Volume 26
Number 7
April 3, 2015
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
`` Karalyn DeLuca of CEQI with Stephanie Bourne of Perioperative Services.
ANOTHER
Successful
PATIENT SAFETY
FAIR
`` Steven Gaynes with the UV light that has helped lower HAIs on three oncology units and the “Best Patient Safety Poster” at the fair.
INSIDE A New Chapter for Al Black......2 Welcome to HUPs New COO...2 Be a Donor and Save Lives!.....3 Creating Canopy........................4 Helping People All the Time........4
That’s why one of the goals of this year’s Fair was to raise awareness of Safe Haven of Pennsylvania (also known as the Newborn Protection Act). A person may give up an unwanted infant anonymously at a hospital or police station without fear of arrest or prosecution as long as the baby is no older than 28 days and is not harmed. It is also a HUP policy (1-3-01). According to Marguerite Kerry, BSN, JD, director of Regulatory Affairs, if someone approaches wanting to give up a baby, the employee should accept and take the infant to the ED or contact Security. No information is required. No one will judge. “These people are in crisis and we want to protect the infant’s well-being.”
The Safe Haven interactions with staff— on both Ravdin and the Perelman Center atrium — were awarded the “Best Patient Safety Fair Demonstration.” Another award winner at the Fair went to Environmental Services for Best Patient Safety Poster, which focused on the ongoing push to lower health-care associated infections (HAIs). During a six-month study with Infection Control, EVS used ultraviolet light as a secondary means of killing microorganisms especially Clostridium difficile (C-DIFF), a common HAI in contact isolation rooms on HUP’s three oncology hematology units: Rhoads (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 2)
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If someone came up to you at HUP and handed you a baby, would you know how to respond? If the answer is “not really,” you’re not alone. Participants in HUP’s Patient Safety Fair didn’t all know what to say when members of Regulatory Affairs handed them a baby doll and asked, “What would you do?”
A NEW CHAPTER FOR
AL BLACK (See page 2)
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