Pamela Smith, Front Desk Community Relations I see myself as one piece of a big puzzle being held together on all sides by other puzzle pieces who are my fellow co-workers. Each piece has its own importance, but we need each other to display the final beautiful picture. This

motivates me to make sure I won't be the lost puzzle piece because others are depending on me.”

Living our Values

“For two days we were confronted with Level I trauma patients and Dr. Charles was right there. He was not on-call at the time, however when called he arrived at the hospital before the patient arrived in the ambulance bay. His professionalism is top-notch! He encourages a team approach while calmly directing resuscitation efforts. He is so kind to the patient and family members in these stressful situations and stays with them. He even sticks around to help staff. We admire his compassion and work ethic and know we can always count on Dr. Charles. It is a pleasure and an honor to be a part of a team with him.” Congratulations to Dr. Pierre Charles for living our values of Engagement, by being emotionally invested in his work and promoting teamwork, and also for living Satisfaction by being responsive and having empathy for patients and family members.

Connecting

Emergency Department team members, Chris Roehl, RN, Vicky Grabowski, RN, Virginia Bliss, RN and Susan Keller, wish to recognize vascular and thoracic surgeon Dr. Pierre Charles.

The Values Initiative has begun! Resources are available on the HartNet to help you share information and live our values. Click on the BETTER TOGETHER logo in the lower right side of the HartNet, it will take you to several resources including:

A rollout video that provides an overview of the values initiative.

BETTER TOGETHER and Values graphic images. These are available to help maintain consistency and ensure the branding stays uniform throughout the health system.

Feel free to brainstorm unique efforts to implement within your workgroup to have fun with living our values while seeking to create the best experiences that will ultimately contribute to our health system’s success.

From the lab, (from left to right) Susanne Larson, Breanna Colborn, Lenore Piccione, Melissa Kneeland, Cindy Deegan, Pam Schwartz, Teresa Korbol, Joan Piefer and Taylor Larson

Multi-Care Unit – BETTER TOGETHER Employee Recognition I am satisfied with the recognition I receive for doing a good job. The Multi-Care Unit implemented a new employee recognition board that highlights the great attributes of their dedicated staff. In coordination with our BETTER TOGETHER engagement efforts, the board is titled “TOGETHER we can do anything.” Employees are featured and fellow staff members are able to put up notes sharing what attributes they most value about their fellow staff member. Attributes of dependable, hardworking, and dedicated are some of the words used to describe valued team member Kimberly Garcia, CNA. Attributes of motivating, team play-er and amazing describe valued team member Lisa Popp, RN. Congratulations to the Multi-Care Unit for

working BETTER TOGETHER to live our value of Engagement by supporting and encouraging one another. BMH Cardiology – Hearing Our Employees’ Voices My ideas and suggestions are seriously considered. At the time of the survey, staff did not feel that their suggestions were being heard. Weekly meetings are now being held with leadership and staff members in the cath lab so suggestions for improvement can be heard and TOGETHER the cardiology workgroup can work toward providing BEST patient and BEST employee experiences. Additionally, leadership is attending the monthly cardiology physicians’ meeting to share staff concerns/suggestions. Thank you to our cardiology staff members and physicians for your dedicated efforts to care for the people in our community.

Surgical Services – Innovation In Action! Different work units work well together in this organization. Surgical Services has been trying something new: bypassing holding room for first case start patients. Instead of the patient coming from ambulatory care or the floor directly to the holding room, all staff (lab, X-ray, respiratory therapy, surgery, anesthesia, circulating RN) are going to ambulatory at defined intervals. We are utilizing a “flag” system that hangs outside the patient room. When a department’s staff has seen the patient, they mobilize their flag as a visual cue to let the next staff member know they are ready for them. Thank you to all members of this innovative team for bringing excellent process improvement to our health system.

The Blue Ribbon of Patient Care Excellence is awarded to employees, workgroups, and physicians who received honorable mention in a Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey.

Value: Satisfaction

Highlighting employees’ and leaders’ involvement in building dynamic action plans that find real-world solutions.

Value: Engagement

JaQuala Randall, RN in

Multi-Care unit was the best p.m. nurse, also all CNA’s were very attentive.

Sheri Bennett was a great

housekeeper!

Dr. Karne is an excellent surgeon

and I would definitely recommend his services.

Kelli Weldon, RMA, Beloit Clinic

Neurology, is the nurse I always see at my appointment and talk to on the phone. She is by far the best nurse I have ever dealt with!

Beth Bruder, Beloit Clinic 2 south

desk , is excellent and wonderful!!!

From the receptionist Donna Colwell, to Becky Markin, MA , to

Mike Mason, OPA and Dr. Matloob –

they are the BEST TEAM!

Dr. Goetzen is my hero. He goes above

and beyond expectations to care for my MS.

