www.RUMCSI.org December 2014

CHRONICLE

A PUBLICATION FOR EMPLOYEES, PHYSICIANS, TRUSTEES, AND VOLUNTEERS OF RICHMOND UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

$35,000 Grant Approved for Palliative Care Training Richmond University Medical Center’s Oncology Division, led by Dr. Thomas Forlenza has been awarded a $35,000 grant to sup-port an important and growing component for palliative care. Palliative care specializes in the relief of pain, symptoms, and stress of serious illness. The palliative care program helps pa-tients and families manage their physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical challenges. Through the program, the hospital trains medical residents and offer them perspective through a patient’s eyes.

Executive Director of the Hugoton Foundation, Joan Stout re-cently awarded the grant to create a video training project to

educate residents on palliative care. Current residents will inter-view and follow patients as part of the documentary to provide educational videos with real-life scenarios for current and future residents. This important component of their education will fo-cus on understanding a patient’s role and a doctor’s role through a serious illness in hospital-based palliative care. It will walk the residents through pain/ symptom management, advanced care planning, and emotional support.

The sessions will be used in the teaching of residents and social workers. The educational series will be hosted and available online for residents and will be integrated into their curriculum.

Since the Mobile Outreach Unit’s inception, it has grown to operating seven days a week, visiting over 3,000 patients each year. “The service offers a team of trained counselors that visit both adults and children with behavioral health issues right in their home,” explains Pankaj Patel, M.D., Chairman, Department of Psychiatry. “The Mobile Team also acts as a liaison between the com-munity and various outpatient resources on Staten Island. A close working relationship with these resources helps us to better serve the residents.” The teams provide a range of services including assessment, crisis intervention, supportive counseling, information and referrals, linkage with appropriate community based behavioral health services for ongoing treatment and follow up. The teams serve any person on Staten Island experiencing, or is at risk of, a psychological crisis, and who requires behavioral health intervention and follow-up support. Richmond University Medical Center has extensive outpatient services taking care of 2,000 individual patients and the Mobile Outreach team visits any of the outpatients who their doctor or therapist is concerned about and who need that extra care in their home. For more information or to ask for help, contact the team at 718-818-6900. They are available seven days a week: Monday through Friday, 8 am– 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am– 6 pm.

Mobile Outreach Unit

Serving the Community The Richmond University Medical Center Foundation added two new board mem-bers at their most recent meeting: Dr. Pankaj Patel and Ms. Dianne Powers.

Board Certified in Psychiatry, Dr. Pankaj Patel is the Chair-person of the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Patel is a member of the American Psychiatric As-sociation, the American Medical Association, the Medical Society of the State of New York and the Richmond County Medical Soci-ety. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry of New York Medi-cal College. Dr. Patel has been actively involved with boards of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Meals on Wheels, and Carmel Richmond Nursing Home.

Dianne Powers, a former Wall Street executive is a longtime friend of Richmond University. With strong community involvement, she has served many local organizations as a board member, including the Staten Island Museum, the Lynn Robbins Steinman Founda-tion, the Staten Island Zoo, the YMCA, Wagner College, and as a founding member of both the St. George Theatre and Casa Belve-dere boards. Ms. Powers is also actively involved with Staten Island Academy.

Hospital Foundation Adds Two

New Members to the Board

President’s Update

Dear Friends,

Richmond University Medical Center’s

success is deeply rooted in the talents,

knowledge, and commitment of our team

of physicians, nurses, allied health profes-

sionals, and support staff. As we prepare

for 2015, I proudly acknowledge the hard

work and dedication of this great team.

I extend my appreciation to Councilwoman

Debi Rose and the City Council for their

allocation of grant funding to grow our

Echocardiography program. This new,

state-of-the-art equipment will provide enhanced cardiac imaging. Grant

funding has also been awarded to the Oncology Division by the Hugoton

Foundation. The $35,000 grant will support the development of a Pallia-

tive Care Educational Video Series to use as a training resource for resi-

dents and other healthcare professionals at the hospital.

