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Currents To Medical Center Employees: At the October 2002 Board of Trustees meeting the board endorsed building a new hospital facility on the peninsula if a viable site can be found.  The board wanted to ensure that matters such as parking, drainage, ease of access and zoning issues are appropriately addressed. The board instructed the administration to work with city officials and other parties involved in the planning process. Progress is being made and -updates will follow in future issues of this newsletter. I want to thank everyone who participated in the Step Up campaign throughout November. The intent of the campaign was to focus upon our customer service behaviors. Our November goal was 399,750 Step Ups, a goal we significantly exceeded with 548,794 reported. We know that in terms of customer service, “little things make a big difference.” While we will not track Step Up after November, everyone’s continued attention to Step Up with our customer service interactions will serve us well. Thank you very much. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center New brochure details passes, ID badges Paul Moss, manager of Medical Center Security, distributed a new brochure detailing each type of visitor pass, law enforcement patches, and the various kinds of ID badges accepted on the MUSC campus and hospital. Moss reiterated the need for employees to wear the badges and then teased managers in the crowd who had forgotten to wear one to the meeting. Helena Bastian, director of Human Resources for the Medical Center, announced the completed conversion of medical center payroll from monthly to bimonthly and said the conversion from monthly to biweekly PTO (paid time off) and ESL (excused sick leave) would begin to show up on paychecks starting Jan. 8. Hazel Huff, Continuum of Care manager, and Karen Rankine, coordinator for Patient/Family Education, reported some revisions in the current pain assessment and management policy. They emphasized a renewed focus on patient education, a differentiation between pain screening and assessment, and changes in the trigger points that result in a registered nurse or qualified provider performing a complete pain assessment. “Appendices have been included in the revision process to provide good information for the staff,” Huff said. Modifications for ambulatory care “Quick Reference Guide (Appendix B)” are still pending. Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.