Volume 4
WHAT’Snew
Number 5
March 6, 2015
Pennsylvania Hospital
Neither Snow nor Rain… We’ve all heard it — or at least part of it — the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. As Philadelphia recovers from what is slated to go down as the coldest February in its recorded history, there’s another group of folks who are the living embodiment of such extraordinary dedication: the team members of the Homeless Street Outreach (HSO) program of the HallMercer Community Behavioral Health Center at Pennsylvania Hospital. The HSO is part of a network of hospitals and non-profits that have people outside during a Code Blue when the temperatures in the city dip dangerously low. “Hall-Mercer has been partnering with The City of Philadelphia since the mid 1980’s to provide street outreach to the homeless,” said Patty Inacker, LCSW, MBA, director of Operations of Hall-Mercer. “Over
Inside School of Medical Laboratory Science Exam........2 March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.....................2 PAH Celebrates Patient Safety Week March 8-14.......................3 Tailgating in Style......................3 TJC Corner.................................4 Neither Snow Nor Rain Continued...................................4 2015 Facts & Figures Now Available!..........................4
the years, our involvement has expanded due to the increased number of homeless individuals and families.” For all 365 days in the year, teams of two from the HSO hit the streets searching for homeless in need. Homeless Street Outreach engages those who are living on the streets and offers emergency housing options, or if needed, emergency physical or behavioral health treatment options. “Our teams check on folks to see if they’ve eaten, if they need warmer clothing and find out where they plan on staying for the night,” said Maryanne Bourbeau, MS, manager, Targeted Case Management, Hall-Mercer. “Although our outreach team maintains a caseload of homeless individuals who they follow-up with regularly in the community, they will engage anyone who is vulnerable on the streets.” The Homeless Street Oureach (HSO) at Pennsylvania Hospital is one of only five homeless outreach programs in all of Philadelphia County. In addition to combing the streets of Center City on foot looking for those in need, team members also respond to calls from Project HOME’s Outreach Coordination Center. When calls come in from the Center, team members are given a description of the person and their geographical location and then they’re off — via a hospital-
owned van to anywhere they are needed in Philadelphia County. “The teams of each program are in constant contact with each other and together we provide virtually 24-7 coverage throughout the city,” said Bourbeau. The dedicated team members make contact with an average of 15-20 homeless people a night. Working in teams of two, there is Monday through Friday daytime coverage from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and evening coverage from 2 to 10 p.m. However, when the city calls a Cold Blue and the situation gets more desperate outside, the evening teams are out braving the elements until midnight. There is also a weekend shift covering 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and one supportive backup team member who fills in as needed. For day shift outreach team member Maryann Styles, who has worked with the program for the past nine and a half years, her career choice came over time. “At first I was only working the weekend shift. I was teaching pre-K and kindergarten during the week,” said Styles. “When the opportunity came up to work full time I took it because I really enjoy working with people.” While Styles admits the work can be very upsetting emotionally sometimes, it can also be very rewarding “to meet such interesting / / / Continued on page 4
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School of Medical Laboratory Science Aces Certification Exam T h e 2 0 1 4 g r a d uat i n g c l a s s of Pennsylvania Hospital’s School of Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) achieved outstanding results on the national certification exam! The American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) releases annual statistics on first time examinee scores for the MLS Board of Certification (BOC) exam. Statistics reported from university and hospital MLS programs show that hospital programs consistently score higher than university programs. The PAH MLS Class of 2014 scored significantly higher than the national and hospital program statistics on their overall score and for six of the seven subsections of the exam. “We are very excited
“ …scored significantly higher than the national and hospital program statistics on their overall score...” by our program results, proud of our instructors across the health system as well as our program Director Jean Buchenhorst,” said Dan Wilson, MBA, BSN, RN, FABC, a member of the MLS
March is Colorectal Cancer A wa r eness M onth
school advisory board and VP of Allied Health and Ambulatory Services. “They consistently do a great job every year.” The PAH Medical Laboratory Science School is a 12-month professional course of study which is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences and is affiliated with seven colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. “Our baccalaureate level Medical Laboratory Science program is one of 219 accredited programs in the United States,” said Bill Hunt, MBA, MLS(ASCP)CM, an MLS instructor and advisory board member and administrative director of the Laboratory. “A great deal of effort is made to teach and hire the next generation of laboratorians as a large portion of the UPHS laboratory work force move into retirement.” The eight 2014 graduates shown in the photo here, are Travis Bicher. Kofi Dagadzi, Antonio Esparza, Katie Langdon, Stephanie Noblit, Lauren Salvadeo, Julie Van Dyken and Claire Verrico. Six of the graduates now work at Penn Medicine, three of whom — Travis, Antonio and Claire — are working right here at PAH. Co n g r at u l at io n s to all the graduate and bench instructors who all contributed to the success of the MLS!
