St. Joseph - SSM Health Care St. Louis

St. Joseph
April 2011
CONNECTED
News for the Employees of SJHC, SJMP and SJHC-W
ED Open
House April 14!
Phase II of the BRAND NEW
ER will be completed on April
14! On that day from 1 - 3 p.m.
and that evening from 11 p.m.
- 1 a.m. employees, physicians
and volunteers are invited to
attend an open house in the
new ER waiting area.
In the afternoon, there will
be a blessing and dedication
of the new space. During the
evening opening house, there
will be a special midnight tour
of the ER.
During both times, we will
have giveaways, refreshments
and chances to win gift cards
to local restaurants!
It’s an event you don’t want
to miss, so be sure to mark
your calendar! A flyer with
more details will be distributed
in the coming week.
Survey Coming!
The annual employee
partnership survey starts on
Monday, April 4!
This year our goal is 95%
participation. Your department
leader or HR consultant will
be handing out surveys and
giving you a code to complete
the suvey online if you choose.
A link to the survey is located
at the top of the Network
Intranet page. The faster you
respond, the more chances
you have to win many raffle
prizes. Also, the first hospital
to reach 95% participation will
win a party! Let’s be #1!
SSMSTL Named Best Place to Work!
We are
pleased and
extremely
proud to
announce that
once again
in 2011 SSM
Health Care
– St. Louis
(SSMSTL) has
been recognized as a “Best
Place to Work” in St. Louis by
the St. Louis Business Journal.
Our network will be
honored at an awards
ceremony on April 7. A feature
story on SSMSTL’s awardwinning
efforts to gain and
sustain tremendous employee
satisfaction will be published
in the April 8 edition of the
Business Journal.
In 2010, SSMSTL was a Best
Place to Work recipient in
the category of 2,000- plus
employees. This year, the
Business Journal changed the
recognition process to focus
on the top 20 area
companies no matter the size
of the organization. Of 127
companies seeking 2011 “Best
Places to Work”
recognition, SSMSTL is one of
only 20 honored.
The results are based on
comments and scores from
confidential, online surveys
of our employees conducted
by an independent survey
organization.
Being selected for this award
for two consecutive years is an
acknowledgement
of the
continuing
momentum of
change and
opportunity
sweeping our
network, which
truly makes all
things
possible. Our entire
organization is engaged,
energized and involved in our
desire to be not only one of
the best places to work but
also to be the best place to
receive health care in St. Louis.
It’s a testament to the
dedication and hard work of
each and every one of our
employees. You are genuinely
working together to transform
the way we deliver services
to provide “best care, best
results” to our patients.
In April, our official Press
Ganey employee partnership
survey will begin, and we hope
to hear from all of you. It is
through these measures that
we are able to identify opportunities
for continual work
performance improvement and
even higher work satisfaction
and employee engagement.
Thank you so much for
being a wonderful contributor
to our healing ministry and
heritage of caring.
Got News?
Send it to
Rachel_C_Peine@ssmhc.com or
interoffice mail it to
PR and Marketing.
INSIDE:
Recycling is Coming! p. 2
DAISY Awards Program p. 3
Mission Days Info. p. 3
Emerging Leaders p. 4
A Great Catch! p. 5
SJHC President
Appointed to
LU Board
Lindenwood
University
has
appointed
Gaspare
Calvaruso,
president
of SSM
St. Joseph
Health Center, SSM St. Joseph
Health Center-Wentzville,
and SSM St. Joseph Medical
Park, as well as Service Line
Executive for SSM Cancer Care,
to its board of directors.
“We have observed Gaspare’s
wonderful work with SSM,”
said Jim J. Shoemake,
chairman of the Lindenwood
Board of Directors. “His
sincerity, work ethic, and
dedication to the community
make him a perfect fit for this
board.”
Lindenwood President
James Evans also
enthusiastically supported
Calvaruso’s appointment.
“Gaspare will bring
additional energy, a fresh
perspective, and his
characteristic sense of purpose
to the Lindenwood Board,”
he said. “The university’s
future will be enriched by
his participation, and I am
personally pleased that he
is formally joining our higher
education community.”

