Bon Secours Baltimore Health System was

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1 VOL UM E Dear Friends, Being Good Help to Those in Need has meant many things since the Sisters of Bon Secours arrived in Baltimore in the late 19th Century. The home nursing ministry they established provided care of the body and spirit for the Baltimore residents whose lives they touched. Today s challenges are far more diverse. However, we at Bon Secours continue to feel the strong desire to help our neighbors and friends and we are grateful that you ve chosen to join us. The path to selfsufficiency is not easy to traverse. The participants in the Bon Secours community and economic development programs may also face the lack of a high school diploma, addiction or incarceration. Our neighbors don t walk alone. Bon Secours walks with them. Your gift to Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Foundation will help make self-sufficiency a reality for the people whose stories you read here, and for many more as well. Won t you help our neighbors reach a brighter future? Whether your desire is to help increase access to healthcare, give someone a hand up to selfsufficiency or provide a safety net to those in desperate need we thank you for your assistance with this God-given mission. Sincerely, Sister Patricia A. Dowling, CBS President, Board of Directors Stable Finances Allow Bon Secours Baltimore to Plan for the Future Q & A with Richard Jones, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Aformer partner of the international accounting firm of KPMG and Sr. Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer of Stamford Health System, Richard Jones has worked closely with senior management to change the direction of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System s financial fortunes. The hospital is now operating near break even and looking to the future. Richard Jones arrived at his new position as Chief Financial Officer of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, Inc. in August of The last 18 months have been the first phase of a carefully monitored turnaround plan. Q: You came from Stamford, Connecticut, how do you like Baltimore? CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Congratulations to Bon Secours Baltimore 2011 Environmental Excellence Award Winner! Bon Secours Baltimore Health System was honored for the second year in a row with an Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth, a national organization for health care facilities committed to environmentally responsible operation. A: I m originally from Baltimore, born and raised right here in Baltimore City. I began my healthcare career at Sinai Hospital. I was there for about nine and a half years while I went to school at night. The Partner for Change with Distinction Award, received by Bon Secours Baltimore, recognizes healthcare facilities that are working to achieve sustainability. To receive this award, Bon Secours Baltimore demonstrated that they had achieved improvements in their mercury elimination, waste reduction and pollution prevention programs. Bon Secours Baltimore achieved a 15% or greater recycling rate, an extensive sustainability program and provided environmental leadership in the local community and healthcare sector.e

2 Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Chinese Proverb We, at Bon Secours, strive to be Good Help to Those in Need. For us at the Community Support Center that translates into working with people to be whole, to be able to care for themselves and their family. We are focused on supporting individuals to become economically self-sufficient as we recognize that being able to care for oneself and family is a significant component to being a full developed, well rounded person. Getting a GED and Heading to College Susan Thanks Bon Secours Family Support Center Susan had no choice but to grow up fast. Her home situation was toxic. She spent years in Juvenile facilities, alternating time in jail with fighting and running away. Drugs were part of the equation as well. Permanently expelled from school at age 14, pregnant at 17, Susan was exhausted and without much hope. And then everything changed. Relying on her faith and the programs at the Bon Secours Family Support Center, Susan reached out for help, and got it! Susan s daughter, Izzy, is thriving in Bon Secours child development program and Susan has completed all of the classes and is now in the final stages of completing her GED. She participates actively in the parenting program, receives drug counseling and has clear career goals. My next step is to go to college, study social work and business, she says. I want to be able to help people who have problems like mine. They ll be able to hear me because I ve been there and I ve moved on. Susan appreciates how far she has come and how much she has to be thankful for and with her Bon Secours support system solidly behind her, her future is bright. While we offer a wide range of services, at our core there are three fundamentals that we feel strongly all participants must achieve on their journey to self-sufficiency: Education, Career Preparation and Job skills, and Financial Literacy. Bon Secours offers GED preparation and ABE classes. Through our partnership with Baltimore City Community College, day and evening classes are taught on site at the Community Support Center. Students are evaluated upon entering the class so that a program can be tailored to their education needs. A GED is a significant step to earning a living wage. In fact, Maryland residents with a high school diploma or GED earn a full $10,000 per year more than those without. I am very pleased to report that many of our participants enroll at Baltimore City Community College and other area colleges upon achieving their GED. The next step along the path to economic self sufficiency is career preparation and job skills training. Encouraging participants to remain focused on long-term career path goals is the motivation we all need to feel fulfilled, of value, and successful. Once participants complete this program that includes workplace skills, job interviewing, resume writing, professional communication, and much more, they are provided three years of career placement, training and mentoring. The third core component of our programs is financial literacy, which provides practical financial management skills and banking services so that our clients can achieve economic selfsufficiency. These programs include creating budgets, understanding your paycheck, understanding and saving for retirement, free tax preparation services, credit repair and much more. In fact, 71% of households with annual incomes of 30,000 or less are underand un-banked. The un-banked use check cashing, payday loans, pawn shops and refund anticipation loans. Banks serve as a conduit to building credit and financial stability. (FDIC, 2009 U.S. Census) Bon Secours, in partnership with the community, brought retail banking back to Southwest Baltimore in Today 1,100 active accounts exist and more CONTINUED 2

