ENERGY

mask free A breath of fresh air, 15

Tips to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient!

by Keith Buchhalter

Just like you, I have to pay for electricity every month, and I am always looking for tips that will help me save on my next electric bill. Interestingly, there are a lot of small changes that can help you use less electricity without spending a penny, especially during the summer months when electric bills tend to be higher due to the extreme temperatures in our region. My wife always says that sharing is caring, so here are my favorite 15 energy-saving tips for the summer of 2021:

2. Air dry your clothes and take advantage of the warm weather. Believe it or not, this time of the year clothes dry faster outside.

3. Clean or replace all filters in your home regularly. Dirty filters make your system work harder and run longer than necessary.

4. Defrost your refrigerator and freezer before ice buildup becomes ¼ of an inch thick to ensure your appliances are running efficiently.

5. During warmer months, close blinds, shades, and drapes on the sunny side of your home to help keep your home's temperature cooler and reduce the work for your AC. Open shades during cooler months to let the sun warm your home.

6. Do not peek in the oven while baking! Every time you peek, the temperature can drop 25°F, making your oven use more energy to bring the temperature back up.

7. Use natural light when possible.

8. Do not leave your electronics on all day long. Only turn on your computer, monitor, printer, and televisions when you need them.

9. Set your thermostat to 78°F in the summer and 68°F in the winter—every degree of extra heating or cooling will increase energy usage by 6–8%. Setting your thermostat to a lower temperature than normal will not cool your home faster.

10. Using your ceiling fan will allow you to raise the thermostat setting about 4°F with no reduction in comfort.

11. Refrigerators and freezers operate most efficiently when full, so keep your refrigerator and freezer as full as possible (using water bottles if nothing else). Be careful about overfilling your space as this will reduce airflow and cause your appliance to work harder.

12. Using dishwashers and clothes washers/dryers at night will keep the house cooler, reduce strain on the power grid during the peak usage hours of 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., and reduce the chance of an emergency!

13. Turn off the heated-dry setting on your dishwasher and use the air-dry setting instead.

14. Do not leave bathroom or kitchen ventilation fans running longer than necessary. They replace inside air with outside air.

15. Turn off the lights when they are not in use. Lighting accounts for about 12% of a typical residential utility bill.V

IT’S OFFICIAL!

Kelly Adams Named Permanent CEO for Mesa View Regional Hospital

by Dr. Jarrod Johnson, Emergency Department Chief of Staff, Mesa View Regional Hospital

Mesa View Regional Hospital welcomes Mr. Kelly Adams as permanent Chief Executive Officer, which became effective on May 1, 2021!

“I am most pleased to be the CEO of Mesa View Regional Hospital, and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that are ahead for this facility and community,” said Adams about moving from interim to permanent CEO. He has been serving as interim CEO since December 10, 2020.

A Legacy of Experience With more than 40 years of experience in healthcare management, Adams’ CEO career includes large healthcare companies as well as smaller ones and independent and critical access hospitals.

His experience in each facility (which includes start-ups and first openings) has resulted in clinical, operational, financial, and community successes over the years. Adams earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University, his Master of Public Administration in Health Administration degree from Tennessee State University, and his post-graduate work has earned him the HealthTrust Fellowship in the British and Canadian health systems.

His hospital experiences include working at facilities in a variety of sizes and scopes and focusing on local community service needs and physician needs analysis. He has operated hospitals in locations across the U.S., including Utah, Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona.

Adams has also had the privilege of developing and opening new hospitals during his career and has been awarded “CEO of the Year” for operational performance and excellence.

An Empowering Philosophy Within the first weeks of Adams starting at Mesa View, he made it very clear what the focus of the organization under his watch would be.

First and foremost, from his perspective, the “centerpiece” of every conversation and gathering held at the hospital is the patients themselves. He makes sure every effort is made to ensure that they have everything they need and that they are treated with respect and dignity throughout their experience with Mesa View.

Secondly, he indicates in a similar manner that after the patient, the priority is our hospital staff, including their overall health and well-being. Thirdly, but not least, is the sentiment that Adams shares in stating that the hospital must be “all about community,” which has already proven true in the few short months that he has been here.

One example has been the Mesquite Operation Vaccination project. There was an initial meeting called by Adams in January 2021 with the hospital, the mayor, city fire and rescue services, the Southern Nevada Health District, and a representative from Eureka Casino Resort. At that meeting, Adams volunteered the hospital to take the lead in vaccinating as much of the population as possible, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable. Within a matter of weeks, with the cooperation of all organizations involved, a very successful project was launched which was able to vaccinate more than 8,000 people in our community with the Moderna vaccine. This was during a time when it was needed, and local pharmacies were able to enhance their capacities to deal with the demands in the community.

There were so many details to be concerned with, including pharmaceutical issues, nursing staff, legalities, facilities, public information, etc. There was a three-party legal agreement between the City of Mesquite, Mesa View Regional Hospital, and Eureka Casino Resort that made a strong foundation for the effort. In the words of Andre Carrier, COO of Eureka Casino Resort, “Everyone basically did what they knew needed to be done in their own area of expertise, with no expectations—it worked out great!”

This is the kind of community benefit that can come from empowering your coworkers to do what they know how to do and to rally around a worthy cause. Adams doesn’t look for attention. Rather, he looks to see that things get done!

Results-Based Leadership Although he has only been in his position for about 5 months, Adams is already seeing the results and the value of his professional relationships with regional providers and of empowering the leadership team at Mesa View.

Adams is in the process of listening to the community through a series of eight to ten community focus groups

Working with local fire and rescue leadership, Adams has facilitated keeping patients closer to home for care whenever possible. This has already resulted in the expansion of cardiology services available in Mesquite.

For the first time in the hospital’s history, cardiologists and intensivists are helping serve as hospitalist physicians, rotating during each month. This has already provided the support to keep certain patients local, who would have otherwise been transferred to another facility.

Things like this are a “win-win” for our community, and we can expect more of the same as Mr. Adams continues in his role at Mesa View Regional Hospital!V

About the author: Dr. Jarrod Johnson is a board-certified physician and an independent member of the medical staff for Mesa View Regional Hospital. For more information, please visit our website: www.MesaViewHospital.com.

The Easiest Way to Get out of Bunkers…

PERIOD

by Rob Krieger

When golfers are struggling with getting out of greenside bunkers, there are many reasons why they struggle, and there is not enough paper to write them all down. Instead of trying to figure out what you are doing wrong, try a method that I discovered for students to get the ball out of the sand so they can stop worrying about ending up on the beach. Yes, there is also a litany of ways to get it done just by watching YouTube or reading your monthly golf magazine. My basic bunker shot, plainly and simply, gets the ball out.