2010 Year in Review

Christiana Care2010 Year in Review

National Leader in Delivery of Care

Christiana Care Health System is

one of the country’s largest health

care providers, serving more than

600,000 patients yearly, placing it

as the 16th leading hospital in the

nation and 10th on the East Coast

in terms of admissions.

With more than 10,000 employees,

Christiana Care is the largest

private employer in Delaware and

the 10th largest employer in the

Philadelphia region. Christiana

Care is a $ 2.03 billion health

care system and provided the

community with $ 55.7 million of

free care and medicine in 2010.

in the u.s.:

admissiOns

16th

Births

28th

emergency

Visits

22nd

tOtal

surgeries

19th

On the east cOast:

admissiOns

10th

Births

12th

emergency Visits

13th

tOtal surgeries

10th

H

According to the American Hospital Association’s

latest survey of 6,342 U.S. hospitals, Christiana Care

ranks among the leaders by volume in several categories.

Dear Neighbors,

On behalf of all my colleagues at Christiana Care Health System, I am

pleased to share our 2010 Year in Review. As you read 2010 Year in Review,

you will learn about many of Christiana Care’s community

partnerships and accomplishments, from heart care to cancer

research to prevention, from strides in technology to honors

bestowed upon the talented, caring and dedicated people

who work here.

We live in historic and exciting times as we transform access

to medical care – making health care more accessible to people

throughout the nation. These are also historic times for Christiana Care,

as our landmark transformation of the Wilmington Campus continues.

Once completed, we significantly enhance care for our neighbors in the

city and surrounding communities.

Our commitment to patient-centered care continues to bolster Christiana Care’s

national reputation for excellence. That commitment has also enabled us to attract

some of the top specialists in America to enhance our extraordinary team of physicians,

surgeons, nurses, health care professionals, community outreach workers and

administrative staff.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to provide the very best care to any and

all neighbors in need, regardless of their ability to pay. If you have benefitted

from our services in the past, I hope you see your experience reflected

in the following pages. If you have not needed care, I hope what you

read gives you confidence that if the time comes, you can rely on

us for the expertise, dedication and compassion you expect.

Thank you for your confidence in Christiana Care.

Best regards,

Robert J. Laskowski, M.D., MBA

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF ExECUTIVE OFFICER

page 1 Christ iana Care Health System


Leaders in Heart & Vascular Care

Christiana Care receives Gold Seal for stroke treatment

Christiana Care is the recipient of the prestigious Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission

of Primary Stroke Centers. This honor is the result of meticulous documentation and a rigorous

on-site visit that demonstrated the health system’s program follows national guidelines and

standards that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.

Center for Heart & Vascular Healthawarded highest-possible rating

Christiana Care’s Center for Heart & Vascular

Health was awarded three stars, the highest

possible national ranking, from The Society

of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for 2009. The STS

comprehensive rating system compares the

quality of cardiac surgery at hospitals across

the country. Only 11.7 percent of hospitals

nationwide received this year’s STS three-star

rating.

OPEN-HEART CASES

Christiana Hospital 695

Beebe Medical Center 150

CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION CASES 4,792

ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY CASES 1,733

VASCULAR SURGERY CASES 1,446

VASCULAR INTERVENTIONAL CASES 4,123

CARDIOVASCULAR NON-INVASIVE STUDIES 18,491

VASCULAR ULTRASOUND STUDIES 32,945

CARDIAC REHABILITATION MONITORED VISITS 16,988

THE CENTER FOR HEART &

VASCULAR HEALTH features a full

range of cardiovascular services.

The Center for Heart & Vascular Health is exceed-

ing national standards in the treatment of heart

attack, heart failure and stroke. Christiana Care is

the winner of the American Heart Association’s

Gold Performance Achievement Awards for both

heart attack and heart failure treatment.

The awards recognize that Christiana Care

attained the noteworthy goal of treating patients

with at least 85-percent compliance for at least

24 months to core standards of care as outlined

by the AHA/American College of Cardiology.

Christiana Care also is the recipient of the Stroke

Association’s Bronze Performance Achievement

Award, which recognizes success in implement-

ing a higher standard of stroke care for at least

90 days.

Cardiac education program gets an A+

Christiana Care’s Advanced Cardiac Life Support

education program has received a score of 100

percent and is described as a model training

center in a reaccreditation evaluation by the

American Heart Association Emergency

Cardiovascular Care Program.

