the best cancer care - rosie foster · in suffolk county, long island, the facility offered medical...

F e a t u r e d i n s i d e

6 Brooklyn Infusion Center

7– 9 2011 Rudin Nursing Awards

10 Meet Donna Wilson

11–12 Understanding the Costs of Healthcare

12 Total Rewards Update

13 Kudos

14 20 Year Club Dinner

15 –16 Staff Appreciation Week

The Best Cancer Care... Closer to Home PAGEs 2 – 5

Colorful tropical fish tanks are a fixture at all of MsKCC’s regional Care network sites. Patients say they find them calming and enjoyable.

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S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 1 / 2m S K L I F e : A p U b L I C A t I O N F O r t H e S t A F F O F m e m O r I A L S L O A N - K e t t e r I N G C A N C e r C e N t e r

regional Care sites expand network of Quality Cancer Care

Surviving cancer is a challenge in and of itself, but the logistics of treatment can often seem

almost as daunting. Chemotherapy may need to be given every few weeks for several months.

Radiation treatments are usually given daily, five days a week, for a period of five to eight weeks.

With periodic lab and imaging tests and doctors’ visits scheduled in between, cancer treatment

can feel like a second job.

F or patients who live in the suburban areas around Manhattan and need to

commute to the city for treatment, the additional obstacles of traffic, mass transit delays, and parking hassles can add enormously to the stress of the cancer experience. So MSKCC began partnering with local medical centers in 1996 to open outpatient treatment centers in Westchester County, Long Island, and New Jersey — sparing patients in those areas an array of travel anxieties.

In 2002, MSKCC opened its first free-standing outpatient center in Commack, Long Island, and another in 2006 in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Plans are in the works for a third freestanding center that would be established in Harrison, New York. It would join the center in Sleepy Hollow in serving the Hudson Valley. These freestanding centers, not affiliated with another hospital’s campus, represent one model of future MSKCC Regional Care Network sites. They grant MSKCC greater flexibility to provide whole programs at the sites, as opposed to just individual services — from screening and risk reduction to diagnosis, treatment, supportive services, and ultimately aftercare and survivorship — the continuum of care expected in state-of-the-art cancer care delivery.

“Comprehensive, coordinated care programs demonstrate the expertise for which MSKCC is known. The public is very savvy about this,” said Dr. Maureen Killackey, Deputy Physician-in-Chief and Medical Director of the Regional Care

Network. “People are seeking all of the support systems that a

diagnosis may require. They want it and they know it’s out there, and that’s what we need to be able to provide in an integrated setting.”

Patient visits to these sites have risen significantly in the last

five years alone, from 111,877 patient visits and treatments in 2006 to

145,352 in 2010. Patients appreciate getting their cancer care close to home, from people who live in their communities. “The staff members at these centers are often very integrated into the communities they serve,” said Vic Ribaudo, Executive Director, Regional Care Network.

Staff appreciate working closer to home themselves, and benefit from the family-like atmosphere of the centers. Each site has its own personality and patients with different needs, but they all share a light, relaxed, and airy feel that resonates with patients and staff alike.

Patients receiving treatment at the Regional Care Network sites now have more access to clinical research opportunities than they did several years ago, with more than 80 clinical trials currently

open to patients in these facilities and the on-site placement of research staff at these locations. MSKCC also continues to work with local physicians in these communities to foster relationships that are collaborative rather than competitive.

What is it like to work at the Regional Care Network sites? Let’s visit to find out:

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As the first of the Regional Care Network sites, MSKCC Sleepy Hollow opened in partnership with Phelps Memorial Hospital

Center, a community hospital in Westchester County located just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The facility provides medical oncology and radiation oncology consulta-tions, chemotherapy and infusion services, radiation therapy, social work and

Regional Care Sites Expand Network of Quality Cancer Care (Continued on page 3)

Gina Williams is a Financial Services Representative and Group Leader at MSKCC Sleepy Hollow.


nutritional counseling, and clinical trials in a convenient location for residents of Westchester County and the Hudson Valley.

But locals are not the only ones visiting the facility; some patients come from out of state and stay with relatives in the area while receiving their care. Free parking is also a big draw; ample spaces are available there and at all the Regional Care Network sites.

Gina Williams, Financial Services Representative and Group Leader at MSKCC Sleepy Hollow, has witnessed a marked increase in patient visits since she began working there in 2005. “Newly diagnosed patients are scared, so we make every effort to fit them into the schedule so they can be seen by our doctors,” she said. In her position, she handles patient preregistration and registration, insurance issues, and financial questions, and manages the front desk.

The site has an intimate feel. “It’s like the TV show Cheers here…everyone knows your name,” said Ms. Williams. “We’re like a family, and we keep each other in the loop because we’re all here for the patients.”

The patients feel like part of the family too, bringing in food for the staff from time to time and sharing their experiences. “The patients here are humbling. They have these bubbly personalities and try to keep their spirits up, even when they are feeling defeated,” explained Ms. Williams. “They keep me grounded.”

MSKCC is planning a new outpatient center in Harrison, some 25 miles east of Sleepy Hollow. In January, the Center filed an application with the New York State Department of Health to open a freestanding outpatient facility there. If approved, the new 114,000-square-foot treatment facility will offer outpatient care to residents of the Hudson Valley, with a wide range of programs that will enhance our cancer services in the area. Collaborations are planned with local

community organizations that support people with cancer, and the facility will have community meeting rooms to host these groups and provide educational programs for local healthcare providers.

