Ahi tuna, smoked wahoo on exotic menu for hospital event

Ahi tuna, smoked wahoo on exotic menu for hospital event
7/14/2010

For media inquiries please contact ashley.lawless@ahss.org

Bolingbrook – Ahi tuna and smoked wahoo are among the exotic items on the menu at “A Midsummer Cirque”, presented by McDonald’s, The Promenade Bolingbrook and the Bolingbrook Hospital Foundation.

Major sponsors include Gordon Biersche, providing a menu of ahi tuna crisp and white chocolate bread pudding; Go Roma, serving its margherita pizza, smoked chicken pizza, mini meatballs, toasted ravioli and bruschetta; BD’s Mongolian Grill, presenting Kung Pao Beef and sweet and sour chicken with rice for guests to enjoy; and Islamorada Fish Company at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World will serve smoked wahoo, key lime bars and Bimini bread pudding.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. July 31 at the Promenade Bolingbrook. Tickets are $75 per person. Sponsorships ranging from $500 to $15,000 are available. To purchase a ticket or for more information, call 630-312-6006 or visit http://www.bolingbrookhospitalfoundation.org/. Cocktail attire is suggested.

“Our gala is a chance for the community to enjoy not only visually spellbinding performances but also top-notch cuisine from fantastic restaurants,” said Tom Castagnoli, gala chairman and Bolingbrook Hospital Foundation board member.

Other sponsors include American Family Insurance, Peak Construction, DuPage Township, Emergency Healthcare Physicians, Adventist Health System, Francesca’s on the Promenade, Andy’s Frozen Custard, Bar Louie, Aloft Hotel, Gold Class Cinemas and Southern Wine & Spirits.

Proceeds will benefit Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital’s CREATION Health Center for Chronic Disease Management. This multi-specialty outpatient center utilizes the eight universal principles of health to empower patients to improve their quality of life by managing their chronic diseases with self-care routines and ongoing medical care.

The event will feature walkaround entertainment throughout the night with aerial and ground shows from the troupe. Performers include the Duo Rose trapeze artists, who performed in Dreamcast Entertainment’s 2009 cirque production “Taganai” and competed in the 2010 International Circus Festival in Spain.

“A Midsummer Cirque is a chance for the community to learn more about the services we offer and the lives we have impacted since our hospital opened in 2008,” said Rick Mace, chief executive officer, Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital.

The event is the foundation’s major fundraiser of 2010. The Bolingbrook Hospital Foundation furthers Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital’s mission through philanthropy.

###
Adventist Midwest Health includes Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital. To find a physician, visit http://www.keepingyouwell.com/. .

Source: http://www.keepingyouwell.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/191/ItemID/3800/srcmid/71292/Default.aspx

/.

Adventist Church plans expanded partnership with World Health Organization

Leaders approve involvement in project to curb maternal, infant mortality in rural communities

7 Apr 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN

Seventh-day Adventist Church officials voted yesterday to accept a proposal from the World Health Organization (WHO) that seeks the denomination's partnership with the United Nations' agency in a program to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

The approval paves the way for expanding the church's fledgling alliance with the WHO in helping to implement public health initiatives.




Church Health Ministries Director Allan Handysides outlines a World Health Organization (WHO) proposal soliciting the Adventist Church's efforts to reduce infant and maternal mortality worldwide. The partnership, approved April 6 by church leadership, broadens the scope of the church's collaboration with the WHO. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN]


Church administrative and health leaders first explored a collaboration with the WHO last summer during a health conference in Geneva. In October, they released a statement positioning the denomination to better improve global health through partnerships with allied health organizations, such as the WHO.

The WHO proposal discussed yesterday during Spring Meeting at world church headquarters requests that selected Adventist-run schools of nursing that teach midwifery or obstetrics serve as "laboratories of change." There, the WHO, Health Ministries and church-run Loma Linda School of Nursing in Loma Linda, California, will concentrate resources to graduate Highly Skilled Birth Attendants, said Allan Handysides, director of the world church's department of Health Ministries.

An increase in birth attendants is expected to curb the number of maternal deaths per births in many African and Asian countries, which stands at 600 per 100,000, compared to 16 per 100,000 in Western countries, Handysides said. The ratio represents an estimated 3 million preventable maternal deaths per year, he said.

"I want to stress to you that through this partnership, the image and reputation of the Adventist church may be held up to the scrutiny of the WHO," Handysides told the delegates. He urged them not only to approve the proposal, but also to commit to "100 percent participation" and "keen oversight" by all levels of church administration in implementing the project, particularly in church regions where the effort is concentrated.

