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Awards and Achievements
METHODIST HEALTHCARE LEADERS HONORED FOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
Celeste Brizzee, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, recently graduated from HCA Healthcare’s Advanced Leadership Program. This program prepares ACNOs or future ACNOs to drive HCA Healthcare’s nursing strategy and increase the readiness of our future CNOs. Nominated by her hospital and ultimately selected to participate in the program, Celeste has learned a lot about leading a team, communications as a senior leader, and has participated in many meetings with her classmates. “There are a lot of educational opportunities for growth and development offered here,” Celeste shared. “This program is about being innovative, creative, and learning from others.” The innovation and creativity happening at Metropolitan led Celeste to select her presentation topic for graduation; she presented on their LVN Team Model Implementation. “To round out the program, we were tasked with presenting on an improvement project that our facility was working on tied to our specialty,” Celeste said. “This program is really about sharing information across HCA to help others and show what you’ve learned. That’s why I selected our LVN Team Model implementation; I felt it was something other facilities could learn from.”
Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan was an early adopter of the LVN Team Model, as Methodist Healthcare facilities hadn’t had the role of LVNs in its facilities in almost 20 years. “We liked the idea of bringing back LVNs into the facility as a solution to several challenges we were experiencing,” said Celeste. “We knew that our nurses were experiencing fatigue due to several factors and felt this could be a solution. We wanted to be early adopters of an alternative care team model.” The hospital saw this as an opportunity to address staffing shortages, turnover, holds in the ED, and more. The hospital knew that it was necessary to be creative and increase its capacity to care for patients and began laying the foundation for this new model.
Leaders from Metropolitan hosted a focus group with key groups to design how this new model would work. They created an LVN job description, education onboarding plan, updated staffing grids, edited necessary policies, and more. From there, they introduced this model on two units to start and onboarded a few more. They will continue to onboard this model across other departments over time. The hospital also saw this as an opportunity to help LVNs on their way to becoming RNs; while they work at the hospital, they would receive support through school with the goal of them graduating as RNs. “This whole project is about addressing staffing needs but also paving the way for future nurses in our hospital,” Celeste shared. “We are monitoring key metrics to measure the success of this project,” she continued. “Two big focuses for us are employee engagement and patient experience. We continue to learn and improve as we go, but we’ve had several great outcomes and findings so far.” CELESTE BRIZZEE,
VP of Clinical Operations
Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan
According to Celeste, the true benefits of the model change are keeping more beds open for patients, reducing ED holds, using it as a recruitment tool for future nurses, and reducing nurse-topatient ratios. Some key insights they’ve experienced are mainly tied to successful leadership; communicating with impact to build trust, delivering information clearly, timely, and concisely, holding focus groups with staff, including the LVNs, in the conversations like town halls, holding staff meetings for updates and discussion, and more. The hospital has even included their new LVNs in their Professional Practice Council, so they have a voice and are included.
Ultimately, Celeste’s presentation was selected as one of the top four across HCA Healthcare among her classmates. She even went on to present again to an even higher group of leaders within HCA. “It was an honor to have my presentation selected as one of the top four,” Celeste shared. “I truly feel that my success as a leader has been because of the support my leaders and mentors provided.” When asked what advice Celeste has for future nurses who want to become leaders, she said, “Anything is possible! If you have a goal, meet your leader and tell them what you hope to achieve. If I know where someone wants to go, my job as a leader is to help them get there. That’s what others have done for me; I have had mentors since I was a charge nurse and even now as a Vice President.”
Celeste also believes it’s important to be passionate about being a leader and to keep learning. “It’s a team effort between you and your leaders; if you work hard and try to do the right things and work with your leaders, you can achieve a lot. I recommend taking advantage of the various opportunities to grow and develop as a leader. You are truly given many tools for success, and you’re never on your own; that’s why I love working here.
