Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

INSIDE

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Volume 25 Number 8 April 18, 2014

Helping the Homeless Help Themselves ......................2

Volunteer Opportunities for Teenagers ............................2

Helping People All the Time ....3

Aitken Receives Recognition Award...................3

� ere was no reason for Meghan Sha� er and

Wendy Hancock to know each other. A� er all,

they had nothing in common. Wendy lived in

Pennsylvania and had recently given birth.

Meghan was a young nursing student at the

University of Michigan. But Fate had other

plans for them.

How It All StartedShortly a� er her daughter was born in June 2011, Wendy developed a fever that wouldn’t go away. Antibiotics didn’t seem to solve the problem and a “ton of tests” all came back negative. But she continued to run a fever and was in increasing pain. Finally, four weeks a� er giving birth, “the bone pain

was so bad, I couldn’t move,” she recalled. A subsequent bone marrow biopsy revealed that she had leukemia.

Wendy was admitted to HUP emergently and started chemotherapy. To give her the best chance of being cured, her oncologist, Selina Luger, MD, director of Penn’s Leukemia Program, determined that Wendy would need a bone marrow transplant as part of her treatment. Her name was immediately entered into Be the Match (a part of the National Marrow Donor Program). She continued to receive treatment for her leukemia while they looked for a donor. By October they had found a match.

A Chance OccurrenceIn 2010, Meghan was heading to class when she noticed a group of students asking people to become bone marrow donors. She stopped, had her cheek swabbed, and continued on her way, not giving it a second thought.

A year and a half later, in the fall of 2011, she got a call from Be the Match, asking if

she would come in for additional testing. � e results from this subsequent blood test — followed by a thorough physical (“� e longest one of my life.”) — showed she was, indeed, a good match and healthy enough to donate. “I didn’t think I’d be called when I signed up but once I found out I was a match, how could I say no? I just asked ‘What do I have to do and when?’”

How A Match is MadeWhen it comes to compatibility between donor and recipient, bone marrow transplants have stringent requirements. Ironically, matching blood type is unimportant. � e essential components are human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), which are proteins that serve as markers on most cells in a person’s body. � e immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body (or don’t) and they also play a role in stimulating the development of antibodies, which can lead to organ rejection. Prior to any transplant at HUP —

THE GIFT OF LIFE

INTO FRIENDSHIP

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(L. to r.) Wendy Hancock’s wedding last spring was made even more special by the attendance of Meghan Shaffer, her bone marrow donor.

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Celebrate Medical Lab Professionals WeekMedical laboratory professionals are among the unsung heroes of patient care. � is is the team behind the scenes who, working with their laboratory directors, “get results” or prepare therapeutic products that directly impact patient lives. During Lab Week, from April 20 to 26, the Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine celebrates the hard work and dedication by the more than 600 laboratory professionals in more than 30 di� erent laboratories across Penn Medicine.

As part of Lab Week festivities, there will be a ra� e of gi� baskets on Tuesday, April 22, and Wednesday, April 23, from 10 am to 2 pm in the Ravdin Mezzanine. Proceeds from the ra� e will be donated to the People’s Emergency Center and MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) — two local Philadelphia charities that provide nutrition for people with life-threatening illness and that nurture and support families in local neighborhood communities.

Volunteer Opportunities FOR TEENAGERS

HUP is once again offering teenagers opportunities to volunteer in the hospital during the summer while being exposed to many careers in health care. The Teen Volunteer Program begins during the week of June 29 and continues through the week of August 24.

To learn more about the Program, go to www.pennmedicine.org/hupteenprogram. Applications will be available online starting Monday, April 21. The program fi lls quickly, so complete the full application early!

If any department or unit wishes to request a teen volunteer for the summer, please submit an application at the Volunteer Services intranet site (http://uphsxnet.uphs.upenn.edu/volunteer_svcs/).

Helping the Homeless H E L P T H E M S E LV E S

“Give a man a fi sh and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fi sh and you feed him for a lifetime.”

In a sense, this Chinese proverb de� nes what One Step Away provides. Rather than give money to homeless people, the organization provides them with a tool to earn money and change their lives. � is is what inspired David Schaaf, CPUP Talent Acqusition manager, to get involved.

Schaaf had o� en seen an individual selling newspapers at the train station and occasionally bought one, but he was curious about the organization behind the newspapers. He asked the person and the response surprised him. “I am homeless. I sell newspapers to raise money to get into a home of my own.”

