Spotlight on Alumni
Department News
Collaboration boosts quality Denise Fiore ’79, MBA ’91, sprints over the glass bridge that connects the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven to the new clinical laboratory building—55 Park St.—a project she helped bring to fruition. On the way, several people greet her. They are just a few of the 850 health professionals she oversees as the new vice president of clinical support services at YaleNew Haven Hospital. She is responsible for the departments of rehabilitation services and respiratory care, as well as diagnostic radiology, Denise Fiore (back, far right) works with many QU alumni at Yale-New Haven Hospital, laboratory medicine and including (back, l-r): Deb Flanagan ’01, a nurse, and Cheryl Granucci ’91, director of patient transport at Yale-New radiology, as well as (seated) Kathleen Zimmermann ’97, a nurse, and Jacquelyn Haven. Her team includes Crenshaw ’01, manager of diagnostic radiology. medical technologists, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and diagnostic imaging technologists and others. Today, Fiore continues to build new bridges—this time, between the different divisions to make her staff successful. “Collaboration among health professionals is so important in today’s team approach to the delivery of care to patients,” says Fiore, who is a Six Sigma Black Belt, certified in Six Sigma quality management methods. She also leads a hospital-wide effort to use these methods to improve patient care and effectively use hospital resources. Teamwork has been key to producing successful ideas. The departments of nursing and patient transport, for example, worked together to develop a “ticket to ride” program. It streamlined the paperwork required to move patients, leaving nurses more time with patients. Fiore would like to develop similar initiatives that eliminate waste, increase safety and improve a patient’s experience. Communication is even more critical today as health care becomes increasingly complex, Fiore says. As an example, she cites the growth of point-of-care testing, in which tests are done at bedside. It requires nurses who perform the tests and lab professionals who provide the oversight to work together. Fiore was pleased to learn of the School of Health Science’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. She earned her bachelor’s degree in medical technology and her MBA from Quinnipiac, and now serves on the School of Health Sciences Advisory Board. For her contributions to the industry and leadership, she received the University’s Outstanding Business Alumni Award in 2008. Everyone benefits when recent graduates value the expertise each health professional brings to the table and is willing to work as part of a team, she explains. Fiore’s staff members are on board with her vision. “Everything we do centers around the patient,” says Cheryl Granucci, ’91, director of radiology in Fiore’s division. “It takes the whole team to understand what’s going on with the patient to provide the proper care.”
Building success in rehabilitation For Eileen Khan ’75, her career has always been a family affair. When Khan attended Quinnipiac to become a nurse, her sister, Gena Tannoia ’75, followed. After graduation, they both worked at the same rehabilitation facility in New Haven, Conn. In 1982, Khan, her sister and her husband, Farooq, purchased the facility and founded Montowese Health and Rehabilitation Center. “It was my husband’s idea. He wanted us to at least make a good salary,” Khan explains. “We did much more than that.” The family turned Montowese into a leading provider of subacute Eileen ’75 and Farooq Khan, owners of Montowese Health and Rehabilitation Center care in the region. Khan earned her long-term care administration certificate from QU and became the vice president of nursing services at the center. Her sister was director of nursing and her husband was the center’s administrator. Tapping into family members’ strengths helped Montowese succeed. Gena Tannioa passed away in 2005, but not before her daughter joined the business. The Khans’ son, Saleem ’93, a QU business alumnus, became president of Connecticut Handivan, a transportation service in North Haven that works with Montowese. One of the Khans’ smartest decisions was to move away from long-term care to focus on rehabilitation. Over time, hospital stays shortened. Montowese was fortuitously positioned to provide short-term, rehabilitative care. “I get joy out of seeing people go home healthier than when they arrived,” Khan says. In 1988, the Khans built their current 60,000-square-foot facility in North Haven, which doubled the number of beds to 120. They added modern rehabilitative equipment, new administrative technologies and built a pool. Having been a nurse, Eileen always made sure her staff had the necessary tools and resources, but being frugal helped the business survive during lean economic times. For nearly two decades, the Khans didn’t invest in advertising, but instead relied only on word-of-mouth marketing. Last fall, given the growing competition, they added a marketing administrator to their staff of more than 200. At Montowese, nurses serve as case managers who, along with other health professionals, meet regularly to discuss patients’ progress. Khan says, “In this family, we all work together to treat the patient.”