Patricia Jones, associate Health Ministries director for Nursing, reiterated Handysides' call for full involvement. Jones, also a professor of Nursing at the Loma Linda School of Nursing, said if problems in implementation arise, the goal of the partnership -- fewer infant and maternal deaths -- would suffer most.

Delegates seemed largely in favor of the partnership, one calling it a "vote of confidence" in the work of the church's Health Ministries department. However, they asked that potential downsides to the partnership be fully analyzed before the church moves forward.

"I am reluctant to enter this partnership -- even though the benefits may be tremendous -- without a thorough plan to avoid any risks that may arise," said Paul Ratsara, president of the church's Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region.

While potential risks cannot be eliminated, "thorough work has and will yet be done" to "minimize" them, said Peter Landless, associate Health Ministries director. Landless called for a "careful, measured pace" as the church proceeds with the partnership, which, he added "may serve as a very needed injection of new life into some of our health institutions."

The partnership is expected to upgrade the quality of instruction and increase the number of instructors at the selected nursing schools. Also anticipated is a spike in enrollment, due to students contracted by the government to return to their rural communities, where infant and maternal mortality is the highest, Handysides said.

Developing an extensive network of such "laboratories of change" is expected to cost an estimated $5 million, he said.

"We were at first apprehensive about this because the cost of such a project would certainly be beyond our capabilities," Handysides said. However, the WHO has since said they are "very willing" to secure funding for the initiative, he added.

The Adventist Church "should embrace this opportunity to have a public expression of our healing and serving values as a global organization," said Lowell Cooper, a world church vice president and Loma Linda University's board chair.

Cooper is also a member of the church's administrative committee, which delegates agreed will guide the partnership's progress during its five-year duration.

While "ambitious," the partnership is admittedly short-term and thus an "experiment," Handysides said, adding that ideally it will give the WHO a positive impression of what a relationship with a denomination can achieve.

"This may be a possible model for future partnerships," Adventist world church president Jan Paulsen said following the vote.
.
.
Source: Adventist News Network
.
Source: http://news.adventist.org/2010/04/adventist-church-pla.html
.
P.S. Bolds and Highlights added.
.

Adventist HealthCare Partners with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to Provide Free H1N1 Vaccine for Expectant Mothers

November 25, 2009

News Release

Adventist HealthCare Partners with Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to Provide Free H1N1 Vaccine for Expectant Mothers

Nearly 500 pregnant women receive injectable H1N1 vaccine from Health & Wellness Team
Rockville, MD - Adventist HealthCare extended its "Help Stop the Flu" campaign this month by collaborating with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services to provide free H1N1 vaccine to nearly 500 expectant mothers in the community.

The collaboration with the county is an extension of Adventist HealthCare's 2009 "Help Stop the Flu" campaign, which reminds the community to help stop the spread of the flu through preventative measures, such as vaccinations and hand-washing. Adventist HealthCare, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital and Washington Adventist Hospital have already vaccinated nearly 2,400 community members and will hold more seasonal and H1N1 clinics as the vaccines become available in the coming weeks.

Expectant mothers were given their free H1N1 vaccinations at three clinics this month. At the first clinic, 246 expectant mothers received the vaccine on November 4 in Silver Spring. At the second clinic, 205 expectant mothers and 30 children received vaccinations on November 12 at Adventist HealthCare's corporate offices in Rockville. Both clinics saw expectant mothers traveling from all parts of Montgomery County to receive the vaccination in order to protect themselves and their babies.

"It is extremely important that pregnant women receive the H1N1 vaccine as they are the highest priority group to receive it," said Judy Lichty, Regional Director of Health and Wellness for Adventist HealthCare. "It's an easy approach to keep both mother and baby healthy."

The H1N1 vaccine was also provided to pregnant women at a Nov. 9 community pediatric flu shot clinic, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, where 55 children received the H1N1 vaccine.

"Adventist HealthCare's collaboration with Montgomery County helps us expand access to health care for the community, especially the underserved," said William G. "Bill" Robertson, President and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. "It is just one of many partnerships that helps us meet our mission to improve the health of people and communities by demonstrating God's care through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing."

Visit http://www.adventisthealthcare.com/health/programs/flu/index.aspx for information on seasonal and H1N1 vaccine availability.

Adventist HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God's care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist Behavioral Health Services, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, Adventist Home Health Services, the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children, and LifeWork Strategies.

