All right, I have uh I have 2 p.m.

and so we'll uh I'll uh introduce uh Diane Shercliffe, our lead chaplain for Eskenazi Health to lead us in an opening prayer.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Often when a chaplain spends time with a patient, there isn't much said about the illness or injury that actually brought them to the hospital.

Most long conversations and ongoing relationships with patients deal with their responses or their beliefs about their current situation, how they can cope with this new reality, the uncertainties, the anxieties, the fears about the unknown.

Everyone has them.

We listen beyond the words.

We help patients remember their strengths and where they have found support in the past.

We walk alongside them as they discover biases that no longer serve them.

We encourage explorer, we encourage exploration and expression even while they remain uncertain.

And we hope that our interactions help them discover how they can create just a little more of what they need to thrive.

Now none of us here is a patient, but we all are for intents and purposes in the hospital.

And as a board, you are definitely facing a new reality as the result of something you had no control over.

I imagine there is anxiety and fear about the unknown, but beyond the words and the fears, there is a strength in your experiences, in your knowledge, in your compassion, in your desire to make a difference, and in your sense of community, in your skills, and in your diversity.

All this adds up to what is needed to help this organization thrive, even just a little more.

So if you would indulge me.

Take a big deep breath.

And as you continue to breathe deeply and slowly, let us approach the divine of our understanding and reflect on all you know, who you are together, how you can continue to learn from each other, so that as you move forward, you continually seek wisdom from within, from each other, and from the divine, and tap into that collective wisdom and discernment for the good of all we serve.

Amen.

Thank you, Diane.

I'll uh do the roll call.

Um I know our vice chairman uh trustee drummer isn't uh is not present today.

Uh trustee uh Du Set.

Trustee Dr.

Fish.

Present.

Trustee.

Present.

Trustee Horn.

Present.

Trustee uh O'Brien.

Present.

And uh Bob Lazard, the chair is here.

So the consent agenda consists of the board minutes from August 12th, 2025, the Treasurer and CFO report of the July 2025 cash disbursements, the appointments, reappointments, and changes to privileges, uh, medical staff policies 700-21 admission and transfer criteria to and from nurseries, uh number 700-44, emergency authority uh for infection prevention and control, and uh number 700-95, pathology surgical specimens, and uh lastly number 700-158 overlapping surgeries, as well as privilege forms, uh, allied health uh professional, uh, advanced practice registered nurse and allied a allied health professional physical assistant.

Policies 700-21 admission and transfer criteria to and from nurseries number 700-44 emergency authority for infection prevention and control and number 700-95 pathology surgical specimens and uh lastly number 700-158 overlapping surgeries as well as privilege forms uh allied health uh professional uh advanced practice registered nurse and allied a allied health professional physical assistant is there a motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve the consent agenda motion by trustee Hannafee is there a second second uh we'll take second by uh trustee uh uh O'Brien and uh again do a roll call vote uh uh chairperson vice chairperson drummer is absent uh trustee Du Set Yes Trustee Dr.

Fish Yes Trustee Hannafee Yes Trustee Horn Yes Trustee O'Brien Yes Trustee Lazard votes yes uh 601 19 um that brings us to the um general ordinance adoption number three-2025A the 2026 uh budget was introduced and read by title for the first time at the July 29 2025 board meeting and read by title uh for the second time and presented for public hearing at the August 12 2025 board meeting the ordinance will now be read for the third time by Health and Hospital Corporations General Counsel Ann O'Connor Ordinance number three-2025A 2026 budget next we will hear an update on the ordinance presented by James Simpson, the interim CFO and Assistant Treasurer of Health and Hospital Corporation.

Thank you, Chairman Chairman Lazard.

Uh just a few updates uh to this the general ordinance three-2025A um jove yeah so we just have two slides here uh after the the budget hearing on August 12th, the Marion County Assessor did publish the certified net assessed values for Marion County, and so with the assessed values going up, we did want to reflect that in this budget ordinance.

So what I've done is I've highlighted in this advertisement summary what change was made with the assessed value, and then with that change, assessed values increased with our tax levies remaining the same, the tax levy slightly decreased on the fund.

So I've highlighted the assessed value going up from 25 to 26, and then also the the new tax rates that are lower than what they were originally on the original ordinance.

Um next slide, please.

Then the one other change that we did or that we have proposed in this ordinance, this updated ordinance, is we I worked with our decision support and strategy team to see if we could tighten up the general fund 2026 budget, and we were able to find $8 million that we can reduce the expenditure asked on the general fund.

So what what we're showing here is the original proposed budget, which was uh 414 million, and we've lowered that ask to 406.3 million, so it's an eight million dollar decrease in expenditures, and so that that does reduce the deficit on this fund from just under 33 million to just below 25 million.

And so I wanted to show this is our commitment to continuing to get this budget back to balance.

Um, if this budget is adopted statutory budget, we'll keep working to see if we can tighten this up even more as we work through the operational budget.

Uh, we'll do that in the the fourth quarter of uh 2025.

And what this doesn't reflect, I did want to just make a point after sitting on the Eskenazi Health Committee this morning.

Um, Dr.

Harris did give an update that the Eskenazi team is actively working through the 35 million dollar improvements that we budget for them.

So this doesn't show a change.

You know, it was the update this morning is you know they are making strong progress to achieve that that run rate improvement in 2026.

I did want to acknowledge that um as part of this update as well.

So if there's if there's no questions, um I thank the board for considering this ordinance.

Um also uh since no person from the public has signed up to speak to the ordinance today, we'll go ahead and proceed.

Uh uh are there any comments uh from the board at this time hearing none?

Uh we are we are now ready to consider the ordinance for adoption, and this is and is there a motion to approve the ordinance.

So it's been moved by uh trustee uh O'Brien.

Is there a second?

Second.