Volume 11, Issues 15 July 16, 2004
July New Employees Welcomed!
Maria Torres, Admitting; Dana Young, RN, ER; Tricia Meier Imaging; Heather Kamrath, Administrative Intern; Michael Perez, Imaging; Michael Delgado, Clinic Manager; Dorothy Love, RN, Family Birth Center; Angela Fierro, Surgical Services
Maria Torres - from Sunnyside. Maria and her husband have one daughter. Maria came to Sunnyside when she was 12. She is a graduate of SSHS. Entering the nursing program in the fall.
Heather Kamrath - is from St. Paul, Minnesota but living in Sunnyside for the summer. She is a student from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, majoring in public health administration and policy. She is working on her field experience for her Masters by assisting in the development of the diabetes education program and the conversion of two clinics to rural health clinic status.
Michael Delgado - Clinic Administration is from Granger. He grew up on a farm in Royal City and graduated from EWU. Formerly worked for YVFWC in Yakima.
Angela Fierro - Angela is from Mabton. She recently graduated from the YVCC Nursing program. She previously worked at Hillcrest as a CNA and LPN.
Dorothy Love - Recently moved to Sunnyside. Dorothy has been in nursing for 20 years. She says she is an active horsewoman and is looking forward to learning about the Sunnyside area.
In This Corner by Jon D. Smiley, C.E.O.
In just a few short weeks we will see the beginning of a significant change in the delivery of adult and internal medicine around this hospital community.
As I mentioned in the last issue, we are very excited about the arrival of Dr. Sandra Wilson, Dr. Ellen Ang and Dr. Francesco Vinci to fill out our Internal Medicine/Hospitalist team.
Drs. Wilson and Ang will be taking over the clinic patients of Valley Internal Medicine. Dr. Vinci will be a full time hospital-based physician along with Dr. Coke Smith who will work as a hospitalist and our medical director.
The new faces will have an impact on the delivery of medicine. Our family doctors will be able to rely on the hospital-based physicians for consult when their patients are hospitalized. The hospitalist will also be available for consult to the emergency department and for medical consults prior to surgery.
We also expect the Valley Internal Clinic to have more patients as Dr. Wilson and Dr. Ang seek to grow their practices.
So one result of these new additions should be more patients in many areas of the hospital fairly quickly.
Dr. Ang and Dr. Vinci are both international medical graduates with extensive US training and residency. We have been very fortunate to attract several international grads over the past ten years. For instance, Dr. Martin Dubek came to us under a similar situation last year.
We are coming up on the celebration of one year of service to the Lower Valley for Dr. Dubek and also for Dr. April Biggs who arrived a few weeks prior to Dr. Dubek last summer. If you see them be sure and join me in saying thank you to those two fine Grandview physicians who are a tremendous asset to our communities.
Dr. Terry Sanford, who some of you many remember from her work in Grandview about three years ago, will be working with us at Lincoln Avenue Family Medicine for the next two weeks.
Thursday morning we learned that the State has said "no" to the request by Premera Blue Cross to convert to a "for profit" company. This issue was addressed in this column when the hearing began, and many of you know I testified against the conversion at a public meeting in Yakima a few months ago. We are pleased by the initial news and will watch the fallout in the weeks ahead.
The
denial follows an extensive review of the company’s application, including two
rounds of statewide public meetings, an official record of thousands of pages,
and an 11-day adjudicative hearing last May. The Insurance Commissioner
also received thousands of mailed and emailed public comments, overwhelmingly
opposed to the conversion.
The full decision can be seen at www.insurance.wa.gov/special/premera/filing/Premera_30th_Order.pdf.
The decision is final, but the parties have 30 days from the day of the decision
to file an appeal. They also have 10 days from the day of the decision to
ask Commissioner Kreidler to reconsider his decision. The appeal would go
to Thurston County Superior Court (Olympia). There would not be a trial;
the Superior Court would render a decision based on the existing record.
The Nuclear Medicine Department of Sunnyside Community
Hospital has acquired a new camera that will help doctors better diagnose heart
disease. The Meridian Nuclear
Medicine Gamma camera installed earlier this week at the hospital replaced
equipment that was nearly ten years old.
Diagnostic Imaging Director Coleen Goulet said the $160,000 upgrade is a large field of view imaging system that performs virtually any Nuclear Medicine procedure. Physicians typically use Nuclear Medicine as a diagnostic tool to look for disease or damage to internal organs like the heart, lungs, and digestive system.
