HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/02/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session (If St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
FEBRUARY 18, 2014
The meeting convened at 6:37 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tern Susan Sanger, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg
Lindberg, Anne Mavity, and Jake Spano.
Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs.
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmemng), Fire Chief (Mr. Koering), and Recording
Secretary(Ms. Hughes).
1. Update on Fire Department Operations
Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and stated that Mr. Koering has done outstanding work
since his arrival in November and was pleased with his leadership in the Fire Department.
Mr. Koering discussed the onboarding process and stated that one of the first priorities is to
develop a current set of standard operating guidelines. He advised that a process for developing
these guidelines has been established and five guidelines have been implemented to date, adding
that every month he will send out three to five guidelines for review so that by the end of the
year the Fire Department should have a complete set of standard operating guidelines. He stated
that other priorities include increased communication and succession planning for the
department. He indicated that the Fire Department will have some retirements during 2014 that
will create opportunities for people to move up within the department. He advised that the City's
emergency operations plan is currently being reviewed and compared to the updated Hennepin
County plan documents. He indicated that final updates to the EOCs are planned for 2014 with
the goal of having the primary EOC at the police station. He discussed the implementation of
Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and advised that CERT team members are
community volunteers who are trained in basic disaster response skills and basic fire prevention,
as well as traffic control during community-wide events. He added that he recently learned
about some grant money that may be available to fund the development of CERT and agreed to
provide further information to Council regarding CERT in the near future.
Councilmember Lindberg expressed support for the CERT program and urged the City to make
sure it secures the necessary resources to fund this program if the grant funds are not available.
Councilmember Mavity stated the CERT program represents an opportunity to identify different
leaders within the community and felt it would be important to consider how the City recruits for
this program.
Mr. Koering provided an update regarding the pilot program being considered with Park Nicollet
in response to the Affordable Care Act whereby the Fire Department would schedule five or six
home visits per day to check on recently discharged patients with the goal of keeping these
people from being readmitted to the hospital or becoming high volume users of the emergency
response system. He stated that keeping these patients in their homes will improve the patient
experience and improve the brand of the City and the Fire Department. He explained that the
Fire Department would get a list of discharged patients and schedule visits with these patients to
check whether they have their prescriptions filled, verify discharge orders, and make sure the
patient is off to the right start until the home nurse comes to assure continuity of care and keep
Special Study Session Minutes -2- February 18, 2014
them out of the emergency room, adding that if a patient does need to go back to the hospital, the
Fire Department can be on scene in acute situations more quickly than in the past. He stated that
staff believes this program represents a great partnership with Park Nicollet and there are a
number of fire departments looking into this type of program.
Mr. Harmening stated that the Affordable Care Act includes penalties to hospitals if patients are
readmitted to the hospital within the 30-day period following discharge and the pilot program is
intended to avoid readmittance and to provide a better level of service to residents who are not in
an emergency situation. He stated that further work needs to be done on the program, including
the revenue the City would receive from Park Nicollet for providing this service, adding that
Park Nicollet is very interested in working with the City on this program. He noted that
conversations have also been taking place with the unions about the program.
Mr. Koering discussed the timeline for implementation of the pilot program and stated that a
complete test of the concept will take place on March 19, 2014, and suggested that he follow up
with Council after that time.
Mayor Pro Tern Sanger felt that Council needs to have a further discussion before agreeing to
implement the program.
Councilmember Mavity felt it would be informative to hear back from staff after the test on
March 19t and Council can make a determination at that point whether to proceed with the
program.
Mayor Pro Tern Sanger stated she would like further information about how this program would
impact the City's ability to fight fires, as well as any additional costs to the City and whether
additional staff would be needed.
It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to bring this item back to Council for
further discussion in a Study Session on March 3.
The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m. /1
Gla,(
Nancy Stroth, Eity Clerk ' Susan Sanger, Mayor Pro Tem