Currents. to Keep You Moving. Patients who decide to have knee replacement, hip replacement, We re on the Move

Transcription

1 Fall 2011 Currents Health News and Information for Oregon s South Coast In this issue: 2 A Hospital of the Future 6 An Outpatient Mall 7 John Whitty Award New Affiliation Heart and Vascular Care 8 Living Better 9 Prescription for Success: Presurgery Education 10 A Specialist in the Room 12 Hospital Expansion Update Bay Area Hospital 1775 Thompson Road Coos Bay, Oregon (541) We re on the Move to Keep You Moving New Joint and Spine Care Center Expands Bay Area Hospital s Orthopedic Services Patients who decide to have knee replacement, hip replacement, or spinal surgery at Bay Area Hospital are discovering that the new Joint and Spine Care Center offers the highest level of orthopedic care available along Oregon s south coast. The center s professional team of physicians, nurses, technicians, and staff is committed to delivering patient-centered and personalized orthopedic healthcare services to its valued patients and achieving excellent patient outcomes. 1 continued on page 3

2 President s Letter A Hospital of the Future Bay Area Hospital s new four-story expansion, now taking shape on our Coos Bay campus, is an appropriate metaphor for our hospital s strategic direction: Creating the Hospital of the Future. We believe that providing the entire South Coast region with a welcoming facility that includes advanced medical technology is essential for promoting a healing environment. Yet creating the hospital of the future involves more than building excellent facilities. It includes having a professional, well-trained, and compassionate staff that delivers efficient and effective patient care. And it means creating clinical services and programs that are valued by the communities that Bay Area Hospital serves. We hope you ll enjoy reading this issue of Currents, which focuses on the following: Bay Area Hospital s innovative Joint and Spine Care Center and its related services of physical rehabilitation and our recently expanded presurgery patient education classes Our new venture into telemedicine as we forge a partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland; through the magic of high-definition video cameras and monitors, OHSU s specialists can now consult with Bay Area Hospital physicians to quickly diagnose and suggest effective treatments for stroke victims and intensive care pediatric patients Our new affiliation with Sacred Heart Medical Center, which will significantly expand cardiology care in our region and allow Bay Area Hospital to offer advanced interventional and diagnostic heart and vascular procedures when our catheterization lab opens Oded Shulsinger, MD, who was honored by the Bay Area Hospital Foundation as the 2011 recipient of the John Whitty Award for Excellence for his dedication to improving community health An update of our 110,000-square-foot expansion project, including modernized inpatient nursing stations and centralized outpatient services This issue also includes inspirational testimonials from a few of our patients. I was touched by their heartfelt comments about the care they received at Bay Area Hospital. Our patients continue to provide us with one measurement of how we re doing in our pursuit of excellence as we work to create a hospital of the future of which we all can be proud. Paul G. Janke, FACHE President/CEO 2

3 Joint and Spine Care continued from page 1 I ve worked at a number of hospitals, and I ve found that Bay Area Hospital has a very caring nursing staff, and there is good communication between physicians and nurses, says Jason Bell, MD, orthopedic surgeon and chair of the hospital s Orthopedics department. As for the facility, what we have here is great. We have essentially state-of-the-art equipment, he adds. Anything I need to do a procedure, I have or can get. Dr. Bell notes that Bay Area Hospital recently upgraded its minimally invasive camera systems so that all surgeons have the latest and greatest arthroscopic technology available. And Bay Area Hospital is certified to use its MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) diagnostic scanner to build custom knees for patients because everybody s knee is different. I ve worked at a number of hospitals, and I ve found that Bay Area Hospital has a very caring nursing staff, and there is good communication between physicians and nurses. Jason Bell, MD Orthopedic Surgeon Nurse Becomes a Patient I was back to work at six and a half weeks. My quality of life is definitely better. Esther Socia Patient After two years of trying different types of injections to relieve pain in her right knee, Esther Socia, a Bay Area Hospital nurse, was tired of temporary fixes. She and her orthopedic surgeon, Jason Bell, MD, decided it was time for total knee replacement surgery. Socia attended the hospital s Moving Forward class for prospective joint replacement patients just before undergoing surgery in early May. Her three-day recovery in the hospital gave her new insights from a patient s point of view. I don t think I got special treatment because I m a nurse, she says. I had a private room, and it was very exciting to be able to order breakfast, lunch, and dinner from a menu. The food was always hot and fresh, brought to your room by the kitchen staff. When it was time to go home, Socia found her discharge planner invaluable in setting up everything she needed. I was back to work at six and a half weeks. My quality of life is definitely better, says Socia, who expects to have her other knee replaced at Bay Area Hospital. My mother had a knee replacement surgery at Sacred Heart in Eugene, but I think Dr. Bell s the best, Socia says, and I found our hospital gives great patient care. 3

