System and Hospital News - October 2018
Premier Health System
Miami Valley Hospital recently opened an upgraded 36-bed neuroscience advanced care unit on the 10th floor of the hospital’s southeast tower, and is set to finish construction soon on an upgraded 36-bed neuroscience intensive care unit to be housed on the 11th floor of the building. Both units feature advanced technology to enhance patient care and the patient experience. The new units also have been designed to feature a nurse’s station in each of three 12-room patient wings, rather than one centralized station for the floor, allowing nurses to be closer to patients. Additionally, the neuroscience intensive care unit on the 11th floor of the hospital’s southeast tower will feature upgraded epilepsy monitoring and treatment capabilities, including improved visibility and access to patients, with advanced equipment in place for future growth.
The Austin Boulevard Emergency Center, Miami Valley Hospital’s new free-standing emergency center in Miamisburg, opened to the public on Sept. 24 after hosting a community open house on Sept. 23 that featured free flu vaccines, tours of the emergency center, and more. With quick access from Interstate 75, the Austin Boulevard Emergency Center now provides full-service, 24-hour emergency care to patients with minor to severe injuries and conditions. The center has 12 emergency beds, including two trauma bays, and is staffed by board certified emergency medicine physicians from Miami Valley Hospital. Services will include access to Premier Health’s TeleStroke Network for faster access to stroke treatment; lab and imaging services, including CT and X-ray; CareFlight Air and Mobile Services transportation if hospitalization is needed; and a community room with audio-visual capabilities that community members can reserve for meetings or training sessions.
Premier Health plans to operate two 45,000-square-foot primary and specialty care hubs in Vandalia and Beavercreek that will open in October 2019, as well as two smaller “spoke” sites under construction in Liberty Twp. (13,000 square feet) and Monroe (18,000 square feet) that are scheduled to open late this year. The properties are located at 600 Aviator Court in Vandalia; near North Fairfield Road and Lakeview Drive (behind Chick-fil-A) in Beavercreek; 6615 Cin-Day Road in Liberty Twp.; and 35 Overbrook Blvd in Monroe. The locations will offer services such as primary care, orthopedic services, cardiology, endocrinology, rheumatology, multispecialty and other ancillary services, and CompuNet laboratory services. The Beavercreek location also will include obstetrics services. The four locations, which represent a $25 million investment, will employ about 150 people, about 25 percent of whom will be in new positions.
Atrium Medical Center
Patients who are discharged from Atrium and live in the city of Monroe could now receive a follow-up call at home from a paramedic. Atrium and Atrium Medical Center Foundation are providing a $37,500 grant to Monroe to expand the city’s highly successful paramedicine program that has been in place since 2015. Target criteria for patients eligible for a paramedic home visit will include patients who are 65 and older, and those with conditions such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, hip replacement, knee replacement, and more.
As Atrium Medical Center continues to differentiate its services in the greater Cincinnati area market, part of the hospital’s previously shuttered 4 south unit has reopened for services. The 4 south A-pod opened as a dedicated surgical ortho/spine unit on July 16. The unit will house a dedicated room to be utilized as a gym for therapy purposes, offering convenience to patients and staff. Support of ortho techs, social work/case management, and an advanced practice provider will continue to complement the quality care and service provided to patients.
Atrium Medical Center Foundation received a $60,000 grant from InterAct for Change and the Funders' Response to the Heroin Epidemic (FRHE), a collaboration of private funders dedicated to ending the greater Cincinnati region's opioid and heroin epidemic. The grant will provide funding through 2020 to sustain the Quick Response Team’s operations in Middletown, and the Middletown team will participate in a regional collaborative of Quick Response Teams to share information and lessons learned with other communities. The Middletown Quick Response Team is made up of a paramedic, police officer and social worker. Hospital patients who give consent are contacted by a member of the team for follow up, sometimes while the patients are still in the hospital.
More than 750 people attended a free community picnic at Atrium Medical Center on August 4. The event incorporated the Highway to Help charity motorcycle ride and a safety fair featuring a CareFlight Air and Mobile Services helicopter. Tours of the hospital and health screenings also were offered, and the Atrium Medical Center mobile mammography coach was on hand. Appearances were made by several former Cincinnati Bengals players.
Miami Valley Hospital
Miami Valley Hospital North, formerly Good Samaritan North Health Center, opened the site’s new 82,000-square-foot addition in July. The facility now features 46 private rooms for short-stay inpatient and observation care (including four high-acuity beds), and offers advanced, integrated services ranging from non-operative medical treatment to inpatient surgical intervention. The site will also soon have a dedicated facility for joint and spine care, and is slated to open a cardiac catheterization lab. Miami Valley Hospital North hosted an open house for employees on Friday, July 20, and a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, July 21. The ribbon cutting ceremony was followed by an open house for the public that featured food, prizes, and tours of the new space.
