August 2008
Dear Region 6 Colleagues:
The ASHHRA national conference is coming right up. It promises to be a great conference with interesting speakers, social events, networking opportunities and interaction with vendors. Participants will again be getting together by region for a networking event called Regional Breakfasts on Sunday, Oct. 12. This will be a great chance for us in our region to get to know each other. At that breakfast, I have the honor of awarding several ASHHRA achievement awards. Make sure you come to this fun event!
I attended a regional consultant meeting in Chicago in July. At that meeting, a representative from AHA Solutions presented to our group. AHA Solutions can be a wonderful benefit to chapters and individual members. For chapters, they have an extensive list of potential speakers. If you are ever looking for a good speaker to present at one of your state conferences, let me know and I can provide you with contact names. They also review different HR products and can help members with products that they have already reviewed very diligently. Also at the meeting, we judged the applications for the various ASHHRA awards. Watch for some new improved methods to be used to review the Chapter Management Awards next year.
Our region had many applications for the ASHHRA Conference Scholarship (sponsored by MetLife) which will be awarded to one individual to help offset costs to attend the upcoming ASHHRA national conference. The winners will be announced soon. One of the requirements of receiving the scholarship is for the recipient to write a short article about something he/she learned at the conference. We will congratulate the winner at our Regional Breakfast in Austin, and then await the article in one of the 2009 regional newsletters.
Here are some news items from our state chapters….
From Nancy Scattergood, Chapter President, Nebraska Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (NSHHRA):
“The Nebraska Chapter is officially up and going! To date, we have 58 members from all over Nebraska. We recently added a legal chair position to our board and welcomed a local healthcare/employment law firm to fill this position. We are working on fundraising efforts to assist with a conference planned for early 2009. One of our new members recently completed a Joint Commission survey and is interested in sharing her experience with the chapter. We have also been in touch with the Nebraska MGMA to find ways our organizations can collaborate.”
From Ken Brown, Chapter President, Kansas Hospital Human Resources Association:
“The Kansas Hospital Human Resources Association is busy this summer hosting district meetings and educational seminars. There have been some excellent presentations thus far. The KHHRA board is reviewing its bylaws and looking at making some changes to our election process and duties of board members. Our chapter is thirty one years old, the bylaws have served us well, but many things are different now and it is time for a few changes.
KHHRA is co-sponsoring a series of Management Development Institute webinars on harassment in the workplace, improving interview skills, and basic budgeting. The series is directed toward the department manager level. This is the fourth year for this series of programs.
We are also preparing for our annual meeting in November in Kansas City. I would like to extend an invitation to come and join us for a day or two. Anyone interested in attending please contact me.”
From Healthcare Human Resources Association of Minnesota (HHRAM)
HHRAM is busily preparing for its fall conference “up North.” The conference will be September 10 -12 at Ruttgers’ Sugar Lake Lodge in Grand Rapids. The speakers look great: one on LEAN practices in the HR setting, and a super keynote speaker doing a “productivity and accomplishment” workshop. HHRAM would love to invite ASHHRA members in nearby states. For registration information go to www.hhram.org.
I am finishing out my two-year term as your regional consultant. A slate of candidates will be sent soon from ASHHRA to select my replacement. Make sure you vote when you receive the e-mail ballot from them.
On a personal note, I am hoping to stay very involved with ASHHRA, and have volunteered to be considered for a Regional Director position. The ballots just went out from ASHHRA, and we’ll see if I get elected or not! J
Again, I’m hoping to see many of you at the national conference in Austin. If you haven’t already registered, there is still time. Just go to www.ASHHRA.org to register. Hope to see you then!
Sincerely,
Karmen
Karmen Reid
Region 6 Consultant
June 2008
Dear Region 6 Colleagues:
The 2008 ASHHRA Chapter Leadership Conference was very successful. No only did we learn a lot, but it was also fun to network with MN Chapter President-Elect Becky Thiesfield and Kansas Chapter President-Elect Bob Brazil. Nancy Scattergood attended to prepare for starting up a chapter in Nebraska. Here is a summary of what we learned:
- ASHHRA has established five priorities for 2008:
- Web Resources – to include e-commerce, (e.g. employee recognition gifts) career center, content resources such as policies, and a “catalog” of endorsed HR products.
- Leadership Institute: At last year’s national conference, ASHHRA offered a pre-conference special learning session for senior HR Leaders. This was so successful that ASHHRA the former “Leader Forum” into a year-long institute. This will be kicked off at the 2008 national conference.
- Building the ASHHRA Foundation: Last year, for the first time. ASHHRA offered scholarships through the Foundation for one attendee per region. Steve Hodge, VP of HR at Regional West Health Services in Scottsbluff, Nebraska was our Region 6 winner last year. Information from ASHHRA for the 2008 conference scholarship was recently sent out. If you did not receive the information and are interested, please let me know.
- ASHHRA is starting a mentorship program. The goal is to connect mentors and mentees. For more information, go to www.ASHHRA.org under the Learning/Education tab.
- ASHHRA will enhance the HR Metrics Tool. Streamlined questionnaires and improved analysis of data is to be implemented this year.
- Networking and Best Practices
We then broke out by regions to learn about programs other chapters offer. Everyone picked up great ideas on how to start a chapter, rebuild a chapter, or enrich an already thriving chapter. Examples are 1) a DVD produced by Maine’s chapter with local high school students on interviewing; 2) a quarterly magazine with articles written by chapter members; 3) membership campaigns; 4) and wine and cheese events with HR educational programs to build membership.