4 Joint and Spine Care continued from page 3 In 2010 the Joint and Spine Care Center performed 1,410 orthopedic surgeries, representing 28 percent the highest volume of all surgery categories performed at the hospital that year. Of those surgeries more than 100 were total hip replacements, 246 were total knee replacements, and 271 were spine procedures. With the aging of the baby boomer population, the hospital anticipates an even greater demand for its orthopedic services. To meet the community s healthcare needs, the Joint and Spine Care Center will expand its physical space when the hospital s four-story expansion wing is completed in early Post-operative orthopedic patients will stay on the third floor in private rooms with rooming in accommodations for a family member. In addition to high-tech orthopedic operating rooms, the center will contain a dedicated physical therapy space designed to help patients experience a successful recovery. When I woke up from that surgery and they took me off morphine, I was in no pain. Tracy Baker Patient But the center is more than its physical space. It is a collaboration of a group of experienced healthcare professionals at Bay Area Hospital. Providing a full continuum of care, the Joint and Spine team includes physicians and surgeons, executive leadership, a coordinator, staff nurses, department educator, physical therapists, pharmacists, dietitians, and others. Their goal is to ensure that the center excels in delivering safe, high-quality, consistent, and efficient healthcare to all patients. The orthopedic care coordinator teaches the recently revamped Moving Forward class for prospective joint replacement surgery patients and the new Talking Back class for prospective spinal surgery patients. Our team members have been working to standardize procedures to ensure that all safety precautions and best-care practices are used, Aleksander Curcin, MD an orthopedic physician specializing in spine surgery explains. We are also collecting data that will be used to improve the quality of patients care from the moment they are admitted to the hospital until after they are discharged. 4

5 Joint and Spine Care I had a great time during my stay. The nurses were very friendly. By the time I left, we were all good friends. Back in the Saddle Again For three years after she was thrown from a horse during a ride, former horse trainer Tracy Baker found it increasingly difficult to handle everyday activities. As her back pain increased due to a compression fracture from the accident and subsequent disk degeneration, Tracy no longer could ride her beloved horses. Even walking became difficult. She began to trip and fall as her legs became increasingly numb. Her future vision of teaching horseback riding to underprivileged and special needs youngsters at her North Bend farm faded. Tracy eventually sought the opinion of Coos Bay orthopedic surgeon Aleksandar Curcin, MD. After assuring her that he could help, Dr. Curcin scheduled surgery for early June 2011 at Bay Area Hospital s Joint and Spine Care Center. Tracy enjoys riding on the beach. When I woke up from that surgery and they took me off morphine, I was in no pain, says Tracy, adding, I can t believe how great I felt. Tracy can t say enough about Dr. Curcin s skill: He s a great doctor. She feels the same about Bay Area Hospital and its caring and professional staff. Actually, I had a great time during my stay. The nurses were very friendly. By the time I left, we were all good friends. Today, Tracy is again riding her horses with no pain and preparing to build a horse barn the first step toward making her dream of opening a riding school for youngsters a reality. 5

6 Outpatient Mall Expansion s First Floor to Become An Outpatient Mall Bay Area Hospital s Outpatient Services will have a new home when the expansion wing is completed in early The first floor will become a one-stop shop where we can help people in one centralized area, says Ben Pfau, the hospital s chief information and facilities officer. This puts a front door on all of our services. In addition to a centralized admissions office, the first floor will include areas for: Presurgery tests and interviews A presurgery lab The cardiopulmonary rehab gym for postsurgery patients Outpatient infusion services, such as administering chemotherapy and antibiotics, blood and platelet transfusions, and bone-marrow stimulation Dietary and diabetic interviews and education A wound care clinic Pfau explains that over many years Bay Area Hospital has transitioned from a facility that only takes care of sick and injured patients to one that provides a wide variety of healthcare services that meet the changing needs of Oregon s South Coast community. Until this expansion the hospital had to find homes for its varied outpatient services wherever it could in what originally had been designed as inpatient space. Our architects have basically designed an outpatient mall, where people will have easy access to the services they need, Pfau says. Each space has been designed using evidence-based best practices for the treatment of patients, Pfau adds. For example, the new cardiopulmonary lab will probably require fewer than 20 steps for patients to navigate, compared with the 400 steps they must take to get there in the current facility. 6

