MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS
OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
March 15, 1979
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University
was held on Thursday, March 15, 1979, at 9:00 a.m. in the Conference Room at 910
West Franklin Street.
Present were Drs. Blanton, Gayle, Johnson and Nemuth; Messrs. Bliley, Dabney,
Grey, Norris and Shumate; and Mesdames Fewell, Satterfield, Stone and Thalhimer.
Absent were Messrs. Scott and Seaborn. Also present were Drs. Ackell, Beller, Brooke,
Wilson and Woods; Messrs. Bruegman, Guerdon and Ross; Miss Cosby and Mrs. Price.
Dr. Blanton called the meeting to order. On motion made and seconded, the
Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Student Affairs Committee, held January 16, 1979;
a Special Meeting of the Property Committee, held January 16, 1979; a Special Meeting
of the Audit Committee, held January 17, 1979; a Regular Meeting of the Board of
Visitors, held January 18, 1979; and a Special Meeting of the Hospital Committee,
held March 1, 1979, were approved.
The Report of the Legal Advisor followed. Mr. Ross reported on the various
cases now outstanding against VCU. He also distributed materials on the Freedom
of Information Act which will become effective on July 1, 1979. Since this item has
so many complicated features, it was decided that this would be an item of discussion
at a evening session of the Board to be held on May 16, 1979, at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Ross
was asked to provide a summary of the Freedom of Information Act for this special
meeting. On motion made and seconded, the Report of the Legal Advisor was accepted
by the Board.
Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the Faculty Appointments
and Changes in Status were approved, including the appointment of Mr. Myles Lash,
Executive Director of MCVH. Mr. Lash is expected around May 15, 1979.
Page 2
The Faculty Promotions for the Academic Campus were presented. Following a
discussion, on motion made and seconded, the Faculty Promotions for the Academic
Campus were approved.
Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the Faculty Promotions
for the MCV Campus were approved.
Mr. Guerdon presented the Report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts. The large
number of City I donations from area businesses were noted with appreciation by
the Board. On motion made and seconded, the Report of Gifts, Grants and Contracts
was approved.
The list of contracts signed since the January meeting was presented by Mr.
Guerdon. Following a review, on motion made and seconded, the list of contracts
signed since the January meeting was accepted by the Board.
Mr. Guerdon presented an explanation of the distribution of the Isaac Davenport
Estate in response to several questions that had been raised at the last meeting
of the Board. The Davenport Will states, in part, that "all income received shall
be used exclusively for the care, maintenance, and/or treatment (as the case may be)
of indigent, sick and/or afflicted persons, and for no other purposes whatsoever."
One-third of the income, which is payable quarterly, comes to the University. The
University share for fiscal year 1978 amounted to $122,358. As of January 31, 1979,
the balance in the income account was $248,000. Mr. Guerdon reported that the funds
have generally been used for the write-off of bad debts due to the care of the indigent.
A special hospital committee determines which accounts will be funded from the Davenport
income. The consensus of the Board was that, rather than use this fund as a general
write-off of bad debts, it should be used on an individual need basis. Mr. Ross, who
serves as a member of the review committee, indicated that cases have been considered
individually and most have been hardship cases. Mrs. Thalhimer asked whether a year-end
balance could be used for capital improvements in the clinics at MCV. Mr. Ross in-
Page 3
dictated that he would check into this matter to see if the funds could be used in
such a way. Mr. Guerdon reported that he would report to the committee that distributes these funds the sense of the Board in this matter and ask the committee
to draw up some guidelines to present to the Board at a later date.
Dr. Wayne Hall presented a request from the School of the Arts requesting that
April 8, 1979, be declared Mr. Frantisek Smetana Day. This date marks the fiftieth
anniversary of Mr. Smetana's first recital in 1928 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the declaration of Mr. Frantisek
Smetana Day on April 8, 1979, was approved.
The Report of the President followed. During the President's Report, the Oregon
Hill situation was discussed. Dr. Ackell reported that he and Dr. Blanton had just
met with Councilman Chuck Richardson and once again explained the University's position.
In addition, Dr. Blanton announced that he and Dr. Ackell would be meeting with Mr.
Jenkins and three of his associates at 12 noon today. Following a lengthy discussion,
on motion made, seconded and approved, the Board of Visitors reaffirmed its support
of the University's expansion plans and the manner in which the administration is
proceeding.
Dr. Beller presented a resolution dealing with a System for Hospital Uniform
Reporting (SHUR). Following a discussion, on motion made and seconded, the following resolution was approved:
The Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University supports
federal government and health care industry efforts to contain costs,
reduce fraud and abuse in the Medicare-Medicaid programs, and improve
financial controls in health care institutions.
