DOH – PEF LABOR/MANAGEMENT MEETING
September 22, 2006
9:30 AM
PEF HEADQUARTERS
Attendees
PEF: Lou Matrazzo, Joe Fox, Carolyn Willson, Cheryl Kennedy, Nanette Little, Anna Schrom, Paul Stein, Don Reinhard, Ken Ferro, George Buldrini, Jim Hair
MANAGEMENT: Betsy Aliberti, Jack Conroy, Darcy Williams, Walter Czachorowski, Luella Kelley, Kathryn Marcello, Stephanie Jubic, Karim Adeen-Hasan, Amy Ohlman, Denise Fiendel, Deb Hotaling, Terry Ketterer, Chuck McElrath, Torin Spellman, Joe Rooks
GUEST: Brian Wing
Agenda
N.B. Items 4 and 6 (which were the same item) were removed from this agenda and referred to the Department-level Health and Safety Committee where the issue has been discussed previously.
10. Recently the new reprocurement timeline has been discussed for the Medicaid Program in OMM. These meetings and discussions are supposed to take place from now till April ‘07. Proposals are due by June 29, 2007, with the new contract awarded 11/07. There are rumors that there will be a strict takeover with even more than the current contract has in it. What will happen to the jobs that are currently being performed by state staff? What positions will be affected?
DISCUSSION: Item 10 was addressed first because Brian Wing personally attended the meeting to respond to it. The EMedNY contract is up for renewal next year. The Department is not sure at this point whether additional functions will be outsourced. It is possible that some new items, such as Provider Enrollment, may be included on the new contract. Choice Point is able to access some records that DOH staff cannot access. Mr. Wing stressed that any such action would not involve letting any State staff go. The RFP is scheduled to go out in April. It involves very complex paperwork.
PEF asked why State staff are not able to get access to the databases. Mr. Wing replied that this might be possible but it would be much more expensive. The contractor gets access more cheaply because they do more work with the databases. State staff will continue to be the decision makers after the information is gathered.
PEF asserted that OMIG has taken away some of OMM’s access. Mr. Wing responded that OMM and OMIG are still working out the details of their relationship.
1. PEF would like an explanation and role of yet another shadow agency within the DOH. We got this from a request for a RFP.
The New York State Health Foundation is a new private foundation established by Governor George Pataki and the New York State Legislature. Dedicated to improving the health of New Yorkers, the Foundation has a three-part mission: Expanding Health Insurance coverage to state residents who cannot afford to purchase their own coverage or whose coverage is inadequate. Increasing access to high-quality health care services for underserved people. Improving public and community health by educating New Yorkers about health issues and empowering communities to address them.
The NYS Health Foundation has issued its first RFP:
http://www.nyshealthfoundation.org/documents/NYHealthFinalRFP.pdf
DISCUSSION: The New York State Health Foundation is not part of, nor is it related to, the Department of Health in any other manner than as an independent external organization which is offering grant opportunities for which the Department may apply. The Health Foundation is a not for profit organization created by the Governor and the Legislature from funding generated by the sale of Blue Cross. It is not under the control of DOH. DOH, like other entities, has submitted or will submit grant proposals to the Foundation.
2. PEF requests an update on DOH’s research in getting fair treatment for PAs and NPs in the Western Region of NY after the civil service and budget upgrade debacle that cost them 10s of thousands of dollars in decreases in pay which is contrary to the original intent of the upgrade.
DISCUSSION: Nothing is currently underway within DOH related to this matter. Management has talked to Civil Service and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations about the unfortunate impact of the upgrades on the employees, particularly in Oxford and Batavia where there are no longer geographic differentials. After the employees received five and six-grade reallocations the opinion of the control agencies is that their pay is equitable. Only three people at DOH are impacted. In other agencies more employees are impacted. We suggest that PEF take the matter up with Civil Service and GOER.
3. Are contract staff allowed to use NY State owned cars and if so is this part of the contract approved by the Comptroller’s Office?
DISCUSSION: There is no prohibition against contract employees using State cars as long as they are engaged in official State business when using them. The preference is that they first be assigned to State employees. However, if no State employees are using them it is not violative of OSC regulations for contract staff engaged in State business to use them.
7. Title 18 (18 NYCRR) requires that:
(a) All buildings containing residences for adults must meet the requirements of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (490.11).
(b) All buildings containing adult homes must meet the requirements of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (487.11 (d) (c). All enriched housing programs must be located in buildings that meet the requirements of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code section 434.3 requires that anyone who enforces the code must attend a state certified basic code enforcement training program. How many DOH staff who inspect residences for adults, adult homes, and enriched housing programs have attended this required training? How many DOH staff who inspect residences for adults, adult homes, and enriched housing programs have not attended this required training and what is DOH’s plan to ensure that these staff receive this required training?
