Connections December 2019

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a nurse practitioner in Evergreen's STI program, Jason Rein says our patients are constantly teaching him how to rise above life’s challenges. Along the way, he’s learned a lot about

strength, grace and the importance of showing up. In the latest Team Evergreen interview, Jason talks about the path that keeps bringing him back to Evergreen.

How long have you been at Evergreen? That's a fun question! I actually started in 1994 as a volunteer when I needed 15 hours of community service for my high school. A friend of mine said, "Just come with us to Evergreen. It's really fun and everybody's really nice. We’re making condom packs.” I was hesitant but it ended up being something that really spoke to me. The required hours came and went and I kept volunteering.

And you’re still working here today. What’s your journey been like? I got my first job at Evergreen in 1998 as an assistant case manager before moving to the education program. I left in 2002 and then I went back to nursing school and became an RN. After graduating in 2005, I came back to Evergreen for a while and then went to the Nicholas Rango HIV Clinical Scholars Program, which takes folks who are interested in HIV care and places them in a designated AIDS center to train them as specialists.

After I graduated in 2009, I worked at ECMC for a while and then I came back to Evergreen — again.

What keeps you coming back to Evergreen? I'm kind of a boomerang, but Evergreen has been my home for my entire professional career, ever since high school. I feel very strongly about our mission, and I’m passionate about the causes we support. The people here have always felt like a family to me. I fell in love with the patients and the work I’m doing feels really important.

What do you love most about your patients? I love hearing my patients’ stories and learning what they have been able to rise above. Some patients use drugs and have reduced the impact of that on their lives. Some patients thought that having HIV was a death sentence. After coming to Evergreen, they’ve realized it’s treatable and are now living healthy lives. My patients have taught me a lot about

perseverance, strength and grace. We talk about issues that are central to their lives and that requires a lot of trust and comfort. It means showing up for each other. I empower them to make positive changes and they help me be a better person in everything I do.

What’s been the most exciting part of your career? I've been around long enough to see the benefits of treatment for HIV. With new medications, people have gotten a second chance at life and are able to fall in love, get married, have kids and lead happy and productive lives. That's a gift to see.

What makes Evergreen a great company to work for? It comes down to doing important work that nobody else is doing. We’re part of a family, and we’re leaving a lasting impact on people. Personally, I'm proud of Evergreen's growth and I feel like I contributed to that. It’s inspiring to see the impact we’ve had on our patients and know that they’re better situated in their lives.

What makes you well-suited for your role? My own journey has helped me understand that people need somebody to be there and listen. It’s personally rewarding to help those that might need someone to care for them when they're not able to care about themselves or when the people in their lives who did care aren't around anymore.

How do you manage to take care of yourself along the way? When I get out of work, I try to recharge and reflect on what I do. I spend time with my five-and-a-half-year-old son and my husband. Having a young son has really been fun, because I get to rediscover play and I’ve realized how freeing that can be. Apart from that, I enjoy reading. I'm reading Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. The author does a lot of research on shame and how it disempowers people. She talks about being courageous and using our shame to lead. A lot of our patients come in with this sense of shame about their sexuality, drug use or HIV status and it’s really important that we recognize that and learn what we can do to reframe it.

We couldn’t agree more, Jason. Thanks for sharing!

Clockwise from upper left: Just look at Helene Cacciato and Carlton Rausch rocking their matching plaids! CAS held another free haircut event in November. These events encourage community engagement and bring people in for testing. Thank you Arica Rouse for the photo. The Pride Center staff poses with Ray Ganoe at PCWNY's "Lunch with Ray" event.

The Finance crew poses for a photo at the recent Evergreen Benefits Fair. Notice the multi-media photobomb by Julie Vaughan.

The amount of information involved in patient care has evolved tremendously in a very short time. To understand the role of Kristine Spada, health information manager, and her department, you have to be able to consider what we use electronic medical records for, which is patient care.

Kristine has been in medical records her whole career. She explains that electronic medical

records have changed more than just the way we provide care. “The whole way we do our business has changed," said Kristine. "It has led to such great improvements. When everything was on paper you could never access patient information the way you can now. In the past if you had to find out about a patient ER visit, it was so time consuming, and now it’s almost right at your fingertips, and that goes such a long way to help the patient.” There are some requirements for all this data to be useful, though.

“You can only do so much to make the information available. One of the negatives of electronic medical records is now there is so much information available to the providers, and they have to be able to identify information quickly.”