The community has generously reached out to share holiday donations

with our pediatric patients during December. I look forward to sharing

pictures in the January issue, and thank the Staten Island Rotary, Ronald

McDonald House, the Knights of Columbus, Community Board One, the

New York Panthers Softball Team, All Island Kiwanis, and the Richard

Gardner Foundation for their outreach and support of the hospital and

our pediatric patients.

Along with COO/CNO Rosemarie

Stazzone and Patricia Caldari,

VP of Human Resources, I

hosted an Employee Roundtable

Discussion at Joe & Pat’s Restau-

rant. We met with staff from

various departments in an

attempt to optimize our contin-

ued growth and development.

The next Roundtable will be scheduled shortly and the date is forthcom-

ing. Remember the power of one, you make a difference!

Wishing you and your family a very happy and healthy holiday season!

Daniel J. Messina, Ph.D., FACHE, LNHA

Message from the President & CEO

Daniel J. Messina, Ph.D., FACHE, LNHA

Guess the Pumpkin Size Contest

Congratulations to Rachel Harrell RN, from Pre Op. on guessing the weight of the pumpkin within an ounce!

Official Pumpkin Weight: 150lbs 1oz

Winning Guess: 150lbs 0oz

Thank you to the 375+ employees who entered. Rachel won a $25 gift card—look for the next contest soon!

New Vascular Accreditation

Richmond University Medical Center’s Vascular

Laboratory has been granted a three-year term of

accreditation in Vascular Testing from the Inter-

societal Accreditation Commission for the Vascu-

lar Laboratory for Extracranial Cerebrovascular

Testing and Peripheral Venous Testing.

The IAC grants accreditation only to those facili-

ties that are found to be providing quality care, in

compliance with national standards through a

comprehensive application process including

detailed case study review. IAC accreditation is a

“seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an

indication that the facility has been carefully cri-

tiqued on all aspects of its operations considered

relevant by medical experts in the field of Vascu-

lar Testing.

Established in 1977, the Vascular Laboratory

located at the hospital is the oldest full service,

non-invasive vascular diagnostic facility on

Staten Island. For almost 40 years, the hospital

has introduced the most advanced technology for

the diagnosis of vascular disease.

December 2014

Joseph Torres is a member of the Richmond Univer-

sity Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors.

Mr. Torres is a Vice President with Merrill Lynch

and Certified Financial Planner™ advising families,

businesses and not-for-profit institutions, domiciled in the US and Europe

with financial management strategies to meet their objectives. Joseph

holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from New York University, at-

tended the Lubin School of Business Certified Financial Planner™ program,

and earned the Series 7, 24, 63, 65 and Insurance Planning licenses. Mr.

Torres is involved with many community organizations. He is currently on

the board of trustees for Notre Dame Academy, sits on the Cabinet of the SI

Economic Development Corporation, and he is an executive board member

for The Giving Hope Network. Mr. Torres is native to West Brighton and

currently resides in Westerleigh with his wife, Jackie and daughter, Lillian.

The introduction of the new state of the art Echocardiography machines will

allow the hospital to obtain extremely clear and enhanced images of the

heart and vessels. The technology will also allow cardiologists to make finer

measurements of cardiac function and enhance diagnosis. The images will

also be made viewable on the hospital’s new PACS system further enhancing

patient care.

RUMC’s technologists underwent extensive training by specialists from GE

to fully utilize the capabilities of this equipment and have greatly improved

our cardiac imaging within RUMC.

The purchase of this equipment was made possible through a grant from the

New York City Council led by Councilwoman Debi Rose.

Heather is a Senior Business

Administration Major with a

concentration in Marketing at

Wagner College. This fall, she's

been interning in the Develop-

ment and Marketing Depart-

ment. Heather is working on

several marketing projects,

community outreach, event planning, and has

incorporated her passion for photography into

her internship.

"Working with the Development team at RUMC

has been such a rewarding experience that I am

extremely grateful for. Development really is the

department that does a little bit of everything.

They have taught me valuable skills and given

me the opportunity to apply what I've learned in

school to a wonderful organization that truly

makes a difference in it's community."