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MSKCC Rockville Centre provides medical oncology and radiation oncology consulta-tions, chemotherapy and radiation therapy services, and clinical trials in a location that is convenient for residents of Nassau, western Suffolk, and Queens counties. The facility is part of the Mercy Medical Center campus, located just off the Southern State Parkway.

Kevin Morris, Medical Physicist, has been working for MSKCC for 20 years, initially as a radiation therapist. He later earned a master’s degree in medical physics and has been working at the Rockville Centre site since 1998. The move cut his one-hour-plus commute from Long Beach to Manhattan to just 20 to 30 minutes and has allowed him to spend more time with his growing family. He now has four children aged three to 12.

MSKCC Rockville Centre offers a wide variety of radiation therapy approaches, ranging from standard external-beam radiation therapy, to more sophisticated and targeted intensity-modulated radiation

therapy and image-guided radiation therapy, as well as radiation implants (brachytherapy) for gynecologic cancers.

Every patient who needs radiation therapy goes through a planning process before treatment can begin. This process begins with the CT simulation, in which the results of imaging tests are used to help define the patient’s treatment area. Next, planning software, which was developed at MSKCC, is used to design a treatment plan in which the optimal radiation dose is delivered to the tumor while sparing as much nearby healthy tissue as possible.

It is Mr. Morris’s job to use this software to design the treatment plans that will ensure that the patient receives the right treatment at the right dose. “We’re responsible for making sure our machines are delivering the correct radiation doses and that the quality of the computed tomography imaging is sufficient for proper simulation,” he explained. He and his colleagues also calibrate all the equipment regularly to ensure patient safety and treatment effectiveness.

“I like the problem-solving in medical physics,” concluded Mr. Morris. “And I like to be able to do it in a setting like this, where people get to know one another, and I get to help patients.”

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When MSKCC opened the site in Hauppauge, in Suffolk County, Long Island, the facility offered medical oncology services and surgical consultations. When MSKCC Commack opened in 2002, those services moved to the new center, and the Hauppauge site became a specialty center for skin cancer care.

Today, patients can access skin cancer screening services, including full-body digital photography, dermoscopy (use of a hand-held tool to look at the upper layers of the skin), and confocal microscopy (an investigational approach to see skin cancers at the cellular

Regional Care Sites Expand Network of Quality Cancer Care (Continued from page 2)


Kevin Morris, Medical Physicist, designs radiation treatment plans for patients at MSKCC Rockville Centre.


level), as well as various treatments, including minimally invasive Mohs surgery and photodynamic therapy. Dedicated Mohs procedure rooms enable the surgeon to remove skin cancers layer by layer, with as little scarring as possible.

The facility is part of an office complex and has a serene atmosphere. It also meets MSKCC’s education mission, with Stony Brook University Medical Center residents rotating through the facility and participat-ing in a journal club to discuss the latest medical literature. Physicians at the site also have excellent rapport with local doctors. Like all the Regional Care Network sites, MSKCC Hauppauge has teleconferencing capabilities so staff can participate in meetings with doctors at the main campus in Manhattan.

Lisa Tejada, Network Practice Supervisor, has worked at MSKCC for 16 years — origi-nally in Admitting at the main campus and at MSKCC Hauppauge since 1999. There was a time when her whole family commuted to New York City — even the dog. Now it only takes her about 20 minutes to get to work from her home in Selden. She oversees patient chart preparation and scheduling, and directs the facility’s Client Service Representatives.

“The staff here love the ease of commuting and the parking,” said Ms. Tejada. “I’ve known most of these people a long time, and we all get to know the patients. It’s like a family here.”

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A sweeping staircase, stone-accented walls, and a natural light-filled atrium greet visitors to MSKCC Commack, the Center’s first freestanding outpatient facility. Conveniently located less than a mile north of the Long Island Expressway, the site provides a full range of services for people with cancer.

Available offerings include: imaging services for screening and diagnosis;

stereotactic, ultrasound-guided, and MRI-guided biopsies; chemo-therapy; medical oncology, radiation oncology, and surgical oncology consultations (for breast and gynecologic cancers); a variety of radiation treat-ment approaches; neuro-oncology; physical therapy for lymphedema (swelling in an arm or leg

after lymph nodes have been removed); genetic counseling; social work; nutritional counseling; support services; and clinical trials.

Deborah Havranek, Clinical Nurse II, has been working at MSKCC Commack for more than six years as an office practice nurse in Medical Oncology. The facility is a

short commute from her home in nearby Smithtown. She enjoys working closely with Dr. Philip Schulman, Chief of Medical Oncology at MSKCC Commack, to care for patients with hematological cancers.

“Dr. Schulman is a great mentor,” she explained. “He has taught me so much about hematologic malignancies. Together we provide a high level of care to our patients and get to know them well. We work as a team to make sure their physical and emo-tional needs are met.”

Ms. Havranek is also active in local community health initiatives. She is the president of the local chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS); works as a health-science representative to the Smithtown Industry Advisory Board, a group of some 200 business leaders who provide mentoring opportunities to high school students (including some who have been mentored by MSKCC Commack staff ); and participates in a support group for the Fireman’s Cancer Group (her father, brother, and husband are all volunteer firemen). She received a grant from the ONS Foundation to help high school and college students interested in nursing to learn about the profession by providing job-shadow experiences and opportunities to work on research papers. The program, called Encourage the Heart, is now in its second year.

She feels tightly connected to the rest of her MSKCC Commack team and to the critical work they perform. “I love the professional respect here and the collabora-tion,” Ms. Havranek concluded. “I am an integral part of the care for the patients we serve.”



Lisa Tejada is the Network Practice Supervisor at MSKCC Hauppauge, a specialty center for skin cancer care.

