Hupdate

Volume Volume 2324 Number Number XX12 Month June XX, 14, 2012 2013

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Keeping the Kindness in Patient Care “Caring for patients requires more than clinical knowledge, great technology and research,” said Al Black, HUP’s chief operating officer. “It’s providing human kindness to patients and families in a caring and consistent way.”

Helping to keep kindness in patient care are members of Pastoral Care. Each year its chaplains – comprising staff, pastoral care students and volunteers – respond to every one of approximately 2,500 annual trauma

Inside Trauma Reaches out to Decrease Its ‘Business’.............2 Lab Week Celebration!.............3 Rides!Slides!Thrills!Spills!......3 Donor Dash Success.................4 Join in the Fight Against Prostate Cancer!........................4

calls as well as calls throughout the hospital (more than 30,000 a year), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

`` (Left) James Browning (back, left) with this year’s winners of the Spirit of Caring Award: (l.–r.) David Henfield, Ralph Ciampa, Robert Tabak, Linda Joy Goldner, Bob Crowley, Aiesha Day, John Ehman, and Carmena Pyfrom.

For nearly 20 years, the annual Spirit of Caring celebration has honored those who go out of their way to help patients, families, and staff. This year’s awards recognized Aiesha Day of Environment Services for her constant engagement with patients, and Bob Crowley, wireless administrator in Telecommunications, who Denise Statham, administrative chaplain, referred to as “a quiet, caring person who always helps us with technical issues.” Also receiving the annual award were Linda Joy Goldner, known for her “love and compassion,” said James Browning, coordinator of the CPE (clinical pastoral education) Program, and Carmena Pyfrom, “a woman of strengths on many levels,” Statham said.

`` (Right) Garry Scheib presented Ralph Ciampa, who is retiring this year, with a special Spirit of Caring Award, recognition for all his work in Pastoral Care since coming to HUP 23 years ago.

Ralph Ciampa, department director, also gave special recognition to five staff chaplains who have provided this aroundthe-clock spiritual care for many years: Rabbi Robert Tabak (since 2003), Denise

Statham (2001), Kava Schafer ( 2000), John Ehman (1994), and David Henfield (1994). “They are dedicated and gifted,” Ciampa said, “and marvelous role models to our students.”

This celebration was bittersweet. It marked Ciampa’s last year hosting the event as director of Pastoral Care. He retires at the end of August. Presenting him with a special Spirit of Caring award, HUP executive director Garry Scheib said, “I can’t think of anyone more special. Ralph cares about everyone, for all patients and for each of us.”

Browning will become the new director of Pastoral Care and Chris Brown will take over as coordinator of the CPE Program.

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Trauma Reaches out to Decrease Its ‘Business’ Last year, HUP’s emergency room saw more than 2,500 trauma patients but, contrary to popular belief, the majority were not victims of gun shots and stabbing. Their injuries resulted from falls. “HUP Trauma saw 1,430 patients in 2011 and 2012 who came as a result of falling and nearly half were over 60 years of age,” said Rhonda Holmstrom, BSN, CEN, Trauma Outpatient & Injury Prevention Coordinator. “The majority fell at home, during the night, en route to the bathroom.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control website, falls are the leading cause of injury death among adults 65 and older.

Falls are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma, leading to brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and bone fractures.

The result: “These previously independent people now have an increased morbidity and mortality.

Most will not return to their homes.”

seniors about simple ways to make their houses fallproof and, now, thanks to a Penn Medicine CAREs grant, will give them goodie bags filled with everyday items to make their homes safer: a sensor night light for better visibility at night; bathroom safety grab bars to provide stabilization while moving in and around bath and shower; and nonslip bath mats to prevent falls while getting in and out of the bath.

“For someone on a fixed income, buying a nonskid bath mat—instead of a throw rug—isn’t a priority,” she said. “None of it is expensive but it works!”

Wear a Helmet!

Preventing falls among the elderly is only one component of the outreach that Holmstrom provides. Working with Steve Allen, MD, of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, she is also getting out the word that wearing a helmet when riding a bike is not only smart, it’s essential.

