THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2007
VOL. 12 NO. 34
Bridge repairs begin on time
NEWS HEADLINES CLASS ACT - The Seaford High School Drama Club presents ‘Alice in Wonderland’ this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Page 2
By Lynn R. Parks
YESTERDAY’S CHRISTMAS - Return to the past with Laurel organizations as they present a Christmas celebration in 19th century style. Page 3
Repairs on the Nanticoke River drawbridge between Seaford and Blades started on time at 7 a.m. Monday. The bridge will be closed until Friday, Dec. 21, so workers can install new steel plates in the bridge’s roadway. At noon on Monday, traffic was flowing easily along U.S. 13, the only way other than the bridge to cross the Nanticoke in Seaford. And at 5 p.m., traffic was still flowing smoothly. But repair work that is planned for that roadway at the same time that the bridge repairs are going on was not underway. Tina Shockley, spokeswoman for the Delaware Department of Transportation, said that the U.S. 13 repair work, to put in patches of concrete in preparation for road repaving that will take place this spring, was on hold because of the weather. “Whenever there is rain, or even predicted rain, they don’t send them out to do cement work,” she said. On a drizzly Tuesday morning, the U.S. 13 repair work was still not going on. Several people, including state Rep. Dan Short, have expressed concerns that with the U.S. 13 work and the bridge work, Seaford traffic will come to a near
ANNEXATIONS - Seaford receives two annexation requests for land north of the city. Page 4 BRIDGEVILLE - Bridgeville and Greenwood reach an agreement and voting districts are discussed. Page 5 WAR VETERAN - For 23 months during World War II, Richard Stone and his mates served in the Pacific Theater. Page 8 POLICE JOURNAL - Her alleged victims believed they were purchasing property from a mobile home brokerage company. Page 14 NUTCRACKER - For the fifth consecutive year, an acclaimed production of ‘The Nutcracker’ will highlight the holiday season at Del Tech. Page 32 JAYS AND RAIDERS - The Seaford and Woodbridge varsity girls’ basketball teams faced each other in a local showdown. Page 45 STARS OF THE WEEK - A Seaford boys’ swimmer and a Seaford girls’ basketball player are this week’s Seaford Stars of the Week. Page 46.
$500
HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY See page 48 for details
12 Shopping Days until Christmas
INSIDE THE STAR BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT FRANK CALIO GENE BLEILE GOURMET HEALTH LETTERS LYNN PARKS
6 23 26 38-41 12 32 35 49 22 36 58 18
MOVIES 7 OBITUARIES 28 ON THE RECORD 57 PAT MURPHY 42 PEOPLE 34 14 POLICE JOURNAL SNAPSHOTS 59 SPORTS 45-52 TIDES/WEATHER 63 TODD CROFFORD 27 VETERANS OF WWII 8
50 cents
Crews are seen Monday working on the Nanticoke River bridge. Photo by Daniel Richardson
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Nanticoke Hospital receives national honor By Lynn R. Parks Tom Brown didn’t want to put up a billboard advertising Nanticoke Memorial Hospital until he had something significant to put on it. “And this is significant,” the hospital spokesman told employees Tuesday afternoon. In January, a billboard will go up on U.S. 13, just south of Seaford, proclaiming that the hospital is the winner of the Compass Award, given out annually by Press Ganey Associates, a national company that helps hospitals improve their service. Nanticoke is one of three hospitals its size to receive the award, given to facilities that improve customer satisfaction. According to patient feedback collected by Press Ganey, Nanticoke improved satisfaction significantly in seven areas: nursing, doctor services, housekeeping, admissions, food service, lab services and discharge planning. At the Tuesday employee recep-
tion, the hospital unveiled advertisements that are part of a campaign to highlight each of those areas. “We wanted to show all the staff how we are going to tell the whole community that wonderful things are happening here,” Brown said. Hospital administrator Mark Rappaport, who just started his job October 29, told the employees that the Compass Award is a testament to their hard work. “It is a testament to you for being able to sustain your performance with the challenges the organization has sustained over the past couple of years,” he said. The hospital has faced financial difficulties, posting losses the last two years. Last December, then administrator Dan Werner stepped down in the face of those losses. “We are going to improve even further,” Rappaport told the employees. “Trust me — when we come out on the other end, we will be an even better Nanticoke than we are today.”
Lori Jones, patient services manager, accepted the Compass Award at the Press Ganey national conference, held in November in Kissimmee, Fla. She said that it is particularly significant that Nanticoke was able to improve patient satisfaction in a short period of time. The hospital contracted with Press Ganey in February 2005. “That we were able to have such good improvement is a compliment to the staff, who worked hard to give the patients what they need,” she said. “We want to make sure that we have even greater improvement.” In a write-up for the Press Ganey conference, Jones wrote that the hospital started its improvements by developing standards of performance for all staff, including basic guidelines on how to treat patients and fellow employees. “All employees attended sessions where these standards were presented, and each employee had the Continued on page four