Digital Edition of HUPdate - 9/18/2015

Volume 26

Number 19

September 18, 2015

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

One Week…and Counting HUP Prepares for the Pope’s Visit

Trash pick-up in the middle of the night.

Hundreds of cots and air mattresses in Penn Tower. Shower trucks. These are just some of the special arrangements that have been put in place at HUP for Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to Philadelphia next week.

Planning for the event started months ago throughout the Health System. “A huge cross section of people have been involved in the planning,” said Bernard Dyer, director of UPHS Safety and Emergency Management.

“The depth and willingness of people to help out is amazing. All groups have stepped up to do their part.”

Re-Creating a Hotel An estimated 2,300 employees will be working shifts between Thursday night, September 25, and the following Monday

INSIDE Sparking an Interest in Oncology Nursing.....................3 Penn’s United Front Against MS................................3 New Knowledge Link Training......................................4 Nominations for Master Clinician.........................4

morning. While not everyone will need to sleep over, Carolyn Jackson, COO, will be there … “as will 1,000 of my closest friends,” she said kiddingly.

Penn Tower returns to its roots as a hotel for that weekend for the majority of employees.

(Others will sleep in conferences rooms, their offices and oncall rooms at HUP). “Up to 650 people can sleep in Penn Tower each night,” Jackson said, adding that another 350 — those working the night shift — will take their turns during the day. “The bridge to the hospital will remain open as well,” she said. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and the city will provide many of the necessary cots and air mattresses; Materials Management will supply linens, pillows and blankets.

T he depth and willingness of people to help out is amazing.

All groups have stepped up to do their part. hospital cleaning, they’ll need to get at least seven floors in Penn Tower ready for employees, turn over the sleeping spaces each day, and clean the showers in the trucks. EVS is also stocking up on supplies, like paper towels and toilet paper. “These are things you never think about until you run out,” said Steve Gaynes, director of EVS Operations. “Then it becomes the most important thing in the world!”

Providing daily showers for these employees was a challenge; as Penn Tower nears demolition, the building has only one working shower! The solution? Portable shower trucks. Two, each with eight showers and changing rooms, will arrive on site next week. “They’ll back in from 38th street, and set up in Miller Plaza,” said Robert Fisher, director of Materials Management.

EVS will bring on more employees for the weekend as well. In addition to normal

`` Shower trucks like these will be set up in Miller Plaza for those working shifts during the pope’s visit next weekend.

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HUP Prepares for the Pope’s Visit Food Services will also ramp up its efforts, following a normal weekday schedule during the weekend with “more substantial meals between 9 pm and midnight, if people want them,” Jackson said. They’ll also be serving ‘lunch’ for the night shift between 2 and 4 am. “We’ll have sandwiches, salads, and made-to-order eggs and burgers,” said executive chef Dan Soley.

Weather permitting, they also plan to have barbecues on both Saturday and Sunday in Miller’s Plaza. All employees staying over will receive meal vouchers.

We’re trying to be prepared from every angle. [This is] a potentially huge thing.

We prepare the best we can… and keep everyone calm.

What type of entertainment will employees have when not working? “We surveyed employees about what they’d like.

Top contenders are a movie marathon, football watching party — the Eagles are playing that Sunday — and viewing the Papal event,” Jackson said, adding that “board games came in a distant fourth… with karaoke a really distant fifth!”

While the major issues have been tackled, sometimes it’s the smaller, less obvious matters that can cause the big problems.

HUP’s planning teams have spent months trying to cover every eventuality. “We are constantly trying to think about what can go wrong,” she said. What if some piece of critical equipment, like an MRI, breaks?

Or an elevator stops working? No worries.

They got that covered.

(continued from page 1)

Penn Police to the Rescue!

Due to the traffic exclusion zone, all elective procedures and outpatient visits in Center City and University City practices have been rescheduled, but getting patients in and out of the restricted zone for emergency situations proved to be another hurdle.

