Inspired by you | Good Day Ascension

Inspiredbyyou

Stories you've shared with us

MAY-JUNE 2024

To Shelly Eaton and the entire nursing supervisors team:

Thank you for all you do to make our jobs in Environmental Services less stressful during this time.

— Yushika Finley

A special thank you to Andy Beck and Estrellita Doolan. You have each shown the ABIDE hallmark of Belongingness to me this week.

I sincerely appreciate your compassion and kindness.

I had holy moments with each of you this week, and I am grateful. They are totally there if you watch for them and feel them with your heart.

“

— Deborah Weaver

ASCENSION ST. VINCENT’S — ALABAMA

I want to recognize Anthony, who works in the Ascension St. Vincent’s Birmingham cafeteria. As an employee at one of the associated offices in the North Tower, I have come into contact with him many times throughout the last several years. Anthony always has a smile on his face. He is very genuine and you can tell that he takes pride in what he does. Caring for patients and their family members extends well beyond the hospital room or doctor’s office. It means treating every person that walks onto our campus with love and respect, and that’s exactly what Anthony does. He also makes a mean quesadilla.

ASCENSION ST. VINCENT’S — ALABAMA

The last two weeks have again reminded us how fortunate we are for the incredible associates who work across St. Vincent's. The Marketing Department and St. Vincent's Foundation put their heads together to find a way to bring a moment of cheer to our care teams who are working incredibly hard in this trying time.

We are grateful for Ascension Florida leaders, like Derek Woods, Ashley

South, Jules Kariher, Emily Wucherer, Cathy Crews, Emily Roth, Trisha

Christman, Tracie Loftis, Amanda Swensen, Julie Snow, Nicholas Rossi, Dana Fanzande, who volunteered their time to provide clerical and administrative assistance during this extraordinary time. — Stephanie Ryan

ASCENSION ST. VINCENT’S RIVERSIDE — FLORIDA

Jeff and the team in the print shop at St. Vincent’s Riverside have stepped up to keep up with the extra printing requests required during downtime.

The nursing team made sure that Jeff’s birthday was celebrated with cake and a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

The first day of the outage, the TVs were not working. Dr. Grizzell drove to Walgreens to buy magazines, books and other items for his patients so that they could pass the time. Very thoughtful and considerate for a heart surgeon to take time out of his day to do this.

“

— Kevin Strecker

ASCENSION VIA CHRISTI — KANSAS

“

Andie Terhune has gone above and beyond to make sure that our check-in process works smoothly at the clinic for radiology patients. She has devised a method that all of the radiology departments can see and use that shows when patients check-in in real time. It was a very clever way for us to keep on top of things in a very chaotic situation. Since Andie's spreadsheet, I can watch for the check-in and see when a patient gets here.

Kudos to Andie for helping out without being asked to keep our department running a little bit more efficiently.

“

— Kimberly Larkin

I would like to recognize the entire critical care staff at Ascension Alexian Brothers. We had a patient during downtime who suffered a cardiac arrest, went to cath lab and came to the ICU post-stent. I was the charge nurse on the unit that day and, during my rounding with the patients and their families, this particular family could not say enough good things about my staff. Despite the troubles that we’ve had to overcome, she said our care was top-notch. She said she could not thank our staff enough for treating and caring for her loved one. It was really great to get this compliment.

— Emily Kalousek

ASCENSION

Shout out to the amazing team at Ascension St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates. This team has had some interesting days but have always managed to keep a cool, calm and collective attitude – always smiling and making the best out this situation.

Kudos to the sterile processing team and the surgical team for collaborative work.

I am very honored to be part of this team and the whole Ascension network.

— Ouafae Ait Ouaarab “

Due to the cyberattack incident… the AMG Indiana nurse navigators began running to the hospital floors to collect, copy, and fax patient information and insurance cards for the utilization management team to process with the various payers. While rounding with the navigators in their newly assigned duties at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis, their director was approached by a utilization management associate that was in tears. They were tears of gratitude that the AMG nurse navigators were there to help them in these uncertain times.

