Join Our Board of Trustees

January 21, 2022

Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees thanks the residents of the county for making Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital one of the top Rural Health facilities in the Unites States. Our mission is to provide quality health and wellness services to the people of our region. Your participation and use of our services brings to reality our motto that “we will be the trusted first choice for our patients, staff and physicians”.

We appreciate your support and are proud to serve our community. Periodically, we remind residents of opportunities to serve your community by volunteering at SMH. We can use your time, talents, expertise and interest in a variety of ways including a trustee position, a committee assignment, grant writer, fund raiser, volunteer greeter, healing garden group member, emergency preparedness corps member, and other opportunities.

The information below will provide you with a brief overview of the core responsibilities of a Hospital board member.

Policy Making

One of the board’s primary roles is to create policy. The board develops policies (human resources, planning, finance, community relations and organizational operations) that cover specific issues and the management team implements those policies.

Decision Making

Decision making involves making choices about the organization’s vision, mission and strategies. Boards make decisions about issues that are strategic and significant, such as whether to enter an affiliation agreement with another organization. Management is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Hospital.

Oversight

Management oversight – Trustees are responsible for recruiting, monitoring, and evaluating the CEO. They also establish the CEO’s compensation package. The CEO is the only employee directly accountable to the board.

Strategic Planning oversight – Trustees are responsible for articulating the vision of the Hospital. Strategic planning begins with defining who the Hospital serves, what services it will provide and at what cost. Creating a mission, vision and strategic plan for the Hospital are all part of this job.

Financial oversight – Trustees are responsible for monitoring the Hospital’s financial performance through budgets, financial statements and other data. Trustees are responsible for how and where the Hospital spends its money.

Quality oversight – Trustees are ultimately responsible for the quality of care patients receive. Trustees grant privileges to physicians, ensure compliance programs are followed and monitor quality indicators to track performance.

Fiduciary Responsibility

Trustees have two primary fiduciary duties. The duty of care requires members to make business decisions based on all available and material information and to act in a deliberate and informed manner. The duty of loyalty requires members to protect the interests of the organization, to refrain from conduct that would injure the company and to avoid conflicts of interest. Board members must serve as fiduciaries to protect the financial, physical and other assets of the Hospital.

Bylaws

All board members must read and understand the SMH Board Bylaws. The bylaws describe how the board functions and are the basis for solving many of the problems that boards face.

Confidentiality

Board members have a responsibility to keep private all confidential information. After a board makes a decision, individual board members may not share private information with people who are not on the board.

Conflicts of Interest

Hospital board members must conduct their business in good faith and with the reasonable belief that what they do is in the best interest of the Hospital. In general, board members should never use a position on the board to further personal or professional interests. Trustees must disclose all possible conflicts of interest and are required to sign a Conflict of Interest Statement annually.