R x T ra A publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital December 23, 2013 Vol. 69 No. 48 Our flu season has begun, and we are treating our first cases at Hartford HealthCare facilities. Because of our Universal Influ- enza Prevention Program, HHC staff members are better pre- pared to face the flu while keep- ing our patients, coworkers and ourselves as safe as possible. Throughout our system, we achieved immunization rates of almost 100 percent. There can be no compromise on safety, and we must continue to be vigilant about preventing the flu. Every staff member with a flu- vaccine exemption must wear a mask whenever within six feet of an area where patients/cli- ents may be encountered. Such areas include clinical units, hallways, lobbies and public dining areas. (The mask may be removed when eating.) This requirement is in effect until the end of the flu season. Staff members should remem- ber to follow standard cough and respiratory hygiene, includ- ing: covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when cough- ing or sneezing; disposing of the tissue in the nearest waste re- ceptacle; and washing or disin- fecting hands after contact with respiratory secre- tions or contami- nated material. An employee with a fever, vomiting or diarrhea should stay home. Those with cold symptoms, such as a cough, sneez- ing or a sore throat, should stay home and re- turn to work when they are feeling better. Sometimes pa- tients ask ques- tions when they see staff members with these masks. This may assist you in answering them: Why are some staff members wearing face masks? Safety is one of our core values and the well-being of our pa- tients is our first concern. We require all staff members to get a flu shot in order to protect our patients from influenza. How- ever, some are not able to re- ceive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons. Staff mem- bers who have not received flu shots must wear a mask in or near an area where they might encounter patients. This is in ef- fect throughout the flu season. Are these staff members being punished for not getting flu shots? Not at all. Wearing a mask is a way to show our patients and families that we care about their safety. It’s a way of doing everything in our power to pro- tect patients from the serious consequences of flu. Flu Season Has Begun!
Transcript
RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital December 23, 2013 Vol. 69 No. 48
Our flu season has begun, and we are treating our first cases at Hartford HealthCare facilities.
Because of our Universal Influ-enza Prevention Program, HHC staff members are better pre-pared to face the flu while keep-ing our patients, coworkers and ourselves as safe as possible.
Throughout our system, we achieved immunization rates of almost 100 percent.
There can be no compromise on safety, and we must continue to be vigilant about preventing the flu.
Every staff member with a flu-vaccine exemption must wear a mask whenever within six feet of an area where patients/cli-ents may be encountered. Such areas include clinical units, hallways, lobbies and public dining areas. (The mask may be removed when eating.)
This requirement is in effect until the end of the flu season.
Staff members should remem-ber to follow standard cough and respiratory hygiene, includ-ing: covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when cough-ing or sneezing; disposing of the tissue in the nearest waste re-ceptacle; and washing or disin-fecting hands after contact with
respiratory secre-tions or contami-nated material.
An employee with a fever, vomiting or diarrhea should stay home.
Those with cold symptoms, such as a cough, sneez-ing or a sore throat, should stay home and re-turn to work when they are feeling better.
Sometimes pa-tients ask ques-tions when they see staff members with these masks.
This may assist you in answering them:
Why are some staff members wearing face masks?
Safety is one of our core values and the well-being of our pa-tients is our first concern. We require all staff members to get a flu shot in order to protect our patients from influenza. How-ever, some are not able to re-ceive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons. Staff mem-bers who have not received flu
shots must wear a mask in or near an area where they might encounter patients. This is in ef-fect throughout the flu season.
Are these staff members being punished for not getting flu shots?
Not at all. Wearing a mask is a way to show our patients and families that we care about their safety. It’s a way of doing everything in our power to pro-tect patients from the serious consequences of flu.
Flu Season Has Begun!
Newington campus associates re-cently participated in a Secret San-ta program to benefit 11 residen-tial clients of My Sister’s Place in Hartford.
My Sister’s Place offers transition-al housing services to women and their children and provides them with employment assistance, life skills, education and financial assistance.
Recipients ranged from 9 months to adults. They received toys, cloth-ing, household items and gift cards on December 12.
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Newington Campus Associates Send Gifts to Women’s Shelter
“Our Hearts To Your Soles” Provides Shoes and Medical Care to HomelessHomeless people often have multi-ple health concerns that go untreat-ed. But for many, especially those with diabetes, having properly fit-ting shoes and healthy feet is very important.
“Sometimes minor problems such as corns, callouses or ingrown toenails can become major infections and major problems if they’re not taken care of,” said Dr. Michael Aronow, an orthopedic surgeon with a spe-cialty in foot and ankle surgery.
That’s why Dr. Aronow vol-unteers at a T h a n k s g i v -ing event called “Our Hearts to Your Soles.”
With cast tech-nicians Jim Nardella and Ty-
ler Wilson, co-workers from Ortho-pedic Associates of Hartford, Dr. Aronow visited The Friendship Cen-ter and the Salvation Army in New Britain on Nov. 26 providing free medical care - and new shoes and socks - to homeless people there.
“We have gone to these shelters in New Britain for the past few years to pass out shoes and socks and do routine foot care,” he said. “This is
important, because peo-ple without medical in-surance don’t always get screened.”
In 2013, volunteers par-ticipated in 38 locations in the United States. Last year the program helped 5,000 people.
In Connecticut, the vol-unteers screened sev-eral people for foot health problems, and gave away more than 40 pairs of donated shoes and socks.
Dr. Aronow first partici-pated in the program in 2007 at UCHC.
The “Our Hearts To Your Soles” program started in 2004 in Pennsylva-nia. They are now partnered with Soles4Souls, a charity headquar-tered in Nashville, and Red Wing Shoes, which donates shoes to the program.
Properly fitting shoes are impor-tant, Dr. Aronow said. “Some people are wearing shoes much too small or large, which can cause foot prob-lems,” he said.
