September 2011
Network SLPG is Proud of Honors Received for Quality of Care Initiatives...............................1 New Patient Guides Help to Inform, Offer Flexibility and Save Money........................2 Magic, Entertainment and Food Give Spark to ‘Carnivale for a Cause’..........................2 Support for Parents is Goal of NICU Programs................................................4 A Day in the Life..................................................5 Geriatrician and Teacher Dr. Maria Ghetu Wins Statewide Award........................................6 St. Luke’s Riverside Hospital to be Called St. Luke’s Hospital – Anderson............................6 Student Nurses Again use ‘Backpacks that Brighten’....................................7 Chief Information Officer Awarded Highest Certification.............................8 New Venue and High Hopes for Seventh Annual ‘Night of Heroes’.......................9 St. Luke’s Employees – A Winning Team!...........9 New Helicopter Will Serve St. Luke’s Patients..............................................10 Dr. Patterson is in Love with Emergency Medicine.................................11 New Bethlehem Site for Kidscare and Southside Medical Center is Roomy, Convenient...............12 Quakertown’s Dr. Weibel is at Home at Keyboard.....................................13 Electrophysiology Jump Starts Arrhythmia Treatment........................................14 Improved Patient Satisfaction is the Goal at Miners Campus...............................15 The Latest from St. Luke’s..................................16
SLPG is proud of honors received for quality of care initiatives St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network has long had a culture of emphasizing quality of care, improved outcomes and patient safety. Fostering that culture in the hospitals is difficult enough, but with more than 300 St. Luke’s Physician Group physicians and advanced practitioners in offices spread over eight counties, there are additional challenges, just due to the size of the group and its many locations. However, again and again, the St. Luke’s Physician Group has been recognized by insurers and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its successes. Michael Abgott, MD, Medical Director for the St. Luke’s Physician Group and Chief of Family Medicine, said that while quality improvement efforts are nothing new, he is particularly proud of recognitions received the past couple of years. • The NCQA has awarded recognition to seven physicians from St. Luke’s Cardiology Associates for providing quality care to patients in the category of “Heart – Stroke Care.” • The NCQA recognized 52 primary care physicians and four advanced practitioners for providing excellent diabetes care. Also included were the physicians with St. Luke’s Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology. The St. Luke’s Physician Group has the largest number of recognized providers in any physician group in Pennsylvania and is among the largest nationally, Dr. Abgott said. • Boehringer Ingelheim, a global pharmaceutical and health products company, this year presented first-place honors to the St. Luke’s Physician Group for its best practices in treating COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. • Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Blue Shield have rated several St. Luke’s Physician Group practices in the top 10 percent of over 300 practices enrolled in their plans for top-quality clinical care and outcomes. continued on page 3
Michael Abgott, MD.
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New Patient Guides help to inform, offer flexibility and save money St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network is always seeking ways to make patients’ stays in the hospital more comfortable and satisfactory. This past summer, new patient guides were introduced in the information packages given to patients admitted to one of the hospitals.
Did you hear? From patients at St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital: “ The nurses were excellent and had knowledge beyond what I expected.”
Susan York, who led the project, explains that patient guides are nothing new. St. Luke’s contracted with a printing company to produce the guides, which contain information about hospital rooms, staff, whom to contact with questions and details about the hospital campus and services. There is also information required by various state and federal regulations and by the Joint Commission on Accreditation.
“ I have a problem with small veins. The staff was patient and tried to make it as painless as possible.” “ St. Luke’s is a great hospital. It is friendly and I have had several stays that have all been great! I have recommended St. Luke’s to others. Thank you for caring!”
However, Susan explained, when something changed it was not easy to revise the already-printed supply of patient guides. In addition, the guides were not “customized” for the various Network hospitals. The new guides, which have been rolled out to all Network hospitals, are flexible and can be customized. Another innovation is that the new guides contain advertisements that make production of the helpful publications cost-neutral to the Network. There also are informative articles about popular health topics, such as smoking cessation or pain management; an explanation of the hospital bill; and discharge procedures. The guide also calls attention to some of St. Luke’s innovative programs, such as the Regional Center for Blood Management, which seeks to reduce the need for transfusions. Susan pointed out there even are puzzles, such as Sudoko and word-finds. Jan Concilio, associate vice president for Patient Care, says, “In a complicated health-care system, patients need information. The guides encourage a dialogue among patients, families and the staff, and they complement the information patients get from their care-givers.” A Spanish language version of the patient guide is in the works and will be available shortly.
“ Overall, a good experience. I was treated with respect, care, and was treated by the best nurses, and other staff members.” “ I enjoyed the friendly ‘family’ atmosphere of the staff.” “ The VNA was a very positive experience. They were all very helpful. Thanks for making my eight days at St. Luke’s a good experience.” “ I love St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital! It was spotlessly clean, quiet and comfortable. A perfect place to heal! You can send me there anytime.”
