Kudos

• Dudley leads Ruby's Red Riders to raise $15,410 for Make-A-Wish
• Children’s Asthma Wellness Program receives Joint Commission Certificate of Distinction
  
• UMHS teams up to bring pediatric heart surgery to the Dominican Republic
• Three Certified Meeting Professionals in the Office of Continuing Medical Education
• Sims highlighted on NPR Health Matters
• Nursing extern program farewell luncheon honors nurses of tomorrow
• Dozens of UMHS people featured in the M Edition of the Ann Arbor News
  

Dudley leads Ruby's Red Riders to raise $15,410 for Make-A-Wish

Front row from left: Chris Tallman, Neal Blatt, Blair Dudley, Matt Scott. Back row: Brendon Benson, Blaine Benson, Jeremy Zeigler (obscured). Not pictured: Sue Wylie, Jim Levinsohn, Jeff Crause.

Blair Dudley, R.N., led the bicycling team, “Ruby’s Red Riders,” in raising $15,410 in pledges during the Wish-A-Mile 200 Bicycle Tour July 26-29. The team placed fifth among teams with less than 20 members, pedaling their way from Traverse City to Chelsea in the three-day ride to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The team wore its Mott Hospital, U-M Department of Pediatrics jerseys with pride.

Ruby’s Red Riders was formed after Dudley’s daughter Ruby, age 2, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2003. After Ruby's treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, Dudley and his wife decided Ruby deserved something fun after all she had been through – she was ready for her Make-A-Wish trip. The family has been supportive of Make-A-Wish ever since.

“I put the people who do the Make-A-Wish ride on a very high pedestal,” Dudley says. “It is very physically taxing, but pretty much everyone rides to support a particular child – like Ruby. The members on my team deserve all the credit.”

Dudley is an avid cyclist, but other non-cyclists on his team took the challenge to make the 300-mile ride. They held an annual silent auction to raise funds and also obtained individual pledges.

Ruby, now age 7, is a healthy and “loves all the attention” from Ruby’s Red Riders, making her dad wonder if it’s going to her head. Dudley changed careers after his daughter’s diagnosis – he’s now a nurse and is completing a master’s degree in nurse anesthesia.

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Children’s Asthma Wellness Program receives Joint Commission Certificate of Distinction

Harvey Leo, M.D.; April Hicks, L.L.S.W.; Karla Stoermer Grossman, R.N., B.S.N., AE-C; Manuel Arteta, M.D.; Marc Hershenson, M.D.

Based on a Joint Commission face-to-face review, the Children’s Asthma Wellness Program was awarded the Certificate of Distinction, Joint Commission National Quality Award. Not only is it the only program of its kind in Michigan to receive the Joint Commission disease-specific certification, it earned it within its first full year of existence. It is one of just 11 programs in the nation to receive certification in asthma and is one of only four programs to receive certification in asthma-pediatrics. UMHS voluntarily asked the Joint Commission to evaluate the program.

The Children’s Asthma Wellness Program focuses on children who have difficulty managing their asthma and aims to do whatever it takes to help them learn strong disease management skills. Patients are monitored over time to ensure continued improvement – per clinical indicators specific to pediatric asthma care. The program is comprised of two physicians, a social worker and a nurse.

“We are doing great work with some of the high-risk, high-need pediatric asthma patients at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital,” says Karla Stoermer Grossman, B.S.N., R.N., and clinical coordinator for the program. “We look forward to continuing to provide patients with comprehensive teaching, coaching and monitoring to help them develop an improved disease management skillset for a lifetime,” adds Manuel Arteta, M.D., clinical lead for the program.

The award certifies that the provider-based disease management program:

• Uses evidence-based (proven) guidelines to deliver quality clinical care.
• Measures patient improvement per disease-specific clinical indicators.
• Teaches and coaches self-management skills with patients, families and caregivers.
• Shares clinical information and program management tools, reports and assessment processes to continuously improve the patient’s disease status.
• Ensures a team approach, with the right tools to provide the right care at the right time, a fundamental tenant of disease management.

Rosemary Schuett, M.S., disease management program manager at the Medical Management Center, emphasized that the Joint Commission certification is important because “patients and their employers [who select health care providers and services in benefit plans] can rely on an external review agency with a high reputation to be thorough and objective.”

