Kate Cummings
Interview Responses

Nominees were asked to provide written responses to the following questions prior to their interview with the Governance Committee.

A.  What do you see as the top three roles of a board member of a national organization?  What goals do you hope to achieve through NHPCO board service? 

One role is a fiscal duty and focusing on the development of the charitable framework of the organization.  Approving and asking questions about the budget that pertain to our fiscal responsibility as board members.  Also a fiscal duty is to participate personally in financial support of the organization and getting others to contribute.

Another role is Duty of Care and our fiduciary responsibilities.  It is not that I must be an expert however I must ask and give the necessary information that will keep the organization in good standing and ethically grounded.   The need of a board member to keep track of the organizations developments and other developments external to the organization is extremely important.  The following is important for the board member to do:  attend meetings in person, vote, participate in discussions and ask questions to assure understanding of the issues and investigate into problems when alerted by circumstances.   It is also important for the board member to be aware of any conflicts of interest in just-in-time discussions and decisions not only an annual declaration.  We need to ask the hard questions.

The third role is representing the stakeholders or the membership of the organization.  The board brings information to the full board/organization and sends it back after the information is agreed upon.

The goals I hope to achieve are: one, to be an ethical and effective board member.  Second, I also hope to help bring greater understanding to the membership as to the role of NHPCO in the legislative impact for hospice decision making outcomes. Third, I would like to help and listen to any member’s needs, concerns and questions; so they feel their membership is without question the very best dollar spent for the provision of hospice care in the United States. 

B. The profile of the hospice industry has evolved over the past 10 years and some changes have led to tension between providers.  What do you see as the role of the NHPCO Board with regard to an increasingly diverse membership?  (Increased competition, new entrants, rural vs. urban needs, other post-acute providers adding hospice services, and hospice provider tax status.) 

There are all of those components of diverse membership.  As a member of the membership committee we have discussed some of these specific things.  Reaching out and having specific committee members target the groups we discuss For instance we have a plan to focus on the palliative care stakeholders with one of our board members who also site on the membership committee.  Also as a board member it is very important to take back information gathered for these providers.  Not all can be conquered however building relationships and gathering pertinent partnerships is very important.  It is interesting as a leader of a hospice program we have these same issues we try and address ongoing.  Strategic panning is helpful to know where to put our energies.  Outside focused interviews with these various providers is helpful.  Getting input and giving back information is important.  It is the board’s responsibility to not address only our own issues but carefully and strategically determine the issues and include those who define their membership as diverse to join our discussion.