CurrentsTo Medical Center Employees: January Town Hall Meetings Kudos, TUW update, award announcedHeart & Vascular Center’s Bill Spring began the meeting by sharing several “wins” with hospital managers and staff. He read excerpts from a letter written to Dave Neff, Ambulatory Care administrator, by Katharina Morse of Mount Pleasant who wanted to share her story about the quality of care she’s received at MUSC since October 2005. Morse praised the dedication and quick response of clinic nurses Sherry Hawley and Robyn Pekarsky, Rutledge Tower’s Surgical Center Clinic staff, who came to her aid which led to an emergency room visit following a routine colonoscopy at another Tri-county hospital. Morse praised the compassionate care provided by Katherine Morgan, M.D., who helped her from day one and months later in her diagnosis, related surgery and recovery.Marilyn Schaffner, clinical services administrator and chief nursing officer, recognized the Pharmacy Services staff and hospitalwide departments/units for their patience and expertise following an unexpected failure of the IBM Server and HMS product system that affected pharmacy areas around the hospital. Schaffner recognized the diligence of Pharmacy Services staff who operated on a temporarily manual mode system during this period. Trident United Way David Nicole, Trident United Way (TUW) vice president, thanked managers for welcoming him to individual unit and staff meetings within the Medical Center to talk to employees about the 2006 Trident United Way campaign. Last year, the TUW raised more than $180,000 in pledges at MUSC. This year’s goal is $200,000 with hopes to double employee participation from 7 percent to 14 percent this year. The TUW was created to support families and individuals within the communities they serve. In one effort, TUW is striving to decrease the Lowcountry high school dropout rate. TUW are committed to investing in high school programs that receive measurable results. Organizers look beyond general info such as how many students read at grade level, how many will matriculate to the next grade or how many will graduate from high school, etc. Area programs supported by TUW show a high school graduation rate of at least 85 percent or more compared to the 60 percent average rate. “Our commitment to you, our community, is that we will get results with your dollars and we invest them back into the community to accomplish our goals,” Nicole said. In closing, Nicole reviewed the contents of the TUW envelopes—information brochure, pledge card and return envelope. He encouraged all employees, whether they give or not, to submit a completed pledge card. He reminded managers that there’s still time for him to visit and individually meet with staff as part of their unit/department meetings until Dec. 15. For information, call 740-9000, ext. 261 or dnicole@tuw.org. Medal of Honor award Nancy Kay, CEO LifePoint Inc., South Carolina’s organ and tissue procurement program presented MUSC with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Medal of Honor Award for achieving a more than 75 percent organ donation rate within a sustained 12-month period. Kay presented the award to Cat Walters, STNICU, and Robert Sade, M.D., medical director for organ and tissue procurement at MUSC and Lifepoint medical director. On Oct. 19, DHHS honored 371 national hospitals with this award for excellence in organ donation. MUSC was among six statewide hospitals chosen to receive this award. MUSC joined other top hospitals for substantially raising their organ donation rates from eligible donors at its facilities. In 2003, MUSC’s donation rate was 41 percent. Today, MUSC averages between a 75 to 85 donation rate among eligible donors. This national achievement recognizes excellence in organ donation from administration, nursing, the operating staff, laboratories and other departments. According to Kay, increases in eligible organ donations equal lives saved through the gift of life. Professional Activities book Schaffner also recognized 140 Medical Center staff for their professional achievements in addition to their daily work responsibilities. This is the eighth consecutive year Medical Center staff were praised for their contributions in publishing and teaching excellence and overall involvement in professional organizations. Medical Center employees are recognized in the 2005-06 Clinical Services’ Professional Recognition Activities Book sponsored by Center for Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety, Clinical Services and the Medical Center. Schaffner praised individuals for their efforts and commitment to enhance the institution’s collective professional worth within the health care community at MUSC. “May these successes give you the opportunity to reflect on those who have given you much. Be grateful for these gifts. Thank those who have planted the seeds of opportunity in your life…Recognize the gifts you can pass on serving as a mentor to others,” said Shaffner. The professional activities books and recognition award certificates will be distributed hospital wide to the administrator or directors. An individual may be listed in several categories, but only one certificate will be presented to recognized employees. Professional Recognition Michael Irving, Clinical Services Administration, gave an overview of the professional recognition Web page for Medical Center employees. The site can be found at http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/ProfessionalRecognition/index.htm. Medical Center staff can submit their volunteer work information and professional accomplishments in any of five categories such as a presentation, publications, and honors. The site, which is MNA-based, allows employee-users to edit demographics, add and edit activities, display activities and update community service work on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Medical Center staff may enter their professional activities for the current year until April 30. E-Alert system Dave Bennett, Web resource services manager in the Department of Business Development and Marketing Services, introduced details with a new communications platform known as the E-Alert system. The site can be found at http://mcintranet.musc.edu/eAlert/index.htm. The system, similar to an instant messenger communications tool, allows users to communicate with others in real-time. An alert box will pop up on a user’s screen and stay open with an active alert message. Its real focus is to communicate high level priority messages to employees. Information will be sent out in real time. According to Bennett, the E-Alert system is still undergoing testing. Progress on this project will be announced in future meetings. Employees were also reminded to complete the MUSC internal communications online survey. The survey will assist managers in understanding how MUSC employees receive important information and also will contribute to how news will be shared regarding the new hospital opening in fall 2007. As a thank you to participants, employees who complete the survey by 5 p.m., Dec. 1 will be included in a prize drawing to win an iPod Nano. Winners will be notified via e-mail. The survey can be found at http://mcintranet.musc.edu/survey/index.htm. APOC update Mark Daniels, Advanced Point of Care (APOC) program manager, reviewed details about the APOC project timelines. Daniels reminded the audience that most clinical projects are expected to continue well past the initial roll-out period, expanding the new development cycles or schedules as additional service lines are brought in. He also reassured the managers that all IT projects will no longer be identified by their vendor names and acronyms and will be referred to by their MUSC specific project names. Bonnie Folios, 8East nurse manager, reported that a total of 151 employees attended the Clinical Documentation Open House throughout November. Next, the group will be contacting super users and design experts/builders from different nursing units to attend the next Clinical Documentation Open House, Dec. 5 and Dec. 7. Daniels also provided a status report on the CPOE (order entry) project. Meetings between on-site McKesson consultants, design work groups, process-flow analysis experts, nursing, physicians and department personnel have been helpful thanks to the continued cooperation, support and participation of the staff. Education Roll-out update Laurie Zone-Smith, clinical services administration manager, reviewed details from the Educational Rollout committee’s Nov. 16 meeting. The group reviewed the latest on the usage of the new color-coded resuscitation bags, PEACH forms (bed status changes), plus announced the December schedule for Service Recovery Training (Dec. 11, 8 a.m., SEI Auditorium; Dec. 12, 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., SEI Auditorium; Dec. 14, 8 a.m., 2West Amphitheater; 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., SEI Auditorium; Dec. 15, 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 2West Amphitheater). The group also approved the Sixth Annual Critical and Emergency Services Nursing Retreat, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 23 and 28, Charleston Riverview Hotel. Announcements Managers are reminded that all employee compliance training is due on CATTS by Dec. 1. Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 |
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