Download NCCCP Cancer Centers: QMC Among Chosen Few

The Queen’s
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A Weekly Publication for the People of Queen’s • Vol. 19 • No. 23 • May 31, 2010
NCCCP Cancer Centers: QMC Among Chosen Few
A
A diagnosis of cancer is devastating.
Whatever the prognosis, it is life-altering. Then comes the question of where
to get care. Hawaii residents don’t have
to look any further than The Queen’s
Cancer Center, which has become one
of 14 new sites chosen by the National
Cancer Institute (NCI)—a part of the
National Institutes of Health—to join
a network of community cancer centers
that offer expanded research and leading edge cancer care at community hospitals. There are now just 30 such community hospitals nationwide. Called the
NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP), Paul Morris, MD, FACS,
Chair of the Queen’s Cancer Committee
and Principal Investigator, said it is the
“crowning jewel” of the Queen’s cancer
program. “Patients don’t need to travel
elsewhere to get great cancer care,” he
said. “We’ve taken the good work we’re
doing here and measured ourselves
against national standards. There is no
greater honor…than to be chosen by the
NCI to bring the newest research and
best care to its community.”
Established in 2007, the NCCCP used
$40 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to
expand its number of community hospital-based sites from 16 to 30. “NCI’s
mission is to reduce the burden of cancer for all,” said Art Ushijima, QHS/QMC
President. “The NCI estimates that 85
percent of cancer patients are diagnosed
and treated within community hospitals,
close to a patient’s home. We are indeed
proud that the NCI has selected Queen’s
to participate in the NCCCP, which extends the NCI cancer program into local
communities like ours, giving patients
easier access to state-of-the-art cancer
care and clinical trial opportunities.”
Patients at NCCCP hospitals have more
opportunities to participate in clinical
trials, and access to enhanced screening,
palliative care and other services. NCCCP
hospitals have made considerable progress toward achieving the major goals
of the program and are defining what
it will take to build a national network
of community cancer centers that are
engaged in research and offer the latest
evidence-based, multidisciplinary cancer
care. Each participating community hospital is taking steps to accelerate cancer
research and raise the quality of care. The
top priority of the NCCCP is to overcome
health care disparities. Other goals are
to increase participation in clinical trials;
Above: The Queen’s cancer team provides
patients with truly multidiscipinary care.
standardize the collection of voluntarily donated tissue and other specimens
for research; improve information technology capabilities, including electronic
health records; increase quality of care;
and enhance palliative care and survivorship services at community hospitals.
“With this designation, the NCI has
recognized The Queen’s Medical Center
for its outstanding cancer care,” said Darlena Chadwick, RN, Vice President for Patient Care. “We now have the potential to
play a significant leadership role in defining quality cancer care for the future. We
are honored to be one of 14 selected new
sites from 6,000 eligible community hospitals in the United States.” The NCCCP
is designed to create new research opportunities across the cancer continuum,
(Continued on page 2.)
Competitive QBL Builds Camaraderie
W
Winners’ bragging rights aside, the
Queen’s Basketball League (QBL) has
been a success in its goal to encourage camaraderie and provide a way for coworkers to see each other outside of work.
“You meet new people, see new faces,”
said Ricky Greenleaf of the OR’s B-Team.
“We pass people in the hall [at Queen’s],
but meet a lot of new people [through the
QBL].” On average, about 100 Queen’s
staff, family and friends come out to
watch the games, which includes an AllStar game and three-point competition.
In its fifth season, the closed league
QBL (QHS and affiliates employees only) has eight teams this season: OR, BTeam, Rehab, Nurses (two time champs,
back to back), Crisis (Kekela), FTC (Family Treatment Center), DLS and The
Squad (nurses). The season runs from
June 2 to September 22, and games are
held at the Lanikila Gym across from
NCCCP
the Lanikila Health Center, or at the
Kilauea Gym. The first game begins on
Wednesday, June 2, 6:00 pm at the Lanikila Gym. QBL “Commissioner” Rodney Aquino, RN, encourages all to come
(Continued from page 1.)
from screening and treatment to followup care, with an emphasis on minority
and underserved populations. Queen’s
has partnered with the Native Hawaiian
Cancer Network and ‘Imi Hale to better
serve the native Hawaiian community.
