Currents
To Medical Center employees:Recently a training session for the Medical Center management team that focused on equal employment and affirmative action was conducted by Ms. Mary Snead, director of Training and Technical Services, South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. Ms. Snead presented an interesting chronological sequence of the enactment of employment-related federal and state laws. She indicated that while managers (hiring officials) must be accountable for compliance with employment laws, they continue to have a wide range of day-to-day discretionary judgment in carrying out their supervisory duties.
The employment laws are administered by a number of federal agencies, and the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. The Human Affairs Commission was created by the State General Assembly in 1972 and serves to encourage fair treatment and prevent or eliminate discrimination throughout our state. The Medical Center's affirmative action plan is submitted to the Human Affairs Commission each year. The Human Affairs Commission has been very helpful to MUSC over the years and we are fortunate to have this state agency for training, affirmative action plan oversight and complaint resolution.
Following Ms. Snead's presentation, Ms. Mary Brigman of the Medical Center Office of Human Resources discussed the Medical Center’s affirmative action plan and gave a recap of our employment procedures. Among other things, it was discussed that the term “affirmative action” includes our efforts for targeted recruitment of qualified minorities, while the closely related term “Equal Employment Opportunity” involves the process for fair and equal access to job opportunities.
The training session was well received and it provided a good forum for discussion of our employment procedures. In the future, we plan to conduct a similar training session for business officers and others involved in the hiring process.
Thank you very much.
W. Stuart Smith
Vice President for Clinical Operations and
Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center
Woodbury envisions new hospital facility within 8 years
Marion Woodbury appeared before the management team on Aug. 28 for the first time since assuming his new role as special assistant to President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. Woodbury will also continue as the CEO of University Medical Associates (UMA) until a replacement can be found. He opened, quoting former New York Yankees Manager Yogi Berra: “The future ain't what it used to be,” he said.
Marion
Woodbury
Woodbury was referring to the planning, funding and construction of the future clinical facilities. “This is an exciting adventure,” he said. “It's time we look forward to a new hospital facility. What we have is just no longer functional for a major academic teaching hospital.”
Woodbury envisions a new medical/surgical state-of-the-art facility, with an additional 100 beds. He projects the time frame for construction to occur within the next seven to eight years. “It’s a major need,” he said. “It will go a long way toward securing our future.”
The present hospital, originally constructed in 1955, has undergone numerous expansions and renovations over the years. But Woodbury pointed to structural limitations that pose problems—“The bays aren’t large enough and columns are too tight.”
Cost of the project is expected to run in the $500 million range and will require a combination of funding approaches, including public funding from the local, state and federal levels, as well as private, foundation and corporate support.
Woodbury said the issue of where to locate the new facility—on the existing
campus or elsewhere—remains to be determined, and needs to be designed
with a 50-year window in mind.
“I am optimistic about the future of this institution,” he said.
In addition to his role as CEO of UMA, Woodbury, during his 34 years with MUSC, has served the vice president for finance and administration, deputy executive director of hospitals and clinics, and associate hospital director.
New construction projects detailed, updates
given
Hal Currey, Administrator for Facilities and Capital Improvements,
gave updates regarding 10 construction and renovation projects imminent
or currently in progress by the Medical Center.
- 3 T MRI Project will require 3,045-square-foot renovation on the first floor of the Clinical Sciences Building. The $760,000 project will also include additional patient and research support space. Currently, design is under way; construction is expected to begin in January 2002.
- Children’s Hospital Exterior Waterproofing job will include removal and replacement of windows, replacement of through wall flashing and reinstallation of brickwork to eliminate water filtration. The $3 million project has been bid and work is expected to proceed first on the north side of the building, followed by the east and south side.
- Children’s Hospital Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Upgrades are under way, but lagging behind schedule. Currey said problems encountered in June have delayed the project, but he expects the job will be completed by Oct. 10. The existing HVAC system will be repaired and upgraded to include the addition of a mechanical penthouse, replacement of an existing chiller, new pumps, modification of existing air handlers and low temperature chilled coils. Work also includes upgrades to the exhaust systems and all associated general construction work.