“

— Lauren Seaton

My niece had her tonsils out at the 12 Mile surgery center today. My sister asked if she should cancel because of the incident, I told her I was absolutely confident in the care we are continuing to provide and that she should go ahead. I had planned to go and be with her (she is a single mom) but just like all of us, my plans have been put on hold for the last couple weeks. My sister was messaging me through every step of the process. She said that she has never had a healthcare experience for her or anyone in her family that was better than today's experience. She talked about feeling completely well cared for — about how nice everyone was, how communicative and how efficient.

I

know that those teams are scrambling in the background and are exhausted and overwhelmed

—

but even

this situation can't take the care out of our caregivers. Please remind them how grateful we all are for their skill, but also for their steadfast care and kindness.

— Carrie Stover “

ASCENSION ST. JOHN — OKLAHOMA

“ “

Revas Ford-White’s first day off of orientation was day one of the breach. She jumped in – pulling the downtime forms, organizing them and touring another unit to ensure she didn't miss anything. Her work in conjunction with the charge nurse week one and since then has been organized, and she is always smiling to keep positivity up during this challenging time. Her years of experience have shined bright and the whole 5 West team is thankful for her. She anticipates what we need before we even know ourselves. Thank you, Reva!!

— Joni Randleman

ASCENSION ST. JOHN — OKLAHOMA

Rick Adams was instrumental in building OKTUL's entire PACS setup years ago. He is now a national Ascension technology manager with the radiology innovation team. He happened to be at home in Tulsa between assignments when the cyber security event happened. He immediately reached out to leadership at ASJMC, and same day had an office set up in radiology administration. He has quarterbacked us through several solutions and will result in hundreds of hours saved in our market. He has been an amazing, steadying influence during this time, and I would hate to think of what it would have been like in our market without him.

Thank you, Rick.

— Chad Best

ASCENSION SAINT THOMAS WEST - TENNESSEE

I’ve seen teamwork at its very best since this event began. Our management team has worked diligently to ensure we have the necessary tools needed to continue on. You would think that everyone’s patience would be worn to a frazzle, but I have yet to have a time when I asked a question that wasn’t treated with courtesy and respect. Teamwork is not just a word in our pharmacy department – it’s a way of life. I’m proud to be part of this organization.

James Beasley “ “

—

ASCENSION SAINT THOMAS HOSPITAL MIDTOWN —

TENNESSEE

Dr. Doering came to help in the lab on Sunday. She was a beam of light for us to have and was willing to do anything that was needed. It was wonderful to have such an inspiration working amongst us!

“

— Shannon Rousselo

Courtney Keene stepped into an entirely new department to help out and had a very positive attitude every time I saw her. She stepped up to help in the lab multiple days.

– Regina Sorkin

As a previous bedside RN, I know that the lab is very busy even when everything is functioning properly. The way that this team has handled the downtime made me really proud to have the opportunity to be a part of it. They all work so well together as a team, communicate openly, and do everything in their power to ensure that every patient specimen is handled appropriately and with care, even when that means adding SO much additional work and paperwork to an already very busy and sometimes unpredictable flow! I would go back to work with them anytime they needed in a heartbeat.

– Courtney Keene

From the day the incident happened, Carly Comstock has stepped up and has been willing to help in any capacity. She's been readily available to help our ICC with copies, office supplies, meeting coordination and still trying to manage her everyday duties. She's ordered food for associates and leaders on the weekends and has made several runs to office supply stores to make sure associates had the materials they needed as soon as possible. She is kind and always tries to maintain a positive attitude.

She's been instrumental in the success and well-being of the associates through the incident.

“

– Naysel Casco

ASCENSION

Malisa Grall, despite Epic downtime, agreed to precept our new hire, Madison. It is difficult to teach when we are all learning how to function with this downtime so I want to shout out Malisa for taking on this extra responsibility.

—

Jessica Bayer “

ASCENSION COLUMBIA ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL - WISCONSIN

I spent the day at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee and saw so many beautiful bright spots.

This is what the NICU nurses were making for all new moms for Mother’s Day. As they were spending extra high-touch time with the babies and engaging in downtime procedures, they created handmade, personalized gifts for each new mom in the form of little pots of flowers decorated with their baby’s footprints and the words ‘helping me grow.’ Lots of extra baby snuggles and love in play.

— Marie Judd

Kudoboard photos April-May