2010 Year in Review page 3

Christiana Care lauded for treatment of heart attack, heart failure and stroke

Treating atrial fibrillation without major surgery

Christiana Care is one of a few

select health care systems in the

Mid-Atlantic region offering the

convergent procedure, which is a minimally

invasive approach to treating chronic or persistent

atrial fibrillation (AF) that eliminates a painful

chest incision and the need to stop the heart.

AF is the most common heart rhythm disorder,

affecting 5 million Americans, who suffer from

pain, weakness and shortness of breath. The

procedure combines minimally invasive surgical

procedures with catheter ablation, accessing the

heart through small incisions in the abdomen.

Stereotaxis remote navigation system goes live

Available at only approximately 100 hospitals in the United States,

stereotaxis remote navigation performs cardiac catheter procedures

with greater speed and accuracy. The $1.5 million system includes

two giant external magnets that drive a thin, magnet-tipped catheter

through a patient's veins to the heart. The advanced technology treats

atrial fibrillation, which occurs when the heart rhythm is irregular.

This irregular beating can cause blood clots to form in the heart.

Stereotaxis is much more precise than the standard procedure of manually snaking a catheter to the

heart, which typically takes approximately six hours and has a success rate of approximately 60 to 70

percent. Stereotaxis has a success rate as high as 90 percent. This technology was provided by a

generous gift from Gerret and Tatiana Copeland.


Cardiovascular screenings expand to Wilmington Hospital

The highly successful Cardiovascular Screening

and Prevention Program of the Center for Heart &

Vascular Health is available at the Roxana Cannon

Arsht Surgicenter at Wilmington Hospital, which

makes the service more accessible to Christiana

Care’s neighbors in the city. At Christiana Hospital,

the program has helped more than 5,000 at-risk

patients learn how to reduce their odds of heart

attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Neuro ICU opens

A new, six-bed unit at Christiana Hospital

provides specialized care for patients with critical

neurological conditions. The plan is for a full-time

neurointerventionist as well as critical care surgeons

with board certification in neuro critical care to staff

the unit. The unit also is staffed by highly trained,

advanced practice nurses. The Neuro Intensive Care

Unit is focused on patients who present with

intracranial hemorrhages.

Heart failure nurse navigators guide patients

Specially trained nurses are guiding patients through

Christiana Care’s Heart Failure Program. Heart

failure is a complex illness that requires specialized

care, testing, procedures and consultations with a

variety of health professionals. Nurse navigators are

advocates who act as liaisons between patients, their

families, doctors, therapists, social workers and

other members of the health care team. They also

teach patients to manage their illnesses through

medications, nutrition, activity and monitoring of

weight and fluid intake.

Leaders in Heart & Vascular Care


New one-piece stent facilitates complex aortic aneurysm repairs

Patients who have an abdominal aneurysm but are

not candidates for open surgery or commercially

available endografts now have the option of a

customized UNITE stent graft designed especially

for them. Christiana Care is one of only 21 research

sites in the United States in Phase II trials of the

UNITE stent, which is a single, flexible tube that

runs from the aorta into only one of the iliac arteries.

Widely used in Europe, the stent typically reduces

length of stay in the hospital from a week to a day.

GetWell Network improves outcomes

Christiana Care is one of three sites in the nation

to implement GetWell Network’s Heart Failure

Interactive Care Plan, following a successful one-year

pilot study at a Virginia hospital. Results from the

study show remarkable improvement in outcomes

from 2007 to 2008, including a 13-percent reduction

in length of stay, 74-percent reduction in the rate of

readmission 30 days after discharge, and 43-percent

improvement in patient satisfaction scores. Heart

failure is one of the most common and fastest-

growing reasons for hospitalizations and requires the

involvement of patients in managing their chronic

conditions. GetWell Network’s plan engages patients

and their families early in the process, with

outstanding results.

AHA Scientific Sessions feature Christiana Care authors

Christiana Care investigators focused on outcomes and quality of care in four studies and two poster

presentations at the prestigious American Heart Association’s Scientific Meetings. Topics included

treatment in the blockage of arteries, repair of artery perforation during angioplasty, anticoagulation

therapy as a reduction in stroke therapy and the ways in which physical limitations can predict

outcomes for cardiovascular events in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

“Christiana Care investigators are publishing in some of the top journals and increasingly bringing in

grant money to support our growing research programs,” says William S. Weintraub, M.D., director of

the Christiana Center for Outcomes Research.

