Run to Home Base has new finish line - Massachusetts General ...

03.05.10
MGHHOTLINE
A PUBLICATION FOR EMPLOYEES AND STAFF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
RUNNING TO HOME BASE: From left, Michael Allard, of MGH Development; Sergeant First Class Benari Poulten; Colonel Sam Poulten; Mark Pollack, MD, of MGH Psychiatry;
Tracy West, of MGH Development; John Parrish, MD, of the Home Base Program; Ed Wiederhold, of DMSE Sports, Inc.; Dave McGillivray, of DMSE Sports, Inc.; Meg Vaillancourt, of the
Red Sox Foundation; Matt West, of DMSE Sports, Inc.; Larry Lucchino, of the Red Sox; Paula Goldfarb, of MGH Development; and Chief Julius Delaughter
Run to Home Base has new finish line
TThis May, some 3,500 fans will experience the thrill of running across
Fenway’s home plate while at the same time raising funds to support the
Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base
Program during the inaugural “Run to Home Base” nine-kilometer race.
“The Run to Home Base is a unique ‘fun run’ through scenic
Boston, ending with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of crossing home
plate at the oldest major league ball park – Fenway Park,” says Red Sox
Chairman Tom Werner. “It’s also a great opportunity for fans to show
their support for the many local, heroic servicemen and women who
have served all of us.”
The run takes place May 23, with fans from across Red Sox Nation
taking part in this first-of-its-kind fundraising event. Participation in
the run is limited to the first 3,500 registered runners ages 16 years
and older. Each participant is required to raise a minimum charitable
donation of $1,000 for the Home Base Program.
“We are thrilled to have such a unique event that will blend the
Patient safety with Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD
paTienT safeTy and excellent health care quality are at the forefront of every activity throughout the MGH.
As part of a national education and awareness-building campaign aimed at improving patient safety across the
country, the MGH will observe Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) March 7 through 13. Informational
activities will center on educating patients to become involved in their own health care, building awareness of
quality and safety initiatives at the MGH, and acknowledging those hospital staff and employees who have excelled
in enhancing patient safety.
On March 11, as part of PSAW, the MGH will host “The History of Safety at MGH; A Lot Has Happened
Since Ether!” from 3 to 5 pm in the O’Keeffe Auditorium. The presentation will feature a panel of distinguished
MGH patient safety experts who have had an important impact on the field: Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD, director of
the Center for Medical Simulation; Nathaniel Sims, MD, anesthesiologist and innovator at the Department of
Biomedical Engineering; M. Ellen Kinnealey, BSN, RN, advanced infusion systems specialist; Carol Camooso Markus, RN,
(Continued on page 2)
supporters of the Red Sox Foundation, the MGH, the veteran
community and the community at large,” says Peter L. Slavin, MD,
MGH president. “Events like this help raise exposure of the program to
veterans and their families and help us to expand the services we can
offer to veterans who not only need but also deserve our support.”
Friends and family members of participants in the Run to Home
Base are invited to cheer from the stands at Fenway Park as their loved
ones cross home plate. Local veterans and their families will have the
opportunity to enjoy the Run to Home Base Family Fun Zone and
Expo, located in the Fenway Park concourse areas. They also can visit
exhibit booths for information about services and programs available
for veterans.
For more information about the Run to Home Base or to register,
visit www.runtohomebase.org. To make a donation to the Home Base
Program, send a check payable to the Home Base Program, c/o MGH,
165 Cambridge Street, Suite 600, Boston MA 02114. n
COOPER

03.05.10
– Cooper
(Continued from page 1)
Patient Care Services staff specialist; and Karen Miguel, RN, patient safety officer
for MGH Imaging. The group will discuss the MGH’s role in shaping the course of
patient safety internally, nationally and internationally.
Cooper is internationally renowned in the anesthesia community for his
seminal contributions to the prevention of adverse events and patient injury and
is considered a pioneer in the development of medical simulation. His studies
of human error in medicine in the 1970s were among the first ever conducted.
Cooper retired last April as the director of Biomedical Engineering of Partners
HealthCare, having served in this role for 14 years.
The following brief dialogue with Cooper is a preview of the March 11 event.
Q: Your contributions to patient safety are recognized nationally and internationally.
How did you start down this path of focusing on and making major contributions to
patient safety?