Last year, Our Hearts to Your Soles was able to help over 5,000 men and women, which brought the total number to more than 33,000 people.
Often, the recipients are most thankful for the respect and rec-ognition that they received from a group of volunteers willing to take time out of their schedules to serve them, according to the program’s founder, Matt Conti.
The Comprehensive Liver Center at Hartford Hospital is the first in Con-necticut to use Fibroscan® technol-ogy, a painless alternative to liver biopsy for evaluating the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with hep-atitis C, B and fatty liver diseases.
Fibroscan was approved by the FDA in April, 2013, and is now available in the U.S. with Hartford Hospital among only a few health care facil-ities to have it.
“We are proud to lead the way by introducing this minimally inva-
sive technol-ogy to our pa-tients,” said Dr. Colin Swales, medical direc-tor, Transplant H e p a t o l o g y. “Our hope is to decrease the need for painful, inva-sive needle biopsies.”
How it works
The physician simply places a hand-held scanner on the skin in the area over the liver. A mechani-cal pulse is generated at the surface of the skin to the liver. The velocity of the wave is then measured.
It is directly correlated to the stiff-ness of the liver, which tells doc-tors the degree of fibrosis – the more stiff the liver is, the greater the degree of disease.
“Fibroscan is the perfect diagnos-tic tool for us to accurately iden-tify patients with significant liver disease and its progression,” said Dr. Michael Einstein, director of
Hepatology. “This truly revolution-izes how we manage patients with liver disease.”
Dr. Jonathan Israel, Hepatologist, touts the advanced technology and immediate results. “There are many benefits to the patient. The patient is spared the discomfort and risk of a needle biopsy, and the results are immediately available for us to evaluate and discuss with the patient,” he said.
Fibroscan was initially introduced in Europe in 2003 by the French company, Echosens. Today, Fi-broscan is used in Japan, China, Canada and approximately 70 oth-er countries including the U.S.
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Compliance Questions or
Concerns?If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies,
please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a
confidential and toll-free service, at1-855-HHC-OCAP;
or go online to HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com;
or contact the Office of Compliance, Audit & Privacy
(OCAP) directly:· Compliance 860-972-4093
· Audit 860-972-7064· Privacy 860-972-1573
Dr. Colin Swales Dr. Michael Einstein Dr. Jonathan Israel
Hartford Hospital First in Connecticut To Utilize Non-Invasive Technology To Assess Liver Disease
Happening at Hartford Hospital
Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at [email protected] or 860-972-2199
Have Your Gifts Wrapped at Westfarms Doing some last minute holiday shop-ping at Westfarms Mall? Proceeds from wrapping at the mall will benefit HHC’s Behavioral Health Network.
The payroll de-duction system in the Cafeterias at HH, IOL and New-ington will be un-
available from midnight on Sunday, Dec. 29 through midnight Monday, Dec. 30 in order to transition to the new People-Soft employee ID numbers. The ability to swipe your ID badge at the cash reg-ister during this time frame will be un-available. We apologize for the inconve-nience. Please plan accordingly.
Customer Service - Using the Hospitality ApproachThe Hartford Hospital Health Science Libraries offer a unique class in devel-oping Customer Service using the Hos-pitality Approach. This approach was developed by the hotel industry, but has been adapted to health care by Sheila Hayes, M.S., A.H.I.P., senior librarian in the Robinson Library. The next class is Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014 from 10–11 a.m. in the Library Classroom on the 3rd floor of the ERC. Arrangements can also be made for your whole department to take this class. Call/e-mail Sheila Hayes 860-972-2416 or [email protected] to register for this class.
Mental Health First Aid Course OfferedHartford Hospital will offer a full-day Mental Health First Aid course for staff members three times in Janu-ary: Tuesday, Jan. 14, Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Thursday, Jan. 30. The classes run from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Hartford Room, Commons Building at the IOL. Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that gives general information about men-tal health issues and the tools to better serve those with mental health issues that you can use everyday. Even if you work in the mental health environment, this course can give you additional tools to help you in your day to day work. In-structors are Ed Clukey and Patricia Gra-ham. There is a fee of $15, payable by cash or check, which covers the required manual. 12 enrollees are needed for the course to run. Registration is required at least one week prior to the class. Please contact Patricia Graham at [email protected] or 860-545-7716 to register or for more information.
Auxiliary Drive for Children’s Books
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, the Auxiliary will hold a book drive col-lection of new and gen-tly used children’s books for Read to Grow, an or-ganization supported by the hospital and the Auxiliary. Read to Grow
works to educate new parents on our maternity floor about the importance of early literacy. If you have any questions about the book drive, feel free to contact Jenny Quigley at [email protected].
Volunteers Needed for No One Dies Alone ProgramUnder the direction of the Hartford Hos-pital Department of Pastoral Services, a nationally recognized program called No One Dies Alone has been making a differ-ence for patients, families and staff here for nearly nine months. A “compassion-ate companion” volunteer provides reas-suring presence to patients who would otherwise die alone. With the support of the nursing staff, companions are able to help provide patients with that most valuable of human gifts: a dignified death. The No One Dies Alone program was a recent fi-nalist for the HH Team of the Year Award. Our next volunteer train-ing will be held Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, from 10:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m., in the ED Con-ference Room. If you are interested in volunteering for the No One Dies Alone Program, please contact the Volunteer Department at 860-972-2182 or e-mail [email protected].
Understanding Bladder Cancer, and Prostate Cancer “Understanding Bladder Cancer” will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Wethersfield Educa-tion Room.
“Understanding Prostate Cancer Screen-ing: Know Your Stats” will be presented on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Avon Education Room at 100 Simsbury Road.
Registration is required; call the Health Referral Service at 860-545-1888.