As part of the transition to Miami Valley Hospital North, the provision of lab services at the site went from a hospital-based service to CompuNet Clinical Laboratories, which also runs the lab operations at other Miami Valley Hospital sites. This new location for CompuNet replaced the company’s current location at 5 W. Wenger Road in Englewood. Lab services on the hospital campus at 9000 N. Main St. in Englewood moved from the first floor to Suite 303 on the third floor.
The Maternity Center at Miami Valley Hospital received a Caring Cradle donated in memory of Lincoln Matthew Herman, a baby boy who was born stillborn on April 13, 2018. A Caring Cradle gives a family the gift of time after the loss of a baby, allowing a family days with their baby rather than mere hours—uninterrupted time to care for the baby, dress him or her, take photos, and make memories, which is crucial to the grieving process for mothers, fathers, and their families. The Caring Cradle was donated by Dr. David and Lauren Herman in memory of their son. The Hermans were so grateful for the care they received at Miami Valley Hospital South, as well as the availability of the Caring Cradle on the South campus.
Thanks to donor support through the Premier Health Employee Giving Campaign, the Miami Valley Hospital Foundation awarded 153 Mueller Youth Scholarships this year. The $500 scholarships were available on a competitive basis for post-high school education. The application process required applicants to submit two essays about philanthropy and community service. Since 1993, more than 2,550 Mueller Youth Scholarships have been awarded to dependent children of Miami Valley Hospital employees. The foundation retained the scholarship’s name in honor of the hospital’s founder, the Reverend Carl Mueller.
Nurse manager Natasha Luster, MSN, RN, CNOR, recently received the OR Manager “Emerging Leader Award” at the 2018 OR Manager Conference in Nashville. This award is given to a rising star in operating room management, as it was developed to recognize newer managers of the OR (five years or less experience) as they pave the way to the future of patient care and OR management. During her four years as nurse manager of the operating room, Natasha has helped increase NDNQI scores to above the 75th percentile; decrease the number of surgical site infections; increase the number of nurses who have achieved CNOR Certification by 40 percent; and reduce Miami Valley Hospital’s turnover rate by 40 percent. According to Miami Valley Hospital’s associate nurse manager of surgical services, Natasha has transformed the culture in the operating room into one of best practice, collaboration, and improved patient safety. She has shown team members how to partner with sterile instrumentation, anesthesia, and all perioperative areas to help improve the workflow in the operating room.
The syndicated program “The Doctors” reached out to Miami Valley Hospital to highlight its Infant Cuddler Program. Having heard about the program from its launch, the producers requested to feature it on an upcoming segment focused on the opioid epidemic. Selected to be interviewed via Skype were Ellen Jordan, RN, from the NICU, and cuddler volunteer Floyd Chriswell. Stay tuned for the episode air date, as it has not yet been announced.
Upper Valley Medical Center
An open house was held July 24 for the newly renovated rehabilitation services suite encompassing the third floor of the UVMC Outpatient Care Center North in Piqua. The project added nearly 1,900 square feet to house outpatient physical therapy, previously located on the first floor, and occupational therapy, previously on the second floor. Outpatient rehabilitation volume has grown significantly since the facility opened in 1994, with a 70 percent increase in physical therapy and a 40 percent increase in occupational therapy.
Upper Valley Medical Center hosted a ribbon cutting and open house July 30 for the newly expanded cardiac catheterization laboratory, which now provides important Level II capabilities with availability of interventional cardiologists. With this expansion, the cath lab can provide angioplasty and many types of stents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Diagnostic catheterizations will still be available, as well as insertion of pacemakers and defibrillators.
UVMC’s SpringMeade Retirement Community in August opened the Marigold House residential care facility, which offers a new level of care for individuals who need more than what is provided in SpringMeade’s independent living cottages but less than what SpringMeade Health Center offers. The five-suite house will offer residents assistance with activities of daily living, meal preparation, medications, and more. UVMC’s SpringMeade Health Center hosted a ribbon-cutting and open house events in July for completion of an expansion that added 15 beds and enhanced treatment space for short-term rehab patients. The addition includes approximately 12,000 square feet of new construction on the north side of the facility to house private patient suites, a therapy gym, and common space with a private entrance on the facility’s north end.