Source: http://www.adventisthealthcare.com/about/news/2009/free-h1n1-vaccine-expectant-mothers.aspx

.

EAH MAKES GA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION’S PRESIDENTIAL HONOR ROLL

6/29/2009

(Smyrna, GA, June 29, 2009)—Emory-Adventist Hospital at Smyrna has been named as one of only 38 hospitals in the state to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Presidential Honor Roll.

The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from January 2008 through December 2008. To qualify as a Presidential Honor Roll hospital, EAH maintained a score of 93% or higher in its Appropriate Care Measures (ACM) during that time period.

The CMS data details how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of Appropriate Care Measures (ACM) which are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure or pneumonia. For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.

"Congratulations to Emory-Adventist Hospital at Smyrna for its outstanding performance," said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. "We are proud of this accomplishment," said Ed Moyer, COO of the Hospital. "It is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time, and this recognition validates this."

Emory-Adventist Hospital at Smyrna is operated by Adventist Health System (AHS) as a joint venture with Emory Healthcare. AHS operates the largest not-for-profit Protestant healthcare system in the nation, with 38 hospitals in 11 states, as well as extended-care, home health and hospice facilities. Emory Healthcare is one of the nation's leading health systems and is affiliated with the world-renowned Emory University School of Medicine and Emory University Hospital.

###


Source: http://www.emoryadventist.org/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4625/ItemID/2891/srcmid/21550/Default.aspx
.

Emory’s name doesn't ensure its high standards

Metro Atlanta / State News 8:50 p.m.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Emory’s name doesn't ensure its high standards
Medicare data reveals some partner hospitals’ shortcomings

By Carrie Teegardin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Patients who arrive for care at Emory-Adventist Hospital might reasonably assume that the Cobb County facility is run by Emory University

Those turning to Emory Eastside Medical Center in Snellville and Emory Johns Creek Hospital in North Fulton might also believe they are entrusting their care to the folks who operate the highly regarded teaching hospital on the Emory campus.

But Emory’s name on the sign out front does not mean Emory is completely in charge. And it doesn’t ensure that high quality standards are always met.

Medicare statistics measuring the quality of care at the nation’s hospitals reflect shortcomings at two hospitals using the Emory name, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution study.

Of the five metro Atlanta hospitals in the Emory Healthcare system, Emory University exclusively manages just two: Emory University Hospital on Clifton Road and Emory University Hospital Midtown on Peachtree Street.

The other three Emory hospitals are joint ventures with other hospitals chains. In each case, Emory helps oversee operations but leaves much of the day-to-day management to its partners.

Academic hospitals such as Emory’s Clifton Road and Midtown facilities partner with community hospitals to extend their reach into suburban areas. Some jointly run the hospitals. Others team up to create a specialty unit within a hospital, said Dr. Joanne Conroy, chief health care officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Conroy said quality control is key for the academic hospitals.

“When their brand is out there, they want to make sure that patients have an expectation and receive the same level of services they would receive at the mother ship,” she said.

Emory Eastside, a joint venture between Emory and the health care company HCA Inc., posted a high death rate among pneumonia patients admitted between 2005 and 2008. Emory-Adventist, which is co-owned by Emory and Florida-based Adventist Health System, earned some of the worst marks in the state on 2008 patient satisfaction data compiled by Medicare. The numbers are the most current statistics available to the public.

John T. Fox, Emory Healthcare’s chief executive officer, said Emory sets quality standards and demands good results. Emory doctors serve on each hospital’s board of directors and also work at each facility monitoring quality statistics. He said Emory has closely worked with its partner to address problems highlighted in the Medicare reports.

“We would not enter into a joint venture with anyone who had a lower standard of commitment on quality,” Fox said. “We obviously take our name and our reputation very seriously and we are careful with how we use the brand.”

Fox said Emory staff constantly monitor a range of statistics measuring outcomes and satisfaction.

“Whenever we see a number that is below our expectations, and we see it long before it ever gets published, we go to work on it,” Fox said. “That’s independent of whether it’s a joint venture or a 100 percent Emory-owned hospital.”

As one of its many measures of hospital quality, Medicare surveys the nation’s patients after a hospital stay.

On seven of the 10 patient satisfaction questions, Emory-Adventist posted scores that ranked it no better than third-worst in the state, according to an AJC analysis of the data covering overnight admissions in 2008.

