THIRD QUARTER
Tribute: William E. Hughes, Esq.
Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek (Milwaukee, WI) Mary Van Lare, PT | Founder & Chief Executive Officer
We received many calls and positive comments about “A Tribute to Linda Gissell” featured in the last issue of MJ Today that I felt we needed to do another. This individual has been a critical part of MJ’s growth and success, shuns the spotlight and is humble before God. This special someone has been a part of MJ Care for more than 28 years - none other than our own William E. “Bill” Hughes, our Corporate Counsel. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember how I found him. Then I remembered that he was referred to see “A Tribute to Bill Hughes”, page 2
2010 | VOLUME XVIX, ISSUE II1
Marywood Center’s Open House Sally A. Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP Regional Director/Quality Compliance Consultant
Marywood Center in Wausau, Wisconsin held an Open House for their new rehab unit on Tuesday, June, 1 2010. A ceremony, conducted by Jerry Frese, Marywood Center Administrator, started with a special thank you to Marywood staff and volunteers, Marywood residents and family members, MJ Care Therapy Team; Dr. Kevin O’Connell, Medical Director; Miller Architects and Builders; Bob Laubach, Catholic Residential Services (CRS) Executive Director; CRS Board Members and Archbishop Jerome Listecki. The Rehab unit was dedicated to Archbishop Listecki with a plaque and gratitude service conducted by Father Robert J. Cook. Archbishop Listecki blessed the new rehab unit with a prayer and holy water. The family room on the Rehab Unit was dedicated to Bob Laubach, retiring Executive Director of CRS. The new CRS Executive Director, Jim Gajewski was welcomed and inducted in to his new position by Bob Laubach. To complete the Open House, tours of the new rehab unit were conducted by the Marywood Center staff, with a final stop in the new rehab gym where MJ Care associates were available to answer questions and promote the new unit for Outpatient services. Refreshments and snacks were available in the courtyard during the open house. It was a successful day for MJ Care and CRS, joining their teams to provide a high level of rehab and nursing care to the community.
Mary and Bill Hughes
for Open House photos, see page 6
In this issue Items of Note.................................3 Good Shepherd Is A Certified Rehab Agency...................4 SBS Update.....................................5
MJ Care Introduces School Therapy Blog......................5 Photos | Marywood Center Open House..................................6
Photos | Facilities...........................7 What Students Are Saying...............................Back Page
Messages A Tribute To Bill Hughes continued from page 1
me by the attorney for the Wisconsin Physical Therapy Association (WPTA). I was very active with WPTA in the early days of MJ because I basically knew nothing about starting a rehab company and I needed help! From the earliest moment, I needed a legal opinion and Bill was there for me.
Bill has kept MJ Care from legal harm for more than 28 years! He approaches all issues we bring him with clearheaded thinking, practicality, humility and Godly wisdom. What would we do without Bill Hughes on our side? We dearly love and admire him. We totally respect and appreciate him.
Through the years, as MJ grew and everything became more complicated, Bill was there for us. Bill was adept at guiding us through the difficulties and challenges we faced as a growing corporation. His ability to dissect a complex issue, understand the principles of timing, leverage and law, and describe all possible outcomes of the choices he presented - and explain it all to me in plain English - is staggering!
Thank you Bill for your faithful, conscientious support of God’s company - MJ Care. We love you!
Over the past several years that I have had the privilege of working with Bill, I have been continuously impressed by his ability to provide sound legal counsel to us, particularly due to his in-depth knowledge of the law with regard to employment practices and policies. We often seek his counsel as we update and revise our HR policies to ensure that we are not only formulating policies that make for a good work environment for our associates, but that also comply with the complex body of law that affects our business.
such areas as finance, information technology, immigration law and health record privacy protection, to name just a few.
Bill also serves as the portal at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek to access the talents of many other of his colleagues in
Mary Van Lare, PT Founder/CEO
Above all, Bill is a man of solid character and stature. Mary and I both have tremendous regard for him as a legal professional and a business friend. Among his many community interests Bill was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Milwaukee Catholic Home, to which we provide therapy services, and he also graciously provides pro bono legal counsel to the Prayer and Crisis Referral Network that is frequently advertised in our newsletter. Many thanks, Bill, for your wise counsel and we look forward to our continued association!
Jerry Styberg President/COO
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MJ Today
Messages Items of Note... Jerry Styberg | President & COO
Rehab Force Serving New Clients, Hiring Staff
Chippewa Falls (Chippewa Falls, WIsconsin) and D.C. Everest (Weston, Wisconsin) as new clients since our last newsletter. In addition the SBS team is busy filing claims on behalf of our Wisconsin school districts for Attendant Care Services, which Wisconsin approved for billing this year.
Our Human Resources and Marketing departments have been very busy over the past several months in a joint effort to expand Rehab Force, our temporary staffing services division, to outpatient clinics, home health agencies, rehabilitation agencies, long term care facilities, hospitals, Birth-3 programs and sheltered workshops.
Jennifer Siemers and Tiffany Ziesse attended the annual meeting of the Iowa School Business Managers (IASBO) on March 25, 2010 in Ames, Iowa and connected with our school billing clients in Iowa and made many new contacts with prospective customers.