Deborah Havranek, Clinical Nurse II, cares for patients with hematological cancers at MSKCC Commack.


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Tom Coulter was the first employee to be hired at MSKCC Basking Ridge, in January 2006. As Plant Operations Supervisor, he played a significant role in the construc-tion and completion of the facility. Today, he and his staff are responsible for opening and closing the building every day.

Mr. Coulter oversees a staff that is in charge of the building’s maintenance, security, systems, and mechanics, so he knows the facility inside out. He has also come to know his colleagues equally well — not only by working with them, but as a patient: He was treated at Basking Ridge for tongue and throat cancer in 2010.

“The people who work here are great, and the patients are as well,” he asserted. “You may not know everyone at first, but within two weeks you do. Everybody here works well together.”

MSKCC Basking Ridge is the Center’s newest Regional Care Network site, opening in 2006. It replaced smaller outpatient care centers that MSKCC operated in Denville

and Dover, and centralized services and programs in one convenient location in central New Jersey. The site offers diagnostic and screening services; medical oncology, radiation oncology, and surgical oncology consultations; chemotherapy; radiation therapy; office biopsies; skin cancer screen-ing, prevention, and treatment services; neuro-oncologic care; social work and support services (psychosocial counseling and nutritional counseling); and clinical trials.

To provide patients with a serene land-scape, most of the area around the building has been left wooded. Oversize windows

throughout the center fill the space with daylight and offer views of nature and the changing seasons. The color palette empha-sizes calming, natural hues, and care has been taken to maintain quiet. Privacy is a top priority — patients in gowns are not visible to other patients or visitors. In addition, medical equipment and devices are concealed from view to help minimize patient stress.

Dr. Raul Parra is a urologic oncologist who divides his time between seeing patients at MSKCC Basking Ridge and performing surgeries at the main campus in Manhattan. As a doctor in the Regional Care Network, he cares for patients with a wide variety of urologic cancers, including bladder and kidney cancers, in addition to prostate cancer. “This arrangement allows me to have a unique type of practice,” he maintained. “In a community full of competent doctors, I am able to provide not only my expertise, but also that of an institution with a great reputation in cancer care. This is a plus for the community.”

“MSKCC’s Regional Care Network sites have grown tremendously since the first outpatient locations were established in 1996 — they have become prominent centers for treatment, healing, and recovery,” said Dennis Dowdell, Jr., Vice President of Human Resources. “On a recent tour of all the sites, I saw not only the exquisite care given to patients, but also the enormous difference it makes for patients to receive that care in their own communities. The Regional Care Network sites are meeting a critical need.”


At MSKCC Sleepy Hollow, from left: Annette Clark, Administrative Manager, Sleepy Hollow; Jennifer Mongelluzzo, Group Leader, Sleepy Hollow; Kathryn Martin, Senior Vice President, Hospital Administrator; Dennis Dowdell, Jr., Vice President of Human Resources; Jill Giorgi, Radiation Therapist; Donna Schick, Director, Network Clinical Programs; and Vic Ribaudo, Executive Director, Regional Care Network.

Tom Coulter (below), Plant Operations Supervisor, was the first employee to be hired at MSKCC Basking Ridge.

Dr. Raul Parra (right) is a urologic oncologist who divides his time between seeing patients at MSKCC Basking Ridge and performing surgeries at the main campus in Manhattan.


PatientS dRive exPeRienCe at BRooKlyn inFuSion CenteR

examples of the space accommodating a variety of personalities and preferences abound, like the woman who gathered a

group of her friends for lunch at the farm table near the kitchen before her chemothera-py session. Or the patient’s son who was so grateful for the care his parent received that he sang an aria in the art gallery as a token of his appreciation. Or the world-renowned sculptor, and former patient, who was so impressed by the commitment to display art that he has decided to loan the center some of his own pieces to be shown there.

“We didn’t recognize how patient-driven the design of the patient experience would turn out to be,” said Wendy Perchick, Chief of Strategic Planning and Innovation at Memorial Hospital. “This is an environ-ment where the barriers have come down. We provide opportunities, and patients tell us what they’d like.”

There are no wait times here: Patients come the day before to have their blood drawn and analyzed, and have a symptom assessment performed by the nurse. When they return the next day, their chemotherapy is prepared and waiting for them to receive in one of the facility’s spacious treatment bays. Some patients have also asked to receive their chemotherapy in the open gallery area,

where they can face the street. “If that’s what patients want, that’s what we give them,” said Ms. Perchick. “We’re following their lead.”

“The space encourages the patients and their caregivers to choose what they want to do inside and outside of their rooms,” added Irish Malig, Project Manager for Strategic Planning and Innovation. “I was surprised and impressed by how well patients and their caregivers understood the design concepts of the space — for instance, the metaphor of Brooklyn neighborhoods and parks that was embedded in space planning.”

The Brooklyn Infusion Center has also become a place for friends and family, with some patients so proud of the center that they invite others to see it with them. “Patients are bringing their children, their grandchildren, and their friends to show off the site,” explained Rosanna Fahy, Senior Administrator for Ambulatory Care. “They identify the services at this site as distinct and unique.”

Open since fall 2010, the Brooklyn Infusion Center was created to make access to chemotherapy more convenient for the 15 percent of MSKCC’s patients who reside in that borough. Located near a major transpor-tation hub, including subways, a Long Island Railroad station, and several parking facili-ties, it can accommodate 30 patients during each ten-hour workday, including Saturdays.

The center has also become part of the Brooklyn art community, with more than 45 artists submitting ideas for art to be displayed in the space. Some art pieces are installed, while others are on loan. Special events taking place at the center have included quilting and storytelling sessions, as well as community lectures on topics such as smoking cessation and skin cancer prevention.

