CH2004 1 16 P1

As we enjoy a dose of real winter I hope you are staying as safe as possible, and staying home and warm wherever that is possible.

The first winter Mary and I moved to the Valley eleven years ago we had a snow fall reminiscent of this past couple of weeks. It causes us all to realize just how important this facility and all of you are to health of this community.

When a baby is sick late at night and the roads are a sheet of ice driving out of town is not an option. When two vehicles collide on the interstate the authorities as well as our community expects that we will be able to respond.

The important thing I would like you to know about our transition to a critical access hospital designation is that nothing will change in our response to meeting the healthcare needs of the community.

We will still have 24 hour emergency room care. We will still have surgeons ready as we currently do to put us back together after an accident. We will still have 24 hour coverage in the Family Birth Center when a young mother is ready to deliver.

Nothing is changing about our service. Nothing is changing in the expectation that each one of us provides quality care to our families and patients. The only change will be in how we bill and are paid for these and other services. The creation of the critical access hospital program was designed to help smaller remote facilities like ours survive some of the severe cuts of the Balanced Budget Act. Critical Access will put us on a near equal playing field with larger hospitals as far as receiving payment for the Medicare and Medicaid services we provide.

As a taxpayer, a healthcare worker, and a resident of this Valley I am grateful to those in government who saw the need for this program to help those of us who call rural America home. Last week I was able to personally say thanks to Congressman Hastings who was in town. I also think you should know that our two Senators also supported the bill in Washington D.C. Our state delegation of Honeyford, Chandler and Newhouse has also been very dedicated to keeping the SCH community healthy.

Sandra Linde (pictured above in Senator Jim Honeyford's office with Janet Haag and George Hansen and with Julie Peters of Representative Bruce Chandler's staff) and Tom Lathen visited directly with several of our lawmakers and representatives from the Department of Health earlier this week in Olympia. (Click on image for larger pictures.)

January Health Care Provider Class was on the 14th. To avoid over crowded classes, disappointment and last minute scheduling please attend a class during your birth month or the month prior to your evaluation date. Please collaborate with your staffing manager or department manager regarding scheduling. If you have any questions contact Gabriella Barker.

Your CPR achievements need to be documented on your 2004 Continuing Education Record.

Please be sure and leave any computer problem issues on the HELP DESK number 4357 (HELP). Computer problems are being left on the voicemail of 1328, Salvador Betancourt's number. He is usually busy with other things and may not get the message in a timely manner.

The HELP DESK number is usually answered or you can leave a voicemail that is checked regularly. We are here to help you. Thanks for your co-operation!

Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the US and is the most important cause of lower respiratory tract disease among infants and children world-wide. In high-risk pediatric patients, RSV infection may cause particularly serious disease. High-risk groups include premature infants, as well as children with chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, neuromuscular disease, and immune deficiency.

First, I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Suzanne Lopez for her continued outstanding customer service skills, high quality of her work, and high productivity in 2003. She continues to exemplify the highest customer service skills necessary to make a profound impact on her patients, family members, co-workers, internal staff, and external customers. I continue to receive glowing comments from her patients through Press Ganey. Moreover, Suzanne registered 7,506 patients in 2003. She had a registration accuracy of 94%, as she made 258 errors out of 4,401 of those patients she registered. Her total registrations were the highest in the department for the 2nd year in a row. She continued to train new staff in Main Lobby Registration and was a leading example to all our new staff as well as her veteran co-workers. Furthermore, she covered much of my Insurance Verifier's non-productive time off due to holiday, vacation, and sick time.

Second, I would like to recognize Monica Morales for her outstanding customer service skills, highest quality of work, positive attitude, flexibility within our dept., and high productivity in 2003. Monica's outstanding bilingual skills continue to have a positive affect on our patients and family members within our community. She registered 7,032 patients in 2003. She had the highest registration accuracy rating of 98%, as she made only 85 errors out of 3,853 of those patients she registered. Her total productivity was 2nd highest within the dept. Her flexibility is exemplified by the fact she has been called upon to cover our Insurance Verifier on occasion as well fill in for our registration clerk at our offsite clinic. She also does quality assurance on all Main Lobby registrations and provides me with this data for dept. quality analysis.

Third, I would like to recognize Brandy Bickett for her excellent customer service in the Emergency Dept. Since September 2003, Brandy has been our full time weekday ER Registration Clerk. After being our weekend day registration clerk in the ER for just over 2 years, she was promoted to full time after the departure of Samantha LaClair. She has done an excellent job in replacing Samantha. She is very conscientious and was able to quickly pick up where Samantha left off. In addition to her daily duties, she has also become responsible for performing the quality assurance of all ER registrations. She registered 4,410 patients in 2003. Her registration accuracy was 94% over the past 12 months.

I am especially proud of the Emergency Room Evening/Night team we put together in September 2003. Marty Zyph, Jesse Cerrillo, and Faith Smeenk comprise this outstanding team. Marty did an outstanding job all year on evening shift and Jesse has done an outstanding job on nights. Marty registered 6,258 patients in 2003 and achieved an accuracy rating of 91% over the past 12 months.

Jesse registered 5,088 patients on 3rd shift and achieved an accuracy rating of 88%. With Faith's return in Sept. 2003, it greatly enhanced the solidarity of our evening/night coverage in the Emergency Dept. With Faith's previous experience on evenings and nights at SCH, I was able to have an evening/night rotator who could effectively cover Marty & Jesse's shifts off. She gives our dept. great flexibility in the Emergency Dept. Marty, Jesse, & Faith have excellent customer service skills and work well independently in the E.D.Moreover, they never get rattled and are able to respond quickly to changing priorities. Furthermore, they have excellent working relationships with the nurses and physicians in the Emergency Dept.