Page 4
WHEREAS, Congress passed Public Law 95-142, the "Medicare-Medicaid Anti-
Fraud and Abuse Amendments," which enable the Health Care Financing Adminis-
tration (HCFA) to issue regulations implementing this law, and
WHEREAS, the draft regulations propose a System for Hospital Uniform
Reporting (SHUR) to be effective for fiscal years commencing after
January 1, 1980, that does not satisfy the intent of Public Law 95-142
in that the data required by such reporting has no readily understood
relationship to the stated purpose of the law - "to detect, prosecute
and punish fraudulent activities under the Medicare and Medicaid programs;"
and
WHEREAS, SHUR departs from the usual form of accounting and results in
unnecessary record keeping burdens for regulatory purposes; and
WHEREAS, SHUR requires a cost allocation methodology which does not
the most accurate or appropriate cost allocations to the Medicare Program;
recognize differences between types of hospitals and does not allow for
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Visitors of Virginia Common-
wealth University urges the HCFA to delay the implementation of SHUR until
after January 1, 1981; to incorporate suggestions for improvement from the
various interested constituencies; to clarify the objectives of the regula-
tions and ensure that they are made consistent with the legislative intent
of Congress; and to derive a modified uniform reporting system that will be
within the practical capabilities of health care institutions to implement.
Dr. Gayle reported on behalf of the Hospital Committee. He reported that the
number of patient days is up, and there has been a slight increase in occupancy.
However, the length of stay for a patient is down. The collection of bad debts
has also increased. Dr. Ackell reported that, without the hard and diligent work
of the Hospital Committee over the past year, we would have been unable to recruit
such a highly qualified hospital director as Mr. Lash.
On majority vote of the Board, an executive session was held to hear the Report
of the Honorary Degree Committee. The meeting adjourned at 12 noon for lunch.
Following lunch, Dr. Hall presented a review of the Alcohol Education Program,
which is funded through a grant from the Department of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation. Currently, this grant is on a one-year basis but has been renewed
for the coming academic year. This is a very worthwhile project but it is difficult
for staff members since there is a great deal of uncertainty from year to year re-
Page 5
garding the grant's renewal. A question was raised concerning the Substance Abuse
Program at the hospital. Dr. Ackell reported that this program belongs to the
Department of Health but is housed in our facilities. Therefore, MCV/VCU receives
the criticism. Dr. Ackell reported that we are working with the Department of
Health to solve some of the problems that exist. He also indicated that we could
have a quality program in substance abuse if the University were allowed to manage
it.
The Chairmen of the Academic Policy Committee, the Executive Committee and the
Audit Committee reported that they did not have reports to make at this Board meeting.
.
Mr. Norris reported on behalf of the Student Affairs Committee. There is a
student group working to establish a student government on the Academic Campus.
They have held a retreat and developed a constitution. During the past week, they
have held public hearings on the proposed constitution. However, they have not been
well attended even though each student received a direct mailing and the hearings
have been held at different times and on different days. The Student Affairs Com-
mittee itself has not been involved in this matter but does remain interested in the process and product.
process and product.
Mrs. Satterfield reported for the Property Committee. At its last meeting,
the Committee reviewed the capital outlay requests for 1980-82 and overhead funding
for projects for 1978-80. The committee approved these documents as submitted. Mr.
Bruegman also reported to the Committee on the situation with the smoke stacks and
the new hospital. He reported that it would cost about $1.2 million to build new
smoke stacks or $4.2 million to add scrubbers to existing stacks. The administration is not ready to make a recommendation regarding the stacks at this time.
is not ready to make a recommendation regarding the stacks at this time.
Mrs. Fewell asked if the Virginia Hospital Laundry was operating more efficiently.
Page 6
Mr. Guerdon reported that the new manager has made great progress in the 15- to 18-
months that he has been there. However, they are still experiencing some inventory
problems.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Anne P. Satterfield, Secretary
Approved:
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
March 15, 1979
1. Oregon Hill - Dr. Ackell reported that he and Dr. Blanton had just met with
Councilman Chuck Richardson and reaffirmed the University's decision to ex-
pand in Oregon Hill. Dr. Ackell also reported that we have reviewed
alternatives and none of them is feasible at this date. Mr. Bruegman
reported that we are continuing to work closely with the people in this
area and we have been able to identify only five owner/occupants who
are unwilling to relocate. Mr. Bruegman also reported that once the Council
on the Environment acts on our impact statement, the State will release the
money so that we may begin to actually purchase the property.
2. Pharmacy/Pharmacology Building - Dr. Ackell reported that he had met recently
with Mr. Robins regarding his gift to help construct the Pharmacy/Pharmacology
Building. Dr. Ackell indicated that we may have to make additional changes
to this structure to build it within the funds available.
3. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals - Dr. Ackell reported that a
site visit team from JCAH was on campus last week. We will probably receive
another one-year accreditation. This lack of full accreditation does not
reflect the quality of the hospitals but has to do with life safety codes
in the hospitals.
4. Development Study - Dr. Ackell reported that members of the Board had been
mailed a summary of the Development Study. However, Board members can re-
view the entire document if they wish. This item will be discussed in de-
tail at the next Board meeting.
5. Fan Conduct - Dr. Ackell reported that although he was not present at the ODU
basketball game, he was very disappointed at the reports he received concerning
student/fan conduct. He reported an effort was made to reach the student leader-
ship before the Madison game to let them know the administration was displeased.
The results were evident at the Madison game. There was a lot of good, clean
sportsmanship.
6. Commencement - Dr. Ackell announced that Commencement would be held on Saturday,
May 12, 1979, at 10:00 a.m. in the Richmond Coliseum. Former Congressman Paul
Rogers will be the speaker.
7. Walking Tour at MCV Campus - Dr. Ackell announced that following today's meeting
a walking tour of the MCV Campus would be conducted by Dr. R. B. Young and Dr.
Lauren A. Woods.
