JOSEPH
Pignatora is a health educator at
their medical care team and care coordinator, the RAP team
Evergreen. "My key responsibility
and other supportive programs including Ryan White Health
is to provide health-related information to patients who are
Education, this patient not only began taking medication every
living with HIV," he said. "Some are newly diagnosed, while
day, but successfully achieved viral suppression and remains
others have been living with HIV for some time. We assist
undetectable to this day. Their CD4 count is now over 350, a huge
them in engaging with medical care and overcoming the
rise from 3."
barriers to medication adherence." Joe is part of the Ryan White
Case Management and Health Education program in the
information necessary to make meaningful changes in their
Department of Education and Engagement. The programs in
life, along with a place to discuss issues surrounding living with
this department are designed to provide education for patients
HIV in a non-judgmental, supportive environment. The results
living with HIV, along with linkage to the other supportive
have been dramatic. "They have more energy, they're more
services available at Evergreen. Depending on the patient's
vibrant, they attend group regularly, and they don’t want to go
needs, this can include insurance enrollment, transportation,
back to the days of not taking medication," said Joe. "This didn't
housing, nutritional education, behavioral health or substance
happen in one session, or in one day; it took months of hard
use counseling, care coordination and medical care.
work and soul searching on the part of our patient. Those of us
who support our patients know that we're merely supports; our
The impact of these services is great, but not always
The patient credits health education for giving them the
measurable. "Sometimes I'm not exactly sure to what extent my
patients do the hard work of making changes in their lives."
work helps patients," said Joe. "There isn't always an immediate
payoff. The results of providing patients with health-related
trying to make these changes. "Forty years after the start of the
information may take a while to become evident." Joe notes that
AIDS epidemic, stigma is still a challenge for people living with
health goals are achieved through hard work and thoughtful
HIV," said Joe. "In my department, this becomes a challenge
living, and that takes time, and often, collaboration. "I began
to us as well, as so many people are experiencing trauma and
working with one patient when their CD4 count was 3," recalled
depression related to their diagnosis. Internal stigma can
Joe. "People who had worked with this patient told me they
prevent a person living with HIV, or any stigmatized condition,
would never change, they would never take ART as prescribed,
from speaking up and being heard. Fear is the mind killer.
they would never be undetectable. Some were surprised that
Stigma kills when people are too afraid or embarrassed to access
our mutual patient was even still with us. With the help of
healthcare and be honest about who they are. There has been so
Stigma remains a significant obstacle for patients who are
much progress, which any of us who witnessed the beginning of
in this part of the city gave me the opportunity to experience
the epidemic can see, but there's still more work to do."
diversity and live amongst very creative people. I'm a proud
Joe loves the sense of camaraderie at Evergreen. "I know
City Honors alumnus. My education at CHS helped me to
that I'm not alone in this work," he said. "We're all working with
develop critical thinking skills and opened my mind up to the
people to help them have better days. The bigger goal for me is
possibilities in life. Because of this pivotal experience, I aim
to give people the knowledge they need to navigate healthcare,
high in my work, as I truly believe that people are more capable
accept some hard truths about staying healthy (it's hard work
than our misconceptions allow us to believe. I attended Buffalo
for so many people and not an accident or luck), and help my
State College and loved it. I have bachelor's degrees in English
patients feel independent and empowered. Knowledge is power.
education and English, with a minor in dietetics. I held New York
I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in the culture of Evergreen.
State teaching certification for English Language Arts from 7th
It's a safe haven for our patients, but also for those of us that
to 12th grades and subbed for a couple years. During that time,
come from marginalized groups. Being able to work in a place
I tutored kids in an afterschool program at the Martha Mitchell
where people from all walks of life can receive services in a non-
Community Center, until the need for health insurance led me
judgmental and affirming way gives me great hope for progress
to work for a small law office, where I did paralegal work without
in our community. We understand that all people have the right
paralegal pay for three years. In 2010, the lawyer I worked for
to be treated with respect and to have their voices heard. I'm
downsized staff as response to the economic crisis. I found my
proud to be a representative of Evergreen."
way into retail management and was lucky enough to work for
a great company that gave me a solid discount on home goods.