Magic, entertainment and food give spark to ‘Carnivale for a Cause’ About 170 people turned out on September 9 for “Carnivale for a Cause,” an evening of food, music and fun to benefit the Nurse-Family Partnership program, or NFP, of the Visiting Nurse Association of St. Luke’s. More than $20,000 was raised, with further funds still coming in, reported Michele E. Giletto, director of development for the VNA. From the moment they arrived at SteelStacks at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem, guests were entertained by stilt walkers, magicians, jugglers and clowns. A caricature artist was on hand to do sketches, 2
and a “live event painter” created a Carnivale scene as the evening unfolded. At the end of the night, the painting was auctioned, and a likeness of the winning bidder was painted into the scene. The evening included brief remarks by John Eisenhard of Lehigh Valley Financial Group, who expressed the community’s support for the NFP, and by Keith Boroch, president of the VNA. A video based upon “Stories from the Heart,” a book that conveys the voices of mothers in the NFP program, also was shown. continued on page 3
September 2011
SLPG cont. Dr. Abgott said the recognition for the St. Luke’s Physician Group’s work in diabetes care is the most satisfying. This began with working with Aetna on its QIPS program and diabetic logs and then with Pfizer on a study called CHOP-DM, which looked at the SLPG physicians’ management of diabetes, hypertension and lipids. At the same time, Drs. Susan Sefcik and Gloria Fioravanti pursued and received NCQA recognition for the care provided in the St. Luke’s Hospital Medical Clinic, which inspired Dr. Abgott to take the next step with the SLPG primary care offices. He explained that in a hospital clinic setting, physicians and staff were able to more easily arrange for a patient with diabetes to get all of the care he needs, including from an ophthalmologist, a podiatrist and other specialists, by locating these services in the clinic. The St. Luke’s Medical Clinics created a comprehensive program of treatment for its diabetes patients. The challenge for SLPG was to draw upon the clinic’s model and create a process that would be successful at multiple sites scattered over the Network service area. However, from 2009 to 2010, 52 primary care practices earned the NCQA recognition. Dr. Abgott credits Sandy Buss, the SLPG revenue enhancement manager, with developing documentation and educational tools, establishing processes of care, and getting each practice (physicians, advanced practitioners, staff and patients) to work together as a team to reach the NCQA targets. “Sometimes she is a cheerleader and sometimes she is a bulldog,” he says. Sandy visits offices to provide seminars, track progress and encourage everyone to meet the goals.
Dr. Abgott explained that since at least the 1990s, private insurers and government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, have provided incentives to physician practices for quality of care and performance improvement, setting guidelines and benchmarks in areas such as cancer screening, immunizations and diabetes care. The Network hospitals and practices also have been proactive in creating internal programs by choosing an issue, developing and implementing a quality improvement plan and measuring the results. “Our goal is always to strive to be in the top decile as compared to our peer groups nationally,” he said. From 2009 to this year, the St. Luke’s Physician Group won recognition for three areas of Best Practices from Highmark. They included changing the offices’ charting system to make patient records more uniform, something that will be improved further when the Network moves to electronic medical records; standardizing coumadin management, to ensure that all offices follow the same guidelines for patient safety and care; and the management and screening of COPD. Dr. Abgott said the COPD initiative in particular is important because patients with this disease often have longer stays and readmissions to the hospital, thereby incurring high costs. As part of the COPD initiative, a program of “smoking champions” was created, designating and training a staff member in each office to work one-on-one with patients, providing education and encouragement. The group also is participating with Dr. William Burfeind and St. Luke’s Thoracic Surgery Group
Carnivale cont.
A similar approach that designates “immunization champions” as part of each practice’s immunization quality improvement efforts has been undertaken in each office. Dr. Abgott said this year’s quality challenge is to have a more standardized approach to the diagnosis, staging and treatment of asthma. SLPG also pursues excellence in service and performance in areas outside of clinical measures. The Central Business Office strives to be rated among the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), “Better Performing Practices” and has achieved the 75th percentile and the 90th percentile in several categories. There also is a patient satisfaction rating using a tool designed for medical offices and benchmarked with peers across the country. The overall goal of St. Luke’s Physician Group and St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network is to continue to foster a culture of excellence and continuing process improvement so that the best care and service can be provided to the patients they serve.
Did you hear? From patients at St. Luke’s Hospital – Allentown Campus: “ The staff treated me like family; they really care.” “ My doctor was very compassionate and understanding, and the staff was very pleasant. They always addressed my pain issues.”
(L-R): Gondolina, one of the Carnivale’s waitresses, with Marilyn Eisenhard, Jane George, John Eisenhard, Michele Giletto and Jessica Nichols.
The menu for the evening was built around the Carnivale theme, including a risotto station and an Italian market station. The wait staff was outfitted as Italian gondoliers. Michele said, “With the music and visual effects, there was so much energy at this event. People told me they didn’t want the evening to end.” September 2011
to select appropriate patients for low dose CT scanning for lung cancer screening.
“ I appreciate that pre-admission/ admission was completed via phone.” “ St. Luke’s is a great hospital. It is friendly and I have had several stays that have all been great! I have recommended St. Luke’s to others. Thank you for caring!” “ I had a good experience overall. St. Luke’s is super!”
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Support for parents is goal of NICU programs St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network’s Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) have partnered with the March of Dimes (MOD) in order to provide information and comfort to families in crisis. In doing so, St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network has the first licensed March of Dimes NICU Family Support program in Pennsylvania and joins about 70 other licensed sites nationwide. Planning for the Family Support Program began in 2009 when Barbara Raab, BSN, RNC, and a NICU Family Support Specialist, introduced the program. In January of this year, Barbara shared St. Luke’s experience with this family-centered approach with a national audience at a conference in Clearwater, Fla. The program began with an assessment by the national MOD office and interviews with three separate parent panels. That was followed by setting up a NICU FamilyStaff Advisory Council. Sitting on this panel are about 12 “graduate” NICU families and staff from the NICU, including Barbara. The staff includes nurses, nurse practitioners, social services and management. This council is a key component to the success of the program in that it helps to guide in the selection, development and implementation of unit-specific programs that help to ensure family-centered care
Barbara Raab, right, reviews a NICU guide with a family.
in the NICU. The program also offers professional development for the NICU staff. The NICU Family/ Staff Advisory Council has been meeting monthly since the fall of 2009 and has worked on several initiatives. They include the “Close to Me Module,” which promotes skin-to-skin or “kangaroo care;” Transition to Home Module, helping the NICU families be better prepared to bring their babies home; and holding special events, including a Christmas pot-luck dinner and a Valentine’s Day scrapbooking event. Another goal of the Council is to have fund-raisers to help to purchase items that will promote
Barbara Raab, right, explains how NICU provides more information and comfort to families in crisis.