‘Imi Hale, which opened a satellite office on the Queen’s campus in 2010, is a
program of Papa Ola Lokahi, a nonprofit
consortium of Native Hawaiian organizations and public institutions founded to
improve the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians and other native peoples.
The organization collaborates with key
local, state, national, and international
partners to reduce cancer incidence and
mortality among Native Hawaiians and
Pacific Islanders.
The NCCCP is studying ways for patients to have access to the latest, evidence-based care close to where they live.
For a variety of reasons, many cancer patients cannot commute to major academic medical centers for treatment. “Our
recent selection as an NCCCP site reflects
the excellence in cancer treatment at The
Queen’s Cancer Center,” said Debbie Ishihara-Wong, Director of Oncology Services and Administrative Lead. “The NC2
CCP was founded on the principle that
patients should not have to travel far for
state-of-the-art cancer care.”
“The end result of the truly multidisciplinary cancer care at Queen’s,” said Dr.
Morris, “continues to rank us above national benchmarks for quality and survival according to the National Cancer
Database which tracks cancer care data
for the American College of Surgeon’s
Commission on Cancer.” The Queen’s
Cancer Center is Hawaii’s most comprehensive, up-to-date cancer facility, offering patients the only Tomotherapy treatment in Hawaii (one of just 160 in operation), Intensity Modulated Radiation
Therapy (IMRT), Stereotactic Radiosurgery, brachytherapy, two robot-assisted
surgery systems (da Vinci Surgical System), the latest in chemotherapy, inhouse
molecular diagnostics lab, PET/CT scanning, 3 Tesla MRI, and two 64-slice CTs.
The Queen’s Cancer Center also offers
Hawaii’s largest and most comprehensive survivorship and navigation program, helping patients through diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up.
Other services include nutrition counseling, genetic counseling and testing,
Above: (l to r) Cliff Nene, Nurses team, Ed
Ayala, Nurses, Willard Mow, DLS, Patrick
Ng, OR, Rodney Aquino, FTC, Noah Juan,
B-Team, Sean Abreau, Crisis.
out and cheer on your colleagues. For
more information, check out the QBL’s
web site at www.theqbl.com.
support groups, social work, pain and
palliative care, rehabilitation therapies,
behavioral health, financial counseling,
complementary and integrated medicine
(e.g., acupuncture and massage) and spiritual counseling. “The NCI has looked
favorably upon Queen’s outpatient cancer center, oncology navigation program,
state-of-the-art survivorship program,
and our plans to develop a biospecimen tissue bank repository for the advancement of cancer research,” said Dr.
Morris. “The Queen’s oncology research
department leads the state and has surpassed many mainland cancer centers
in clinical trials accruals. Our plans to
interface existing electronic medical records with multiple information technology databases will allow Queen’s to
share data with the NCI and other NCCCP sites, for the betterment of Queen’s
patients and cancer patients across the
nation. The competition for this prestigious selection was fierce, and all of the
Queen’s cancer providers were honored
to have been a part of this journey.”
Figures of Speech Speak about Profession
S
Swallowing is something most of us
take for granted; we do it many times
a day without even thinking about
it. But difficulty swallowing is one of
the first triggers that indicate a need
for a consult by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). May is National Better Hearing and Speech Month and
the Print Connection was invited to the
Nalani 2 home base of the Queen’s inhouse Speech Pathology Department.
There are three full-time and three
call-in speech-language pathologists for
inpatients on staff at Queen’s. They
take care of the entire inpatient population with a caseload of anywhere from
20 to 60 patients, and are available from
8:00 am to 4:30 pm every day, including
Saturday and Sunday. Kimberly Magbual, Mel White and Diana GonsalvesWendt are the full-timers with callin assistance from Stephanie Mauliola,
Hikaru Yamashita and Amelia DeCosta.
Over at the POB 2 Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Department, Kathy
Krammer works full-time, assisted by
call-in Kathy Kimura. All are Certified
Speech-Language Pathologists.
In addition, intern Lindsay Bischoff,
a graduate student from the University
of Wyoming, is currently finishing up
a 12-week stay and is preparing for her
staff inservice. Queen’s has participated in a nationwide internship program
for as many years as Kim can recall,
and she has worked here for 22 years.