Paulette Melonson-Woodard, DNP, MHA, RN, CCM, Vice President of
Clinical Operations at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant was selected to participate in the ACNO Academy. This corporate program offers a course that allows future ACNOs to gain the necessary knowledge and skills for the role. “We as nurses must work to uphold our own profession, if we don’t work to embrace and take care of our profession, no one else will,” said Paulette. Selected members of this program were instructed to develop a project that demonstrates gaps within their profession, presents future interventions, and offers solutions. Paulette collaborated with Pam Guillory, CNO of Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant to help bring this project to life. The title of this project was “Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant Residency Resiliency Pilot”. Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant is a 274-bed facility that services behavioral health, medical, surgical, bariatric and transplant along with other specialty service lines. The concept for this project originated when Paulette met a new registered nurse who shared her frustrations about her colleagues. Those frustrations stemmed from being bullied by veteran nurses who perceived her and other residents from her cohort to be progressing poorly within their role. A major contributing factor was found to be the pandemic that occurred in 2020. Paulette and her team concluded that residents failed to receive robust clinical orientation and training due to the pandemic. In turn, this raised the question of whether or not nursing residents were resilient. Twenty-two new residents from the 2021 cohort were surveyed for this project. The questionnaire was created via Survey Monkey and was distributed among the residents using a QR code. Data revealed that resident nurses were resilient, but not as much. Residents proposed more bonding opportunities that would allow for the creation and strengthening of relationships. After gathering her findings, Paulette presented this to the senior team and all agreed on hosting more events for the staff. This summer, the team will be taking a trip to Top Golf. Mary Angelo once said, “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” “That’s me, that’s who I try to be,” says Paulette.
PAULETTE MELONSON-WOODARD, VP OF CLINICAL OPERATIONS, METHODIST HOSPITAL | SPECIALTY AND TRANSPLANT
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
METHODIST HEALTHCARE NAMED AMONG PRESTIGIOUS FORTUNE/MERATIVE TOP 100 HOSPITALS
Methodist Hospital, inclusive of data from Methodist Children’s Hospital, Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, Methodist Hospital | Northeast, Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant, and Methodist Hospital | Texsan, has been named among the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals® list. Fortune and Merative (formerly IBM Watson Health) recognized Methodist Hospital as the only hospital in South Texas to receive this notable honor. The annual list was published by Fortune. Recognition as one of the Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals demonstrates Methodist Healthcare’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing patient-centered care. According to Merative, as compared to similar hospitals, the hospitals included on the Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list had better results on key clinical and operational performance indicators. These include survival rates, patient complications, healthcare-associated infections, 30-day mortality and 30-day hospitalwide readmission rates, length of stay, throughput in emergency departments, inpatient expenses, profitability and ratings from patients. “It is an incredible honor to be recognized by Fortune and Merative as one of the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals as it validates our teams’ devotion to delivering outstanding clinical outcomes,” commented Allen Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Methodist Healthcare. “Importantly, to earn such high praise during a period marked by universal staffing shortages and political unrest, truly underscores that our community’s health is the highest priority for our physicians and staff. I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments.” The Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals lists also incorporates a community health measure into its ranking process. For the community health measure, hospitals were surveyed across three components: 1) assessing hospital contributions to community health as a provider of critical services for community health and preventive care; 2) identifying ways that hospitals contribute to community health as a community partner teaming up with local organizations to implement critical programs; and 3) focusing on ways that hospitals promote community health through their practices as anchor institutions supporting local economic and social progress. The community health measure is weighted equally with other ranking measures.
105-YEAR-OLD PATIENT IS OLDEST PERSON IN NATION TO UNDERGO TAVR HEART SURGERY
Sally Cooper, a 105-yearold local, is the oldest person in the nation to undergo a minimally invasive heart surgery known as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The procedure was performed on Thursday, April 28. Sally was diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis, a condition causing the heart’s aortic valve to narrow, which reduces or blocks blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. While other institutions turned her away due to her age, Methodist Hospital physicians were able to replace Sally’s valve with an artificial one through a small incision in her leg. Sally was an ideal candidate for this procedure as TAVR is a surgical option for patients who are at higher risk of complications. “Never did we think we would do valve replacements on patients over 100 years old,” commented Dr. Jorge Alvarez, Interventional Cardiologist. “With the advancement in technology, it is exciting to offer treatment to patients that would have been left with no true options based solely on their age.” The 105-year-old has accomplished a lot over her years and says the secret to a long life is a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. One day post-surgery, Sally was humbled to share the many experiences of her long-lived life, offering stories of her travels, hobbies of dancing the waltz and playing the violin, along with memories of her family, including three children, five grandchildren, and six greatgrandchildren. Staying true to the spunky woman she is today, she even asked Dr. Alvarez to brunch following her discharge home. Sally is recovering well and is ready to get back to the things she loves, such as playing Scrabble.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Methodist Hospital recently ranked #1 in Texas for coronary intervention, according to a new analysis released by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians, and health systems. Coronary intervention relates to minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures that use catheters (a thin flexible tube) to place a small structure called a stent to open up blood vessels in the heart. Earlier this year, Methodist Hospital was also recognized by Healthgrades among the top 100 hospitals for coronary intervention. Hospitals recognized among the Top Ranked in their state by Healthgrades are providing patients with measurably superior clinical outcomes. For example, Methodist Hospital’s coronary intervention program has a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) mortality index of less than two percent for all patients, even those with the highest acuity. Additionally, the STEMI, a type of heart attack that mainly affects the heart’s lower chambers, door-to-balloon time is less than fifty-five minutes. This is a testament to the deep medical expertise that has built a track record of delivering positive outcomes for their patients. “We have achieved the highest level of quality for coronary PCI based on the fact that we operate as a team at Methodist. This achievement is a direct reflection of the cohesive work between all team members who interact with and care for these patients. Everything they do is to ensure that our patients receive optimal care from the moment they enter the hospital, to the time they spend in the cath lab, to the moment they are discharged home,” commented Nandish Thukral, Medical Director, Cardiac Cath Lab & Complex PCI Program for Methodist Hospital. Access to quality information can inform and empower consumers in their decision-making process, and direct them to the best care. For the State Ranking analysis, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance for nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide focusing on eight key specialties across a mix of chronic, urgent, and planned clinical areas. To learn more, visit Healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality.