Delivering

InnovativeCancer Care

Through research, evidence-based practice and

community outreach, Christiana Care’s Helen

F. Graham Cancer Center plays a leading role in

Delaware’s rapidly declining cancer incidence

and mortality rates.

Formerly first in the nation for its cancer

mortality rates, Delaware now ranks 13th.

Rates for cancer mortality in Delaware are

dropping faster than anywhere else in the

country, at twice the national rate.

“Ninety percent of the progress in cancer care

and research results from clinical trials

sponsored by the National Cancer Institute,”

says Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America-

endowed medical director of the Helen F.

Graham Cancer Center. “Our patient accrual

rate into clinical trials is almost seven times the

national average—26 percent, compared to the

national rate of 4 percent.” Dr. Petrelli also

credits the 16 Multidisciplinary Disease Centers

with increasing patient visits to the Graham

Center from approximately 60,000 in 2003 to

more than 134,000 in 2010.

Helen F. Graham Cancer Center leads the wayin reducing cancer in Delaware

PATIENTS NEWLY DIAGNOSED AND/OR NEWLY TREATED 3,112

RADIOLOGY ONCOLOGY CONSULTS 2,270

EXTERNAL BEAM TREATMENTS 30,988

PATIENTS ENROLLED IN CLINICAL TRIALS 925

THE HELEN F. GRAHAM

CANCER CENTER features a full

range of cancer services.


In 2009, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center had134,296 patient visits – which is more than doublethe 60,000 patient visits recorded in 2003.

60,112 75,639 97,135 108,395 109,506 110,630 134,296

03 04 05 06 07 08 09

Commission on Cancer praises clinical trials and reduced disparities

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center received

another three-year accreditation with commendation

from the Commission on Cancer of the American

College of Surgeons. The commission has accredited

the cancer program at Christiana Care since 1985.

“This is an excellent cancer program that should

serve as an example of how multidisciplinary care

and clinical trials can be delivered in a private

practice setting,” says the Commission on Cancer

performance report, which cites the Graham Center

for a “terrific clinical outreach program geared

toward reducing disparities in the community” and

for a “phenomenal clinical trial accrual each year.”

Medical Genetics program opens door to the future of medicine

Christiana Care’s new Medical Genetics program

is transforming the diagnosis, treatment and

prevention of many diseases, offering full clinical

genetics services in Delaware for the first time.

The program encompasses cancer, cardiology,

maternal-fetal medicine and pediatrics. The goal

is to build an infrastructure to diagnose inherited

disorders while tailoring treatment based on the

patient’s unique genetic profile. The combined

database of Christiana Care’s Center for Heart &

Vascular Health and the Helen F. Graham Cancer

Center will enable researchers to learn even more

about the relationship between genetics and health.

Center for Translational Cancer Researchis a joint effort

The opening of the new Center for Translational

Cancer Research (CTCR) on the Helen F. Graham

Cancer Center campus enhances the center as a

comprehensive cancer program that highlights

prevention, treatment and laboratory research.

Under the leadership of Bruce Boman, M.D., Ph.D.,

medical director of Cancer Genetics and Stem Cell

Biology, the CTCR is a collaborative effort with the

University of Delaware and the Delaware

Biotechnology Institute.


“This is an excellent cancer program that shouldserve as an example of how multidisciplinary careand clinical trials can be delivered in a privatepractice setting.”

Commission on Cancer Performance Report

Community Clinical Oncology Program is accrual champion

The Cancer and Leukemia Group B, known as CALGB, places Christiana Care’s

Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) at the top for recruiting patients for

clinical trials for the period May 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010. Christiana Care was fifth overall

out of 45 participating organizations. Christiana Care’s accrual rate is 26 percent, far above

the national average of 4 percent. That is due, in part, to recruiting community physicians

to CCOP and making nurses available to oncology practices at the Helen F. Graham

Cancer Center to enroll patients. Clinical trials play an essential role in cancer research.