This is where Kristine and the medical records specialists come in. The team includes Ricardo

Quiros, Erin Fleckenstein, Shontae Scott, Tamara Miller and Kim Martin. They are all cross-trained to take care of all the needs of the department, so when a help desk ticket comes in, it gets routed to who can take care of it the soonest. It’s their job to receive all of the incoming patient information, name it (or

code it) and send it to the right place. Once we have all that information, the medical records team are the ones who make sure it can be “at your fingertips”. Medical Records is focused on: Data integrity - the team is always making sure our data is as clean and accurate as possible.

Referrals and follow up – Medical Records is continually monitoring outgoing referrals to determine the best process for tracking and efficiency.

Quality – Medical Records reviews files to make sure they are being named appropriately so the right people can find them. For example, eye appointments used to all be called “ophthalmology consultations”. However, it was not accurate enough to assist our patients with diabetes who have a special type of eye exam, so we started naming them more specifically. It’s become so much easier to make sure they are getting the care they need since this has been implemented.

Release of information – A lot of the time, if patient information has to be released, Medical Records should be involved because there is so much legality around it. If you’re not sure if a medical record can be released or not, the Medical Records department can assist.

Duplicate medical records - Medical Records is working very diligently with Clinical Systems to reduce the number of duplicate records. It never hurts to search for a patient in more than one way!

Kristine requests that when you’re looking up a patient record, “Always search for patients by date of birth.” She also would remind Medent users to read the recent “Medent Monday” email about duplicate records. Only enter a new patient record after you have searched for DOB, account ID, and variations on their name and are very sure that you have exhausted the possible variations.

If it seems like documentation requirements are ever changing, hopefully this helps you understand

why. You’re not alone, and as more records come in, the job of Medical Records is to make this data as accessible as possible. The next time you’re filling out a form, or searching for information on a patient, think about how useful it is for each of us to have that information at our fingertips. In a way, when we use and name our documentation accurately, we’re all part of the medical records team. - Heather Wilson

Congratulations to Carrie Rich, who was recently inducted as the newest member of the WNY OASAS Consortium Board of Trustees. Great job, Carrie!

The CAS staff enjoys First Friday Snack Day, a fun way to promote staff unity and show appreciation for one another. Arica Rouse sent us these great photos. "A few of us were twinning," said Arica.

Special than

who particip

this year's Din

helped to raise

to the donations to support the

You are all a

And thank you to promoting Din

• Alexandria Aiello • Amy Usiak • Arica Rouse • Brenna Fox • Carolee Corbitt • Christine Kemp • Elizabeth Blauser • Heather Wilson • Ian Eastman • Jacob Marsh

ks to these stellar Evergreen staff members

• Jeff Heras

pated as volunteers and special support for

• Jen Halper

ning Out For Life. Together, Team Evergreen

• Kate Gallivan

e $3,959 in individual donations (in addition

s made by our participating DOFL restaurants) programs and services at Evergreen Health.

a shining example of the Evergreen Spirit!

o everyone who went out to eat and helped with ning Out For Life. We appreciate your support!

- The DOFL Events Team

• John Carocci • Kim Lombard • Kristy Mangel • Laurie Matson • Maggie Barnett • Matt Crehan-Higgins • Meghan Canfield • Melissa Murray • Michael Blasdell • Michael Canty • Salvatore Sciandra • Theresa Woehrel

CONNECT

Plus is a program for

sought care on their own," said Emily. "But it's not the sole

individuals living with

factor. Lack of transportation or secure housing along

HIV who have unaddressed mental health or substance

with financial emergencies often impede consistent

use symptoms and are resistant to care. "People often

behavioral health treatment as well."

go through a period of uncertainty before making a

decision," explained Emily Oaks, Evergreen's director

patients fight these barriers and overcome them. "Marilyn

of health education and outreach. "People living with

was resistant to attending care when she initially met with

depression, anxiety, PTSD or substance use disorder may

the Connect Plus team," recalls Emily. "She told us that she

consider seeking treatment, but only about 40 percent

often felt so overwhelmed that she wanted to die. She'd

eventually follow through."

kept her HIV status a secret from those closest to her

Connect Plus meets patients where they are to

and it was exhausting. However, Marilyn saw counseling

discuss what they identify as their specific barriers to

as 'something for crazy people and I’m not crazy.'" After

living a happier, healthier life. The first step is a screening

three education sessions with the Connect Plus team,

to assess any mental health issues along with any stigma

Marilyn came away with a better understanding of how

related to seeking treatment on the part of the patient.

mental health counseling could benefit her symptoms.