A complete list of research and news is online at www.quinnipiac.edu/x5404.xml Biomedical Sciences Michael J. Smith, director of the cardiovascular perfusion program, Ed Delaney, adjunct professor, and six students wrote “Extracorporeal Life Support for Pandemic Influenza: The Role of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Pandemic Management” in the December 2010 issue of The Journal of Extracorporeal Technology. • In February, Smith and eight graduate students participated in a simulation using the Orpheus Cardiopulmonary Bypass Simulation System at Upstate University • Cardiovascular perfusion student Brian Harvey won best student presentation for “International Pediatric Perfusion Practice: 2011 Survey” at the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology’s International Conference in April. • Courtney Hyland, a pathologist assistant student, won a Siemens-ASCP scholarship. Diagnostic Imaging Tania Blyth ’97, MHS’08, clinical assistant professor, and Gerald Conlogue, MHS ’77, professor, co-authored the chapter, “Imaging in the Medical Examiner’s Facility,” in “Brogdon’s Forensic Radiology.” Conlogue also wrote the chapters, “Imaging in the Field” and “Radiology of Special Objects, Antiquities and Mummies.” Nursing Lisa O’Connor, associate professor, and Celeste Yanni, assistant professor, presented two peer-reviewed posters — “Tools for Navigating the Track Toward Promotion and Tenure” and “Speaking and Synthesizing across the Specialty Silos: An Innovative Approach to Bridge the Community Health/ Acute Care Continuum” — at the Mosby Faculty Development Institute in January. • Student Katherine Alessi ’11 received the 2011 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing. Occupational Therapy Professor Catherine Meriano ’86, MHS ’91, and Jennifer Rafferty, associate director for instructional design at Quinnipiac, led the workshop, “Using Web 2.0 in Everyday Practice,” at the annual Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association Conference in Cromwell in April. • Associate Professor Martha Sanders co-authored the article, “Does Work Contribute to Successful Aging in Older Workers?” in The International Journal of Aging and Human Development. • Professor Tara Glennon ’85 and Kim Hartmann ’76, MHS ’82, OT chair, published chapters in “Autism: a Comprehensive Ocupational Therapy Approach.” • Several faculty presented at the AOTA national conference in April. Presenters included: Glennon; Hartmann; Sanders; Tracy Van Oss, clinical assistant professor; Nancy Bagatell, assistant professor; Salvador Bondoc, associate professor; Pamela Hewitt ’86, visiting clinical assistant professor; Donna Latella, professor; Roseanna Tufano ’80, clinical assistant professor; and Associate Dean Betsey Smith ’79, as well as 19 students. • Marilyn B. Cole, professor emerita, was guest editor of a special edition of OT International published in March, and she published an article in Occupational Therapy International in October. • Hartmann gave a presentation on assistive technologies for the classroom to graduate education students in December. Physical Therapy Professor Russell Woodman co-authored, “Application of the Mulligan Approach for Lumbar Mechanical Derangement,” in PhysioTimes (January 2011). • Four physical therapy professors and two recent graduates presented at the APTA’s Combined Sections Meeting in New Orleans, La., in February. Michelle Broggi ’88 and Tracy Wall ’93, MS ’99, both clinical assistant professors, and Kelly Masterson ’08, DPT ’10, presented, “The Effects of Body-Weight-Supported Locomotor Training and Aquatic Therapy on Post-Stroke Ambulation: Two Case Studies.” • Katherine Harris, associate professor, presented, “Investigating the Efficacy of Weighting the Subscales of the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk to Enhance its Predictive Validity.” • Wall, Harris and Todd Cacopardo ’08, MPT ’10, presented, “The Effects of the Nintendo Wii on Dynamic Balance and Functional Gait in an Individual with GuillainBarre Syndrome.”