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Currents To Medical Center Employees: The week of May 6 - 12 is National Nurses Week and May 12 - 18 is National  Hospital Week. Now is a good time to reflect upon our commitment to excellence in health care for our community and state, and to celebrate our accomplishments. Employees throughout the MUSC clinical enterprise have done an exceptional job. As a small token of appreciation employees will be given a coupon valued at up to $4 for meals in the MUSC cafeteria. Biweekly paid employees on the Authority payroll will have a message printed on their paycheck stubs for May 15 indicating the check stub serves as the meal coupon.  Other employees will be given a ticket. The check stubs and tickets are valid through May 31.  Thanks to everyone for a job well done. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center MUSC recognized for outstanding safety record The S.C. Chamber of Commerce presented a commendation of excellence award to the Medical University of South Carolina and the MUSC Hospital Authority for its safety record during 2001. Occupational Safety and Health Programs director Joe Avant made the announcement at the April 30 communications meeting. The award recognizes South Carolina businesses that have low illness rates and lost workdays due to injury. The national average is 2.1 days absent per employee due to illness or injury. MUSC’s record of .67 days is less than half that rate. “It was a group effort, a concentrated effort,” Avant said, noting this is the third year in a row MUSC has received the recognition. Avant credited the outstanding record to the efforts of several committees, including Environment of Care, Product Evaluation, Blood Borne Pathogens, and Hospital Injuries Review and Recommendations Subcommittee. Reading from a press release, Avant cited comments by Rita McKinney, executive director of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, who commended the awardees for taking the initiative to create a safe workplace for the health of their employees, the betterment of their companies, and for serving as an example for business and industry in South Carolina. “These companies have proven that while a safe workplace translates into increased productivity and lower worker compensation premiums, it also maintains a positive work environment by showing employees that they are important and vital to the organization,” said James McCracken, chairman of the S.C. Chambers Safety and Health Committee. MUSC Employee Health, Wellness Fair May 23-24 MUSC employees are encouraged to attend the MUSC Employee Health and Wellness Fair 2002 on May 23-24 at the portico of the Administration Building, announced Erica Rouvalis, manager of Physical Therapy. The fair will give employees an opportunity to receive health and fitness screenings, including body mass index, percentage of body fat, hearing, stress, vision, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose. Activities will also include fitness assessment and demonstrations, healthy workstation demonstrations, and health and program information from many MUSC services. The fair will be held from 1 - 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, and from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Friday, May 24. Each day surprise gifts will be given to employees who get their “wellness card” stamped at five booths (while supplies last). Register at the Wellness Committee information table to enter prize drawings for an MUSC Wellness Center membership, fitness classes and lots more. All screenings are free except for the combined cholesterol and glucose test, which costs $10 and will be collected at the screening, Rouvalis said. The cholesterol and glucose screening requires advanced reservation. Please call 792-1414. Joint Commission readiness status, timeline shared The Medical Center, in its ongoing effort to maintain continuous readiness for Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), has set forth an activities timeline and status of current readiness. According to Shirley Wilson from Wilson Cunningham Kerr Associates, most areas of the Medical Center are in a “responsible state of readiness,” including Pain Management, Patient Safety, Medical Equipment Management, Emergency Preparedness, Utility System Management, Sedation and Anesthesia Care, and Utilities Maintenance. Areas that need work include Staffing Effectiveness for Ambulatory Care, Resident Supervision, Environment of Care Design, Staffing Effectiveness and Peer Review. The activities timeline for the remainder of the year is as follows: June will focus on human resources variance reports, human resources staffing indictors and vendor competency July—Initial assessment of the documentation system; screening process August—Patient care processes; medications September—Patient care processes; interdisciplinary assessments and care planning October—Patient care processes; restraints November—Environment of care; infection control December—Patient rights  Wilson said the timeline could change depending on identified needs and priorities. Employee exit questionnaire finalized The Medical Center Office of Human Resources is working to increase the response rate from departing employees completing an exit questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to give the Medical Center a clearer understanding of the basis for an employee leaving employment at the Medical Center. According to Susan Carullo, manager of Employment and Compensation, the form has been improved and now mirrors the MUSC Medical Center separation notice. “We’re really hoping to improve the response rate,” Carullo said, adding that current response rate is low at 35 percent. Human Resources is also offering a modest incentive to those who fill out the form, she said. The forms for both the questionnaire and the separation notice will soon be available online through the Medical Center Intranet. New employees named Eric Frisch has been named to the position of employee relations manager, announced Helena Bastian, director of Human Resources. Frisch’s role will be to manage employee relations issues including competency assessment, performance management, the grievance process, as well as training. Karen Driggers, R.N., has been named to the position of nurse manager of the 23-hour observation unit of the Storm Eye Institute, announced Mary Anderson, director of Critical Care and Emergency  Services. Driggers previously was the program manager for Meducare. A year ago, she became program manager for Omniflight, then returned to MUSC the end of March.