Christina Froeber, MA, Beloit Clinic

Family Practice, was very informative and made sure I understood the answers to my questions.

My night nurse, Errin Meding, RN,

brought my husband blankets and pillows so he could stay with me and then brought him fresh coffee in the morning. She was great!

Sandy Buzzo, RMA, has been the

same nurse for Dr. Kodras since we started going to him and she is just great!

I think Dr. Fanopoulos is a very

caring man and very sincere with his patients. His staff are also very nice to deal

with – I love Renee Bluhm, CMA and

Todd Casey-Schmidt, LPN.

The nurse in Intermediate Care,

Donelle Studer, RN, was amazingly

helpful.

Dr. Segal is a one-of-a-kind

doctor. He makes you feel respected and truly cares. Amazing demeanor!!

A kind word, a welcoming smile, and a top-notch level of professionalism can make all the difference for our patients—and they are grateful for all you do to make their experience positive and memorable.

Value: Satisfaction

The Patient’s Voice

A patient’s mom called to recognize Teasha Allen, RN who works in the orthopedic department at Beloit Clinic. Teasha went above and beyond to help get a note from Dr. Frantz, who was not in the office at the time. Jamie’s daughter needed the note in order to com-pete in gymnastics. Not only did Teasha get the note from Dr. Frantz, she wished her daughter good luck in the competition. The pa-tient and mother appreciate how hard Teasha worked to get the note when she could have just said “the doctor is not in today.” Teasha took their situation to heart and treated this family as if they were her own family. Thank you to Teasha for living our value of Engagement by being emotionally invested and giving the maximum level of effort to provide a BEST patient experience.

A patient, who is also an employee, shared her wonderful experience. Kali Miller was so nice and caring – she offered her a warm blan-ket and even wrapped it around her shoulders. Dr. Frey was very kind and caring as well. The radiology technician did a wonderful job as well. Once back to work, Lora Plude was fantastic about getting her work station set up and Joe Martin in engineering constructed an appropriate way for her to do her job in an efficient and safe way. Thank you to Callie, Dr. Frye, Lora and Joe for living our values! This is a great example of how we at Beloit Health System care for our patients and employees.

A member of the fitness center at NorthPointe wishes to thank Robert Billingsley who works in the men’s locker room. “I can always tell if Robert is working just by the appearance of the counters and towels. He is also very helpful and friendly with all of the patrons. He’s a very fine employee and you should do all you can to keep him on your staff.” Congratulations to Robert for living our value of Engagement by being focused on providing a positive and memorable experience to our customers.

In February, the Foundation recognized several members of the Heart and Vascular Center who have shown superior service and leadership in the care of cardiac patients. This award was established in 2003 by Dr. Leo Egbujiobi and his wife, Bridget. The nominees for the award were submitted by fellow peers in the Cardiology Department. This year’s recipient is Kevin Kumlien, RN in cardiology. The submission reads, “Kevin is approacha-ble, always willing to help, has a positive attitude and is a team players. He is a good resource for the staff on procedures done in the cath lab. He is a great communicator with patient families, keeping them in-formed during procedures. Kevin really knows how to help a patient feel good. Kev-in’s superior work ethic, positive attitude and sense of humor during stressful situa-tions makes him a strong candidate for this award.”

Congratulations to Kevin and to all of the award nominees:

Nikki Bindl, NP

Laura Ferguson, RN

Jason Nelson, CPC

Shelly Tyler, RN and Ann Spanton, RN (Team Nomination)

Brenda Williams, RN

The Awards Day was even more special with the announcement of the new Hen-dricks Family Heart Hospital and the guest appearances of Diane Hendricks and her daughter, Kathy. The event boasted a record turnout with over 150 employees attending!

Value: Quality

The Egbujiobi Family Award For Excellence in Cardiac Care

From left: Lara Hermann, Kathy Hendricks, Diane Hendricks, Brenda Williams, Dr. Leo Egbujiobi, Shelly Tyler, Kevin Kumlien, Ann Spanton, Jason Nelson, Tim McKevett.

Congratulations to Sarah Ford, RN in Endocrinology for receiving her Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE) credentials! Juliene Ewers, RN in Beloit Clinic Pediatrics, finished her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Brooke McKearn in Beloit Clinic OB/GYN, passed her MA exam and is now a Registered Medical Assistant (RMA).