Graham Center selected for Community Cancer Centers program

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is making

tremendous strides to speed research and raise the

quality of care for minority and underserved patients

in a groundbreaking program. One of only 30 cancer

centers in the United States selected for the National

Cancer Institute Community Cancers Centers Program,

the Graham Center places special emphasis on minority

patients, as well as people who are elderly, poor or live

in rural areas. The result is expanded clinical trials in

those communities, with patients receiving access to

cutting-edge treatment in as many as 130 studies.

The goal is to determine what it will take to establish

a national network of community cancer centers

fully engaged in research that can provide the latest

evidence-based treatment for patients of all ethnic

and economic backgrounds.

NCI funding advances research

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is the

recipient of $2.8 million from the National

Cancer Institute, part of the National

Institutes of Health, to expand cancer research. The

funding is part of $80 million from the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act awarded to the 16

members of the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program

and supports an additional 14 new network sites.

Dr. Petrelli shares cancer success story at national conference

Christiana Care took the national stage at the American College of Surgeons

Conference in Chicago, with Nicholas Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America endowed

medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, giving the Commission on

Cancer Keynote Address.

Among Christiana Care’s successes that Dr. Petrelli highlighted were:

• Delaware’s colorectal screening rate is first in the country, with screening for

blacks 25 percent higher than the national average. Increased access to screening

is saving lives in minority communities, with cancer rates for blacks declining

three times faster than for whites.

• Both cancer mortality rates and the adult smoking rate are falling twice as fast in

the state as the national average.

Delivering Innovative Cancer Care


Colorectal Cancer Program brings latesttreatments home

Christiana Care’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is a

leader in care for colorectal cancer, providing the latest

treatments and cutting-edge research. It is the only

such program in Delaware and one of only a few in the

region. In Delaware, colorectal cancer is the third most

often diagnosed cancer and the third most common

cause of cancer death.

“The Colorectal Cancer Program catalyzes the Center

for Translational Cancer Research’s (CTCR) ability to

conduct colon cancer stem cell research aimed at

finding curative treatments while potentially doubling

the number of active research protocols through new

collaborations and increased trials,” says Bruce Boman,

M.D., Ph.D., director of Cancer Genetics and Stem Cell

Biology at the CTCR.

NCI website puts Helen F. Graham Cancer Center in spotlight

Visit the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Biomedical

Informatics Grid (caBIG®) website for a video about

Christiana Care’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center.

A member of NCI’s Community Cancer Center

Program, Christiana Care harnesses caBIG’s vast

information network, designed to share knowledge

and data among the entire cancer community with

the goal of accelerating discovery and saving lives.

Helen F. Graham Cancer Center expansionwins design award

The expansion of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center

is Mid-Atlantic Construction magazine's 2009 project

of the year in the health care category. The trade

publication honored only 40 projects in 16 categories

representing the finest in design and construction in

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the

District of Columbia. The project, designed to provide

a continuum of cancer care under the same roof, more

than tripled the size of the center.

page 1 0 Christ iana Care Health System

Serving our Community

REDUCING REGULATED MEDICAL WASTE BY 50%

REDUCING AIR EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS BY 80%

INCREASING RECYCLING BY 15%

CHRISTIANA CARE IS A LEADER

IN ENVIRONMENTAL

STEWARDSHIP resulting in:

Christiana Care is a leader in protecting the environment

Christiana Care is the first Delaware hospital to receive a Trailblazer Award for environmental

leadership from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The award recognizes hospitals in

Delaware and Pennsylvania that are models for other hospitals. Christiana and Wilmington

hospitals both received the Partners for Change with Distinction Award from Practice Greenhealth

in recognition of Christiana Care’s comprehensive environmental stewardship program and

leadership in both the community and health care sectors.

What’s more, Christiana Care now buys 40 percent of its electricity from a wind farm in

Pennsylvania. In addition, Christiana Care hosted two medicine cabinet clean-out events for

the community in the past year, in cooperation with the Delaware Nurses Association.

2010 Year in Review page 1 1

Delaware Medical Relief Team brings care to Haiti

Sometimes our “community” extends beyond our

regional borders. Several relief teams from Delaware

brought desperately needed medical care and supplies

to Jacmel, Haiti, in the wake of the devastating

earthquake there.

The teams included Christiana Care physicians,

surgeons, nurses, physician’s assistants and emergency

medical technicians. Christiana Care supported the

volunteers by providing medications and supplies as

well as paid time off for employees.