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UMHS teams up to bring pediatric heart surgery to the Dominican Republic

Cardiovascular perfusionist Kevin Griffith, C.C.P., accepts a donation of 20 Chelsea Teddy Bears from manager Lori Whitehall.

Last May 12, a joint medical team from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Albany Medical Center left on a seven day mission to take pediatric heart surgery to Santiago, Dominican Republic. Armed with 20 teddy bears donated by the Chelsea Teddy Bear Company and medical supplies given by Terumo Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., the team was prepared to perform life saving corrective heart surgery on 16 children who may have otherwise died.

“Many children with congenital heart defects will not survive without open heart surgery,” says Joseph Niman, C.C.P., a clinical perfusionist at the Cardiovascular Center, who went on the mission. “Most underdeveloped countries have no pediatric heart surgeons, operating room personnel required for heart surgery or intensive care specialists to perform post operative care.”

So the mission took these things to them. The U-M team was led by pediatric heart surgeon Eric Devaney, M.D., pediatric cardiology fellows Drew Ammons, M.D., and May Ling Mah, M.D., cardiovascular perfusionists Niman and Kevin Griffith, C.C.P., and pediatric intensive care nurses Patty Stilson, R.N., and Jim Bloom, R.N.

During the seven-day mission, the team performed preoperative screenings, assembled two operating rooms and a post operative intensive care area, and set up supplies. They spent four days performing open heart operations. The youngest of the 16 patients was age one, the oldest age 13.

“All the patients recovered well and the families were very appreciative of the team’s efforts,” Niman says.

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Three certified meeting professionals in the Office of Continuing Medical Education

Mary Schwartz, Niles Mayrand and Cathy Wiggins.

Three Continuing Medical Education staff members have met the national requirements of the Convention Industry Council to be recognized as certified meeting professionals. They are Niles Mayrand, production supervisor, Mary Schwartz, special projects coordinator, and Cathy Wiggins, program coordinator. The Michigan Society of Association Executives will recognize them during the annual dinner Nov. 29 at the Waterford Estates Lodge in Lansing.

CMPs must have a minimum of three years experience in meeting management, complete a study program regarding all aspects of meeting management and pass a rigorous examination. The three participated for several months in a state-wide study group sponsored by MSAE. They are proficient in all aspects of meeting and convention planning and management, including marketing, legal and financial issues. 

“The depth and breadth of the knowledge you get from this type of certification allows you to do a small meeting with just 10 or 20 people or a major exhibit at a trade show,” says Schwartz. “It teaches every aspect of the industry, from square footage needs to audio visual requirements to predicting food and beverage costs.”

Mayrand adds that the certification also taught him valuable legal information about personal injury or damage to property during an event. And, he understands the American Disabilities Act and its requirements for events.

CMP is the premier certification in the meeting planning and convention industry, distinguishing holders as career professionals who have demonstrated a high level of experience, skill and knowledge. Nationally more than 12,000 representatives from corporations, associations, institutions and governmental bodies are certified. Recertification must occur every five years, ensuring continuing education and current competence in the field. 

“The people on the other side of the fence we work with are convention service people and sales people at hotels,” Schwartz says. “Having the same knowledge and experience is important so we can plan the best events possible for UMHS."

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Sims highlighted on NPR Health Matters

Front row from left: Tina Mullen, Gerry Herbert, Marianne Hardart, Betty Haskin, Elaine Sims, Jane Waggoner Deschner. Back row: Julie Prazich, M.D., Paula Most. [photo by Ken Siebert]

Elaine Sims, director, UMHS Gifts of Art, was highlighted on the National Public Radio program Health Matters. The show explored the intersection of arts and health care in an interview with members of the group Arts in Healthcare Advocates, of which Sims is a member. This is a diverse group of health care administrators and practitioners from across the country selected in a highly competitive process to participate in an artists in residence program at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming. 

Sims explains some of the history behind the arts in health care movement, an emerging field that has grown tremendously in the latter half of the twentieth century. She describes how, over time, people’s expectations for health care shifted and a need grew to provide a calming, comforting and supportive environment of care to improve the patient experience.  A growing body of research demonstrates how the arts can be used to assist patients in the healing process.

