4 The CaTalysT, January 18, 2013
CUrrentS Jan. 15 People–Fostering employee pride and loyalty Employee of the Month q Willette Smith, Business Development & Marketing Services, was recognized for her work in assisting the department’s student intern in organizing and preparing a direct mail project. q Jocelynn Reece, HCC Scheduling, was praised for assisting nursing staff and calming a confused infusion patient. q Randy Pilsch, R.N., 9E, was recognized for ensuring the safety of patients when another agitated patient began being destructive on the unit. Pilsch secured patient rooms and staff work areas. Human Resources update Helena Bastian, HR director, reported on the following information: Status change/wage reduction notification — employees who reduce hours, have a shift change or have a wage reduction must sign a status change/ wage reduction notification. q Open enrollment for State Optional Retirement Program (ORP) participants — Jan. 1 to March 1. For information, contact Mark Stimpson, stimpso@musc. edu or Cindy Locklair, locklaic@musc. edu or call 800-868-9002. q Employees can now access their W-4 forms, review their withholdings, etc. Employees should sign the form and submit it to HR. q SuccessFactors – 360 Staff Peer Review can be conducted any time between January and July; recommend to include about 10 raters; classroom training scheduled (January through March); visit the MUHA intranet for information; high/solid/low conversations are due Feb. 28. q Policy #29 – Time and Attendance Additions – Salaried (exempt) employees may be required to clock in and out for attendance purposes utilizing their ID badges; PTO usage for working on a designated holiday – Employee should submit a request for leave form to the supervisor for documentation purposes;
Employees are required to submit a Request for Leave form indicating educational time to the supervisor; in order to be paid properly, employees who work during a lunch period or whose lunch is interrupted should submit a time entry form to their manager to be paid for the lunch period q Policy #4 – Employment: Section C — Qualifications: An employee must be in his or her current position a minimum of six months and be in good standing without any disciplinary action before he or she is eligible to apply for a transfer. The six-month waiting requirement may be waived if the position is being adversely affected due to position elimination. The employee’s manager may waive this requirement. Section J — Waiting Period: SCRS, PORS, and SCORP retirees who did not participate in the TERI program must wait 30 consecutive calendar days before returning to employment. Failure to wait will result in the suspension of retirement payments while the retiree remains re-employed by the covered employer. Section K — Salary of Post-Retirement/ Post-TERI employees: Based on rules of the SCRS and PORS, there may be earning limitations associated with postretirement or post-TERI re-employment q Policy #18 — Paid Time Off: Effective Jan. 27, all eligible employees will accrue PTO and Extended Sick Leave (ESL). PTO and ESL accrual maximums that can carry over into the new calendar year will remain the same. For the updated tables, visit http:// mcintranet.musc.edu/hr. Wellness update Susan Johnson, Ph.D., Office of Health Promotion, confirmed that effective March 1, the use of tobacco products will be prohibited on all streets and sidewalks within the medical district as defined by the City of Charleston ordinance as well as all property owned or leased by MUSC. The benefit of the month is weight management featuring lunch time losers, MUSC Moves!, weekly Zumba and
To Medical Center Employees: Several weeks ago, Dr. Raymond Greenberg, MUSC president, asked that I serve as interim executive director, MUSC medical center, following Stuart Smith’s retirement. I am honored to serve in this capacity during the transitional period until a “permanent” replacement is on the job. I retired as chief executive officer of Palmetto Health several years ago, but I continue to be involved in health care in various capacities. I have always had great admiration for Dr. Greenberg, and I am deeply committed to MUSC’s noble mission. During the past few weeks, I have absorbed a great deal of information, and I have shared my observations and suggestions with leaders throughout MUSC. I feel confident the MUSC clinical enterprise is taking the right steps to formulate a broad-based action plan to address the financial and other challenges being faced by MUSC and the heath-care industry. It is a pleasure to work with everyone. Thank you very much. Kester Freeman Interim Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center Lunch and Learn events. Visit http://www.musc.edu/ employeewellness.
Quality – Providing quality patient care in a safe environment
Walter Limehouse, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, reviewed details of a new policy related to public health emergencies and allocation of resources which originally grew from a statewide initiative that preceded the H1N1 pandemic flu situation. The policy was originally intended for use during the pandemic flu but was expanded for use in all public health emergencies. According to Limehouse, for a public health triage the focus is routinely on treating individuals. In a disaster triage and public health emergency, the focus shifts from individuals to community in an effort to safeguard maximum lives. The governor is the primary person to implement this policy using the Emergency Health Powers Act during a state of emergency. This policy is an element of MUSC’s clinical services
disaster plan and focuses on resource allocation. A resource allocation team will work in parallel with the center’s incident command center.
Service – Serving the public with compassion, respect and excellence
Brian Fletcher, R.N., Clinical Services Disaster Preparedness program manager, reminded managers to review their department or unit’s emergency response plan (also a Joint Commission requirement). Any changes must be listed, dated and initialed on a review/ change notice sheet. Non-changes should be initialed and recorded. All changes should be discussed with staff. To confirm each employee’s understanding of this, staff must complete an attestation form. Completed forms should be placed in each unit’s plan binder. All forms can be found in MUHA’s emergency management toolbox. Deadline to complete the forms is Jan. 31. Announcement q Pam Marek, Decision Support analyst, announced the URL change of Action OI . The new link is https:// actionwwoi.truvenhealth.com. q The next meeting is Feb. 5.