CENTERLINE PUBLISHED FOR THE PEOPLE OF SGMC
Meet SGMC
Inside:
Service Awards Banquet MyHealthSGMC.org Team Lean
WINTER 2013
WINTER 2013
Centerline is published and distributed by the Community Relations department for the employees of South Georgia Medical Center, its campuses and affiliates.
EDITOR & GRAPHIC DESIGN Erika Bennett SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST COMMUNITY RELATIONS CONTRIBUTIONS Meghan N. Schunhoff MEDIA SPECIALIST COMMUNITY RELATIONS Good things happen at SGMC and its affiliated campuses every day. If you see something of interest, have an idea for a story, or would like to contribute an article, please contact community relations by phone at ext. 4400 or by email at erika.bennett@sgmc.org. On the cover: SGMC employees and carolers gather with Santa at the annual Employee Christmas Breakfast. Pictured are Helen Baker, Tina Kent, Laura Jones, Brian Sayre, Sonya Yeager, Mo Mosher, Marsha Lawrence and Joel Phillips. Santa has an uncanny resemblance to Jeff Long (but everyone knows Santa is real).
Making the Case for Quality
South Georgia Medical Center faces a number of challenges that continue to stress it financially. I am convinced that through active and aggressive management practices, we will achieve financial goals that allow us to continue our investments in plant technology, equipment and people. Over the past few months, changes have been made to the employee benefits plan and supply spend and we are now focused on managing our productivity standards that will put us in line with other hospital organizations our size and return SGMC to its budget expectations. I am very happy to report that even during these stressful times, SGMC’s employees and medical staff have continued to “Make the Case for Quality” as evidenced by a number of recent awards received that include: Reaccreditation by The Joint Commission; Receiving Primary Stroke Center of Distinction by the Joint Commission; Achieving Meaningful Use, Phase 1; Diabetes Management Program Received Re-Certification from ADA; Named to Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Hospital Engagement Network Chairman’s Circle; Named to GHA’s Hospital Engagement Network Safety Leaders Circle in the Elite Category; Thirty-three members of SGMC’s Mobile HealthCare Services were presented Life Saver award medals by the Southwest Georgia Region 8 EMS Council; Received the Valdosta/Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce Member’s Choice Award for quality customer service; Presented the 2013 Large Hospital of the Year by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. In addition, our Service lines have also excelled this year. The Stroke Program was awarded: American Heart Association (AHA) “Get with the Guidelines” Bronze Award for Stroke; “Get with the Guidelines” Silver PLUS Award with Target Honor Roll; Georgia Coverdell Stroke Registry Hospital of the Year; Georgia Coverdell Stroke Registry Award of Excellence for Door to Needle Time for t-PA administration. Our Spine Program has received: Spine Program of Excellence: Ranked #1 in Georgia and Top 10 in the United States by Healthgrades.com and SGMC & Smith Northview Hospital Campus hold Blue Distinction from Blue Cross & Blue Shield. SGMC has also received a Quality Respiratory Care Award and Mammography Reaccreditation from American College of Radiology. The Dasher Memorial Heart Center received the AHA’s “Get with the Guidelines” Bronze Award for Inpatient Resuscitation and the National Institutes of Health/Yale University SILVER-AMI Research Grant. The Pearlman Cancer Center received reaccreditation from the Commission on Cancer, American College of Surgeons and the Survivor Circle grant from American Society of Radiation Oncology. And certainly not least, Louis Smith Memorial Hospital received the GHA Quality and Patient Safety award for Emergency Transfer Project and GHA Circle of Excellence Award. Congratulations team! Certainly evidenced with the care and services it provides, South Georgia Medical Center is the Region’s Premier Health System and destination for health care.
Randy Sauls, CEO
The Crystal Gala: Reflections of Helen Baker is the Director of Customer Service, which includes housekeeping, linen services, and central transport and dispatch department. Helen started working in the laundry department folding towels. She was only supposed to be at SGMC for 6 weeks to cover for an employee that had gone out on sick leave, 40 years later she is still here.