According to its website, OSA’s mission is “to give those in Philadelphia’s homeless shelters a way to earn income, build their skill set and � nd permanent employment.” Its vendors — those who sell the papers — pick them up at designated homeless shelters, paying 25 cents per copy and selling it on the street for one dollar. Vendors follow a strict code of conduct when selling papers and must wear badges or vests in a clearly visible manner when distributing the newspaper. Every issue contains success stories about — and o� en written by — others who have pulled themselves out of homelessness.

� e Penn Medicine CAREs grant for One Step Away will go toward printing costs and help launch an initiative to assist its vendors with health insurance enrollment.

Meanwhile, Schaaf, a former “newspaper guy,” is looking for more ways to help OSA.

To learn more about One Step Away, go to http://osaphilly.com/.

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Chuck Aitken, assistant executive hospital director, received the annual recognition award from the Healthcare Facility Managers Association of the Delaware Valley. The award acknowledges individuals who have consistently made a positive difference in the health-care facilities management fi eld, contributed signifi cantly to the operation of the chapter, made a special contribution to the fi eld of health-care facilities management, or have benefi ted fellow facilities managers by contributing to the base of knowledge in the areas of codes and standards.

Jeff Henne, UPHS corporate safety specialist, and past president of HFMADV, nominated Aitken for both his many contributions to the fi eld of health-care facilities management and for his help in hosting last fall’s Free-TSIG Physical Environment Regional Symposium.

COME TO THE PHILADELPHIA SCIENCE FESTIVAL!Penn Medicine will again play a starring role in the 4th annual Philadelphia Science Festival, a citywide collaboration showcasing science and technology. � e Festival runs from Friday, April 25 to Saturday, May 3 — 10 days devoted to celebrating the region’s strengths in science and technology, bringing together more than 100 partners from academia to museums to restaurants.

Be sure to check out the many Penn Medicine events and activities, including “Sleep: A Bedtime Story” in Fels Planetarium on Tuesday, April 29, at 6:30 pm (learn where your mind really goes once you’re asleep!) To get discount tickets to the sleep event, go to http://philasciencefestival.ticketleap.com/sleep-a-bedtime-story/t/pennmed/. � e discount code is pennmed.

Also, be sure to go to the Science Carnival on the Parkway on Saturday, May 3, a free all-day event featuring more than 150 exhibitors o� ering family-friendly experiments, games, live entertainment and food trucks.

To learn more more about the Science Festival, go to http://www.philasciencefestival.org/.

Medicine events and activities, including “Sleep: A Bedtime Story” in Fels Planetarium

Helping People ALL THE TIMEService excellence, ie, going above and beyond, isn’t necessarily a huge action. Sometimes it’s as basic as showing compassion and genuine concern for a family’s “beloved mother.” Or it’s staying late when an “emergent patient arrives at the change of shi� .” Or even getting pizza for the night shi� to get them through a tough few hours.

� ese actual submissions to Helping People All the Time weren’t major e� orts, but they clearly had an impact. � e next time

you see someone making a di� erence, submit that person’s name to our service excellence program. It’s easy. Just go to http://pennpoint.uphs.upenn.edu/HUP/hupse and click on “HUP Service Excellence Nomination” and then “New” at the top of the chart. You can also read additional submissions demonstrating how much employees help our patients and each other. Names can also be submitted on a paper form, available at various locations throughout the hospital.

Congratulations to December’s winners in the Helping People All the Time raffl e:

Cheryl Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 10

Krista Sarbello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Jordan DePasquale . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Meghan Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Patrick Cargan . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 1 (SFAS)

Lauren Washington . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Morgan Von . . . . . . . . . . . . Transport Services

Theresa Gorman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7

Caren Levine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Radiology

Lindsay Christman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7

Christina Torre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7

Lila Colleluori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7

Holland Robinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 7

Susan Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 10

Natasha Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Irma Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Helene Ogden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Stephanie Maillie . . . . . . . . . . . . . Founders 9

George Maltese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Founders 9

Chuck Bernard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Clifford Bush . . . . . . . . Materials Management

Angela Oakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 10

Lyndon Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . Rhoads 1 (SFAS)

Robin West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 12

Regina Fink . . . . . . . . . . Perioperative Services

Aitken Receives RECOGNITION AWARD

Jeff Henne (l.) presented the annual recognition award from the Healthcare Facility Managers Association of the Delaware Valley to Chuck Aitken.

