Mercy Hospital of Buffalo
Connections
News and announcements for associates, patients, and their families. Summer 2020
It’s That Special Mercy Touch!
Former patient Sal Buscaglia, at right, had a chance to thank his caregivers at Mercy for saving his life.
Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Famer and retired women’s basketball coach Sal Buscaglia celebrated life and the EMTs and hospital team who saved him during a Valentine’s Day reunion and his 66th Birthday celebration held at Mercy Hospital in February. It was a heartfelt reunion for the many people who helped save his life from the EMTs from the Jamison and Elma Fire Departments who used CPR and a defibrillator to get him to the hospital, to the team of doctors including cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists, neurologists, intensivists in the ICU and CVICU, to perfusionists and nurses on the ECMO team, to rehabilitation specialists and therapists in the MRU and so many others who played a part in his recovery. Sal spent 16 days at Mercy in June of 2019 after having a massive heart attack known as a “widowmaker” that has about a 6 percent survival rate. Following his hospital stay, he also went to cardiac rehab therapy. “As a college coach, I led teams of young ladies for over 39 years, and then I had another team save my life...you’re so special to me,” said Buscaglia at the reunion. “When you go home after work, I don’t know if you ever think about how wonderful you all are because of what you do.”
Dr. Harsh Jain, center, is surrounded by members of the ECMO team: (l.-r.) Courtney Sobkowiak; Angelina Barido; Wai Moy; Jenn Porterfield; Lena Quarentella; CVICU Nurse Manager Peggy Schlotterbeck; Liz Clancy; Dan Schwab; and Matt Bailen.
Saving Lives with ECMO Life Support Therapy There has been a lot of talk about the use of ventilators in the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19. But Mercy Hospital has another, less publicized medical device that can help the most critically ill COVID patients when ventilators alone are not enough. ECMO, short for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is a form of life support that uses a sophisticated machine to take over the functions of the heart and lungs when a patient’s organs are too sick or weak to work on their own. Similar to a heart-lung bypass device, ECMO is not a cure but rather a therapy that allows the heart or lungs to rest and recover, while giving physicians more time to effectively treat the disease. “ECMO is often the last line of defense in this COVID battle,” said Harsh Jain, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Catholic Health Heart Center at Mercy Hospital and Medical Director of the hospital’s ECMO program. “We’re fortunate to be among an elite group of hospitals across the country and the world to have this advanced technology and a highly skilled cardiac team to offer this lifesaving care.” Since the start of the outbreak, six COVID-19 patients have been treated with ECMO at Mercy Hospital, four of whom have recovered and are back home with their loved ones. “That may seem like a small number, but from a global perspective, there have only been about 1,900 COVID-19 patients worldwide who have been placed on ECMO,” explained Dr. Jain. “This is because not only are there very few hospitals around the world equipped with this technology—including just 264 out of 6,000 hospitals in the United States—but there is stringent patient criteria to use this therapy looking at such factors as age and health status prior to COVID.” Continued on Page 3
Covid Chronicles MARCH 22—New York State goes on PAUSE MARCH 26— Catholic Health COVID-19 Treatment Facility at St. Joseph Campus admits first patients
On March 27, Mercy blessed the outdoor ER triage tent. Conducting the blessing were Mission VP John Kalinowski and Rev. Joseph Thien Nguyen.
Mercy Gets Outpouring of Support from WNY After Covid-19 hit, it didn’t take long for the world to recognize that hospital workers were on the front line in this battle. Since March, hundreds of community organizations and residents stepped up to support and show their gratitude to our brave healthcare heroes. Mercy Foundation Executive Director Deanna Messinger in collaboration with the Foundations for Catholic Health coordinated the donation efforts at Mercy Hospital. Several restaurants donated meals to staff either directly or through a newly-organized foundation called WNY Feeds the Frontlines.
Kim Wilson, Michelle Wild, and Ondrea Bennefield of Patient Care Services and Laura Nutty of the Foundation who did a great job.
Organizing the food distribution in a safe manner was no easy task. Kudos to Deanna and some key helpers who included Sandy Gray,
For a complete listing of food sponsors, please visit: https://blog.chsbuffalo.org/covid19-response/food-sponsors/
From left, Deanna Messinger, Sandy Gray and Angie Boggs deliver a generous donation of meals from South Buffalo Councilman Christopher Scanlon.
