GETTING TO KNOW NORTH SHORE HEALTH
What You Should Know about the North Shore Health
Board of Directors
The North Shore Health (NSH) Board would like to provide important information to our community about their roles, functionality, responsibilities, districts, elections and overall governance.
A five member Board of Directors governs NSH. The legislation that established Cook County Hospital District in 1989 states, “The board of the district shall be comprised of one member of each county commissioner district.” The number of board members aligns directly with the number of Cook County districts; each district is represented by their elected board member. These are the same geographic districts as those established by Cook County, MN for County Commissioners. View the district map here: www.co.cook.mn.us/cookcountydistrictmap.
Our duly elected Board of Directors provides valuable leadership in developing and directing NSH’s overall mission and strategy.
The current NSH Board consists of:
- District 1: Patty Winchell-Dahl
- District 2: Mary Sanders, Clerk
- District 3: Steve Frykman
- District 4: Kay Olson, Chair
- District 5: Randy Wiitala, Treasurer
Elected Board members serve a four-year period. Two board positions (districts 2 and 4) will complete their term at the end of 2024. The filing period for parties interested in running begins July 30, 2024 and ends August 13, 2024. To qualify, candidates must live in the district in which they wish to run. Those interested in running for the hospital board may file with the Cook County Auditor at the Cook County Courthouse. The election date will be November 5, 2024. While candidates should have a general understanding of healthcare facility governance, fiduciary responsibilities, strategies, policies, protocols, leadership, operations and quality control, specific healthcare experience is not required. Previous board member experience would be helpful.
Within the foundational origins of a board’s governance role, Medicare conditions of participation specify that a Hospital must have an effective governing body that is legally responsible for the conduct of the hospital. The board’s Duty of Care is to oversee and govern the organization through delegation to the CEO. Board members are not responsible for day-to-day activities of the organization.
NSH board responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
- Mission, Vision, Values:
- Establish, understand, review and amend the mission, vision and values of the hospital and care center
- Strategic Planning:
- Review and approve strategic plans and monitor their progress
- Communities Perspectives:
- To be an advocate within and a liaison to the community for the Hospital and Care Center, providing community and business perspective on the image of the hospital/care center, its competitors, medical staff and the effectiveness of the hospital’s image
- Quality/Customer Satisfaction:
- Monitor compliance with applicable accrediting agency’s standards
- Approve and monitor the system for examining and reviewing credentials and privileges of medical staff members
- Approve medical staff bylaws, rules and regulations
- Review management’s reports on initiatives in continuous improvement of patient and customer satisfaction and clinical quality
- Finance:
- Monitor actual to budget operating performance
- Establish the tax levy on an annual basis
- Evaluate and approve long-range financial plans of the Hospital
- Evaluate and approve long-term borrowing of money
- Determine spending limit authorization levels of management
- Operational Oversight:
- Select and approve the officers of the Hospital District
- Evaluate the Administrator/CEO of the Hospital and Care Center who is responsible for managing the Hospital and Care Center
- Approve the selection or retention of general legal counsel
- Approve the selection or retention of the independent auditing firm
- Perform acts and functions necessary for the proper management and conduct of the Hospital and Care Center
In addition to attending the meetings, board members must prepare for meetings by reading the materials sent in advance. NSH Board members also actively pursue ongoing leadership training and accreditation opportunities. For example, Board Chair Kay Olson and Board Clerk Mary Sanders recently attended and completed the National Rural Hospital Association’s (NRHA) Board Certification Program. This program helps rural hospital board members strengthen their leadership skills and lead their hospitals to success. Ms. Olson has also received Trustee certification by the Minnesota Hospital Association. In addition, board members attend regularly relevant webinars and consult with the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), American Hospital Association (AHA) and LeadingAge Minnesota.
The board meets on the second to the last Thursday of each month in the NSH Boardroom (unless otherwise designated). Board meeting agendas are published in advance on the NSH website: https://www.northshorehealthgm.org/board-of-directors and the public is welcome to attend (with the exception of closed session portions of meetings as legally permitted).
Thank you for your interest in the NSH Board. We hope this information has been helpful. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact any of the NSH board members directly.
For more information, visit: https://www.northshorehealthgm.org. Stay tuned for future informative “Getting To Know North Shore Health” articles that will be published monthly in the Cook County News Herald.