REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
February 10, 2010
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on February 10, 2010 at the Board’s office,
Present: J. T.
Willoughby III, President;
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive Director;
Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the N. C. Eye Bank, Pat
Hayes with North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Herb Reichlin with the
Funeral Consumers Alliance, Dan Funchess, Funeral Service licensee, and
Present for
Crematory Authority Oath of Office:
Judge Michael R. Morgan, James D. Weatherspoon, Tommy Prickett and J.
Barry Bowman (entered meeting at 9:34 am).
Mr. Willoughby
called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m., led the Pledge of Allegiance and had
the invocation.
Mr. Willoughby
read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest statement. Ms. Wiseman and Mr. Willoughby both stated
they had attended the Board of Directors Meeting for the Funeral Directors and
Morticians Association of North Carolina, Inc.
Mr. Briggs stated he had attended the funeral of Robert Miller.
Mr. Willoughby
asked the guests to identify themselves.
There were no public comments.
Ms. Wiseman
presented the January minutes for approval.
Mr. Harris stated one correction had been made since the minutes were
mailed. He had added to the last page,
first paragraph Mr. Parrott “made the motion.” Ms. Wiseman made the motion to approve
the minutes with that correction and Mr. Blake seconded. The motion carried.
Clinics
Committee: Ms. Wiseman reported that the Committee had
met with staff last Friday to discuss the 2010 Board clinic. Staff will research the following: locations in the
Exam Committee:
Mr. Willoughby reported six applicants took the exam in January. Four were retakes and two were
first-timers. Both of the first time
applicants and one re-take passed, the rest failed.
Staff has held
three teleconferences with Castle Worldwide to review the applicant
registration procedures and the procedures for obtaining the results. Staff continues to practice the
procedures. Mr. Harris will register for
and take the exam within the next two weeks.
This is the final step before using the exam beginning March 1. This report was presented for information
only.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the report for review and made the motion to
receive the report. Mr. Andrews seconded
and the motion carried.
At this time
Judge Michael Morgan administered the Oaths of Office to Mr. Weatherspoon for
the Crematory Authority. Mr. Willoughby
congratulated him on behalf of the Board and presented Judge Morgan with an
appreciation gift. Judge Morgan departed
at 9:25 a.m. after making comments and thanking the Board for allowing him to
administer the oaths. Mr. Weatherspoon
and Mr. Prickett also departed at this time.
Laws and Rules
Committee: Mr. Briggs yielded the floor to Mr. Harris
for discussion of the proposed rules.
Discussion ensued regarding 21 NCAC 34A.0203 Report to the General
Assembly, 21 NCAC 34B .0311 Special Procedures for Licensing of Active Military
Personnel and 21 NCAC 34D.0203 Surety Bonds.
At this time
Mr. Bowman entered the meeting.
Discussion
resumed regarding the rules and Mr. Briggs made the motion to adopt the three
rules for publication. Mr. Andrews
seconded and the motion carried.
Discussion
ensued regarding the committee recommendation to adopt the Surety Bond
procedure as a temporary policy until the rule had final approval. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris
represented the recommendations to permanently repeal the Mutual Burial
Association rules except 04 NCAC 04 .0301.
Rule 04 NCAC 04.0301 should be placed under 21 NCAC 34. Repeal of the rules should have occurred when
the MBA statutes were placed under the Board Authority in 2003. Mr. Briggs made the motion and Ms. Wiseman
seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made
the motion to delegate authority to staff to make any technical or format
changes to the three rules and to file them with Rules Review. Mr. Harris stated this would not change the
contents of the documents. Mr. Parrott
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Willoughby
called for a five-minute recess at 9:50 a.m.
Ms. Webber entered the meeting at 10:03 and the meeting was reconvened
at 10:04 a.m.
Mr. Harris
stated during the recess Mr. Bowman received the Oaths of Office as a new
Crematory Authority member, and introduced him to the Board. Mr. Bowman then departed the meeting.
Preneed
Committee: Mr. Andrews presented the Activity Report for
information only and discussed the inspectors’ reports. Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris discussed the calculations of
percentages on cash advances and refunds and funeral home concerns he had
addressed regarding these.
Mr. Willoughby
stated his concerns regarding the refund of excess preneed proceeds of $100 or
more. He cited the cost to establish
estates in some counties, and proposed future consideration to increase that
amount that could be refunded to individuals.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris
will research if other laws affect the amount that can be refunded.
Mr. Harris
explained the background and explained the recommendations:
In cases when the beneficiary is
still living and a new preneed contract has been executed, the recovery fund
payment will be made to the new funeral home to be applied to the new contract.
If no new preneed contract exists, recovery fund payment goes back to the
nursing home with advisory to consult with the department of social services
regarding effect on the beneficiary’s Medicaid qualification.
If the contract beneficiary is
deceased and the funeral bill remains fully or partially unpaid, the payment
would be sent to the performing funeral home as long as we determine through an
affidavit the bill was outstanding and receive a release from the legal
representative of the deceased
If the contract beneficiary is deceased and the funeral
bill is paid, the payment goes to the estate if one exists or to the clerk of
superior court of the county where the estate could be filed
Mr. Andrews
stated the Preneed committee had met by teleconference regarding a recovery
fund case and yielded to Mr. Harris for explanation.