Indeed, head injuries are the number-one injury from bicycle accidents. “Many of our trauma patients have come in with no helmets,” Allen said. “And if you don’t wear a helmet, you’re risking traumatic brain injury, which can lead to life-long disability or even death.” `` Rhonda Holmstrom holds everyday items that can help make a home fallproof.

Holmstrom is on the warpath to decrease these preventable injuries. She is reaching out to senior centers, community groups, churches, health fairs—anywhere she can get the word out to this vulnerable population. Holmstrom is also planning to target patients of this age group who come to the ER because of a fall, captured through EPIC and the Trauma Registry. As part of these outreach events, she educates

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In addition to outreach activities, Holmstrom will also meet with ER patients who were involved in a biking accident, whether they were wearing a helmet or not. As Allen explained, “If a person is in a crash and strikes his or her head, the helmet is considered ‘bad’ and needs to be replaced.”

The whole purpose of the helmet is to absorb the energy from the crash, he continued. “Once it does that, the integrity of the helmet is compromised, even if it

`` Trauma surgeon Steve Allen always wears a helmet when biking.

looks fine. If you’re in another crash, it won’t provide the protection you need.”

The Penn Medicine CAREs grant that Allen recently received will be used to purchase safety equipment to pass out to those who need it. This includes bicycle helmets, reflective leg bands to keep pants from getting caught in the bike chain and make a biker easier to see at night, and reflective strips for the bike as well.

Bottom line: “Whether you’re biking as a commuter or for pleasure, you need to wear a helmet,” Holmstrom said. “Of all the traumatic injuries from falling off a bike, head injury can be the most devastating.”

Lab Week Celebration!

`` A tailgate party at a Phillies game was part of Path and Lab Med’s celebration of Lab Week.

Lab Week recognizes the contributions of the more than 300,000 medical laboratory professionals across the United States who work around the clock to perform critical patientcare functions to help diagnose disease and keep patients safe throughout their hospital stays.

As part of this year’s celebration, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine raised funds through candy-grams and raffles, held a luncheon and picnic, and did open-house lab tours, as well as running a number of competitions (including best desserts!), quizzes, and games for department members.

Eighteen labs donated gift baskets for the two-day raffle held on the Ravdin Mezzanine. The themed gift baskets included a gourmet picnic, an ice cream social, Phillies tickets and a baseball signed by Charlie Manuel, movie night with a Blu Ray player and DVDs, “Go green!

Eco-friendly” and an “Evening for Two.” The department raised over $4,540 for MANNA (the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) and PEC (the People’s Emergency Center), two Philadelphia charities that provide nutrition for people with life-threatening illnesses and that nurture and support families in local neighborhood communities. With a generous matching fund by a donor group for MANNA, the total donation amount was $6,813—a fitting way to end Lab Week by giving back to the community.

Heartfelt T hanks

I am writing to compliment Crystal Williamson who has been incredibly helpful in getting me pre-certified on several occasions in the past few years...I have found her to be extremely responsive and sympathetic to my situation. I am not the easiest patient to deal with and I can be demanding at times. Crystal has responded

with nothing but professionalism and empathy and has gotten done what needs to get done. I know I can count on her when I really need to, which makes me feel good about getting my treatments at HUP. Crystal has made what would usually be extremely stressful a much less stressful event for me – and I am truly appreciative. Thank you for building such a great team!”

Cool Facts from Path & Lab Med HUP’s William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine, founded in 1895, was the nation’s first fully equipped lab for routine and investigative work. At the other end of the time spectrum is Penn’s newly created Center for Personalized Diagnostics, which will use next generation DNA sequencing to refine patient diagnoses with greater precision than standard imaging tests and blood work, all with an aim to broaden treatment options and improve their efficacy.

Did You Know?

• The first transfusion of human donor blood ever was performed at Penn in 1795 by the physician Philip Syng Physick, the “Father of American Surgery.”

• If laid end to end, the number of tubes running through the Autolab chemistry analyzers in one week would measure 5,300 feet!