Patients have been very receptive to receiving integrative medicine therapies, like

Reiki massage, acupressure, and relaxation techniques, during treatment. Future plans include expanding services to also offer therapies such as yoga and acupuncture.

Curt Haase, a Clinical Nurse IV, trans-ferred to the Brooklyn Infusion Center after working for three years with gastrointestinal cancer patients at the Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion at MSK-53rd Street. He was involved with the planning of the Brooklyn Infusion Center, and now cares for patients there who have a range of cancers. It is a transition that has clearly broadened his skills.

Mr. Haase became trained in Reiki massage and acupressure, and sees how much his patients value these services. “They get so much out of this simple experience,” he noted. “We’re physically laying our hands on them for 20 minutes, and it becomes an extra level of connection with them.”

The concept behind the Brooklyn Infusion Center is being applied to the planning of future outpatient sites for MSKCC.

“The environment of the Brooklyn Infusion Center is very different from our other sites,” said Jeanine Gordon, Nurse Leader. “Patients have commented that the site is very serene and spa-like, and doesn’t feel like a medical facility, which makes them more comfortable. They love the individual-ized care and small staff. We know all our patients and their family members by name, and have fostered excellent relationships with them.”

It’s been nearly a year since the brooklyn Infusion Center opened and,

by all accounts, it is a success. An indoor garden, an art gallery, light-filled

spaces — these are some of the elements of this lush facility that serve to

calm patients and their visitors, and create a sense of peace. patients and

their families have embraced the center’s welcoming design and warm,

intimate feel, which has allowed them to personalize their experiences at

the center in ways the staff has never seen before.

Jeanine Gordon, Nurse Leader, enjoys the close relationships she has formed with patients and their families at the Brooklyn Infusion Center.

Being able to care for patients with a variety of cancers has expanded the skills of Curt Haase, a Clinical Nurse IV at the Brooklyn Infusion Center.


2011 Rudin Awards Honor Nursing Excellence

At the presentation of the 2011 Samuel and May Rudin Awards for Excellence in Nursing, from left: MSKCC President Dr. Craig Thompson; Nurse Leader Stephanie Nolan Kennedy; Clinical Nurse Specialist Wanda Rodriguez; Physician-in-Chief Dr. Robert Wittes; Unit Assistant Khadijah Abdul-Hakim; Clinical Nurse IV Willie Goode; Chief Nursing Officer Elizabeth McCormick; Clinical Nursing Specialist Joanne Kelvin; and Dennis Graham, Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Program Director & Manager of the Rudin Nursing Awards Program. Not present at the ceremony: Ester Dantis, Nurse Practitioner.

2011 Rudin Awards Honor Nursing Excellence (Continued on page 8)

MSKCC has held an annual awards ceremony to recognize nursing excellence since 1976.

The Center is grateful to the Samuel and May Rudin Foundation for sponsoring these awards

in recent decades.

“It’s an award for which nominees are suggested by their peers,” said Elizabeth McCormick,

Chief Nursing Officer at MSKCC. “Nominations come from colleagues who often include quotes

from the nominees’ patients. This makes it very special to receive one of these awards, and also

just to be nominated.”

In the last issue of MSKLife, we announced the winners of the 2011 Samuel and May Rudin

Awards for Excellence in Nursing. In this issue, we invite you to get to know them, up close

and personal.


ester dantis, nurse Practitioner

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P r a C t i C e n u r s i n g

A few years ago, Nurse Practitioner Ester Dantis encountered a man who said he knew her from the 1970s. He remembered her, but she couldn’t quite place him. That’s because the last time she saw him, he was a very young boy being treated for lymphoma. “I was so elated to see him doing so well and knowing we made a difference,” Ms. Dantis recalled. “It was a great feeling to see him again. Nothing can describe it.”

In the 1970s, she began taking care of children with neuroblastoma as a chemother-apy research nurse. A cancer of the nervous system, neuroblastoma has historically been very challenging to treat.

While challenges in confronting the disease still remain, tremendous strides have been made in developing effective therapies, including the addition of immunotherapy and specialized approaches for treating disease recurrence in the brain and spinal cord — advances that Ms. Dantis has witnessed firsthand. These treatments are only available at MSKCC.

“I feel so honored to be a part of these treatment advances,” Ms. Dantis noted. “We always say that we can’t make the cancer just go away, but we can try to make it easier for the patient and family to go through the experience. They are not alone, and we will always be there for them.”

For her 35 years of service to MSKCC, Ms. Dantis received the Excellence in Advanced Practice Nursing Award, her nomination bolstered by positive feedback from the physicians she works with as well as patients’ families. “I was so humbled when

I learned I won,” she said. “I didn’t expect this. I’m just happy doing what I do.”

She appreciates feeling that she and her coworkers are part of a large, extended family, knowing they can all lean on one another as they grapple with the challenges posed by the cancer they are helping their patients to beat. Now a grandmother of a six-year-old boy, Ms. Dantis feels enormous gratitude. “Every day I thank God that he’s healthy,” she concluded. “And I’m grateful that I can contribute to the lives of the patients and families we treat.”

Willie goode, Clinical nurse iv

e x C e l l e n C e i n n u r s i n g P r a C t i C e

“If I retire” are words that people may hear coming from Willie Goode, but it won’t be any time soon. “I’m not one to sit around and watch TV,” she added.

Ms. Goode, a Clinical Nurse IV, has worked at MSKCC for 40 years. That experience comes on the heels of the 18 years she spent working at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. “I provided end-of-life care at Calvary, and when I came to MSKCC, it was like a new beginning,” she recalled.