3 Bon Secours Baltimore Cardiology Saving Lives and Money From Recovery Center to Bon Secours Workforce Development Now Barbara can celebrate a self-sufficient future Barbara had a substance abuse problem and came to Bon Secours through a referral from the recovery center. She entered the Bon Secours Workforce Development program. I want to change my life, she told Sterling Brunson, Workforce Development program director. And, she has a plan to do just that. Bon Secours was my home-away-from-home! shares Barbara. I got referred from the recovery center across the street and I did the Job Readiness program for 20 days. I really want to work in the medical field and help others. I can t get a job in that right now, because I have a felony on my record. I m starting at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) in September and I hope to be able to get a job in medical records. I m starting at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) in September and I hope to be able to get a job in medical records. than $1.5 million annual in tax return refunds are in the hands of community residents through free tax preparation. I hope that you enjoy reading the adjacent stories of triumph. These individuals are just a few of the many. I opened a checking and a savings account, she said proudly. I m starting driving lessons next month I saved half the money for the lesson and Bon Secours is going to match it. I m 41 and finally able to drive! Barbara now has a full-time job with a dermatologist as a live-in nanny. She cares for a four and eight-year-old. It s not exactly where I want to be, but it s a start! says Barbara. It s not hard to believe Barbara will be working in a medical office and living in a place of her own soon. Hard work and a little help from friends at Bon Secours have made a big difference in Barbara s life. I thank God every day for putting those [Bon Secours] people in my life, declares Barbara. Meet Barbara online at bonsecoursbaltfound. For more information and more success stories, visit us online at Sincerely, George Kleb For patients admitted to Bon Secours Hospital and diagnosed with congestive heart failure, the outcome is bright. The new Bedside Patient Education program is changing patient behavior and having a major impact on the number of returning cardiac patients. We had to rethink our strategies around patient care, says Dr. Athol Morgan, Chief of Cardiology at Bon Secours Baltimore Health System. Too many of our congestive heart failure patients were returning to our Emergency Department for care of emergent health problems. In 2009, the Cardiology Department of Bon Secours Hospital launched their new patient education program. The program begins while patients are still in the hospital. The most common reasons for repeat Emergency Department visits are failure to comply with medication, diet instructions, and lack of follow-up with a physician, comments Dr. Morgan. We ve established this program using existing resources. It contains both an in-patient and out-patient component. The in-patient portion of the new program includes a visit by TeleHeart nurse Joe Ann Murphy. Once a patient has been in the hospital for two or three days, they are able to focus on the education materials that I provide, says Joe Ann Murphy, RN. The tools Joe Ann gives each patient are easy to understand and remember, and they put some control back into the patients hands. One of the reminders is a picture of a scale and a reminder to weigh themselves every day. If they gain three to five pounds from one day to the next, then they need to call their primary care physician, their cardiologist or me. We ll get them in for a visit either that day or the next to adjust their medicine or determine what needs to be done, says Joe Ann. The weight gain is an indication of fluid retention and, if left untreated, would result in a return visit to the Emergency Department within just a few days. This is something they can do and see, Joe Ann continues, This everyone can understand! CONTINUED 3

4 BY THE NUMBERS 23% Reduction of Congestive Heart Failure Patients returning to the hospital within 30 days 90% a choice and the prescription can be overlooked until there s a need for critical care resulting in another trip to the Emergency Department. The readmission rate of congestive heart failure patients since the inception of the program is just over 10%, down from more than 13% a year ago. Meeting with the patients while they are here, onsite, has made a difference. says Dr. Morgan. The results have been very positive. of Congestive Heart Failure Patients adhering to medication plans 60 Congestive Heart Failure patients attend monthly TeleHeart education classes Step one of the Bon Secours plan is to implement a Team-Based Approach to the management of care meet some members of the Cardiology Team: (l to r) Eula Harris, Carolyn Miller, Patricia Hill, Pat Daughtery, (F) Carolyn Greene and Kristin Henning. After discharge, follow-up with patients includes assistance and support with their adherence to diet and medication plans, exercise and self-monitoring of their heart condition. The TeleHeart nurse provides phone consultations and in-home visits to patients, as well as classes at the hospital three times each month. We re helping make patients more responsible for their health and showing them better health choices, says Joe Ann. For many patients, each day means making the choice of how to spend their limited resources, literally it s a choice between food and rent or prescription drugs to treat their congestive heart failure. Every dollar is The success of the program lies not only in the decline of the readmission rate, but the increased use of prescription medication and increases in physician consultations after discharge, both indicators of the patients increased knowledge and commitment to working with staff to handle the disease. By utilizing hospital staff, volunteers and TeleHeart program personnel, the Cardiology Team is making a difference in CHF patients and their improved quality of life.e Join us in the fight against heart disease make a gift today $20 provides a complete set of educational materials for a patient to take home from the hospital $50 covers a health screening for a patient, detecting early warning signs of medical conditions $100 enables Bon Secours to host one of our monthly seminars on disease management for 30 or more patients $500 covers the cost of the monthly newsletter to patients that educates and supports them in their efforts to change 4

