VTH Board Minutes 7/22/2021

Updates: Info Only

Personnel Updates

• Interviewing technicians/assistants for IMC
• Search updates

Facilities

• Phase 1 – humidity issues in OR 3, 4, 5. 
• Phase 2 punch list items being completed, and Phase 3 expected completion now Aug. 19. Move ECC Aug. 23-26.
• Purina Nutrition Resource Room – ready for furnishings, waiting on MOU/contract
• Work started on Equine Surgery
• 
  Programs

Programs

• Spay/Neuter – Pet pop control fund state allocation to be decreasing in next few years
• MWE – officially part of VTH, looking to relocate locally (not VTH) next year
• WMC – officially part of VTH, Dr. Sander Director
  
  

Other

• CVM Open House is Oct. 3. Will be in person. Permission given to use Equine Lameness Arena for booths.
  • Medication Dispensary Audit – the Medication Dispensary is undergoing an audit at the request of the Dean to identify potential quality control and integrity issues. Participation is mandatory and the audit will be conducted over the next 2 years. 

3:00 VTH Report Summary

• Submitted Report with Edits/Comments uploaded to Box – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

Updates - VTH Initiatives 

• Recruiting – The VTH and VCM Dept are working with the Communications and Marketing office and college HR to devise an SOP for search management and recruiting. This will include a protocol and clear responsibilities for search head and team, as well as resources for recruiting. 
• SANDI – The VTH has been working with Vetstar vendors to implement the next rollout for SANDI which will be on the user interface. Beta testing is underway.
• Inventory – Researching options for a suitable inventory system for VTH has been on hold while determining what systems communicate with iBuy. More information to follow.
• MS TEAMS – A strategic priority for the VTH continues to be identifying an effective means for internal communication. A recent phone outage in SAC resulted in more services utilizing TEAMS. The VTH will pursue this option more vigorously.
• Customer Service – There has been positive feedback for the Service Specific CSRs. The VTH will explore options for expanding. There is also a need to realign staffing in LAC and VMSC.
• Controlled Drug logging – The Medication Dispensary is undergoing an internal audit and campus requires complete investigatory compliance. One concern already raised is apparent control gaps in logging controlled drugs. The VTH will preemptively implement hospital wide processes.
• Website/Giving – The new college website will be launched soon, and the VTH has been working with Advancement and MarCom to create a more intuitive giving site to promote opportunity to support VTH services and initiatives.

Faculty Compensation/Work Production

• Many private employers are paying clinicians based on production. That is not feasible in the VTH. College leadership is interested in a model for rewarding faculty for clinical performance. As there is inherent difference in tenure vs clinical track service, the feeling is that any program rewards the service, not the individual.
  • Discussion – some services have a greater opportunity to do more (greater caseload, higher revenue generation, more afterhours work, etc.). This proposal sets up competition among faculty – there is no interest in this. There is strong support for increasing faculty professional development funds. Current support comes from the dept. ($1000/yr). It used to be higher ($1500/yr). 
  • Action – VTH will develop models for consideration and funding.

CPR Standardization/ Training (Recover)

• A proposal has been submitted to standardize small animal CPR procedures and training. The proposal involves using the ‘Recover’ model. 
  • Discussion – there was strong support for this. Dr. Keating also discussed the color-coded collar system and moving to a CPR/DNR model. There was strong support for this. Dr. Keating will lead a discussion at the next Dept. meeting.

Clinical Trials Model (preliminary discussion)

• Discussions have started regarding having service specific and hospital wide clinical trials support thru a clinical trials office and dedicated personnel. The VTH is interested in what models our faculty have experience with. 
  • Discussion – there is significant variability in clinical trials support at other institutions. Additionally, some models are more helpful than others. There was interest in exploring options more fully.