Click this QR code to view a video from Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant as they thank staff for achieving a national kidney transplant milestone!
Elisa Rivera, RN at Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak Rehabilitation Center was recognized as the Top Rehab Nurse for the San Antonio Express-News 2022 Salute to Nurses program! After moving to San Antonio eight years ago, Elisa joined the Medical/ Surgical unit at Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak before making her transition to the Rehabilitation Center. Her approach to patient care is to treat everyone with kindness and to find a way to connect with them on a personal level. She shared that, “helping people, knowing that what I do for them is contributing to improvement in their health, and getting them closer to going home to their families, it’s important.” Elisa was nominated for this award by coworker Valerie Martinez, Patient Care Tech. Valerie was impressed by Elisa’s willingness to always help, ability to listen empathetically to patients and staff, and the incredible care that she provides to all patients.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
METHODIST HEALTHCARE NURSES HONORED BY SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS’ SALUTE TO NURSES PROGRAM
The San Antonio Express-News program, Salute to Nurses, honors nurses that are nominated by peers, patients, and administration each year. Three nurses from Methodist Healthcare were honored as a winner for their respective units/specialities and were celebrated as humble health warriors. The winners enjoyed a lovely recognition ceremony in celebration of this achievement.
Kelly Collier, RN, BSN, was honored by the San Antonio Express-News as the 2022 Salute to Nurses winner for the surgery category. Kelly is a nurse in Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan’s Perioperative Services Department and was nominated by her manager, Valerie Huerta. “Kelly’s commitment to and passion for her patients, their families, and coworkers is lovingly demonstrated in each action. She takes it upon herself to go the extra mile. She calms the fears of those who are scared, and she offers reassurance to the loved ones who are vulnerable and entrusting our team to care for their family member,” Valerie shared.
Kelly was amazed and honored to have been recognized. “Where I’m from, recognitions like this didn’t happen. You could really feel the hospitality here in San Antonio, and being honored at the ceremony for this award was unmatched; I have never felt more appreciated as a nurse.” As a nurse for almost five years, Kelly said she found her niche in the pre-op department and her home at Metropolitan. With experience in other specialties, Kelly has been at Metropolitan for about three years. “I originally wanted to go into nursing to help people like my grandma. I also noticed an economic divide in my hometown. People were either very poor or very wealthy, and I wanted to try to bridge the gap and provide the very best care for everyone,” Kelly shared. Kelly is a first-generation nurse in her family and says helping people is her motivation. “Helping patients get through surgery and their families means a lot to me. Sometimes the family gets overlooked, but they are also part of our patient’s health and contribute to their mental and physical well-being,” she shared. “I love helping families understand what’s happening, such as a diagnosis. I love educating people and helping them get to the next phase in life.” Metropolitan has greatly influenced Kelly’s dedication to caring for her patients’ family members. She feels that, especially during COVID, the importance of family has become more evident to her than ever. “Being at Metro has really made me realize how much family means; it was so difficult throughout COVID when we couldn’t let family members visit their loved ones after a procedure,” said Kelly. “People were terrified and alone; they just wanted to say ‘I love you’ or to see their family members. Metro was the best place for me to be during COVID because it helped me take better care of my patients. We essentially became family for our patients.” Kelly also feels one of the biggest reasons she loves working at Metropolitan is because of her tight-knit team. “They are all very strong individuals and care about each other. Having their support means so much to me,” she shared. “Also, my manager, Valerie, is great at recognizing her team; that speaks volumes as a manager. It’s been very eye-opening and amazing having her as a boss.” She also shared how much she’s grown as a nurse during her time at Metropolitan and has a lot of faith and hope in where the hospital is and what they’re providing the community. “I have a lot of passion for Metro,” Kelly added. “I feel it was in God’s plan for me to end up at Metropolitan at some point in my life; it’s a blessing.” When asked what she’d like to share with her fellow nurses, Kelly said, “Hang in there! You will find your niche. There is a place for everyone, and you will find the right fit. Anything is possible in this field!” Kelly also feels that empathy, flexibility, and mental toughness help nurses succeed in the field. “My mental strength, I’ve learned, is one of my biggest assets. The job is tough, but it’s worth it!”
