Making a difference

Each and every day our dedicated and passionate employees make a difference in the lives of our patients, visitors, and colleagues. We would like to highlight some of those stories. If you have a colleague you would like to recognize, please send the employee's name and how he or she made a difference to slhrounds@saint-lukes.org.

"I don't know if I can put into words the wonderful care that I witnessed Mary Jo Taylor give last week. She was assigned for the first time to a patient who had just learned she might have to go to a nursing home. The patient had been very independent and told Mary Jo in no uncertain terms this "was not going to happen." Mary Jo was able to find time during her shift to listen to the woman talk about her life and adventures. When she finished telling Mary Jo the tales of the wonderful escapades she had in her life, she summed it up by saying, "I guess I'm ready to go. I have been able to do everything I ever wanted to do. This Kansas girl has been around the country and seen it all." She further told Mary Jo not to miss a chance to take a vacation or pass up any opportunities. A few hours later, Mary Jo called a rapid response. The patient was adamant about being a DNI so the family was called in. They arrived as she took her last breath. Mary Jo told them she had been there with her, how she had loved the stories of her life, and then began to recount the most wonderful stories of her modeling, flying a plane, being Miss California, and beating out Marilyn Monroe.

I watched that family beam with pride and nod adamantly at Mary Jo's stories about her patient. They laughed through their tears and thanked Mary Jo over and over for being there with her at the end. Mary Jo delivered the most outstanding eulogy a family could ever want, a true celebration of her patient's life. It was obvious in the enthusiasm and excitement that Mary Jo had really come to know that patient so well in such a short time. Sometimes God puts us in just the right place at the right time and Mary Jo was in just the right place!

It was one of the most beautiful and loving deaths I have ever witnessed. Mary Jo, you are the best and I truly admire what you did for this patient and her family. I am so proud to work with you."

- Submitted by Vicky Wirtz

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Saint Luke's renews preferred provider contract with Cayman Island's biggest health insurer

Standing (from left): Delroy Jefferson, M.D., Medical Director, Health Services Authority, Chief Medical Officer, Georgetown Hospital; Mikhail Kosiborod, M.D., Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute. Seated (from left): Honorable Mark Scotland, Minister of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports & Culture; Bob Bonney, Vice President, Saint Luke's Health System; Lonny Tibbetts, CEO, Cayman Island Insurance Company; Honorable Michael Adam, Minister of Community Affairs and Housing.

A group of health officials from the Cayman Islands convened at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute on Friday, Dec. 7, to renew its contract with Cayman Island National Insurance Company. Saint Luke's provides outpatient clinic care at the Heart Health Centre on Grand Cayman. Patients who require more specialized care are referred to Saint Luke's for inpatient care.

Click here to read more.

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Heart transplant patients celebrate health at holiday gathering

Cardiologist Andrew Kao, M.D., catches up with one of many heart transplant recipients in attendance at the annual heart transplant holiday party last Wednesday.

Heart transplant recipients and their families celebrated their health and the joy of the season with hospital staff at the annual transplant holiday party at Saint Luke's Hospital on Dec. 5.

Patients of all ages renewed friendships, visited with members of their health care team, participated in a cookie exchange, and heard updates on the heart transplant program from Andrew Kao, M.D. 

Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute offers the area's only adult heart transplant program and is on track to perform more transplants in 2012 than in any prior year.

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Payroll year-end information

Employee Information - Forms and changes submitted to the Human Resources Department after Dec. 13 will apply to the first pay day of 2013.

Name - Please review your name on the SLHS home page by clicking For Employees - MyLink (Payroll) - Log On - myPersonal.

If your name has changed, hover the cursor on the Personal Information Change Form and a link to the form will open. Complete the form and print it. Hand-deliver the form to your local Human Resources office. You will need to demonstrate that your name matches the name shown on your Social Security card.

Address - Please review your address online. If your address has changed, please update your information. Your address can be viewed on the SLHS home page by clicking For Employees - MyLink (Payroll) - Log On - myPersonal Address.

Hover the cursor on the Personal Information Change Form link and click to open the form. Complete and print. Submit completed forms to your Human Resources office.

Federal W4 Form - Please review your withholding status. Your withholding status can be viewed on MyLink in Employee Self Service - My Payroll Information - Tax Withholding. If you wish to make a change, Federal W4 forms are located on the SLHS home page. Click on For Employees - MyLink (Payroll) Log On - myPayroll - myWithholding. Form names are noted on the screen.

Hover the cursor on the desired form and click to open the form. Complete form lines 1 through 7, then print. Ensure that your name, address, date, and signature appear on the form. Please read instructions thoroughly. The IRS considers a form invalid when incomplete, scratched out, or marked over fields appear on the submitted form. Invalid forms will not be processed and withholding will revert to Single 0 dependents per IRS regulations. Submit completed forms to your Human Resources office.

Pay Statement - Please print the last pay statement of the year. Retain this document to show the entire year's earnings and deductions, which may not be required on the W2.

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Effort to adopt system-wide practices in food/beverage and environmental services to help meet savings goals

New initiatives to standardize guidelines for food and beverage consumption as well as changes in facility cleaning schedules and efficiencies involving reserving conference room services are expected to save Saint Luke's Health System more than $500,000.

"In many cases we will be standardizing procedures that are already practiced at some of our facilities but are not in place system-wide," said John McReynolds, system director, Hospitality Services. "We can achieve efficiencies in our operations and our costs by adopting standard practices for things like catering for meetings and adopting a set fee for guest meal trays."

New catering policies will establish guidelines for how many attendees are required in a meeting before food/beverages can be ordered and establishes authorization requirements before placing an order.