New Echocardiography Machines Made Possible By Councilwoman Rose and the NYC Council

Free lung cancer screenings are available to

those considered high risk. Lung cancer can be

detected early through a low dose CT scan.,

which is completed in about 15 minutes. If a

tumor is found while it is small there is a better

chance that it can be removed. CT scans aid in

finding lung cancer in their earliest stage when

up to 90% can be cured. "We as health care pro-

viders have to take the lead in educating the

public to the dangers of smoking and the bene-

fits of quitting," states Dr. Keith Diaz, board cer-

tified in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at

RUMC. If you are currently a smoker or former

over the age of 50 or if you would like more in-

formation, call Pulmonary Nurse Navigator,

Nancy Rooney at x2391.

Lung Cancer Screenings Available to Those High Risk Foundation Board Highlight:

Joseph Torres

Volunteer of the Month Heather Wolf

Quality & Patient Care

Patient Satisfaction: A Letter of Thanks

Dear Dr. Messina,

I am writing on behalf of my mother who turned 95 in

October. She was hospitalized twice throughout the late summer and

fall. On both occasions she was admitted through the ED.

I wanted to let you know the excellent care she received from every-

one from the time she was admitted until she was discharged. They

treated her as if she was their own mother or grandmother and made

my mother’s stay pleasurable. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the

names of everyone. However, I did manage to get some names from

her second admission. Special thanks to Joanne Rizzuti who always

went above and beyond to make my mother comfortable and took the

extra time to explain any questions I or my mother had. I also want

to thank Lana, Burkey, Roberta, Lucky, and Dr. Adebayo and every-

one's name I didn't get . They all showed such care and compassion

and made my mother feel very special. Last but not least, her attend-

ing physician, Dr. Chia-Maou Chen, who is one of the most caring and

dedicated physicians I know and for having Dr. Gottlieb see my

mother. You should be very proud of your entire 4th floor staff, they

are aces as my mother would say.

Sincerely,

Sandra

Patients put themselves into the hands of strangers trusting that they will help them. There are few situations outside of healthcare where people do that. We all have the ability to act as an advocate for our patients, which means helping them through the scary and confusing process of modern medicine. Helping them to get to the right people. Explaining what will be completed in other departments and passing on the patients fears to other healthcare providers. These are all ways to create a positive influence on a person’s care.

Kelly V.

RUMC is a hospital filled with caring, dedicated, hardworking people, who are doing their best to see that Staten Island receives the best care possi-ble. If you want to be cared for in the community, by your friends and neighbors, come here.

A Great Social Media Review

Human Resources News

Employee Recognition

Nominations Employee nomination forms are now located on the intranet under the

Human Resources tab. Nominators can also submit nomination

statements to Ilene Morgan, IMorgan@rumcsi.org, each statement

should provide specific examples delineating the individuals

accomplishments. Additional supplemental documents from patients,

family members, or staff should be shared when available. Please limit

nomination statements to no more than one typed page, excluding the

supporting documents.

Human Resources News 2015 Richmond University Medical Center Health Plan Open Enroll-

ment will be taking place for Management, Non Union, Local 30, House

Staff and Physicians beginning November 20, 2014 through December

12, 2014. There will be meetings on December 1st and December 3rd in

the Sipp and Villa Conference rooms respectively from 9:00am-3:00pm.

Now is the time to make changes to your benefit elections, if you wish.

It is also the time to enroll in the annual Flexible Spending Accounts for

Health Care or Child Care Expenses. This must be done annually during

open enrollment, it does not automatically renew.

Additionally updated Benefit Plan enrollment materials will be distrib-

uted during these meetings and it is important for you to stop by , listen

to the presentation, pick up and keep the materials for your records for

the upcoming year. Please make every effort to attend.

