19,445 Volunteer Hours worked in 2016

9525 Paper Files—Scanned in 13 Months!

Once essential for every

patient, paper records are

no longer used at Good

Samaritan and are fast

disappearing from the

shelves in Medical Records.

As each patient’s medical

records are scanned and

saved electronically, a task

which at one time was

estimated would take over

two years, is nearing com-

pletion only twelve months

after its start, thanks to a

highly-dedicated group of volunteers.

Prior to the beginning of 2016, Medical Records

volunteers had opened and maintained paper files

for every patient ever seen at Good Samaritan.

Over the years, work space in the records room

decreased as extra shelving was brought in to

accommodate more files. As the changeover to

electronic records approached, the idea that all

the records could be scanned in-house by a small

group of volunteers was inconceivable, but the

Medical Records team agreed to get started. In

this newsletter, 12 months ago, we reported that

training was completed and volunteers were

Hands and Hearts A Newsletter for Good Samaritan Volunteers - Jan 2017.

Our Vision

Statement

Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center will be a premier

Community Health Center accessible to all and dedicated to

delivering the highest quality care to the people and

communities we serve.

What’s Inside?

Medical Records (continued) 2

Calendar & Policy Update 2

Message from Carole Maddux 3

News around the clinic 4

Thank you youth volunteers 4

Christmas Reception 5

Welcome New Staff 6

From a Grateful Patient 7

Notes & Reminders 7

2017 Holidays 8

Kudos to the Medical Records team!

Eileen and Frances agree, “It has been a good experience,

challenging at times, but we have always had fun doing it!”

Empty shelving, once packed

with paper files.

Winter Weather

Reminder:

If the Pickens County

Government Offices

are closed for

inclement weather,

Good Samaritan

is also

closed.

Page 2 Hands and Hearts

scanning progress notes, labs and other records from patients’

charts into the electronic record prior to each patient’s first

visit after “go-live” date. At the same time, work had begun

on the task of scanning all active, inactive, ineligible and

deceased patients’ records from A through Z.

Many volunteers have contributed to this effort. They

encourage each other and other volunteers by leaving notes

and celebrating milestones as each alphabet letter is complet-

ed or a shelf is empty. There have also been memorable mo-

ments like the day when extra light shown into the room as

files were removed from in front of a long-forgotten window.

Thank you to this amazing, hard-working team:

Ouida Ames, Joan Blanchard, Susan Duncan, Eileen Foresman, Sally Long, Judy Scanling,

Frances Townsend and Laura Walker.

Medical Records, cont.

January 2017 Monday, January 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day—Good Samaritan Closed Tuesday, January 17 CTL Meeting – 1:00 PM Thursday, January 26 Board of Directors’ Meeting—6:00 PM

February 2017 Thursday, February 16 Board of Directors’ Meeting—6:00 PM Monday, February 20 Presidents’ Day—Good Samaritan Closed Tuesday, February 21 CTL Meeting – 1:00 PM

March 2017 Tuesday, March 21 CTL Meeting – 1:00 PM Thursday, March 23 Board of Directors’ Meeting—6:00 PM

Good Samaritan Influenza Vaccination Policy:

All staff and volunteers are required to be vaccinated against influenza each year as a condition of continued employment or access to Good Samaritan. Good Samaritan will administer the vaccination or will accept documentation of vaccination from another source. If you are approved for an exemption, you must wear a surgical mask from November 1st through March 31st in designated areas. Please see Dr. Sohnen if you have questions.

First Quarter Calendar

Only the Dental files remain behind

Ouida Ames and Laura Walker.

As I write this, a winter storm is bearing down on us. You can feel

the anxiety in the air as people make jokes about bread and milk

and Southerners driving on snow. The uncertainty of exactly what

is coming and when is probably the hardest to deal with. We’re all

checking and re-checking the weather reports, the list of closures,

and trying to determine if our plans will need to be changed or not.

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now. Politically, our

country is in a waiting period. We don’t know what federal or state

policies will be crafted or eliminated. We don’t know if they’ll be

successful or be a spectacular failure of unintended consequences. We don’t know how they will effect

us, or our families, or our neighbors, or our businesses, or our patients.

This can create a lot of anxiety and even fear.

When you think about it, many of our patients arrive at our doorstep in the same condition. Often, they

know something is wrong but they don’t know what. They don’t know if it’s a quick fix or something

more catastrophic. They don’t know if the pain will get better or worse. They don’t know how expensive

it will be. They don’t know if this will change or even shorten their lives.

That can be a pretty scary place to be.

The good news is that we are there for them. At Good Samaritan, we can provide not only hope but

knowledge. Not only care but comfort. And we’ll do it all with the compassion that can come only from

a team of volunteers and dedicated staff that are committed to an atmosphere of respect and dignity

that asks only what the patient can afford.

Patients may arrive in fear, but they leave armed with hope and information and warmed by the kind-

ness shown to them. They leave knowing that their care will not bankrupt them. They leave knowing

that, whatever their journey, they now have a team of people ready to walk it with them.

Thank you for being on that team.

Carole

“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not

alone.”

― Shannon L. Alder

A Message from Carole Maddux

Page 3 Hands and Hearts

Page 4 Hands and Hearts

News from around the clinic!

From the Volunteer Office: Several people have accepted the added responsibility of serving as leaders for their teams. Ric Sanchez has taken over the position of CTL in Social Services working with Leamarie True, who has been a regular in that department for over three years. Suzanne Cronk is also joining Social Services, having volunteered as a nurse for several years. This team processes referrals for patients. Joe Cronk, a longtime volunteer escort, is now the CTL replacing Linda Kadechuk who is volunteering in Financial Counseling. Ray Bowyer is the new CTL for IT, adding this to his responsibility for overseeing the website.

