Governance
Health Services, Inc. governing board of directors is comprised of fifteen (15) voting members plus the CEO who is a nonvoting member of the board. Eight of the eighteen board members are user representatives. The board maintains slots that are generally reflective of its user population. The user population is more than 80% African American; the board users are 75% African American. There are two clinical community representatives on the board employed in the health care field: a physician and a nurse.
The expertise on the board is appropriate for the size of the organization and lends itself to assisting the board in critical areas of operation. Areas of expertise include business operators, local government representatives, banking, health care, public health, education, and personnel counseling. Legal counsel is retained and is readily available.
The best expertise for the board is ensuring board members are experts at understanding their roles and responsibilities and section 330 programmatic requirements. Therefore, HSI invests heavily in board training and promotes participation at the state and national conferences to fast track and quickly build knowledge and experience. In fact, one of our board members served on the board of directors of the National Association of Community Health Centers for several years as the National User Representative. Also, two of our board members serve on NACHC board committees. HSI promotes board member involvement in the health center industry not only as a means of ensuring an experienced board, but to learn how HSI can best serve our communities.
HSI board members are also at the forefront of the Alabama Primary Health care Association Consumer Board, which is representative of most CHCs in the state. Two of HSI's board members hold offices of chairperson and the secretary of the consumer board. Meetings are held monthly at different health center locations around the state, so members can learn from each other.
Official board training is completed in a two-step process: an initial meeting for orientation followed by formal board training. Board member orientation involves the CEO and two experienced board members meeting with the new member to review the orientation binder. The binder contains critical information about the organization including bylaws, 330 requirements, financial data, operation structure, policies, and other essentials. The binder is the property of the new member. Depending on the timing, the board may decide to send the new member to an upcoming conference or may wait for the official board-training event. The Primary Care Association or a NACHC trainer will present board training for all board members.
