Waldo County General Hospital In Pulse December 2017

IN PULSE Vol. 37 No. 6 •

HOSPITAL

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Becker’s Hospital Review

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Access Hospitals to Know 2017

News from Waldo County General Hospital •December 2017

WCGH wins Chamber’s “Healthy Waldo County Award” Waldo County General Hospital was honored at the annual Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce dinner with the “Healthy Waldo County” award. The award recognizes a group, business or organization that promotes healthy living, provides activities or encourages a healthy lifestyle.

Presenter Edward Varney of Damariscotta Bank & Trust said, “Waldo County General Hospital exemplifies this profile through a variety of services and community events including: • This year’s opening of the Ann Hooper Center for Women’s Imaging, which is a nationally

certified breast center of excellence.

• The offering of educational opportunities to colleagues, which ensures the staff is kept current on best practices, trends and treatments. These opportunities include Respecting Choices and Serious Illness Conversation Project and Sexual Assault Nursing Examiner Training.

• The hospital’s Community Health & Wellness program continues to offer a variety of classes designed to help participants maintain healthy lifestyles through better nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and more.

Additionally, there were

community events throughout the year, including Healthy & Well Women’s Conference, a 5k Cardiac Rehab Walk, and the Oncology Walk, which raises money for cancer patients and makes mammograms and biopsies more available.

These, combined with nationally award-winning healthcare services, certainly explain why the people of Waldo County have selected Waldo County General Hospital as the winner of the Chamber’s 2017 Healthy Waldo County award.”

WCGH also won this award in 2011 for its Journey to Health program.

Oncology walk, basket raffle raises over $12,000

The hospital’s annual oncology walk and basket raffle raised more than $12,000 for the Oncology Patient Assistance Fund and the Mammography Fund.

The Oncology Patient Assistance Fund helps patients with their co-pays while the Mammography Fund helps the cost of a biopsy if needed.

Cindy Goodwin with Rob Fowler, RN, regional interim chief nursing officer

Cindy Goodwin is Sunshine Award winner

Samantha Paradis, RN, left, with her supervisor Pam Sprague, RN.

Samantha Paradis, RN wins Daisy Award Daisy Award winner Samantha Paradis, RN, was described as caring and compassionate with a warm heart by the family that nominated her.

“My family cannot express how deeply grateful we are for the level of care and attention Samantha Paradis provided us with while my grandmother spent her final days in the WCGH hospice wing. At 6:00 a.m. on our second day of hospice when the sun was coming up, we spoke about how much Grammie loved the sunrise and ocean views.

Samantha then helped us move her bed into the family hospice lounge so we could share the views with her. We found comfort and peace that not everyone finds in time of loss.

We could not have asked for a more caring and compassionate person, not only taking care of our grandmother and mother, but for being our nurse,” a family member wrote.

The goal of the Daisy Award, which is awarded quarterly, is to recognize extraordinary nurses who make an enormous difference in the lives of people by the work they do every day.

Congratulations to the other nominees for the quarter: Jamie Messier, Debora McAuliffe, Colleen Wynn, Krystal Brouty, Hannah Costello, Betsy Fredrick, Brenda Prisco, Terri Fuller and Allison Littlefield.

Cindy Goodwin is the latest Sunshine Award winner at Waldo County General Hospital. Cindy is the receptionist in the oncology department, which makes her the first member of the staff that most patients meet.

A nurse in the department nominated Cindy, writing, “She makes each and every patient feel special with her friendly greeting and caring personal recognition of patients and families…To the nursing staff, Cindy is our best cheerleader.

Her attitude is always positive and upbeat…The oncology department is a great patient-centered compassionate unit because of staff members like Cindy setting such an excellent example.”

The Sunshine Award was developed by the Nursing Department Partners Council and recognizes nursing staff who report to a nursing director and support nurses in providing direct patient care. This award recognizes the extraordinary contribution that nursing support staff make every day in the lives of our patients and families.

Also nominated for the Sunshine Award were Kathy Chambers, Cassandra Horton, Marcia Newbert, Kelsey Perkins and Polly Temple.

Non-emergency doctor appointments are available on the weekend for WCGH Primary Care patients.

Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

338-9344 (appointments recommended) Biscone Medical Building 119 Northport Ave., Belfast 2

WCGH, PBMC given $19,000 in grants by UMCC

Waldo County General Hospital (WCGH) and Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) thank United Mid-Coast Charities (UMCC) for $19,000 in grants.

UMCC supports agencies providing medical, physical, social, psychiatric or community educational services for residents of Knox and Waldo counties.

UMCC awarded grants to the following programs: • $10,000 to support general operations at Waldo County Dental Care, which

provides preventative and restorative dental care for lowincome,uninsured adults.

• $5,000 to support general operations of the CarePartners program, a network of MaineHealth, doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers that helps people who don’t qualify for public or private insurance programs get the healthcare they need.

• $2,500 to support general operations of Belfast Public Health Nursing, a program of Waldo County General Hospital that provides

critically needed health care services to the poor and needy in Belfast.

• $1,500 to fund scholarships for children and adults living in low-income households who wish to participate in the Journey to Health program. Journey to Health is a wellness program that offers healthy cooking classes, physical movement classes and healthy mind and body classes throughout Knox and Waldo counties.