“What we want to do as practitioners is change the culture of health care delivery, the health care we work and live in, and I think that’s happening,” Sims says.

Listen to the program: www.yellowstonepublicradio.org/programs/local/health_matters.html

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Nursing extern program farewell luncheon honors nurses of tomorrow

Chelsea Zilka and David Fiertag

July marked the end of another successful Nursing Extern Program, in which 30 nursing students received hands-on learning at the bedside with guidance from UMHS nurse preceptors. A farewell luncheon took place July 18 that included externs, preceptors, leaders of the program and two previous externs who have been hired by UMHS. Marge Calarco, Ph.D., R.N., senior associate director and chief of Nursing Services, spoke to the group about the importance of skilled nurses.

Students accepted into the 10-week summer program are assigned a preceptor, who offers clinical supervision and ongoing feedback throughout the program. Externs receive at least 360 hours of clinical experience. Many applicants are U-M nursing students, but many are from other universities and schools in Michigan and around the country.

“The Nursing Extern Program is very prestigious,” says Irene Knokh, instructional design consultant for Educational Services for Nursing. “We get many applications because our externs receive extensive training on what it’s like to be a nurse.”

David Feiertag completed the program this year and was hired as a nursing assistant while he completes nursing school. He values the experience he has received at UMHS, believing it is the best way to learn.

“The best part of the program was that I had the chance to do everything I learned from my fundamentals class,” Feiertag says. “By working twelve hour shifts, I got the chance to be there all day and do things like dressing changes. I gained the experience and confidence that I can apply to my other classes.”

The farewell luncheon is an annual event to congratulate externs who have completed the program. It is also a way to thank preceptors for the time and commitment they make to offer externs an enriching experience that prepares them for a career in nursing.

Josh Tomasik, R.N., was hired in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and credits his nursing externship for preparing him. “U-M has one of the best teamwork based environments of any of the hospitals I’ve been to,” he says. “Everyone counted equally and there was a lot of respect for each other.”

Former externs like Courtney Gaskin, R.N., and Tomasik attend the farewell luncheon to offer advice to those just completing the program. The luncheon is planned by the Nursing Extern Program team, including Knokh and program coordinators Mary Anne Brancheau and Betty Tecco.

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Dozens of UMHS people featured in the M Edition of the Ann Arbor News

The Aug. 30 issue of the Ann Arbor News contained a three-part special section: the annual M Edition, which welcomes the start of another academic year at U-M. This year, the paper's editors decided to create a "Portrait of the University," with photos of faculty, staff and students from all around campus.

The News conducted three impromptu photo shoots on campus, including one in the hospital courtyard in June. Hundreds of people turned out to have their photos taken by star photographer Leisa Thompson, and many of those photos were featured. Dozens of them show people from all around the Health System. The rest of the photos, plus the ones from the printed paper, are available on the newspaper's Web site in five "online galleries."

Some of the people who came to get their picture taken were chosen by the newspaper to be featured in short news articles because of their interesting jobs or backgrounds. Here are links to the stories about Health System people that appeared in the M Edition:

• Deborah Berman, assistant professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Patricia Burchett and Connie Myres, registered nurses, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital operating rooms
• Jackie Lapinski, Loree Collett, Cathy Schorr and Michelle Nemshak, the Core Team for construction of the new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital
• Jacqueline Eckert, ergonomics consultant, U-M Health System Safety Management Services
• Teresa Herzog-Mourad, coordinator of the MFit Alcohol Management Program
• Angelina Jimenez, Jerryl Johnson, Aquilla Robinson and Tracy Smith, Patient Lift Team
• Carl Johnson, concierge, Cardiovascular Center and Cancer Center
• Brian Kobylarz, registered nurse, discharge planner, University Hospital
• Charles Koopmann, professor of otolaryngology and chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs
• Ranjani Krishnan and Suparna Malhotra, audiologists, Department of Otolaryngology
• Les Misher, hospital safety coordinator, Safety Management Services
• Jarrod Sandel, desktop computer specialist, Medical Center Information Technology
• Kathi Talley, visual arts coordinator, Gifts of Art
• The editorial board of the paper also salutes all U-M faculty, staff and students in an editorial in today's paper

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