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Hillcrest Health Services Honored for Innovation by Greater Omaha Chamber Hillcrest Health Services recently was honored with an Innovation Award during the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards. Each year, the Chamber selects award winners from nominations gathered in the community. The awards are a way of celebrating the organizations whose contributions elevate our community and make it a better place for everyone to do business, work, and live. The award recognized Hillcrest for a number of innovations: Hillcrest Country Estates Cottages being the first and only freestanding nursing households in Omaha; integration of the Montessori method into dementia care; establishment of an intergenerational school at Hillcrest Silver Ridge; and partnering with Creighton University for a fo r a geriatric residency program. Hillcrest Health Services offers the widest array of senior health care and housing services in the region, including independent and assisted living, memory support, post-acute rehabilitation, long-term care, adult day services, outpatient therapy, home health, hospice and in-home personal care. For more information about Hillcrest’s services, visit hillcresthealth.com or follow them on Facebook (@Hillcrest Health Services).
Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance Addresses Importance of Keeping Homes Pest Free Through their commitment to make homes safe and healthy, the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance recently addressed the importance of keeping homes pest free and shared a couple tips on doing so. Having pests in the home has an adverse impact on the health of the family. Not only do pests carry disease, but they are a symptom trigger for anyone with asthma or allergies. All pests seek food, water, and shelter. By eliminating their access to these things, you can eliminate pests from your home. Even if you do not have pests in your home, it is important that you follow these preventive steps to keep your home pest free. To keep your home pest free: •
Seal cracks and openings throughout the home to take away potential places for pests to hide once within the home
Keep food stored in airtight containers
Avoid using cardboard containers to store clothing and other items as cardboard serves as a food source for many pests If you have pests in your home: • •
Use tricky-traps and baits in closed containers
Avoid using toxic pesticides or chemicals as these could have negative impacts on the health of family members, particularly those with asthma or allergies If you are concerned about pests in your home, the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance invites you to sign up for their waitlist to have one of their staff perform a Healthy Home Assessment using their eight principles to evaluate the health of your home. More information can be found at omahahealthykids.org or by calling (402) 934-9700.
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Years of Work Come to Fruition with Completion of New $86M Veterans Hospital Years of work fi nally came to fruition on July 23, when private fundraisers delivered the keys to Omaha’s new veteran’s outpatient care and health clinic to Veterans Affairs (VA). The new state-of-the-art building will serve 150,000 veterans in Nebraska and western Iowa. Private philanthropy, working through local donor group Heritage Services, raised private money and $56 million from the VA and managed construction of the project in the fi rst-of-its-kind public-private partnership. Architect John Andrews of Leo A Daly designed the $86 million Veterans Affairs Medical Center to offer improved patient experience for veterans. It’s unlike any other VA campus, drawing on patriotic symbolism to honor veterans, according to the architectural fi rm: • Freedom and Sacrifi ce: A folded glass curtain wall covers the main façade, expressing the form of an American fl ag rippling in the wind. • Honor: The breathtaking western façade is lined with glass panes of different hues that evoke the ribbon bars awarded to service members. • Duty: A limestone wall separates public spaces from secure clinical areas. The wall’s physical strength represents security.
Limestones sedimentary composition references foreign soil tracked home, with layers representing periods of confl ict and peace through which veterans have served. The three-level building includes seven primary-care units, an outpatient surgery suite, a women’s health clinic, and a specialty medicine unit allowing 400 additional outpatients to visit the medical center each day. Everything about this project “is a love letter to America’s veterans,” Andrews said. Learn more at leoadaly.com/va-outpatient-omaha.