Only two Georgia hospitals scored worse than Emory-Adventist on overall satisfaction and only one scored worse on the percentage of patients who said they would not recommend the hospital. Only one Georgia hospital scored worse on the measure of how well doctors communicated with patients and only two hospitals scored worse than Emory-Adventist on communication with patients by nurses.

No hospital had a more negative rating than Emory-Adventist on how well pain was controlled and only two had higher negatives on whether patients received help quickly when they called for assistance.

Emory owns 35 percent of the 88-bed Emory-Adventist through a 1995 joint venture. Adventist Health System, a nonprofit chain with 37 hospitals nationwide, owns the majority stake of Emory-Adventist and handles most day-to-day operations.

The facility gets more than 80 percent of its admissions through its emergency room, the hospital said.

Emory appoints four of the facility’s 10 board members, one of whom is the chief quality officer at Emory Hospital Midtown.

Insurance companies and government regulators are paying close attention to customer feedback. “Patient satisfaction is clearly an important component of quality,” said William S. Custer, a Georgia State University professor who is an expert in health care and insurance.

Custer said if he were a consultant to Emory-Adventist, he would study emergency room operations since the vast majority of patients start there.

“What this shows is that they need to change the culture to have their employees communicate with patients better at every step,” Custer said.

Emory Eastside and Emory Johns Creek are joint ventures with HCA Inc., a Tennessee-based health care company that operates hospitals nationwide.

At both Eastside and Johns Creek, an Emory doctor monitors quality statistics. Fox said Emory doctors are also assigned to serve as “hospitalists” at the facilities — internal medicine specialists available to nursing staff around the clock. Emory doctors serve on each hospital’s board of directors.

HCA, however, oversees most day-to-day details.

Emory Johns Creek earns strong marks on patient satisfaction surveys and quality measures.

Emory Eastside’s patient ratings were better than Emory-Adventist’s, but below state averages on most questions.

Emory Eastside scored poorly on Medicare’s pneumonia mortality rate, in spite of earning high scores from Medicare for following protocols designed to prevent pneumonia deaths. The hospital is among 14 across Georgia that Medicare highlighted for posting high 30-day death rates among patients admitted with a pneumonia diagnosis over a three-year period, the latest data available.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an in-depth story in October about Georgia hospitals’ poor performance on Medicare’s measurements of clinical outcomes.

Larry Kloess, president of HCA’s division that includes Georgia, said the foundation of HCA’s partnership with Emory is a “shared commitment” to delivering the highest quality care possible.

In a prepared statement, Kloess also said it’s important for consumers to realize that some publicly reported data lags months behind current performance. Medicare does reach back to 2005 to calculate its current pneumonia death rates.

Emory Eastside said it is making a special effort to work with patients suffering from chronic conditions after they leave the hospital to try to improve results. Emory Eastside’s Web site prominently displays its affiliation with Emory Healthcare, but not with HCA.

Dr. John Santa, director of the health ratings center for Consumer Reports magazine, said many patients would assume Emory alone runs a facility that bears its name.

“If they find out differently, doesn’t that kind of sound like a bait-and-switch?” he said.

Some patients might want to know, Santa said, they are going to a hospital where a for-profit company is involved in management. Santa described Emory as a “very impressive brand.”

“I would assume that Emory has business reasons for being willing to share their brand,” he said. “How that involves quality and performance is a good question.”

Administrators at Emory-Adventist are working furiously to improve patient satisfaction ratings, including making changes to assure feedback is accurate.

Ed Moyer, the hospital’s chief operating officer, said the changes include phones instead of call lights, message boards displaying key staff names and a “turn-down” service offering patients a clean gown or fresh sheets.

The hospital’s most recent internal data show significant improvements in satisfaction ratings for patients admitted this year.

Adventist Health System is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “We take seriously our mission to extend the healing ministries of Christ,” Moyer said.

Fox, the Emory Healthcare chief, said he is very comfortable with the quality of care being delivered at all hospitals in the system. But he said he wants to see improvements at each facility, including the highly regarded hospital on the Emory campus that does ground-breaking work every day.

“I want perfection,” he said. “That does not exist in the Milky Way in terms of health care.”


Online rankings


Patient opinions about their experiences in a hospital have historically been limited to what friends and neighbors share. Today, Medicare’s “Hospital Compare” Web site allows consumers access to detailed patient survey data collected in a scientific manner and made available for almost every hospital in the country.

Many consumers have grown accustomed to checking online reviews before making a purchase. Medicare’s data is backed by hundreds of responses, not just the feedback of patients who happened to post comments on a Web site.

