Download New 5 Main Unit Designed To Enhance Care

December 2010
Volume 3, Issue 11
New 5 Main Unit Designed To Enhance Care
Associates celebrated the opening of the new 5 Main unit during a blessing and dedication ceremony held on November 17. Pictured from left are:
Peggy Tyrcz, RN, charge nurse; Beverly Bray, RN; Vanessa Shea, nursing assistant; and Kendra Gardener, RN.
In This Issue
2 • Imaging Services Project
• MMA Students Shadow
• Karen Mack Honored
3 •Mercy Begins With Me
• Gifts for Thanksgiving
• Physician Spotlight
4• People in the News
• Associates in the Know
Submit news items to:
Melanie Griffis
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
M
ercy Hospital of Buffalo recently opened a new 47-bed
patient care unit in space
formally occupied by the hospital’s
skilled nursing facility. The new 5
Main Patient Care Unit is the largest
in the hospital and features 45 private
patient rooms, 28 telemetry channels,
and a state-of-the-art nurse call system using cell phone technology.
Staff and patients on the 7 McAuley
East Unit successfully moved to the
new unit on October 25. This smooth
transition was attributed to the careful planning and collaboration of several departments, including Patient
Care Services, Pharmacy, IT, Admis-
sions/Patient Access; Registration;
Facilities, and Clinical Engineering/
Biomed. As patients arrived in their
new rooms on opening day, they
were greeted with lunch and fresh
flowers.
“This flawless move took months of
preparation,” said Kathleen Guarino, vice president of Patient Care
Services. “I want to thank all of our
associates who contributed their
talents and worked tirelessly on this
undertaking, especially the Unit Practice Council and our nurse manager,
Maureen Allan, who led her team
through this transition.”
Continued on page 2
Page 1
5 Main Unit Opens,
continued from page 1
The new nurse call system has been
receiving rave reviews from patients,
their families, and staff. “When
patients activate their call light, an
alert goes directly to their nurse’s cell
phone,” explained Guarino. “This
makes response time much faster
while cutting down on noise throughout the unit.”
“As we remodel and upgrade the rest
of our patient care units, we will continue to take advantage of the latest
technology available for patient care
and communication,” said Guarino.
In upcoming renovation plans, the
former 7 McAuley East unit space
will be incorporated into a new
cardiovascular step-down unit on
the 7th floor featuring modernized
patient rooms, the majority of which
will be private. v
Karen Mack Honored
With LOVE Award
Work Underway on New MRI/CT Suite
With a focus on enhancing
the patient experience, Mercy
Hospital has embarked on a
multi-faceted plan to reconfigure
Imaging Services on the main
floor of the hospital to improve
patient care and convenience.
The plan involves the renovation
of the former Emergency
Department; enclosing an open
courtyard within the hospital to
create a new MRI/CT suite; and Workers are busy enclosing an open courtyard
the construction of a new hybrid within the hospital for the new MRI/CT suite.
imaging operating room (OR) and
Work will also soon get underway
interventional radiology room.
on a hybrid imaging OR and new
interventional radiology room.
Construction work began on the
The hybrid imaging OR will
courtyard in November as steel
include all the equipment and
beams were brought in by crane to
systems associated with a standard
create the structure’s frame. When
operating room plus equipment
completed, Mercy will move its
used for interventional cardiology,
MRI service to this location and
neurology and/or vascular
will be one of the first hospitals
procedures.
in the nation to install the latest
generation Siemens® MRI unit
featuring cutting-edge technology.
In December, the Ultrasound
Department and radiology clerk’s
office moved to vacated space next
to Nuclear Medicine on the 2nd
floor. The patient waiting room
and front desk clerk’s office will
move to renovated space formerly
occupied by the Emergency
Department in early 2011.
“The hybrid OR is in growing
demand at hospitals across the
country as surgeons move to more
minimally invasive procedures
that require advanced imaging
capabilities,” said Julie LaManna,
senior director of Cardiovascular
Services.
The construction and renovation
project is expected to be completed
in the spring of 2011.v
Students Shadow Mercy Associates
Karen Mack, center, Health Information
Management (HIM) chart analyst, received
the 3rd Quarter L.O.V.E. Award. A member of
the Spirit of Mercy Workgroup, she was recognized for her help with the associate picnic,
especially her work on the raffle baskets to benefit the Helping Hands Fund. Mercy President
and CEO C. J. Urlaub and Janice Stevens,
manager of HIM, presented the award.v
Mount Mercy Academy students recently shadowed associates to learn more about health care
careers. A partnership with MMA and Bishop Timon High School, the program offers a 20%
tuition discount for Catholic Health associates. Mercy volunteers were: (l.-r., back row) Jason
Sewell, Tom Koerner, RRT, Ann McGillicuddy, Cheryl Raditic, PT, and Penny Tirpak, RN. v
Page 2
Associates Make “Snuggly” Delivery
Mercy Begins
With Me.
Within hours of birth on December
21, baby Connor Oberst received
his first Christmas gift—a snuggly
new teddy bear delivered by Mercy
associates, James “Sully” Sullivan
and Gary Wesolowski.
For the sixth year in a row,
Sullivan has delivered teddy bears
at Christmas to Mercy pediatric
patients and newborns. He started
the tradition with the help of his
daughter Stacy who works at Kay
Jewelers in the McKinley Mall.
“They had some extra teddy bears
left over from a holiday promotion
and Stacy suggested that they
could be handed out to patients at
the hospital,” said Sullivan, who
worked as a maintenance mechanic
at Mercy for 13 years before recently
moving to the OLV campus. “The
bears were so appreciated that the
store has continued to donate them
Gary Wesolowski, left, and James Sullivan
deliver a teddy bear to new first-time parents,
Jackie Milligan and Bob Oberst of Franklinville
and their newborn baby Connor.
through the years.”
