INSIDE INSPIRA OCTOBER 2021
The fall season is upon us! Members of the Inspira Women's Imaging Center Vineland team are here to help harvest good health and support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pictured from left: Clarisse Edwards, medical sonographer, Allison Lawyer, M.D., Lourdes Ruiz, MRI technologist, Lori Hullihen, mammography technologist, Linda LaRosa, office clerk, Amanda Solometo, R.N.
LEADERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS Julie Ellis, MBA, SHRM-SCP, Appointed Vice President of Human Resources Julie H. Ellis, MBA, SHRM-SCP, joined Inspira as vice president of Human Resources effective September 7. Aligned with Inspira’s new strategic plan, Ellis has been chosen to further elevate the organization and quality of care through employee recruitment and retention efforts, as well as notable partnerships with the business community and other stakeholders. Through her role, she will solidify Inspira’s employee strategy to continuously improve its talent pool and pipeline for growth, and ultimately its role in the community. Ellis has more than 20 years of experience in human resources within the health care industry, most recently serving as assistant vice president of Human Resources for Kennedy Health System, now part of Thomas Jefferson University.
Ellis will work alongside Anneliese McMenamin, chief human resources officer, and support employee recruitment, engagement and retention efforts, as well as drive human resource business policies for the organization. Throughout the development and execution of various initiatives, Ellis’ strategic expertise will ensure all efforts align with Inspira’s mission, vision and values to both foster internal growth and optimize the patient experience. Ellis holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Labor and Industrial Relations from Pennsylvania State University, as well as a master’s degree in Business Administration from Rutgers University. She also has a Senior Certified Professional Certification from the Society for Human Resources Management, where she is an active member. She is also actively involved in The Pennsylvania State University Alumni Mentorship Program, New Jersey Hospital Association, and Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey HR Council.
Dr. Steven Krefetz Appointed
Vice President of Physician Integrated Services Steven Krefetz, Ph.D., joined Inspira as vice president of Physician Integrated Services effective September 13. Krefetz has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, most recently serving as the vice president of Physician Advocacy at New Jersey Urology. Prior to that, he worked as the senior director of Operations at Axia Women’s Health and regional director of Operations at Specialty Care in Nashville. Krefetz brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in directing operations, strategic planning, regulatory compliance and team management to ensure operational efficiency, while driving aggressive future business growth plans. As Vice President of Inspira Medical Group, Krefetz will support and advance the implementation of Inspira’s strategic plan by focusing on
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driving ambitious business growth plans and guiding the network on the path forward. “A key pillar of Inspira’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of our community, and Steven’s leadership in driving our primary, specialty and surgical care through IMG will further enable us to support a healthier South Jersey,” said Warren Moore, FACHE, executive vice president, Chief Operating Officer. “His experience in strategic planning, operations and management will only strengthen the care we provide to our patients.” Krefetz holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Widener University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Perfusion from Drexel University. He also holds a Master of Science in Education from Capella University, a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology from Capella University and a Master of Business Administration in Business from LSU University.
Congratulations Employees of the Month! Compassion Ana Maldonado, medical assistant, Inspira Medical Group General and Vascular Surgery Woodbury “Ana is always kind and professional. She is devoted to her patients and her team. She supports her patients, peers and providers with such a loving heart. Ana is genuine and cares for anyone she meets. Her work ethic exceeds expectations and many patients speak highly of her.”
Access Carol Middleton, R.N., Interventional Radiology, Vineland “Carol serves as the go-to resource for staff, physicians, and other departments. Her extensive knowledge provides a solid platform for all care providers and facilitates superior care to our patients. She does so much to support the team and our physicians so that we can provide the very best care to our patients.”
Compassion Catherine Jones, nurse practitioner, LIFE
“Cathy demonstrates extraordinary care and compassion with every patient. “She is a role model to the LIFE Primary Care Providers as well as the rest of the care team. There is a constant stream of accolades for Cathy's deep connectedness and care for patients.”
