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Falls Prevention Awareness Day
Saturday, September 22, is the first day of Fall, and it's also a day when people across the country stand together to observe the 5th annual national "Falls Prevention Awareness Day." This year's theme, Standing Together to Prevent Falls, seeks to unite professionals, older adults, caregivers, and family members to play a part in raising awareness and preventing falls in the older adult population. "The members of Covenant Health Systems join in celebrating this day," said Anne Berger, Vice President, Quality Improvement and Safety. "The purpose of fall prevention efforts is injury prevention and safety. Covenant's organizations are committed to preventing falls, reducing injuries and ultimately improving the quality of life of our residents. On this national "Falls Prevention Awareness Day," we, as a health and elder care system, recommit to:
- Fostering a culture which promotes service excellence, provides the highest quality care, supports a culture of safety, a just culture and interdisciplinary team work in preventing falls.
- Building our fall prevention programs on the best available evidence for the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the incidence of falls.
- Limiting and/or preventing the occurrence of falls within the parameters that can be controlled through structured program interventions.
- Minimizing the severity of injuries sustained by an elderly individual resulting from a fall.
- Providing the professinal staff with standards of practice that will enable them to perform effectively.
- Educating residents, families and staff."
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Covenant Health Systems Article Published in "Health Progress"
Covenant Health Systems published an article in the July-August edition of "Health Progress" on "What's Good for the Planet is Good for the Patient, the Staff, the Community -- and the Bottom Line." This article can be accessed directly at Catholic Health Association's website. Covenant has made a commitment to environmental stewardship since 2004.
Click here for Catholic Health Association's general website: www.chausa.org |
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Covenant affiliate, Bethany Health Care Center (Framingham) will receive the prestigious "Innovation in Care and Services Award" from LeadingAge at their annual meeting in October. Bethany will be honored for their delivery of quality health care through the adoption of the innovative "Bethany Model of Care Program." Bethany experiences a less than 1% hospital readmission rate due to the program's "treat in place" modality of care. Integrated with the model is a "consistency of care" method of service delivery. To achieve desired outcomes, the center uses established benchmarks to measure performance. These include: monitoring data, quality measures, compatibility with Bethany policies and procedures, and survey results. Resident and family satisfaction are also key components in achieving quality health care at Bethany.
Bethany Health Care Center was also named to the 2012 Honor Roll in U.S. News & World Report's annual Best Nursing Homes list. |
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St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua) has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's "Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award." The award recognizes St. Joseph Hospital's commitment and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.
To receive the award, St. Joseph Hospital achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all "Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement" indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month intervals and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with six of 10 "Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality Measures," which are reporting initiatives to measure quality of care.
These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. |
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St. Mary's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (Lewiston) has earned a three-year Accreditation with Commendation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). "The team at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders always strives to provide the best care and quality outcomes for our patients," said Karen Clark, the Vice President of St. Mary's Physician Network who oversees the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. "This Accreditation with Commendation is a testament to their success in providing that high level of care." |
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St. Joseph Hospital (Bangor) has received an "A" for Safety from the Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score was calculated by The Leapfrog Group's Blue Ribbon Expert Panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections. The score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe.
St. Joseph Hospital's Critical Care Unit (Bangor) recently added "Multicare beds," utilizing many unique features and functions to improve patient care and safety. St. Joseph Healthcare is the first hospital in Maine to adopt this impressive new technology.
"Multicare beds" are particularly important in reducing respiratory complications for long-term patients who may be immobile. With the technology to tilt both vertically and horizontally, the beds can be programmed to provide a cycle of tilt therapy to help prevent serious respiratory complications and reduce pressure on the patient's abdomen to help them breathe more easily.
The beds also help facilitate therapeutic and diagnostic procedures, as well as reduce the risk of pressure ulcers for critical care patients. Patients can easily undergo X-ray without being repositioned, and the technology can calculate an exact weight in all the bed positions. Longer side rails also help reduce the patient's fall risk, and the beds are easy to clean and sanitize. |
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The Honorable John E. Fenton, Jr. will be honored this year with the "Pilgrimage of Love Award" at Mary Immaculate's annual Evening of Sharing and Caring on Tuesday, October 2 at DiBurro's  Function Hall in Ward Hill. Judge Fenton, Jr. has provided counsel to some of the Commonwealth's most distinguished leaders, yet his roots are firmly planted in the Merrimack Valley. Born and educated in Lawrence, he continued his studies to pursue an illustrious career in law, including over 20 years of service as a Justice of the Massachusetts Land Court and subsequent appointment as the Chief Administrative Justice for the Trial Court. His career also includes a long-time relationship with Suffolk Law School where he served as Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law.
Many organizations in Greater Lawrence have directly benefitted from his leadership including Holy Family Hospital and Medical Center, the Greater Lawrence Boys and Girls Club, and the City of Lawrence. John Fenton, Jr. is also a former Governor of Caritas Christi, health care system of the Archdiocese of Boston; member of two Presidential search committees for Emerson College; and director for Study of Christian-Jewish Relations at Merrimack College.
Judge Fenton's affiliation with Mary Immaculate Health/Care Services (MIHCS) began nearly 40 years ago during his tenure as director of The Protectory. During this time, he worked with Sister Capistran, and was instrumental in bringing non-profit housing units for the elderly and handicapped to Lawrence. He is former President and Trustee Emeritus of MIHCS and has served as past chairman of the Building Committee and of the Advisory Board. |
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Katherine Lemay, has recently assumed the role of CEO at Covenant affiliate, Notre Dame Health Care Center (Worcester), and Steven Hall has been named Administrator of Notre Dame Long Term Care Center. |
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Philip Jean, vice president, Elder Care Services at St. Mary's Health System (Lewiston) was elected to the Maine Health Care Association Board of Directors. |
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There have been some changes at both Elizabeth Seton Residence and Marillac Residence (Wellesley)--both of which are Covenant affiliates. Phyllis Tedesco has recently retired as the Administrator of Elizabeth Seton Residence. Lori Ferrante, recently the administrator of Marillac Residence, was asked to replace Phyllis at Elizabeth Seton Residence and Sr. Sheila Conley has been named the Administrator of Marillac Residence. Both organizations are sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Halifax. |
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