Covenant's Newsletter: NewsLink (December/January)

Bethany Health Care Center (Framingham) has achieved 11 years of deficiency-free ratings from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Department of Public Health, Division of Health Care Quality. Congratulations to CEO/Administrator, Sr. Jacquelyn McCarthy, CSJ and her entire staff.
St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua) is the first hospital in Nashua to use the innovative da Vinci® Surgical System, a breakthrough approach to surgery. With robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons can perform even the most complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with unmatched precision. The da Vinci® Surgical System puts a surgeon's hands at the controls of a state-of-the-art robotic platform, where they operate while viewing a high-definition 3D image of the surgical area. As the surgeon's fingers grasp the master controls, the system seamlessly translates hand, wrist and finger movements into precise real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient. The da Vinci® Surgical System allows St. Joe's to offer the most effective, least invasive treatment options to their patients - much less invasive than traditional surgery, and with less limitations than ordinary laparoscopic procedures.
Potential benefits include: less pain, less scarring, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery. Surgeons at St. Joseph Hospital are currently using the da Vinci® Surgical System to perform hysterectomies and prostatectomies.
To learn more, visit http://www.daVinciSurgery.com
St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua) is proud to announce that SJ Family Medical Centers, SJ Internal Medicine, Nashua Pediatrics, and Merrimack Valley Pediatrics have been named to the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care 2008 Physician Group Honor Roll. As part of Harvard Pilgrim's ongoing strategy to recognize and reward quality care, Harvard Pilgrim publishes an "Honor Roll" of physician groups who have an unwavering commitment to high quality health care. The Honor Roll for adult and pediatric practices is based on performance against national Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality benchmarks, as reported by National Committee for Quality Assurance. HEDIS is a tool used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service. Congratulations to the physicians of SJ Family Medical Centers, SJ Internal Medicine, Nashua Pediatrics, and Merrimack Valley Pediatrics for achieving this honor.
St. Mary's Health System (Lewiston) has been awarded a $500,000 Capital Challenge Grant from the Kresge Foundation.   Kresge President and CEO, Rip Rapson, commended St. Mary's on their effort to continually evolve their operations to provide for the health care needs of the changing populations in their community. "Your community benefit is impressive and serves as a model for other providers," said Rapson.
The Challenge Award gives a significant boost to St. Mary's With All Our Hearts Capital Campaign that is raising money for a much needed expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department and construction of a medical campus in Auburn.
"If we meet the Kresge Challenge of raising $4 million by July 1, 2009," stated System CEO Jim Cassidy, "they will contribute $500,000 towards our overall campaign goal of $4.5 million." "The Kresge award of $500,000 is actually $100,000 more than we requested in the application," said Cassidy. "We are honored they saw the value in all St. Mary's does for this community and its residents."
Covenant Health Systems' members, St. Mary Regional Medical Center (Lewiston) and Mary Immaculate (Lawrence), were featured in an article, "Responding to Neighbors' Health Needs," in a book chapter co-authored by Julie Trocchio, Catholic Health Association and Nancy Mulvihill, Covenant's Vice President, Corporate Communications.
Covenant Health Systems and Western Litigation (Covenant's third party claim administrator) have collaborated on a patient-centered endeavor on disclosure of adverse events and patient apology. Covenant launched this pilot program with a 45 minute audio conference to Covenant members in November explaining the key elements of this program. The second component will include on-site training at Covenant hospitals and at the corporate office by Pamela Popp, JD, Vice President of Risk Services of Western Litigation. Pamela has extensive experience in risk management and has worked with over 220 hospitals across the country on the development and training of disclosure and early resolution programs.
Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, Foundress of the Felician Sisters, the religious congregation that sponsors St. Joseph Healthcare (Bangor) is close to being named a Saint. Blessed Angela was beatified in Rome in 1993. Beatification is a step in the process leading up to canonization (sainthood). Recently, a second miracle has been reported to be attributed to the intercession of Mother Angela. Once this miracle is validated, Blessed Angela will be canonized a Saint. To become a Saint, there must be validation that the person practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God and, through personal intercession, miracles have occurred.