Value: Quality

By Tammy Boxleitner, APNP, Cardiology

Value: Quality

Reducing CHF Readmission Rates It has been an exciting endeavor and a challenge to see the progress made with reducing the rate of 30 day all-cause readmission for heart failure patients at Beloit Health System. How was your goal accomplished? There were several steps taken to achieve this improvement. About four years ago, we instituted a transitional care model for patients to make sure they received the attention they needed for monitoring the disease process closely after leaving the hospital. We provided education to nurses in the clinic so they could better triage phone calls when the patients called in with symptoms. Educational materials were updated for the patients and a transitional care nurse was assigned to monitor the transition from hospital to home. Also, outpatient IV diuretics were given to selected patients who were at high risk for readmission. How does our all-clause readmission rate compare? The 30 day all-cause readmission rate for congestive heart failure (CHF) nationally has been 24.6%. We have been able to bring the readmission rate down at Beloit Health System over the past few years as a

result of hard work achieved by the CHF Committee and all who care for these patients. In 2013, Medistar shared the data for the Medicare population in Wisconsin and this too was impressive for Beloit Health System. At that time, the readmission rate was

From left: Heidi Christiansen, RN; Tammy Boxleitner, APNP; and Brianne Morwood, RD, are key members of the CHF Committee to reduce readmissions.

22.19% for Rock County and 20.97% in the state of Wisconsin. Beloit Health System was 16.07% for the Medicare population. Everyone at Beloit Health System has worked hard to achieve this impressive improvement for our CHF patients.

Erin McNamara, Intermediate Jeremiah Mondragon-Halase, Intermediate Cody Monyelle, Intermediate Alisha Nehls, Family Care Center Laiken Noble, Intermediate Devin O'Neill, Housekeeping DuWayne Olson Joanne Pickett, Occupational Therapy Bertha Quince, Intermediate Janice Ramquist, Multi Care Center Christine Roddy, OC Health Lee Lane Brandon Rutherford, Housekeeping Sara Schumacher, Intermediate Hanna Schulte, Housekeeping Kayla Schwebke, NorthPointe Terrace Joshua Shucha, Physical Therapy Shateqwa Smith, Physical Therapy Jennifer Stephenson, Critical Care Unit Frances Stretz, Electrocardiology Donelle Studer, Intermediate Gary Terlizzi, Critical Care Unit Mark Tudor, OC Health Lee Lane Maigan Vicencio St. Marie, Intermediate Dawn Vogt, Family Care Center Lynn Weaver, Materials Management Brenda Williams, Intermediate

February 2016 Nominations Renee Adams, Critical Care Unit Brenda Allen, Joint Replacement Teasha Allen, Orthopaedics James Bergman, Information Systems Kevin Bengston, Joint Replacement Susanne Bevineau, NP Registration Debra Blazek, NP Registration Angela Blizard, Multi Care Center Nicola Boeck, Physical Therapy Kayla Borchardt, Gastroenterology Nate Bothfeld, Physical Therapy Nicole Braden, Family Care Center Jean Brosier, HIM Sarah Bruhn, MRI Denice Buchert, Housekeeping Mary Butzler, Pat Accts/Admitting Jasmine Cartwright, Allergy Dr. Haroon Chughtai, M.D., Cardiology Brenda Collins, Critical Care Unit Stacy Conway, Sterile Processing Hollie Crocker, Multi Care Center Leah Cruz-Morales, Physical Therapy Malea Diaz, Dietary Amy Drevdahl, Community Relations Alyssa Elmer, Intermediate

Rea Fritz, Education Brenda Giese, Surgery Heather Hasseler, Personnel Nathan Hawley, NP Physical Therapy Cortney Heath, Intermediate Bill Henthorn, Emergency Room Kalen Hereford, Housekeeping Rachel Hilborn, Critical Care Unit Heather Holbrook, Gastroenterology Tara Holycross, OC Health Lee Lane Thomas Houlahan, Orthopaedics Rhonda Hudson, CT Carrie Huffman, Emergency Room Leanne Jay, Family Care Center Kelly Johnson, At-Home Health Susan Keller, Emergency Room Nicole Kovarik, Emergency Room Kathy Kramer, Housekeeping Hailee Lawver, Intermediate Kirsten Lofty, Emergency Room Guadalupe Gonzalez, Housekeeping Juan Lopez, Surgery Karla Lopez, BMH Zosia Lounsbury, Materials Management Patty McAtte, Intermediate Lori McKee, Joint Replacement

Nominations compiled by JoAnn Donoghue, Human Resources

In recognition and appreciation of outstanding effort and service to the patients, visitors or fellow employees of Beloit Health System, the following employees are being thanked:

