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Committee asks staff to explore contracting for standardized nurse support‑group oversight and funding options
Summary
After a presentation by Birchwood Solutions, the committee instructed staff to explore a public procurement to standardize nurse support‑group facilitation and asked staff to include options for board coverage of administrative costs and partial participant subsidies.
The committee heard a presentation from Birchwood Solutions on managed support‑group services for nurses in recovery, discussed vendor and regulatory options, and voted to recommend that the full board explore a contracting process to standardize oversight of nurse support‑group facilitators with consideration of board funding of administrative costs and partial participant subsidies.
Elizabeth Temple of Birchwood Solutions described a turnkey online support‑group management service the company provides: facilitator training and vetting, facilitator audits, HIPAA‑compliant participant and facilitator portals, attendance and compliance reporting, makeup‑meeting policies, and annual participant surveys. Temple said Birchwood’s contracted facilitators are paid through the service, which removes direct financial exchange between facilitator and participant and enables auditing and consistency.
Board staff cautioned members that any procurement would have to follow state contracting and public‑bid rules and that if the board wished to pursue standardization staff could prepare a public RFP (request for proposals) or otherwise explore options that could include contracting, regulatory change, or other implementation approaches. Executive Officer Loretta Melby noted state budget and procurement constraints: even with a healthy fund balance the board’s ability to spend is constrained by state budget and position‑authority processes and would require proper budget planning.
After discussion, the committee voted on the following recommendation to the full board: "Direct staff to explore a public procurement process for contracting oversight or management of nurse support‑group facilitators, with staff to include options for the board to cover administrative costs and for partial subsidy of participant fees (example: board covers administrative costs and 50% of participant per‑session fees)." The roll call was recorded as Chair Winn yes, Board member Cormack yes, and Board member Lawler yes. The motion passed.
Committee members asked staff to return to the board with an RFP outline and cost options (for example, full subsidy, partial subsidy, or participant‑paid models) and to consult with current facilitators and other boards that have implemented similar models for lessons learned. The committee did not select a vendor and emphasized the need to run a competitive public process.