Penn Police stepped up to the plate to help. “They are one of our big allies,” Dyer said. “When the city extended the restricted area to include HUP, they worked with Philadelphia police to allow access.”

Whether it’s a patient needing to get to the ED or a woman in labor, “we’ll coordinate their access to HUP through the hospital command center,” Dyer said. “We’ll tell the patient which way to come and the Penn police will be waiting.’”

The Penn Police will also help HUP’s daily deliveries and pickups get through. “We need to get two trucks in and out of the area every day for dirty linen pickup and clean linen delivery,” Fisher said. And the same goes for trash pickup. Penn Police will escort these trucks through the restricted area and back out … between midnight and 4 am each day.

But, just in case, HUP will also have a threeday supply of linen on hand. “We can’t assume the trucks will be able to deliver in and out,” Fisher said. “We’ll also have a lot of extra medical supplies on hand.”

Agency) algorithm, which takes into account a variety of factors, including the hospital’s distance from the event, “we expect between eight or nine percent of the total ED visits generated to come here,” Jackson said.

Even that small percentage could translate into hundreds of people coming to HUP’s emergency department but Robin Weingarten, ED nurse manager, said the staff is ready to handle whatever comes in. “We think the people who come will differ from our usual, with more of an elderly population or those with chronic health problems,” she said, adding that the ED staffs from all three UPHS inner-city hospitals are working together and will be able to help each other if necessary. Mona Matson of Patient and Guest Services has tackled potential language barriers, ensuring that translations for over 150 languages will be available via phone.

“We looked at many scenarios, from mass casualties to a decontamintion incident.

We’re trying to be prepared from every angle,” Weingarten said. “This is the same kind of mindset that we had for Ebola. It’s a potentially huge thing. We prepare the best we can … and keep everyone calm.”

Ready to Handle Whatever Comes Clearly no one knows exactly how many people will come into Philadelphia for the pope’s visit but HUP planners are basing preparations on 1.5 million. Using a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management

Papal Visit Preparations To learn more about the pope’s visit, go to the UPHS Intranet home page and click on Papal Visit.

In addition, the Papal Visit Playbook, an in-depth guide about what to expect, is available at http://www.worldmeeting2015.org/papal-visit-playbook-homepage.

It provides a comprehensive list of do’s and don’ts for visitors and a transportation plan overview. Keep checking the site for pedestrian maps and walking routes to special dining and event offerings. `` A three-day supply of linen will be available at HUP during the papal visit.

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SPARKI N G an Interest  IN ONCOLOGY NURSING What better way to stimulate interest in a career in oncology nursing than to shadow and be mentored by the professionals themselves?

This was Frederick Flynn, Jr’s vision when he created the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship program in memory of his wife, who lost her battle to cancer in 2013. He partnered with Regina Cunningham, PhD, chief nurse executive, and Paula Watkins, MSN, nurse manager on Rhoads 7, to develop this fellowship, which selects from rising senior nursing students enrolled at the Penn School of Nursing or Villanova University. The eight-week summer program not only allows students to interact with nurses on oncology units but across the entire continuum of cancer care as well.

“The greatest aspect of the program is getting to view oncology from different angles,” said Nyasia White, who, along with John Doner and Molly Becker, comprised this year’s fellows. “We were exposed to radiation, chemotherapy, palliative care, home health, and hospice care, as well as oncology in the OR and oncology units.”

Added Doner, “I thought being able to see the continuum of care and interdisciplinary collaboration was really valuable.”

At a celebration at the end of the fellowship, Mauri Sullivan, MSN, clinical director of Oncology Nursing, thanked Flynn “for bringing this wonderful fellowship to life at HUP. You stimulated us to imagine a new way to engage nursing students with experiential learning and igniting a passion for oncology nursing.”

`` From left: Frederick Flynn; fellows Nyasia White, John Doner, and Molly Beck; and Paula Watkins.

“It’s amazing what happened here in less than a year, thanks to you and this great supporting cast,” Flynn told the oncology nursing staff.

“I couldn’t ask for better partners.”