There may be no such thing as a typical day at Evergreen,
but Joe sees the threads that connect them all. "Every day here
This was both good and bad for my bank account."
at Evergreen is different," he said. "But the feeling that connects
them all is one of positivity. We come together to provide a safe
Kyle Botsford. "I was lucky to get a foot in the door and I had an
space, an affirming space, for our patients. We're all part of an
excellent interview," said Joe. "I believed that I could do the job
agency that offers hope for those who have the eyes to see it."
and I'm happy to have proved myself right."
Joe is a Buffalo native. "I grew up on Richmond Avenue and
Joe learned about the health educator position from friend
Joe describes himself as a proud feminist, raised by a single
was an Elmwood street kid before it was called the Elmwood
mom. His younger brother and sister-in-law have twin girls. "I'm
Village," said Joe. "My Italian forefathers and foremothers
crazy about them," he said. "They fit better into my life than if I
lived on the West Side, close to where Evergreen is now. Living
had children of my own. I come from a bloodline that is winding
down, so my family is small but dear to me. I have been blessed with my “chosen” family, or a few friends who I know will always be there for me. My taste in music, television, books, and movies veers toward lighter fare. I have witnessed the depths of the human soul through my own experiences on planet Earth, as well as through the lives of people I have met along the way, including our patients at Evergreen. I never feel the need to use someone else’s misery or horror vicariously for entertainment. I would rather chill out and chase peaceful tidings. I have over 25 houseplants; I use the Danish practice of hygge (hue-guh), which is a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life. So I have a lot of pillows. I'm a huge proponent of self-care and chocolate helps me to make great strides towards self-healing and peace."
This year Compliance has simplified
Alas, there is also discord in Joe's world. "My pet peeve is the
the challenge. Three compliance word
use of stigmatizing terms," he said. "When I hear people talking
games, over three months, with three
about poz people or schizophrenics or diabetics, it makes me cringe. Language can affirm or demean, and seeing a human
prize winners each month. Everyone
being as a malady or diagnosis and not as a human being really
who completes a monthly word game
irks me. 'People living with HIV' doesn't roll off one’s tongue, but there are almost 40 million people around the world who are living with HIV and each one of them is much more than their HIV diagnosis."
Connections
Note: if you have a patient who is living with HIV and
struggling to stay compliant with their meds, the Education and Engagement Department can help. You can make referrals through the Intranet.
will be entered to win a $10 Starbucks gift card. Word games will be emailed on the 15th of each month.
Let's Talk About IT Understanding what the Information Systems Department is responsible for can be daunting. Sometimes even we have to get together to define who manages what. Some of the work we do overlaps with different areas of our department and some things are handled by a specific group. Don’t know what they do? We got you! Over the next few months #NerdAlert is going to tell you about the different parts of Information Systems. First up, Information Technology (IT).
Alan Jacyszyn, IT manager, was kind enough to sit down and explain some of the behind the scenes
of IT. You're probably familiar with some of the support IT provides, like assistance with a phone or email issue. In short, IT supports and manages our computer-based information systems, which is most of the software applications and computer hardware you use every day. And, so much more!
The IT team is headed up by Alan Jacyszyn and includes:
Matthew Edson, IT technician III
Susan Buck, IT technician II (Southern Tier)
Matthew Faltisco, IT technician II
Adria Reed, IT technician I
Natalie Jackson, IT help desk support
Felissha Humphries, IT help desk support
(continued on next page)
This group works hard to make sure everything is running smooth each day. Each IT team member is
an expert in a specialty area, but Alan has also cross-trained the team so anyone can help out when needed.
The biggest IT project the team is tackling is transitioning all employees to Windows 10. This project
affects more than 100 employees and requites a lot of planning.
Alan is also busy with other projects to help better manage how things work. “A lot of people don't
know what I do,” said Alan. “I do a lot of admin stuff behind the scenes.” Currently, Alan is organizing the Evergreen Security groups. He’s been streamlining all of the folder permissions. If you submit a ticket for with a folder permission request it goes straight to Alan. "I do all of those myself so I can get a better grasp of how everything is working," he said.
In addition to bigger projects, the team sets up work stations for new employees, helps manage office
moves, assists with phone issues, manages the technology in our conference rooms and so much more! With many projects and priorities, the team works together to provide the best support to Team Evergreen.
