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Volume 7 | Issue 12 | Through December 17, 2013 

       
    
Country Inn and Suites  
 
 
 
   
An $18 million holiday helper 
Some 13,000 University of Colorado Health employees will find their Dec. 13 paychecks a little heftier, thanks to an annual base wage increase. >>More
                            

An Epic outage A failed capacitor on a power supply unit (right) in the Building 500 Data Center Nov. 29 knocked out access to the Epic electronic health record for several hours. Thanks to some quick work by IT and clinical staff, impacts on patients were minimal, but ripple effects lasted through the day.  >>More 

                   
Press Ganey out, Avatar in Avatar Solutions, used with great success at UCHealth North for more than a decade, will become UCHealth's sole patient satisfaction survey vendor in January. >>More

                      
Older and wiser In this month's Campus Diary: junk science? A new study says the older you get, the smarter you get with your money. Plus: snowflakes in the Eye Center; a one-man geek squad; a fashionista in pediatric cardiology. Plus: the campus's new arrivals. >>More
      
An unhealthy medicine An alarming number of physicians, nurses and other health care professionals fall prey to alcohol and drug addiction. The very qualities that make for good clinicians also increase the risk of abuse, says Michael Dinneen (left) and other professionals at CeDAR. >>More

                         
Sidebar: From a "white picket fence life" to the abyss The physician, an internist at a Denver hospital, thought he had it all. But he was living a double life, caring for patients by day, drinking heavily at night. With CeDAR's help, he's recovered from an addiction he says affects a "shockingly high" number of his colleagues. >>More

              
School cuts through the daze 
Feeling like a "hamster in a wheel" in her job at UCH, Timmicia Ward (left) decided to break the monotony by joining the hospital's School at Work Program. Two years later, she's in college and has earned an award for serving as an inspiration to coworkers and community members. >>More
                         
What UCHealth might have taught Obamacare Neither claim to have special knowledge of the error-plagued HealthCare.gov website. But UCHealth IT leaders Steve Hess (near right) and Soren Schoultz say some fundamentals used in the system Epic launches would have helped. Plus: "What You Read." 
>>More


               
Around UCH  
The haps, in and around the hospital. This issue: a new talent maven; toys r us (left); strap on the holiday feedbag; stuffing the top workplace ballot box for UCHealth; more. >>More
                           
Windows 7 launch draws closer  With Windows XP slated for obsolescence next spring, a growing Information Technology army is preparing UCHealth for a massive transition to the Windows 7 operating system. One big challenge: determing the number of PCs and laptops that will not support the new system and will have to be replaced.. >>More

      
    
Follow us on Facebook The latest happenings at UCH are on our Facebook page. Look for regular updates on news, events and human interest stories featuring the hospital and the people who make it great. >> More
Dean Krugman's news The latest on what's going on at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. >> More
               
A Uniform Change
Clinical employees at all UCHealth hospitals who wear scrubs will next year don apparel in one of five colors that identify their positions. The goal, system leaders say, is to help patients more easily identify their caregivers.  >>Go
    
One Badge Fits All
UCHealth this week began distributing new badges at all its hospitals. One consistent look replaces the 36 templates that had sprawled across the system. >>Go
                       
  
An Effective Treatment with a PR Problem
It battles a "yuck factor," but fecal transplant -- introucing donated "good" bacteria into the gut to battle dangerous C-diff infections -- is safe, painless and often more effective than expensive antibiotic regimens. Name change, anyone?  >>Go
                        
  
Dr. Ringel Goes to Washington
In our first "Provider Portraits": More than 20 years ago, UCH neurologist Steve Ringel's wife told him to stop complaining about federal health care policy and do something about it. The result: a crash course in Beltway politics with a politician (above left) with a very famous name. >>Go
                         
  
Quality Is Job One for These Three
The latest trio of UCHealth employees recognized for exemplifying the system's "Standards of Excellence." Above: Becky Kubala of Poudre Valley Hospital helps fight deadly sepsis. >>Go
UCH in the News

Power of the python; heavy but healthy myth; designer drug deaths; more. Mentions: Jaime Arruda; Michelle Barron; Michael Dinneen; Don Elliman; John Harney; James O. Hill; Christopher Hoyte; David Pollock; Huntington Potter.

>>Go

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Regular updates on stories as well as hospital and campus happenings. Click 
 
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