"Our peer worker is able to communicate how treatment

She has been enrolled in treatment for over two years.

has benefited them in the past and how they addressed

the challenges which arose to their own care," said Emily.

it helps to have compassionate individuals with lived

"A behavioural health educator then meets with the

experience available to answer our questions and

patient several times to let them know what treatment

concerns," said Emily. "The only way we will break the

options are available to them to address these barriers

stigma of HIV, mental illness and substance use is to

and discuss which options research has shown to be most

create an environment where patients feel comfortable

successful." If the patient agrees to be referred to outside

discussing any symptoms and reservations they are

services, the Connect Plus team helps them attend at

experiencing in a non-judgmental environment. Connect

least three behavioral health appointments to make sure

Plus is a big way that Evergreen provides this to patients

barriers such as transportation are being addressed.

living with HIV."

As we often note, stigma remains a huge barrier

The Connect Plus team works hard to help our

"When making a difficult decision about our care,

If you have a patient you think would benefit from the

to care for our patients living with HIV. "Many patients

Connect Plus program, refer them through the Intranet

reference stigma when describing why they haven't

or reach out to Emily Oaks if you have questions.

Create an Account with Univera a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

Go to https://www.univerahealthcare.com/wps/portal/uv/member-login/.

Click on Register & Create Account.

Enter required information from your ID Card and click continue.

Create username, enter your personal email address and create password and security question answers.

Click the box if you'd like paperless statements. If the box isn't checked you'll receive paper statements.

Click continue.

Review your information and click submit.

An email will be sent to the address provided. Follow the instructions in the email to complete account registration to verify your email address. You will be redirected to the website.

Registering for Univera Wellness Card a. b. c. d.

Log in with the information you created.

Click on Health and Wellness, Univera Wellness Your Way – Get Started.

Confirm the address you would like the card to be sent to, check the attestation box and click submit.

You will receive a notice stating submission accepted and the amount that will be on your card ($150 Single and employee + child(ren), $300 Employee + Spouse and Family). The card will be sent to the address provided within 10-15 business days.

Patients in the THRIVE Wellness Art Therapy Group decorated pumpkins to celebrate Halloween. Art Therapy group leader Laura Pasquarella reports that all of the patients had a great time and the winning pumpkins were "Skeleton" at (shown at left) and "One-Eyed Green Monster" (shown at right). Great job, everyone!

December 12 | Jamestown December 19 | Buffalo

all locations

Commons Sanctuary

Mark your calendar! The submission deadline for the January issue of Connections is Wednesday, December

Join the Evergreen Fun Collective

for a day of holiday-themed fun and

the deadline to guarantee placement.

delicious food! The Extravaganza

And, don't forget, we love to share your

will feature delicious pizza and salad,

photos. Kids, pets, vacations and recipes,

cookie decorating and board games.

send them all to Connections at

We hope to see you there!

13. Be sure to get your content in before

Evergreen Connections via Outlook.

AS

a bilingual care coordinator at Evergreen, Indo Quiñones advocates for her patients in English and Spanish and works on all aspects of health, from routine care to housing. Indo

knows that every mind and body is different and that people deserve to be understood for who they are. In our latest Team Evergreen interview, Indo chats about the judgment-free model at Evergreen and her work with cultural competency (while sharing some great insights in Spanish along the way!).

What's your role at Evergreen? I’ve been here a little over three years and I began as an outreach and engagement specialist. In that role, I worked to get potential patients into programs and services that would help them. We went door-to-door and set up tables at fairs and other places to provide information and talk to people in the community about Evergreen Health. Now, my title is bilingual care coordinator.

What does a care coordinator do? A care coordinator helps patients facilitate their own physical, mental and social healthcare goals by meeting with them periodically. We see how they’re doing to check on any progress that has been made and guide them through any barriers that prevent them from accessing the care they need. We help by serving as advocates when needed or linking them to providers or specialists.

How does social health impact people? Social health includes things like issues with housing. While we can’t do much about rent or finances, we will help people find links to subsidy programs, apply for Housing and Urban Development programs or apply for low-income housing. If someone needs access to nutritious food, we have a pantry at Evergreen or we can provide patients with a list of other local food pantries. If a patient is interested in vocational or educational training, we provide as much information as possible about starting classes or getting volunteer information. We’re here to do everything we possibly can.

How would you describe Evergreen using only one word? Evergreen es el paciente. Evergreen is the patient.

As a bilingual care coordinator, you provide care in both Spanish and English. What do you want your patients to know about a visit to Evergreen? ¿Qué quiere usted que sus pacientes sepan sobre una visita a Evergreen? Este lugar es solo una herramienta para ayudarlo a progresar en su salud y su vida, como paciente y como persona. No es una solución completa, pero vamos a trabajar juntos. No vamos a juzgarlo y solo vamos a trabajar como usted quiere—no solo por usted pero con usted.

