Members of the Team: News Briefs Around Sentara
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| (L-R) Lisa Ahlbrandt and Sue Midgett |
Sentara Leigh Employees Receive National Award Two Sentara Leigh radiology employees, Lisa Ahlbrandt and Sue Midgett, who identified the Amber Alert baby in December 2007, were selected to receive a national award from the Department of Justice. Nominated for the award by the Virginia State Police, the duo had heard the Amber Alert on the radio about 10 minutes after performing a procedure on a patient and realized their patient was the infant abductor. Their quick intervention resulted in the safe recovery of the baby and an arrest. Sue and Lisa traveled to Washington, D.C., for an award ceremony on National Missing Children’s Day, May 25, 2008. Read more about their award in a
news release.
Sentara Medical Group Expands
Sentara Medical Group has seen over 60 percent growth in the number of physicians over the past four years, bringing its current total (as of April 1, 2008) to 368 physicians and 71 nurse practitioners and physician assistants. The number of specialists (including hospitalists) has doubled to 188 physicians. To help consumers more readily find a Sentara Medical Group physician, Sentara’s Web site now includes a link to each practice by location and specialty, plus a link to a biography on each physician. View the
Sentara Medical Group pages.
Two Physician Practices Open on Norfolk Campus In late April 2008, two new Sentara Medical Group practices opened on the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital campus. Michael S. Eggert, MD, is now practicing under Sentara Pulmonary and Critical Care Specialists at Sentara Heart Hospital®. General Surgeons Marc K. Boustany, MD, Jared L. Brooks, MD, Mark A. Fontana, MD, James G. Snyder, MD, Stephen D. Wohlgemuth, MD, and Deborah S. Epstein, PA-C are caring for patients at Sentara Metabolic & Weight Loss Surgery Center, also located at Sentara Heart Hospital. Being located on the hospital campus will enable these specialists to more effectively deliver quality care to their patients.
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| eCare Health Network® continues to expand |
Sentara eCare Health Network®
Update
Since January 2008, Sentara Leigh Hospital, as well as 15 Sentara Medical Group sites, has implemented Sentara
eCare Health Network® and things are going very smoothly. By late August 2008, 18 additional Sentara Medical Group practices are scheduled to go live. The next hospital to transition to Sentara eCare® is Sentara Bayside Hospital on September 21, 2008, with Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital to follow in October. For more information on the launch at Sentara Leigh, check out the
April/May issue of Network. Employees looking for additional information about upcoming Sentara eCare® launches at other Sentara facilities should visit
WaveNet and select the Sentara eCare® link.
Sentara Medical Group Begins Using MyChart During April 2008 Virginia Beach Family Practice was the first Sentara Medical Group practice to go live with MyChart, a patient-centered service of the Sentara eCare Health Network®. More physician practices will be implementing MyChart over the coming months, including Chesapeake Medical Associates, Chimney Hill Medical Associates and Urgent Care, Family Practice Specialists and Providence Road Family Practice and Urgent Care.
MyChart is a Web-based tool that provides patients quick and easy access to their personal electronic medical record (EMR) and offers secure communication with their physician practice. Patients can also view test results, schedule appointments, renew prescriptions, manage the health care of a child, spouse or parent, and access timely medical information. The result is more efficient communication and collaboration between patient and physician.
While the fee is waived for Optima Health members, others will pay a nominal subscription fee of $20 the first year and $10 annually. Patients should check with their physician practice for availability. To create an account and access MyChart, patients will go to the new
MyChart patient portal located on Sentara's Web site.
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| Staff members of Sentara Obici Hospital |
Sentara Obici Perseveres During Tornado
One of the worst tornadoes ever to hit Virginia struck near Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk on April 28, 2008, destroying nearby homes, a shopping center across the street and littering hospital grounds with debris.
Fortunately, no lives were lost and the Obici campus sustained minimal damage.
What is truly inspiring is the spirit of cooperation and camaraderie displayed by the Obici team – as well as other Sentara employees throughout the system – who immediately swung into action. Sentara Home Care nurses rushed from their office to help victims at the shopping center. Obici nurses parked their gridlocked cars and walked a mile in the rain to the hospital to help treat patients. Medical Transport drivers ferried employees through traffic to help them get home. Sentara CarePlex Hospital sent five security personnel to assist with traffic control as other offers of help came in from around the system.
There was no interruption in hospital operations – two surgeries continued even as the funnel cloud passed –and Team Obici responded to 70 plus patients, many on foot, who entered the hospital by every door within minutes. Read a
news release about the tornado.