Interns usually serve in the spring semester and can come from any university with which Queen’s has a contract.
Kim says that the focus of Better
Speech and Hearing Month is early intervention. “And to increase awareness
of the profession, for staff as well as the
public,” added Mel. “We want nurses and
techs to know what to look for so that
they know when to get a doctor’s order
to call us in.” Difficulty swallowing and
slurred speech are the most noticeable
signs. Other things to look for include
coughing, choking, a “wet, gurgly” voice,
congestion in the lungs, temperature
spikes and a patient who complains that
it feels like something is stuck in their
throat. During an assessment, the SLP
may notice indicators of speech or think-
ing disorders, such as
difficulty with memory, attention span or
problem solving.
Stroke, traumatic brain injury, trach
and vent patients, as
well as cardiac, cancer
pneumonia and other
medically complicated patients can often
benefit from what the
SLPs have to offer. Initially, an evaluation is
performed and then
treatment goals and
a care plan are developed. Family members
and caregivers are included in this stage, as
the treatment and exercises usually need to
be continued once the
patient returns home.
Mel and Diana did a
mock demonstration
of a Vital Stimulation
Therapy device (see
photo) which uses neuromuscular electrical
stimulation to improve
swallowing function by
stimulating the nerve endings and retraining the pharyngeal muscles in the
throat. The electrical impulses help the
muscles contract better, strengthening
them and essentially re-educating the
functional muscle use patterns necessary
to initiate or re-establish swallowing.
Diana also displayed a kit of foods
with different consistencies used to
help match patients on dysphagia diets
with their swallowing capacity. Consistency ranges from honey to pureed and
chopped foods on up to regular textures. When necessary, videoesophagrams are done in Imaging Services in
conjunction with a radiologist and an
imaging tech to gather even more diagnostic information.
Kim, Mel and Diana have all worked
at Queen’s for over a dozen years each
and believe that demonstrates a quality and commitment to care that can’t
be found elsewhere. “At Queen’s, because we aren’t assigned to just one unit,
Above: (counterclockwise from right)
Speech-Language Pathologists Diana Gonsalves-Wendt, Mel White, Kimberly Magbual and Lindsay Bischoff, intern from the
University of Wyoming.
we see a lot of interesting patients everyday,” Mel says. Kim agreed, adding,
“There is always something new to challenge us; we can’t become complacent. It
really forces us to keep up our skills.”
National Better Hearing and Speech
Month is sponsored by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), which is the professional, scientific and credentialing association for 140,000 members and affiliates worldwide. ASHA includes audiologists, speech-language pathologists and
speech, language and hearing scientists.
They support continuing education opportunities, credentialing and the vision of making effective communication accessible and achievable for all.
3
metal 4 shlvs. $30; plastic, 7 drwrs, black.
$20; plastic, 3 drwrs, pink. $10. Fishtank: 20
gal w/light. $15. Fan: 9 settings, runs grt. $15.
Moving, all prices negotbl. (808) 227-4621.
The following departments are due for
TB monitoring in June: Cardiac Invasive; Cardiac Recovery; Cardiac Transfer
Center; Cardiac/Geriatrics/Med Admin;
Cardiac/Vascular Ultrasound; Care Enhancement Program; CCP-Foster Family;
Clinical Research Admin; Clinical Trials
Office; Community Based Admin; Dental Clinic; Emergency Preparedness; Employee Health; Neuroscience Institute;
Neurosurgery Call; Oncology Data Registry; Pathology; QHS Cardiac Native Hawaiian Health; Queen’s Curbside; Queen’s
Heart Physician Practice; Referral Line;
Research Grants & Business; Research
Regulatory Office; Research Support Services; Security; and Treadmill/EKG.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mark Yamakawa, QHS Executive VP/
QMC COO, and his assistant, Carol Teshima, have relocated to QMC,
Harkness 248. They may be reached at
537-7988; Fax 537-7990.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Emergency Preparedness Department will host a Disaster Awareness
Fair on Wednesday, June 2, from 10:30
am to 1:30 pm near Harkness. Stop by
to receive information on disaster preparedness and purchase disaster kits.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patient Relations seeks donations of
used or new rubber slippers for patients in need. Drop off donations at
their office on Iolani Ground between
8:00 am and 5:30 pm.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Free WiFi wireless Internet access via a
QMCGUEST network is now available to
patients and visitors throughout QMC
patient rooms and the main lobby. Wireless coverage may vary based on signal
strength; later this year, a project will
improve wireless coverage. Patients and
visitors must provide their own computing device with WiFi capability, such as
a laptop, mobile Internet tablet or PDA.
