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An award winning newsletter for Orange Regional Medical Center employees, physicians and volunteers
March 2018
From The President & CEO With the recent winter weather we’ve been experiencing, I’d like to thank all employees who have provided quality healthcare to our patients during the past few storms. Many of you were impacted personally by significant snow fall and experienced some time without power. Your dedication and commitment to our patients is deeply appreciated. With the severe flu season upon us, everyone has been working diligently on reducing Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding. Increasing patient flow in the ED has been, and continues to be, a top priority. We continue to identify many areas throughout the hospital that have been instrumental in successfully reducing the number Scott Batulis President & CEO of patients we are holding in the ED for inpatient beds. Last year, we created a 12-bed Clinical Decision Area (CDA) within the main hospital’s Same Day Surgery (SDS) area for observation patients. The result has been a more coordinated level of care for the observation patients while freeing up inpatient beds and allowing us to admit ED patients more quickly. A Rapid Assessment Zone (RAZ) program within the ED triage area was also implemented. This successful program allows the ED Physician to participate in the triage process and quickly assess a patient’s condition. When necessary, we are utilizing alcove spaces (renovated hallway space) on various med/surg units to increase inpatient capacity by 21 beds. These semi-private areas are equipped with a bed, television, nightstand and a curtain. Studies have shown that patients have better outcomes on an inpatient floor, even in an alcove bed, than being in an ED hallway. We have also increased awareness about our Urgent Care services located in the Outpatient Building in an attempt to educate our patients about when to use Urgent Care versus the ED. Our Urgent Care team stands ready to handle urgent healthcare issues, reserving our ED team for the more serious healthcare cases. We all appreciate and are thankful that patients want to come to Orange Regional for their medical care. However, we also know that extremely high volumes in the ED are very challenging. We are working on increasing our capacity in the future. I will update you soon. Thank you again for your great work. Sincerely,
Scott Batulis, President & CEO
Employees Dress In Blue
Orange Regional employees participated in National Dress in Blue Day on March 2. This event kicked off a month-long campaign to raise awareness for colon cancer.