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family-centered care, such as PC-free photo printers, chairs and mirrors for kangaroo care, and scrapbooking supplies. The March of Dimes supplies a computer kiosk with written material for families and a Patient Care Kit that includes a journal and other informational booklets. The kiosk allows 24/7 access to the MOD Web sites (national and state), the ShareYourStory site and other appropriate informational Web sites. The program also enables NICU families at St. Luke’s to network with families at other NICUs across the country.
Barbara Raab shows kids the March of Dimes kiosk.
September 2011
A Day in the Life of... Wayne Evans Engineer • Information Technologies The thing about a day in the life of Wayne Evans, lead engineer in Information Technologies, is that it can easily turn out to be an evening, or even a weekend afternoon. Wayne and his coworkers look after the important data communications links that allow people working in more than 150 sites around the St. Luke’s Network to talk to each other, so they have to be “on call.” “When you’re not here, you’re on call. And when it gets up to our level, the problem has to be pretty bad,” he said. Wayne is a lifelong Bethlehem resident. His scheduled days start at about 8 am. First thing, he and fellow lead engineer Joe Hart participate in a conference-call staff meeting to catch up on anything that happened overnight regarding the IT Department. They talk about what’s coming up for the day, including work on standing projects, whether equipment and supplies need to be ordered and what visits to Network sites will have to be made. Wayne and his team work in a small Cape Cod house on Tombler Street in Fountain Hill. The quiet neighborhood and lack of parking problems make it a work location that he enjoys very much. However, “I spend a lot of time on the road,” he said, “covering sites that are getting more numerous and
Wayne Evans (right) works with IT Engineer Joe Hart at the Tombler Street facility.
complex all the time.” The addition of the new medical school and construction of the new St. Luke’s Anderson Hospital are endeavors that rely on new data communications support. Wayne observed, “And we’re putting wireless everywhere... doctors, residents, students, everyone has at least one wireless device, and that doesn’t include all the laptops.” Still to be determined is how the addition of Warren Hospital to the St. Luke’s Network later this year will be addressed regarding infrastructure for data communications. Another major change that is on the horizon is when St. Luke’s, like most other U.S. hospitals, will adopt a system of electronic medical records. Traveling to far-flung locations and fixing problems often takes up most of the day. Some calls are relatively simple, some are not. “Allentown had a power failure recently and it took down a lot of equipment. That was a big job,” Wayne said.
Wayne Evans lead engineer in Information Technology, prepares for the long workday ahead.
September 2011
Calls to fix problems seem to come in spurts. Wayne said that when things are quiet, he and
his colleagues work on longer-term projects. Project manager Patience Phillips helps to keep the projects on track and on time. Typically, the work day ends at about 4:30 pm. “But you do what you have to do. If something needs to be fixed, you stay until it’s fixed,” he said. Wayne has been with the Network for 15 years, having come here from an IT position at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown. About 20 years ago, he had been working at Lehigh Valley Dairy, which went out of business. He found a job in a computer retail store, got training and started doing PC repairs. “One of the things I like about this work is that you are constantly learning,” he said. Away from work, he plays golf in the summer and follows the Minnesota Vikings and Penn State during football season. For many years, he coached youth football and baseball. Wayne is married and has a stepson, and he has three grown children from a previous marriage.
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Geriatrician and Teacher Dr. Maria Ghetu Wins Statewide Award Maria V. Ghetu, MD, loves to teach. “I love the classroom... I want to pass on my knowledge,” she said. Recently, the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) recognized her passion with its 2011 Exemplary Teaching Award for Faculty. Dr. Ghetu said, “It was most touching and a great honor to receive an award as a teacher.” As a further honor, Dr. Ghetu has been nominated by the PAFP to receive the 2012 Exemplary Teaching Award of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The Geriatrics Fellowship is fairly new. It was created in 2010 when Dr. Ghetu and Dr. Paula Bordelon, DO, put together a curriculum and proposed it to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The Geriatrics Fellowship is one of three offered under the Family Medicine Residency. Currently there are 19 residents in the Family Medicine program.
Dr. Ghetu is a faculty member in the Family Medicine Residency Program and associate director of the Geriatrics Fellowship. She first came to St. Luke’s as a resident in family medicine in 2003. She did a one-year fellowship in geriatrics at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, and returned to St. Luke’s in 2007 as staff geriatrician and a member of the residency program faculty. In notifying Dr. Ghetu of her award, PAFP President D. Michael Baxter, MD, praised her as “an inspirational adviser,” and said that she brings “vitality and energy” to medical education. Dr. Ghetu said, “When we are in the hospital, office or long-term care facilities and the residents follow me, I try to engage them. Instead of just putting them on the spot with questions, I use humor to relax them. It’s a better way to learn.” Her approach also connects to a bit of advice that she said she gave to her daughter. “If you love what you do, your work isn’t hard.” Dr. Ghetu is a native of Romania, and received her medical degree from Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine in 1982. She went on to complete a residency in internal medicine and a three-year fellowship in oncology. She came to the United States in 1994. One of the things that attracted her to St. Luke’s was the reputation of its Family Medicine Residency, and she was impressed by how the Network was applying technology at the highest levels for medical records and other data. Also, she felt that the Lehigh Valley reminded her of her home in Romania. The friendships she made during her residency convinced her that she wanted to stay.
Dr. Maria Ghetu received the 2011 Exemplary Teaching Award from the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians. With her at the ceremony are Family Medicine Residents Veronica Efros, MD, (left) and Raymond Rivas, MD.
“It was most touching and a great honor to receive an award as a teacher.” — Dr. Maria V. Ghetu
St. Luke’s Riverside Hospital to be Called St. Luke’s Hospital – Anderson St. Luke’s new hospital in Bethlehem Township, referred to as St. Luke’s Riverside Hospital for the past several years, will be known as St. Luke’s Hospital – Anderson.