Innovation Karen Koontz, R.N., 2 South, Elmer
“Karen cares for her patients with compassion even when the patient needs additional assistance. Karen knows how to calm the patients and is excellent in critical situations. She is able to think critically and provides excellent care. Karen exemplifies Inspira’s core values and is an asset to our team.”
Reliability Ralph Pezzano, painter, Facilities Engineering, Mullica Hill “Ralph sets an example of Inspira's core values. Every time you see Ralph painting, spackling, or correcting the walls in our building he will always stop, smile and say hello to someone walking by. Ralph keeps our building looking beautiful. He is always friendly, warm and goes out of his way for anyone he encounters.”
Compassion Michael Mcenery, paramedic, Ground Transport, Ambulatory
“Mike helped a co-worker when they needed assistance with a flat tire. He took the time to stop and assist without question. As a paramedic, he strives to give patients and anyone he meets the Wow experience. His time and thoughtfulness were greatly appreciated in his co-worker’s time of need.”
As employees, we have a vested interest in the kind of organization Inspira is and what it can be. The ALL in! Employee Giving Campaign is your opportunity to join your colleagues in supporting the development of our health care network and community. Last year’s campaign raised more than $96,750 from 400+ employees, and every dollar has been invested to make a positive impact on our patients and in our community. We’re eager to see what we can accomplish together this year...with your help, we’ll reach our goal of raising $100,000!
WHY should I support Inspira? Inspira is a non-profit health care organization relying on philanthropic support from community members, patients, corporations, foundations, and YOU – our Inspira Family – to provide the highest quality care and improve the lives of all we serve. You may not recognize it, but the impact of donations surrounds you every day. And your participation can inspire others to give! Your support demonstrates to colleagues, patients, and the community that you believe in the mission of Inspira Health.
HOW can I participate? Payroll Deduction (Most Popular) Click the “ALL in!” icon on ANY Inspira desktop to take you directly to the payroll deduction form (NOTE: you must be connected to Direct Access for this to work). Gifts can be deducted from your paycheck throughout the year (split across 26 bi-weekly pay periods) or made one-time. Deductions will take place the first pay period in January 2022. Credit Card Visit InspiraFoundation.org/Employee to make your one-time gift with a credit card. Cash & Check Forms are available online HERE. Please drop off or mail your contribution and completed form in a sealed envelope to the Foundation office: 159 Bridgeton Pike, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062.
WHERE can I designate my gift? YOU decide how your gift will be invested – and this year, there are more designations available than ever before! Click here to learn more about the 2021 giving options!
Wellness Compliance Are you enrolled in the Horizon Omnia or HAS MyWay medical plan offered to Inspira employees? If you want to keep your rates low, make sure to fulfill the wellness requirements before December 31! The Wellness Compliance program offers lower rates to employees who meet the requirements. Click here to check your compliance status. For more information, go to the Wellness Compliance site or the HR Inspiranet site.
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DAISY Award Winner
ELMER
Mary Tiernan,
R.N., Intensive Care Unit “Mary is a special, caring nurse who will always have a special place in the hearts of Edith’s family. Mary met Edie while she was in the Elmer ICU fighting COVID. She took care of Edie several times during her two-week stay. On Edie’s final day, Mary arranged for Edie’s family to visit after explaining, to her husband, that Edie had wished to start palliative care. The family was able to visit with her through the window and talk on the phone with her. Mary offered support while Edie talked with her husband, children, and sister for the last time. After the family left and palliative care was started, Edie’s passing happened quickly. Mary stayed with her, held her hand and prayed with her during her passing. Edie had peace with her passing but had expressed “I’ll have to die alone”. This had to have been comforting for Edie to have Mary hold her hand. I know it meant the world to the family to have someone with her when they were not allowed.”
