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Currents At our Dec. 14 communications meeting, Michael Vanderhurst, equal employment coordinator for the Office of Diversity, discussed equal employment and treatment of employees in the workplace. The central theme of Mr. Vanderhurst’s presentation was that we must all be attuned to the various employment laws related to age, race, gender, religion, ethnic background or national origin, and veteran’s status. We must use appropriate judgment in our routine interactions with others in the workplace to ensure that we do not do or say things that may violate employment laws. Mr. Vanderhurst is available to provide department-based training, to assist in addressing workplace treatment issues and to mediate problems. As we look forward to implementing the Medical Center Authority, we must be ever mindful of compliance with employment laws. While we will be relieved from certain tedious state regulations, we will continue to be covered by federal employment laws. We will need to revisit our employment-related policies to ensure a strong equal employment and affirmative action program, and to ensure good documentation of the employment process.   We also should keep in mind that one of the Medical Center’s values is respect for others.  We are committed to promoting an atmosphere of respect and sensitivity for our diverse population of patients, visitors, students and employees.  Our recently combined position description/ performance appraisal includes respect as one of our behavioral expectations.   Thank you, and I hope everyone has a happy holiday season. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center MUSC Meteorologist of the Decade Al Nesmith, director of Safety, Security and Volunteer Services, and Pam Cipriano, Ph.D., administrator for Clinical Services, presented WCBD-TV 2 meteorologist Rob Fowler with a plaque and a gift to honor his consistency, accuracy, flexibility, availability and dedication to helping MUSC with weather-related issues for the past 10 years. Nesmith said Fowler has put in more than 3,000 hours helping MUSC track more than 60 hurricanes during the past decade.  Diversity  Michael Vanderhurst, equal employment coordinator for the Office of Diversity, said his office has conducted more than 50 diversity training workshops during the past year. Vanderhurst played a video outlining different types of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, including race, national origin, age and religion. He also discussed sexual harassment. Vanderhurst reminded managers and directors that they have a responsibility to report instances of harassment and discrimination.  C-squared Karen Pellegrin, Ph.D., director of Quality Management, reviewed the Medical Center’s five performance improvement priorities, as outlined in the strategic plan: reducing cost of care, management effectiveness, customer service, medical staff involvement and information-based decision-making. While all of these priorities are important, MUSC employees should focus especially on improving customer service and reducing costs. These two priorities can be abbreviated to “c-squared.”  Examples of major, organization-wide “c-squared” performance improvement projects include: OR efficiency, discharge process, access and transition, and idealized design of clinical office practice.  Managers and directors should make sure their staff members know the “c-squared” priorities, are aware of one or more major “c-squared” performance improvement projects, and can identify “c-squared” performance improvement projects in their areas.  StatLAN Retirement  David Northrup, director of CCIT Healthcare Computing Services, said the StatLAN retirement process has gone extremely well. He thanked everyone for attending training and working collaboratively with CCIT to make this a success. StatLAN has been retired everywhere except CMH and a few clinical areas. The StatLAN system will shut down Dec. 21. Announcement Lisa Montgomery, administrator for Financial Services, announced that Melony Sikes recently assumed new responsibilities as a reimbursement coordinator. Sykes’ duties will include handling issues related to the charge process and Medicare/Medicaid regulations.