What a great response! With over 43 name submissions for the “Name the Thingama-jig” Contest…the winner is…the “Care Square,” submitted by Alycia Ellious from Dialysis. Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a suggestion; there were many ingenious and creative names. The Care Square is a great tool and will be a vital part of Collaborative Practice’s initiative on the evidence-based practice of hourly rounding. Remember to tap that Care Square and again, congratulations Alycia! We are making a lot of progress with our patient whiteboards. This tool is for the patient and our goal is to make them as accurate and useful as possible. First it is

important to complete it each shift, keeping it as up-to-date as possible. Next, we need to remember, since this is for the patient, to use everyday language. For example, instead of “NPO” use “nothing to eat,” instead of “ambulate” use “walk,” instead of “up ad lib,” use “may get out of bed on own.” Also avoid abbreviations, such as FR (Fluid Restriction), PT (Physical Therapy), or DC (discharge). It is also important to list the plan of care for the day or patient goals. Finally, encourage patients and their families to use it in the way that it will be most beneficial for them such as questions, information, goals, etc. This tool has been

proven to improve patient satisfaction and we are excited to continue working on the best utilization of our whiteboards. Remember the Collaborative Practice Open House that is coming soon? It will actually be coming to you on wheels! The “Have a Voice: Join Collaborative Practice” traveling unit will be “wheeling” around from unit to unit the month. Take time to look at the information. Whether you are interested in becoming part of the committee or just curious about what it does, this is a great oppor-tunity to learn more. Maybe you have an idea to improve your nursing practice, talk to one of the com-mittee members; they would love to hear your thoughts! Plus there will be treats…so don’t miss it. This committee empow-ers nurses to become engaged in their nursing practice, so what do you want your practice to look like? Speak up, you “Have a Voice.”

Alycia Ellious, CCNT (pictured on the left) and Miranda Coplien, RN, Co-Chair.

Have a question about something going on in our health system or a suggestion for how we can have a BEST environment? Share your thoughts with our organization by sending an email to BETTERTOGETHER@beloithealthsystem.org. Share it with us!

Value: Engagement

“Connecting Together” is a monthly publication for Beloit Health System

employees and physicians showcasing how our employees and physicians are living our values to

create a BEST environment.

More “Connecting Together” is available online on the HartNet, or on your tablet,

computer, or mobile phone at issuu.com/beloithealthsystem

To submit a story about an employee or physician who is living our values, email Stephanie Todd,

at

As most of you know, Beloit Health System will be giving away some Fitbit® Charge activity trackers this year. This promotion is in honor of the construction of the new Hendricks Family Heart Hospital. We will be offering some trackers to employees as well as the community, so let’s “get moving” to keep our hearts healthy. A few of our employee winners offered the following comments.

I started using my Fitbit immediately. It was just what I needed to jumpstart my 2016 fitness program. Healthy heart, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle. I have my Fitbit synced with my phone for all of the little reminders – steps, water, calories – and have also set it to monitor my sleep patterns. - Mary Furman, Registration Manager

After my son set it up for me, I have now begun to use my Fitbit. I am so exited! My goal is to lose weight and become healthier, this will hopefully give me the incentive I need to begin my new life journey!!!! Thank you Beloit Health System. - Sandy Peterson, West Side Clinic

I am excited about winning the Fitbit. It was on my list of perspective purchases. I have opened it and talked about with family and friends and can’t wait to start using it. - Sally Greer, Counseling Care

You guys picking my name to win the Fitbit really put a smile on my wife’s face. She is 22 weeks pregnant and is looking forward to using it after the baby. - Jeremy Thorson, NorthPointe Terrace

Mushing for Meals is a 10K run and 5K run/walk to benefit Beloit Meals On Wheels. This scenic course begins at historic Horace White Park and is another fun loving Beloit tradition. What makes this event unique? You can run the race alone or as a mushing team. This year’s date is Saturday, March 19th.

Several Beloit Health System employees volunteer their time for this Mushing for Meals event. Linda Bank, IS, and Jeff Johnson, Pharmacy, are co-chairing it and employee helpers that day include: Antoinette Polglaze, Jodi Stolarzyk, Patty LaDue, Kit Jernegan, Charlotte Spanton, Jennifer Tillotson and Peggy Kolb. One of our employees, Lisa Blankenship, Executive Secretary, also helps with the theme by bringing her mushing dogs to the fundraiser. The dogs led the race last March, as walkers/runners followed in their “human mushing teams”.

For more information, please call 608-362-3683.

Lisa Blankenship and her puppies - proud supporters of Mushing for Meals!

*** We would also like to thank the many Beloit Health System employees who deliver meals on a monthly route for the Meals on Wheels

program. Judi Gurney coordinate’s the Beloit Health System delivery route which delivers Monday – Friday every week with all volunteers

from the hospital and clinic. These employees include: Carmen Quillins, Carol Toler, Charlotte Spanton, Claudia Weston, Darla Olson,

Deborah Stowers, Debra Popp, Eva Glass, Kathleen Jernegan, Kimberly Najdowski, Laurie Showers, Lynn Grimes, Malissa Wightman,

Patricia LaDue, Sharon Thom. There is also a list of leadership who volunteer to deliver on months that have a 5th week.