Volume 11, Issue 24 November 19, 2004
Holidays Begin with Thanksgiving Luncheon
The Holiday Season kicked off in grand style Wednesday, November 17th with the annual Employee Thanksgiving Luncheon at the Hospital. This year donations for the Mabton Food Bank were suggested as part of the "admission". (The meal was free to all employees, doctors, and volunteers at the hospital.) The response to the request was tremendous as James Meador, Isabel Vargas, Lucy Rubio, Michael Poteet from food services are pictured before about 150 pounds of gathered goods.
In This Corner by Jon D. Smiley, C.E.O.
One of the most heavily visited web pages over the past couple weeks has been the page where election results are calculated. At one point earlier this week the gap between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi was 16 votes. Thursday morning Rossi led by 261 votes. A recount was ordered Thursday morning and expected to be completed the day before Thanksgiving next week.
Its been quite a long time since a Republican was in the Governor's Mansion in Washington State. The last GOP Governor was John Spellman in the late 1980. Governor Spellman was a former King County Councilman who I had numerous opportunities to visit with from my position in Edmonds. Dan Evans was another highly respected Republican Governor in Washington.
So the only thing we know for sure at this point is that the Legislature will be dominated by the Democrat side of the aisle in Olympia next session. That side has promised to continue to address the needs of the state's hospitals, physicians and the patients we care for every day.
So you may be asking, should we root for a Democrat to become Governor also? "At least something will get passed!" is what some individuals believe. Or should we root for Mr. Rossi? "To keep some balance from what the Legislature will do!".
My thought is the time to think about that is November, and now we must respect the fact that the people have spoken. Voter turnout was tremendous. And even though Dino Rossi has "won" in about 31 of Washington's 39 counties, the fact remains that the entire state elects a Governor. Since most of the population is really in three or four of those 39 counties it may well be that a small geographic area will make the decision.
I am familiar with Mr. Rossi and I am also familiar with Ms. Gregoire. We can work with either politician, and only hope for a fair and accurate re-counting of the statewide results. Through the work of the State Hospital Association, and with the support of Senator Honeyford, Representative Chandler and Representative Newhouse our needs will not be ignored regardless of which candidate is declared the winner.
Best wishes to you and your family for a safe and happy Thanksgiving celebration. Please be safe wherever the holidays take you, whether it is to work or on the road to visit family in other places.
Auxiliary News
Please be on hand for the Festival of Trees Celebration at the Mini-Mall Friday night November 19th (tonight). This is a very important fundraiser to the Auxilary. It is also lots of fun and a great way to note the start of the holiday season. Tickets are $15 per person. Proceeds fund Auxiliary programs such as healthcare scholarships.
The Auxiliary gift shop is also open for your Christmas shopping needs. There are many special gifts that have been brought in to help "secret Santa" shoppers, and other shoppers too. Employees can shop by payroll deduction at the gift shop with your name badge.
Meet the Newest Employees
(Pictured left to right. Information provided by each new employee during orientation.)
Amy Moreno - lives in Sunnyside and works in Admitting. "I am 20 years old with no kids. I am one of three kids. I have two younger brothers. My hobbies are reading poetry, swimming, tennis and outdoor activities."
Angel Beltran - lives in Mabton and works in Food Services. He writes, "I have lived in Mabton since I was about 8 years old. Graduated from Grandview in 2003 and then lived in Federal Way for a year." He moved back to the Valley in May and as he put it, "got myself married." He also writes," I just recently had my second little girl (Kayle Lee) - I also have another daughter named Destiny Monique. Now I am here working with some great people in the kitchen. I want to thank everyone for giving me this great opportunity. I also want to thank my wife Sarah and my two daughters for giving me the motivation to work two jobs and be strong for them."
Terri Berg - Terry lives in Grandview. She writes, " I'm back! And very glad to be back. I also work per diem at PMH in admitting also. I enjoy registering people, its great to help people when they first come in. All our patients are such wonderful people."
Michael Shulman - has just moved to our area. He works in Surgery. He previously worked at Fisherman's Hospital in the Florida Keys. "I am glad to be of service to the community. Thank you for having me."
Terri Sanchez - lives in Montana and works here as a House Supervisor. Worked previously at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, Oregon before relocating. Her husband is a contractor, her 18-year-old daughter is attending college in Portland. Future education plans include obtaining a Masters in clinical forensic nursing.