Colon cancer is the most commonly dressed in blue through our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PennCancer! diagnosed cancer in the United Schedule your colonoscopy by calling 215-615-2580 States. If caught early, there is a 90 or visiting PennMedicine.org/Prevention percent chance that your cancer Know the Facts can be cured. A simple colonoscopy »» People with a parent, sibling or child who has had colon cancer are twice as likely to develop can make a world of difference. Dress in Blue Day – Friday, March 6
On this day, thousands of people throughout the United States will be showing their support by dressing in blue and talking to people about colon cancer and screening. Help us spread colon cancer awareness by sharing pictures of you and your co-workers and loved ones
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colon cancer.
»» More than 90 percent of people diagnosed with colon cancer are age 50 or older. »» People with inflammatory bowel disease or a history of colon polyps are more likely to develop colon cancer.
2015
PAH Celebrates Patient Safety Week
Ma r ch 8-14
Tailgating in
Style
National Patient Safety Awareness Week is an annual awareness and education campaign for health care safety hosted by the National Patient Safety Foundation. The 2015 theme is “United in Safety.” According to the NPSF, everyone in health care process play a role in delivering safe care and by uniting together and sharing that common goal, we can make a difference in patient safety. From patients to care provider, from the front line to the executive suite, from the patient and family advocate to the corporate solutions provider — we are all united in the goal of keeping patients and those who care for them free from harm. The underlining focus of this campaign is patient engagement and emphasizes the importance of the relationship between provider and patients and their families. Enhanced communication begins with an informed and engaged patient and helps to lead to safer care!
Come join the celebration at the following PAH events: Poster presentation of safety projects throughout the hospital will be in the Pine Basement hallway, all week: Come see the great things your peers are doing! Complete an education form for CEU credit… …AND be placed in a drawing for an iPad Mini!
The Philadelphia Auto Show is an anticipated and extremely popular annual event. Each year the Auto Show kicks off with a Black Tie Tailgate gal. This year’s gala, held January 31, again benefited the Division of Neonatology of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and staff from PAH’s Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) joined in on the black tie, red-carpeted fun and festivities.
PAH’s ICN currently has 50 bassinets…
“The Black Tie Benefit at the Philadelphia Car Show was a fabulous event that sponsors CHOP Neonatology and all of the wonderful programs that they support,” said Elizabeth Williams, MSN, RNC-OB, nurse manager, Intensive Care Nursery. “The Car Show was a great excuse to have a good time and for a good cause.” Both PAH and HUP are members of the CHOP Newborn Care Network. The Level III nursery (the highest care level) at both PAH and HUP are staffed by physicians from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and nurses who specialize in infant intensive care. PAH’s ICN currently has 50 bassinets and HUP has 30. “I was thrilled to be able to share the night with my coworkers , support this worthy cause and help celebrate — red carpet style,” said Edelyn Ebora, RN, BSN. “We jokingly referred to it as our ICN prom!”
Wednesday, March 11, 10-2 p.m. | Zubrow Auditorium Jeff Bomboy, RN, BS, Patient Safety Advisor, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority
Thursday, March 12, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Join leadership for a change to interact with poster presenters. Don’t forget to fill out an educational form for a chance to win an iPad Mini.