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PEOPLE NEWS

Anne Teri, CEO/Administrator, St. Joseph Manor Health Care (Brockton) and Meg Coffin, Executive Director, Notre Dame du Lac Assisted Living Residence (Worcester) have been elected to MassAging's Board of Directors.
Paula Eldridge-Yeiter, Manager, Residential Life at d'Youville Senior Care (Lowell), was named the "Emerging Leader of the Year" by MassAging.
Congratulations to St. Mary's Regional Medical Center's (Lewiston) Marketing Director, Russ Donahue, for receiving this year's Bernays Award from the Maine Public Relations Council for outstanding service in the advancement of the public relations profession.
Kirsten Walter, Director of St. Mary's Lots to Gardens Program (Lewiston) was honored by the University of Maine as one of four women to receive the Maryann Hartman Award. This award is named for the late University of Maine speech communication professor, and the award honors the spirit, achievement and zest for life that Hartman epitomized.
Elizabeth A. Keene has been appointed the Vice President of Mission Effectiveness at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center (Lewiston).
Jeanne Leydon, LICSW, ACSW is joining the senior leadership team of Mary Immaculate Health Care Services (Lawrence) as the Administrator of Home and Community-based Services.
Roger R. Dionne, M.D., a physician at St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua) was named the Nashua 2008 Franco-American Personality of the Year. At the celebration, Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau read a special commendation declaring October 26 as Dr. Roger R. Dionne Day in Nashua. Dr. Dionne has received many local, state and national awards recognizing his excellence in his profession. Most recently, St. Joseph Hospital named a new department as the Roger R. Dionne, MD, Senior Center.
Claudie Mahar, Vice President of Hospital Services at St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua), was recently honored at the fourth annual Girls Incorporated of New Hampshire's Women of Achievement awards brunch as a "Woman of Achievement." "It is important for women to be celebrated and recognized for who they are as much as for what they've accomplished and for them to realize how important it is that they mentor today's girls to achieve their personal best, whatever their avocation," said Cathy Duffy, CEO of Girls Incorporated of New Hampshire.
Mike Grimmer, Vice President, Facilities Management at St. Mary's Health System (Lewiston) spoke on "Going Green: Is It Feasible or Cost Effective" at a conference sponsored by Maine Health which focused on practical ways to promote healthier, sustainable solutions for both school and health care food service programs. Kirsten Walter also presented a plenary session on St. Mary's CHA and AHA award-winning "Lots to Gardens" Program.
Joseph O'Connell, CPA has been appointed Covenant Health Systems' Corporate Controller, and Linda Gorgone joins Covenant's corporate office as Administrative Assistant.
Mary Schaefer, RN, JD, Covenant's Corporate Director of Risk Management, spoke at the annual AAHSA conference on implementing voluntary arbitration agreements in long term care facilities. Her presentation highlighted the training and tools that were used to successfully implement these agreements in Covenant's nursing and assisted living facilities.
Louise Clough, Covenant's Director of Clinical and Administrative Support, spoke at the annual New England Conference on "Hospice Care in Nursing Homes - Complying with the New Conditions of Participation." In addition, Louise, a member of the Maine Quality Forum Task Force, helped to plan a pressure ulcer summit entitled "Protecting Our Skins: The Pressure is On!" held at the Augusta, ME Civic Center.
Nancy Mulvihill, Covenant's Vice President, Corporate Communications, presented at the United States Green Building Council on Covenant's greening efforts as part of a panel on "A New Approach to Greening Health Care Operations."
Susan McDonough, Covenant's Vice President, Strategy & System Development chaired AAHSA's 2008 Nominations and Awards Committee.
Ken Ferron, Covenant's Vice President, Administration, was featured in an online article in "Hospitals and Health Networks (H&HN)" on "A New Way to Buy Energy: reverse energy auctions promise savings but take guts." In the article, he talks about his experience in leading Covenant in a reverse energy auction to receive bids on purchasing electricity. To view the article in it's entirety, go to: A New Way to Buy Energy

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