Helen Baker
When she started, towels were folded manually; today towels are folded with a small piece folder. Helen says the biggest change she has seen in her 40 years is the transformation from Pineview General Hospital into South Georgia Medical Center. In the early days of Pineview General Hospital, all the patient rooms were located in the east tower. The cafeteria was where the Pearlman Cancer Center is now located. The OR was on the 3rd floor, sterile processing was on the 2nd floor. The pharmacy was where the nursing administrative suite is currently located. In one word, Helen describes her job as AWESOME!! Congratulations, Helen on 40 years of service to SGMC. “Helen has been a keystone at SGMC. Her dedication and devotion to her peers and employees is exemplified in her stalwart support of the Care Share program, one of the mainstays of the SGMC employee assistance program. She leads by example, in her Christian walk, and then through her willingness to do anything she asks of her employees. It is a pleasure and honor to share in Helen’s life by working alongside of her. Thank you Helen for all you have done for this organization.” - Mo Mosher
Shirley Garland
Shirley is SGMC’s Associate Nursing Administrator for Operations, PCS. She started at SGMC 40 years ago as a “float” LPN on the 3/11 shift. When Shirley started here, manual vital signs were taken every 15 minutes on patients. Today, all of that is done electronically with computerized monitors. Since working at SGMC, Shirley says the biggest change she has seen is the integration of the electronic medical record. In one word, she describes her job as rewarding. Thank you, Shirley for your 40 years of service to this organization. “Shirley has worked in a variety of positions at SGMC. Positions include: both LPN and RN; patient care nurse in the Emergency Department, in Flexcare; a nurse manager of several nursing units; and as an Administrative Coordinator. Shirley is known for being positive and upbeat. She willingly takes on any challenge with confidence and determination. She encourages others to be the best they can be!” -Debbie Sauls
Service
Clarence Carter
40 Year Honorees
Clarence Carter is the receiving supervisor for Materials Management. When he started 40 years ago, Clarence was a shipping and receiving clerk. In those days materials management used manual pallet jacks to haul supplies on pallets and most of the receiving’s were hand written, copied on the Xerox, and sent to accounting for processing in the computer. Today many parts of Clarence’s job are easier due to computers and also having powered pallet jacks. The biggest change Clarence has seen is the specialization of jobs. In the past, one person was responsible for many duties. In one word, Clarence describes his job as enjoyable. He says that if you don’t enjoy your work, you need to try something else. “On behalf of all your colleagues and friends in Materials Management and at SGMC, congratulations on receiving your 40 years of service award! Your achievement is a source of pride and inspiration to all of us. We are all delighted to know that so many others appreciate your outstanding work as much as we do. It is always a pleasure to see great colleagues like you receiving the recognition you deserve. “Clarence Carter plays lead guitar at his church. For years in Materials Management at our special functions, the unofficial “reverend Clarence Carter” does a fabulous job of leading us in grace. Funny thing though, everyone has to really strain to hear his soft spoken words of wisdom until the end where he gives a loud and resounding ‘amen and AMEN!’” - Rhonda Smith
Belinda Grant started at SGMC 40 years ago as a staff technologist. A couple of years later she became a special procedures radiology technologist and then moved into her current role as the chief technologist. Throughout her career, Belinda says that radiology equipment has changed a lot, all equipment is computer driven with a lot of bells and whistles. The biggest change Belinda has seen while working in imaging is the major transition of going filmless in 2006. She says she also remembers when the first hospital wide computer system was installed in December of 1988. Instead of every request having to be hand written and delivered to the Radiology department, the x-ray requests automatically printed in the department for the first time. In one word, Belinda describes her job as challenging. Thank you, Belinda, for your 40 years of service to SGMC. “Belinda is a true chocolate lover; she does share with others, thank goodness. She has 5 grandchildren and gets more birthday cards than anyone I know. When Belinda turned 60 she received 31 birthday cards. Belinda cares about her staff and treats them as family. She is a very compassionate and caring person. Will do her best to help anyone in need. She is a true patient advocate who goes above and beyond in whatever she does. Belinda is always willing to do what is asked of her.” -Teresa Tenery
Belinda Grant
Can you help Lowndes County
lose 10,000 lbs?