Page 2
Recycling Coming to SJHC!
The process for
“single stream”
recycling coming
soon to SSM St.
Joseph Health
Center is similar
to our curbside
recycling at home
- only
industrial sized.
Blue or green
receptacles
designated for
recycling will soon be placed
at nursing stations and
ancillary department
common areas. These
receptacles will be clearly
marked with a recycle symbol
and “Single-Stream” label on
the front, indicating specific
items that can be placed into
the bin.
Regular trash, such as food,
tissues, glass, Styrofoam (if
you can find any), or anything
non-recyclable should be
placed in the beige trash bins.
In about a month, smaller
Patient Satisfaction
Spotlight!
sized green
receptacles also
will be placed in
offices and
break areas.
Just remember,
if it’s green or
blue, that means
recycle!
Housekeeping
will pick up both
bags for trash
and recycle at
once. The sorting happens on
the loading dock with two
different compactors. The
smaller compactor will be
used for non-recyclable
material and the larger
compactor (previously used
for cardboard) will be used for
all recyclable material. The
recyclable material will be
shipped with the cardboard to
the recycle plant for
separation.
Help make our hospitals
more sustainable and please
remember to recycle!
Congratulations to the following departments that
achieved a 90% or greater Patient Satisfaction
Score for the month of February.
2C Stepdown - 99%
The Family Birthplace (3B) - 99%
SJHC-W Emergency Department - 96%
SJHC-W Adolescent Unit - 99%
Ambulatory Surgery - 94%
CT Scan - 98%
Keep up the great work, and continue to achieve
strive for exceptional patient care. You make
everything possible!
Mission Idol
Winners!
Congratulations to the Mission Idol Winners from SSM St.
Joseph Health Center! They are Paul Rogers, Food Services; Amy
Welker, HIM; Tanis Caras, RN, Surgery; and Le Robnett, Patient
Access. Pictured above, Le (middle) receives her “golden ticket”
into the Mission Days Show Choir from Idol judges Kenya
Haney (left) and Aaron Mensinger. Thank you to everyone who
auditioned!
New Interpreter Services Offered
All five adult hospitals
across the SSM Health Care
–St. Louis network are now
using new interpreter services
to help better communicate
with non-English speaking and
deaf patients.
SSMSTL recently contracted
with three new interpreter
services – Cyracom, Deaf
Inc., and LAMP – to become
the exclusive providers of
deaf/language interpretive
services for SSMSTL. The
new services allow a more
standardized approach to
the process throughout all
SSMSTL hospitals and provide
enhanced features. The service
works through a two-way
phone system and allows
for both hospital staff and
the patient to communicate
through an interpreter.
“We will now have phones
on all floors, which improves
our patient care,” says
Margaret Miller, nursing
supervisor at SJHC. “Using
this service also will allow us
to better track these patients
and determine how often we
use it.”
“Through the contract
negotiation process and the
consolidation to three vendors
we estimate that we will
achieve $75,000 in annualized
savings,” says Lee Bernstein,
executive vice president and
chief operating officer of the
North Operating Group. In an
effort to monitor the services
offered and associated costs,
a new general ledger code
has been created (6600091,
Interpreter Services), which
will be reviewed on a monthly
basis by each entity’s Nursing
Operations Department.
A new Network policy has
been issued that covers
guidelines for effectively
communicating with non-
English speaking or deaf
patients and can be found
under the “Policy and
Procedures” section on the
Intranet.
A special thanks to Mary
Brobst (Executive Director of
Nursing, SCHC), Chris Sparling
(CQI Facilitator, SSMSTL),
and the Deaf/Language
Interpreter Services CQIplus
team for driving this project to
conclusion.

Page 3
Register for
Mission Days!
Don’t forget to register for
Mission Days - May 17, 18 and
19. You should have received
an email about registering.
Please scroll to the bottom
of the email and click on “yes”
to register and “no” to decline.
There also is a registration
link at the top of the Network
Intranet homepage.
For team leaders registering
other employees, when you
register yourself you will see a
place to add on guests, please
register your employees at
that time. You also can modify
your registration at any time.
