Monday, November 30, 2015

Healing Heroes


We recently celebrated Hospital Heroes who help to bridge the gaps in healthcare by providing exceptional care to their patients and their families, and who, through a deep desire to serve and connect, have left an indelible mark on their communities. They are specialists and nurses as well as volunteers, program directors, social workers, and surgeons. What follows are a series of profiles of these heroes.

Providing dignity at the most difficult time is a challenge that Dr. Jeremy Grosser,  Medical Director Palliative and Transitional Care Services at  Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center, rises to each day. Dr. Grosser demonstrates a passion for patient advocacy for chronic disease and terminally ill patients. As a pioneer of patient advocacy, he addresses patients with an approach that supports dignified and compassionate patient care delivery and speaks on the behalf of the patient to their care partners and providers, which takes much bravery for these difficult discussions. His approach addresses care transitions that support quality of life for the patient and care partners throughout the continuum of the patient’s illness. Dr. Grosser’s level of commitment, and ability to walk in the patient's shoes, encourages appropriate and informed decisions and choices for the patient and care partners. Dr. Grosser has been a change agent for the medical center. Through his diligence, a transition in medical staff culture has occurred, building trust for referrals to Palliative and Transitional care services. Dr. Grosser is active on several internal and external community boards and collaboratives that support patient advocacy, avoidable readmission prevention, and services for dignified and compassionate care at end of life. His holistic approach addresses the clinical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of the patient and care partners and communicates through his actions that they are not alone in their journey.

Charanjit Saroa, MD, Physician/ Pulmonary Medicine at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, is the Medical Director of the ICU and DOU, is the Chair of the Critical Care Committee and serves as a member of the Trauma Committee.  Dr. Saroa is there in the trenches, and takes the time to educate and share his vision of exemplary care with physicians, nurses, and other staff members throughout the hospital.  His dedication to our hospital is also demonstrated through his work as a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. He exemplifies physician leadership. But it is his dedication to promoting the delivery of exceptional patient care and his ability to share his knowledge with staff that garnered this high praise from one of the DOU nurses: “He takes the time to help educate the nurses when he can and answers all of our questions willingly. I truly feel he has a vested interest in our professional growth as nurses as well as a vested interest in making sure our hospital provides the best patient care. We truly feel he is a very special doctor and outstanding human being. We feel so blessed to have him here at Henry Mayo.”

Dr. Humberto Sauri, Trauma Surgeon at Orange County Global Medical Center excelled in school but growing up in predominantly white community, he fought with kids who called him ethnic slurs. His father worked in an old record factory and taught Humberto the importance of an education. Even after graduating from both Stanford and Columbia University School of Medicine, Dr. Sauri considers receiving his citizenship the proudest day of his life. He now works as the Medical Director and surgeon in one of the only Level Two Trauma Centers in Orange County at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana. Dr. Sauri represents the true meaning of the “American Dream” and is an inspiration for anyone wanting to make a difference in their community. In addition to advocating for patients who do not have adequate medical insurance, Dr.Sauri always takes the opportunity to discuss the importance of using safety restraints and wearing bicycle helmets. He also uses his personal story of coming over from Mexico as an illegal immigrant to show gang members that having a career is obtainable. Humberto even encourages people to look into the process of citizenship. Dr. Sauri takes time with his patients to ensure they are safe and making good choices after they leave the hospital.

Dr. David Sato, Staff physician, medical director, cardiac catheterization lab at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center did not think twice when a patient’s family was arriving at the airport during a very difficult time; he simply picked them up so that they could be with their family member! He is a role model for his colleagues and the hospital employees and he advocates for nurses and is caring, devoted and supportive of the entire hospital family. Dr. Sato's patients praise him as compassionate, treating their heart disease, and supporting their emotional needs as well. Dr. Sato is physician leader, active on multiple hospital committees including department of medicine, cardiology and ICU. Currently he is serving as medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and STEMI (heart attack) program. He also sits on the Board of Governors for the Providence Saint Joseph Foundation. This kind of involvement brings innovation, increased focus on quality and patient safety and fund-raising to upgrade state-of-the-art equipment for diagnostics and treatment - all directly affecting patient care.

National Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the healthcare of the underserved by developing and supporting innovative programs that can become independently viable,
provide systemic solutions to gaps in healthcare access and delivery, and
have the potential to be replicated nationally.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Not all Heroes Wear Capes


We recently celebrated Hospital Heroes who help to bridge the gaps in healthcare by providing exceptional care to their patients and their families, and who, through a deep desire to serve and connect, have left an indelible mark on their communities. They are specialists and nurses as well as volunteers, program directors, social workers, and surgeons. What follows are a series of profiles of these heroes.

Leslie "Les" Sampson, MSN, RN, is the Clinical Liaison, Director at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and has dedicated his life and career to serving patients and family members as both a critical care nurse and in his current role as the clinical liaison for the Office of Licensure, Accreditation and Regulation (OLAR). Every single patient benefits from Les’ thoughtful and clear understanding of nursing practices, the regulatory requirements of California and The Joint Commission. His depth of understanding of healthcare and his unique perspective of the nurse at the bedside has always guided his work in creating policies, protocols, guidelines and procedures that help ensure the safe, quality care of our patients. He is a hero in the minds and hearts of the patient caregivers who know the value of his work, and he is a hero to the patients whose care is guided by his skill and expertise.

At home, she is mom, but once she has donned her scrubs and sent her kids off to school, Amy Pullen is the Emergency Department Director at Desert Valley Hospital. As such, she holds strangers’ hands when no one else is there for them, cries with families when they lose a loved one and holds a child because her mommy is sick. Amy does all of these things daily, and much more, when managing the hospital’s most hectic, but most vital, department. Amy implemented the LEAF program within the E.D. and has been innovative regarding decreasing pressure ulcers with this program.  A monitor has been set up at the nurses’ station to evaluate if the patients with LEAF monitor system have been turned appropriately. Also, Amy was the main component in Desert Valley becoming a STEMI center, in order to provide the quality care that Desert Valley Hospital has committed to the community. She recently completed her BSN studies while continuing to manage this area. Staff turnover has required her to work the department while still completing all duties as the Director. Amy is responsible and it is sometimes hard to fathom where her fortitude comes from. Her colleagues honor her as their hospital hero and hope to emulate the work and demeanor she displays while accomplishing some of the amazing things that she has been able to achieve.

The most profound acts of heroism are often carried out quietly, by angels in our midst, and this is certainly true of Vickie Kropenske, PHN, MSN, founding director of Hope Street FamilyCenter at Dignity HealthCalifornia Hospital Medical Center. Vickie established HSFC in 1992 in response to Los Angeles’s civil unrest. It’s grown from a pilot project with three staff supporting at-risk mothers delivering at CHMC to a national model with a $9M grant-funded budget and 125 staff serving 2,000 families annually. Vickie would credit HSFC’s partners for this achievement. But without her vision, tenacity, and ability to build upon our patients’ strengths, this vibrant resource for low-income families wouldn’t exist. HSFC is the first community wellness center located on a hospital campus in Los Angeles—perhaps California—and while its founding predates the ACA by 20 years, it epitomizes innovative approaches to improving health outcomes. Perhaps the words of two HSFC parents best express why Vickie is a hero:  “For us and for the parents in our community, our children are everything.  We see her do so many jobs . . . she becomes an architect, an accountant, a psychologist, a nurse and just about any professional she needs to be for Hope Street to thrive. But even with all this, she still takes the time to listen to our individual problems and help us in any way she can.”

At Methodist Hospitalof Southern California. Charles V. Brown Jr. is a Senior Decision Support Analyst. He provides the data analysis to the managed care team and other key stakeholders to ensure patients, through their insurers, receive the best care at a competitive cost. Charles has worked tirelessly to provide the data analysis and innovation required to succeed in today's highly complex and competitive healthcare landscape. Today, more than ever, consumers as well as insurers are seeking the best outcomes at a fair and cost competitive price tag. Charles makes it happen.

Hortensia Sandoval De Carillo is an environmental service assistant at Riverside Community Hospital and she has the unique reputation of having a positively infectious personality! She is responsible for cleaning the hospital and following proper procedures for infection prevention.  She does her job incredibly well, pays attention to every detail, and does it with a smile and kind word.  She greets everyone she meets, maintains a positive attitude, and goes out of her way to help you if you need anything, from cleaning to keys!  Hortensia is redefining the patient experience simply by modeling the way we all should be toward our patients and each other.  She spreads happiness and joy every place she goes!

National Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the healthcare of the underserved by developing and supporting innovative programs that can become independently viable,
provide systemic solutions to gaps in healthcare access and delivery, and
have the potential to be replicated nationally.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Heroes At Every Turn


 

We recently celebrated Hospital Heroes who help to bridge the gaps in healthcare by providing exceptional care to their patients and their families, and who, through a deep desire to serve and connect, have left an indelible mark on their communities. They are specialists and nurses as well as volunteers, program directors, social workers, and surgeons. What follows are a series of profiles of these heroes.

Sam Digeraldo, a widowed Marine who served in Korea, volunteers five days per week at the Anaheim Global Medical Center, in every unit of the hospital. As a volunteer, Sam is called upon to assist the medical staff and patients in numerous ways, and he has become very well-known around the hospital. Sam also has the important role of collecting patient care surveys, which ensures that patients get the care and attention needed. Collecting pertinent information for the surveys requires Sam to take time to listen to patients and truly understand their needs. These surveys allow medical staff to focus on possible opportunities and determine resolutions. In addition to volunteering, Sam has also become a vital part of the Medical Explorers Program that offers high school students first-hand exposure to a wide range of career opportunities within the healthcare field. The students and staff meet twice per month, and Sam has not missed a single meeting. Sam is a true hero who spends his spare time helping Orange County's youth as well as its patients.

At ProvidenceLittle Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, Betty Liu is the emergency department social worker, serving the most vulnerable of her community – including psychiatric patients. The patients are frequently homeless and have multiple needs beyond their health care concerns.  It challenges even the most compassionate person to look beyond certain behaviors in order to respond to the deeper needs of the patients, yet Betty meets the needs of her patients exactly where they are. She does not judge, rather she accepts them and assesses them to help them. She looks beyond the immediate story and identifies the real emotional and psychiatric issues of our most challenging patients. Betty serves as an advocate for her patients, often times going above and beyond to find resources to guide them once they leave the hospital.  For one young woman, she immediately recognized she suffered more than a psychiatric issue. She researched and found the patient had suffered a poor outcome at another facility, and as her advocate, Betty was able to help secure a better outcome for her. That patient likely won’t remember Betty or that Betty saved her from the streets, but Betty does not need accolades to come back the next day and care for her patients.


For three decades, Sister Colleen Settles, has been a spiritual force, leading by example as she encourages the 13,000 Providence Southern California employees to live the Providence mission of compassionate outreach to the poor and vulnerable. She has created programs and community partnerships serving the homeless, the poor, school children in low-income neighborhoods, the uninsured and the elderly. She has led outreach missions to the impoverished in Mexico and Guatemala. She is an unwavering voice of compassion, ethics, respect and justice. Sr. Colleen served as regional chief mission integration officer, and last year became director of mission integration of the newest Providence hospital, SaintJohn’s Health Center. She guides chaplains in caring for patients of all faiths and supports employees managing transition issues, ensuring all concerns are addressed. Her steadfast support for employees inspires them to provide the best possible care to their patients, care driven by compassion, ethics, respect and a focus on excellence. She also was instrumental in creating Access to Care, which finds continuous care health care for chronically ill uninsured patients who rely on Emergency care.

At Palo VerdeHospital in Blythe, CEO Sandra J. Anaya is a hero.  She has raised the importance of community rural health and has profoundly impacted the community and her staff. She has assisted several individuals who were in need of food, shelter and mental stabilization by personally reaching to Riverside County agencies for assistance. Since Blythe does not have any homeless shelters and has no mental health stabilization units, she ensured that these individuals received the appropriate treatment they deserved. Furthermore, she has encouraged and supported employees in continuing their educational development. In 2015, one employee received their certification as a Dietary Manager from the Association of Nutritional and Food Service Professionals. In addition to her outstanding work, she has deeply committed herself to the progress of this hospital. In the two years that she has been PVH-CEO, she secured hospital accreditation with Det Norse Veritas, has opened a hospital-based clinic, started a Tele-Psych Program with the ED Dept., received a grant for community prevention awareness in diabetes and obesity, received a partial grant for a EMR System, and will install a new CT scanner within the next few months. All of these actions have demonstrated what a hero's efforts are all about!

National Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the healthcare of the underserved by developing and supporting innovative programs that can become independently viable,
provide systemic solutions to gaps in healthcare access and delivery, and
have the potential to be replicated nationally.