She works on the twelfth floor of Memorial Hospital, giving chemotherapy to patients with leukemia and lymphoma. She also teaches staff, patients, and families, and provides psychological support. For her commitment and dedication throughout four decades of service, she received the Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice.

“Sometimes patients want to give up and not take their chemotherapy. I convince them to go on,” she explained. “I enjoy the interactions with my patients and their families. It’s a world I know and love.”

Joanne Kelvin, Clinical nursing specialist

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Cancer treatments have come a long way, improving the chances of survival for millions of patients. But sometimes those treatments come with a cost — including, occasionally, a patient’s fertility. There are steps a patient can take to try to preserve the ability to have a baby, but they must be put in motion before treatment begins. Yet many patients have reported they are not getting

the information they need to make informed decisions early in their care.

That’s what Clinical Nursing Specialist Joanne Kelvin has discovered in her research, which assesses how patients perceive the information that is given to them by their healthcare providers regarding fertility issues related to cancer therapy. Although most patients did recall having such a discussion, many reported that they were not satisfied with the information. Most said they preferred a face-to-face discussion with a fertility expert or doctor rather than other means of communication (such as a brochure or website, or via e-mail or phone).

“Our findings will help doctors know which patients need information about fertility and identify areas for improvement,” Ms. Kelvin noted. “We’re already using the information to help refine our fertility preservation programs here at MSKCC.”

She believes that in her role she has been able to combine several skills she has

Willie Goode (right), shown here with Dennis Graham, has worked at MSKCC for 40 years and received the Excellence in Nursing Practice Award.

Ester Dantis received the Excellence in Advanced Practice Nursing Award.

Joanne Kelvin (right) — shown here with Mary McCabe, Director of the Cancer Survivorship Initiative — received the Excellence in Nursing Research Award for her research on how patients receive information about fertility preservation options.

2011 Rudin Awards Honor Nursing Excellence (Continued on page 9)

2011 Rudin Awards Honor Nursing Excellence (Continued from page 7)


acquired during 35 years of nursing. “I wanted to apply my leadership skills while having a clinical practice, and this position allows me to do both,” she ex-plained. “Talking with patients about this one issue — fertility — has been so exciting and interesting for me, and it is changing how we serve our patients.”

Ms. Kelvin received the Excellence in Nursing Research Award for her work. (It is her fourth Rudin Nursing Award.)

stephanie nolan Kennedy, nurse leader

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If leaders lead by example, then the nurses working in the Pre-surgical Center and Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) on the sixth floor of Memorial Hospital have an excellent example to follow in Stephanie Nolan Kennedy. She has worked at MSKCC since 1998, and became the Nurse Leader of the Pre-surgical Center and PACU in 2009, directing a staff of more than 125 nurses, nursing assistants, and unit assistants.

During her tenure, she has instituted a number of initiatives, including the develop-ment of a training program for intravenous insertions; a streamlined process to admit interventional radiology patients to the Pre-surgical Center; optimal staff coverage for Saturday surgery (which was initiated in March 2009); educational programs for her staff; and participation in and leadership on a number of committees, task forces, and councils at MSKCC.

“Stephanie is like a breath of fresh air,” said one of her colleagues. “I find her supportive and approachable. Many positive changes have taken place in the unit since she has been with us.” For her efforts on so many fronts, she received the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award.

“The people we serve every day are so inspiring,” said Ms. Kennedy. “The way each patient embraces his or her diagnosis, their will to live, and their families are amazing. Being able to make a difference in their lives is very fulfilling.”

She wants to continue to educate and motivate her staff to help them reach their fullest potential. She concluded, “I hope to remain a positive, supportive voice for the staff members I represent and help foster their growth.”

Wanda rodriguez, Clinical nurse specialist

e x C e l l e n C e i n n u r s i n g e d u C at i o n

“Even the teacher can keep learning.” That’s the motto of Wanda Rodriguez, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the main and Surgical Day Hospital PACUs who has worked at MSKCC for 14 years, and is responsible for leading educational programs for nurses in those areas. Management training courses she took through MSKCC’s Learning and Organization Development Department have helped her to optimize the way she presents information to the more than 200 staff members she educates.

Like all fields of medicine, advances in nursing are happening at a rapid pace, and Ms. Rodriguez must stay abreast of them so she can convey them to her colleagues. She teaches at the national, state, and local levels for the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, and brings new information gleaned at those meetings back to her staff. She developed and now teaches Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse and Certified Ambulatory Perianesthesia Nurse certification review courses at MSKCC to prepare staff for their certification exams.

Other common topics for her educational programs include implementation of new policies and procedures that affect the PACUs, and updating staff on basic and advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced life support, for which staff must recertify every two years.

She also encourages her staff to assemble and deliver their own in-service educational presentations to their colleagues. “I have great hopes for everyone,” she said. “They often know more than they think they know.”

Her goal: to encourage her staff to proactively develop their abilities and to provide them with an atmosphere in which they can offer each other feedback. “I love the way staff work together,” said Ms. Rodriguez. “I believe everyone has a voice, and that together we can come up with solutions to the challenges we face.”

For her ongoing efforts, she received the Excellence in Nursing Education Award.

Khadijah abdul-hakim, unit assistant

Pat i e n t C a r e s u P P o r t aW a r d

Khadijah Abdul-Hakim recalled visiting a family member who was undergoing treatment at MSKCC. She was so impressed with the care her relative received that she thought, “I’d like to work for this establish-ment someday.”