While there is no guarantee wireless coverage will be available at all times or that
all devices will be able to connect to the
network, the best efforts will be made
to make sure the guest wireless network
is available at all times. Connectivity assistance is available at extension 1079
Sofa: 4pc, brown, 2-end chase w/4 matching
pillows. Assemble as 1-pc or separate, 2-extra
arm rests, good cond. $1,600. Call 348-3529.
Sell:
Stove: Kenmore, electric, white, 4 burner; 6
mo old. Vry gd cond. $450. Dryer: Whirlpool,
good cond. $100. Call 393-3346
Rent:
Pauoa Valley: 1/1/1 in 2 BR home, beautiful,
quiet, peaceful, back of valley w/big garden.
$900 incl utils. 429-1307.
TV cab/dresser: White, vry gd cond. $40.
Exercise bike: $15. Loveseat: Brwn lthr, gd
cond. $95. Organizers: (1ea) Heavy duty
Misc:
from any in-house phone. The guest service does not include the ability to print.
Patients who need to print documents
such as boarding passes should contact
Patient Relations at 547-4602.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The 4th annual Queen’s Interdepartmental Coed Volleyball League began play
on Thursday, May 27. All are invited to
come support coworkers as they compete in friendly competition. All games
are played at Lanakila Gym, 1701 Lanakila Avenue across the street from Lanakila Health Center on Thursday evenings
at 6:30 and 7:30 pm for the next nine
weeks. It’s not too late to join a team; email [email protected] if interested.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pauahi 7 seeks DVDs for their longterm patients to watch.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Clinical Education Team offers a
12 Lead ECG workshop on Tuesday,
June 29, from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm at
the Queen’s Conference Center, room
204. The cost is $10 for QMC staff; $79
for others. Registration is available on
the Queen’s Intranet.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Morgan Boyle has returned to Queen’s
as the new Health Education and Wellness Coordinator. His phone number is
547-7592, and his pager is 578-8924.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All QHS employees are eligible to receive
a discount on Apple products purchased
at the Apple Store, ranging from 3% to
5%. The discount does not apply to the
iPhone, iPod or iPad product lines. To obtain the discount, employees must show
their employee ID badge. For questions,
please call the Apple Store at 949-1075.
Fundraiser: To benefit King Kamehameha
Day parade pa‘u riders. Door prizes, grt entrtnmt & ono pupu @ Oceans 808 (Restaurant
Row), Friday, 6/4 from 4 - 9pm. $10. Email
[email protected] or call x5224.
Cookies: Cookie Corner fundraiser for boys
basketball team. Ch chip, ch chp w/mac nuts or
mac nut shtbrd. $6/bag. Call 561-7084.
Babysitter: Upper Liliha. Exp & reliable,
infant or toddler, M-F w/flxbl hrs. 2 meals, 2
snacks daily w/afrdbl rates. 595-6360.
Need childcare: Windward area for a newborn. Seeking reliable exp person to provide
exclnt care in clean, safe, loving & friendly envrnmnt. Lic, CPR, First Aide cert a plus. Baby due on
8/8. Referrals appreciated. Call 808-225-6105.
Placing an ad: Queen’s employees only. Include
name, phone and Employee ID number. Mail
to Creative Services—Print Connection, fax to
547-4002 or e-mail to [email protected] by
Wednesday. The Print Connection reserves the
right to edit or refuse any ad. The Print Connection
does not make any warranty about the fitness of
any product or service listed in Q-Mart.
The Queen’s
Connection
Weekly
The Queen’s Print Connection is published
by Creative Services. If you have news or
wish to opine, call us at 537-7532 or e-mail
[email protected]. News deadline is the
Monday prior to publication.
QHS/QMC President. . . . Art Ushijima
Publisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roy Cameron
Editor/Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Kimura
Assist. Ed./Writer. . . . . . . Glee Stormont
The Queen’s Medical Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
www.queens.org
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