Patricia Navarro continued to consistently demonstrate growth and improvement in 2003. Her determination to succeed and self confidence has also risen in 2003. She registered 3,795 patients in 2003 and achieved 96% accuracy over the past 12 months. She has been trained to also work in our offsite clinic and works 2 and 1/2 days each week as well as on weekends onsite.

I would also like to recognize Berena Zyph, our Insurance Verifier, and Yolle Widdows, our Welfare Coordinator for their contributions in 2003. Berena does an excellent job reviewing all inpatient and observation registrations daily, verifying insurance benefits, and starting the pre-certification process. She also obtains the appropriate authorizations and referrals. She works well with our hospital Utilization Review Coordinator to ensure appropriate billing and reimbursement. Moreover, she completes and submits all L&I and Self-Insured Worker’s Comp. Claims and does the follow-up on such claims. Yolle Widdows does an outstanding job contacting our Self-Pay patients and assisting them with DSHS and Charity applications. Moreover, she works with these patients by assisting them with payment arrangements. She acts as a Liaison between patients and DSHS/region 2 caseworkers, Medicare, as well as with our Business Office. Moreover, she assists patients with Crime Victims’ applications. Both Berena and Yolle work very hard for the patient’s needs within the community as well as the financial viability of our hospital. They are both bi-lingual which greatly enhances their relationships with the patients and families they serve.

I would also like to recognize Gracie Arredondo and Lois Hopper for their years of excellent customer service and quality of their work. Gracie works part time in our offsite clinic after having worked over 7 years full time in Admitting. She is now going to Nursing School part time and hopes to advance her career in the nursing profession. Lois has worked for our hospital for over 14 years. She works part-time as a registration clerk on evenings and weekends and is very dependable, hard working, and conscientious. She also works full time elsewhere, but her full time commitment never interferes with her commitment to us here at Sunnyside Community Hospital. Victoria Caballero is a new Per Diem registration clerk who is being cross trained throughout our department. She is making excellent progress and fits in well within our department.

Mabel Kluth continues to amaze us all with her 28 years of service and dedication to our hospital and community. She is affectionately known as our good will ambassador because of her contributions to our department, hospital, and community. She epitomizes what customer service and quality should be throughout our hospital.

The total number of volunteer hours (excluding auxiliary hours) for last year was 13,172! The month with the most volunteer hours was September. The department who utilized our on-site volunteers the most was Admitting/Atrium with 1860 hours. These volunteers include our greeters, Betty Brown, Frank Filicetti, Donna Langworthy and Bettie Mulrony who you see chatting with our visitors as they walk them to their destination.

Included in these hours are those of Eilene Crooker in our Atrium Lobby who is the liaison between ACU/surgery and families of surgery patients. Eilene communicates with the families to assure they are available to speak with the doctor when surgery is over.

Our greeters do an excellent job of making each and every person who walks through our doors feel comfortable and welcome! Thank you from the staff for all you do!

Environmental services almost doubled their volunteer hours from last year. Thank you Nancy Hazzard and staff for making these opportunities available!

Our Emergency Department was a busy place for volunteers this past year, with over 1020 hours! This was three times more hours than the previous year. Thank you, E.R. staff for taking time to provide great exposure for opportunities available as an E.R. nurse!

Maintenance added a volunteer position to their department! You all know Valentin, the guy with the paint on his face or the watering can in his hand! He keeps the walls and door jams looking fresh and our plants looking green! Keep up the good work, we appreciate you!

Medical Record's volunteer, Helen Orr, is wonderful as the M/R staff will attest. She enters data into the computer for birth certificates as well as helps out on CPR days!

Our Family Birth Center is always busy with volunteers that none of us ever see! Did I read that right? This past year, these volunteers utilized over 4,180 hours in making hats, blankets, booties and sweaters to send home with our newborns! These volunteers have been blessed with a talent that can be seen in the items they make!

The staff at SCH would like to say thank you to our volunteers for being such a great asset to our team. We appreciate your talent, your enthusiasm, your dedication and the joy you bring to this hospital each and every day. We don't always tell you how much you are appreciated but we thank you for another great year!

A reminder that Business Office needs your help in identifying accounts which are eligible for employee discount.

All full time and part time employees and their immediate families (spouse, children) are eligible for an employee discount for all SCH account balances after insurance has paid except for the Emergency Room co-payment of $50. This applies even though your family members may have coverage with an insurance other than Blue Cross.

If your family has had an emergency room visit, you may receive a check drawn to you and the doctor in payment for the physician portion. You need to endorse the check and send it with a copy of your Explanation of Benefits to: EmCare Physicians, Dept W-82, PO Box 660446, Arcadia CA 91066 along with a note you are an SCH employee. They will then honor the Blue Cross discount and the employee discount. This is very important.

January 20-21 in the Atrium waiting room. Two payroll deduction periods are available. This is something new from the people that have done the Books are Fun sale. Please let us know what you think. And thank you for supporting all the activities and fundraisers of the Auxiliary.

Gordon Edes, Gift Shop, reports that there are lots of great new Valentine' Day items in the Auxiliary Gift Shop. If you are an employee you can purchase through payroll deduction as long as you present your name tag when you make a purchase.

Our hospital staff members are asked to sign a commitment to a standards of performance. If you don't remember that - click here and revisit what it means.

The hospital has recently update the visitor policy. Whether staff member or hospital visitor you can follow these links to view the policy in English and in Spanish.