As we ring in another new year many of us set resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more and drop a few pounds. Beginning in January, SGMC will partner with Pepsi and the ValdostaLowndes County YMCA to hold the annual Team Lean competition. This year’s challenge will differ from the past in that it will feature a Winnersville Challenge. What do winners get (aside from a healthier you)? Bragging rights…. Lowndes Vikings vs. Valdosta Wildcats.
access to exercise classes at the YMCA, health education from SGMC and YMCA certified fitness instructors to implement needed tools to sustain a healthy life style and exercise safely.
Team Lean is a healthy 10 week communitywide weight loss competition. Participants get
“It was a great experience joining Team Lean this year,” said Chad Fernandez, IT Network
Earlier this year, SGMC’s team, The Cake is a Lie, took home the team prize! Participants Chad Fernandez, Chuck Marshburn, Eddy West, Russ Garlow and Tony Harrell lost a combined total of 137 lbs.
Administrator. The Cake is a Lie set a team goal of losing 2-5 lbs. each week. Chad says that with his team being so competitive their goal was to lose as much weight as possible without gaining muscle, because muscle weighs more than fat. Chad’s plan consisted of an all Team Lean 2013 team winners, The Cake is a Lie. cardio workout and limited daily intake of 2,500 calories. A the Team Lean program, participants receive a mobile app allowed Chad to track everything he workout pass good for 10 free visits. If you are ate during that time. He also registered for a half already a member of the Y, you may give your marathon and credits his weight loss to helping workout passes to a friend or family member. him train and complete the 13.1 mile run. Participants are required to weigh-in weekly at either Y location- Gornto Road or Lake Park. The Cake is a Lie walked away from the challenge Employees of SGMC can complete their weighwith a bunch of weight lost and cash money. ins at SGMC campuses. All money collected Most of them used the money to buy new from the entry fees will be disbursed as prizes clothes, which they needed after losing more at the conclusion of the competition. Closing than 30 lbs. each. ceremonies will be held on Thursday, April 3 at 6pm at the YMCA. The kickoff for Team Lean 2014 is Saturday, Jan. 11 at 9 am at the YMCA Gornto Road Register online at valdostaymca.org or call location. All Team Lean participants will receive 229.244.4646 for more information about Team a free t-shirt. The cost to participate is $50 per Lean 2014. person. Teams may consist of 4-5 members or participants can compete individually. During
Team
Lean
2014
IMPORTANT DATES Kick-off- Saturday, Jan. 11 at 9am Registration Deadline- Thursday, Jan. 16 Award Ceremony- Thursday, April 3
Don’t forget
Sign up for “myhealthsgmc”
MyHealthSGMC.org connects YOU to YOUR Health Information An electronic medical record patient portal is coming! For busy working professionals, traveling senior citizens and college students with crazy schedules, this new online tool from South Georgia Medical Center will allow the sending and retrieval of medical information from the Internet through a secure patient portal, MyHealthSGMC.org, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. MyHealthSGMC.org is being offered to a small pilot group of local physician’s practices first and over the next few months, SGMC will be asking employees and patients to sign-up for portal access. In the months ahead, the portal will become a full-service repository for health information regardless of whether you were served at the hospital or physician’s office. If your physician’s office allows, you will be able to consult with your doctor about specific health symptoms, request a prescription refill, request appointments, receive lab or test results, access health education information, review your account details, make payments and more. The site will go live in January 2014. SGMC selected the RelayHealth Clinical Platform to provide the secure portal, mysgmchealth.org. This is a part of South Georgia Medical Center’s compliance with the government mandate to implement electronic health records (EHR) nationwide by 2015. Last year, SGMC and its affiliate Smith Northview Campus successfully met Meaningful Use Stage 1 requirements to establish electronic health records and require physicians to input key data. Stage 2 involves the patient being able to log in and access the electronic data, once it has been reviewed and