The St. Luke’s logo associated with the Anderson facility now looks like this...
This “new” official hospital name reflects the 200 acre campus name — St. Luke’s Anderson Campus, eliminating the confusion two separate names create. The entire health care campus was officially named the Anderson Campus in September 2010 by the Board of Trustees to honor President and CEO Richard Anderson for his twenty five years of leadership, vision and dedication. 6
September 2011
Student nurses again use ‘Backpacks that Brighten’ For the second year, students at the St. Luke’s School of Nursing have gathered backpacks and other kinds of totes filled with school supplies to help youngsters and their families get started on a new school year. The idea is that many children — and parents returning to school — just don’t have the money to get new backpacks and the other supplies that add to the fun and excitement of going back to school. The “Backpacks that Brighten” project is addressing that problem again. Nancy Kanuck, adviser to the Student Nurses Association (SNA), said about 90 backpacks, messenger bags and other items have been collected this year. The supplies to fill the backpacks were collected by the students in more than 40 department offices, nurses’ stations and other locations throughout the St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network. “The SNA provided lists of things that were needed and employees responded generously,“ she said. There was an event in the cafeteria at the Priscilla Payne Hurd Pavilion on the Bethlehem Campus where members of the SNA met with some of the families. Most of the backpacks, however, were being distributed by the nurses of the Visiting Nurse Association of St. Luke’s. Most of the families involved are served by two of the VNA’s programs: Parent Advocates in The Home (PATH) and Visiting Nurse Advocates for the County (VNAC).
“Backpacks that Brighten is important to the student nurses. It broadens their horizons. When they meet the children and parents, it connects them to the community. A new backpack that is crammed with brand new school supplies is another way to show that someone cares.” — Nancy Kanuck
Nancy knows the backpack project is a good fit between the School of Nursing and the VNA because she is a former director at the VNA and knows its work and mission well. In PATH, the nurses help parents, usually young mothers, to get basic services and to set goals and organize their lives. The VNAC program is for families already being served by the counties’ Children and Youth departments. In both cases, the goal is to help families to be self-sufficient and independent. Nancy said, “For our nurses, it’s not a job, it’s a mission.” The backpacks go to children from pre-school age up to high school; parents going back to get their GEDs or who are going to a community college get messenger bags or other useful items, too. Nancy said that Backpacks that Brighten is important to the student nurses. “It broadens their horizons. When they meet the children and parents, it connects them to the community.” Also, delivering the backpacks is one more way for the visiting nurses to support their families. Nancy said, “Some families never have had role models or someone to say, ‘Gee, you’re doing a good job.’ A new backpack that is crammed with brand new school supplies is another way to show that someone cares.”
Sue Deringer, PATH program nurse, is happy that Sydney Torres (left) and Syd Marie Ortiz (right) found the perfect bag! Syd Marie will be entering Northampton Community College next semester.
The children were so excited to choose their very own backpacks filled with new supplies!
The children are all smiles after finding all the fun things inside their backpacks.
September 2011
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Chief information officer awarded highest certification Chad Brisendine, chief information officer for St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network since 2009, has been awarded professional certification by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). To achieve status as a Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer (CHCIO), Chad had to pass a rigorous examination, possess specific professional qualifications, complete the required continuing education units (CEUs), and have at least three years of service as a CIO. Chad said, “This certification will help St. Luke’s to gain better insights into industry trends. I also believe that it will ensure that we are getting the best practices in technology strategy, implementation and support.”
Tim Stettheimer, PhD, chair of CHIME’s certification committee and a member of its board of trustees, said, “We congratulate Chad for his commitment to the health care CIO profession. As a CHCIO, Chad has identified himself as a leading professional, giving him an immediate and continuous advantage in the industry. We believe that CHCIO status is now the standard that organizations must use when determining who leads health care IT projects and initiatives.” Chad was one of only 12 CIOs in the United States to receive the certification this year. CHIME, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has 1,400 CIO members. It created the CHCIO program in 2009 as the only credentialing program that distinguishes IT executives from others in the industry. Chad came here from Texas, where he served as corporate director for new systems and technology at CHRISTUS Health, a 44 hospital network, as well as CIO for CHRISTUS Health Southeast Texas, a network of three hospitals. Certification as a CHCIO requires ongoing professional development, and the certification must be renewed every three years.
Chad Brisendine.
Shown above: The St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network cancer group. St. Luke’s Cancer Program recently won the prestigious 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award. St. Luke’s is the only hospital in Pennsylvania to receive the award in 2010, and it is the first and only hospital in the state to earn the honor in three consecutive three-year survey cycles. The Outstanding Achievement Award is the highest honor available to U.S. cancer programs.
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September 2011
New venue and high hopes for seventh annual ‘Night of Heroes’ The seventh annual “Night of Heroes” celebration, an event that honors trauma patients and caregivers in St. Luke’s Trauma Center, was held on Saturday, September 24. This year’s event was held at the new ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in South Bethlehem. The evening included cocktails, dinner and a program honoring the trauma heroes. Dollars raised by our St. Luke’s family for the Committed to Caring Employee Campaign totaled more than $3 million. More than $140,000, representing 554 gifts, was raised from non-management employees in the eight-week campaign blitz in March and April 2011. Proceeds from the first St. Luke’s Craft & Health Fair in October 2010 added $4,000 to the employee campaign totals. Physicians contributed $2.1 million in 158 gifts earlier in the campaign, and $790,000 in 222 gifts was contributed by St. Luke’s managers. The Committed to Caring Employee Campaign was the first network-wide fund raising effort, bringing together employees at the Allentown, Bethlehem, Miners and Quakertown hospitals and the VNA. Over the five-year period from July 2006 to June 2011, the overall Committed to Caring Campaign raised $77 million. That was $27 million over the goal.
