VTH Board Minutes 6/27/2019

Updates: Info Only

Personnel –

• Anna Lee Fenger – Anna Lee will be retiring from the Univ. on August 15^th.  She is working to transition her teams and will help finalize FY20 budgets.
• Change in anesthesia fellowship/Mitek – The previously approved anesthesia fellowship partnership between Brookfield Zoo and VTH will not occur dt personnel changes at the zoo.  Anesthesia is exploring some clinic time for Dr. Mitek who is on a 9 mos. apt. with OPE/VCM.
• Imaging update  - Dr. PJ Hamel has accepted offer as Assistant Professor, starting mid-July.

Facilities/Projects –

• Lin Acc – project is completed, however the door has been damaged and we are working with the company to repair.
• Expansion project – project has started, Adam Quigley (primary architect) has left firm, Michelle Bowman and Michael Kelly will assume prime.
• Equine Surgery – this project will be managed in-house, we will work on the renovation in stages, likely to begin next March.
• VMSC/WMC Residence – VMSC renovation in progress, WMC ambassador animal residence will be completed in Oct.
• COE (counsel on education) – site visit for accreditation will be in March, walk thru completed in preparation.  Will be contacting services with facility issues that will need to be addressed.

Programs –

• Semi-annually VTH Townhalls – VTH Director’s office will schedule.
• Imaging concerns/questions to C. Oliveira – when there is a diagnosis question, faculty should contact the radiologist directly.  When there is a quality issue, faculty should contact Dr. Oliveira so that she can address it with the company.
• Price increase – 2%, will take effect July 1
• COE Prep – see above.

3:00 SAC Lobby Expansion
Doug Reddington will join

Animal Arts provided a concept design for expansion of the SAC admissions/receiving/exam area; 3 levels.  There was general discussion about the flow and costs.  The concern is that the VTH has already outgrown the SAC admissions area and that both short term and long term solutions need to be sought.   No decisions were made at this time.

Revisit Research Policy 

A discussion was had regarding loop holes that have become apparent in the policy regarding research pricing.  The concerns are that a service was closed to receiving in order to conduct research procedures.  The service technician was engaged in the research, and was paid overtime by the VTH to assist.  VTH-wide services were engaged for care of the research patient, which placed burden on service that support the VTH, and the PI asked for an 80% discounted pricing on these service.  The Board asked for suggested revisions and asked that the revised policy be sent for review.  The Board also recommended that Client Consent forms be approved by the VTH Director, not the Section Head of the PI.

Revisit Cardiology Proposal 

Dr. Fries presented a modified proposal that outlined a plan for Dr. Vitt to provide clinical service for 8 weeks with the Cardiology service.  This plan has removed the proposed collaboration with Thailand and has Dr. Vitt’s activities focused on service.  Dr. Fries explained that this support will allow him to develop SOP’s associated with the IR capabilities of the VTH.  The Board was in support of this proposal as a trial and asked that the Director’s Office be responsible for ensuring that Dr. Vitt fulfilled his obligations.  The Board recommended that the contract be yearly and cancellation without notice; recommendation that the contract include on call requirements.

2020 Faculty Positions

There are several faculty that are paid with funds associated with tuition from the class of 2020.  Dr. French has been working with the services that these faculty are associated with to determine what funding may be available to support the positions.  Otherwise, these positions are not going to be continued beyond this next year.

House Officer Fees/Pricing Consistency (Presented by Dr. Gutierrez)

Equine house officers generate an after-hours call fee of $25 for cases that they come in for.  It was recommended that this fee be increased to $55.  This money would be placed in an account to benefit HO training.  Question was posed about making these fees consistent across services.  That will require further discussion.  J. Lowe and D. Hague proposed the change for EQMS, approved by Board.