To review detailed quality and satisfaction data for hospitals around the country, go to: 
www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov


How we got the story


To examine how well Georgia hospitals performed on patient satisfaction surveys, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution studied the most recent data collected by Medicare for every hospital in Georgia. The newspaper reviewed the latest quality measures published for each hospital. The AJC also interviewed hospital executives and experts in hospital quality and management.

Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/emorys-name-doesn-t-189072.html

New Name...for Largest Mental Health Provider in the County

Council President Georve Leventhal (at center) joins Maryland's First Lady Kendal Ehrlich at the ribbon-cutting of the new Pediatric In-Patient Facility at the Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health Center, the first facility that includes in-patient children's beds. also in attendance were State Senator Jennie Forehand (at left), Adventist Health Care CEO Bill Robertson (second from left) and Craig S. Juengling (at right), President of the Potomac Ridge Behavioral Center.

(Photo) http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Apps/Council/PressPhoto/PP_details.asp?PpID=111

.

August 25, 2009

News Release
New Name and Quality-Driven Enhancements for Largest Mental Health Provider in the County
Rockville, MD - Adventist Behavioral Health, formerly Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health, today announced its new name, a partnership with Georgetown University Hospital's Department of Psychiatry and several quality-driven enhancements to its facilities and programming, including renovations and a future geriatric inpatient psychiatry unit. The new Adventist Behavioral Health name marks the organization's commitment to delivering the highest standards of mental health care and becoming the mental health care provider of choice in the community. The enhancements have allowed Adventist Behavioral Health to recruit highly-skilled psychiatrists to complement its dedicated clinical staff and to develop new programs that incorporate evidence-based treatment.

Adventist Behavioral Health partnered with Georgetown University Hospital's Department of Psychiatry to offer a future Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program, which is expected to enroll its first residents in July 2010. The training program will offer an academic-enriched environment for residents in a number of Adventist Behavioral Health's facilities, including Behavioral Health at Washington Adventist Hospital and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children.

"Our partnership with Georgetown University Hospital's Department of Psychiatry is a tremendous step forward in our goal to become a leading academic and research-based hospital," said Peter Levine, M.D., MMM, executive medical director of behavioral health services for Adventist Behavioral Health. "The program will provide residents rigorous, hands-on training in the adolescent residential treatment center (RTC) and acute children's treatment environments and, at the same time, help create a culture of excellence, education and ongoing training at our facilities."

Adventist Behavioral Health also plans to open a 10-bed, state-of-the art geriatric inpatient psychiatry unit in January 2010. The unit, which will be the only one of its kind in Montgomery County, will treat individuals 65 years and older who suffer from a variety of major mental illnesses, including severe depression and bipolar disorder.

"According to the Rockville Institute, the geriatric population in Montgomery County is expected to rise 62 percent by 2025," said Sako Maki, President, Adventist Behavioral Health. "Offering geriatric psychiatry services is part of our organization's strategy to address the changing needs of the community and offer customized programs aimed to treat individuals at every stage of life. Our new clinical staff, partnership with Georgetown University Hospital's Department of Psychiatry and our renewed focus on quality and excellent outcomes will strengthen Adventist Behavioral Health's breadth of services to the community."

Adventist Behavioral Health is also working to ensure that its facilities reflect the quality care and compassionate service staff provides. To that end, the Rockville campus is renovating its 60-bed RTC at its Rockville campus. The renovations will include updated patient rooms, larger group therapy areas and modern workstations for the clinical staff.

"We are enhancing our services and investing in renovations that will make our RTC more conducive to successful behavioral therapy," said Maki. "It is important for us to create an environment of care that gives our patients and their families hope."

About Adventist Behavioral Health

Adventist Behavioral Health is a comprehensive behavioral health provider with locations in Anne Arundel, Dorchester and Montgomery counties, including Washington Adventist Hospital's Behavioral Health Unit and the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children. The organization offers a broad range of behavioral health programs and services for young children, adolescents, adults and senior citizens including therapeutic nursery programs, acute inpatient care, outpatient/dual diagnosis chemical dependency programs, residential treatment, special education and community-based residential services. Adventist Behavioral Health is part of Rockville-based Adventist HealthCare, an integrated health-care delivery system that is one of the largest employers in the State of Maryland.

.

Source:http://www.adventisthealthcare.com/ABH/about/news/2009/largest-mental-health-provider-new-name.aspx

.

P.S. Bolds and Highlights added.

.