released by the physician. Day or night, weekday or weekend, MyHealthSGMC.org is accessible at any time from any Internet connection. “This feature will allow individuals to obtain and manage their Personal Health Records better,” said James Sinnott, MD, SGMC Chief Medical Information Officer. “Patients can ask questions and receive an online response.” Implementation of Stage 2 Meaningful Use begins on January 1, 2014, so now is the time to enroll and start preparing our patients to access their health records through the patient portal. When admitted to SGMC, patients will be asked if they would like to use the patient portal. If they would, they will receive an official request via email to enroll. They will establish a log-on and password to access their very own Personal Health Record. “This is another way that South Georgia Medical Center is empowering patients to take a more active role in their health and wellness,” Dr. Sinnott concluded. “Online patient portals are the future of medicine.”
Morrison Healthcare Regional Vice President Lenny Scranton, SGMC Food Services Supervisor Helen Moore, People First Grand Prize Winner, and Gary Harrell, SGMC Director of Food and Nutrition Services.
Helen Moore Receives National Award
Moore one of seven Grand Prize winners in annual Morrison Healthcare, Be-A-Star incentive program Morrison Healthcare, SGMC’s food and nutrition services company, has selected associate Helen Moore as a People First Grand Prize winner. Moore, a food service supervisor at SGMC, is one of seven associates to win the award as part of the company’s annual Be-A-Star incentive program. “Be-A-Star is a great way to recognize associates such as Helen, and teams for achieving our Key Results, living our Cultural Beliefs and demonstrating service excellence,” said Morrison Healthcare CEO Tim Pierce. “The program is an important part of the Morrison Healthcare culture and Helen is an outstanding example of how our associates continue to lead by example and go above and beyond to serve our hospital clients, patients and guests.” Moore was selected from among 16,000-plus Morrison Healthcare associates in 13 regions across the U.S. She has been an associate at SGMC for 18 years. According to Stephen “Mo” Mosher, SGMC Assistant Administrator of Engineering/Facilities Services, Moore’s selection for Be-A-Star National People First Award for 2013 is appropriate and welcomed. Mosher said, “Helen truly is a superstar. Helen leads by example! She is trustworthy, responsible for herself and her team’s actions, has integrity and is humble and kind-hearted.” One recent example of Moore’s generosity was demonstrated when she anonymously paid for the meals for the wife of an elderly hospital patient. The couple was living on an extremely tight budget and couldn’t afford the extra costs. The hospital found out about Helen’s generosity when the patient inquired as to how these additional meals were being provided. When the matter was investigated, the patient learned that Helen had generously paid for the meals herself. Mosher concluded by saying, “Helen Moore is the kind of employee that makes South Georgia Medical Center and the Morrison Healthcare Family leaders in healthcare services for now and years to come. Well done, Helen, it is an honor to work with someone of your character and caliber.” Moore was also selected as the Hospital Hero by the Hospital Authority of Valdosta & Lowndes County in November for her achievements.
Congratulations! Congratulations to the following SGMC retirees from Aug.-Dec.15! Mary Brown Sharon Burch Carolyn Carter Brenda Corbin Bill Forbes Gaylon Graham Shirley Harnage Woodrow Haynes Avy Hiers Renice Hill Stanley House Mattie Miller Diane Parry Patsi Peacock Mary Pierce Catherine Sanford Linda Sellers Deanna Stamps Paula Thomas Elaine Walker MaryKay Wetherington