7 Physician Honored for Outstanding Leadership News and Updates Oded Zion Shulsinger, MD, was honored September 23 as this year s recipient of Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation s annual John Whitty Award for Excellence. Given since 2009, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to Bay Area Hospital and the South Coast community. During his 34-year career as an internist practicing at Bay Area Hospital, Dr. Shulsinger served as president of the hospital s medical staff from 1982 to 1989 and was a member of the hospital s Board of Directors from 1989 to He also served as North Bend Medical Center s board chair from 2005 until 2009 and as that group s medical director from 2005 until his retirement this spring. Contributed by The World Newspaper, Benjamin Brayfield. For several years Dr. Shulsinger co-owned a Coos Bay record store, Off the Record, with co-founder Bob Hart. In 2001 he was one of three founders of Music on the Bay, an annual free music festival held in September. Thanks to Dr. Shulsinger s vision and guidance, over those years the hospital grew from a local to a referral hospital with state-of-the-art technology and numerous outstanding programs and services to meet the medical needs of a growing community along Oregon s South Coast. New Affiliation for Heart and Vascular Care Cardiology care and treatment for residents along Oregon s South Coast will expand significantly with the new collaboration between Bay Area Hospital and North Bend Medical Center and the Oregon Heart & Vascular Institute (OHVI) at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield. The affiliation with Sacred Heart allows Bay Area Hospital to offer advanced interventional and diagnostic procedures at its new catheterization lab, expected to be completed in early 2013 as part of the hospital s expansion. The collaboration also includes the development of a clinical cardiology practice at North Bend Medical Center. OHVI will offer extensive support for physician recruitment and the new cardiac catheterization lab, where cardiologists will be able to determine the severity and the extent of cardiovascular problems plus repair blocked vessels and improve blood flow. The affiliation also gives Bay Area Hospital streamlined access to higher-level services and resources at Sacred Heart Medical Center s RiverBend campus when local patients need them. South Coast residents are the winners in this significant commitment to expand cardiology services, says Paul Janke, Bay Area Hospital s President/CEO. Our longstanding relationship with Sacred Heart makes this affiliation a natural next step in our continuing efforts to provide our community with high-quality heart care that lets them heal close to home. 7

8 Physical Therapy Living Better Therapists Get Patients Up and Going Again Our whole focus is to get people mobile as soon as possible. Doug Jones Physical Therapist For most patients who undergo a total joint replacement at Bay Area Hospital, physical therapy begins in the patient s room within a day after surgery. We get them going almost immediately, says physical therapist Doug Jones. We work on how to get up and out of bed and walk. It s much better as far as reducing post-operative risks, and it shortens the patient s hospital stay. Our whole focus is to get people mobile as soon as possible. Jones is one of about 20 members of the hospital s Rehabilitation Services team, which includes physical and occupational therapists as well as speech/language therapists. They work with inpatients following surgery as well as outpatients who visit the hospital for follow-up rehabilitation. 8

9 Before knee or hip replacement patients are discharged from the hospital, physical therapists help them improve strength, balance, and range of motion with safe exercises. Therapists collaborate with nurses, doctors, and the discharge planner to determine when patients are ready to function safely in their own home. Many patients are equipped with a walker when they go home. Our job is to help them get rid of it, quips physical therapist Barbie Haines, who works with outpatients during their weeks of physical therapy sessions following surgery. At Bay Area Hospital, we improve people s quality of life, adds Dustina Coleman, Rehabilitation Services manager. The surgeons replace their joints, and our therapists return their lives back to them. For more information about Rehabilitation Services, call (541) I ve seen every physical therapist at the hospital, and I ve seen all aspects of the Physical Therapy department. I would not go anywhere else but Bay Area Hospital. Linda McCoy Physical Therapy Patient Linda is back to caring for her garden again. Presurgery Education Prescription for Success: Presurgery Education Patients who choose to have their elective orthopedic surgery at Bay Area Hospital s Joint and Spine Care Center attend a two-hour class one to two weeks before surgery to learn what to expect before, during, and after their hospital stay. Talking Back Spine Presurgery Education Talking Back Spine Presurgery Education Patient education before surgery has been found to be one of the best ways to ensure a patient s successful surgery and rehabilitation, says Orthopedic Care Coordinator Kayte Burch, RN. Burch teaches both the Moving Forward class for patients planning knee or hip replacement surgery and the Talking Back class for prospective spine surgery patients. Prior to attending either class, patients receive printed materials with information they can review beforehand and keep while in the hospital and after they are discharged. In the classes, Burch and other instructors describe how best to prepare for surgery and what will occur during the hospital stay, and they offer suggestions for a successful recovery. Patients also learn exercises they can begin doing to get stronger before surgery, and they learn how to prepare their home for a safer rehabilitation. We recommend having a support person such as a friend, family member, or spouse attend the class with the patient, Burch adds. A well-informed support person can help the patient have a successful recovery at home. For more information or to register for a class, call (541)

