NEVADA PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
May 16, 2012
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Board Members Present & Location
Marena Works, President – Carson City
Romaine Gilliland, Vice President – Carson City
Nicola Neilon, Treasurer – Carson City
Larry Matheis, Secretary – Las Vegas
Joseph Isler, MD - Reno
Trudy Larson, MD - Reno
Marla McDade Williams – Carson City
Rob Gaedtke – Reno
Board Members Absent
Dr. Larry Sands
John Packham
NPHF Staff Present & Location
Rota Rosaschi, Executive Director - Carson
Emily Brown, Performance Improvement Manager – Carson City
Linda Mercer, Executive Assistant – Carson City
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Item #1 -Welcome and Roll Call
The meeting was conducted via teleconferencing as opposed to videoconferencing. Carson City attendees
participated by conference call at the Nevada Public Health Foundation office, while those in Reno
participated by conference call at the Washoe County Health Department office. Larry Matheis
participated by conference call from Las Vegas. President, Marena Works called the meeting to order and
proceeded with roll call. A quorum was present.
Item #2 – Approval of Previous Minutes
The Board members reviewed the meeting minutes from the January 2012 face-to-face meeting. There
were no revisions, changes or comments. Larry Matheis made a motion to approve the minutes and
Romaine Gilliland seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to approve the January 27, 2012
minutes as submitted.
Item #3 – Discussion with CPA/Auditor, Clay Singleton
Mr. Singleton represents the firm Haws, Theobald & Auman PC, the Foundation’s new auditors. Mr.
Singleton and his staff were just finishing a two day financial audit review of Nevada Public Health
Foundation (NPHF). He briefly discussed the review process. One recommendation was made to
increase the capitalization threshold to $1,000. Board members discussed the recommendation. Niki
Neilon made a motion to increase the NPHF capitalization threshold to $1,000 and Larry Matheis
seconded the motion. The Board voted and unanimously concurred. Once the written audit is received,
any other suggestions/recommendations will be addressed at that time.
Item #4 – Treasurer’s Report
a) The Board received the financial reports through March 31, 2012. Niki Neilon, Treasurer, reviewed
the financial statements with the Board. Referring to the Balance Sheet, Ms. Neilon noted gross income
is down due to the Foundation fronting about $200,000 in grant related expenses.
b) Regarding a 90-day reserve for the Foundation, Ms. Neilon stated NPHF incurred $544,000 in
expenses and based on this the minimum 90-day reserve would be $136,000. However, Ms. Neilon stated
that maintaining a sufficient reserve is critical to the stability of the Foundation. After further Board
discussion, President Marena Works recommended a committee be established to evaluate the reserve
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necessary to ensure stability of the foundation. Committee members are Romaine Gilliland, Chair, Marla
McDade Williams, and Niki Neilon.
c) Ms. Niki Neilon reviewed the insurance policies carried by the Foundation to determine if the
coverage was sufficient. Ms. Neilon said the coverage is very good for all three policies; Workers
Compensation, General Liability and Directors & Officers Liability; all at $1 million.
d) Ms. Neilon was asked to comment on closing financial statements within 10 business days following
the end of the month. Ms. Neilon stated the 10 day mark is too aggressive. The Foundation’s financials
for the month are contingent upon receipt of invoices from contractors and vendors, many of which have
billing delays. Ms. Neilon stated she would consult with the Foundation’s Bookkeeping and come up
with a recommendation as to when financial statements should be available and report back to the Board.
There were no other questions or comments. Larry Matheis made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s
report and Rob Gaedtke seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to approve the Treasurer’s
report.
Item #5 – Annual Operational Plan Discussion
Ms. Rosaschi discussed the following:
Goal A
1. Status of United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra’s:
a. United Way has not opened their Standard of Excellence applications and don’t know when
they will.
b. Vice-President of United Way has agreed to accept NPHF’s application and put it in the
queue for when they do.
c. Application will be submitted.
2. Letter of engagement for yearly audit was signed. Audit is happening now so meets the May
2012 deadline. Mr. Singleton is handling the IRS 990 report.
Goal B
1. John Packham is heading the Nevada Public Health Association (NPHA)’s Government Relations
Committee. Ms. Rosaschi attended the last meeting via telephone.
2. Jon Sasser is a big lobbyist during Session for a lot of the causes NPHF might be interested in.
He has been contacted, but no meeting has been set.
3. Denise Tanata Ashby is a lobbyist for children’s issues. She has NPHF on her contact list. Her
primary focus for right now is changes to the child protection laws.
4. NPHF handled the following public health meetings/conferences:
ECCS Summit (3 areas of Las Vegas, Reno and Elko) on Feb. 16-17
GMAC meeting – March 8
County Health Rankings Meeting – April 12
Preparing for Rural Emergency Preparedness Summit for May 30-31
Goal C
1. Adrienne Navarro has joined Nevada Public Health Association and the Sexual Violence
Coalition.
2. Emily Brown is with Nevada Public Health Association.
3. Rota Rosaschi:
a) is a board member for Access to Health Care Network.
b) sits on Citizen Review Committee for DCFS/Child protective services.
c) sits as co-chair for School of Community Health Sciences, Public Health Advisory Board.
d) is a Member of Nevada Public Health Association.
e) is a Board member for the State Osteopathic Medicine Board.
f) sits as Chair for Medicaid’s Advisory Board.