• Surgical Pathology handled nearly 40,000 surgical specimens and diagnostic consults last year

Mark the Date:

Saturday, June 29 That’s the next HUP Day at Dorney!

Rides! Slides! Thrills! Spills!

Enjoy an all-you-can-eat menu (including hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken and other goodies), as well as rides in both Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. Tickets are $38.74 and can be purchased online at www.dorneypark.com/mytickets.

Log-in username: HUPDAY2013 Password: HUP2013.

Tickets will be available for purchase through Friday, June 21.

A representative from Dorney will be outside of the cafeteria on Founders 2 on Friday, June 14 from 11 am to 2 pm.

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Oncolink’s next brown bag chat: Date: Time: Topic:

Friday, June 21 Noon to 1 pm Cancer Goes to the Beach!

Just because you’re going through cancer treatment doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a summer vacation. With a little bit of homework and planning, your vacation can be the trip of a lifetime and help relieve some of the stress you may be having related to your cancer treatment. Join us for this presentation by going to www.oncolink.org/webchat or check there to view the archives of any previous events.

Donor Dash Success!

Join in the Fight Against Prostate Cancer!

Team PENN MEDICINE set high standards this year for recruiting team members and raising money for this year’s Dash for Organ Donor Awareness… and surpassed both!. “Our goal was to recruit 180 team members and raise at least $5,000,” said team captain Rebecca Farrell, Liver Transplant coordinator. But the final tally was 255 team members who raised $10,170! The Dash helps raise awareness about the critical need for more registered organ and tissue donors.

Staff from Penn Urology and Radiation Oncology work together daily to evaluate, treat and manage patients but, now, they have found a new way to continue this team commitment outside the hospital. For the first year, Urology and Radiation Oncology will join forces as one team in the 11th Annual Gary Papa Run against prostate cancer on June 16 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In addition to exceeding its goals, the team also won both of its porta-potty contests for recruiting the most team members within the time frame of each contest. “We were pampered with our own lovely porta-potties and tents for shelter!”

Seeing support grow each year is encouraging for team leader and coordinator Anna Bottoms, administrative assistant in Urology, who this year is working with Rad Onc’s Fern Nibauer-Cohen, associate director in Program Development, and radiation oncologist Neha Vapiwala, MD.

To see pictures of our team members and volunteers, log onto the new Facebook page of the Penn Transplant Institute: www.facebook.com/ PennTransplant. While viewing the photos, be sure to ‘LIKE’ the Facebook page!

“I want to thank and congratulate everyone who participated in this life-saving event. We hope you will join us again next year!” Farrell said. `` Team PENN MEDICINE had 255 members and raised more than $10,000.

Fundraising and spreading awareness of prostate cancer are critical, said urologist Irwin S. Goldstein, MD, and radiation oncologist Robert Lustig, MD. Both physicians are prostate cancer survivors who work every day to help cure patients going through some of what they experienced firsthand.

“It is important to continue to raise awareness in regard to the screening, detection, treatment and long-term health effects of prostate cancer,” said Goldstein.

“I also feel that specific in-depth and thoughtful consideration regarding the complications of each of these aspects be thoroughly discussed and understood by patients and their families.”

Lustig said the run is particularly important this year amid recent controversy over PSA testing and how to handle an abnormal PSA, along with new understandings of how to determine which prostate cancer

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could be dangerous and which may be most effectively managed with watchful waiting.

Lustig is personally in favor of getting PSAs, but advises patients to discuss the pros and cons of all options with their physician and loved ones.

To register for the run, go to www.GaryPapaRun.com and click on Penn Urology and Penn Radiation Oncology on the right side.

Contact Bottoms at 215.615.0408 or anna. bottoms@uphs.upenn.edu with any questions or to donate.

Team shirts will be provided for all registered Penn Urology/Penn Radiation Oncology team members. Registration pamphlets can also be picked up at the Radiation Oncology and Urology offices.

HUPdate Editorial Staff Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer Tara Skoglund Designer

Administration

Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Contact HUPdate at: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu

HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.