When the first team arrived, they found the hospital in

Jacmel, 60 miles from the Haitian capital of Port au

Prince, in ruins. So the team set up tents, managed to

get an abandoned generator working and started

treating patients. The volunteers also shared supplies

with other medical workers.

That first week the group treated approximately 5,000

patients and performed more than 20 surgeries,

including four amputations. “Without the amputations

they performed, those people, including a little girl,

would be dead,” Lanny Edelsohn, M.D., of Christiana

Care Neurology Specialists, told a News Journal reporter

who accompanied the group.

Christiana Care moves toward Electronic Medical Record

Christiana Care has joined an elite group of hospitals—

only 3.8 percent nationwide—that have implemented a

closed loop medication process and are in the top 10

percent of hospitals who have gone live with

Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE) at both

Wilmington and Christiana hospitals.

CPOE, a generic name for software that providers use

to write orders for patients, is a major step toward

completing our state-of-the-science paperless medical

record. Because CPOE introduces supportive

technology for orders, it can dramatically improve

safety. CPOE streamlines practice standards,

incorporates clinical decision support into daily

practice, improves interdepartmental communication,

facilitates patient transfers and captures data for

management, research and quality monitoring.

Christiana Care has gone even further in its quest for

improving health care delivery. In support of the

federal government’s implementation of “meaningful

use” standards for health information technology,

Christian Care is partnering with Quality Insights of

Delaware in a pilot project for community-based,

primary care physicians for rapid adoption of

electronic health information technology. The initiative

leverages the Delaware Health Information Network,

the nation’s first statewide health information network.


Emergency Departments reduce waiting times

How does one of the nation’s busiest emergency

departments treat patients with non-life-threatening

injuries or illness faster? Christiana Care’s two

Emergency Departments—which handle more than

160,000 patient visits per year—quickened the pace

by stationing a patient care team composed of a

nurse, a physician’s assistant and a patient-care

technician close to the patient-arrival area. Now,

rather than repeating information at various stops,

this patient goes through the intake and assessment

process simultaneously, significantly reducing length

of stay.

The results are impressive. More than 100 patients a

day with non-life-threatening injuries or illnesses go

this route. Many receive treatment within 30 minutes,

reducing the overall average Emergency Department

time of stay by about 50 percent. A similar process is

underway for patients with moderate-to-severe but

not life-threatening illnesses. In its testing phase,

the Synchronous Provider Evaluation and Efficient

Disposition (SPEED) process shows great potential,

trimming the treatment length of stay by nearly

30 percent.

Wilmington campus transformationunderway

Christiana Care is expanding and renovating

Wilmington Hospital – a $210 million investment that

helps to continue building a healthy community in

the city of Wilmington. The hospital is open and fully

operational during construction. The Wilmington

campus will grow by 337,000 square feet, creating a

1 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art medical center.

The project will be complete in 2014.

Christiana Care honored for Gift of Life program

The Philadelphia chapter of the Gift of Life program

recognizes Christiana Care for its leading role in the

transplant program. More than 40 families donated

100 organs for transplant, making Christiana Care the

top health care system in providing lifesaving

donations in the Philadelphia chapter.



eCare team connects hospitals across Maryland

St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., is the

latest of seven rural hospitals in the Maryland eCare

network to connect in real time to critical care

physicians and nurses at Christiana Care’s eCare

Central. By 2012, Christiana Care will connect to

almost 80 beds in intensive care units in the network.

eCare virtually connects physicians, nurses and

patients via voice, camera and data, enabling remote

hospitals to provide the highest level of critical care

around the clock. The hospitals work most closely

with eCare on nights, weekends and holidays, when

fewer local specialists are available.

Christiana Care honored for excellence in women’s health

Christiana Care is the region’s only National

Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

That prestigious designation is based on:

• Improving the health and well-being of women

through community-based organizations.

• Providing integrated, coordinated care with strong

links to existing programs in the community.

• Offering comprehensive care in a way that reduces

fragmentation and recognizes the complexity of

women’s lives.

In addition, Christiana Care also provides excellent

clinical care and preventive services, training for

health care professionals, and public outreach and

education.

Improved procedures increase patientsafety, reduce MRI wait times

Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging procedures

and a new MRI unit reduced inpatient wait times

at Christiana Hospital from 13 hours to eight—a

40-percent improvement that also reduces length

of stay. The procedures are so successful that

Wilmington Hospital is now implementing them,

as well.