Jerry Styberg Our Marketing Department has designed and President & COO implemented a campaign to advertise Rehab Force’s capability to health care organizations in the southeastern Wisconsin, Green Bay/Fox Valley My thanks to the entire SBS team for the great work that and Madison metropolitan areas. Our website has been you are doing and for the continued outstanding customer updated with new information about Rehab Force and the service for which we are so well known. Go SBS team! services which we offer to customers and employment opportunities that we offer to therapists. MDS 3.0 Preparation
Our HR Department has connected with therapists to confirm their specializations, preferred practice settings and availability to match them with health care organizations in need of therapy staff for either a limited term assignment or a permanent placement. The results have been gratifying and we are seeing new growth in this division of the company. We welcome the following organizations to the Rehab Force Division’s client family: Edgewater Haven Nursing Home (Port Edwards, Wisconsin), Milwaukee Center for Independence (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Terrace View Living Center (Shell Lake, Wisconsin), Community Health Network (Berlin, Wisconsin), Diversified Services, Inc., a division of Aurora Health Care (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and Mayfair Physical Therapy (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin). My sincere thanks to the dynamic leadership of Linda Lubecke, Director of HR and Keith Wilson, VP-Marketing and the talented staff that have made this happen: our regional recruiters: Barb Abramowski, Joan Bartmann, and Arlene Bell, and our marketing staff: Bec Loss and Marilyn Schumacher. Well done!
Our Long-Term Care customers are well aware of the new federal regulations that are being finalized for the minimum data set, MDS 3.0, which will become effective on October 1, 2010. Our entire Long-Term Care Division management team is fully engaged in the process of preparing for the implementation of these changes, which has included participation in the WAHSA-sponsored MDS 3.0 seminars, expertly led by Pat Boyer of Boyer and Associates, as well as review of our clinical operations. Our regionals and area managers are already engaged in conversations with our partner facility administrators and our staff in preparation. We are ready and committed to making the transitions and changes smoothly that the MDS 3.0 will require. We will be engaged in detailed discussions regarding any operational changes that the new system will require, working closely with each facility’s leadership team. Watch for more communications from Mary Drover, Director of Clinical Operations over the next weeks and months on this subject. Enjoy the summer months ahead! Regards,
School Billing Adds New Clients I am pleased to announce that Debbie Ogrizovich and her team have added the Wisconsin school districts of 3rd Quarter 2010
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News & Notes Good Shepherd Is A Certified Rehab Agency Daria Heyn, OTR/Rehab Director | Good Shepherd Services, Ltd.
On Monday June 7, 2010 the therapy department at Good Shepherd received a surprise visit from Laura Bennett, RN of the State of Wisconsin Division of Quality Assurance. She asked to see the facility administrator, Deb Captain and announced that she would perform a one to two day audit of the Outpatient Physical Therapy Department on behalf of the Federal Government. Good Shepherd Services, Ltd. is a multi-faceted organization that operates a skilled nursing facility, a rehabilitation agency, assisted living facility, adult day services facility and a community support agency. This survey focused on the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Agency and included an extensive review of outpatient physical therapy records, therapy personnel files, policies and procedures and safety records. In other words, this survey was very similar to the annual review that occurs with skilled nursing facilities. Due to the range and variety of paperwork requested, much of the information was needed from both Good Shepherd and MJ Care. Fortunately, the outpatient therapy records are kept in the therapy department. Other examples of what was asked for included the facility fire drill record and disaster plan; infection control meeting minutes, and quality assurance audits, and
Prescott Nursing & Rehab Community (Prescott, WI) Jessica Hoffman, COTA; Deedra Weber, Rehab Clerk; Bethany Christianson, OTR/Area Manager; Mary; Barb Hutchinson, PTA/ Rehab Director
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personnel information such as dates of initial hire,TB tests and performance reviews. The surveyor even reviewed MJ Care Policies and Procedures on-line! Those of us involved with this survey now have a good understanding of the importance of audits, annual inservices, documentation requirements and performance reviews. It was wonderful to see Deb Captain and MJ Care come together for our support and to provide all the information that was requested. I would like to formally thank Starie Thompson for her assistance with HR questions and Marilyn Butler for her help with QA information. Also, thank you to Mary Drover, Sally Johnson and Judy Yesko for all their work on MJ Care Policies and Procedures and audits. I want to give credit to Elizabeth Dwyer, PT and Dawn Forcey, PTA for their excellent documentation that was fully scrutinized. The knowledge and leadership of Deb Captain, Good Shepherd Executive Director and Administrator is exemplary. When all was finally said and done, we ended up with no citations, a perfect survey! At our exit interview Laura Bennett told us that this was “abnormal�! This was a real learning experience and a great example of what a solid company MJ Care is!