A: When I arrived at the MGH in the ‘70s there was no such thing as “patient
safety.” Human error was hardly mentioned openly. I was a biomedical
engineer in the Department of Anesthesia. Our team studied errors in
anesthesia and how they happened. We listened carefully to clinicians about
their stories of error and interpreted those into ways to make anesthesia
safer. Those lessons led me to help create the Anesthesia Patient Safety
Foundation (APSF) in 1985. That was the first organization in the world
that focused solely on patient safety. Some years later, research that APSF
supported led me to see the value of simulation training for patient safety.
Q: What has been of significant influence and meaning to you during your journey as a
patient safety expert?
A. Although I am a biomedical engineer, my work is really not primarily about
technology, it’s about people, especially about how they work together. The
MGH was a fertile environment for people like me. I had freedom to explore
new ideas. Ironically, while it can be challenging to get new ideas accepted into
practice, it’s still a great place to conceive them and try them out. I was lucky
to have great mentors and colleagues, particularly in Ron Newbower, PhD, who
is currently chief technology officer for CIMIT. Richard J. Kitz, MD, the
Department of Anesthesia chief for 20 years, created the kind of environment
that nurtured interdisciplinary collaboration. He formed the Bioengineering
Unit in Anesthesia and enabled engineers like me to work closely with clinicians
to see how things really worked, especially in the operating rooms. Whatever
success is attributed to me is more appropriately due to our collaborative,
supportive and synergistic interdisciplinary team. That wouldn’t have
happened without the environment created by their support and protection.
Q: You are one of the pioneers in health care simulation. What is medical simulation
training, and how has it encouraged a culture change in health care?
A: Simulation is about practicing without putting patients at risk. At the Center
for Medical Simulation, which is another example of MGH’s enabling of
innovation, we work to get people to be more self-reflective, to think more
deeply about how they make mistakes, how accidents happen and how
they can prevent them. By using simulated clinical situations for training on
teamwork and managing emergencies, we are teaching caregivers how to
avoid crises and develop better teamwork skills. We’re working toward a
fundamental culture change – that people don’t practice on patients until they
really know what they are doing first. While I have a broad focus in patient
safety, simulation for teamwork and learning without putting patients at risk
has become my main interest.
©DON wEST
COMMUNITY COLLABORATION: From left, Edward Davis, Boston Police
commissioner; Ayanna Pressley, Boston City councilor-at-large; and Slavin
Community anti-drug
efforts move eastward
in a recenT door-To-door survey conducted by the Boston
Public Health Commission (BPHC), more than 80.7 percent of
East Boston residents expressed concern about drug use among
youth in their community, while 66.4 percent expressed concern
about adult substance abuse. With this in mind, the BPHC,
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other state and city officials
hosted a Community Summit on Substance Abuse Feb. 13 at
the Harborside Community Center in East Boston to release the
survey’s findings and launch a reenergized anti-drug effort in
the neighborhood.
The summit featured the announcement of the city’s
collaboration with Partners HealthCare and the MGH in the
development of substance abuse prevention programs. Partners
has committed $75,000 to support the anti-drug initiative, and
city officials plan to work to develop programming with the MGH
Center for Community Health Improvement, which has helped
create very successful substance abuse prevention coalitions in
Charlestown and Revere. Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president,
and Gary L. Gottlieb, MD, MBA, Partners HealthCare president
and CEO, were on hand at the event to express their support.
“We are extremely pleased to work with East Boston, the
Mayor, the Boston Public Health Commission and the East
Boston No Drugs Coalition to address the community substance
abuse problem,” said Slavin in his remarks. “This is very
challenging, often frustrating but also rewarding work because it’s
really about building a more resilient community.”
Half of the Partners funding will be dedicated to the creation of
a youth education campaign on the dangers of prescription drugs.
The remaining funds will support other efforts deemed necessary
by the East Boston community and may include community
meetings; an adult education campaign; an in-depth look into
policies and procedures related to prescription medications; and
increasing available activities and jobs for youth. n

ILLUSTRATION BY ANSHEN+ALLEN ARCHITECTS
APF to open during summer 2010
eMployees enrolled in an MGH-offered health plan soon will receive a special invitation
to learn more about the Ambulatory Practice of the Future (APF).
Opening this summer at 101 Merrimac Street, the APF will offer a new and convenient kind
of primary care practice for MGH employees and their spouses or partners currently enrolled
in MGH medical plans, such as Partners Plus or Tufts. The APF will offer its patients a primary
focus on health and wellness, new ways to receive the care they need and a personal care team
to help them in their health and wellness choices. Enrollment in the APF, which initially will be
limited to a certain number of patients, will involve switching from one's current primary care
physician to one at the APF.
“The practice model is designed to be great for patients and great for clinical providers,” says
Jeff Davis, senior vice president of MGH Human Resources.