Please remember that you
are only able to register for
one session.
Dress Code:
Time is Up!
Our nurses’ new dress code
expresses caring and clinical
excellence while promoting
patient peace of mind— and
is our standard as of April
2011. Help increase patient
satisfaction by buying your
uniforms and meeting the SSM
Health Care – St. Louis dress
code. Visit your next on-site
uniform sale or buy on-line
at mpg-stl.com/ssm.
SSM Ortho
Seminar
Richard
Helfrey,
DO, of SSM
orthopedics,
will give free
seminar to the
public about
foot and ankle
conditions
on at 6 p.m. Wednesday,
April 26. If you are interested
in attending, please call
1-866-SSM-DOCS. Space is
limited.
DAISY Award Recognizes Nurses
When
J.
Patrick
Barnes
died
at age
33 of
complications from an
immune disease, his family
members sought to keep
his positive spirit alive. The
family agreed that the one
positive during Patrick’s
eight-week illness was the
skilled, compassionate care
he received from his nurses
around the clock, even when
he was sedated.
In 2000, the family
created The DAISY Award
for Extraordinary Nurses to
recognize the super-human
work nurses do every day.
Just more than 10 years
later, the family’s effort to
thank nurses has evolved
into a national recognition
and retention program
co-sponsored by AONE
(American Organization of
Nurse Executives).
SSM Cardinal Glennon
Children’s Medical Center
first adopted the DAISY
award program a year ago.
Now every hospital within
SSM Health Care-St. Louis
(SSMSTL) is following suit.
One bedside nurse at
each SSM hospital will be
recognized every month.
Recipients are nominated by
patients, families, colleagues,
physicians and nurse
administrators. Specifically,
the DAISY award recognizes
skilled, compassionate role
models who consistently
demonstrate safe, patientcentered
care,
evidencebased
practice,
collegiality,
professionalism
and advocacy.
Nomination
forms are available
throughout SSMSTL hospitals.
An appointed committee
at each entity will review
nominations and select
recipients.
Recipients receive an
“Extraordinary Nurse”
certificate, a DAISY Award pin
and a unique, hand-carved
stone sculpture symbolizing
the caregiver-patient bond.
The sculpture, “A Healer’s
Touch,” is created by the
Shona people of Zimbabwe,
who view healers as
community treasures. The
DAISY program helps to
financially sustain the artists
and their families.
Because it takes a team
to provide great patient
care, all the nurses and staff
members in the recipient’s
unit are treated to Cinnabon
rolls at every presentation.
(During Patrick’s hospital
stay, he only would eat
Cinnabon rolls and insisted
that his family bring enough
for his nurses, too. Cinnabon
now is one of the program’s
national sponsors.)
To learn more about the
program, contact Kelly
Pearce, administrative
director of nursing operations
at SSM St. Clare Health Center
and the network coordinator
of the DAISY program, or
visit daisyfoundation.org/
exnurses.htm.
Contribute to
the Mission Wall
SJHC is developing a Mission
Wall this year with photos
from employees’ mission trips.
Whether you’ve been to
Haiti, Africa, New Orleans,
Mississippi or downtown St.
Charles to help others, we
want your photos! Any format
will work — hard copy, on a CD
or via e-mail — just make sure
they are good quality so they
can be enlarged if necessary.
Be sure to include your
name and title and identify
those in the photo who are
associated with SSM. We’ll
need to know where and when
the photo was taken as well.
Once we receive the photos,
we’ll begin working on framing
and designing a layout. The
“Mission Wall “ will be located
in the hall between the lobby
and the garage.
All photos can be turned in
to the Medical Staff Office, or
via e-mail at James_Hinrichs@
ssmhc.com. Deadline for
submitting photos is May 1.
Enger Appointed
to Road Board
Mary Enger,
public relations
and marketing
manager for
SSM St. Joseph
Health Center,
has been
appointed to
the St. Charles County Road
Board for a three-year term,
ending in March 2015.
Mary is active in several
community organizations,
including Youth In Need,
Missouri KIDS, The Foundry
Arts Centre, and is a board
member of the St. Peters
Chamber of Commerce.