Rock County Health Care Center/Rock Haven (Janesville, WI) Mary; Daris Schaeffer, OTR; Carol Kropp, Rehab Clerk; Marlene Krueger, PTA/Rehab Director; Nancy Linsley, PT
MJ Today
News & Notes School-Based Medicaid Billing Update
MJ Care Introduces School Therapy Blog
Jennifer Siemers Senior School Billing Consultant
The summer is finally here! We are working on finishing up all of the billing for the 20092010 school year for both Iowa and Wisconsin. With all of the new requirements for SBS in Wisconsin this past school year, we are very happy to see the year end. We will be working on enhancing the web to help aid our clients with these requirements.
Carlynn Higbie, OTR/L School Therapy Consultant/e-Learning Coordinator
As a part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our school therapists and providing current, best-practices information, MJ Care now has a blog designed specifically for therapists practicing in educational settings.
Jennifer Siemers Senior School Billing Consultant
WASBO Jennifer Siemers attended the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) conference which was held at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells on May 27, 2010. The conference entitled “Planting the Seeds of Knowledge to Create a Greener Future for Wisconsin Schools”, focused on green products and services. This allowed participants to share their “green” knowledge including saving money, recycling, being sustainable, etc. Our booth also received the most votes for the best “green” decorations at the conference. While going “green”, we were able to connect with our current Wisconsin clients. Additionally, we are very excited about the prospects of working with both LaCrosse and Madison school districts in the near future!
follow us....
We recognize that - as OTs, PTs and SLPs - we all have a different approach to intervention. Yet despite our different frames of reference for treatment, there are common challenges facing all of us. We all strive to work in a collaborative model; the information shared here will be of value to anyone working on an educational team. The blog conversations will cover a wide variety of topics of interest to school therapists. We hope to raise awareness and expand our thinking processes as we explore current best-practice issues and changes in the laws that impact our services. From time to time, we will also discuss intervention strategies and evidence-based practice information that pertains to a specific discipline. We are hopeful that our School Therapy associates as well as those outside the MJ Care family will actively participate in the blog conversation. The primary contributor to the blog is Carlynn Higbie, OTR|L, School Therapy Consultant/e-Learning Coordinator. Carlynn brings more than 30 years of experience in the areas of school-based and outpatient pediatric therapy, in-patient and outpatient adult rehabilitation and vocational training as well as having served as the executive director of a not-for-profit agency. We look forward to seeing you on our blog at: http://tipsandresourcesschooltherapists.blogspot.com.
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/mj.care.inc Blogspot http://tipsandresourcesschooltherapists. blogspot.com Twitter http://www.twitter.com/mjcare
3rd Quarter 2010
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Photos | Marywood Center Open House
New rehab space at Marywood Center
Marywood Center Rehab Team: Sally Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP/Regional Director; Roberta Bie, COTA; Amanda Sheedy, PTA; Lea Javenkoski, OTR/Senior Therapist; Helen Mohr, Business Services Manager; Kristi Watters, PTA; Mary Mary and Sally Johnson, MS, CCCSLP, Regional Director with Jerry Frese, Adminstrator at Marywood Center. Sally Johnson with Roberta Bie, COTA
Sally Johnson with Amanda Sheedy, PTA Helen Mohr, Business Services Manager shows off the new office
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MJ Today
Photos | Facility Visits
Wood’s Crossing at Woods Point (Brodhead, WI) Karen Hirst, PT; Kari Stitt, PTA/Rehab Director; Jeanette Gulledge, COTA; Mary Pleasant View Nursing Home (Monroe, WI) Rachel Hingst, OTR; Krista Pinnow, PT; Mary; Angela Naylor, COTA; Julie Baumgarten, PTA; Pam Scott, Rehab Clerk camera shy: Jessica Swan, OTR/Rehab Director
Mary with John George, Administrator at Saint John’s Communities (Milwaukee, WI) Fran Petrick, Adminstrator at Brookside Care Center (Kenosha, WI) with Mary
Remember to submit your facility news & photos to MJ Today! for more information contact: Bec Loss, Marketing Coordinator bec.loss@mjcare.com
Mary with Sherry Gunderson, Administrator and Marlene Krueger, PTA/Rehab Director at Rock Haven (Janesville, WI)
3rd Quarter 2010
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2448 South 102nd Street, Suite 340 Milwaukee, WI 53227-2141 www.mjcare.com
What Students Are Saying About MJ Care... I completed my level II fieldwork rotation as an Occupational Therapy Assistant student with MJ Care. I learned a vast amount about the practice of occupational therapy during my rotation. I learned to be comfortable working with patients and how to establish a good rapport with them. Safe patient handling was an important skill I acquired. I worked with patients on regaining strength, endurance and activities of daily living. I assisted patients to regain trunk balance and control, fine motor control and gross motor control. I became skilled in documenting patient treatment and progression. I also increased my knowledge on the different diagnoses of patients and the interventions that are appropriate with
each diagnosis. Some of the conditions I encountered were hip/knee replacements, lower extremity fractures, upper extremity fractures, Parkinson’s disease, cardiac and cognitive impairment. MJ Care absolutely met all of my expectations as a student. I could not have asked for a better experience. All of the staff members were very helpful and compassionate individuals. I would definitely consider MJ Care as a future employer after having a positive experience at Ridgewood Care Center. Michelle, SOTA Milwaukee Area Technical College