“I want to thank my daughter
and Kay Jewelers for making this
possible,” he added. “They usually
give us over 50 bears to hand out.”
Wesolowski, an electrician at
Mercy, and his daughter, Kristine
Wesolowski, who works in
Environmental Services, also pitch
in to distribute the fuzzy friends.
“We enjoy delivering the bears to
the children, new moms and their
babies,” Sullivan added. “They really bring smiles to everybody.” v
Over 50 Families Benefit From
Thanksgiving Baskets
Mercy associates came together once again to donate Thanksgiving baskets that benefited over 50
needy families. A Blessing of the Gifts was held in the chapel on November 18. In above photos,
staff filled the altar area with the food donations. From left are: Ann Cusella, RN; Carl DePalma,
PT; Judy Gallant; Barb Cook; and Mary Ann Ruggiero, NA. v
Physician
Spotlight
John Bell-Thomson, MD
Surgeons at the
Catholic Health
Heart Center are
among the first in
the nation to use
a new device to
reduce the risk of
stroke in patients
undergoing heart
surgery.
The “AtriClip” was recently approved by the Food & Drug Administration for use in surgery treating
atrial fibrillation (AFib), a condition
in which the upper chambers of the
heart beat rapidly and ineffectively.
This condition makes the patient
more susceptible to blood clot formation in the heart.
Led by John Bell-Thomson, MD,
chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at
Mercy Hospital, the surgical team
successfully implanted the device in
a patient on June 28. Surgeons at the
Cleveland Clinic performed a similar
procedure the same day.
“The AtriClip device is another
breakthrough in cardiac surgery,”
said Dr. Bell-Thomson. “It’s a safe
and effective therapy and, as always,
we are committed to providing our
patients with the latest advancements
in technology to enhance safety and
improve care.”
Cardiothoracic
surgeon Serrie Lico,
MD, recently named
a 2011 “Top Doc” by
Castle Connelly, is
also using the device.
“Patients with AFib
Serrie C. Lico, MD
are more likely to
form blood clots in the
heart, which can detach and cause
a stroke,” explains Dr. Lico. “The
AtriClip excludes the part of the heart
where clots form and prevents them
from traveling to the brain.” v
Mercy at Work
In photos clockwise from bottom left: Mercy President
and CEO C. J. Urlaub, dressed as a Mercyflight pilot,
visits Kim Fronkowiak, RN, and Mary Lou Boinski,
RN, on his annual Halloween rounds; Sandy Rammacher (Facilities) does some holiday shopping at the
book sale; and Robert Hawks, Mercy Construction
Projects Manager, leads Sisters Mary Ann Schimscheiner, Peggy Gorman and Sheila Marie Walsh on
a tour of the Mercy Comprehensive Care Center (formerly the Mercy Health Center) featuring a newly
constructed 21,000 square-foot addition.
A Chance to Win Free Movie Tickets
Associates are invited to
complete the Associates In The
Know puzzle for a chance to
win a pair of free movie tickets.
Just drop the completed puzzle
in the designated box located
outside the hospital cafeteria,
or fax completed puzzles to
Michelle Wahl at 828-3651, to
enter the drawing.
Name______________________
Phone_____________
ACROSS
2 Helping Hands Fund benefited from what recent raffle?
8 Which department spearheaded the coat drive?
9 The efforts of the Associate Council Wellness Workgroup will soon result in a new _____
10 The Meditation Garden & the ________(2 words) are located in the interior courtyard of the Emergency Center
DOWN 1 Mercy Nursing Facility is offering this multi-sensory stimulation room (2 words)
3 It is essential to use ________
abbreviations with documentation
4 In the spirit of compassion, each department adopted what for Christmas? (2 words)
5 Mercy Hospital Foundation recently raised over $50,000 through this event
6 Which department measures lung function, manages ventilators, and provides emergency care for patients with cardiopulmonary problems?
7 The Patrick P. Lee Foundation presented the Mercy Hospital Foundation with a $25,000 ______ for the Mercy Emergency Center
Sweet Mercy!
People In The News
Catholic Health Primary Care Services is pleased to welcome Yelandra
May-Daniels, MD, MBA, and Brenda
Perez, MD, MBA, to the Chestnut
Ridge Family Practice located at 6300
Powers Road in Orchard Park. A
department of Mercy Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Family Practice specializes
in primary care/family practice for
families and individuals.
Dr. May-Daniels has
been a family practice
physician for more
than 19 years serving
in a number of public
and private medical institutions. Prior
Dr. May-Daniels
to joining Catholic
Health, she served as a primary care
physician at the Ohio Institute of Cardiac Health and served as the Athletic Department team physician for the
University of Cincinnati. Board certified by the American Board of Family
Practice, Dr. May-Daniels completed
her family practice residency at
Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati.
Dr. Perez received her
medical degree from
the State University of
New York at Buffalo,
School of Medicine &
Biomedical Sciences
and her MBA from
SUNY Buffalo. Board Dr. Perez
certified in Family
Practice, she completed her residency
in Family Practice at St. Joseph’s
Hospital in Syracuse, NY. Prior to
joining Catholic Health, she worked
for Unity Health at County Village
Family Medicine in Rochester, NY.
Fluent in Spanish, she also operated
a solo bilingual medical practice for
Lifetime Health in Rochester, NY.
Dr. May-Daniels and Dr. Perez are
currently accepting new patients.
For more information, call Chestnut
Ridge Family Practice at 667-3200.