That day finally arrived four years ago when Ms. Abdul-Hakim joined MSKCC as a Unit Assistant on the tenth floor of Memorial Hospital, caring for patients with women’s cancers. She responds to patients’ calls for nurses, processes physician medication orders, and handles incoming phone calls, among other tasks. “We are the go-to people,” said Ms. Abdul-Hakim. For her dedication and commitment, she received the Patient Care Support Award.

Already a licensed practical nurse, her goal is to return to school to further her nursing career. What does she enjoy most about working at MSKCC? “From the moment I came to orientation, I saw the smiles on everyone’s faces,” she recalled. “I love working with my peers.”

Wanda Rodriguez (left) received the Award for Excellence in Nursing Education, while Stephanie Nolan Kennedy earned the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award.

Khadijah Abdul-Hakim (center) — shown here with her husband, Jamil (left), and her great-nephew, Terrance — received the Patient Care Support Award.

2011 Rudin Awards Honor Nursing Excellence (Continued from page 8)

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 1 / 1 0m S K L I F e : A p U b L I C A t I O N F O r t H e S t A F F O F m e m O r I A L S L O A N - K e t t e r I N G C A N C e r C e N t e r

e M P l oY e e P r o F i l e

Donna Wilson: Turning Victims into Victors

Donna Wilson is a superstar. Just ask her fans — the patients she helps every day. They’re happy to talk about her, and if you ask them to describe her, you’re likely to hear frequent use of the term “infectious enthusiasm.”

a s Fitness Coordinator for MSKCC’s Integrative Medicine Center, Ms. Wilson guides cancer survivors

through personalized exercise routines they can use to empower themselves and to regain strength and function during their journey with cancer.

“Donna and her class were like a tonic that helped to convince me that I had the strength to get through all that was ahead, and that I would inevitably heal,” said Alex Herzan, a patient who had breast cancer surgery. “She has infectious energy, humor, and a positive outlook, and she is great at seeing the potential in all of her patients.”

“Exercise maintains and improves function so patients can resume the activities of daily living and not feel so tired,” says the vivacious and fit Ms. Wilson, who is also trained as a nurse, respiratory therapist, personal trainer, and instructor in a wellness workout called T-Tapp. Two years ago, she added another title to that impressive list: dragon boat captain.

Dragon boating is a 2,000-year-old activity steeped in Chinese tradition. According to legend, a beloved Chinese poet drowned himself in a lake to protest his region’s loss of freedom. Chinese fishermen raced to his aid, beating their paddles and drums to awaken the lake’s dragon to save him, and a tradition was born. To this day, dragon boat races are held around

the world. Forty-foot boats are propelled by 20 paddlers moving to the beat of a drummer perched at the ship’s bow.

When patient Jennifer Merendino participated in the exercise class “Focused Fitness for Women” at MSKCC, she suggested to Ms. Wilson that they form a dragon boat team — and she got an enthusiastic response. Ms. Wilson assem-bled a team of cancer survivors, coached by MSKCC’s James Ma, who leads the Pathology Systems Support Group. Ms. Wilson had heard that exercise such as paddling might help women manage lymphedema — a swelling of the arm that can result when underarm lymph nodes are removed for analysis during breast cancer surgery.

Today, the Empire Dragon Boat Team founded by Ms. Wilson includes 35 women, ranging in age from 32 to 66, who have been treated for cancer. Most of them are breast cancer survivors, though some have been treated for other cancers. The team’s hard-won motto is: “Spirit + Strength = Success.”

The dragon boat competition season runs from April to October. The team practices in the waters of Flushing Meadows Park in Queens at 8:00 on Saturday mornings. An hour or so of practice in the boat, accompanied by the slap of the paddles against the water and the beating of the drum, is sandwiched between warm-up and cool-down sessions led by Ms. Wilson in the morning

light. Team members have quickly become addicted to the natural high they get from both the sport and the camaraderie. “Donna not only reminded me who I was physically, but challenged me for the first time in my life to work toward becoming an athlete — and I’m 66,” said breast cancer survivor Linda Mevoarch.

Last September, the team celebrated its first win, edging out the second place finishers by just half a second in the Division C Women’s Championship at the Mercer County Dragon Boat Festival in New Jersey. “Donna’s boundless enthusi-asm and dedication afforded me a place to reclaim my physical body and heal my battered self,” said Heather Maloney, who also survived breast cancer. “I experienced the joy of celebrating my first competitive sports win as an adult. Her passion for this labor of love led me to new and important friendships. I am forever grateful.”

“To see these women get out of the boat looking strong and being part of a team is very exciting,” Ms. Wilson noted. “They tell me it’s changed their lives. One woman said, ‘We went from victims to victors.’”

“We are very lucky women to have Donna as our captain, fellow paddler, and true friend,” said Jeannette Ho, a survivor of both breast cancer and sar-coma. “Her passion gives us continuous strength and the ability to succeed!”

The team’s last race this season is in Philadelphia on October 1. “This activity has generated amazing friendships. Everyone on the boat makes a difference,” Ms. Wilson conclud-ed. “These women

may come in feeling frail, but they become full of life and energy. I’m blessed to be able to make a difference in their lives.”

To learn more about the Empire Dragon Boat Team, visit their website at www.empiredragonboat.com.

Do you know a colleague who would make a great employee profile? Let us know at [email protected].