Submitting a Help Desk ticket will get you the most efficient and effective help. As Alan explained, when
employees submit Help Desk tickets, it allows him to prioritize and assign the most expert person on the team directly to your issue. The Help Desk ticketing system is a huge part of the reason the IT team works so effectively. Alan added that this is really the best way to take care of everyone quickly, despite the occasional wait times.
"Don't be afraid to put in a ticket, if it's something we can't handle we'll point you to the right spot,” said
Alan. “We're here to help, we're the Help Desk. It has help in the name." As you can see, the IT team is busy but always willing to help. That’s the Evergreen spirit! - Heather Wilson
Clockwise from the top left: Meet baby Joslyn! Proud dad Daniele Verzelloni sent us this great photo. I migliori auguri per la tua nuova famiglia (we hope that's right). Evergreen distributed safer sex kits and trained people in overdose reversal at the Great Blue Heron music festival. Shown here are Carolee Corbitt, Michael Canty, Daniel Auflick and Ian Eastman. Great job, everyone! Yolanda Sims was "teaming up to clean up" at the recent neighborhood cleanup (you can see more cleanup photos in this issue of Connections). Melissa Talbett caught these ducks enjoying the "pond" that forms during heavy rains outside the Prather Avenue building. Laurie Matson shared this snap of Kizzy Tell and Melissa Talbett putting together household/hygiene kits for housing patients.
HAVE YO
OU HEARD? Tickets are the best way to meet your compliance needs! Now that the Compliance Department is growing, we've created new Compliance tickets so that we can easily track, respond to and manage your compliance needs. Please use the ticketing system for compliance requests and notifications instead of reaching out directly to individual members of the Compliance Team. Through the ticketing system, you can: • Notify Compliance of external audits and submit internal and external audit results • Submit for review or request assistance on contracts, agreements and MOUs • Submit general questions or help requests • Ask for help with HIPAA or Confidentiality questions • Request assistance with the development of policies and procedures • Submit policies and procedures drafts for required review, approval and cataloging • Request Compliance training • Request liability insurance certificates, or submit vendor certificates for review If you need to report a compliance breach: • Submit a compliance breach ticket — this is the preferred option for most standard compliance breaches • If it's a sensitive matter, report the breach directly to the Corporate Compliance Officer • You can also report the breach directly to a member of the Compliance Team • Report it though the anonymous Compliance Helpline: 716-541-0663 Thank you, in advance, for following these procedures. - The Corporate Compliance Team
AT
the Huddle in March, we announced that one of Evergreen Health’s goals is to increase utilization of our HIV, hepatitis C and PrEP services. I'm excited to update you about some of Evergreen’s marketing efforts in support of this goal. Earlier this year, our marketing team launched a new website, which has already seen success, increasing our website visits by 90 percent and substantially improving our search engine ranking. With that resource in place, our next step was to develop and implement a two phase marketing campaign. Phase 1 (June 2019 through fall 2019) of our marketing campaign was developed to meet the immediate need of patient recruitment for our specialty care services. This phase compels target audiences to seek Sexual Health and Testing services at our three Evergreen locations — Elmwood, Bailey and Jamestown. We chose this call to action after looking at 2018 data, which indicated a large number of our patients are linked to other Evergreen programs after they have come in for Sexual Health and Testing services. For example, in 2018, 65 percent of referrals to PrEP came as result of a testing service. Great job, team! You may have already seen some of
the advertisements from this phase, including: • Transit ads on bus and train shelters on Bailey Avenue, at Canalside, in the Elmwood Village area and throughout downtown Buffalo • Billboards in Jamestown • Extensive social media marketing customized for multiple patient audiences throughout WNY and the Southern Tier Phase 2 (late fall 2019 through 2020), which will launch in late fall, will be focused around a singular message and will deploy an emotions-based campaign that will emphasize our compassionate, nonjudgmental, affirming, down-to-earth and unique quality of care across multiple channels and mediums. Over the past three months we have worked closely with Block Club, a local advertising agency, to interview patients, staff and leadership. The insight and information from these interviews will play an integral role in the development of Phase 2 of the campaign. We are excited about the direction we are taking to achieve brand affinity throughout Western New York. We are confident we will reach our goals together! Stay tuned for more information on the campaign in the upcoming issues of Connections.