5 A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO DR. ROSS, CEO, Bon Secours Baltimore Health System It is my pleasure to share the extraordinary news that Bon Secours Baltimore Health System participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Wayland Village Senior Apartments just weeks ago. This is Bon Secours Baltimore Health System s sixth senior building and its opening brings Bon Secours total senior and family affordable housing to 650 units. When the Sisters of Bon Secours arrived in America, in West Baltimore in 1881, they had no idea how their mission to be Good Help to Those in Need would be carried out 130 years later. This ribbon cutting is a wonderful example of bringing life to that mission. Our senior buildings offer individuals of extremely low income an opportunity to live independently in a safe, maintenance free apartment for a rent that is set at 30% of their income and that includes utilities. Some of our residents are transitioning from shelters. For these individuals, they are now able to use their limited incomes for other life necessities, such as food or prescription medication. I want to thank our partners: Enterprise Homes, with whom we have worked for so many years; Wayland Baptist Church Community Development Corporation; Wayland Baptist Church; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development; Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Board of Directors; Bon Secours Health System and, of course, the Sisters of Bon Secours who have encouraged and worked closely with us on our community programs. To be Good Help to Those in Need It carries with it many responsibilities. To live our mission, we are obligated to listen, to understand, to respond with compassion and to stretch ourselves as individuals and as an organization for those in need. As I near my five year anniversary as CEO, I am blessed to be a part of the century long history of the Sisters of Bon Secours. Thank you so very much for joining me, our board of directors, and the Sisters of Bon Secours as we walk together to be Good Help to Those in Need. Sincerely Samuel L. Ross, MD, MS CEO Stable Finances Allow Bon Secours Baltimore to Plan for the Future CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Q: What was your role at Stamford Health System? A: Before coming to Bon Secours, I was the Sr. Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Stamford Health System in Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford was nearly two and a half times the size of Bon Secours, but the problems were similar. It was a turnaround situation and within five and a half years, we accomplished that goal. The hospital was losing $33 million per year when I arrived and had a five percent positive operating margin when I left. Q: Last year, the state of Maryland awarded the health system $5 million to help Bon Secours Baltimore reclaim positive financial footing. How has that impacted the hospital? A: The money from the state gave us an opportunity to take a reasonable and measured approach to improving our position. It gave us time to evaluate our practices, our partnerships, and to make infrastructure changes that would put us back in the black. Q: What changes in financial policy have occurred and what impact have they had? A: Utilization of agency labor was excessive. Paying a premium rate for nursing services instead of hiring staff was costly. We ve changed that trend and reduced agency labor considerably. This translates to the ability to better manage productivity of the labor force. We continue to build partnerships with private and public providers resulting in new revenue streams. Last year we benefited from our alliance with the state of Maryland in the delivery of Behavioral Health services. Bon Secours 31-bed adult in- patient facility and four out-patient facilities in communities surrounding the hospital enable us to serve behavioral health patients throughout Southwest Baltimore. Q: What does the future hold for Bon Secours Baltimore? A: There are still a number of challenges ahead for Bon Secours Baltimore. Capital improvement is moving back onto our priority list. For several years, annual operating losses have limited capital investment in our facility. Now that we have positive financial performance, we must focus on the significant capital needs of the hospital. This will require a partnership with our community as funding future capital improvements will require favorable financial results and community support. e 5

6 THE MISSION of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System is to bring compassion to health care and to be good help to those in need, especially those who are poor and dying. As a system of caregivers, we commit ourselves to help bring people and communities to health and wholeness as part of the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. A PUBLICATION OF Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Foundation 2000 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD For more information, please contact Chris Walker at or christiane_walker@bshsi.org Title Sponsor For more information, contact Almarie Wood: or Almarie_Wood@bshsi.org or visit BonSecours.golfreg.com Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Baltimore, MD Permit No. 74