The APF grew from the hospital’s longstanding commitment to provide its employees
with high quality wellness programs, such as BeFit, and its desire to stay at the cutting edge of
innovation in medicine. David C. Judge, MD, an internist and primary care physician at the
MGH, has been leading its development.
Like most new physician practices, the APF will at first only be able to accept a set number
of patients. A registration and lottery process has been set up to fairly choose patients to join
the practice. Those who cannot join the practice at the start will be placed on a waiting list, and
as the APF grows, new patients will be added from this list. Over time, Judge believes the APF
will be able to care for most eligible employees and their spouses or partners.
Eligible employees will receive an invitation letter in their home mailboxes this week, directing
them to an APF information and registration website, where they can learn more about and
register for the patient lottery. The following information sessions also have been scheduled:
Main Campus:
• March 16, noon and 1 pm
Simches Conference Room 3110
• March 17, noon and 1 pm
O’Keeffe Auditorium
• March 31, 4 and 5 pm
Thier Conference Room
• April 2, 9 and 10 am
Simches Conference Room 3110
Charlestown Navy Yard:
• March 12, 8 and 9 am
Conference Room 149-2204
• March 18, noon and 1 pm
Conference Room 149-A
• April 1, 8 and 9 am
Conference Room 149-2204
Off-site locations:
• March 19, 11:30 am and 12:30 pm
Chelsea HealthCare Center,
Eleanor Clark Conference Room
• March 23, 9 and 10 am
Revere HealthCare Center,
Sweet Conference Room, first floor
“APF patients will be active partners in their care,” says Judge. “They will work closely with
their doctors and care teams to set health and wellness goals that are right for them.”
For more information, send questions to apf@partners.org. n
THE FUTURE: An
architect’s rendering
of the Ambulatory
Practice of the Future
MGHHOTLINE
PROUD SUPPORT: Seated, David Hooper, MD,
chief of the Infection Control Unit and Jeanette Ives
Erickson, RN, senior vice president for Patient Care and
chief nurse. Standing, from left, Slavin; Tim Ferris, MD,
medical director of the MGPO; and Gregg Meyer, MD,
senior vice president of the Edward P. Lawrence Center
for Quality and Safety
MGH achieves first
“90/90” hand hygiene year
The MGh reached an infection control milestone
in 2009, when for four consecutive quarters
hospitalwide hand hygiene rates surpassed the
Joint Commission standard of 90 percent hand
hygiene compliance before and after contact with
a patient or patient’s environment. Hand hygiene
compliance has been a top priority at the MGH
for more than a decade, and these most recent
survey results from the STOP (Stop Transmission
of Pathogens) Task Force offer proof that efforts
to promote hand hygiene are working.
The average rate in 2009 for hand hygiene
compliance before contact was 92 percent, while
the average rate after contact was 95 percent.
Since 2002, the steady increase in hand hygiene
compliance rates at the MGH has been linked
to a decrease in health care-associated
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
infection. In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2009, the
health care-associated MRSA infection rate at the
MGH reached the lowest level recorded since the
Infection Control Unit began tracking it in 1998.
“I sincerely thank everyone at the hospital
for their continuing use of hand hygiene to
keep our patients and staff safe,” says Peter L.
Slavin, MD, MGH president. “This achievement is
an impressive step toward our ultimate goal of
100 percent compliance.”

03.05.10 MGHHOTLINE
W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G
Workshop on study design
The Clinical Research Program is
offering a four-session seminar series,
“Clinical Effectiveness Research,”
March 17 and 31, April 14, and May 6
from 3:30 to 5 pm in the Simches
Research Center, Room 3130.
Throughout these sessions, faculty
will take participants through the
process of designing an outcomes study
using MGH clinical care data.
Enrollment is limited to 20 participants.
Application and approval is required.
To register, access http://hub.partners.
org/catalog/. For more information,
e-mail Lauren Michaels at
lmichaels@partners.org.
Ethics forum
The MGH Ethics Task Force is
sponsoring “Seeing the Unseen:
Spirituality as a Frequently
Overlooked Element in Clinical
Ethics Decision-Making” March 12
from noon to 1 pm in the Sweet
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617-726-0275
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617-724-2753
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Conference Room 432, Gray/Bigelow
Building. Panelists will be Betsy
Catlin, MD, chief of MGH Neonatology;
Angelika Zollfrank, MDiv, BCC, of
the MGH Chaplaincy; and Wendy
Cadge, PhD, assistant professor of
Sociology at Brandeis University. Alex
Cist, MD, of the MGH Pulmonary
and Critical Care Unit, will moderate.
