S.U.N. Employee Newsletter - Systems Unlimited, Inc.

Kid Stuff
~produced by SUI Staff
Michael Mahoney, Senior Counselor, and his
wife Sarah are the proud parents of a precious
baby girl. Congratulations!
Sadie
Born April 10
8 lbs, 13 oz.
nami Walk
~Janet Outlund
Systems Unlimited participated in the Nami Walk at City
Park on Saturday, April 27th. Systems had information
displayed from all divisions with a spotlight on the SUI
golf classic.
Michelle Potts did a great job setting up the table and
explaining our services to participants as they came in
from the walk.
Systems had staff and individuals we serve walking
the 5 K course. There was music, speeches, free food and
beverages and the weather was perfect. It all added up to
a good time for an important cause!
Management Team
~Jen Simmering
April 2013 Update
This past month, the Management Team has
submitted our corrective action plan for the
Waiver review and is working to implement the
plan. We are also preparing our response to the
recommendations made by CARF. At each weekly
meeting, we make a small dent in the process of
developing a comprehensive risk management
plan, with this month’s focus on the need to
prepare for newly finalized HIPAA regulations,
issues surrounding recruitment and retention, and
emergency preparedness. Budget preparation is
also under way.
In April, the Board of Directors met to hear
the Management Team’s ideas about our strategic
plan. The Board will establish a subcommittee to
consolidate the thoughts and plans generated in
the meeting into a usable document, which will be
shared in the next few months.
Themes of discussion included the need to
address changes in the state mental health and
disabilities services system brought on by the
system redesign, the need to reduce fragmentation
between our service divisions and work as a whole
more effectively, and plans to identify trends in our
referrals and statewide needs for services so that we
can plan to expand our services where and when
needs demand growth.
While it is still a big unknown, we will need to
steer our planning activities to take into account
the Affordable Care Act and the accompanying
possibility of the Iowa Medicaid expansion and the
impact that this legislation could have on SUI.
We continue to share stories of the many
staff members who have gone above and beyond
to provide great services. A few among many
examples mentioned are:
• The ES staff who have worked through
remodeling of just about every area of their
space in order to provide more safe, efficient
and individualized supports to the people they
serve.
• The Supported Living Advisory Board for being
a font of great ideas.
• The Golf Committee for all of their hard work
organizing and preparing for the Golf Event,
especially Cheli Morgan and Regina Crooks.
• Chuck Blackhurst for going the extra mile to
provide creative services to a child.
Management Team is thankful for the efforts of
all of our staff who are doing their best work every
day. Thank you!