SPRING APRIL 8, 2014
A N E W S L E T T E R F O R S T. J O S E P H H E A LT H S Y S T E M T E A M M E M B E R S
Living and Demonstrating Our Values
Scripture is full of references to the importance of good works and of demonstrating kindness to others. Yet, it is one thing to talk about the importance of good deeds, and another to demonstrate and live them.
When I read the stories of Carolynn, Mike, Jocelyn, and Cinch for this week’s edition of The
Difference , I see heartwarming examples of these principles in action – individuals who are living our values and demonstrating the spirit of St. Joseph.
They join more than 1,400 of their fellow volunteers who take this calling throughout the year in all of our facilities, Bellville, Burleson, Grimes and Madison health centers, at Burleson Manor, the
St. Joseph Manor and Rehabilitation Center, and at the Regional Health Center. They represent the St. Joseph mission of compassionate care to our patients and their families by assisting them, protecting their welfare and safety, and improving their comfort. They are on the front lines with our nearly 2,600 team members and are essential to the positive patient experience that is so fundamental to good healthcare.
Odette Bolano, BSN, MHA, FACHE
President & CEO | St. Joseph Health System
Volunteerism has always set our community apart. Nowhere is the evidence as real as at St Joseph. Our volunteers, whether retirees, working professionals or students, are integral to who we are and the care we deliver.
In our ministry of healing, virtually every team member is motivated by the desire not only to provide care to those who enter through our doors, but to do it with compassion and in a comforting manner. By nature of their role, volunteers are living examples of this motivation. They are an inspiration and a constant reminder of the desire to help that drives all of us – the true nature of healthcare.
So this week, please take a minute to recognize our volunteers and let them know how special they are!
Sincerely,
Odette
In the Franciscan tradition, out of reverence for the dignity of every person, the mission of St. Joseph Health System is to provide excellent health care and to promote wellness throughout the Brazos Valley.
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SPRING APRIL 8, 2014
It is Friday morning at St. Joseph
Joint University, and volunteer coach Carolynn Unruh is leading a group of patients who received knee replacements only yesterday. Today is the second time they will be on their feet, and if all goes well, they will leave the hospital in two days, able to walk unassisted.
“C’mon Alton, take a step,” she urges the patient who towers over her, while keeping one protective arm carefully around his shoulders. Alton makes his tentative first move, then with growing confidence continues through a series of exercises designed to get post-operative joint replacement patients back on their feet.
Carolynn’s enthusiasm and energy are hard to resist. This retiree from a 30-year career with the
Houston Police Department started volunteering with the Joint University just a month after it opened in 2006.
In eight years, she’s worked 8,000 hours – the equivalent of a half time job – coaching patients, scheduling appointments, ordering equipment and coordinating the surgery list that tells her which patients will be needing exercise therapy.
Carolynn’s own knees were replaced before she started volunteering at
St. Joseph, and she understands the emotions joint-replacement patients can experience.
“For some, you see in their face they are scared to death (of trying to walk after surgery). I’ve been in their place and can empathize.”
Her reward comes from seeing the result of her work. “Just seeing them get up and doing it – learning that they can perform the exercises and walk.”
New Face of Volunteerism
Carolynn is one example of the new face of volunteerism seen today at
St. Joseph Health System, in her case, a retiree who has embarked on a second career based on a volunteer role.
Left, “C’mon Alton, take a step,” volunteer coach, Carolynn Unruh urges a patient who towers over her. “I’ve been in their place and I can empathize.” Her reward is seeing the result of her work.
“Today’s volunteers want to make a difference, and they are interested in roles that provide a professional development experience or allow them to use skills and knowledge they’ve gained through other careers,” said Cara Charanza, director,
St. Joseph Volunteer Services.
“Gone are the days when volunteers simply expected to do whatever job or task they are asked to.”
Cinch Comes Calling
The child in St. Joseph’s pediatric unit was so upset that team members were having trouble providing the care he needed, including inserting intravenous tubes. Then volunteer
Jocelyn Johnson showed up with Cinch, a six-year old Blue Heeler cattle dog.
(Cinch’s story continued on next page)
Cinch and
Jocelyn “high five” on the
Pediatric Unit.
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SPRING APRIL 8, 2014
Mike Sandlin – professor, paramedic, volunteer.
