Medical Team to Leave for Haiti Tomorrow

Tomorrow, February 2, a team of physicians and nurses will travel to Haiti to provide much needed medical relief. They will be working at Sacred Heart Hospital in Milot, Haiti where it is expected they will perform surgery from 8 am until 11 pm with 30-minute breaks for lunch and dinner.

Every day, 10 - 12 helicopters carrying up to 10 patients each land in Milot. These are patients with critical orthopedic needs, and many of them will have to undergo amputations. 

Please keep these brave volunteers and their families in your prayers:
Dr. George Friend
Dr. Meredith Wierman
Dr. Jeff Lindquist
Dr. Rick Skupski
Dr. Mark Walsh
Dr. Fred Ferlic
Dr. Henry DeLeeuw
Dr. Randy Ferlic
Dr. Michael Yergler
Michelle Crawford, RN
Donna Dickens, RN
Doug Gibson, RN
Kyonna Charlston, RN
Dana Brackett, PA
Dr. Joey Garcia
Dr. James Wierman

In addition, thank you to our physicians here at home for taking call and seeing extra patients as needed while their colleagues are in Haiti. Bless everyone who has worked to make this relief effort possible.

We are accepting monetary donations to assist with the group’s travel expenses. If you would like to donate, send a check to the Foundation of SJRMC, 837 E. Cedar St., Suite 350, South Bend, IN 46617. Write “Haiti” on the memo line. To donate online go to Click here to make a secure donation online. 

Mock Move a Real Success

In preparation for the big move on December 14 to the new hospital, Physicians, Nurses, Administrators, and Staff participated in a Mock Move drill on Monday, November 16.

The drill actually began the evening before with sequencing of the mock patients in order to simulate what will happen in the early morning hours of December 14 before the actual move begins at 7 am.

“We have planned for the move for almost 18 months and with the Mock Move we had the ability to test our processes,” said Marsha King, Chief Nursing Officer, who is coordinating the patient move. “Our Move Teams did an awesome job. The purpose of the Mock Move was to identify what areas we need to review and continue to refine. All in all the Mock Move went great and we now have 3 weeks to tweak and improve our processes and flows for December 14.” 

  

WSBT's Kirk Mason was one of our "patient" during the Mock Move.

SJRMC Reminds Community to Follow CDC Guidelines for H1N1

Before Seeking Emergency Room Care ...

Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center reminds the entire community that those with flu-like symptoms should stay home and avoid contact with others, except to get medical care from their primary healthcare provider.

That is one of the main messages the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conveying on its website, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu, and SJRMC asks the community to adhere to this, and other CDC guidelines, to alleviate its overcrowded Emergency Room, due to H1N1 Flu concerns.

The CDC and SJRMC recommend you should not go to the Emergency Room if you are only mildly ill.

"The Emergency Department should be utilized by the significantly ill,” said Dr, Steven Gable, SJRMC’s Vice President of Medical Quality Improvement. “If people are experiencing flu-like symptoms, but the symptoms are not severe, they should stay home, get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids. Coming to the ER in these situations would only spread the disease."

Those who go to Emergency Rooms and are not sick with the flu are at risk of catching it from those who do have it, according to the CDC’s website.

The CDC’s website provides a wide range of information regarding what to do if you get sick, as well as information for specific groups including schools, parents, pregnant women, and there is even an evaluation link www.flu.gov/evaluation, where users can evaluate their possible symptoms. The CDC can also be reached at 1-800-CDC-INFO.

SJRMC urges the entire community to consult primary healthcare providers or the CDC at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu or at 1-800-CDC-INFO before immediately deciding to use Emergency Rooms. 

Cooking with Your Kids

Gwen D. Ehlers, RD, Clinical Dietitian, SJRMC

Cooking with Your Kids

Quick Tips from Gwen D. Ehlers, RD, Clinical Dietitian

How can you get yours kids to beg for bananas instead of brownies?  What could convince them to choose carrot sticks over candy bars?

• Eating healthy is a lifestyle, and needs to begin at an early age. Help your kids start by including them in the selection and preparation of food.
  
• Ask your little ones to pick out their favorite color fruit or vegetable at the store.
  
• Snack with dips that include peanut butter, light salad dressing, low fat yogurt or salsa. This will encourage young ones to expand their choices of fruits and vegetables.
  
• Cook with your kids! While you’re spending quality time together, they are learning new skills, whether it is mixing, measuring, or cutting.

Try these recipes with your child:

Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes

• 4 medium baking potatoes
• ¾ C low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
• ¼ C milk
• 1 TB soft margarine
• 1 tsp dill weed
• 2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

Prick potatoes with fork. Bake at 425° for 60 minutes or until fork is easily inserted. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out potato leaving ½” pulp inside. Mash pulp in large bowl and mix in remaining ingredients, except Parmesan cheese. Spoon mixture into shells and sprinkle top with 1/3 tsp Parmesan cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake 15-20 min until tops are golden brown.

Chicken & Veggie Wrap

• Flour tortillas
• 1 C diced cooked chicken
• ½ C chopped cucumber
• ½ C chopped red bell pepper
• ½ C chopped raw sugar snap peas
• ½ C chopped lettuce
• ½ C hummus

Combine chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, peas, and hummus in a bowl. Lay the wraps on the counter and cover each with a lettuce leaf. Divide the vegetable mixture among them and spread, leaving half-inch border around the edge. Roll up tight, tucking in the edges as you roll. Cut in half.