DISCUSSION: DOH fire safety and sanitarian staff do not enforce the Code. They inspect against DOH regulations. Regulation 487.11 (a) reads, “In order to provide a safe, comfortable environment for residents, the operator shall maintain the facility in a good state of repair and sanitation, and in conformance with applicable State and local laws, regulations and ordinances.” No one person could know what all of those laws, regulations and ordinances are. They change all the time. DOH generally relies on local government (city, town, etc) to do local inspections and enforcement of those codes.
Regulation 487.11 (d) references newly constructed buildings or those converted for use as adult homes. First, this code has been replaced by the International Code. Second, the Local Codes Official would be involved in new construction or conversion of a building.
Regulation 488.11 (c) says that all EHP buildings must be in compliance with the Codes B-1 and B-3 occupancy group. This would be indicated on a certificate of occupancy form issued by the local building official.
Sanitarian staff in some areas have attended fire safety training, but it was voluntary. It is not required.
8. When the Health Systems Specialist series was discussed with PEF field staff about a year or two ago they were told that Grade 19 Public Health Social Workers were supposed to be upgraded to a Grade 20 as the first step if it went through. What is the current status of the Health Systems Specialist series?
DISCUSSION: Most recently, the Director of Classification and Compensation said she hasn’t had time to look at the Department’s proposal since it was last submitted. The head of the C&C unit that works with the DOH said the classification standards need to be revised again. BPM continues to follow up on this issue. DOH supports this proposal but has had a difficult time getting Civil Service to entertain it. We suggest that PEF’s staff who interact with Civil Service may want to advocate with C&C to help us in getting this proposal approved. Meanwhile, DOH follows up with C&C at least once a month.
9. What progress has been made in eliminating the requirement for the use of social security numbers on expense vouchers and other forms. I believe that at the last meeting, management agreed that the numbers should be eliminated, but we’re still putting them on our monthly expense vouchers.
DISCUSSION: Management acknowledged that agreement had been reached concerning the use of social security numbers on forms where they are not absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, the current system hinges on the SSN as the key employee identifier. Without that information, we run the risk of reimbursing the incorrect employee. While the system can handle any single voucher without a SSN, it requires extra manual processing steps that would delay reimbursement if they had to be performed for every voucher.
The good news is that management is currently working on a replacement travel reimbursement system that will not rely as heavily on the SSN. The new system will be web based and will allow the traveler to move their travel voucher forward electronically. The system will use the lotus notes short ID as the primary identifier, so the SSN will not appear on any of the screens seen by the traveler, supervisor or others that have to provide preapproval. However, it may be necessary for the employee to provide the SSN as a part of password authentication – this has not yet been determined. If so, we are hoping this would only be necessary the first time the employee logs into the system. Also, the system will have to maintain the SSN in order for it to be shared with OSC as required. It will be a data element stored in the system but not visible to all.
9. In general is there a limit to how long a person can serve as an “Acting” head of a program? Specifically, a PEF-represented G-24 nursing services administrator was assigned approximately three years ago by their supervisor to serve as an “acting” area office director for a health care surveillance program after the permanently assigned area office director retired. (The previous area office director had been a Grade 29 program administrator.) As the “acting” area office director she has routinely been performing out-of-title work. Is there a limit to how long this person can continue to serve as the acting area office director before either being promoted into that position permanently or allowed to return to her previous duties?
Management replied that there is no specified limit for someone to serve in an “Acting” capacity. If PEF wanted to talk about specifics of this case, it would have to be done outside the labor/management arena. The old Area Office Program Director list still exists. DOH is attempting to get the examination held again but this title is not a priority for the Department of Civil Service.
11. PEF requests that DOH management resolve the out of title issue caused by Data Processing Systems Auditor title who are really doing Associate Computer Programmer Analyst work. PEF also requests the classification standard for Data Processing Systems Auditor.
Management provided a copy of the most recent examination announcement for the title. There is no classification standard.
Management is aware of the changing role of this title. The title is currently under review by the Bureau of Personnel Management (BPM) and program managers. We have not determined at this point that the incumbents are working out of title. The incumbents have a blend of skills. They not strictly auditors nor are they strictly IT specialists. They have and utilize in their jobs a combination of both skill sets. The title is a 52.6 title at the G-23 level, so incumbents do have a variety of transfer opportunities. In addition, BPM has offered to talk to individual employees about their career opportunities.
Management Items:
1. Influenza Vaccine
Management announced that flu vaccine will be plentiful this year. The schedule of walk-in clinics was passed out. In Central New York and MARO it is expected that employees will participate in the POD exercise to get their vaccine.
2. America on the Move
Mr. Conroy announced that the WellNYS Coordinator is now working directly for him. She is overseeing a program called America on the Move. A Lotus News item about the program was handed out to members.
Next Meeting: To be announced.
________________________ _____________________
Lou Matrazzo, PEF Chair Elizabeth W. Aliberti, Director
Dept. Labor/Management Committee Bureau of Employee Relations/
Staff Development