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| (L-R) Karen Godette, Local Celebrity Rudy Boesch and Kim Dawson |
Walk@Work Program Off to Strong Start at Norfolk General Approximately 130 Sentara Norfolk General Hospital employees attended a Walk@Work kick off event held April 11, 2008, at the hospital. Rudy Boesch, Hampton Roads celebrity from the hit show, "Survivor," led staff members on the first lap of a new, indoor walking route and helped reinforce the message: Be a survivor: start walking your way to a healthier heart. Since the Walk@Work program was introduced, a total of 213 Sentara Norfolk General employees have registered to participate in the
Healthy Edge WalkAbout program.
New Appointments at Sentara
Congratulations to the following Sentara physicians and staff members on their new positions within the system:
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Jennifer Burrows, formerly with Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, has been named vice president of operations at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
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Joe Butz, formerly of the University Hospitals Health System/The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Health System in Cleveland, Ohio, has been named vice president of cardiac transplant services, Sentara Norfolk General and Sentara Heart hospitals.
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Robert Firestone, former manager of patient care services at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, has been named director of Sentara BelleHarbour.
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Michael Genco, MD, an emergency room physician, has been named medical director of Sentara BelleHarbour Emergency Department.
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J. Andy Hilbert, formerly with Tufts Health Plan in Boston, has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Sentara Health Plans.
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Beth Martin, BSN, previous manager of clinical care services for Optima Health Plan, has been named director of medical care management for Sentara Healthcare.
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Carol Sale, RN, former director of performance improvement for Sentara hospitals, has accepted the system-wide position of director of patient safety initiatives, allowing Shannon Sayles to provide greater off-site support to Healthcare Performance Institute (HPI) clients. Carol has also been appointed a new member of the Virginians Improving Patient Care and Safety (VIPC&S) Board of Directors.
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Steve Schlossberg, MD, previously vice president, medical informatics with Sentara Information Systems, has moved to Sentara Medical Group as vice president and senior medical director for Southside Hospital-based and Procedural Specialties.
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Mark Szalwinski, vice president and administrator of Sentara Leigh Hospital, has been named corporate vice president for Sentara’s Peninsula region.
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Tom Thames, MD, formerly on Sentara Obici’s leadership team, has been named vice president of medical affairs for Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
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Susan Tweed, Sentara Health and Preventive Services, has joined the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA) advisory board, a 20-year-old organization promoting workplace wellness initiatives and healthier lifestyles.
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Richard M. Zweifler, MD, former professor of neurology and medical director of the USA Stroke Center at the University of South Alabama, has been named Sentara Medical Group’s first chief of neurology.
Sentara Williamsburg Earns Environmental Excellence Award Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center received a partner recognition award from Practice Greenhealth on May 20 at the 2008 Environmental Excellence Awards in Pittsburgh, Pa. The awards recognize the initiative, hard work and determination it takes for an organization to protect the environment and human health, yet still maintain cost effectiveness. The award primarily recognized the hospital and staff for their comprehensive recycling program, elimination of mercury in the hospital and reduction in medical waste.
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| (L-R) back row: Gloria Garza-Wood, Francis Chidester, Maureen Womach, Linda Jordan, Julie Fox, Robin Gazzanigo, Alice Ferguson; bottom row, Patti Archer, Roberta Paige, Dawn O'Flaherty, Shirley Freeman |
Sentara Home Care's Mother Baby Asthma Team Honored
Each year,
Advance for Nurses magazine presents awards for exceptional care in five specific categories. After reviewing 77 submissions from the mid-Atlantic region, the magazine awarded Sentara Home Care’s Mother Baby Asthma Team first place for patient education and fifth place for their overall excellent work. The award was made on April 2, 2008, with a visit from a magazine staff member. The team was featured in the May issue of the magazine.
Two Sentara Hospitals Participate in Disaster Training Exercises
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital staff and physicians participated in a campus-wide emergency preparedness training in early April 2008 that simulated a fire at the hospital. The exercise was planned together with campus partners Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and Eastern Virginia Medical School, as well as the City of Norfolk fire and police departments.
Also this spring, Sentara CarePlex Hospital and Port Warwick staff and physicians worked closely with staff from Fort Monroe Army base security/police, Hampton Fire/EMS, Riverside Regional Medical Center and other Peninsula agencies to participate in a mass casualty disaster response training that simulated a bus accident that injured three dozen tourists. Both exercises were a success, with excellent performance by participants and several lessons learned.
Sentara Norfolk General Earns National Designation Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has earned the Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) designation from the American Association for Respiratory Care under a national program to help consumers make informed decisions about the quality of respiratory care services available in hospitals. Approximately 700 of the 5,000 hospitals in the United States have received this recognition.