Jennifer Grell, a nurse who works for the Trauma Division, said the “Night of Heroes” has been growing steadily. Last year’s turnout of about 600 people doubled the attendance of the previous year. This year the committee got a good head start on planning and seeking sponsors and the tally of attendees will exceed 2010’s attendance. Each year, the experiences of two trauma patients who “beat the odds” are highlighted in a video presentation, and then the members of the trauma team who touched their lives, along with others who work day-in and day-out in the trauma department, are recognized. About 100 hospital staff and first responders from the community are honored annually. St. Luke’s Adult Level I Trauma Center is one of only 14 programs accredited in Pennsylvania. In 2010, the trauma service handled over 2,600 trauma patients, and since the program began in 1998, more than 22,000 trauma patients have received its care.
ST. LUKE’S EMPLOYEES – A Winning Team! St. Luke’s network-wide employee campaign was an overwhelming success, thanks to all of YOU! The funds raised during the campaign will be designated to YOUR campus and will help to upgrade and expand facilities, add new programs and services, expand our community outreach to the underserved, and make sure we continue to hire and keep the best and brightest health care providers at St. Luke’s. All of these things work together to ensure St. Luke’s can provide the best possible care to our patients and their families. Congratulations to the employee campaign committees who led the campaign efforts — planning activities, securing prizes, giving away goodies and visiting departments. They made the campaign fun and their enthusiasm was definitely contagious! Special thanks to the Campaign leaders at each campus: Allentown Campus
Patty McHugh
Bethlehem Campus
Ida Schuler
Miners Campus Quakertown Campus VNA
Maryann Lazur Kelly Rapp Joann Crosson
What a fantastic team!
Thank You St. Luke’s Family! September 2011
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New helicopter will serve St. Luke’s patients A brand new helicopter soon will be put in service to provide patients of St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network with the most modern critical care air transport and “on-scene” services at traffic accidents and other trauma-related incidents. The new aircraft has up-to-date technological features, is quieter than many other helicopters and is designed to be highly reliable. The medical helicopters that serve St. Luke’s and its patients have been provided since 1999 as part of a partnership with the Penn Trauma Network and the PennSTAR flight program of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The new helicopter will be based at Northampton County’s Gracedale complex, near Nazareth, also the site for current helicopter operations. Bob Higgins, RN, NREMT-P, MBA, is the program director for the PennSTAR Flight
Team. He explained that the new aircraft will be delivered as soon as its new paint scheme is completed featuring the St. Luke’s name, star logo and “St. Luke’s blue” color. The new craft is the same as the model currently being used, the American Eurocopter EC-135 P-2. Bob said this is a light, reliable — yet economical — aircraft with twin engines that each yield up to 633 horsepower. Bob also said its noise footprint is considerably below regulatory standards, making the EC-135 well-suited for flying over populated areas. It has room for one patient and four crew members. Loading and unloading is made easier due to a design featuring large sliding doors and a rear “clam shell” ambulance door. The EC-135 has a state-of-the-art cockpit that features night-vision goggle technology, terrain-awareness warning systems, traffic
collision avoidance systems and real-time satellite tracking. Bob said that the EC-135 is considered one of the safest air ambulances in the world and it is the newest addition to the PennSTAR fleet of seven helicopters. The PennSTAR flight program was created in 1988 to operate from a heliport on the roof of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Additional helicopters were added in subsequent years. In addition to the Northampton County based craft serving St. Luke’s, PennSTAR helicopters are based in West Chester, Reading Regional Airport, Wings Field in Montgomery County and in Carbon County. Since its inception, PennSTAR has maintained a perfect safety record with no injury accidents. In 2006, the PennSTAR service received an award at the Air Medical Service Conference in Phoenix for completing 20,000 accident-free patient flights.
Medical helicopters have served St. Luke’s and its patients since 1999 through a partnership with the Penn Trauma Network and PennSTAR flight program.
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September 2011
Dr. Patterson Is in Love With Emergency Medicine When Dr. John W. Patterson, MD, chief of emergency services for St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network, came here in 1983, the Emergency Department was seeing about 27,000 patients per year. There was one doctor, an occasional resident, four nurses and two clerks. Now, the department sees about 75,000 patients annually and the regular staff includes three attending physicians, eight residents, 14 nurses and several clerks. In fact, the Emergency Department now has full-time, specialized workers. In the past, it was a place where staff doctors rotated to cover the department. “More people are coming through the Emergency Department than before, and their cases are more complex. One of the things we do is sort people between ‘sick’ and ‘not sick.’ That used to be done in the offices of family physicians,” Dr. Patterson said. “We do not refuse treatment, regardless of ability to pay, so we really are the safety net.” Along with the growth in patient volume and staff, Dr. Patterson has seen many innovations in technology and medications. He used the illustration of a patient with a dislocated shoulder. “It used to be I would give you an injection of demerol and yank. You would remember the experience for a long, long time. Now, we can use a mixture of medications to induce conscious sedation and you will go home with no memory of how your shoulder got fixed,” he said. Emergency Medicine was not Dr. Patterson’s original career goal. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1978 and became board certified in internal medicine. After serving a residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, he came to St. Luke’s intending to spend a year in the Emergency Department and then pursue a fellowship in pulmonary medicine. As it turned out, however, he “fell in love” with emergency medicine “and stayed in the department, later becoming its director. He explained that Emergency Medicine was not recognized as a specialty until 1981. When St. Luke’s added an Emergency Medicine residency in 1993, it was “a big, big, thing,” he says.
September 2011
John D. Patterson, MD, in the Emergency Department.