Loosely translated, you said that Evergreen helps people improve their health and lives by working with them, not just for them. How does Evergreen go about empowering people to make the best decisions for their healthcare? Evergreen has a judgment-free, progressive way of healing people and treating patients. We accept every person regardless of creed, color, political stance or sexual orientation. No vamos a juzgarlo. We’re not going to judge you or your situation.

You studied international business and lived in Madrid for a while. What did that teach you and how has that shaped your point of view? I’ve learned that we can put up physical barriers and walls but we are all people and we’re all learning from each other. With technology and social media, we need each other more than ever. Some people believe in ethnocentricity but that’s not how the world works anymore. We rely on other nationalities and countries to be who we are and live the way we live every day. We’re a globalized world and we’re just going to get more globalized.

What's something you learned during your career? You don’t treat others the way you want to be treated; you treat others the way they want to be treated. The way I treat one patient is different from the way I treat another. They come from different backgrounds and are at different places in their lives.

What did you do before joining Team Evergreen? I worked at Chautauqua Tapestry as a cultural linguistic competency coordinator. The purpose of my role was to facilitate cultural competency training with other agencies and providers in the Chautauqua County area. That included advocating for bilingual staff to be available, more diversity training and a better understanding of what it means to be culturally competent.

What does it mean to be culturally competent? ¿Qué debemos saber? Hemos progresado como una comunidad, pero también nosotros tenemos mucho trabajo por delante. Todavía hay personas y institutos que necesitan más educación en diversidad, en el aceptar de una persona y el entender que el mundo no es blanco y negro. Nosotros somos todos diferentes. Hay variedades de personas y mentes en el mundo y cada mente es un mundo.

“Cada mente es un mundo.” How does that translate?? Every mind is a world. We’ve progressed as a community but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. There are still people and institutions that need more education in diversity, in accepting people and understanding that the world isn’t black and white. We are all different. There are a variety of people and minds in the world and every mind is its own world.

What is something you're proud of? I am proud of the work I do at Evergreen, the work I did in my previous role and the work I do outside of business hours. I am also proud of not being a statistic as a woman of color in a very conservative area. There’s pride in showing the world that I’m trying to be a good person.

We are proud to have a dedicated team member like you, Indo. Thanks for sharing your story!

Birthdays Jacob Perrello....................................December 1 Jessica Stack.......................................December 1 Adam Costanza.................................December 1 Orlikowski, Brian.............................December 1 Ginger Smith.......................................December 3 Anna Ihle..............................................December 3 Kristin Rickert...................................December 3 Julie Mayer..........................................December 5 Valerie Francis..................................December 5 Steven Rein..........................................December 5 Susan Hanners..................................December 7 Theo Herman.....................................December 8 Dabrielle Wright...............................December 11 Andrea Karash..................................December 11 Kadie Desbordes..............................December 12 Christina Carter................................December 12 Daniel Auflick....................................December 13 Iesha Honeycutt................................December 13 Carly Casali.........................................December 14 Daniele Verzelloni...........................December 15 Thomas O'Kell....................................December 15 Matthew Crehan Higgins.............December 15 Brittani McKay...................................December 16 Briana McKay.....................................December 16 Michael Canty....................................December 16 Andrew Kiener..................................December 16 Melissa Delgado................................December 17 James Gerwitz...................................December 17 Ryan Trubits.......................................December 20 Anthony Roth.....................................December 20 Angela Fanale....................................December 21 Stefanie Warnick..............................December 21 Josephine Rivera..............................December 22 Jillian Fanning...................................December 22 Toni Hernandez................................December 23 Kyle Erlandson..................................December 23 Christina Turner...............................December 24 Laura Pasquarella...........................December 25 Justin Azzarella................................December 27 Anabel Rivera....................................December 27

Philip Occhino...................................December 27 Xavier Washington.........................December 28 Courtney Bradley............................December 28 Alex Marranca..................................December 30 Kristina Moore...................................December 31 Nancy Colon.......................................December 31

Anniversaries

Annual Training Reminder The second round of annual trainings are available on Evergreen University. These trainings will take about one hour to complete and are due on December 31. Contact Jocelyn Leising with any questions. Happy Learning!

Best Places to Work The Business First Best Places to Work survey is almost here.

This survey is a great opportunity to provide honest feedback about your work experience and the Team Evergreen culture.

Our company will have the opportunity to view aggregate results of the survey but your identity will be kept confidential.

Keep your eyes open for further communication on this. You can review the results of last year’s survey HERE.