Rebels Baking and "Sale-ing"
The Rebels with a Cause Relay for Life Team invites you to partake of their bake sale in the hospital lobby from 9 a.m. until Noon today, Friday, November 18th.
The Rebels are raising money for the May 2005 Relay for Life in Grandview. If they have missed you already this week, you can plan on another Rebels bake sale next payday December 3rd and again on December 17th.
If you would like to bake something to help the cause please bring the items to Penny Duren's office as early as conveniently possible on the bake sale Fridays.
The Rebels thank everyone for so much support already, and remind you that every dollar goes to help in the fight against cancer. So help out in the projects that you are interested in, if you're not a "goodies" person there will be other fund raisers later in the year.
Nursing Notes
Lunch and Learn Series - Urinary Catheter Management & Troubleshooting. Speaker: Sunnyside Urologist Dr. Robert Kim. December 2nd 12:00 Noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Classroom. More information from Gabriella Barker.
Congested Heart Failure (CHF), Dr. Francesco Vinci, December 6th, 12 Noon, Admin. Conference Room.
Know Your Health Nutrition - Free Education Program. Do you have diabetes, or are you at risk for diabetes and complications? Free program, but registration is required. Thursday, December 2nd, 7:00 p.m., Classroom. To register call (509) 232-8145. Sponsored by Bayer and Community Health Education & Resources.
This week we thank all the staff in ACU, PACU and OR as we have celebrated Perioperative Nursing Week. Perioperative nursing is essential to ensure a safe surgical environment for our patients. We all know the importance of surgical site verification and calling a time out before performing surgery. Checking patient charts, identifying reports, checking implants and checking equipment function all are part of the interventions that nurses and staff accomplish every day in the surgery department.
Our depart acknowledges these fine nurses : Norma VanBeek, Penny Ross, Jolene Wells, Angela Fierro, Judy Ann Barton and NAC Judy Norby. Sue Underwood, Linda Monroe, Mary Flores, Dorothy Love, Karen Manual, and Debbie Amos. Surgery Technicians Angela Alvarado, Serrina Walker and Michael Shulman. Lupe Barajas and Janie Alaniz, Central Sterilizing, and Olivia Lepez, Housekeeping.
In Memory - Carmen Garcia, RN - Surgery Department, passed away November 6th after a long struggle with cancer. She was loved dearly by family and coworkers and will be missed by all who knew her and her little yellow shoes.
Flu News - The Centers for Disease Control has opened a tollfree hotline for healthcare workers and the public to get the latest information on influenza and vaccine. The number is 1-800-CDC-INFO. The TTY/TDD (hearing impaired) number is 1-800-243-7889.
CBT - Annual Conscious Sedation Competency. The new annual computer based training Conscious Sedation competency model is now complete and ready for roll out to all identified staff and physicians. If you have not received information about the program, and you need to, contact Gabriella Barker in Education. All identified candidates will have to have valid ACLS and/or BLS in order to access the computer based training module.
Annual Employee Children's Christmas Party
The 3rd Annual Children's Christmas Party will be Saturday, December 18th in the Classroom from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. We welcome children, and or grandchildren (aged 10 or younger) of employees, volunteers and medical staff.
Christmas Basket Program
Speaking of Christmas as of earlier this week Yolle Guizar-Widdows reported 44 community based requests for help at Christmas. People have been coming to the Quality House or calling in and asking to sign up. Every year many departments adopt a family or try to help out in other ways. If your department can help please contact Yolle at ext. 1601. She has mox, but no email to connect. You can select the size of the family, and names and ages of children.
United Way Campaign
The Campaign (in hospital) is nearing conclusion for next year's collections. Please sign up to make a payroll deduction or a one time donation to help the many non-profit human service agencies that help the people of the Lower Valley. Contact Yolle at ext. 1601. It is not too late to help, and just like the picture at the top of this newsletter, people take notice of hospital people doing other nice things to help our community.
Paws for this one!
Two registered male yellow lab pups for sale. Seven weeks old. Call Claudia at 837-5550.
Happy Thanksgiving
One of the best columns we have seen recently on the history of Thanksgiving is available on line at msn.com. If you are reading the on line version of this newsletter, you can follow this link to see the story. Those of you not on line, well, sorry. It was copywrite protected material. While we can link you too it, we cannot reprint it.