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4. Refresh NPHF website
a. Met with Rob Gaedtke, Board member and KPS3 staff, via “go to meetings” – he walked us
through the process of making changes. Both Ms. Brown and Ms. Navarro have been making
changes/updates.
b. Ms. Brown reminded the Board members there was still some information she needed to
refresh and update the website dealing with Board members.
Goal D
1. Funding opportunities – 1) NPHF responded to Food Insecurities Request For Proposal (RFP) but
was not selected. The project was funded for $100,000 and had to be completed by November
2012. 2) NPHF responded to RFP on Statutory Rape and was awarded a 4 year contract of
$119,000 each year.
2. Bio updates still required
3. List of strengths, talents and skills – need information from most Board members (received from
Dr. Iser, Marla McDade Williams.)
Item #6 – Follow-up on Board Action
Ms. Rosaschi discussed the following:
 NPHF staff will work with Rob Gaedtke to create and post an annual report on the website, along
with updated Board of Director’s information.
a. Still need bios from Niki Neilon and Dr. Trudy Larson
b. Have been talking with Mr. Gaedtke about the annual report. He has shared a couple of
examples. NPHF has provided him with financial information and some program
information and he is working on the report.
 Funding Reserves Ms. Rosaschi spoke with Niki Neilon regarding 90-day reserve; suggested we set aside ¼ of last
year’s expenses as minimum. They ran the concept by Clay Singleton while he was here for the
annual audit and he thought it was a logical approach.
 Ms. Rosaschi was asked to speak with Linda Lang about joining the Board. She did, but Ms.
Lang did not feel this was a good fit and thus declined the offer.
 Larry Matheis was asked to invite Frankie Sue DelPapa to join the Board. Ms. DelPapa stated she
is not able to sit as a regular Board Member but will be happy to provide legal advice as needed.
 Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS) position on Board A decision has not been made about a Board member as yet. Note: Mr. Gilliland represented
DWSS until his retirement from State Services. He is now a regular voting board member with a
4-year term. Also, Mr. Packham has agreed to remain a Board member for the next 4 year term.
 Ms. Rosaschi sent an email to National Network of Public Health Institutes regarding their board
giving policy. They had not been asked this question before. They were going to do some
research with other institutes and get back to her. This has not happened yet.
 At the request of the Board, a copy of the Strategic Map was updated, dated and sent to Board
members. The Strategic Map has been changed to the “2012 Operational Plan per the Board’s
request. A copy of the Operational Plan has been placed on the website.
 A line item has been added to the 2012 budget to include leadership training for the Executive
Director and for janitorial services. Janitorial services were started in February 2012 at $200 per
month – a fabulous deal.
 Rob Gaedtke has provided NPHF with some training on how to make changes to the website.
 A matrix of Board talents has not been created. Information is still needed from most of the
Board.
 Ms. Neilon has reviewed the current insurance policy coverage and has declared it adequate.
 The Board agenda was reviewed by the Vice-President before it was sent to the Board. Changes
to the agenda format were made per Mr. Gilliland’s advice.
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Item #7 – Update on Funding Opportunities .
Ms. Rosaschi discussed all the work orders NPHF has with the State Health Division, the Department of
Health and Human Services and the contract with the Welfare Division.
Item #8 – Program Updates
a) The annual development plan was finalized and forwarded to Board members after the January Faceto-Face meeting.
b) One of the performance measures on the Executive Director’s evaluation is to become an active
member of the Association of Fund-Raising Professionals. However, since the group’s focus is on major
gift giving, this measure does not fit the work of the Executive Director. There was discussion about
removing this requirement from the evaluation. Subsequently, Ms. Neilon made a motion to remove this
requirement from the Executive Director’s evaluation. Larry Matheis seconded the motion and the Board
unanimously agreed.
c) Emily Brown provided an accreditation update and the progress made by the three health districts.
She stated Carson City Health & Human Services (CCHHS) is getting close to finalizing the
requirements. Southern Nevada Health District is using National Association of County and City Health
Officials (NACCHO) grant funds of $60,000 to support its accreditation activities. Since Dr. Sands’
departure, they will be deferring accreditation for awhile. Washoe County is moving slowly forward.
They are working with Gary Aldax, St. Mary’s Foundation, on the needs assessment project. Ms. Brown
stated her position with the Foundation is due to expire soon. She said a position is possible with the
State Health Division and there’s been some conversation with Administrator, Richard Whitely. Romaine
Gilliland asked if Ms. Brown will be able to take her accomplishments with her and reactivate at some
time in the future. Ms. Rosaschi stated this is exactly what NPHF plans to do to keep the momentum
going. Marena Works said Ms. Brown has made a huge positive impact for CCHHS and losing her is
devastating. Dr. Larson suggested a letter to Mr. Whitley come from the Board requesting continued
funding to NPHF, especially since the Health Division cannot accept Ms. Brown until sometime after the
State’s Interim Finance Committee meets in July 2012. Marla McDade Williams agreed that a letter is
best. Dr. Iser will assist in drafting the letter with Dr. Larson and Ms. Works. Once drafted, the letter
will be put on NPHF letterhead.
Item #9 – Old or New Business
Old Business: None
New Business:
Nevada Public Health Association (NPHA) – Next meeting is June 7th at the Health Division with Dr.
Green and Richard Whitley talking about the blend of the State Health Division with the state’s mental
health and disabilities divisions. The annual NPHA statewide conference will be in Las Vegas on
October 4th – 5th.
The next Board meeting is Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Adjournment – 4:30 p.m.
As there was no other Board business, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The Board
unanimously concurred.
Revised 8/6/12
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