Thursday, March 12, 1-2:30 p.m. | Zubrow Auditorium 1-2 p.m. | Carol Patton, DrPH, FNP-BC, CRNP, CNE,
expert in patient safety will speak about promoting a Culture of Patient Safety. 2-2:30 p.m. | Inaugural “Safety Story” presentation
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Neither Snow nor Rain…
/ / / Continued from Cover
TJC Corner Staying in a State of Perpetual Preparedness The survey window is rapidly closing for The Joint Commissions (TJC), the independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the U.S., to inspect PAH. Surveyors may arrive any day now until April 20. Keep on the lookout! TJC’s visit with us will be announced at 7:30 a.m. the morning of their arrival. Surveyors will be here for five (5) days beginning at approximately 7:45 a.m. each day. Staff will receive a notice of TJC’s arrival through the Emergency Notification System and via email through the “Site PAH All Members” group. Proper documentation is key! As we prepare for our pending TJC survey by anticipating areas of possible scrutiny, remember that proper documentation of dates and times in the completion of paper forms is imperative. All forms that require a date and time must have these areas completed. Professional staff must only date and time their own documents and encourage all patients or their designees to date and time their signatures.
2015 Facts
…Keep a keen eye out for hallway clutter, dirty and dusty surfaces, and proper O2 Tank storage and transport. …Contact Environmental Services for routine requests (trash removal, spill, rugs, curtains, exterminator) at x3235 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. During off hours, call the EVS 24 Hour Hotline at x3930 …Look for the following button on the PAH Intranet page to access the Somas electronic system to report work orders to Engineering Services:
Engineering Request …Sweep! Is your unit performing a daily “Ten Minute Sweep” for survey prep? This 34 point check off list literally takes no more than ten minutes to complete and is being adopted as a “best practice” to continue after TJC survey. The list is found under the Survey Prep Tools section of TJC page on PAH’s Intranet. Questions? Please contact Marian Lord-Gartner, MSN, RN, at marian.lord-gartner@uphs.upenn. edu, x7722 or 215-300-6761.
Figures Now Available!
Did you know that Pennsylvania Hospital has a 1.1 million-square-foot campus spread over 15 buildings and that Penn Medicine has a combined total of 6.7 million square feet of facility space throughout the region? Or that PAH, at 19,854, has the second most adult admissions annually in the health system? You can find these facts and more in the new edition of Facts & Figures, now available in print and online! This pocketsize brochure targeted for the general public contains a wealth of publicly reported, statistical information about our organization,
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Remember to…
OF T
“Our outreach team builds relationships with the homeless community by being empathetic and also very importantly, reliable,” said Bourbeau. ”Having this positive and consistent presence in someone’s life is the best way to assist that person with overcoming the barriers that might interfere with him or her accepting housing, treatment, or even engagement.” If you see someone in Philadelphia experiencing homelessness and who needs help, please call the 24-Hour Homeless Outreach Hotline at 215-232-1984 or 1-877-222-1984.
WHAT’Snew EDITORIAL STAFF
Staff from departments across Penn Medicine have reported using Facts & Figures for a variety of purposes, including:
ADMINISTRATION
»»Training program recruiting
»»Community outreach activities
S YEAR 2 5 0 F MEDICINE O ING B R AT SCHOOL C E LHEE P E R E L M A N
For Style’s dayshift outreach partner, Melvice Holliday, who has been with the program for 10 years, working outreach was as “culture shock” at first. “I always worked in the mental health field,” said Holiday, “but was used to working in the controlled environment of an inpatient unit. So going out on the streets and encountering homeless people was certainly more challenging. We have to be very sensitive to invading peoples’ personal space, approach them with respect and treat them with dignity.”
from details about our latest building projects to quick facts about our economic impact, workforce and student community. The publication also highlights a small sample of Penn Medicine’s research, education, and patient care activities and achievements over the past year.
»»I nstitutional information required for grant and award applications
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people and get them off the street and the help they need.”
Facts & Figures can be ordered in packages of 50 for $16.65 each from Aelitho.com using item #UPHS-041-13. The publication is also available online at www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/facts.htm.
Olivia Fermano Editor and Photographer Pamela Furches Design Graphic Design Barry Ogburn Photography Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications Sally Sapega Director of Internal Communications Contact What’snew at: Department of Communications Pennsylvania Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19106 phone: 215.829.6799 email: olivia.fermano@uphs.upenn.edu WHAT’Snew is published biweekly for PAH employees. Access WHAT’Snew online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/whats-new/.