Take a selfie with one of the bus shelters, transit or billboard advertisements throughout Western New York and submit them to Connections. You could win a $25 gift card to Amazon! Send pics to EvergreenConnections via Outlook.
Dining Out For Life (DOFL) is made up of more than 50 organizations. DOFL's annual conference was held in Buffalo this year, and the Evergreen events team - Rob Baird, Rachel Voelkle-Kuhlmann and Sal Sciandra - played host to representatives from member organizations. A highlight was a tour of our Elmwood Avenue building. According to Rachel: "attendees were blown away by Evergreen! Not just our buildings, but the wide variety of services we provide to the community. Many attendees had never seen an on-site syringe exchange before." "There was not one negative point of feedback about Evergreen, our services or our buildings," added tour guide Michael Blasdell. According to Rachel, there were great conversations between Evergreen staff and representatives of organizations from as far away as Alaska who were excited to learn about the amazing work we do here in Western New York. Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved!
Connections
TERESA
Lane has been a screening nurse in Evergreen’s Sexual Health and Testing program for almost four years, but her relationship with Evergreen dates back even further, to her days as a Pride Week volunteer. In our latest Team Evergreen interview, Teresa talks about her first impressions of Evergreen and her love for her work in patient care — challenges and all. What motivates you to come to work and give it your all day after day? Helping people. We have patients who are so nervous to get tested and to talk to a stranger about their sexual health. But by the time they leave, they’re happy they came in. You can see the relief in their eyes. That’s such a good feeling. What do you do to help make nervous or scared patients more comfortable? When people come into my testing room, if I’m able to, I inject a little bit of humor into the interaction to make them more relaxed. I want patients to know they can be really honest with me. I’m not just some nurse hammering them with questions. It helps that Evergreen is a really safe space. I felt that before I even worked here, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to work here. The atmosphere puts people at ease. All our employees are really friendly, and they go out of their way to make people feel comfortable, even if they don’t know them. As soon as patients come through our doors, they feel welcomed by the people at the front desk, by the people in the hall. Everybody goes out of their way to make patients feel good. How do you handle it when you have to deliver an STI diagnosis to a patient? When someone has a reactive test of any kind, it’s important to first listen to them to understand the feelings they’re experiencing. Then, I try to help that person get to the next step of care at Evergreen, because everything that we test for, we can treat. We test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis C. Those are all treatable, and they’re curable. We also test for HIV, which is treatable. I figure out how to reassure them and let them
know that there are next steps they can take. What is challenging about your work? Sometimes, a patient doesn’t want to disclose any information. They just want the test. I think it has a lot to do with being nervous that their information won’t be kept confidential. The challenge is making them feel comfortable enough to talk to me, so I can assess what their risk is. I make sure they understand that their answers are completely confidential. Everything stays here. Nothing’s going to go out into the world. But if they don’t want to answer questions, that’s fine, too. That’s their right. What makes Evergreen a great place to work? I have worked for many employers, and I’ve never experienced working in a place like this. All the staff are so supportive and friendly. Everyone genuinely seems to love their job, and it starts from the top. The CEO and all of the people in administration are approachable. They care about our patients, and they care about their employees. It feels like we’re all trying to help each other, because we all have the same goal. Maybe that’s what makes Evergreen so special — that we’re all working toward the same thing. What have you learned since starting at Evergreen? It sounds corny, but we’re all from such different walks of life; we have different paths, different experiences. But we’re all so similar, too. Working with so many different people and patients has made me realize that most people have the same overarching goal. We want to be safe and happy and healthy. Where did you work before Evergreen? I worked at a nursing home for a short time, and before that I was a nurse at a Girl Scout camp, which was an amazing job. But I’ve only been a nurse since 2014. Previously, I worked at a hardware store. I had always wanted to be a nurse, so when I found an opportunity to finally go back to school, I took it. It was a big career switch, but I’m very happy I did it. Connections Editor's Note: this is a condensed version of the Team Evergreen interview. To see the full interview with Teresa Lane, visit the Evergreen blog at evergreenhs.org