- Nominating Committees for 2009 Officers
ASHHRA will be forming a nominating committee, comprised of members in all regions. Several positions will become available in 2009. If you are interested in any ASHHRA position, please let me know. Once the nominating committee has been established, I will pass on names to our Region 6 reps on the committee.
I have been working with Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa to establish chapters in those states. Nancy Scattergood has just sent me the great news that she has been successful in getting Nebraska’s chapter established. Steve Cassells is working on one for Missouri, and Gena Garber is doing some preliminary work with Iowa. If you would like to hear from any of them, let me know, and I will connect you.
Steve Hodges, our Region 6 Advocacy Committee rep, has been active in that role and gives us an update of the committee’s recent activities:
“Since becoming a member of the Advocacy Committee I have been appointed to the Hill Visit Subcommittee, and it’s been a hectic pace for the last 30-45 days. We are finalizing all the details for our trip to capital hill next week, and I am responsible for coordinating a group comprised of representatives from ASHHRA Regions 4, 5, and 6 who will be visiting all of our congressional representatives. Issues we’ll be communicating about include:
- Protecting Caregiver’s Health and Preventing Injuries (HR 378)
- The RESPECT act (S 969/HR 1644)
- The Employee Free Choice Act (HR 800/S 1041)
- Workforce Challenges
“Following our Hill Visit we will be preparing a webinar for the general ASHHRA membership that highlights the visit and related outcomes. We will undoubtedly have information available for HR PULSE, and I’d be glad to provide an update for Region 6. I’m very excited about this opportunity to serve, and look forward to more interaction with ASHHRA members from Region 6 as we consider how to be influential in the legislative processes on a state and national level.”
I’m hoping to see many of you at the national conference in Austin. We’ll have an opportunity to network at the Regional breakfasts. Go to www.ASHHRA.org to register.
Sincerely,
Karmen
Karmen Reid
Region 6 Consultant
M arch 2008
Dear Region 6 ASHHRA Members:
I am delighted to begin my second year as your Region 6 Consultant. One of my responsibilities is to be a liaison between you and ASHHRA. I will be attending the ASHHRA Chapter Leadership Conference in April. If you have anything you would like me to share with ASHHRA while I am there, just drop me a line. You are valuable members of a great organization, and ASHHRA leadership is committed to meet your needs. In this quarter’s newsletter, I am “showcasing” activities from some of our state chapters:
Kansas
The Kansas Hospital Human Resources Association is going strong. Bob Brazil, president elect, from Abilene Memorial Health System will be attending the Chapter Leadership Conference in Chicago. If you would like to attend their upcoming spring conference in Wichita on April 24 – 25, go to their Web site for information: www.khhra.org.
Iowa
Gena Garber, president elect of the Iowa chapter, is interested in building a stronger relationship with ASHHRA. We just had a telephone meeting; she will lead a discussion at the upcoming ISHHRA April meeting about this ASHHRA affiliation. They would welcome members from other states to attend their conference on April 28 in Des Moines. Interesting topics include “Rewards Beyond Pay Day” and “Understanding Hospital Reimbursement.” For registration information, go to www.IHAonline.org.
Minnesota
President Jennifer Gryte from Minnesota Gastroenterology reports that a lot of activities are happening with the Minnesota chapter (Healthcare Human Resources of MN). They are planning their spring conference on April 3 - 4, 2008 in Bloomington (think Mall of America!). The agenda looks great, with the theme “I Love HR.” All Region 6 ASHHRA members are welcome to attend. For information, go to their Web site: www.hhram.org. They are also planning their fall conference to be “up north” in Grand Rapids. Hopefully neighbors from nearby states can join the fun!
Nebraska
Kudos to Nancy Scattergood, HR director, Complete Children’s Health, who is working on an ASHHRA chapter re-started in Nebraska. Nancy will be attending the ASHHRA Chapter Leadership Conference in Chicago to “learn the ropes.” I’m sure we will hear more from Nebraska soon.
All States - National ASHHRA
In addition to the states above, we hope to see our colleagues from Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota at one of the state conferences or at the upcoming ASHHRA national conference in Austin. We typically have a Region 6 get-together, and it is fun to network. Lots of folks have already told me they plan to attend.
Register now for the ASHHRA 44th Annual Conference! Dates are October 11 – 14. 2008 in Austin, Texas. The national conference is really shaping up well! Sarah Fredrickson from Mayo Clinic is our region’s representative on the planning committee. In February, she visited the conference location and helped to select the presenters. Not only does the conference look very informative, it also looks like Austin will be a great venue. Sarah learned about Sixth Street, described as….”the heart of downtown’s entertainment district, the epicenter of after-dark excitement in Austin. Live music is the common thread on Sixth Street and visitors will hear it all – blues, R&B, Texas rock, alternative and classic rock ‘n’ roll. When in Austin, be sure to head down to Sixth Street – it’s center stage for the Live Music Capital of the World.”
So, why wait? Register now! For conference details and online registration, click here. Remember that there is a $50 Early Bird discount for those who register before May 15. Think spring! It won’t be long!
Best regards,
Karmen Reid
Section Head, Salary Administration
Mayo Clinic
507-266-0895
Reid.karmen@mayo.edu