Paul Sabella, Admin Coordinator

Denise Figueroa, Admin Secretary

Macie Luszckiewicz, Carpenter

Alket Hoxha, Lead Electrician

Homer Hillbrant, Nursing Assistant

Elisabeta Palaj, Nursing Assistant

Jahmia Richards, Nursing Assistant

Anthony Giannone, Paramedic

Joel Aranzado, Registered Nurse

Alma Claudio, Registered Nurse

Kelly LaPointe, Registered Nurse

Catherine Montello, Registered Nurse

Susan Proce, Registered Nurse

Nadeera Fernando, Registrar

Francesca Granato, Resident Coordinator

Janice Bossert, Registered Nurse

Danielle Fiammetta, Registered Nurse

Maribel Frias, Registered Nurse

Natalya Gnatenko, Registered Nurse

Kerry McCormack, Registered Nurse

Recognizing Service Excellence

Jacqueline Voss

Carmen Cajigos

Patricia Crespo

Robert Martinez

Dennis Pietrocola

Jeffrey Janiger

Jo Ann McAvoy-

Delahunt

Karen May

Laurie Smith

Margaret Reilly

Dawn Fersko

Congratulations to:

Employee Recognition

Ceremony

November 3, 2014

Welcome December New Hires

Department News

As the newly approved PCI area is launched, the Pharmacy &

Therapeutics Committee has approved the addition of

Bivalirudin (Angiomax) to the Formulary, which is an antico-

agulant used in conjunction with aspirin for patients with

unstable angina undergoing percutaneous coronary interven-

tion. Angiomax will be restricted for PCI use only. Please note

the brand name albuterol inhalers, ProAir HFA, has been re-

moved from the formulary.

The Pharmacy Clinical team, which includes Dr. Yelena

Venglovskaya, Dr. Harry Kopolovich, and Pharmacy Intern

Kelsey Dunn, have been working on creating a sub-formulary

list of specific antidotes. There was a complete presentation

of the antidotes at the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee

Meeting held on November 20th.

The department is currently working toward finalizing and

preparing Antibiotics Desensitization Protocol. A special

thank you to Dr. Frank Scafuri and Dr. Lucia Palladino for the

tremendous support and expert opinion they have provided.

For more information about pharmacy news or if you would

like to see something featured in this section please contact:

Lenny Shats, lshats@rumcsi.org.

Pharmacy News & Updates It’s great to share the holiday spirit with our patients, visitors,

staff, and volunteers. But it’s important to remember some im-

portant safety guidelines from the Fire Department:

Do not use natural or live trees, tree branches, wreaths, or

pine cones because they present a fire hazard.

Use only artificial trees, wreaths and decorations that are

flame resistant and/or labeled by an approved testing organiza-

tion, such as Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (retain packaging

with flame retardant info—the Fire Dept. may ask to see it!).

Do not use artificial trees or wreaths that contain

“pitch” (pine, spruce, hemlock, Spanish moss, balsam evergreen,

or fir).

Lit candles are strictly prohibited, as are electric incense or

potpourri “burners”.

Electric lights and decorations are strictly prohibited in the

Operating Rooms, Critical Care units, in any oxygen-rich envi-

ronment, or near any flammable materials. Battery operated

lights are permitted.

Only electric lights and decorations that are labeled by an

approved testing organization, such as Underwriters Laborato-

ries, Inc. (UL) are permitted. Extension cords may not be used

and all electric lights and decorations must be unplugged when

not attended by staff members.

Decorations must not obstruct stairwells, corridors, lights

and/or obscure any lines of sight to exit signs.

Do not decorate fire and smoke doors. Decorations on other

doors must cover less than 10% of the door

Decorations must not present a tripping hazard or be within

the reach of children.

Please note that the removal date for all

holiday decorations is January 9, 2014

Holiday Decoration Guidelines

Original Invoice Required. Accounts Payable will process the payment from an original invoice only in order to prevent duplicate payments. A statement should not be submitted for payment. It is the responsibility of each department to provide an original invoice. If for any reason a copy must be submitted, the top of the invoice should be marked “COPY- Original Lost”. Please make sure that the original invoice has not already been submitted for payment before sending a copy of an invoice to Accounts Payable for processing. All authorized signature ap-provals, correct General Ledger coding and brief description of the reason for expenditure should be on the check request, if not it will be returned to the department. If you have questions regarding the Accounts Payable issues, please contact Linda Boyle, Accounts Payable Supervisor at x2533.

Notice from Finance Dept.