Three years later, St. Luke’s was designated a Level I Regional Trauma Center. Dr. Patterson sat for the Emergency Medicine Boards. He became the Emergency Department director in 1983 and was named chief of Emergency Medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital – Bethlehem Campus in 1989. In 2005, he became network chief. He said emergency medicine suits his personality. “There’s the adrenalin rush, and we DO things. We diagnose people, we fix people up and excel in patient management.” From the patient’s perspective, going to the Emergency Department is frightening. That is why Dr. Patterson emphasizes the importance of “customer satisfaction” to his staff. “If you come in, you have no control over what’s happening. You are among strangers and it’s loud and noisy. We even take your clothing! So it’s very important that we be as nice as possible.” Dr. Patterson and his wife Peggy are the parents of six children. Brian is an Emergency Medicine intern at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; Nicole is a nurse at the Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia; Joe is a first year Emergency Medicine Resident at Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma, Washington; Kevin is an English major; Mary is a high school freshman; and Tommy is in sixth grade.
Did you hear? From patients at St. Luke’s Hospital – Bethlehem Campus: “ The ICU staff and Unit was incredible. The nurses took excellent care of me with such kindness and respect.” “ We were very impressed by the level of care and patient concern that the nurses I had gave me. This was the best hospital experience I have ever had. “ I cannot say enough good things about this hospital. No matter what I needed or wanted, everyone was kind, polite and accommodating. I recommend St. Luke’s Bethlehem to everyone.” “ There really are no words to say how wonderful everyone was in my need; they went above and beyond in caring for me.” 11
New Bethlehem site for KidsCare and Southside Medical Center is roomy, convenient The busy KidsCare pediatric practice in Bethlehem has a new home in the Fowler Family Southside Center. The site, on the second floor of a building shared with Northampton Community College, replaces the former location at the Union Station building a few blocks away. The new location at 511 E. Third Street in Bethlehem also is home to St. Luke’s Southside Medical Center. The practice also has relocated from Union Station, and it has expanded its hours to better serve the community. Tracy Newman, patient care manager for KidsCare, said the newly refurbished location is “bright, beautiful and kid-friendly.” There are 16 examination rooms and the waiting area features a custom library donated by “Judith’s Reading Room,” a local organization that emphasizes literacy and access to books. While getting to Union Station became difficult due to street and bridge construction in the surrounding area, the Fowler Family building is easy to get to from E. Third Street and has 2,000 parking spaces within yards of the entrance. Tracy wants employees of St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network to know that KidsCare is there for their families, as well as families from the community. KidsCare participates with the commercial insurance programs that St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network accepts, as well as public insurance plans for those who qualify. Everyone who is seen at KidsCare gets efficient, high-quality care. The practice follows the most current American Academy of Pediatrics standards and consistently scores well on quality indicators, including vaccinations, asthma care, lead screening, adolescent care and well-child visits. New patients are seen within one week for well-child care and the same day if indicated for sick visits. KidsCare has convenient hours, too. It is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am – 8:30 pm and on Saturday mornings by appointment. Established patients may be seen for walk-in sick care Monday to Friday from 8:30 – 11 am. Specially trained pediatric nurses also provide
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Some attendees of the recent Southside Medical Center ribbon cutting ceremony (L-R): Cindy Max, associate vice president, Patient Care Services, St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network; Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan; Rick Anderson, president and CEO, St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network; Scott and Cathy Leiber, Judith’s Reading Room; State Representative Charlie Dent; and Dr. Art Scott, Northampton Community College.
telephone triage services so families can get answers to their health-care questions by phone. The KidsCare staff includes pediatricians, pediatric and family nurse-practitioners, registered nurses and certified medical assistants, as well as administrative staff. There also is a partnership with the community college so medical assistant and nursing students can get practical experience. Next year, a dental clinic will be added and the college’s dental assistant students will get training there, too. Cynthia Max, associate vice president for patient care services for the Network, said, “This is a wonderful practice for employees to use for their family health care, and the relationship with the college benefits everyone.” KidsCare also operates pediatric offices in Allentown and Easton. (For appointments or more information, call 484-526-3060.) Michele Landis, practice administrator for the Southside Medical Center, explained that St. Luke’s internal medicine residents see patients at the new location on the second floor of the Fowler Family building. In addition, there is a full-time physician’s assistant and a part-time nurse practitioner. Sixteen specialists rotate through the practice monthly. They include cardiology,
A KidsCare exam room.
orthopedics, podiatry, surgical, dermatology, gastrointestinal, colon/rectal, endocrinology, neurology, rheumatology, vascular, pulmonary, urology and ear, nose and throat. There also is a travel clinic. The practice is for people aged 19 and older who are on Medicaid or Medicare. Michele described the new offices as “beautiful, brand-new and designed to make it easier for patients.” The location is more central to residential neighborhoods, allowing patients to walk to the building. “It’s a place to really serve the community,” she added. Hours for the Southside Medical Center are 8 am – 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, except for Tuesdays, when patients are seen continued on page 13
September 2011
KidsCare cont. from 8 am – 8 pm. Plans call for Saturday hours to be added in October on the first and third Saturdays when the physician assistant and nurse practitioner will be available. Walk-in “sick visits” are available to established patients from 1 – 2 pm, Mondays through Fridays. Patients have been seen at the new location since July 26. A ribbon cutting ceremony was recently held, and among the dignitaries on hand were U.S. Representative Charles W. Dent; Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan; Phil Mitman, CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation; Dr. Arthur Scott, president of Northampton Community College; and St. Luke’s President and CEO Rick Anderson.
Did you hear? From patients at St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital: “ Excellent staff — courteous, informative and good listeners.” “ The admitting doctor for the weekend was very good. He spent time with me and explained things so I could understand easily. He treated me like his own mother.” “ Everyone I came in contact with — from the ER to the doctors, nurses, technicians and staff — were very friendly yet professional and always helpful. I was certain they were all doing their best for me.” “ All nurses were extremely concerned and kind to me and my family. They have a great rapport with their patients and are to be commended for it.” “ I can’t say enough about your hospital — all good!!! It was the best hospital I was ever in — best of care, good food and great doctors, nurses and aides.