Mr. Andrews
made the motion to accept the recommendation.
Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the
preneed report. Mr. McCree seconded and
the motion carried.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Lea
presented the report. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Harris was asked to request
an opinion from the Dental Society regarding gold dental fillings in
deceased. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
accept the recommendation and Mr. Andrews seconded. The motion carried. Mr. Lea read for the record the following
cases: V09-076, V09-072, V09-075, V09-077, V09-048, M09-030, M10-002 and
M10-003.
Traineeship:
There was no report.
Other Committee
Reports: There were none.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen
presented his report for information only.
Executive Director’s Report: Since the
January Board Meeting 21 reports have been filed.
As of February 8, 2010 the following renewals have been received: 734 funeral homes, 7 renewal applications
pending review, 10 renewal applications not received, 654 preneed funeral
establishments, 16, renewal applications pending review, 6 renewal applications
not received, 2465 active licensees, 64 renewal applications not received, 173
inactive licensees, 26 renewal applications not received, 91 crematories, 1
renewal applications not received, 12 unaffiliated, 5 renewal applications not
received, 11 chapels, 2 renewal applications pending review, 2 renewal
applications not received and 57 removal-transport permits, 2 renewal
applications pending review.
New Funeral Homes—Altmeyer Funeral Home,
New funeral director licensees:
Mary Brand
New funeral service licensees:
Cornell Whitehead
New trainees: Murvyn Kelsey,
Dionne Evans, John Kewlicz, Wander Smith-Butcher, James McGinnis, Jr., Keith
Crumpler, Fred Handsel, Jr., Sharon Sauls, Regina Graham-Hauser, Shelby Martin
and Matthew Payne.
Staff Ethics report: Mr. Harris
reported telephone contact with NCFDA staff. He presented a continuing
education program for the NC Mutual Insurance Company in
Mr. Harris discussed the need to revise the preneed establishment
applications to include a section for surety bond and exam applications to
require an e-mail address. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
revise the preneed application to include the bond information. Mr. Andrews seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to revise the examination application to
require an e-mail address and Ms. Webber seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Harris presented a letter from a doctor that had been mailed to
funeral directors stating a fee would be charged to complete a death
certificate. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to forward
documentation and file a complaint to the Medical Board and request a response
and request vital Records also file a complaint. Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris mentioned Carolina Donor Service now performing deep tissue
retrievals. Mr. Harris has been
contacted by a licensee regarding a letter sent by Carolina Donor Services,
which appeared to offer arrangements for embalming in these instances. Mr. Harris had discussed this letter with
Bruce Nicely of Carolina Donor Services and clarified that Carolina Donor
Services should not be making the arrangements or offering to make the
arrangements for embalming. Mr. Blake
asked about disclosure and permission for the deep tissue retrieval. Mr. Harris replied that was not a subject of
the discussion of Mr. Nicely.
Discussion ensued regarding the funeral establishments that have not
renewed.
Mr. Andrews made the motion to accept Mr. Harris’ report and Mr. Lea
seconded. The motion carried.
New Business: There was
none.
Old Business: Mr. Harris
presented a calendar for review to set future Board meetings for 2010. Discussion ensued. The April Board meeting will be held April 14
with April 15 for hearings and other Board business.
Mr. Parrott asked about the status of the construction for the office
security. Mr. Harris stated the cost was
approved with the 2010 budget and he will send out requests for bids. Mr. Blake commented about the use of outside
investigators.
Informational Items: The 2010
Board Members & Officers list was included.
Public Comment: Mr.
Mr. Harris stated Mr. Nichols would be at the office at 1:00 to present
the Board Member Training.
Mr. Willoughby recessed the meeting at 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Willoughby reconvened the meeting at 1:05 p.m. in
order to begin the training as required by 93B-2. During the recess Mr. Harris was informed
that Mr. Nichols would not be in attendance as originally scheduled to conduct
the training and Mr. Dirksen would conduct the training. Mr. Dirksen proceeded to review Chapter 150B
The Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 132 Public Records Law, Article 33C
of Chapter 143, The State Tort Claims Act.
Following questions about training Mr. Harris informed the
Board that there was an additional correction needed for the January minutes
approved earlier in this meeting. The
January minutes referred to the approval of the November minutes during the
January meeting when that should have been the December minutes. On motion by Mr. Andrews and second by Ms.
Webber, motion to correct the January minutes to reflect the change was
approved.
The meeting was recessed for the 3:00 p.m. hearing.
Following the hearing President Willoughby reconvened the
Board into regular session to consider consent orders that Mr. Dirksen
had. Mr. Dirksen explained the terms of
the consent orders. Mr. Briggs made the
motion to accept the consent orders. Ms.
Webber seconded and the motion carried.
With no further business before the Board, Mr. Willoughby
asked for a motion to adjourn. Mr.
Andrews made the motion and Ms. Webber seconded and the motion carried.
J.
T. Willoughby III, President
Tryphina
Wiseman, Secretary