For more information, contact
Jennifer Hood at jphood@partners.org.
MGH Senior HealthWISE
MGH Senior HealthWISE is offering a
free seminar for seniors ages 60 years
and older, “Healthy Resolutions,”
March 11 from 11 am to noon in the
Haber Conference Room with Sandy
Connor, certified personal trainer
and group fitness instructor at The
Clubs at Charles River Park. For
more information, call 617-724-6756.
College preparation services
The MGH has partnered with Jewish
Vocational Service (JVS) to offer a
variety of college preparation services
on-site at the hospital. Services cover
topics such as preparing for college
placement tests, note-taking and
study skills, and assistance with the
college application and financial aid
process. For more information or
to enroll, contact Amy Zydanowicz,
of JVS, at 617-399-3187 or
azydanowicz@jvs-boston.com.
Evacuation drill on March 11
The MGH will be testing the inpatient
component of its evacuation plan
during an evacuation drill March 11
from 4 to 8 pm. This drill will involve
the evacuation of 25 volunteer
simulated adult patients and five
infant mannequins from three patient
care units to an assembly point at
the Yawkey Center for Outpatient
Care. In a real event that requires
evacuation, the Yawkey Center is one
of several locations that could be
used to temporarily house patients.
During the drill, staff may be seen
transporting participants from the
main hospital to the Yawkey Center.
MGH Police and Security and personnel
from other departments will be
stationed along the evacuation route
to ensure the safety of patients, visitors,
staff and drill participants. For more
information, contact David Reisman
at 617-724-4163 or dreisman@
partners.org.
MassGeneral for Children at
North Shore Medical Center
afTer More Than 105 years of serving families on the North Shore
and a 12-year clinical collaboration with MassGeneral Hospital
for Children, North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) North Shore
Children’s Hospital
is changing its
name to reflect
its full level of
integration. NSMC
North Shore Children’s Hospital has been renamed MassGeneral for
Children at North Shore Medical Center.
As part of this transition, MassGeneral Hospital for Children
(MGHfC) has added all of NSMC’s in-hospital pediatricians to its
medical staff. “We are delighted to enhance our longtime partnership
with North Shore Children’s Hospital,” says Ronald Kleinman, MD,
physician-in-chief of MGHfC and director of Partners Pediatrics.
“Through this collaboration, MGHfC now offers a network of services
on the North Shore that includes pediatric outpatient specialty
services in Danvers and Salem, as well as around-the-clock physician
care on the NSMC pediatric inpatient floors and in its pediatric
emergency department.”
Adds MGHfC Surgeon-in-Chief Joseph P. Vacanti, MD, “MGHfC’s
expansion of pediatric specialty services on the North Shore was based
on a thorough analysis of the needs of patients and their pediatricians
in the area. Until this expansion, for example, pediatric orthopædic
surgery was not offered locally, requiring children and their
families to travel to Boston for this care. Now pediatric orthopædic
surgery is offered in Danvers, and many other specialty services –
including cardiology, gastroenterology and nutrition, endocrinology,
nephrology, rheumatology, pediatric surgery, hematology and
oncology, orthopædics, neurology and infectious disease – are offered
in Danvers or Salem, and in some cases, in both locations.”
“This is an exciting time for both our patients and our physicians,”
says Edward Bailey, MD, NSMC’s chair of pediatrics. “Our children’s
hospital has built its reputation around the quality, comfort and
extremely high level of care we provide to pediatric patients on the
North Shore. With Mass General, we will continue offering patients
the same friendly and competent faces but at the same time expand
the scope of expertise available.”
For more information about MassGeneral for Children at NSMC,
visit www.nsmc.partners.org/web/program/pediatrics. For a complete
list of pediatric services available in Danvers and Salem, visit
www.massgeneralforchildren.org/communitylocations. n
Mitchell John Salon fundraising
event benefits Haiti
Mitchell John Salon, located at
67 Broad St. in Boston, is holding a
fundraising event to support the MGH
Haitian Relief Fund. On March 29,
the salon will donate 100 percent
of its service sales to the MGH
Haitian Relief Fund. To schedule an
appointment, call 617-951-0122.
Save the date for
19th Annual Gange Lecture
The Wellman Center for Photomedicine
will host its 19th Annual R. William
Gange Lecture Dec. 2, 2010, in
the Simches Research Center,
Room 3110. A reception will be held
at 5 pm, followed by the lecture at
5:30. Irene E. Kochevar, PhD, of the
Wellman Center, will present.