Other specific initiatives include:

• Standardizing patient floor stock order forms to reduce unnecessary spending and promote appropriate use of food/beverages in those areas.
• Standardizing items available to order and have delivered to non-patient departments or offices to reduce deliveries and focus on patient needs.
• Adopt a system-wide fee structure for guest meal trays to make sure food costs are covered.
• Adopt a single contract for all system coffee service by converting agreements from multiple vendors to a standard alternative while maintaining the same level of service.

On the Environmental Services side:

• Standard janitorial cleans of non-patient areas will occur three times per week to focus resources on clinical areas.
• Reserving conference rooms based on standard room configurations and room layouts will allow for more efficient processes and servicing of the rooms.

To improve hospital throughput and the cleaning of patient rooms, the clinical groups teamed up with the environmental staff and developed a "Roles and Responsibilities" grid that defines the duties for both teams, allowing efficiencies for cleaning, disinfecting, and turning patient rooms.

McReynolds said the savings from these initiatives will help SLHS meet FOCUS 2015 goals.

"Efficiencies can be achieved as you standardize. As an example, since we currently have multiple coffee contracts spread across different vendors, it is difficult to get as favorable a contract as we'll be able to get by using a single vendor. Our goal is to continue to provide the services that Saint Luke's has come to be known for while achieving new levels of cost efficiency," he said.

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SLHS launches Employee Emergency Fund

While the holiday season is typically filled with joy and good cheer, this won't be a festive time for every employee at Saint Luke's Health System. With nearly 10,000 employees currently in our system, the odds that a member of the Saint Luke's family will be faced with an emergency situation this season - like a sudden illness of a family member or a car accident - are high.

As SLHS employees, we share a generous spirit and a desire to help our colleagues in need, but knowing the best way to assist can be a challenge. Now, thanks to a new fund to support employees facing immediate financial hardships, SLHS will soon be able to provide a new level of support to our coworkers who need our help.

In the past, SLHS has given all employees a gift card or "bonus" in December as a small token of appreciation. This year, in the spirit of holiday goodwill and supporting others in need, SLHS is eliminating the small bonus and instead creating an "Annual Employee Emergency Fund." Employees who face situations such as a fire, a critical illness with unexpected expenses, or theft/robbery can apply for financial assistance.

All active, full-time, and part-time benefits-eligible employees who have been employed at SLHS for at least six months are eligible. Recipients can receive up to $1,000 in a 12-month period.

A counselor from Saint Luke's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) will review each application and supporting documents. Applications that pass the screening process will be reviewed by a committee that is currently being formed. Names of applicants will be blocked to ensure the process is confidential.

Applications will be accepted beginning Jan. 1, 2013, and funds will be available year-round as long as they are available. The situation causing the financial hardship must have occurred after Oct. 1, 2012. Because the program is designed to help employees facing an immediate crisis, employees with long-standing financial challenges will not be eligible.

Please note that this fund does not replace many long-standing programs offering financial assistance to employees, including the Miracle on 44th Street Fund, Chaplains' Discretionary Fund, or hospital-based employee assistance funds.

Click here to view the policy/application form, which is located on the eLink in the same location as SLHS's other Human Resources policies.

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Employee Engagement Team update

Saint Luke's Hospital's Employee Engagement Team (EET) has been busy during 2012 working toward improving communication and responding to employees' concerns and comments. Primary work has been based on improving employee satisfaction in ways they can control. The Engagement team was pivotal in increasing the number of employees taking the employee survey as well as getting the word out about Town Halls and increasing the number of attendees. Both the annual employee survey in March and the "check-in" survey in October indicated that employees feel they are not recognized enough for their hard work but are proud to say they work at Saint Luke's.

The Engagement Team continues to provide ideas on how employees should be recognized and have pushed toward a change of teams recognizing their coworkers and other teams instead of putting recognition expectations totally on managers. The team has also launched a "Making a Difference" section in eRounds to highlight stories of employees' pride.

The team is proud to say they have improved communication by getting the word out through EET and Communication Liaisons about significant information that should be shared with departments. Examples include continued meeting discussion and emails sent out on a regular basis about parking changes, construction updates, and  FOCUS 2015-related items. EET meetings have displayed a more transparent attitude by leaders who present at monthly meetings, sharing what they can, which is then passed on to hospital departments.

Engagement Team meeting minutes can be found on the N drive under SLHS, Engagement. Engagement Team meetings are held on the second Monday of each month. For further information, or if you would like to join the team, please contact Leanne Finger or Heather Gage, co-chairs.

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Have you had your flu shot yet?

The flu season began earlier than anticipated this year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Widespread activity has already been reported in five states, and an increase in flu activity has occurred in both Missouri and Kansas. There are also predictions that illness severity will be greater than in years past due to the predominance of the H3N2 strain of the virus, which has been associated with worse outcomes in the very young and very old.

The good news is that 90 percent of the flu specimens that have been tested are well-matched with this year's flu vaccine, meaning that the vaccine is covering the right three strains of flu that are being documented.

It is not too late to get the flu shot to help protect yourself, your patients, and your family through the remainder of this flu season. Employee Health is offering the vaccine free to employees, students, medical staff, and volunteers at Employee Health, located in Medical Plaza I, Suite 624, on Monday - Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year, for the first time, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is requiring hospitals to report their flu vaccination rates for employees, licensed independent practitioners, students, and volunteers. So, if you have received your flu shot from an outside provider, please be sure to forward a copy of your vaccination form to Employee Health to maintain an accurate vaccination record, as well as for your vaccination to be appropriately counted as we calculate and report our hospital rates. If you would like more information, or have questions about influenza vaccination, please feel free to contact SLH Employee Health at 816-932-3176.

Click here to learn more about the best way to prevent the flu.

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