A team from nursing units, the Radiology

Department and Operational Excellence modified

procedures and protocols in three key areas: patient

interviews, communication between the units and

Radiology, and orders for pre-MRI x-rays. Instead of

handwritten, faxed orders and safety checklists that

could be misinterpreted, mislaid or missed at shift

change, the process is now electronic and completed

within two hours 80 percent of the time. The result

is fewer backlogs and improved patient satisfaction

and safety.

Home telemonitoring assists heart failure patients

The Visiting Nurses Association is helping to reduce

costly hospital readmissions and improve outcomes

for heart failure patients through home telemonitoring

technology. Analysis shows 40 percent of heart failure

patients incur 60 percent of the costs associated with

multiple inpatient stays and Emergency Department

visits.

The VNA pilot study tracked complications among

discharged heart failure patients. Through daily blood

pressure, pulse and weight readings transmitted by

phone to a nurse, VNA provided the interventions

needed to prevent hospital readmissions. Fewer

readmissions and fewer ED visits for monitored

patients resulted in cost reductions of 85 percent and

73 percent, respectively. Patients also report less

anxiety and depression at discharge and a high sense

of satisfaction with the program. Plans call for

enrolling more patients in home telemonitoring and

establishing a support group.

Christiana Care hosts Medicareenrollment event

Seniors confused by Medicare eligibility options

and drug plans now have answers, thanks to an

information and enrollment event hosted by

Christiana Care. Counselors from the Centers for

Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and

ELDERinfo met with 47 seniors at the event, a nearly

20-percent increase over last year’s session.



Triplets? Christiana Hospital prepared for multiple births and more

Christiana Hospital’s new state-of-the art operating

room in Labor and Delivery is bigger and better,

outfitted to accommodate the extra staff that is present

at multiple births. Christiana Care has been home to

more than 500 multiple births in the past five years.

The OR is equipped with a lift to place mothers with

special needs, such as paraplegic women, safely on an

extra-wide table that can support up to 1,000 pounds.

Lights and fetal monitors are mounted on booms.


Emergency response team acts quickly in obstetrical crises

At Christiana Care, expectant mothers in peril

receive care within minutes, thanks to the Obstetrical

Emergency Response Team (OBERT). Instead of

going through traditional escalation steps, OBERT

brings immediate support to obstetricians and nurses

responding to such conditions as shoulder dystocia,

hemorrhage and fetal distress. “Things can

deteriorate quickly in obstetrics and many problems

can’t be predicted,” says Matt Hoffman, M.D., MPH,

director of the Division of Education and Research.

“With OBERT, we often are able to intervene before

something becomes a full-blown emergency.”

Hospitalists usedischarge clinic to headoff readmissions

Concerned about the high rate of

readmissions, Christiana Care

hospitalists are offering follow-

up care to patients leaving the

hospital with a discharge center.

“The discharge center allows us

to complete the cycle of hospital

care for patients who don’t have

a follow-up appointment with a primary care

provider,” says Edmondo Robinson, M.D., MBA,

medical director of Christiana Care Hospitalist

Partners. Discharge clinics also ensure that patients

are taking their medications as prescribed. When a

follow-up visit takes place within a week of

discharge, problems can be detected sooner when

they are easier to treat.

On-site addictions counseling helps to transform lives

More patients with substance abuse issues are

receiving potentially lifesaving treatment for their

addictions, thanks to an innovative peer-to-peer

counseling program at Wilmington Hospital in

which an on-site counselor engages patients with

drug and alcohol problems. The program has

produced dramatic results: 35 percent of the 313

individuals who received peer-to-peer counseling as

of June 2010 have participated in a licensed inpatient

or outpatient treatment program. “Before, the only

option available to engage patients in community-

based drug treatment was to hand them a phone

number, and few, if any, would follow through,”

says Terry Horton, M.D., an internist on the faculty

of the Department of Medicine.

Clothescloset helpspatients inneed

In order to treat

emergency and

trauma patients

quickly, their

clothes are

typically cut

and removed.

Sometimes that

means patients

need clothes to

wear home,

either because their garments were damaged or

because they have no one to bring them clothes.