Cinch demonstrates his St. Joseph duties, with volunteer-turned-employee
Kimberli Sims.
Cinch’s story continued...
Jocelyn and Cinch have been visiting patients for several months now.
Jocelyn is a graduate student at
Texas A&M University, where she is completing a master’s degree in Beef
Cattle Nutrition. She’s preparing to begin a doctorate program in the same field.
Cinch, like all therapy dogs who volunteer at St. Joseph, was certified before being allowed to begin his duties. He had to show that he was obedient, not frightened of loud noises, and is tolerant of pain (such as if a child is pulling his fur).
When he was placed in the bed with the crying child he lay right down with him – on top of him in fact – and the child calmed down too. When Jocelyn tried to take Cinch away to visit another patient, the boy would have none of it.
“No, don’t take him away!” Cinch kept him calm until pediatric team members could administer the I.V.s.
The mood in a patient care unit changes as Jocelyn and Cinch walk down the hall. Serious faces begin smiling. Some patients he visits give
Cinch a friendly pat and say “nice dog.” Others are missing their own pets at home, and want him to stay for longer periods.
Volunteer Professionals with
Professional Roles
Some volunteers, like Jocelyn, do so out of a desire to help others and find a way to mesh their professional careers with their volunteer work.
Others may have extensive skill sets and previous careers but are exploring a new career.
Such was the case when a professor at TAMU, a biomedical scientist with a Ph.D., decided to pursue a second career as a nurse. She approached
St. Joseph about using her newly acquired nursing license and skills as a volunteer. As a licensed RN, she now volunteers on nursing units at St. Joseph
“She served as the pilot for The
Nightingale RN Volunteer Program,”
Cara explains. The Nightingale was designed with retired or inactive RNs in mind, allowing them to use their professional expertise by providing compassionate care to patients and their families, and to provide a learning experience for those who have just entered or are re-entering the profession.
“Some may be RNs who for one reason or another are not currently working but want to keep their skills up. They are highly desired as volunteers, who can walk into a unit and know exactly what to do and how to work with patients. As volunteers, they get to focus on the parts nursing that may have originally attracted to the career,” Cara continues.
The Professor in the Cool Uniform
Mike Sandlin, a Ph.D. in Exercise
Physiology, is a professor at Texas
A&M University in Health and
Kinesiology. There he leads the Allied
Health program, whose students tend to be bound for careers in nursing or as physician assistants.
But after changing from shirt and tie into his St. Joseph-emblazoned blue polo shirt and khakis, his “cool uniform” as he calls it, he’s an
Emergency Department volunteer at the regional health center, where he works alongside physicians, nurses and med techs.
Reporting for work, he chats with ER
Tech Ethan Boyd about his plans to enter the TAMU program Mike leads.
“A lot of ED employees are students, who are getting first-hand experience.
It helps them a lot,” explains Mike.
Working late nights every Monday,
Mike takes patients’ vital signs and conducts EKGs, works with patient families if they need information, helps with patient comfort, such as providing a blanket or a drink if allowed. He helps stock equipment and supplies.
So why does the head of a program at a major university take his time to volunteer?
“I enjoy finding something – anything
I can do – to make a person’s worst day a little better,” Mike explains.
Mike is also an EMT Paramedic.
Mike’s story continued on next page)
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The Accounting department lives the
Mission & Values through a supporting role. While we do not provide direct patient care, we do provide team member support through Payroll,
Accounts Payable, and the monthly financial reporting packages.
Our customers include vendors, our fellow team members, Directors and
Administrators. We are dedicated to providing timely and accurate data and support to the leaders within St
Joseph Health System so that they can make informed decisions based on the most recent information.
One example of our staff’s dedication to living the value of service is seen in changes to our Accounts Payable process. Our team has started accessing more invoices through vendor websites in order to process these invoices more efficiently.
With the high volume of invoices through our office, it is essential we receive, get proper approvals, and pay these invoices on time. This process cuts down on time waiting for these invoices to come through the mail and speeds up the overall payment process. This process also exemplifies living the value of
“stewardship” by ensuring there are no late fees added to our cost of operations.
Donna Pounds
D irector of Accounting
Sister Penny Dunn will be meeting with team members in departments, units and clinics throughout St. Joseph for conversation related to our Mission and Values.
Watch for a flyer for your team!
Volunteering story continued ...