Birthdays Melissa Murray.............................August 4 Ekua Mends-Aidoo........................August 6 Suzanne Lambie............................August 8 Alicia Coulter................................August 8 Mayerling Garofalo........................August 8 Christopher Banks.........................August 9 Jonathan Puma.............................August 11 Charles Smith...............................August 11 Mariana Gonzalez..........................August 12 Marques Elder...............................August 13 Melissa Gulino..............................August 13 Susan Symonds.............................August 14 LeAnna Shanks.............................August 14 Becky Siuta...................................August 14 Carolee Corbitt..............................August 14 Kelly Thompson............................August 16 Amy Usiak.....................................August 17 Michael Ludwick...........................August 20 Magali Maldonado.........................August 21 Megan Mogavero...........................August 22 Sarah Hairston..............................August 25 Joshua Valencia.............................August 27 Patrick Hildenbrandt.....................August 28 David Haefner...............................August 28 Arlene Andrade-Johnson...............August 30
Anniversaries Lilkizzy Tell...................................1 year Johnelle Ferby...............................1 year Seanna Pratt..................................1 year Suzanne Weessies..........................1 year Kristina Moore..............................1 year Brittany Carbone...........................1 year
Natalie Gerdy................................1 year Jasmine Padilla.............................1 year Jennifer Colon...............................1 year Christina Cornell...........................2 years Shirley Swenson............................2 years
Congratulations to the following managers who have completed the managers training program:
Margaret Prell...............................2 years Lauren Voelkle .............................2 years Lindsay Kelly................................2 years DeJuan Burnell..............................2 years Megan Mogavero...........................2 years
- Katherine Kawa
Leslie Anderson............................3 years
- Damian Mordecai
Elizabeth Pijanowski.....................3 years
- Christine Kemp
Eliud Kosgei..................................3 years
- Rob Cunningham
Jason Rein.....................................3 years
Josh Matecki.................................3 years Quinn Lee.....................................3 years Aaron Spare..................................3 years Ekua Mends-Aidoo........................3 years Rebekah Russell............................3 years Brian Orlikowski...........................4 years Joseph Ryan..................................4 years Kimberley LaVare..........................4 years Nicole Dommer.............................4 years Jessica Stack..................................4 years Andon Ticco..................................4 years
The first round of mandatory training modules are ready and have been uploaded to your Evergreen University learning profiles. Staff are required to complete all of the training modules by September 27. The purpose of the annual training curriculum is to ensure that everyone is compliant with our
Cherrelle King...............................4 years James Thompson...........................5 years Melissa Talbett..............................5 years Roy Golia......................................7 years Cord Stone....................................8 years Cecil Sutton...................................9 years
policies and procedures so we can be successful in each of our own roles and
Murray Wire.................................11 years
C
Lizzie Vazquez...............................12 years
as an organization. Please contact the Jocelyn Leising with any questions!
Kate Gallivan.................................13 years Richard Smiley..............................19 years
24/7 Roadside Assistance
Discounts and Savings On
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A 4 Calls Each Year
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A And More!
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1.
Dial extension 2222
2. Follow the prompt to record the Code Blue or Mr.
Webber and say the exact location and building of
A Natalie Gerdy
the incident
A Nicole Dommer
3. Hang up your phone. This will prompt your
A Nicole Mitchell A Rob Cunningham A Rosemary Roche
message to be broadcast to all Evergreen
locations
Publisher/Layout
to the incident
Note: You will have 30 seconds to record your message. If
A Sashira Quintana
you are not done in 30 seconds you will be cut off and your message will be automatically broadcast.
A Stephanie Mineo
It is imperative that you say the location and building in your
A Theresa Woehrel
message. Here are a couple of examples: “Code Blue in
A Valerie Francis
August 2019
4. The Code Blue team and Security will respond
A Sam Gaerte A Sean Foster
Connections
the men’s bathroom in the lobby of the Elmwood building” or“Could Mr. Webber please come to the counselor room in the Mathews building?”. The Code Blue/Mr. Webber Softkey has been REMOVED from all phones in the organization.
John Carocci
Copy Editor Amy Usiak
Contributors Jocelyn Leising Heather Wilson Block Club Kimberly Harding Connections is the official monthly newsletter for the employees and Board members of the Evergreen Association and its affilliates (aka you). Please send us your story ideas, photos, feedback, or just a friendly hello to Evergreen Connections via Outlook. Thank you!