For more than 20 years, social workers at Christiana

and Wilmington hospitals have maintained clothes

cupboards that enable patients who are poor,

homeless or without friends or family to leave the

hospital with a sense of dignity. “We are here to help

people who are often in horrible situations,” says

Susan Grieg, a social worker in the Trauma

Department.

CHRISTIANA CARE CONDUCTED

631 CLINICAL RESEARCH AND

PHARMACEUTICAL STUDIES including:


Research &EducationAdvancing medical care through research and education

Christiana Care is one of the largest community-based teaching hospitals conducting research in the

United States. Robust partnerships in clinical, translational and outcomes research boost Christiana

Care’s national reputation and speed new ideas, technologies and treatments to communities

challenged by today's most pressing health concerns.

Christiana Care’s commitment to exploring the science of medicine keeps clinicians at the top of their

specialty and attracts the best and the brightest to serve as faculty and mentors in our fully accredited

graduate medical education programs and undergraduate student rotations – where tomorrow’s

health providers learn state-of-the science medical care.

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT 10

CARDIAC SURGERY 1

CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH 63

COMMUNITY OUTCOMES 4

CRITICAL CARE 9

COMMUNITY SERVICE 1

DIABETES & METABOLIC 15

EDUCATION 2

EMERGENCY MEDICINE 54

FAMILY MEDICINE 2

GENETICS 1

GENETICS ONCOLOGY 3

GYN ONCOLOGY 24

HEMATOLOGY 9

HEMOPHILIA 1

INFECTIOUS DISEASE 10

INTERNAL MEDICINE 12

MATERNAL/FETAL MEDICINE 29

NEONATOLOGY 19

NEPHROLOGY/RENAL TRANSPLANT 2

NEUROLOGY/NEUROSURGERY 3

NURSING 18

OB/GYN 17

ONCOLOGY 192

ORTHOPEDICS 4

OTHER RESEARCH (NON-CATEGORIZED) 7

OUTCOMES 18

PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY 1

PEDIATRICS 2

PHARMACEUTICAL ONCOLOGY 26

PHARMACY 2

PLASTIC SURGERY 2

PULMONARY/RESPIRATORY CARE 9

RADIATION ONCOLOGY 43

RADIOLOGY/INTERVENTIONAL

RADIOLOGY 2

RADIOLOGY-CARDIOLOGY 1

SURGERY 5

SURGICAL CRITICAL CARE/TRAUMA 7

WOMEN’S HEALTH 1

GrAnd ToTAl 631

Christiana Care honored for innovative approach to education, research

Christiana Care is the recipient of the 2010 Alliance Innovation Award from the Alliance of

Independent Academic Medical Centers, a national organization made up of 69 major academic

medical centers and health systems. The award recognizes Christiana Care for innovative

approaches to medical education and research that result in better patient outcomes.


Delaware Health Sciences Alliancepowers research

Christiana Care and three other leading

hospitals and educational institutions have

formed the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance,

a dynamic partnership dedicated to cutting-

edge research, quality education for health

care providers and better health care for the

people of Delaware. The alliance joins

Christiana Care with Thomas Jefferson

University, the University of Delaware and

Nemours/Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for

Children. The historic foursome will share

resources on such vital topics as cancer

treatment and prevention, cardiovascular

disease and rehabilitative medicine. A key

component of the initiative is establishing a

Jefferson presence near the University of

Delaware. The campus will house classrooms,

study halls and residences for up to 150

medical, pharmacy, nursing, occupational and

physical therapy students.


Imagine a seven-room hospital where doctors gain a

firm foundation in surgical techniques, hand-to-eye

coordination and repetitive skills exercises—before

they pick up a scalpel to operate on a real patient.

The bodies are simulated, but the Virtual Education

and Simulation Training Center functions like a

hospital, complete with a trauma bay, intensive

care unit, operating room and standardized

patient rooms.

The patients are adult and pediatric high-fidelity

human patient simulators that breathe, speak, blink

their eyes and respond to stimuli, enabling doctors,

nurses, emergency medical technicians and first

responders such as police and firefighters to obtain

highly realistic, hands-on training at the John H.

Ammon Medical Education Center on the Christiana

Hospital Campus. Audio and visual recordings

enable learners to review and analyze their work.

