President Todd Nicholson opened the meeting at 12:15 on March 22 at the InterContinental Hotel. The meeting was hybrid with in-person attendees and a dozen online participants. President Nicholson thanked the greeters (Door Greeters: Ed Cook and Rita Dibble; Online Greeter Ellen Kennedy) and tech team (Ken Crabb, David Wolfgram and Matt Magers).
Bill Collins provided the inspirational minute, and then led the group in reciting the 4-way test. Doug Hartford introduced several guests and Shelly Rucks introduced additional guests from Regions Hospital.
Linda Mulhern spoke about the upcoming Camp RYLA, April 8-12 at YMCA Camp St. Croix, and how much fun it was to be involved with the youth and see their growth in leadership over the course of the program. She asked for volunteers for opportunities including cheering for student competitors, participating in small group ethics discussions, packing meals at Feed My Starving Children, and driving St. Paul students to camp. Time slots range from 1.5 to 2 hours. Please follow this link for more details and to sign up.
Susan Rostkoski talked about the ongoing Hallie Q Brown food drive and fundraiser, running through April 8, and pointed out the flier on each table with a QR code that will take people to the donation portal, or they can give her a check or cash. Our goal is to raise $2,500 and the St. Paul Rotary Foundation will generously add $1,000.
Next week she’ll have a box at the meeting for food donations.
Jim Hart introduced speaker Megan Remark, President of Regions Hospital. While not born here, Megan attended the U of M and the Carlson School of Management for her post-graduate work and considers MN home. She has more than 30 years’ experience in health care administration and became president at Regions in 2016.
Regions Hospital is a Level One adult and pediatric trauma hospital, the only one in the East Metro, and they feature a nationally recognized burn center. Regions is a “safety net” facility - the second highest in the state for offering charity care. No one is turned away, whether or not they have insurance or can pay for treatment. Besides treating more than 4,300 Covid-19 patients during the pandemic, Megan is proud that in that time Regions has also expanded their birth center, mental health services, Virtuwell program for remote access to health care, and the emergency department (ED). They now have 66 emergency treatment rooms, the largest ED facility in the Twin Cities. As a part of the Health Partners network, Regions is the largest private employer in St. Paul, with the hospital, Neuroscience Center, administrative offices, the Virtuwell headquarters and an array of specialty centers and primary care clinics.
Megan shared a moving video of a Regions nurse, Adam Ziebol, who was inspired to pursue his career because of the care he received at the facility after a serious car accident eight years ago, when he was a student at Burnsville High School. A lengthy stay at the hospital included 12 surgeries and extensive rehabilitation. The level of personal care he experienced made him want to give back in the same way to other patients going through similar trauma.
Megan went on to discuss the current state of health care, touching on the aging population and resulting increase in chronic illnesses (10,000 people per day turn 65 or older in the US), the growing diversity of our society (in 2021, 60% of babies born at Regions were Black/Indigenous/People of Color, or BIPOC), the health inequities highlighted by the pandemic (especially for BIPOC residents), and ongoing staffing issues (resulting from the “Great Resignation” and the physical and mental toll of the pandemic on staff who remain).
She explained that Regions was one of the first hospitals to collect detailed demographic data on patients, starting 20 years ago. They now capture 97% of that data which helps them identify illness trends and health care disparities within various populations, resulting in improved preventive care. Recognizing that bias is always with us, Regions has established an Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Cabinet which has identified four cornerstones to address these issues: health equity and eliminating disparities, diversity and inclusion, community partnerships and advocacy, and their St. Paul “anchor” strategy, leading to health and economic strategies that measurably impact community well-being.
President Todd announced upcoming meetings:
Hybrid Signature Lunch
Noon, Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront
Speaker – Jerry Will, Sr. VP of Corporate Development, 3M will speak on the “Science of Mergers & Acquisitions”
Noon, Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront
Speaker – Jerry Will, Sr. VP of Corporate Development, 3M will speak on the “Science of Mergers & Acquisitions”
501 Inspirational Lounge
5:01 PM, Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at U-Club
Speaker – Judge John Guthmann, Ramsey County Court will speak on the “Judicial System with the Rise in Crime”
Jim Hart announced a joint project with the Rotary Club of Lake Minnetonka-Excelsior. We will join them in the morning of Saturday, April 23, 2022 for Garden Prep and they will join us later in the spring for garden prep in St. Paul.
Doug Hartford called for happy dollars. President Todd adjourned the meeting at 1:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Mirenda