- A little trivia for you! CTL is an acronym, but what does it stand for? Co-Team Leader! In many cases that position is held by one person only. Another reason to say, “Thank you,” to all our CTLs.

From Dr. Sohnen: As we start the New Year, we have begun to focus on preventative medical screening to ensure the better health of all our patients. We were also very pleased with the success of the flu shot program this year. Our thanks go to Walgreens, who administered flu shots for our patients.

From the Melinda Smith: If you are looking for an easy way to secure the future of Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center programs and services, you can make automatic recurring donations. Go to our website, www.goodsamhwc.org, click on Donate to Good Samaritan, click on the Network for Good icon,

, and you will find under Donation Preferences how to make recurring donations monthly, quarterly or annually in an amount of $10 or more. You also have the ability to designate your gift to a specific purpose/program or in memory/honor of another person. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Melinda Smith, Director of Development, at 706-253-4673, extension 292.

With school closed in Cherokee and Pickens counties in early January, Lois Bryant’s grandchildren, Mattie and Luke Bryant (left) and Michelle Menard’s son, Brett Menard (right) earned volunteer hours by helping Myrna Denson prepare information for community outreach.

Thank you to our Youth Volunteers!

Page 5 Hands and Hearts

2016 Christmas Reception for Staff and Volunteers

Volunteers and staff gathered for an afternoon of smiles,

conversation and good food in the Fellowship Hall at Holy

Family.

Presentations of poinsettias were made by Jean Mosshart

to Drs. Ryder, Austin and Booth, recognized for their

leadership, and to Eileen Foresman and Frances Townsend,

recognized for their dedication to the task of scanning

medical records.

Congratulations

to Sally Long the

winner of this quilt

beautifully created

and donated by

Lois Bryant.

Special thanks to

Rosana Wentworth

for preparing the

wonderful food and

to the Volunteer

Office for organizing

the party.

Page 6 Hands and Hearts

Please welcome our new members of staff.

Michelle Menard joined the Good Samaritan family on October 31st as our

Administrative Assistant. She has lived in Pickens County for the last 17 years

and loves the North Georgia Mountains. She is married and has a son in the

8th grade at Jasper Middle School.

Her family is very involved in Boy Scouts and enjoys all things outdoors. Her

favorite pastimes are camping and hiking.

Joleen Wood

Many of you will remember Joleen from when she was a student completing

her externship over the summer. She has since graduated from Chattahoo-

chee Technical College as a Certified Medical Assistant. Joleen says, “I would

like to thank each of you that let me tag along as a student, and I'd like to

thank everyone here for the warm welcome as a full time team member. I'm

very excited to be a part of Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center and

all the great things we do here for our community.”

Beginning in February, Dental Services at Good Samaritan will be available four to five days a week! Dr. Scott Newborn, will be joining the Good Samaritan team and will work with Starla Reid, our current Dental Assistant. Dr. Newborn grew up in Rome, GA. and graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Berry College in 1984. He went on to earn a MS in Bio-Organic Chemistry from Texas A&M and worked in Environmental Engineering and Analytical Chemistry for six years before going to Dental School, at the Medical College of Georgia, from where he graduated in 1996. He has owned and operated a private dental practice in Calhoun, GA for eighteen years while also volunteering for six years at the Ben Massell Clinic in Atlanta. This clinic provides comprehensive quality dental care, at no cost, to Atlanta’s neediest population. Dr. Newborn has a brother in Alabama and a sister in Gainesville, GA but most of his family lives in Virginia. He likes to spend his spare time reading and doing astronomy and photography. Dr. Newborn says he is excited to be part of Good Samaritan’s contribution to the community.

We wish Dr. Van Tuyl great success on his new journey and we hope to still see him around as a volunteer.

Dr. Scott Newborn, DDS

Page 7 Hands and Hearts

To the Good Samaritans of Jasper:

I just wanted to express my gratitude for the kindness your organization has extended towards myself for the medial treatment and medicine I’ve received and allowing me a grace period concerning payment until I start working.

May you all receive a hundredfold in turn to that which you have given.

A Christmas Tree decorated with an angel named for every volunteer

at Good Samaritan was part of the Festival of trees at the Jasper Library

over the 2016 holiday season.

From a Grateful Patient:

The AmazonSmile program is a simple and automatic way for you to support Good Samaritan every time you shop, at no cost to you. On your first visit to AmazonSmile, select Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center before you begin shopping. After that, all eligible purchases you make on AmazonSmile will result in a donation in the amount of 0.5% of the purchase price to Good Samaritan.

Kroger Community Awards program: Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center is enrolled in the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Our NPO number is 57131. If you are looking for another way to support Good Samaritan, you can register your Kroger Plus card to benefit Good Samaritan by going online at krogercommunityrewards.com.

Remember to record your volunteer hours: This information is used in a variety of ways including on grant applications and grant status reports. We appreciate all the hours you give to Good Samaritan and the fact that you document those hours!

The Spring edition of Hands and Hearts will be published in early April. We are always looking for stories or photos of interest to volunteers and invite you to leave any news items, ideas for articles or photos in the Volunteer Newsletter box in the break room or email to Jean Lomax, JL2770@tds.net.

Notes and Reminders

175 Samaritan Drive,

Jasper, GA 30143.

www.goodsamhwc.org

January 2 New Year’s Day

January 16 Martin Luther King Day

February 20 President’s Day

April 14 Good Friday

May 29 Memorial Day

July 4 Independence Day

September 4 Labor Day

November 23 Thanksgiving Day

November 24 Day after Thanksgiving

December 25 Christmas Day

Enjoy these days with friends and family

2017 HOLIDAYS—Good Samaritan Closed