10 Telemedicine A Specialist in the Room Via High-Definition Video, OHSU Specialists Provide Added Expertise to Bay Area Hospital Staff If I had a very, very sick child, and if I knew Bay Area Hospital had access to an OHSU specialist, that s where I would take my child. Carla McKelvey, MD Coos Bay Pediatrician Time is of the essence when a patient arrives at a hospital s Emergency Department with symptoms of a thrombotic stroke. Those symptoms may include numbness, weakness, slurred speech, and difficulty walking. An experienced neurologist can quickly determine whether a patient is having a thrombotic stroke, caused by a clot in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. When a clot deprives the brain of needed oxygen and nutrients, it also can kill brain cells. A neurologist s timely decision to administer clot-busting drugs can mean the difference between the patient living or dying or possibly becoming permanently disabled. In the past when a suspected stroke victim arrived at Bay Area Hospital, doctors would order tests such as a CT (computerized axial tomography) scan, then call OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University) in Portland for a phone consultation with a neurologist. Bay Area Hospital sees an average of three to five thrombotic stroke patients each month. But as of September 1, local doctors have had an OHSU neurologist available to look over their shoulders via state-of-the-art, highdefinition video cameras and monitors when a stroke diagnosis was needed. 10

11 Telemedicine Dr. McKelvey using the OHSU Telemedicine Network for pediatric patients. This allows rural doctors such as ours to have an OHSU specialist actually see and assess the patient, then make a recommendation whether to administer clot-busting drugs, explains Dave Gorbutt, RN, Bay Area Hospital s director of critical care services. It s not a decision to be taken lightly, he says. If it s the wrong decision, it can be dangerous. But if successful, those drugs are the best chance for the patient s recovery and quality of life after the stroke. And it shortens the amount of rehabilitation the patient will need. Carla McKelvey, MD, a Coos Bay pediatrician for the past 15 years and the current president of the Oregon Medical Association, is enthusiastic about Bay Area Hospital s decision to join the OHSU Telemedicine Network. For now the program links OHSU pediatric intensivists and stroke neurologists with rural hospitals around the state. But Dr. McKelvey hopes the network will expand to bring other specialists on board and into Bay Area Hospital s examining rooms. It s the difference between having a patient s condition described to you on the phone and seeing that patient for yourself, she points out. A mom herself, Dr. McKelvey understands the benefits to South Coast families who would find it difficult to drive four hours to Portland if their child had an emergency. If I had a very, very sick child, and if I knew Bay Area Hospital had access to an OHSU specialist, that s where I would take my child, she adds. The cases we believe we ll use it for are critically ill or injured pediatric patients, says McKelvey, one of nine local pediatricians who practice at Bay Area Hospital. We don t have enough critical cases to warrant having a pediatrics intensivist on staff here. 11

12 1775 Thompson Road Coos Bay, OR The Medical Center for Oregon s South Coast Hospital Expansion Update Construction on Bay Area Hospital s four-story expansion wing, just north of the existing hospital, is on schedule and on budget, says Karl Delzotti, the hospital s director of facilities management. The $45 million project will add 110,000 square feet to the current hospital when it is completed in early This fall the community will see some of the building s concrete support system, including elevator shafts and stairwell towers, approaching the third-floor level, Delzotti adds. Among some of the new wing s features are the 30 private surgery and orthopedic patient rooms on the third floor. Designed with the patient s safety and well-being in mind, each room contains a computer so that healthcare providers can update charts or refer to electronic medical records at the bedside, allowing more time with each patient. Having access to electronic patient records and digital imaging, both at the bedside and throughout the hospital, enables medical staff to check a patient s status at any time and easily share information with other healthcare providers. Also, decentralized nursing stations, composed of a desk and a computer, will line corridors outside patient rooms. These stations will allow nurses to work nearby their patients and handle recordkeeping duties on a computer without bothering sleeping patients, explains Jennifer Green, RN, BSN, Bay Area Hospital s clinical nurse manager. As the only Joint Commission accredited hospital on Oregon s South Coast, Bay Area Hospital has earned a Gold Seal of Approval for healthcare quality and safety. Copyright 2011 Bay Area Hospital. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form except by prior written permission. Printed with soy ink on recycled paper. BAH322 12