Vna Home & Hospice

“Patricia Small, board member is a board member of Sweetser and Debra Tayor, board member is President & CEO of Sweetser.”

“Amended Article VIII (Fiduciary Duty; Prohibited Transactions; Divided Loyalty; Independence), Section 5 (Independent Trustee) Subsection (e) to change the amount from aggregated more than $10,000 to equaled or exceeded (i) $80,000, or (ii) 2% of such companys consolidated gross revenues if such companys consolidated gross revenues were less than $4,000,000, in any of such three fiscal years. To add payments made by the company to the Corporation for healthcare services shall not be deemed to constitute payments.”

“VNA Home Health & Hospice d/b/a Northern Light Home Care & Hospice (the Corporation) is a Maine nonprofit corporation. Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems d/b/a Northern Light Health (NLH), also a Maine nonprofit corporation, is the sole voting corporate member of the Corporation.”

“Each year at their annual meeting, the directors elect replacements for those directors whose terms are expiring Election of directors is subject to ratification by the NLH Board of Directors.”

“The NLH President has authority to appoint and remove the SVP, President of the Corporation. NLH also has joint and superior authority to approve, disapprove or initiate action with respect to the following matters: I. amendments to the corporations Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws;II. changes in legal form of organization of the Corporation;III. election of the Directors/Trustees of the Corporation;IV. action concerning the Corporations operating budget and capital expenditures;V. the Corporations acquisition of assets or assumption of liabilities of an unaffiliated third party;VI. transfer of 5% or more of the assets of the Corporation;VII. financing transactions concerning the Corporation; VIII. merger, consolidation, sale, lease, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of all or substantially all assets of the Corporation; IX. add or revise a health care service of the Corporation;X. discontinue or close a health care service of the Corporation;XI. action concerning the Corporations role in the NLH Strategic Plan;XII. action concerning the Corporations participation in key strategic affiliations with third parties not affiliated with NLH; andXIII. dissolution of the Corporation.”

“Form 990 is reviewed by the VP of Finance & SVP, President of Northern Light Home Care & Hospice. It is also provided to each board member either electronically or in hard copy with an opportunity to ask questions prior to filing with the IRS.”

“The organization requests updates of potential conflicts and relationships from the officers and Board members on an annual basis. The request requires disclosure of all business relationships, board memberships, and family relationships. A database is maintained that is compared to payroll records and the accounts payable vendor list to identify any potential conflicts of interest. Transactions are reviewed for reasonableness as an arm's length transaction.The first agenda item for board meetings and board committee meetings is for members to declare any conflict of interest with upcoming agenda items or deliberations. At any point when consideration is being given to purchase/contract with a party in interest, the member with the conflict is either excused from the discussion and consideration process or abstains from voting on the matter.All transactions identified with parties in interest are disclosed within the Form 990. All are deemed to be arm's length transactions.”

“The SVP, President of Northern Light Home Care & Hospice and the system President/CEO (President) who serves on the board ex-officio are employed by the system parent, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems d/b/a Northern Light Health (NLH).The NLH Executive Performance Management Committee (the Committee) is responsible to monitor and evaluate the performance of the NLH President, to set compensation of the NLH President, and to review recommendations of the NLH President with respect to compensation of the SVP, President of the direct subsidiaries, and other direct reports to the NLH President. The Committee is comprised entirely of independent Directors per NLH bylaws.Process:The Committee meets regularly throughout the fiscal year at the discretion of the Committee chair as well as on call of the Chair of the NLH board. In carrying out its duties pursuant to the Bylaws, the Committee:-Assures that the executive compensation program is administered in a manner consistent with the NLH executive compensation philosophy.-Reviews and updates the NLH executive compensation philosophy which serves as the foundation on which all current and future executive compensation decisions are made.-Assures that value of compensation provided by NLH does not exceed the value of services provided by the executive.-Reviews annual incentive compensation criteria for eligible executives, as defined by the NLH President.-Reviews periodic compensation survey information and provides expert input to proposed changes to the executive compensation program.-Assures that a formal and timely performance management system is in place for executives.-Reviews incentive compensation criteria scoring and associated pay schedules for officers and key employees.-Provides any public statements regarding executive compensation practices at NLH deemed appropriate.-Maintains minutes of the meeting and communicates actions to the NLH Board of Directors.To accomplish this, the committee uses an external consultant with access to comparative data from independent sources and include national as well as regional data points. The NLH President reviews all direct report compensation actions with the committee. In addition, the NLH President ensures that any subsidiary policies and practices governing executive compensation are consistent with the committee's philosophy and practices statement.Form 990, Part VI, Line 15b - Compensation Review & Approval Process for Officers & Key EmployeesCompensation of other officers and key employees of the organization is established by the Human Resources department who utilize external market research to establish compensation ranges for specific positions. On an annual basis, the compensation ranges are compared to the updated survey information.The hiring manager will determine where the employee will fall within the ranges established by the Human Resources department based on experience and credentials.”

