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May 1 , 2006
Employee Council holds April meeting at Yerkes

by Christi Gray

President Louis Burton began the April 24 Employee Council meeting, held in the neuroscience seminar room at Yerkes National Primate Center, by introducing Yerkes Chief of Public Affairs Lisa Newbern. Newbern gave a brief presentation on the center, talking about the primates it houses and the types of research Yerkes conducts. She invited all council members to come back and tour the center another day.

After Newburn, Vice President of Campus Services Bob Hascall and Associate Vice President of Transportation and Parking Laura Ray discussed the revamping of Emory’s shuttle system. “The retooling of our shuttle system aligns with the University’s sustainability efforts,” Hascall said.

Ray continued with details of the shuttle plan. Every day, some 46,000 unique trips are taken to the Clifton Corridor by employees, patients, students, visitors and others. Emory’s plan is to improve the shuttle system so people will choose shuttles over single-occupancy vehicles.

By increasing shuttle usage, the campus in turn is rewarded with increased efficiency of campus roadways, relieved congestion in the corridor, and a walking campus environment, Ray said. “We want to improve the quality of life not only locally but globally as well.”

Ray discussed the proposed changes, which included shortening existing routes and adding additional routes, upgrading the shuttles themselves, improving customer service and launching a loaner-car program, to name a few. The goal, she said, is to have the expanded shuttle system up and running by the beginning of fall semester.

For more information on Emory’s shuttle service e-mail shuttles@emory.edu.

Next, Director of Managed Care & Employee Supplemental Services Patrick Hammond and Senior Director of HR Theresa Milazzo discussed a Human Resources initiative of health care data analysis called the Management Service Organization, which takes data from insurance claims filed through Emory’s insurance providers, wipes them clean of all individual identifying information, and sends the data back to Emory to be analyzed so that HR can better design both insurance plans and health-management and wellness programs.

“We needed better data to make better decisions about health care,” Milazzo said. “But we are committed to having employee confidentiality protected.”

“The data will show if patient care is being managed properly to not only save on costs—for example, in avoiding future hospitalization—but to also improve health care for our employees,” Hammond said. “It’s our goal to provide quality health care, as well as fiscal responsibility.”

To close the meeting, the council voted on new officers and bylaw changes. Voted president-elect was Linda Sheldon, manager of accessibility design and construction for Campus Services; Jackie Culliton, director of volunteer services at The Carter Center, was elected secretary; named treasurer was Chris Alexander, operations systems analyst for Academic and Administrative Information Technology; and Betty Goetz, radiation safety officer in the School of Medicine, was voted council historian.

Finally, the council voted to change its bylaws by:
• decreasing the number of meetings per year by one, thereby ending in May instead of June;
• adopting the tradition of the council nominating one of its member to serve as University Senate secretary; and
• adding a volunteer parliamentarian/assistant position to help with meeting preparation responsibilities.

The next Employee Council meeting will be held May 17 at noon in Room 1010 of the Grady Hospital Faculty
Building.

If you have a question or comment for Employee Council, send e-mail to President Louis Burton at louis.burton@emoryhealthcare.org.

 

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