January 8, 2007 Regular Board Meeting
Board Offices, Pierre, SD
The meeting was called to order at 10:35 a.m. by President Valerie Hinzman. The roll call was taken by Jamie Clark, Secretary, and all members were present.
The new members of the board were welcomed and introduced. Jeff Holcomb is the administrator at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, and Laura Whitey is the director of the massage therapy program at National American University in Sioux Falls.
The Board members were given some of the history of the Board and were given a rundown of several topics to be covered, including pay and reimbursement, open meetings law, dealings with other units of government, and the like.
The minutes of the November 13, 2006, meeting were approved. Motion by Jamie Clark, second by Gail Dawn. All voted yes.
Correspondence was reviewed, including correspondence sent to the Department of Legislative Audit in Pierre. It was noted for the Board members that the Department of Legislative Audit is the arm of the legislature charged with auditing and reviewing practices of the executive branch, and the Board of Massage Therapy was selected, along with a number of other boards, to provide information, which information was provided.
Correspondence from the Cosmetology Commission was also reviewed, and the president and executive secretary are planning to meet with the executive and president of the Cosmetology Commission to discuss matters of joint concern to the two boards. It was mentioned that it was possible that the Board of Cosmetology might be trying to regulate the use of topical agents, including salt, in the use of massage. The president and executive secretary will bring back a report to the next meeting.
An executive session was held to discuss complaints filed with the Board numbered 07-001 and 07-002. The complaints were assigned to individual board members. Katie Hansen of the Attorney General’s office was on hand to discuss the procedures necessary.
Old Business
License update: 346 individuals have been licensed as of the date of the meeting, and there are another 35 or so in process which require further information from the applicant before being granted. It was pointed out that wallet cards are incorrect. They should read that they are valid for two years from the date of issue, and in some cases, the wallet cards went out reading 2018 through a software mistake. The Board will further determine how to proceed.
Educational program update: The board heard a report on the November roundtable discussion regarding educational programs in South Dakota and the board’s role in fostering them. The consensus seemed to be that most, if not all, programs in South Dakota were actively leading students to be eligible to take the National exam and eligible for licensure under current statutes. The board directed the ES to prepare a submission for possible action by the board at the April meeting.
The board discussed the upcoming legislative session and reviewed several places in the practice act which could use revision. Those places included a move to annual licensure to reduce the initial outlay by licensees, the potential inactive license category, and the need for additional rule making authority to set forth rules meeting the needs of the educational programs.
The Board discussed the Sturgis Rally and directed the Executive Secretary to send correspondence to the City of Sturgis in order to open up dialogue about the situation there with respect to the Rally.
The board noted that the work of the board, notwithstanding the complaints on file, should only require a four meeting schedule, and the board set the following tentative schedule for meetings:
With times and places to be named later.
