The Annual Board Meeting is slated for November 30, 2023 at 5:30 pm, at the Senior Center. While there is a Board meeting every month, the annual meeting functions a little differently. In this meeting, new members are elected, by-laws and policies are reviewed and the financial audit is explored. The Board of Directors is also responsible, in conjunction with the facility staff, for developing plans to accomplish the organization’s mission: “To provide quality patient care in an innovative and professional manner.” The Board has the final say on all financial decisions made in the facility, approves the annual budget, the CEO wage, and ensures that facility funds cover facility expenses etc.
The Board has had a say in the hiring of Ron Wiens, the current CEO, they have been involved in all of the projects happening at the facility the last few years, including the transition to a Critical Access Hospital in 2019, the new flooring and fire suppression system, the new generator, the purchasing of the CT machine, the kitchen addition, the Rural Health Clinic building and upcoming operation, and the projected expansion of the dining room.
This is a volunteer role, requiring about 5-6 hours of time a month, but a vital role to the success of any hospital. Its not just vital to the facility’s success, but since BSMC is a non-profit organization, that places the legal responsibility for the welfare and actions of BSMC on the Board.
As is defined on the Montana Non-profit Association website, the duties of a Board Member of any non-profit organization are as follows:
Duty of care—a director of a nonprofit organization shall discharge all his/her duties as a director, including those performed as a committee member:
In good faith;
With the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a similar position would exercise under similar circumstances; and
In a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the organization.
The duty of care entails a duty of reasonable inquiry. Each director is obligated to ask questions and demand information to allow him/her to have sufficient information and understanding to make decisions he/she reasonably believes are in the non-profit’s best interests. This duty means that the director must make time to attend meetings, and come prepared to participate.
Duty of loyalty—Directors are obligated to exercise an undivided and unselfish loyalty to the organization they serve. Directors must exercise their obligations and powers in the best interests of the organization and its charitable mission, not in their own interests or in the interests of another person or entity (even if charitable in nature). To assure that directors are operating within the scope of the duty of loyalty they are required to complete conflict of interest disclosures annually and acknowledge any conflict that may arise during the year.
Duty of obedience—Directors are obligated to further the mission of the organization they serve; to be faithful
to its purposes and goals as defined by the articles of incorporation and by-laws; to act in conformity with all state, federal and local laws; and to obey board-approved organizational policies.
To fulfil these duties, regular meetings are held one evening a month and with the addition of one annual meeting a year. There are occasionally special meetings or retreats to attend as well. Regular monthly meetings and the Annual meetings are open to the public, and public comment is always an agenda item. Join the next regular meeting on November 16, 2023 at 5:30 p m in the conference room, and be sure to attend and cast your vote on November 30, 2023 at the Senior Center for the Annual Meeting.