Donna Wilson, Fitness Coordinator for MSKCC’s Integrative Medicine Center, is also the coach of the Empire Dragon Boat Team, composed of women who have survived cancer.

http://www.empiredragonboat.com

mailto:[email protected]


undeRStanding tHe CoStS oF HealtHCaRe

T he U.S. currently spends more on healthcare than any other nation. And while healthcare

costs may be hotly debated, they continue to rise. According to the most recent statistics

reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, healthcare costs

accounted for 17.6 percent of the gross national product in 2009 in the United States, and are

projected to rise by an average of 6.1 percent per year through 2019. What’s driving this rapid

rise? And how is MSKCC helping employees control healthcare costs?

�� Chronic disease. Medical advances allow people to live longer. While this is good news, it also means greater demands on the healthcare system, including a growing need for long-term care such as assisted living and nursing homes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that healthcare costs for chronic disease treatment account for over 75 percent of national health expenditures.

�� Prescription drugs. Advanced drugs that cure illness and extend life are especially expensive. “State-of-the-art drugs fuel healthcare spending,” states a report on KaiserEDU, a website that explains health policy, “because the development costs of these products must be recouped by industry.”

�� Technology. Technologically advanced diagnostics and treatments also carry a high price tag. These technologies, a recent U.S. Congressional study concludes, “generate consumer demand for more intense, costly services even if they are not necessarily cost-effective.”

�� Aging population. This year, U.S. baby boomers will start tapping into Medicare.

As they age, they will require more healthcare and look to the already strained Medicare system to pay for those services.

�� Fragmentation of care. Experts use this phrase to describe the growing overlap of services between unrelated healthcare providers treating the same patient. This overlap can lead to redundant testing, one factor cited in driving healthcare costs.

�� Government regulations. These require-ments may add to insurers’ administrative expenses, also known as transactional costs. These costs have increased ten percent a year over the past 25 years, and some experts identify them as the fastest rising expense in the healthcare sector.

tHe PoweR oF ConSuMeR CHoiCe

Although none of us can influence the external factors driving the rapid rise of healthcare costs, we can, as individuals, make educated, informed choices about where our healthcare dollars go.

MSKCC understands how important good health is to our employees and their

families. That’s why MSKCC — under its Total Rewards Program, Advance the rewards of caring — offers a multitude of plans and programs to promote well-being. The most economical approach to healthcare costs is to simply get healthy and stay well. You can take advantage of dozens of quality wellness initiatives through the MSKCC Employee Wellness Program (see sidebar).

You can also save on healthcare costs through the MSKCC Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA). The Healthcare FSA pays for eligible, out-of-pocket costs, such as copays, with pre-tax dollars — creating savings over the long run.

In addition, as good healthcare consumers, we can all adopt a more assertive approach to medical costs. This may mean simply asking what a procedure will cost and seeing if another trusted medical professional might charge less for the same service. This “shopping around” may create signifi-cant savings. Remember the old adage, “Health is wealth”? When you take care of your health and healthcare dollars, you will be on your way to achieving both.

See page 12 for ideas on how to stay healthy at MSKCC.


on tHe HoRizon:

National Preparedness Month September

Physician Assistants Week October 6 – 12

Open Enrollment Early November

Radiologic Technologists Week November 6 – 12

MSKLife Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Managing Editor: Jennifer PaulyContributing Editor: Rosie FosterManager, HR Communications: Jean O’Leary Feedback: [email protected]© 2011 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Stay HealtHy at MSKCC

�� Earn $50 when you take or update your health assessment. Take 15 minutes to complete the Health Risk Assessment (HRA), a confidential online survey, before November 30, 2011, and you’ll earn $50. Located within MyActiveHealth, the HRA is part of your ActiveHealth Personal Health Record, and not a part of your personnel file or your Employee Health or MKSCC medical record. To get started, go to www.myactivehealth.com/MSKCC.

�� Improve nutrition and manage weight. You can eat better and lose weight, thanks to nutritional counseling available through the MSKCC Employee Wellness Program (646-888-WELL [9355]) and on-site Weight Watchers meetings. Contact Michele Sandone ([email protected]).

�� Get physically fit and feel better. When you’re in shape, chances are you feel great. Fitness experts at the MSKCC Employee Wellness Program (646-888-WELL [9355]) can help you design an exercise program — and you can also take advantage of gym discounts.

�� Achieve health goals with a personal coach. Imagine having a personal coach to help you reach fitness or health goals. MSKCC offers this support through ActiveHealth’s Lifestyle, Disease, or Maternity Management Coaching. Call 866-794-3109 for more information.

�� Breathe easier without tobacco. Avoid health complications later by quitting now through the MSKQuits Program. Get cessation tips, individual counseling, and group support. Contact [email protected] or call 646-888-WELL (9355) for more information.

�� Find a new sense of wholeness and ease. Enjoy discounts on the MSKCC Integrative Medicine Center’s services, such as massage, mind-body therapies, and acupuncture. The Center (646-888-0800) also offers yoga, Latin aerobics, and other exercise programs.

�� Take advantage of free counseling services. The Employee Assistance Program Consortium (EAPC) is a confiden-tial, short-term counseling and referral service that is available at no out-of-pocket cost to employees of MSKCC and their dependents. Licensed clinical social workers and consulting psychiatrists are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Local counselors are available for in-person consultations near regional offices. Call 212-746-5890 for more information.

Explore all these options and more at the MSKCC Employee Wellness website or call 646-888-WELL (9355).

did you Know…?

When you think about the value of your MSKCC employment, you may consider your salary and healthcare benefits alone. However, they are only part of MSKCC’s Total Rewards, Advance the rewards of caring, a comprehensive package of programs and services in four categories: Health, Money, Growth, and Life & More. Total Rewards is the way MSKCC thanks employees for investing their time, talent, and skills at the Center. Get to know Total Rewards, and you may find new ways to advance your well-being, financial security, career growth, and quality of life. For starters, did you know that Total Rewards offers:

�� Tuition reimbursement: MSKCC paid more than $5 million in tuition reim-bursement to nearly 1,000 employees in 2010. For more information, look for “Tuition Reimbursement” under “Benefits” on the MSKCC HR website.