Before moving to the Brazos Valley, he lived in an area of Virginia where all paramedics were volunteers.
He got involved, because the local emergency medical service providers
“seemed like they were choosing it for the right reasons – to help people.“
Throughout the year about 1,400 volunteers like Carolynn, Mike, Jocelyn (and Cinch) are on the job helping out throughout the health system, from college students participating in the Clowning Around program to cheer up sick children, to licensed registered nurses volunteering their time on patient care units. They may be escorting patients or providing therapeutic pets. They could be t aking patient vitals, holding the hand of a frightened patient, or talking with family members.
Find more information about the roles available, requirements, and how to apply and get involved on the St. Joseph Health System website at. Find “Volunteer” under the
“Join Our Team” menu.
Mike Sandlin
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SPRING APRIL 8, 2014
Raymond Chase has joined St. Joseph Health System as vice president, Revenue Cycle, and leads SJHS revenue departments including patient access, case management, medical records, revenue management and patient financial services. He is also responsible for enhancing revenue cycle throughout the organization.
As St. Joseph continues to improve operations and move toward more of a health management model, revenue cycle is a critical function to ensure the system is effectively processing, billing and monitoring accounts given the increasing complexity of the reimbursement model.
St. Joseph Health System has launched a major community-wide campaign called Answering the
Call, with the goal of raising $8 million to support the new Emergency and Trauma Center at the regional health center campus. The Answering the Call Family
Campaign has been launched to ask St. Joseph team members to answer the call in addition to a focused campaign to raise funds from major donors and corporations He brings to St. Joseph more than 25 years of progressive healthcare experience in revenue cycle management, program development, hospital operations and business development. He has provided project leadership in his areas of expertise for several healthcare systems, served as operations director for patient access, eligibility, and registrations services for Harris County Hospital District in
Houston, and interim corporate director of revenue cycle for Renaissance Healthcare System in Houston.
A goal of $150,000 has been established for this special Family Campaign. Already, pledges from
St. Joseph leadership have moved contributions beyond the 50 percent mark with more than $75,000 committed – and the campaign is just getting started!
St. Joseph team members have always been generous supporters of special projects, all team members will have an opportunity to consider a two-year pledge.
In addition, as owner of Chase Healthcare, Inc., since
1994, Raymond has served in leadership consulting roles in several institutions, most recently as director of revenue cycle management at Al Anin Hospital an Abu Dhabi
Health Services Company facility in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates, and interim business office operations director for Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, AL.
SHOW
Sister Penny Dunn, vice president of Mission
Integration, is serving as Honorary Chairperson for the
Family Campaign. A 15-member Employee Steering
Committee is helping to guide the effort.
With her spiritual guidance and leadership we
are confident of reaching and even surpassing our objective. And this support will signal to the business community that we are
YOUR SUPPORT personally invested in the success of project.
The Family Campaign will unfold during April and May. Foundation staff will be making departmental presentations to share further details.
For information contact Shawn Andaya-Pulliam at
(979) 774-4087.
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SPRING APRIL 8, 2014
Team members who have completed their biometric screening and the online health risk assessment have already earned a $50 per month
($600 per year) discount on medical premiums for the 2014-15 plan year.
Through The Healthy Difference wellness program, you can earn even greater savings by engaging in some healthy activities throughout the year.
Points are earned through this new
Healthy Rewards program for various activities. For each calendar quarter
(April-June, July-September, October-
December, January-March) that you earn at least 30 points, you receive an additional $50 discount on your
Medical premiums. That can save you an additional $200 for the year.
Activities are tracked through the mypathwaytohealth.com web site and reported to St. Joseph so the discount can be applied. You can keep track of your points for the quarter on the web site.
The chart below shows the activities that will earn you points. The good news is that you are already well on your way toward your first quarter discount because the screening and
ACTIVITY assessment that you did earlier this year will add 15 points to your firstquarter total. And you receive another
7 points for reviewing your Personal
Health Profile and talking with a health coach. You need only 8 more points by the end of June to earn your first quarterly Healthy Reward.
CREDITS
Our next Ask Odette session is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, noon to 1 p.m.
Make plans to join this live chat and have your questions answered by our
President and CEO.
@StJoCEO
www.twitter.com/SJHealthSystem
www.facebook.com/SJHealthSystem
www.youtube.com/user/sjdifference
NOON
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