohl, MD       Third year medical student

Michael Nugent, MD      PG4 psychiatry resident

David Rettew, MD        Attending psychiatrist, UVM

Andrew Siegel, MD       Private practice, Burlington

Jonathan Weker, MD      Private practice, Montpelier

 

 

Minutes:  The minutes of the previous Executive Committee Meeting were not reviewed.

Announcements:

1.  VPA Executive Committee Meeting Schedule for 2004-2005 (tentative):

a.  Saturday, October 23:  Executive/Annual Fall Meeting (in conjunction with the Vermont Medical Society annual meeting); Wyndham Hotel, Burlington:

 

        i.  VMS meeting in the morning.

        ii. VMS/VPA luncheon with Melinda Estes, MD, Fletcher Allen Health Care CEO

        iii.    VPA Executive Committee 1:30-4:30 p.m.

 

    b.  Friday, November 19:  1:30-4:30 p.m. at Vermont Medical Society, Montpelier

    c.  Thursday, December 16:  Dinner Meeting (Upper Valley region; specific location to be determined)

    d.  Friday, January 21:  1:30-4:30 p.m., VMS, Montpelier

    e.  Friday, February 18: 1:30-4:30 p.m., VMS, Montpelier

    f.  Thursday, March 17: Dinner Meeting (southern Vermont; specific location to be determined)

    g.  Saturday, April 16:  Executive/Annual Meeting (location to be determined)

 

2.  The Vermont Association of Mental Health (VAMH) annual meeting will take place on Friday, October 15 at the Capitol Plaza Conference Center in Montpelier. The meeting will showcase political issues affecting mental health and will include speeches by gubernatorial candidates Jim Douglas and Peter Clavelle. VPA members are urged to attend.

 

Reports: 

 No reports were presented.

 

Old Business:

 No old business was discussed.

 

New Business:

 1.  Follow-up on luncheon meeting with UVM residents: the Executive Committee discussed how to concretize the availability of VPA members to UVM residents. Dr. Deppe and Ms. Block volunteered to create a database of VPA members that could be provided to residents describing interests and availability for mentoring.

 

2.  VSH Advisory Group:  This group was mandated by the legislature to consider options at a point in the future when the present VSH has been supplanted. Dr. Fassler reported that the group process has been dysfunctional to the point that a facilitator was engaged. Three models were eventually proposed:

 

    a.  A 30-bed unit on a general hospital campus;

    b.  Two smaller units, one each in the southern and northern halves of the state;

    c.  Multiple smaller units around the state.

 

    This occurs in an environment in which many states are going to lose funding for state hospitals because the federal government will be closing the Institute of Mental Diseases, through which some states have been able to use Medicaid funds to fund state hospitals. The controversy has expanded to encompass issues of how contracting for management of VSH is being approached and the Department of Justice’s harsh review of VSH operations.

 

3.  The CMHC Task Force:  The legislature convened this task force to review the viability of community mental health centers in view of the growing expenditures on CMHCs without a commensurate increase in quantity or quality of services provided. Stuart Graves, MD is VPA’s delegate to this task force. Dr. Fassler reported that the task force has hired an outside consultant. The Executive Committee posed questions about the nature of the task force’s functioning, and will seek further information from Dr. Graves.

 

4.  Act 129 Committee:  The VPA is searching for a representative to this committee. The committee provides a forum for discussing issues and access problems with the mental health managed care carveouts. It meets every other Thursday in Montpelier (alternating between a morning and afternoon). Those interested should contact Dr. Kalibat at: francisk1@adelphia.net

 

5.  Recruitment of Psychiatrists to Vermont:  Mildred Reardon, MD, who directs UVM Area Health Education Centers, spoke with the Executive Committee about this issue. She described the Freeman’s Medical Scholars Program, which provides $10,000 annual scholarships for Vermont residents attending the UVM College of Medicine (out-of-state residents can apply in their third and fourth years) and committing to work in Vermont. Given the annual medical student debt of $150,000 (and the difficulty making enough of an income in Vermont to pay this), the scholarships make a significant difference. Another program is the Primary Care Educational Loan Repayment program, in which the state provides a total of $150,000 to physicians with student loans to repay who come to Vermont; the average award is in the range of $6,000 per physician. Dr. Reardon reported that psychiatry is a particular area in which students are being recruited to stay in Vermont. The Office of Primary Care (which isn’t confined to primary care) sponsors a Vermont Recruitment Day (which happens to take place tomorrow, September 24) for medical students and residents, as well as nursing and social work students.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned.

 

                            Respectfully submitted,

 

                            Jonathan L. Weker, M.D.

 

The next VPA Executive Committee will be held on Saturday, October 23 at 1:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington, in conjunction with the Vermont Medical Society Meeting.