Feedback from the Community

At SJRMC, we receive so many letters of appreciation from our patients. In addition, we encourage our Associates to share their "Kudos," recognizing each other for displaying excellence and compassion in our work. Here are some recent Thank Yous and Kudos we have received...

Dawn Brammer, RN, Four North, South Bend Campus
Dawn is so in tune to our Diabetic patients. The patients love her energy and smile as she takes time to clearly educate the patients. Dawn goes beyond the call of duty and she consistently does it with a smile. I have asked Dawn to see patients that have been newly diagnosed and when the patients see me the next day they tell me how appreciative they are. Kudos Dawn!

Center for Spiritual Care, In God's Arms Program
We have written this letter to send a very special thank you. Our baby was one of the many babies remembered at the “In God’s Arms” Memorial Services held on April 26, 2009. Even through the rough time, what a delight it truly was to attend the service. It is such a blessing for wonderful people like yourselves and the staff of Palmer Funeral Home to make such a beautiful service like this happen! We are blessed to know there is such a beautiful and peaceful place we can go and reflect and rejoice the life of our precious child, as we truly believe life begins at conception, as we lead our way down the road of recovery. We have not only been blessed with such a wonderful and precious angel, but we have been blessed with God given people like all of yourselves! You all will always hold a very special place in our hearts! This has been such a true wonderful blessing to our lives and we are sure it will be a blessing to many more families. In loving memory of our child.

Denise Pitts, Pediatric Therapy
At the age of 20 months my son Ryan started Pediatric Physical Therapy here at SJRMC South Bend. He could not walk and was in the process of diagnosis. Within 2 weeks of PT with Denise Pitts my son was walking. She gave us the avenue to make it possible. He ended up with a diagnosis of mild Cerebral Palsy. He’s had PT at SJRMC for six year now and we have been fortunate to have Denise as our PT the entire time. Denise takes her patients and works with them in such a way that they are totally unaware of how hard they are working. Part of PT is showing me how to motivate him at home and get the exercise in. She rises to this challenge and helps me with new and fun ideas. She brings so much humor, genuine caring and creativity to her job. She has even shared toys of her own children to help motivate my son. We only see Denise once a month now. My son is 8 and still is excited on the day that he has PT. The work is very hard and it says a lot that he wants to come. He doesn't remember his life before PT and I think there are many kids that come to PT in that same situation. I feel so fortunate that SJRMC and Denise Pitts have been there to guide and help my son. Enough cannot be said for Denise and the entire Pediatric Therapy Department here at SJRMC.

Kate's Hope
Many of our Associates were part of Kate’s Hope, the group that recently walked in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s MS Walk in memory of former SJRMC Associate Kate Coleman. Kate’s Hope was by the far the Walk leader, raising more than $10,000 in support of the fight against MS.

ICU Wins Trinity Award for Prevention Excellence

Central Venous Catheter Related Blood Stream Infections.

Abbreviated to BSI, these infections occur in an estimated 250,000 cases in the US each year. In May 2004, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center observed an estimated 12.71% infection rate in patients with a Central Venous Catheter.

These infections are more than costly – they can be deadly. The estimated attributable mortality is 12 – 25% for each infection. This sobering statistic prompted SJRMC to do something.

That something was Keystone: ICU. The program aims to reduce BSIs, as well as ventilator-associated pneumonia, that occur in ICU patients. The ICU was provided with research and resources provided by the Michigan Health and Hospital Associate and the safety leaders at John Hopkins University.

But without the commitment of our SJRMC staff, this initiative would not have been so successful. So successful that an ICU patient has not developed a BSI since before February 2005 – almost 4 years ago.

BSIs at SJRMC Rates per 1000
May 2004 12.71%
January 2005 4%
February 2005 – January 20090%

“Staff buy in was essential to this initiative, said Marsha King, Chief Nursing Officer. “Our nursing staff was so enthusiastic about this project, and they remain enthusiastic today. They are saving lives with Keystone ICU.”

SJRMC Named Among the Nation’s Top Performance Improvement Leaders

Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today named Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in South Bend and Plymouth among the nation’s performance improvement leader hospitals, for the second consecutive year.

SJRMC and its Senior Leadership Team were recognized for being one of a hundred hospitals making the greatest progress in improving hospital-wide performance over five consecutive years (2002-2006). The 2007 Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders have set national benchmarks for the rate and consistency of improvement in clinical outcomes, safety, hospital efficiency, and financial stability. SJRMC and its Medical Staff have made major strides in increasing the quality and efficiency of services locally.

Findings from the fifth edition of the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders study appears in the August 11, 2008, issue of Modern Healthcare Magazine.

“This recognition is significant validation that Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center continues to be committed to providing first-rate quality and faith-based care to the communities we serve at each of our acute-care hospitals in South Bend and Plymouth,” said Nancy R. Hellyer, President and CEO of SJRMC. “As we move forward, we continue to enhance the healthcare we provide so our patients, caregivers, and community at large benefit and recognize the value-added services of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.”

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders study analyzed acute care hospitals nationwide using detailed empirical performance data from years 2002 through 2006, including publicly available Medicare MedPAR data, Medicare cost reports, and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) outpatient data.