City committee approves ED exterior addition plans

Recently Broadreach Family & Community Services asked the Belfast Public Health Nursing Association for help meeting the basic needs of children from some of the lowincome families it serves. They requested six thermometers, basic medical supplies, 20 pairs of wool socks for children ages 2.5-to-5 years of age and six car seats. Belfast Public Health Nursing was quick to respond with the requested items. Shown here with some of the car seats are, from left, Victoria Nickerson, operations coordinator for Broadreach, Sue Dupler, Belfast public health nurse, Elizabeth Joy, Broadreach program coordinator and Jayne Crosby Giles, Boardreach development director.

Colleen Wynn, RN, left, gets ice cream to go on the apple crisp that Karen Littlefield, human resources manager, is dishing out. Helping is Dianna Wing, also of human resources. The Employee Apple Fest was sponsored by the WCGH Employee Engagement Committee.

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Belfast’s In-Town Design Review Committee has approved the exterior changes to the hospital for the planned 4,500 square- foot expansion of the emergency department.

The addition plans retain the cupola but the pillars at the front will be removed. There will be separate entrances for emergency department walk-ins and the main entrance to the hospital.

The new construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and is expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete.

Community Health & Wellness Briefs

Registration required for all events, please visit journeytohealth.coursestorm.com or call 921-3950 Get Help Enrolling in the Health Insurance Marketplace Open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace for 2018 is November 1 through December 15. Enrolling or re-enrolling may seem a bit daunting—trying to understand all your options and what is required can be confusing, especially if you don’t consider yourself computer savvy.

You don’t have to do it alone.

Certified application counselors from Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital can assist you and answer your questions while you are

completing the enrollment application.

If you would like help enrolling in the Health Insurance Marketplace, please call CarePartners at 921-3967 in Knox County or 930-2644 in Waldo County to schedule a free appointment.

For more information about the Health Insurance Marketplace, visit healthcare.gov.

Martial Arts for Kids Are you looking for an activity to channel your child’s abundance of energy? If so, sign them up for this class. Master Randy Gelo will teach your child focus and

Skills workshop WCGH emergency department staff recently attended a skills workshop. Above, Daniel Britton, MD, left, who will join the staff in December demonstrates how to handle a neonatal emergency.

Left, Angus Beal, MD, director of the emergency department, explains how to get IV access using ultrasound.

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discipline while working hard and having fun. No previous martial arts experience necessary.

Registration fee of $50 required for the 10-week session; family discounts and financial assistance are available on request.

Tuesdays, January 10–March 21 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Morse Memorial School 27 School Street, Brooks Wednesdays, January 11–March 22 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.

Lincolnville Central School 523 Hope Road, Lincolnville

Sarah Mayberry of the MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence, center, presents David Inman, regional director of cardiopulmonary services and Caer Hallundbaek, tobacco prevention specialist, with an award recognizing Waldo County General Hospital’s 2017 gold star efforts to prohibit smoke and tobacco use on the hospital campus and to address client tobacco use.

Change jar nets $1,125 The small donation jar in the cafeteria has raised $1,125 for hospice volunteers and the oncology patient assistance fund. Staff and visitors alike donate change and more all year long.

The original Deborah Lincoln Home

The current Deborah Lincoln Home

WCGH Aid’s Silver Tea at Deborah Lincoln Home

The Waldo County General Hospital Aid will hold its annual Silver Tea on Saturday, December 16, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Deborah Lincoln House, 60 Cedar St., Belfast.

Tea, coffee, hors d’oeuvres, tea sandwiches, desserts and punch will be served. There is no admission charge but donations

will be accepted.

The Deborah Lincoln House is a six-bedroom Victorian mansion at the corner of Cedar and Pearl streets that was built by Andrew D. Bean around 1872. Bean was a Civil War veteran, merchant, liquor agent, Belfast postmaster and a leader in local affairs.

The home became the Home for Aged Women in 1903 when Deborah Lincoln, who had been active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, died and left the bulk of her estate to provide the funds for the home for elderly women.

Want to join the Aid?

To join the Hospital Aid, our auxiliary group, please call 921-6707 for an application, give your name and address or email us at inquires@wcgh.org. A membership fee of $15 per year is required to join the Hospital Aid, which assures that you are notified of all Aid events and receive the hospital’s newsletter.

Belfast Public Health Nurse Sue Dupler, RN, right, greets Ellen Kenney, co-president of the WCGH Aid, as she arrives for a recent fundraiser at Anglers in Searsport. The restaurant donated 10 percent of the evening’s proceeds to the Aid, which in turn gave the funds raised to Belfast Public Health Nursing.

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WCGH featured in Portland Press Herald Recently the Portland Press Herald printed a story about hospitals in Maine working to offer healthier menu options, “It’s really exciting that there are resolutions coming out and more and more people are recognizing how important nutritious food is,” said Shelia Costello, nutrition services director at Waldo County General Hospital.

Not only was Shelia quoted in the story, she also submitted the photo of Jessica Carroll that accompanied the story.

The entire story can be found at: http://www.pressherald. com/2017/11/29/in-maine-amove-to-make-hospital-food-wellhealthy/

Jessica Carroll, a cook at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, makes a grab-and-go super vegan salad for the cafeteria. The salad sold out quickly and is one of the new plant-based dishes being served in hospitals across the state.

Photo by Sheila Costello

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Address service requested

118 Northport Ave n P.O. Box 287 n Belfast, Maine 04915 (207) 338-2500 n www.wcgh.org

Waldo County General Hospital

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