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HUPdateEDITORIAL STAFF Sally SapegaEditor and Photographer

Lisa PaxsonDesigner

ADMINISTRATIONSusan E. PhillipsSenior Vice President, Public Affairs

Holly AuerDirector of Communications

CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, MezzaninePhiladelphia, PA 19104

phone: 215.662.4488fax: 215.349.8312email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu

HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.

bone marrow or solid organ — its HLA lab performs high-resolution typing to con� rm antigens in both patients and potential donors.

A “perfect” donor for a bone marrow transplant, said Joanne Hinkle, BSN, OCN, CHTC, Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor coordinator, matches 10 speci� c antigens. Although Be the Match has 13 million potential donors throughout the country (worldwide it’s 20 million!), � nding a “10” can be di� cult. “Sometimes I � nd no potential ‘complete’ match donors; other times I could receive a list of 100.”

Be the Match found several potential matches for Wendy. A� er additional testing narrowed the possibilities to three, Joanne worked with David Porter, MD, to choose the one who was young, a woman, and available to donate the marrow at the right time for Wendy’s treatment (At HUP, bone marrow is infused within 48 hours of the donation), all important factors.

� e week before the infusion, in preparation for the bone marrow transplant, Wendy received additional chemotherapy that wiped out not only her cancer cells but also the white blood cells in her immune system. For the three weeks following the infusion of Meghan’s healthy bone marrow, she stayed in a quarantined, protective environment at HUP, waiting for the new bone marrow to produce su� cient white blood cells to protect her from infections. Finally, in November 2011, that day arrived and Wendy was discharged. “Just in time for � anksgiving … and what a laundry list of things to be thankful for!” she said.

“I’m Your Donor”Over the next several months, Wendy’s life slowly returned to normal, as she cared for her baby and planned her wedding to � ancé

Nathan. But she still wanted to know more about her donor. In fact, “as soon as I knew I had a donor, I wanted to get in touch,” she said. “It was amazing that she did that.”

Similarly, Meghan knew little about the woman who would receive her bone marrow. “� ey told me she was a 36-year-old woman who was a new mom,” she said, but she longed to learn more. She received occasional updates about the woman a� er the transplant and the two exchanged brief notes through Be the Match but never knew each other’s name or address.

It was always “Dear Donee” and “Dear Donor,” Wendy said. “I just kept telling them ‘I want to meet my donor.’”

Be the Match requires donors and recipients to wait a full year before they’ll release names. Both Wendy and Meghan signed the forms allowing their personal information to be released to one another. Processing took another few months.

� en, in January 2013, Wendy was cooking dinner when the phone rang. “I picked it up and heard, ‘Hi. My name is Meghan. I’m your donor.’ I started crying and just kept saying thank you, thank you, thank you….”

� ey talked for over an hour. Wendy ultimately invited Meghan to her 2013 spring wedding in Savannah. “I told her it would be an honor if she came. I wouldn’t be having a wedding if it weren’t for her.” Meghan accepted and that was the start of what has become a wonderful friendship. “I had butter� ies when we � rst met in Savannah, but we became instant best friends,” she said.

Since the wedding, Wendy and Meghan have visited each other a couple times, and talk on the phone and email frequently. Later this spring, Wendy and her husband will attend Meghan’s wedding. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Wendy said.

LEARN WHAT’S NEW IN

BRAIN HEALTH Patients, families, caregivers and members of the public are invited to stop by Penn Medicine’s booths at the Brain Health Fair on Saturday, April 26 at the Philadelphia Convention Center, hosted by the American Brain Foundation. Penn Medicine doctors, nurses and social workers will share the latest on stroke prevention, brain tumor clinical trials, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, concussions, Multiple Sclerosis and more! Register for the free event online at BrainHealthFair.com.

THE 2014 PHILADELPHIA ANTIQUES SHOW will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (12th and Arch Streets) on Saturday, April 26 through Tuesday, April 29. Daily tickets may be purchased for $12 for Penn employees with ID. For more information, event details, and to purchase tickets, visit ThePhiladelphiaAntiquesShow.org.

SIGN UP TO SAVE A LIFE!

UPHS recently joined the Donate Life Campaign of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania to increase the number of registered organ, eye and tissue donors. If you aren’t already a donor, please take a few minutes to add your name to our state’s donor registry. It’s easy! Learn more at www.donors1.org/penn.

THE GIFT OF LIFE INTO FRIENDSHIP(Continued from page 1)