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
METHODIST HOSPITAL | TEXSAN FIRST IN TEXAS TO IMPLANT REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY
As part of a clinical trial, Methodist Hospital | Texsan was the first hospital in Texas to implant the dualchamber leadless pacemaker, a new and improved device to treat abnormally slow heart rhythms and heart block. The trial was designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of this device. The clinical trial enrolled up to 550 patients at up to 80 sites worldwide. Dr. Roman-Gonzalez, at South Texas Cardiovascular Consultants, PLLC, is the Principal Investigator. “We are very fortunate to be a center that is at the forefront of this advancement in pacing technology,” commented Jacqueline Schwartz, MD. Dr. Schwartz implanted the first three dual-chamber leadless pacemakers in three patients. Patients had variations of heart blockages that caused symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness and syncope. The first pacemaker implantation was performed in 1958, and since then, the technology has undergone many advancements. Traditional pacemakers require an incision to implant a power generator placed under the skin near the collarbone, which then connects to cables that are extended through veins and attached to the heart muscle. Unfortunately, studies have demonstrated that over a three year period up to one-in-six patients will have a lead or surgical pocket-related complication. The leadless pacemakers are miniature batterypowered devices that are implanted directly into the heart via a minimally invasive catheter-based approach, and do not require an incision or cables. The dual-chamber leadless pacemaker is designed to provide synchronous, beat-by-beat pacing of the right atrium and right ventricle of the heart. An advantage of this device is that it is retrievable, meaning once the battery runs out, it can be taken out and replaced in the same minimally invasive procedure. Additionally, recovery and exercise restrictions are minimized with this approach compared to the traditional pacemaker. Methodist Hospital | Texsan is well-known as an institute that excels in cardiac care by the community and surrounding areas “The medical team at Texsan is constantly looking for ways to perform less invasive procedures that result in outcomes that are more successful for the patients we serve,” says Scott Rausch, CEO for Methodist Hospital | Texsan. “We are honored to be a part of these clinical trials that advance healthcare for us all.” The hospital aims to ensure that every patient receives the highest level of care possible and this development will allow us to serve a broader patient population. The leadless pacemaker in this trial is being clinically evaluated as part of a clinical trial – and is not yet commercially available. If you would like to learn more about this clinical trial sponsored by Abbott, visit clinicaltrial.gov.
FOUR METHODIST HEALTHCARE HOSPITALS RECEIVE TOP SCORES FOR PATIENT SAFETY
In May, four of our Methodist Healthcare hospitals earned Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade ‘As’ for the spring of 2022, a national distinction recognizing achievements in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to nearly 3,000 hospitals across the United States every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections, and other harms to patients in their care.
Scores for Spring 2022
• Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan – 12 As in a row! • Methodist Hospital | Specialty and
Transplant – 9 As in a row • Methodist Hospital | Atascosa – 7 As in a row
• Methodist Hospital | Texsan – 6 As in a row
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to the facilities. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is fully transparent, it is also peer-reviewed and the scores are available for free to the public.
METHODIST HOSPITAL | ATASCOSA HONORED WITH AWARD FOR HEART ATTACK CARE
Methodist Hospital | Atascosa was honored with The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® STEMI Referring Center Bronze award. They achieved this honor due to their commitment to providing sciencebased treatment for patients experiencing an STelevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) heart attack. Nearly 300,000 people experience a STEMI heart attack yearly in the United States. About 40% of patients with acute coronary syndrome are diagnosed with a STEMI.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from the American Heart Association. We will continue to provide prompt and effective care to those patients experiencing cardiovascular emergencies, as well as all other patients,” Dr. William Stone, Medical Director of the Emergency Department, said. This recognition highlights hospitals on the front lines of care that do not have a 24/7 cardiac catheterization lab but work closely with emergency medical services to ensure patients receive guideline-directed STEMI and NSTEMI care.
“I am honored and humbled that the American Heart Association has honored Methodist Hospital | Atascosa. The well-being and safety of our patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are proud to provide excellent care,” Tonja Thigpen, Chief Nursing Officer, shared.