Anonymous Donor Sends Flowers and Hope
In late March, donations started coming in from area businesses. Accepting gloves from Lowes in Hamburg were: l.-r., Jenna Beeler, Cindy Galluzzi, Shelby Derkovitz, Lily Cole, and Rachel Lindstedt.
On April 3, Draudt Farm Market & Greenhouses of Hamburg delivered 200 spring plants to Mercy Hospital to honor the wishes of an anonymous donor of $10,000 to deliver plants to area hospitals in time for Easter. Associates gathered for a blessing of the flowers before the distribution. Thank you to Les Draudt and the kind donor for bringing hope and happiness to staff through these spring flowers.
Surgical nurses Jenna Beeler and Gail D’Estries pick up their flowers.
Local Jeweler Makes KIND Gesture to Staff Many nearby restaurants started donating meals. Enjoying Imperial Pizza that donated over 1300 pizzas to staff were: l.-r., Amanda Kelly, Jon Delay, Pamela Muszynski, and Christine Finnegan.
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In early April, OR Tech Mike Chiacchia looks happy to pick up his Pita Gourmet lunch during the first of many hospital-wide meal donations from WNY Feeds the Frontlines.
Janet McFadden, a radiology technologist, was searching her social media in April when she noticed that a jewelry store located in Florida was asking for nominations for nurse heroes to receive a special “hero” bracelet. Janet McFadden, third from left, and her coShe jumped right on it and workers display their “We Are Kind” bracelets. nominated a nurse from Catholic Health’s St. Joseph To her surprise, the store respondCOVID-19 Facility who in turn ed that they were able to partner received one of the 200 bracelets with Southtowns Dental in Lackathe store gave away. She said it wanna to donate 100 “We Are made the nurse so happy that she Kind” bracelets for the frontliners. wondered if the idea could be replicated locally. She then messaged Janet and many of her co-workers Graeber Jewelers in West Seneca were presented the bracelets in a with her idea. ceremony held on May 5.
Dogs Came Off FURRlough to Comfort Staff
Covid Chronicles APRIL 13— Catholic Health launches Hearts for WNY Heroes Campaign to honor associates APRIL 14—St. Joseph Post-Acute Center Opens
On his first day back on the job since his February FURRlough, therapy dog Einstein appears very content with petting from ICU staff, Maria White, NP; Niky Wedzina, NP and Dr. Chris Wilcox. In July, New York State approved Erie County SPCA’s Paws for Love program to resume operations by providing stress-reducing therapy for essential workers. Stress relief events were held on July 14 and August 12 with more to come. It’s a PAWSitively great program!
In April, first responders from Orchard Park Fire Department (FD), Hillcrest FD, and Windsor FD formed a convoy that circled Mercy Hospital to show their support and salute the staff.
Physician Sends Important Community Message As part of National Stroke Awareness Month in May , Dr. Lee Guterman, PhD, MD, Medical Director of Neurosciences for Catholic Health, sent an important message to our community about the need to seek emergency care when experiencing signs and symptoms of stroke. Channel 7 News interviews Dr. Lee Guterman. In several interviews with news media, Dr. Guterman expressed concern that people were delaying emergency treatment for critical care needs at hospitals due to fear of COVID-19.
“We are taking all measures to keep our patients and staff safe at the hospital, including health screenings and masking, and Covid testing regardless of symptoms for inpatients,” said Guterman.
On May 4, Mayor Byron Brown showed gratitude to Mercy staff by donating meals prepared by Kevin’s Catering. The generous donation kicked off our National Hospital and Nurses Week celebration.