MULLICA HILL
Unit Clerk, 5 Acute
“Kathy approaches every situation with the purest of intentions and is always there to help. Every time I work with her, I am impressed by her dedication to her job and willingness to go above and beyond to assist the staff. There are many reasons why she deserves this recognition but this one situation, proved once again how selfless she truly is.
& A f fi r m i n g L i v e s
Kathy Wolfrom,
P e r f o r m i n g E x c e p t i o n a l Ta s k s
We had a patient admitted to our floor who had been bed bound after a massive stroke. His wife was his advocate and sole caregiver. The patient was successfully rehabilitated in the hospital and was about to be discharged home. A few hours post discharge, it was brought to the staff’s attention that he had forgotten some of his personal belongings, including his Prevalon boots. These boots are particularly important because they relieve pressure from bony prominences to prevent injury. Since this patient was bed bound, he was more at risk for pressure injury. Kathy immediately called the number listed to see if someone from home would be able to come back and recover his belongings. The patient’s wife was unable to come back, as she was now caring for her husband, but expressed worry that he would be without the boots. Kathy, without hesitation, confirmed the patient’s address and promised she would bring them to their home. Kathy had already agreed to stay later to assist the night shift, who would be without a clerk that night. She worked from 7am to 11pm and managed to drive to the patient’s house to deliver his belongings after clocking out. Kathy did all this knowing that she still had to get up and come back to work in the morning, as she was scheduled for another shift. Kathy does these great deeds without expectation of reward. She displays integrity, compassion, and selflessness in everything she does - because that is who she is in her core.”
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Learning Boards Mary Charlesworth, director of Inspira’s Access Center shared, “Maria Fiorani, Supervisor of Access Center, Melissa (Missy) Manupello, Safety Coach and Patient Access Liaison and I hold our department Huddle virtually via Microsoft Teams three days a week. Missy kicks off the meeting with a Safety Message, reviews updates from the monthly Safety Coach Meeting and Infection Control COVID-19 numbers. Maria and I complete a look back and look forward on key topics of the day that impact employee and patient safety, such as location closures, COVID-19 precautions. And the staff loved the Strategic Plan updates with the new Mission, Vison and Values.” In light of COVID-19 the Access Center maintained a hybrid setting with staff working in the office and remotely to practice social distancing - making the use of a physical Learning Board very difficult. The Access Center moved to a Virtual Learning Board and has never looked back! Missy shares her screen during the Department Huddle and reviews the Virtual Learning Board with the team. Staff have the opportunity to add their concerns on their own time and during huddles. A huge win for the Access Center was the Engagement and Safety Survey Action Plan items that moved quickly across the Learning Board to the Solved (green) section. First, Employee of the Month Recognition was refreshed for the department. In addition to Living the Promise Recognition, the department holds a special Employee of the Month celebration where Mary and Maria dress as Batman and Robin to celebrate the Employee of the Month. The employee receives a gift from their special personal wish list and is celebrated during a huddle.
ACCESS CENTER, INSPIRA HEALTH Second, staff identified a process issue with accessing the MRI Prep Reference Sheet when on the phone with patients. Maria worked with Information Systems to build the MRI Prep Reference Sheet in Soarian Financial for on the spot access. The third item that moved quickly across the Learning Board to the Solved (green) section was standard scripting for Access Center staff when they receive a call that expresses the potential of self-harm. Mary shared, “It was a concern that was added to our Learning Board following an event that occurred when an employee received a call from a patient that was unable to access Crisis resources and the
24-hour County Crisis Hotline was going to voicemail. The employee ARCCed this concern to Missy. Missy contacted Bonnie Price, director of Behavioral Health who was able to assist the patient immediately. This event prompted an immediate action plan for Standard Scripting, which included collaborating across several departments including Access Center, Behavioral Health, and Quality and Patient Safety.