�� Emergency backup child care: MSKCC employees tapped into Bright Horizon’s backup child care 560 times — and that was just in the second quarter of 2011! For more details, see the “Bright Horizon’s Backup Child Care and Elder Care” section on the MSKCC Work/Life website.

�� Gym discounts: Each year, more than 800 employees take advantage of gym discounts through MSKCC’s Employee Discount and Employee Wellness Programs. Go to the MSKCC Employee Wellness Program website and click on “Exercise and Fitness” to learn more.

health

money

life&

moregrow

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Total Rewards


http://www.myactivehealth.com/MSKCC




KudoS!

Celebrating the accomplishments of MSKCC and its staff

It’s Better to Give Than to Receive: We know this is the motto for many people who work at MSKCC, but two

employees have demonstrated their willingness to give of themselves — sometimes by the liter — in wonderful

ways that we wanted to share with you.

Do you know anyone at MSKCC who has amazed you? Tell us about it at [email protected].

P e r f o r m a n c e m e a S U r e m e n T

MSKCC’S Patient SatiSFaCtion SuRvey SCoReSPatient satisfaction surveys help Memorial

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center identify its

strengths and weaknesses from our patients’

perspective. The results from the survey are used

to enhance patient care. For more information

and for detailed quarterly survey results, visit

the Patient Satisfaction Survey section on

MSKCC’s Intranet.

Patient satisfaction survey, second Quarter 2011

Number of Patient Responses (%)

Very Poor Poor Fair Good Very Good

inpatient Report:

Overall Rating of Care Given 6 (0.3%) 6 (0.3%) 23 (1.1%) 263 (13.1%) 1,711 (85.2%)

Likelihood of Recommending Hospital 9 (0.4%) 3 (0.1%) 32 (1.6%) 220 (10.9%) 1,753 (86.9%)

outpatient Report:

Overall Rating of Care and Services 2 (0.1%) 3 (0.2%) 25 (1.5%) 226 (13.5%) 1,413 (84.7%)

Likelihood of Recommending Facility 6 (0.4%) 5 (0.3%) 10 (0.6%) 141 (8.5%) 1,492 (90.2%)

Also on the theme of giving of yourself: Anna Hunter, Organization Development Consultant in the Human Resources Division, donated stem cells last June to a 25-year-old man with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a man whom she has never met. The donation procedure required Ms. Hunter to lie still for about six hours while her 3.7 liters of blood were

cycled out of her body approximately six times, and her stem cells, which had been increased through a series of injections over the previous four days, were removed.

Ms. Hunter was told at the time that the patient would most likely die without this donation, but with it he would have a 70 percent chance of survival. In July, Ms. Hunter got the happy news that her transplanted stem cells were reproducing inside the patient’s body and that he had been discharged from the hospital. She will receive another update on his progress in a few months.

Dr. Farid Boulad, Associate Attending Physician, Bone Marrow Transplant Service in the Department of Pediatrics, is responsible for bone marrow harvests at MSKCC. “There are several nice things about donating marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. You can save a life; preparation and recovery are fast, with no long-term side effects; and you don’t lose anything — you still have plenty of marrow or stem cells left after donation,” he explained. “It’s a win-win situation.”

At MSKCC in 2010, there were 141 adult BMTs (bone marrow transplants), 39 pediatric BMTs, 115 peripheral blood stem cell collections, and 19 bone marrow collections.

Ms. Hunter became a donor as a result of registering two years ago at a drive for bone marrow donors. You, too, could have the privilege of saving a life by registering at http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html?src=tabjoin. Although Ms. Hunter maintains that “all I did was swab my cheek” as part of the registration process, she clearly did much more than that. Her altruism might well have given this young man his future back.

Dr. Mark Kris, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service and holder of the William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology, was

honored in June with the inaugural American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Humanitarian Award for his tremendous compassion and generous spirit — in the hospital and beyond. Dr. Kris received the award at the Opening Session of ASCO’s 47th Annual Meeting.

Yes, he’s a pioneer in lung cancer treatment and research — but Dr. Kris doesn’t stop there. To raise funds for research at MSKCC, he has run in several marathons as part of Fred’s Team. When not saving lives or running to save lives, Dr. Kris helps out in other ways: He has assisted Habitat for Humanity in New York City. He’s helped out with youth programs in Costa Rica. And he has provided disaster relief in Biloxi, Mississippi; Dulac, Louisiana; Walton, New York; and Haiti. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition, Dr. Kris — you make us proud!


http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html?src=tabjoin

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ft_home

http://www.habitatnyc.org/


37tH annual 20 yeaR CluB dinneROn June 16, MSKCC held its 37th Annual 20 Year Club Dinner to honor members for their years of service. This year’s event was the largest ever, with more than 750 members on hand to celebrate at the Grand Hyatt New York.


HigHligHtS FRoM StaFF aPPReCiation weeKDuring the annual MSKCC Staff Appreciation Week, held this year from July 11 through July 15, employees enjoyed a staff picnic in St. Catherine’s Park in Manhattan, as well as at Regional Care Network sites, while evening and night staff were hosted at special dinners. Besides good food, staff members also picked up career tips at the Internal Career Information Fair and explored resources at the Health and Wellness Fair.

the best cancer care - rosie foster · in suffolk county, long island, the facility offered medical...

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