Congratulations to Mary!

Page 4
Always Safe: Prevent Catheter
Infections Before They Start!
CAUTI (catheter associated
urinary tract infections) has
been described
as “the elephant
in the room”
when it comes
to “superbugs,”
the powerful,
antibiotic-resistant
strains of staph
infection. According
to the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), more than a
third (36 percent) of hospitalacquired
infections (HAI) result
from CAUTI.
In fact, if improperly
monitored, over time an
indwelling Foley catheter
(the tube inserted into the
bladder to drain urine) has
a 100 percent occurrence of
infection.
While no super cure for
HAI superbugs exists, there
is prevention. That’s where
almost every caregiver (clinical
partners, nurses, physicians,
transporters and imaging
technicians) can make a
difference.
To address this challenge
SSM Health Care’s “Always
Safe .Every Day. Every Way”
program to make patient
safety top of mind sponsored
a “Foley Friend” initiative
through education
and infection
control. The
program teaches
caregivers to
bring a partner
(Foley Friend) with
them to audit a
patient’s catheter
management by using a
customized checklist.
Always remember:
• Work together to reduce
the threat of infection.
When inserting, removing or
maintaining a catheter make
sure you bring a Foley Friend
to audit you using the Mosby
checklist.
• Maintain sterile technique
during insertion and while
obtaining a sample. Wash you
hands and then wear gloves.
Wash hands after manipulation
of the catheter.
• Make sure to document
properly in Epic (electronic
health record).
• Monitor days on the
catheter.
• Keep drainage bags below
level of the bladder but never
touching the floor.
Heart Walk at Busch on May 14
Ever wished you could walk out
onto Busch Stadium? Here’s your
chance to do just that AND to fight
heart disease at the same time.
Join the SSM Heart Institute as
we take part in the American Heart
Association “Heart Walk” on Saturday,
May 14. One and three mile courses
available. All participants will receive
an SSM Heart Institute t-shirt, as well
as a lifetime of memories. Contact
your entity leader Erin Anderson
at 636-332-4316 or Sue Dressel at
314-989-3174 or sue_dressel@ssmhc.com for more information.
To donate or join a team, go to www.heartwalk.kintera.org/
metrostlouis/ssmheart. Let’s put an end to heart disease!
SJHC’s Emerging Leaders
Complete Yearlong Program
From left, SJHC employees Anne Perry, CSN, 5C/D, Amy
Welker, Team Leader, HIM, Jason Baalman, Radiology supervisor,
Dawn McGuire, Laboratory, and Kira Stearns, staff nurse,
4C/D, successfully completed the Emerging Leaders program
and gave their final presentations on March 23.
The Emerging Leaders program identifies high-performing
frontline leaders and staff to participate in yearlong
training and coursework designed to help them be an
effective leader. Each participant serves as a department
champion for coaching and goal-focused initiatives.
Congratulations to these individuals!
Elevator Facelift
The main lobby elevators
near registration will undergo
a complete replacement this
year. The renovation is being
done as a part of the capital
improvements plan for the
hospital.
This project is in the planning
phase, and more information
will be communicated when
construction begins.
The project is expected to
last eight months and will be
completed before year’s end.
OB Request
Construction progress on
OB has moved to the flooring
area directly in front of the 3A
elevators.
Although the elevators are
still fully functional, it would
be greatly appreciated if
traffic could be diverted to use
the main bank of
elevators. This will allow the
work to proceed at a steady
pace and with minimal
interruption.
Once construction is
completed in April, these
elevators will be restricted to
OB staff and physicians.

Page 5
ER Nurse Makes Great Catch!
Core Measures Update
Kathryn Biondo, CSN, ER, has been honored for making a great
catch! Katie recognized that the wrong patient had their blood
drawn and analyzed and a blood bank band placed on their
wrist and results issued. She also realized that the patient
who was supposed to have the order was not banded. Katie
prevented the error from ever reaching the patient. Great job!
Pictured above, from left: Lisa Schneider, CSN, Katie Biondo, Kris
Mims, clinical director, Gaspare Calvaruso, president, and Peggy
Nocchiero, CSN.