Kathryn Connor................................1 Year Venus Kaur..........................................1 Year Kyle Erlandson..................................1 Year Philip Occhino...................................1 Year Cyndie Huynh....................................1 Year Melinda Kingsbury.........................1 Year Theodore Wilson.............................1 Year LaTonia Lewis....................................1 Year Theresa Oden....................................1 Year Joleen Rodriguez..............................2 Years Adria Reed...........................................2 Years Jesse Gasbarro..................................2 Years Heather Fangsrud............................2 Years Valerie Francis..................................2 Years Verity, Andrew..................................3 Years Andrea Ace.........................................3 Years Cathleen Niedermayer.................4 Years Glendalisse Lopez............................4 Years Rosemary Roche...............................4 Years Lisandra Rivera................................4 Years Ventenese Palmer............................4 Years David Setlock.....................................4 Years Angela Torrie.....................................9 Years Nicole Coonly.....................................9 Years Laura Pasquarella...........................12 Years Rosalind Townsend........................14 Years Johanna Aponte................................15 Years Helene Cacciato................................15 Years Maria LoTempio................................17 Years

A Adam Costanza

A Glendalisse Lopez

A Alyssa Sherman

A Heather Wilson

A Amanda Beals

A Jacob Marsh

A Andrew Verity

A James Gerwitz

A Anthony Roth

A James Thompson

A Arica Rouse

A Jeff Heras

A Brittany Hesson

A Jillian Fanning

A Carlton Rausch

A Jocelyn Leising

A Christina Monroy

A Karen Brown

A Dana McHale

A Kimberly Johnson

A David Setlock

A Kyle Berberich

A Dawn Ganoe

A Kyle Erlandson

A Eva Baez

A LaTanya Walton-Brown

A Felissha Humphries

A Lauren Voelkle

Recognizing Excellent Work at Evergreen Between October 20 a

A Leslie Anderson A Matthew Sydor A Melanie Deyoe A Melissa Nagro A Melissa Talbett A Nicole Coonly A Norma Bocanegra A Rob Baird A Roy Golia A Salvatore Sciandra A Shakiya Bell A Suzanne Weessies A Teourialeir Johnson A Xavier Washington

and November 19

Publisher/Layout 1.

Dial extension 2222.

2. Follow the prompt to record the Code Blue or Mr. Webber and say the exact location and building of the incident.

3. Hang up your phone. This will prompt your message to be broadcast to all Evergreen locations.

4. The Code Blue team and Security will respond to the incident.

You'll have 30 seconds to record your message. If you're not done in 30 seconds, you'll be cut off and your message will be automatically broadcast. It's imperative that you say the location and building in your message: “Code Blue in the men’s lobby bathroom in the Elmwood building” or “Could Mr. Webber please come to the Mathews building counselor room?.” The Code Blue/ Mr. Webber Softkey has been removed from all phones.

John Carocci

Copy Editor Melissa Meyer

Contributors Jocelyn Leising Block Club Shakiya Bell Heather Wilson Kristy Mangel Connections is the monthly newsletter for employees and Board members of Evergreen Health and its affilliates, the Pride Center of Western New York and Community Access Services. Please send us your story ideas, photos, feedback or just a friendly hello at Evergreen Connections via Outlook.

Above: Tess Lane shared this adorable photo of daughter Evie in her Halloween finery.

Clockwise from left: Team Evergreen was a major presence at the Volunteer Appreciation Night, honoring and thanking our amazing volunteer force.

Clockwise from left: introducing Baby Rocky. Rocky's mom Christine Marrano reports that he's already three months old! CAS was out in force at Power 96.5 FM's Health & Wealth Expo at Acqua Banquets.

Shown are Theresa Oden and Arica Rouse. Great job! John Carocci out on the town with nephew GianLuca and niece Caterina. One more from Tess Lane... Ripley and Bishop in their Toy Story gear.

The Safety Committee has shared these tips to help keep Evergreen employees safe.

Watch for more from the Safety Committee in future issues of Connections and thanks to Robert Cunningham for the submission.

InformaCast is a notification system tha quickly and efficiently to all Evergreen

related bulletins, closings, facilities disr

more. Employees with corporate device

to do so as well. To opt in, refer to your Ev

form attached to the email, and you'll re

at delivers messages about organization-wide emergencies or crises employees. Examples of InformaCast notifications include weather

ruptions, security issues (including lockdowns), power outages and

ces are required to opt in to InformaCast, but all staff are encouraged

vergreen Announcement email from August 20. Complete the opt-in

eceive instructions via email on how to complete the process.

Pose for the roving photographer at the FunC Holiday Extravaganza, then watch for your photo on the big screen at the Huddle in March!