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MUSC Rumor Mill separates fact from fiction Standards of behavior Rumor: Everyone in our department was  asked to sign a standards of behavior agreement. We were told by our manager that physicians have not had standards of behavior training and will not for at least six months. Also, their standards of behavior are different from  the rest of the employees. Is this true? Truth: The MUSC Excellence program, which began with MUHA in February 2006, began in the College of Medicine and University Medical Associates in November 2006. MUHA is therefore ahead of COM/UMA in rolling out the program and this includes the standards of behavior. The COM/UMA standards team has not convened  and therefore not officially reviewed the MUHA standards of behavior. It is expected that the COM/UMA will adopt the standards of behavior with some additions to account for the academic and research missions of the college. Smoking on campus Rumor: Is it true that an employee can be fired for smoking in a non-designated area? Truth: An employee may be disciplined for willful violation of written rules, regulations or policies. The newly revised smoking policy has been incorporated into the administrative regulations, or policies of the enterprise. Should an employee fail to adhere to the policy as required, to include smoking in non-designated areas, then he or she may be disciplined appropriately. Repeated violations of the smoking policy could in fact lead to an employee’s termination. Smoking flyers Rumor: I have heard criticism of the decision by the hospital to spend money mailing flyers regarding the smoking areas to the staff. It seems the information could have been posted in areas and sent via e-mail to cut down on hospital costs. Truth: A team of individuals from around the MUSC enterprise worked on this policy change. Marketing and Public Relations representatives were a part of this team and assisted with  the communication plan, among other things. In communicating this change to employees and students, administration wanted to make sure the message was received by all concerned. MUSC marketing professionals recommended that employees and students receive notification at their home addresses to emphasize the importance of the issue. Core facilities Rumor: I heard that the MUSC research core facilities must start submitting productivity reports to the administration because faculty has complained that the service is slow and inefficient. Truth: It is true that administration expects that all investments made to support our research enterprise should give excellent returns. The University Research Resources Facilities (URRF) is required to provide productivity reports, cost comparisons, and measures of convenience each year in order to determine whether the investment is justified by the returns for our investigators. The university utilizes comparative metrics, informal and formal faculty and staff feedback, and surveys such as a comprehensive one sponsored by the University Research Committee last year to make funding decisions for the facilities. Some facilities have been decommissioned and de-funded recently as a result of these analyses. The associate provost for research, Steve Lanier, Ph.D., will assume primary responsibility for these facilities as MUSC begins to move through the fiscal year 2007-08 budget hearings during the next month or so. More information can be found at http://www.musc.edu/new/urrf.shtml. Courtenay garage Rumor: I’ve heard that staff/residents who park in the county garage will be moved to the Courtenay garage when the new hospital opens in October. But when is work supposed to be started and finished on the new Courtenay garage? Truth: The bid opening for the Bee and Courtenay streets parking garage began Jan. 31. Barring unforeseen circumstances, construction should begin in March and completed by November 2008. While long-term plans associated with the Bee Street garage are not yet finalized and may involve some employee parking reassignments, the Office of Parking Management does not anticipate that employees currently assigned to the county garage will have to relocate when the new hospital opens. In order to meet patient and visitor demand created by the opening of the new hospital, we are requiring that approximately 300 parking spaces in the  county parking garage that are currently used by an outside entity be relinquished for our use this summer. Based on current projections of patient volumes, we believe this will create the space needed to meet new hospital parking demand. 135 Cannon Street Rumor: We heard several conflicting rumors about the new smoking areas, but are not sure about the facts related to 135 Cannon St. Truth: MUSC’s smoking policy applies to the university and affiliate properties. Cannon Street (135) is a privately owned property that falls outside MUSC jurisdiction for establishing designated smoking areas. Meducare helicopter Rumor: I heard that the helicopter can no longer land on the new helipad added to the top of the parking garage. Truth: The Meducare operations coordinator who is responsible for the helipad at Parking Garage II confirmed that the helipad is completely functional. Shift differential Rumor: I heard rumors about shift differential changes. After reviewing our Kronos book, I noticed the last change in shift differentials was in August 2003. Truth: The Authority’s Human Resources’ Compensation section reviews compensation practices on an ongoing basis and makes recommendations based on data received from purchased national published salary surveys such as Mercer, Hay and the South Carolina Hospital Association. Shift differential practices were reviewed in 2005. At that time, the data did not support an increase in the registered nurse shift differential. Premium pay, such as shift differentials, are among the many compensation issues being reviewed for fiscal year 2007-2008. Sterilization Rumor: I have heard that the main operating room is routinely short on instrument trays, and that instruments are washed in the scrub sinks by hand and then flash sterilized. Truth: With the increase in the operating room volume, a need for additional instrument sets has been identified and is being addressed. There is a designated sink that is used to wash instruments prior to sending them to the Sterile Processing Department for sterilization. New hospital Rumor: I heard that Public Safety was getting paid $20 an hour to work at the new hospital, yet hospital security was making the normal hourly wage to work at the same place. Truth: The rumor is not true. The Medical Center Security staff have begun security rounds for the interior of the new facility. The University Public Safety staff are including the new facility in their routine public safety patrols. There are no pay-related changes as a result of this work. Illegal workers Rumor: I heard that there are illegal workers working on the new hospital as day labor. Truth: As a condition of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s support in the project financing, we have a contract with a construction management firm to hire and manage all subcontractors in accordance with related federal contracting and labor requirements. Included in these requirements are conditions for minimum wage rates and prohibitions on the employment of illegal aliens. Each laborer is required to have a valid social security number. Compliance is checked with reviews of certified payrolls and other releases and attestations from each contractor. New hospital Rumor: I heard the overhang at the new hospital is too low for the ambulance to pull up to the emergency room doors. Truth: The primary entrance for ambulances is located on the street level of Charleston Center Drive with a dedicated elevator into the Chest Pain Center. This entrance has a overhang at a height of 15 feet. The standard ambulance height is approximately 10 feet. In the event of a severe flood condition or other issue that limits access to the entrance on Charleston Center Drive, ambulances may use the front entry drive of the new hospital. The canopy height at this alternative drop-off/entrance is more than 12 feet at its lowest point adjacent to the door. Spin city Rumor: Is it true that the Rumor Mill answers only questions that shed a positive light on MUSC? A rumor is a rumor, and if it is negative it still needs to be addressed openly or privately through a response. If a rumor receives no response one will assume it is true and continue to spread it. Truth: The mill tries to respond to all inquiries meeting the published groundrules, or that have not already been addressed, or are not addressed in widely disseminated MUSC and MUHA policies and procedures. It does, from time to time, respond directly to an inquirer when a name is supplied; however, most inquiries are submitted anonymously. Reproduced from http://www.musc.edu/rumor/.     Friday, March 2, 2007 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 catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.