February April
Café Specials
Simply To Simply Go: To Go:
*Salad: Colorful
Greek Salad
Tuna
Bowl
Pasta
Salad
*Deli Special: Jamaican Acapulco Jerk
Chicken Chicken Wrap Wrap
*Sweet Shot: Black Mango Forest Key Cake
Lime “Food Pie for the Soul - A
April Celebration 5: Greek of Chicken Black History
Month”
Slouvaki
Feb. 4: Super
on Pita
Bowl Specials
April Feb. 8: Kafta Korean with BBQ Spicy Pork Olive
Taco Sauce and Couscous
April Feb. 12: 10: Chinese South African Beef Corn &
Broccoli Stir Chowder Fry
Feb. 14: Chocolate Fondue
April 14: Chicken Wing Bar
Feb. 17: Soul Food Day
April Feb. 18: 21: National Presidents’ Animal Day
Cracker Day Specials
April Feb. 20: 22: Beef Chicken Shabu Zanzibar Shabu
Noodle Feb. 24: Bowl Boer Chicken Pot Pie
April 22:
with
Fish
Stuffed
Fry
Pastry
Feb. 25: National Chocolate
April 24: Covered Easter Nuts Special Day
April 29: Chicken Satay with
Odilia’s Thai Peanut will be Sauce featuring a Heart
Healthy menu choice weekly in
February for National Heart
Month. Nutritional information
and recipes provided with menu
offering.
Mardi Gras
Winners!
Mary McClain, RN, finds a baby
inside her cupcake!
Congratulations to the
employees who found a tiny
baby hidden inside their
cupcakes during the Fun
Squad’s Mardi Gras Celebration
on March 9. Winners listed
below received a pair of movie
tickets.
SJHC
Jessica Loaiza, ED
Ben Ketcherside, Engineering
Mary McClain, Nursing
Sue Cappel, Radiology
Janet Watley, EEG
SJHC-W
Patti Britton, EVS
Azalea Schrader, Adolescent
Unit
SJMP
Amanda Williams, Radiation
Oncology
STL Cord Blood
Bank Marks
Milestone
The St. Louis Cord Blood
Bank at SSM Cardinal Glennon
Children’s Medical Center
achieved two milestones in
January -- the completion of its
15th year of existence and the
donation of its 100,000th unit.
Cord blood is the blood that
remains in the placenta and
umbilical cord after a baby is
born. It contains adult stem
cells. Transplantation with
stem cells from cord blood is
used to treat more than 70
different diseases and can
save lives.
The procedure is safe and
simple. It does not interfere
with the birthing process and
is painless for mother and
baby, a sentiment expressed
by the St. Louis Cord Blood
Bank’s 100,000th donor.
“Free, quick and painless,”
remarked Jacquelyn Weidinger,
after giving birth to her
daughter Delilah at SSM St.
Joseph Health Center on Jan.
Star of the Month!
Loan Splitt, SJHC-W Food
Services, is Februray’s Star of the
Month! Loan filled in for several
of her co-workers during the
February snow storm that left
many stranded. She left the
hospital just once the entire time
to receive radiation treatment.
That says dedication! Pictured
left, Gaspare Calvaruso presents
Loan with her award.
18. “I knew that Delilah’s cord
blood would go to a good
cause.”
With 23,000 units in storage,
the St. Louis Cord Blood
Bank at SSM Cardinal Glennon
is among the largest public
cord blood banks in the world
and is unique to the St. Louis
region.
“There have been about
20,000 cord blood stem cell
transplants performed since
1988 (year of the first clinically
documented use of cord
blood stem cells),” said Drew
Schumacher, St. Louis Cord
Blood Bank outreach coordinator.
“We have shipped nearly
2,000 units for transplant since
we opened in 1996. So, we’ve
provided about 10 percent of
the cord units used worldwide.”
SSM Maternity Care units
at SSM Health Care – St. Louis
hospitals have played a large
role, with nearly 50 percent of
delivering moms donating.
For more information,
contact the St. Louis Cord
Blood Bank at 314-268-2787, or
visit www.slcbb.org