September 2011
Quakertown’s Dr. Weibel Is at Home at a Keyboard Paul W. Weibel, MD, an internal medicine specialist at St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital, said he was like a lot of teenage boys growing up in Allentown in the 1960s. He listened to rock and roll and was on the football and wrestling teams at his high school, Louis E. Dieruff, on the East Side of town. However, there was another side to him — he loved classical music, and for years took piano lessons from Ralph F. Kemmerer, the well-known teacher and soloist with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. While a senior in high school, Dr. Weibel heard that Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Allentown needed an organist. “Basically, I used my piano background and taught myself,” he said. Dr. Weibel went on to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster for his undergraduate degree. He also played football there, and during his freshman year, surprised his teammates with his “hidden” talent. During a trip to Ursinus College for a game, the Franklin & Marshall players were in the student union building, where there was a piano. “I sat down and played a Chopin Polonaise... they didn’t know me very well yet, but that made them look at me in a new way.” Dr. Weibel earned his medical degree at the Penn State University College of Medicine. Then, after completing his internship and residency in Allentown, he and his wife moved to the Quakertown area in the early 1980s, bringing along a spinet piano that had been in the family. Dr. Weibel again was filling in as organist at the Episcopal Church the family attended and decided, at age 36, that he wanted to take organ lessons. His opportunity presented itself during Musikfest, the summer festival held annually in Bethlehem. Richard Van Auken, a member of the music faculty at Moravian College for 28 years, gave a recital in Central Moravian Church that Dr. Weibel attended. “I called him up, played for him, and told him I wanted him to teach me piano and organ. What we worked out, since we both had busy schedules, is that I would prepare something and every two or three weeks, we’d get together and play.” Dr. Weibel upgraded his home piano to a Steinway grand and purchased a Rodgers organ. He also became one of three organists serving East Swamp Church (in Milford Township) near Quakertown, which he now attends. Over 15 years of playing there, he found himself playing Christian rock music with the church’s Praise Band for its contemporary services... “quite an experience for someone who grew up on classical music.” Dr. Weibel said his taste in music is eclectic, but right now, he has mostly contemporary Christian music on his iPod. Among the CDs he enjoys listening to at home is a collection of Beethoven sonatas. Dr. Weibel and his wife Cathy (a graduate of the St. Luke’s School of Nursing) are the parents of two sons and one daughter.
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Electrophysiology Jump Starts Arrhythmia Treatment St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center’s electrophysiology team provides specialized care for the treatment of arrhythmias. Offering advanced services, including medical management, device management, ablation and cryoablation, it is considered a regional leader in arrhythmia care. There are many types of arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation — the most common form of arrhythmia — atrial flutter, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, AV nodal reentrant tachycardia, atrial tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia and bradycardia. If not treated appropriately, these arrhythmias can predispose patients to potentially dangerous complications. Working as a Team Through St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center, patients have access to two experienced electrophysiologists — James Hummel, MD, and Darren Traub, DO — who are experts in their field. Utilizing a team approach, these physicians are able to provide high-level electrophysiological services to patients locally without requiring referral to larger academic centers. Dr. Hummel and Dr. Traub perform procedures together and discuss patients on a daily basis to help identify the most appropriate treatment plans. “At St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center, we offer all of the services normally seen only at tertiary care centers,” said Dr. Hummel. “If ablation, device management or medical management is ineffective and patients need surgery for correction of their arrhythmias, we also have a knowledgeable surgical team in place.” Drs. Hummel and Traub communicate with the cardiac surgical team so that when applicable, procedures can be performed together, such as ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation in conjunction with other cardiac surgical procedures. An Individualized Approach to Care A comprehensive approach is taken to electrophysiological care, ensuring all treatment plans are individually customized to best meet each patient’s specific needs. Factors — such as age, symptoms, previous medication tolerance and comorbid heart conditions, including cardiomyopathy, previous heart attack or valvular disease — are taken into consideration when developing a treatment plan that may include device implantation, ablation, cryoablation and medical management. Device Implantation Device implantation can include placement of a pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator. The type of arrhythmia and symptoms patients are experiencing help decide which device will be most appropriate. For patients suffering from bradycardia, pacemakers are indicated. These devices can be programmable to provide support for patients whose bradycardia is intermittent or can be set to meet a patient’s specific metabolic demands for those whose heart rhythm regulation is dependent upon pacemaker use. In this instance, if a patient begins running, for example, the pacemaker will sense the metabolic change and adjust accordingly to control his or her heart rate. A cardioverter defibrillator may be indicated for patients who have been previously resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest or who are at risk for developing cardiac arrest due to cardiomyopathy. This defibrillator is 14
The Electrophysiology Lab enables Drs. James Hummel (left) and Darren Traub (right) to provide high-level electrophysiological services to patients locally.