Free Nebraska Medicine to Open Adult Psychiatric Emergency Center This Fall Nebraska Medicine has announced plans to open a long-envisioned psychiatric emergency center for adults this fall in renovated space on the ground fl oor of Clarkson Tower, which is near 42nd Street and Dewey Avenue. The center will provide Omaha-area residents experiencing psychiatric or substance abuse issues a new emergency center geared to their needs. Traditional emergency rooms don’t always have such providers on staff, particularly overnight, which means patients may wait to start treatment. Not only is the unit expected to relieve pressure on the emergency room, it’s also anticipated that it will help keep some patients out of inpatient psychiatric beds in the community, for which there can be substantial wait times. Currently, one in eight visits to an emergency room in the United States involves a patient with a psychiatric or substance abuse problem. Nebraska Medicine alone has seen a nearly 80% increase in people with a psychiatric crisis in its ER from 2015 to 2019, with more than 3,000 such visits just last year. Once in an ER, such patients may wait hours or even days for transfer to inpatient psychiatric facilities. With the addition of the emergency center, offi cials are hoping to discharge up to 80% of patients, cutting those requiring inpatient care to as low as 20%. The unit will feature four interview and triage rooms where patients can be assessed as well as an open observation area with capacity for 12 moderate-risk patients. Those could include patients with suicidal thoughts or manic symptoms from bipolar disorder. In addition, the unit will include a secure-care area with six private rooms where providers can stabilize patients at high risk of harming themselves or others or who are too agitated to be around other patients while they await transfer to an appropriate facility. Nebraska Medicine, which does not have its own inpatient psychiatric beds, is working closely with CHI Health, which operates Immanuel, and other providers in the community to make sure it can effi ciently admit patients who need inpatient care. Learn more at www.unmc.edu.
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Nebraska Hospital Association Presents 2020 Quest for Excellence Award The Nebraska Hospital Association, in partnership with Nebraska Health & Human Services, Nebraska QIO, and the Nebraska Association for Healthcare Quality, Risk, and Safety are pleased to once again offer the Nebraska Hospital Quality Improvement 2020 Quest for Excellence award. The Quest for Excellence award was developed by the Rural Quality Improvement Steering Committee. Members of this committee include representatives of Nebraska’s critical access hospitals (CAHs); network hospitals; Nebraska Health & Human Services; the Nebraska Association for Healthcare Quality, Risk, and Safety; the Nebraska Rural Health Association; and the Nebraska Hospital Association. The purpose of the award is to recognize Nebraska hospitals for their efforts to improve quality and patient care. Applications for the award close on August 5. One winner will be selected from the entries submitted by CAHs, and one winner will be selected from the entries submitted by non-CAHs. An award of $1,000 will be given to each of the two winners. Each project submitted will be included in a poster presentation at the NHA’s Annual Convention in October 2020 and will be posted to the NHA’s website. If you have any questions about the Nebraska Hospital Association or 2020 Quest for Excellence award, please contact Margaret Woeppel, MSN, RN, CPHQ, vice president, quality & data at mwoeppel@nebraskahospitals.org / (402) 742-8145 or visit www. nebraskahospitals.org.
Medicaid Expands Adult Health Benefi ts for Low-Income Nebraskans The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) began accepting applications on August 1 for Heritage Health Adult, with benefi ts beginning October 1, 2020. Heritage Health Adult expands Medicaid to low-income Nebraskans ages 19 to 64 who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level. For 2020, this is an income of about $17,000 per year for a single adult or $36,000 for a household of four. Medicaid expansion enrollees will receive benefi ts that include physical health, behavioral health, and pharmacy coverage in a comprehensive, coordinated program. Benefi ts are provided through managed care health organizations, also known as Heritage Health Plans. Applicants meeting certain conditions will also qualify for dental, vision, and over-the-counter medication coverage. Eligible Nebraskans are able to apply for Medicaid in the following ways: • Online at www.ACCESSNebraska.ne.gov • Over the phone by calling ACCESS Nebraska at: • Omaha - (402) 595-1178 • Lincoln - (402) 473-7000 • Toll Free - (855) 632-7633 • TDD - (402) 471-7256 • By paper application (which may be downloaded from
AccessNebraska.gov): • By fax at (402) 742-2351 • By email at DHHS.ANDICenter@nebraska.gov • By mail at P.O. Box 2992, Omaha, NE 68103-2992 • In person at any DHHS offi ce Additional information regarding Medicaid expansion is available on the DHHS website at dhhs.ne.gov/medicaidexpansion.
