Annual Report 2010 - Gifford Medical Center

2010 timeline
January
The fi rst baby of the New Year is born at Gifford
to Kristen Bigelow-Talbert and Andy Talbert of
Montpelier. Azrael Matthew Bigelow-Talbert
arrived at 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 1 – a healthy
7-pound, 11-ounce baby boy.
Gifford launches a Patient Care Navigator
Program to support breast care patients
through their biopsies and, for the small
percentage diagnosed, through their cancer
treatment.
The fi rst Healthier Living Workshop series
of the year begins. These free workshops
continue to be offered throughout the year for
chronic disease sufferers.
General surgeon Dr. Ovleto
Ciccarelli, who has worked
for Gifford providing weekend
on-call emergency coverage
since 2007, makes Gifford his
full-time workplace. The skilled
surgeon brings new procedures and much
enthusiasm to the medical center.
Gifford is awarded an Avon Foundation for
Women Breast Care Fund grant for the ninth
consecutive year. The only organization in the
state to receive the national award, Gifford has
been granted $40,000 for 2010 to increase
awareness of the life-saving benefi ts of early
detection of breast cancer.
February
Dr. Mandeep Hundal joins
Gifford’s inpatient hospitalist
team. Born in India, Dr. Hundal
has lived in the United States
since 2005 and was anxious
to make a rural community like
Randolph his home.
Free diabetes education continues at Gifford
with motivational speaker Dick Smith featured
at the February and March monthly Diabetes
Support Group meetings.
March
Gifford celebrates “A Decade of Change”
at its 104 th Annual Meeting. The event
highlights Gifford’s fi nancial improvement
and growth over the last decade. The hospital
is the only one in Vermont to meet its stateapproved
budget and operating margin for 10
consecutive years.
A North Carolina woman, Marcy Brenner, brings
her powerful documentary, “Dead Girl Walking,”
on surviving breast cancer to Gifford. She also
speaks, and her band, “Molasses Creek,”
performs.
A Babysitter’s Training Course is offered in
Gifford’s new Family Center space beside the
Ob/Gyn and Midwifery building as part of the
medical center’s continued outreach to women
and families.
April
In conjunction with National Healthcare
Decisions Day, Gifford provides free booklets
and one-on-one assistance completing Advance
Directives on April 16.
Employees raise nearly $400 for the March of
Dimes by donning “Blue Jeans for Babies.”
A “Home Alone and Safe” course is offered by
wellness educator Jude Powers for children in
The Family Center at Gifford.
Steve Votey is named Radiology Department
Manager. Steve is an experienced radiology
technologist and diagnostic imaging manager
who comes from Blue Hill Memorial Hospital in
Maine.
Rebecca O’Berry of Brookfi eld
joins Gifford as Vice President
of Surgical Services. Rebecca
previously worked at the region’s
tertiary care centers – Fletcher
Allen Health Care in Burlington
and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in
Lebanon, N.H.
A palliative care training for nurses is held in the
conference center, attracting almost 50 Gifford
nurses who learned techniques on supporting
and treating the dying.
A 1950s-themed Volunteer Appreciation Event
was held in the conference center, recognizing
Gifford’s amazing volunteers and their
contributions to the medical center.
May
Gifford receives two national honors. It is named
among the nation’s “100 Best Places to Work in
Health Care” by Becker’s ASC Review/Becker’s
Hospital Review. The medical center’s 2009
Annual Report also earns a 2010 Aster Award for
marketing excellence.
The medical center celebrates National
Hospital and Health Care Week with lots of
good fun.
June
Local teen
Krista Warner
donates more
than $1,000
to Gifford’s
Woman-to-
Woman Fund
after making the
cause her senior project. She held a bowling
tournament as a fund-raiser.
Two Gifford health care providers – pediatrician
Dr. Lou DiNicola and Emergency Department
nurse Carol Rittenhouse – share their
experiences in Haiti. Both traveled to Haiti to
provide health care following the devastating
7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged the
already impoverished country. Carol traveled
to Haiti in January just after the quake. Dr.
DiNicola went in May.
Construction begins
on the fi nal phase
of the ravine fi ll
project. In 2002,
the project began
and involved
fi lling a huge ravine to create more space for
parking and to connect the main hospital to
the neighboring Thrift Shop and day care. This
fi nal phase involves excavating, paving, moving
the hospital’s liquid oxygen tank away from the
roadside, relocating the driveway entrance,
expanding green space and landscaping.
Certifi ed-nurse midwife
Kathryn Saunders of Calais
joins Gifford. Kathryn
previously worked at Central
Vermont Medical Center and
comes to Gifford with a strong
commitment to the midwifery philosophy.
Podiatric surgeon Dr. Nicolas Benoit is elected
president of the Vermont Podiatric Medical
Association.
July
Gov. James
Douglas, along
with other
state offi cials,
presents
Gifford’s Best Kept Secrets - 2 -
Annual Report 2010