“Northern Light Home Care & Hospice makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: We are HelpfulA Speedier Recovery: Rapid Access TreatmentLester Gilkey knows about the crippling effects of opioid use disorder. The first time he got high, he was just 12 years old. Now, hes 50 years old and has been in recovery for the past six years. Hes lived through some tough times. I fight hard for my recovery. Ive used lots of drugs. Ive been in and out of prison and jail, and I dont want to go back to that life. Ive done a lot of stuff, but Ive also forgiven myself for it, Lester says. Now, he spends his time helping others break the cycle of opioid misuse as they come through the emergency room doors at Northern Light Mercy Hospital. Lester is a recovery coach. When someone has overdosed on opioids, Mercy calls Lester to the emergency department to help patients begin their recovery. Mercys Rapid Access Treatment program allows doctors to give patients a medication called Suboxone, which eases withdrawal symptoms. Then Northern Light Mercy initiates ongoing support to increase a patients chance for recovery. This ongoing support begins with Lester. I usually tell them Im no different than you. You can do this, and Im just there to help, he says. As a patient leaves the emergency department, they are referred to Northern Light Internal Medicine in Portland to set up an appointment with Sadie Knott, a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Often, Lester will go with a patient to that appointment. Sadie can prescribe medication to help with withdrawal symptoms as well as underlying mental health conditions. Most of the people were working with havent received basic medical care for several years due to past negative experiences theyve had. We work hard to reduce any stigma. When someone comes in here for an office visit, its no different than any other patient. This helps build that relationship with patients to get them back into medical care, explains Sadie. Patients are also referred to a social worker and a primary care provider at Northern Light Internal Medicine where they receive primary care that can include routine physical exams, immunizations, vaccinations, cancer screenings, or hepatitis C screenings. Patients receive primary care, behavioral health care, and peer support all under one roof. At Mercy, our pillars include working for the community and supporting the underserved population. Its gratifying and wonderful to see people who have been homeless for long periods, not having any regular support or primary care for years, coming to see you regularly, and managing their medical problems. You can see how their quality of life is improving over time. Thats rewarding for me, says Megan Black, Nurse Practitioner.The program is still in its early stages, but its reputation is growing. Lester says people he sees on the streets ask how they can enter the program. Theyre not waiting until they end up in the emergency department from an overdose. I wish they had a program like this when I was using drugs. I think its pretty cool, says Lester. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: We are SupportiveHealing Babies, Empowering Moms: Treating Neonatal Abstinence SyndromeSince arriving in Bangor 13 years ago, neonatologist Mark Brown, MD, MSPH, has headed the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and helped develop a comprehensive program for babies born exposed to opioids. Babies born to mothers with substance use disorder develop Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome or NAS. We see tremors; we see irritability and discomfort, explains Dr. Brown when describing the symptoms of babies with NAS. Dr. Brown says they saw about 200 babies born with NAS at the peak of the opioid crisis in 2015. That number dropped to 135 in 2018. Recent advancements in assessment and treatment of babies with NAS involve using fewer medications and adopting a new assessment tool called Eat, Sleep, Console, or ESC, which was developed by researchers at Yale and Dartmouth Hitchcock. It is similar to a philosophy Dr.”

“Changes in Net Assets Held @ EMHS Foundation = $409155”

“Transfer to exempt parent-Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems = -$162149”

“A change was made this year to change reporting of Patient Service Revenue under Program Service Revenue from gross patient service revenue to net patient service revenue, which is now the industry standard. The outcome offsets contractual allowance, charity care, and bad debt expense from Part IX line 24 to Part VIII line 2 against patient service revenue. As a result, Part I Summary line 9 (Program service revenue), line 12 (Total revenue), line 17 (other expenses) and line 18 (Total expenses) are not comparative to prior year.”