Planning has already begun for the class of 2016, Watkins said. “We anticipate the success of this program to continue to grow and have been truly amazed by the caliber of the students, their mentors, and overall support across the organization.”

Penn’s United Front against MS “MS is a devastating disease, marked by fatigue, numbness and often visual impairment caused by lesions or areas of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord,” said Clyde Markowitz, MD, director of Penn’s Multiple Sclerosis Center. A disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body, MS strips away the myelin or protective coating around the nerves. This causes the nerves to be susceptible to MS “attacks” — varied and unpredictable symptoms depending upon where in the body they occur — and the development of lesions or scar tissue in areas of myelin damage. There is no cure.

Help raise money to fight this devastating disease by joining Team UPHS/PENN in the MS-150 bike ride on October 3 and 4. This year’s system-wide goal is to recruit 325 team members and raise $150,000.

The MS Society and Penn Medicine have a longstanding partnership. Since 2004, the Society has invested over $6.2 million in UPHS research.

 To learn more and register for the ride, go to http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/UPHS-UPENN.

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Heartfelt Thanks

I want to express my deepest appreciation for the care you extended to me during my extended stay for my esophagectomy procedure…Overall I am feeling a little stronger each day and a little more confident and positive.

There are so many people who I want to thank for their care and understanding…. One evening when I was walking I took notice and read your Mission Statement on the wall near my room. Your care accomplished the objectives in that statement and your management should be proud of your efforts. To everyone on Ravdin 6, thank you for your care, compassion, understanding, and for holding my hand and getting me through the recovery process.

Occupational Medicine has Moved!

Occupational Medicine has moved from its Penn Tower location.

The new Ravdin 2 location will be open for walk-ins and other general services during the following hours: 7:30 am to 5:00 pm | Immunizations 8 am to 3:30 pm | Injuries Occupational Medicine has a second location for pre-employment and follow-up appointments at St. Leonard’s Court on 3819 Chestnut Street.

For questions, call Occupational Medicine at 215.662.2354 or email OccHealth@uphs.upenn.edu.

NEW KNOWLEDGE LINK TRAINING A new offering for UPHS employees in Knowledge Link will help employees get up to speed on the changes coming for ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition). This standard coding system assigns unique codes for substantially different health diagnoses (CM) and Procedures (PCS).

ICD codes impact all areas of the Health System including patient registration, clinical documentation, chart coding, revenue cycle, and data analytics. ICD-10 CM/PCS will expand the current code set from 17,000 codes to 140,000 codes, allowing a greater level of specificity. The new specificity will improve patient quality of care,

reimbursement, and tracking/reporting capabilities throughout Penn Medicine. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has set a mandatory ICD-10 compliance date of October 1, 2015.

Penn Medicine has been preparing for this change for several years.

The ICD-10 Project team includes representatives from each of the major areas of Penn Medicine and is structured by six work streams — Clinical, Coding & Documentation, Training, Technology, Business/ Revenue Cycle, and Operations — who have been working hard to ensure we are operationally and technically ready!

Nominations for Master Clinician Launched in 2013, the Academy of Master Clinicians recognizes those Penn Medicine clinicians who exemplify the highest standards of clinical excellence, humanism and professionalism.

To date, 36 physicians have been selected through a rigorous nomination and review process. They have met monthly to focus on important issues for Penn Medicine and to develop innovative programs to benefit medical students, residents and faculty and to provide exceptional patient care.

Nominations for the next class of Master Clinicians are now being accepted. Any Penn Medicine employee can nominate a physician for the Academy. Active practice clinicians at all Penn entities, including those at CHOP and the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, are eligible, with the exception of department chairs. To learn more about the program and the nomination process, go to http:// www.med.upenn.edu/fapd/academy-of-master-clinicians/.

Nomination packets should be sent electronically to Victoria Mulhern at vmulhern@exchange.upenn.edu by October 7.

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HUPdate EDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer

Abby Ernst & Alexa Creter Graphic Designers

ADMINISTRATION

Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.