- Clinical Science Building Renovation, Phase 1 and 2 includes renovations in the areas that service bronchoscopy, human resources, dialysis, electronic medical records, digestive disease office space, general clinical research center and common space, and infrastructure. Total project cost is $9.37 million. Renovations to the Digestive Disease Center, phase 1 and 2, were completed in July. Design work continues for the remainder of the project, including dialysis and electronic medical records training. Construction on dialysis may be delayed beyond January 2002, Currey said. Children’s After Hours service will need to move to ER, which won't be done until April, which will have an impact on the construction schedule.
- Electrophysiology Lab—sixth floor Children’s Hospital construction work is completed and the space is functioning well, according to Currey. The $1.32 million project included the addition of an electrophysiology lab for both pediatric and adult cases, renovation of finishes in the existing lab, replacement of the lab on the 8th floor of the Clinical Sciences Building. It also included renovation of the Pediatric Echo and clinical space in support of the consolidation of Pediatric Cardiology.
- Emergency Department Expansion/Renovation passed final DHEC inspection for phase I on Aug. 28. The 6,855-square-foot project involves interior remodeling of the existing MUSC Emergency Department to allow for additional exam rooms and separation of adult and pediatric populations. Construction also includes a new ambulance entrance, drop-off area and canopy, which is in progress. The $2.3 million project is expected to be completed in April 2002.
- Medical Center Flooring includes removal of existing flooring and installation of new on floors five through eight in the main hospital. Replacement work began in December of 2000. Five east was finished in April and five southwest in August. “Most of the noisy work on Southwest has been completed,” according to Currey, who said plans are being developed for the best way to approach the work on the eighth floor. Carpeting will be replaced on the ninth and tenth floors only. Five west work began in August and is expected to be substantially completed by Oct. 21. Total project cost is $2.674 million.
- Medical Center Operating Rooms—fourth floor is a 35,000-square-foot project. Operating rooms one and two were completed in April; construction on six new operating rooms currently is under way and will be completed by March 2002. Remainder of the rooftop operating rooms, staff/physician locker rooms, classroom and support space project are expected to be substantially completed by October 2002. Currey said delays in the flooring work have substantially delayed this project. Total project cost is $11 million.
- Medical University Heart and Vascular Center renovation project began in May. The 24,000-square-foot project includes the renovation of the fifth floor of Children’s Hospital in order to create a consolidated center for cath labs and interventional radiology. It will contain 11 procedure rooms, holding and recovery bays, waiting area and appropriate support space. Demolition on the $9.6 million project is well under way, with an estimated construction completion date of November 2002. Equipment installation and testing will set the opening to the first of 2003.
- Morgue Renovation is completed. The redesigned and renovated space was last upgraded in 1955. Renovation of the 23,000-square-foot space was completed in June at a cost of $1.19 million.
Human Resources policy changes updated
Betts Ellis, administrator, Institutional Relations, shared policy
revisions and updates concerning human resources compensation and paid
time off (PTO) policies to managers, directors and administrators. The
changes are available on the Intranet, and an electronic memo was issued
from the Human Resource office detailing the changes.
“Our pledge will be to keep the Intranet up to date,” Ellis said.
In particular, modifications and additional language related
to holiday differential were added to compensation policy #15 on July 1.
The Paid Time Off Policy #18 underwent numerous minor changes for clarity,
along with revisions to the section concerning transfer of leave from an
MUSC entity to enable purchase of PTO until July 2002, and elimination
of the requirement that individuals must be employed for 90 days before
using PTO was deleted.
The Equal Employment Opportunity statement was updated in February.
Contact the Medical Center Office of Human Resources for more information or contact Jane Smith at 792-4120. A limited number of hard copies of the policy are available upon request.
Leased computers missing
The Center for Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) is trying
to locate 29 leased personal computers that are due back to Dell. “We’re
asking that every effort be made to locate this equipment,” said Dave Northrup,
director, Healthcare Computing Services. Leased computers bear a tag that
will show it’s a leased machine. Northrup urged the management team to
“please let us know if you think of any places we haven’t looked.”
For more information, contact CCIT at 792-9700.