Unused Vacation Carryover In order to evaluate the 2014 year-end accrued vacation liability, it is

necessary to provide the Finance Department with a listing of

accrued vacation time (hours available) for each employee as of

December 27, 2014.

A list of employees for your department(s) will be provided to your

timekeeper(s) with payroll distribution on Thursday, December 4th.

If any employees have been omitted from your list please add them

to the bottom of the list.

We request that the timekeepers write in the number of hours that

are accrued for each employee as of pay period ending date

12/27/2014. In addition, please write in the Maximum Allowable

Vacation Hours Carryover at 12/31/14.

For example: Mr. Smith has Accrued vacation hours at pay period

ending 12/27/14 of 210 hours, the 210 hours should go in the

column labeled Accrual Hours at 12/27/14. He is entitled to carry-

over maximum vacation hours of 225. The 225 hours should go in the

column labeled Maximum Allowable Vacation Hours Carryover.

Please review, approve and return the completed listing to Deborah

Sanchez in the Finance Department no later than Monday, January

12, 2015. Any questions should be directed to Mou Lee, x4540 or

Deborah Sanchez, x4883.

Community Involvement

Team RUMC Completes the NYC Marathon

Four members of the RUMC family completed the 2014 TCS New York Mara-thon on Sunday, November 2nd. President & CEO, Dan Messina has completed the New York City Marathon seven times. This race marked his eighth. A member of the National MS Society Board of Trustees, Dan ran with the New York City Multiple Sclerosis Society Race to Stop MS Team. Dan’s late mother, Rose, had MS for her entire adult life. He recalls, “My mom is the one in the family who was really the fierce competitor, she was my hero.” His commitment to run in her mem-ory and for the MS Society is highlighted by his desire to lessen the terrible impact that MS has on the people who battle it, their family, and their friends.

Hospital Trustee, Sara Warren Gardner decided 2014 will be her last marathon. While this was number twenty, many of her marathons have been personally dedi-cated to the memory of her father in law who passed away on September 11, 2001. Sara shares that this year was a time for reflection on past marathons and a mo-ment to look ahead.

They were joined by first time marathon runner and Registered Nurse in Recovery, Jen DeGregorio, who was “testing her lim-its to see what she can accomplish” and Ellen Mannino, Registered Nurse in Endo-scopy. Ellen ran as part of the FDNY’s local fire department team and in honor of the patients at Richmond University Medical Center.

Ellen Mannino, RN in Endo, Dan Messina, CEO and

President, Sara Warren Gardner, Hospital Trustee, and

Jen Gregorio, RN in Recovery, at Clove Lake Park.

800 Castleton Outreach in

Local Churches

122 Precinct Lung and

Stroke Education

Stapleton Senior Center Ebola

Informational Session

March of Dimes—Prematurity

Awareness Proclamation Day

Borough Hall Blood Drive Fire Department Safety Training

with WIC Team

Shine the Light—Lung Cancer

Awareness Event

Living Kidney Donor Presentation St. Philips Thanksgiving

Health Screenings

December Happenings

RUMC employees par-ticipating in the 5k with family and friends.

Employee Wellness Calendar

Greenbelt Fall Flat RUMC is a proud sponsor of

the Staten Island Greenbelt

Trail Run Series.

We hope to see you at their

next run, Greenbelt Trails

Festival Saturday, December

6, 2014 – Run 10, 25 or 50K!

December Outreach Calendar Wednesday December 3rd

Carmel Richmond Fair

Thursday, December 4th

In Service with the JCC: Alzheimer/Dementia

Tuesday, December 9th

Ronald McDonald Pediatric Oncology Holiday Party

Community Volunteer Appreciation Holiday Luncheon

Community Board 1 Meeting: Lung Cancer Awareness Presentation

Thursday, December 11th

SI Rotary Pediatric Oncology Holiday Party

Thursday, December 18th

Rotary Pediatric Oncology Holiday Party

Monday, December 22nd

NY Panthers Softball Pediatric Holiday Party

Tuesday, December 23rd

Pediatric Holiday Party with Community Board 1

Wednesday, December 24th

Richard Gardner Foundation Pediatric Holiday Party