Photos below: Jason Root, Technologist and Coleen Goulet. In photo two Jason is interviewed by David Mance of KIMA TV. In photo three Coleen "volunteers" to show where the person goes so the TV camera can get some additional pictures. Click on image for larger photos.
Goulet said, “The Meridian system gives our hospital outstanding imaging flexibility.” She said the Sunnyside technologists will now be able to perform state of the art Nuclear Cardiac studies including myocardial profusion imaging and MUGA scans. “Having those two procedures available in the Lower Valley is very good news for our doctors in this area and even better news for the patients we want to help them serve.”
The camera will also perform an important Nuclear Medicine Procedure called SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography – 3 D.) These procedures have previously only been available in Yakima, Tri-Cities or the Seattle area.
The hospital will hold an open house Wednesday, August 11th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to allow doctors and interested community members to see the new equipment and talk with staff members about the tests that will now be available locally.
(Editor's Note: the above story is a reprint of a hospital press release.)
New
Board Member Welcomed 
Christina Rivas
is the newest member of the Board of
Trustees of Sunnyside Community Hospital.
A long time Sunnyside resident, Rivas is the local office manager for Cascade Natural Gas. She is also a member of the Sunnyside, Inc. Board of Directors, and a member of the Sunnyside Daybreak Rotary. The Sunnyside business woman said she hopes to bring a sense of compassion to the board. She said Board member, and Sunnyside physician, Dr. Coke Smith, showed her and her family tremendous compassion a few years ago when treating an ailing relative.
“I’ve never had a chance to thank him and I look
forward to that,” Rivas said. She
also said volunteer service for any community organization is a chance to give
back “to a community that has done so much for me.”
Rivas and her husband Ray have six children between them.
She is also very proud of her new grandchild, and is quick to mention a
son-in-law enrolled in the nursing program at Heritage College.
Update from Iraq
submitted by Ruth Hagensicker
I want to thank the employees of SCH that donated all the food and powdered drinks that were sent to our soldiers in Iraq. We sent 239 pounds and after four weeks all the packages have arrived. My brother wrote from Iraq to say that it was greatly appreciated. We would like to send more around the first week of September. If anyone would like to donate just drop by the Cafeteria at the hospital or get in touch with me.
Thank you very much, and please keep our soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.
Feedback from Customer Service Rep.
I received a phone call from a patient expressing his wife and his appreciation for SCH, stating he has been served well over the past 16 years. He has congestive heart failure and comes regularly for lab work and had been an IP several times. From our housekeepers to dietary staff to lab to the nursing staff, everyone is always so kind. He recently utilized our ER and complimented our environmental services staff. He said, "It takes everyone to make your hospital visit pleasant and the housekeepers are always courteous, quite and very respectful of others." He just wanted someone to know!
Foundation Golf Tournament Now Accepting Applications
submitted by Carol Allen
One of the busy times of the summer is the annual SCH Foundation Golf Tournament. Right now we are calling all you golfers with a reminder to get your registration in early to assure you have a spot.
You can download an information form by clicking here.
The tournament is August 7, 2004. We will have an early morning shotgun start to beat the summer heat.
Anyone interested in helping out please contact us as well. We are looking for folks to help with registration, serve lunches and get the golfers out on the course. If you have helped before and want to come back we can really use you this year.
Dangerous Places in Washington
Do you think you know the most dangerous places to drive in Washington? State Farm Insurance has calculated the ten most dangerous intersections in the state. The information is based on the number, and severity of accidents. The good news is that none of the intersections are in Sunnyside.
If you would like to see the full list, click here.
Women's Health Grand Rounds is also scheduled via telehealth. Or contact Gabriella Barker.
Oncology Grand Rounds every second Friday of the month via Telehealth.
Child Abuse and Neglect - presented by St. Luke's Pediatric Education, Dr. Deb. Harper. July 20, via telehealth. 12:00 p.m. Classroom at SCH. Pre-register by July 19 with Gabriella Barker. This program provides 1.0 CEU and 1.0 Category II CME.
You can also get class information from the office of Gabriella Barker at any time of the day. Flyers for all current classes are posted on her door in the Administrative wing. So, even if you are working nights or weekends you can see the latest flyers by taking a walk down the admin. hallway. Your department manager should also have a copy of the monthly class schedule if one is not posted in your department.
Women's Health Returns September 23rd
The hospital is scheduling this year's "Women's Health Night" for September 23rd. If you would like to know more about plans for the night contact Sandra Linde.
Potential vendors, speakers, and interested employees are invited to contact Sandra right now for more information.