Dawn Morace, manager of Inspira Medical Group General and Vascular Surgery Mullica Hill, holds her department huddles daily with staff in front of the department Learning Board. During the huddle, Dawn completes a look back and look forward on high-risk patients, staffing issues, days since last, network updates and a high level overview from items reported on the Ambulatory Daily Safety Briefing. Staff are encouraged to bring safety concerns to the huddle, where they are reviewed and added to the Learning Board. Susan Smuzinsky, safety coach and surgical scheduler/ medical assistant shared, “The learning board is a great communication tool. Since we've moved to the Leading-Edge Cancer Center in Mullica Hill our work stations are so spread out, except for electronic communication, we have no other way of keeping up-to-date on issues being worked on or that have been resolved. We also like to decorate it with photos of our office and team members’ accomplishments.” A recent item that moved from the New (red) section to the Solved (green) section of the Learning Board was Staffing – Onboard Additional Surgeon. Staff made this request to help safely care for their patients and prevent employee and provider burnout.
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INSPIRA MEDICAL GROUP GENERAL & VASCULAR SURGERY MULLICA HILL
In early August the team had the honor of welcoming Christopher Bashian, D.O., to the team! Dawn shared, “He is a great asset and brings ambition, support to the existing surgeons, new ideas, and completes our team! It was a great, successful month onboarding him!”
Pictured from left to right: Ana Maldonado, medical assistant; Sharon Romer, medical assistant; Taneta Mason-Holland, medical assistant; Christopher Bashian, D.O.; Susan Smuzinsky, safety coach, surgical scheduler/ medical assistant; and Dawn Morace, manager.
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MULLICA HILL
Safety Story Heuristics are mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load of making decisions and allow us to process faster. When our mind learns a heuristic, we can see and identify a familiar object in slightly less than one second with no effort. Heuristics are patterns of patterns in the mind. Think of a spoon – and a spoon appears in your mind. That is a heuristic. Your mind knows that spoon well and will treat the spoon as a spoon. Now note the photo to the right. This is a heuristic gone bad. This is a bottle of hand sanitizer – but the packaging looks like a soft drink. If we do not practice self-check using STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Review), someone could accidentally ingest the hand sanitizer and become injured. Chrissy Oatman, supervisor and safety coach for Ground Transport, self-checked using STAR and noticed that the hand sanitizer looked very similar to a soft drink. Oatman found the bottle on the breakroom counter and identified the concern. Our Supply Chain team confirmed that this was NOT an Inspira provided product. Ground Transport leaders, along with Supply Chain, removed all product from the stations and replaced with Inspira provided hand sanitizer. This lesson was spread to all Ground Transport, reported on the EMS Safety Brief, reviewed at huddle, and communicated at our safety coach meeting. So, heuristics can be good, or they can be bad. Our job is to decide which. And that is why we have our safety behaviors such as STAR. When our self-checking finds a bad heuristic like the one Oatman found, we can take action to remove the hazard from the work environment.
Safety Tool of the Month: Speak Up Using ARCC
ARCC
A responsibility to protect in a manner of mutual respect – an assertion and escalation technique
Ask a question Request a change Communicate a concern if no success, use the
Chain of Command
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Interested in becoming a Safety Coach?
See below to learn more!
What is a Safety Coach? Safety Coaches are considered “super users” of high reliability tools and behaviors. They act as valuable liaisons between staff and managers to identify, address and eliminate potential or real safety risks or concerns during the course of their normal day. In addition, Safety Coaches serve as safety “experts” within their unit or department and assist with the roll out of safety-related policies/procedures/processes and facilitate the development of a culture of safety at the local level.
WHAT IS A SAFETY COACH’S RESPONSIBILITY? Safety coaches will attend monthly Safety Coach Meetings, continuously coach colleagues, encourage others to coach for safety and help spur safety improvement initiatives in their areas.
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AS A LEADER OF A SAFETY COACH? • Ensure the Safety Coach is available to attend the monthly Safety Coach Meeting. • Ensure the Safety Coach has time allotted at each monthly staff meeting to share safety education, discuss key policies and to listen to safety concerns that staff may have. • Ensure the Safety Coaches are allotted time to complete audits and other safety coach related tasks.