ECMO Therapy, continued from page 1 While studies show the survival rate for ECMO patients with lung issues is around 60% to 70%, the survival rate for ECMO COVID patients is still being determined. As a member of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), an international consortium of healthcare institutions, the Heart Center is participating in a COVID-19 Registry, which is tracking COVID patients who have used ECMO and sharing the latest information with providers. “Because there is an increased risk of clotting and bleeding, ECMO is a very labor intensive treatment
requiring 24/7, one-on-one care and constant monitoring by both a Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) critical care nurse and an ECMO specialist or perfusionist,” said Dr. Jain. “We have five ECMO machines at Mercy and many of our CVICU nurses are certified ECMO specialists, which means they have advanced training to provide the highest quality care.” Dr. Jain summed it up best when he said, “We are extremely proud of our dedicated ECMO team, and to see these patients get another chance at life and reunite with their family, loved ones and friends is very gratifying.”
On May 12, Mercy Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Henry Meltser captured this beautiful image of the U.S. Air Force flyover as it passed by Mercy Hospital to honor front line workers across the region.
In June,Tarantino Foods and ProAct US food distributors donated 400 cases of fresh produce for staff. Pictured above are Annmarie Gardon, Krista Martinez and Angie Boggs.
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Sweet Mercy! People In The News
Dawn Proctor, RN, of the Emergency Department, left, and Jessica Taft, RN, of 5 McAuley East Unit were recently honored with LOVE Awards. The award recognizes staff who Live Our Values Effectively in the work they do each day for our patients.
Mary Anne Murphy
Alexandra Rabarsky
Patient Care Services is pleased to announce that Mary Anne Murphy, RN, MS, IBCLC, C-EFM, Director of Maternal Child Services has been named the 2020 Nurse of Distinction. Alexandra Rabarsky, RN, BSN, CCRN, CSC, nurse in the CVICU, has been named Staff Nurse of the Year. Congratulations to Rachel Weber, Pharm.D., of Mercy Hospital’s Pharmacy Department for recently being honored with Catholic Health’s Great Catch Award. She identified a potential patient safety concern Rachel Weber while working at Catholic Health’s COVID-19 Treatment Facility at St. Joseph Campus and immediately addressed it. Congratulations to Danielle Morski, RN, BSN, who was named Mercy Hospital’s ICU Nurse of the Year. This annual award recognizes a nurse who excels in compassionate communication with patients and families and Danielle Morski exemplifies the mission and values of Catholic Health in her daily work.
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Congratulations to our DAISY Award Winners Mercy Hospital presented its 3rd and 4th Quarter DAISY Awards to Katie Murphy (4 North), Rachel Cohen (7 West), and Garrett Sontag (7 East). The DAISY Award, which recognizes extraordinary DAISY Award Winner Katie Murphy, center, is concompassionate nurses, gratulated by her co-workers on 4 North Unit. was established by the DAISY Foundation in participate in the program. memory of J. Patrick Barnes Nomination forms can be found in who died at age 33 of an autothe lobby, surgical waiting room, immune disease. Today, nearly nurse stations and cafeteria. 2,500 hospitals across the world
Staff Recognized with Shining Star Awards Congratulations to Mercy Hospital’s latest Shining Star Award recipients: Meshell Draves (ITA), Jennifer Galluzzi (EVS), Lamonte Lane and Ivan Yosifov (Transport). Transport associates Ivan Yosifov and Lamonte Lane,
center, receive kudos from (l.-r.) Barbara George; Mercy
The Catholic President Eddie Bratko; CNO Shari McDonald; VP of CWA Health/CWA Local 1133 Kathy Kelly, Mike Galbraith, and Maria Grinder. Local 1133 Labornize and celebrate the outstanding Management work of our Service, Technical, and Steering Committee established Clerical (STS) associates. the Shining Star Award to recog-
Important Reminders Managers who oversee departments that require Epic training were expected to have their associates registered for classes by August 1. If you have not completed this important part of the process, please do so immediately. Visit myCHU HealthStream, which can be found on the new Be Epic website under or left side of the Catholic Health intranet page. The training period for most associates (who are not Credentialed Trainers or Super Users) begins September 8. Go-Live is set for November 1, 2020. Miles for Mercy, formerly the Mercy Scrub Run, has gone virtual this year! From Friday, September 11 through Sat., September 19, you can now run, walk or bike a 10K, 5K or 1 mile fun run to benefit the Mercy Hospital Foundation. All Catholic Health associates will receive a 25% discount towards any participation level with promo code: CH2020. For more details or to register, visit their website at: https://MilesForMercy.itsyourrace.com/ .