programmed to send electrical shocks to regulate the heart if a dangerous tachycardia is developed. “For many patients, utilization of a defibrillator or pacemaker to control arrhythmia can actually make the heart beat stronger and help improve quality of life,” said Dr. Traub. Ablation and Cryoablation Depending on a patient’s age, symptoms and comorbid heart conditions, ablation may be indicated. A minimally invasive, endocardial procedure that uses radiofrequency energy to ablate the abnormal circuits causing the arrhythmia, ablation often provides appropriate candidates with a curative approach that eliminates the need to take additional medications. For many patients with supraventricular tachycardia, cure rates can be as high as 95 percent to 97 percent after ablation with very low complication rates. continued on page 15
September 2011
Improved patient satisfaction is the goal at Miners campus The staff at St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital has been hard at work this year, working together to make being in the hospital as positive an experience as possible for patients. Since January, administrators, managers and staff have been meeting to find ways to raise patient satisfaction scores and improve patient care and safety at the hospital. The common goal of a steering committee and an employee committee is to find ways for doctors, nurses and other staff to better serve patients at Miners. Kimberly B. Sargent, vice president for patient care services at Miners, said leadership at the hospital wanted to improve Miners’ scores on patient surveys by Press Ganey and Hospital Consumer Assessment of HealthCare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). Press Ganey is a national consulting firm that works with hospitals to improve patient satisfaction. HCAHPS is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients’ perspective of hospital care. Steering Committee members with Kimberly include Bill Moyer, president of St. Luke’s Miners Memorial, and management team members Betsy Steffy, Lee Ann Phillips, Andrea Visnosky, Deb Holmberg, Jennifer Green, Deb Matta, Gail Marek, Glenn Freed, DO, Craig Krause, MD, J. David Bohri, MD, and Carla Davis. From the employees’ perspective, the entire project has been a positive experience. Karen Kaczmarczyk, RN, has worked at Miners for seven years, and she said she appreciates
that the patient satisfaction project has given her and her coworkers a chance to work together. “Bill and Kim are great, they help us to solve problems, they listen to our ideas and they encourage the departments to work together.” One of the employee committee’s responsibilities is to share ideas with their fellow staff members. Karen said managers are spending time in her area, 2-West, coming into patient rooms to ask questions and to listen. “The patients and their families are impressed. I know we are doing a better job because of the feedback we get from the patients and their visitors,” Karen added. “In all my years here, things have never been better.” As an example of a problem that the group was able to solve, Karen said it was hard for the nurses on her floor when several admissions happened at about the same time through the Emergency Department. A new system has smoothed out the process and made it easier for the nurses and other staff to respond. More importantly, she said, the changes work better for the patients, too. Committee member Elizabeth Romanchik has worked in the laboratory at Miners for almost 10 years. She said she’s never seen a project like this, and it is making the hospital better. “It’s catching on. You could call it energy or a new outlook. Everyone is trying to do her best,” she said. One idea that the committee discussed is that any employee who walks past a room with the call light on will go in and offer to help. “It could be something simple, maybe the patient wants a blanket or doesn’t know how
to change the TV channel. If it’s something like medications, you get a nurse, but there are a lot of problems any one of us can help with. Instead of saying ‘It’s not my job,’ we put the patient first.” Elizabeth makes sure she shares the committee’s work with her fellow lab employees. “I do enjoy working with the other departments, finding out what’s happening on the floors. And it helps the different shifts to communicate. When no managers are there, it’s easier for us to communicate with each other. Everyone has her say.” Kimberly says patients are benefiting because the Steering Committee has identified five areas that are important to their satisfaction. For instance, better communication among nurses, doctors and patients means that patients’ requests and concerns get prompt responses. Patients appreciate when nurses and other staff show courtesy and respect. Listening to a patient’s perception of pain and responding to call bells quickly are other ways to improve a patient’s hospital stay. Kimberly also said the committee is using the acronym AIDET to help nurses do their very best. The letters stand for Accountability, Introductions, Duration, Explanation and Thank-you. In order to keep patient satisfaction top-ofmind for everyone at Miners, the improvement efforts will be on-going at the campus. Regular reports from the HCAHPS system will be used to measure progress and the success of the patient satisfaction work.
Electrophysiology cont. “For younger patients with tachycardias, ablation is a desirable choice because it prevents the need for them to take medications,” said Dr. Traub. “It is also appropriate for patients who develop atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter later in life and would like to reduce their symptoms or avoid medication use.” St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center provides the most advanced technology available for catheter ablation, including a 3-D anatomical mapping system that allows physicians to create virtual images of the patient’s heart, which aids physicians in determining both the abnormal circuits that need to be ablated and catheter placement. Cryoablation is a newer technique that also provides a curative approach for arrhythmia. Through purchase and implementation of a state-of-theSeptember 2011
art cryosystem, physicians are able to deliver a safer form of energy that prevents inadvertent damage to important heart structures, which can occur during traditional catheter ablation. Future Plans Looking to the future, plans are in place to provide an Atrial Fibrillation Clinic through St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center. Because there are many different types of atrial fibrillation and many treatment modalities available, this will allow easy access for patients who are looking for an option that does not involve medication. “Certain arrhythmias are treated better using certain approaches,” said Dr. Hummel. “Through our team approach to care, we are able to examine every option and offer patients state-of-the-art solutions.” 15
Network
The latest from St. Luke’s
Our Vision:
Fountain area in front of St. Luke’s Anderson.
St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network will forever change the perception that health care is difficult to access by making it EASY for patients, physicians and staff to use our services. St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network will perform in the top decile for each diagnosis in national pay-for-performance programs. Our Values:
St. Luke’s Anderson Medical Office Building, now open.
• Pride We take pride in our accomplishments and our organization. • Caring We show consideration for others and their feelings, and treat others as we want to be treated. • Respect We recognize the value, diversity and importance of each other, those we serve and the organization.
St. Luke’s Anderson Cancer Center, now open.
• Accountability We are responsible to make decisions and solve problems in a timely and effective manner. • Flexibility We adapt to changing needs and the expectations of those we serve.
Denise Verrastro is now serving patients at St. Luke’s Anderson Radiation Oncology offices.
• Teamwork We work together to improve quality.
Network Pulse is a periodic publication for the employees of St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network. Ken Szydlow Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations
(L-R): Margaret Bartolucci, Lisa Dilcherd, Sherri Dapkiewicz, and Jeanne Carpenter, SLPG Medical Receptionists at St. Luke’s Anderson Bone & Joint Institute.
Executive Editor: Stephen Andrews Network Director, Marketing and Public Relations Contributing Writers: Glenn Kranzley Design Supervision: Lori Diehl Network Director of Graphic Design Photography: Joseph Klepeiss Director, Media Production Services Betsy Toole • Anne Kemp
St. Luke’s strives to be the region’s health care employer of choice.
St. Luke’s Anderson President Ed Nawrocki finishes unpacking as he settles into his new office in the Medical Office Building.
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September 2011