• Ensure the Safety Coach Program is being promoted in the department and that the Safety Coach is being recognized as the `Voice of Safety’ by their peers. • Ensure the Safety Coach is being recognized for the work they are doing to improve safety and support Inspira Health’s Culture of Safety.
What are next steps for you as a leader if you need to select or replace a department Safety Coach? • Identify frontline staff who have embraced our high reliability tools and behaviors and are committed to championing safety each and every day in your department! • Each department should identify at least one staff member to be trained as a Safety Coach. Departments that operate 24/7 should identify Safety Coaches on both day and night shifts. Ambulatory sites (i.e., Inspira Medical Group) should identify at least one Safety Coach for each site. • Communicate their role as a Safety Coach not only to them but your whole department!
For more information on Safety Coaches, contact Katy Perez at perezk@ihn.org.
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Inspira Behavioral Health Teams Support Holidays for Heroes Besides blood drives and disaster relief programs, the American Red Cross supports our troops overseas with reminders of home by providing food care packages, personal hygiene care packages as well as holiday greeting messages. Inspira’s Behavioral Health teams at Bridgeton, including the outpatient child and adolescent, as well as the in-patient adult units, utilized therapy time to create holiday greeting cards and messages for the troops. Altogether they created more than 150 cards.
Pictured front row, left to right: Teri Black, director, Child Partial Care; Jerniece Saez, clinician; Mandy Schuhl, clinician; Back row left to right: Brooke Wilkins, child life counselor; Stacie Zak, occupational therapist; Andrea Kier, occupational therapist.
Congratulations Inspira Medical Center Vineland for receiving the
Congratulations Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill for receiving the
American Heart Association
American Heart Association
Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Diabetes Honor Roll Award.
Resuscitation Gold Award.
Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines
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Get Your Flu Shot October 1 - December 15, 2021
In an effort to keep our patients, families, and ourselves safe, Inspira Health requires that all employees receive the influenza vaccine. A few reminders about the mandatory flu vaccine campaign: • Receiving the influenza vaccine is a condition of employment at Inspira Health, and it has been the law in the State of New Jersey since January 2020. o The program includes employees, students, volunteers, contracted staff, and physicians working within the walls of Inspira Health. • If your plan is to request a Medical Exemption for the 2021-2022 flu season, you must submit medical records documenting evaluation and treatment for the condition for which you are requesting exemption by October 1st. No request will be reviewed without supporting documentation. No exemption request will be accepted for review after the deadline. Examples of documentation that will not be accepted: • A note on a prescription pad stating, “…excuse from a flu shot…” or “…patient allergic to flu shot…” or patient should not have a flu shot…” • Submission of just the Medical Exemption Request without supporting documentation Examples of acceptable documentation: • A narrative from the physician stating that they’ve seen you and treated you for the issue for which exemption is being sought • Medical Records from the ED or physician who saw you for the issue for which exemption is being sought Additional information: • If you will be receiving a vaccine at one of our clinics, you must have your consent completed. There will not be blank consents available at the clinics. Blank consent forms can be found on Inspiranet or in emails from Employee Health/Marlene Fischer. • If an employee is on Leave of Absence between September and November 2021, they will need to receive or provide documentation of receipt prior to being cleared to return to work • Flu vaccines are available at any of the vaccine clinics, a community pharmacy, your physician office, or Inspira pharmacy. The Retail Pharmacies in Vineland and Mullica will be taking walk-ins for flu vaccines from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Flu clinics in all of our facilities will allow for appropriate social distancing to keep you safe. Our Laurel Springs, Williamstown, and East Vineland Urgent Cares will also serve as "flu vaccine centers" for employees. Departmental "deputies" are also being identified to aide in accessibility. If you receive a vaccine at a non-Inspira location, please provide documentation that includes your name, the date of vaccination, vaccine lot number, and vaccine expiration date.
Questions regarding the mandatory flu vaccine? Email employeehealth@ihn.org