V I R T U A L E D U C A T I O N & S I M U L A T I O N T R A I N I N G C E N T E R

Education Center safely simulates real life

R E S E A R C H | H e a r t & V a s c u l a r M e d i c i n e


Pioneering clot-busting technique enters national clinical trial

A revolutionary way to treat large-volume acute clots

in patients with deep vein thrombosis is going

national in a new clinical trial. The procedure was

developed by Mark J. Garcia, M.D., FSIR, and his

Interventional Radiology colleagues. Christiana Care

is one of 28 U.S. hospitals selected to participate in

ATTRACT (Acute Venous Thrombosis: Thrombus

Removal with Adjunctive Catheter-Directed

Thrombosis) to evaluate outcomes using the

pharmacomechanical thrombolysis technique

instead of standard therapy with blood thinners.

Dr. Garcia and his colleagues previously have

shown that their “Rapid Lysis” technique safely

and effectively breaks up and removes acute blood

clots in the veins faster and more efficiently without

surgery, reducing the odds of pulmonary embolism

and long-term disability.

Christiana Carecardiologist publishescommentary on cardiacrehab study

William Weintraub, M.D., John H. Ammon Chair of

Cardiology at Christiana Care, published an editorial

in the Jan. 4 issue of Circulation, an American Heart

Association journal, commenting on a finding that

people who have had a heart attack or bypass

operation should stick with rehab to prevent another

one. “Although the statistical methods were quite

sophisticated, the interpretation of the data is

uncertain,” he writes.

Dr. Weintraub argues that because the study cannot

account for why people went to fewer or more

sessions, it cannot prove that rehab alone accounted

for better survival rates. Even so, he believes

rehabilitation has been shown to be beneficial in

clinical trials and, pending more data, patients

should be counseled to finish their full set of sessions.


CREST trial a landmark in stroke research

A landmark clinical trial shows two medical

procedures designed to prevent future strokes are

safe and effective for people at risk for stroke. As a

result, physicians now have more options in tailoring

treatments for at-risk patients. One of the largest

randomized stroke prevention trials ever, the Carotid

Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial

(CREST) took place over a nine-year period at 117

centers in Canada and the United States, including

Christiana Care.

Carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure to

clear blocked blood flow and is considered the

gold-standard prevention treatment. In a trial of

2,502 participants, it was compared to carotid artery

stenting, a newer and less invasive procedure that

involves threading a stent and expanding a small

protective device in the artery to widen the blocked

area and capture any dislodged plaque.

The overall safety of the two procedures is largely

the same. However, when the investigators looked at

the numbers of heart attacks and strokes in the weeks

following the procedure, they found that there were

more heart attacks in the surgical group—2.3 percent

compared to 1.1 percent in the stenting group—and

more strokes in the stenting group—4.1 percent

versus 2.3 percent for the surgical group. “The

principal finding of CREST is that the choice of

treatment must be individualized for each patient

with carotid disease,” says Timothy Gardner, M.D.,

medical director of Christiana Care’s Center for

Heart & Vascular Health.

Study compares effectiveness of cardiac procedures

The Christiana Care Center for Outcomes Research

(CCOR) is sharing in a $4.026 million grant in a

groundbreaking study to compare the effectiveness

of catheter-based and surgery-based cardiac

procedures. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood

Institute of the National Institutes of Health awarded

the grant to the American College of Cardiology in

partnership with The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

(STS). The principal investigator is William

Weintraub, M.D., CCOR director and chair of the

ACC’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry

CathPCI Registry Steering Committee.

The research uses combined databases of more than

10 million patients from ACC and the STS as well as

the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’

MEDPAR data. The data will help doctors make

better decisions and improve care for patients with

coronary artery disease. Christiana Care will analyze

economic outcomes of the study.

R E S E A R C H | H e a r t & V a s c u l a r M e d i c i n e


Trial studies cholesterol drug’s effect on colon cancer

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is leading a

national clinical trial to determine if Crestor, a

cholesterol-lowering statin, can prevent new tumors

from forming after patients have had surgery to

remove Stage I or II colon cancer.

New lung cancerscreening trial couldadvance earlydetection

Researchers at the Helen F.

Graham Cancer Center taking

part in a Phase II and Phase

III clinical trial could help to

launch a key diagnostic test

for early-stage lung cancer.

Christiana Care is recruiting lung cancer patients who

have been diagnosed but have not yet received any

other therapy to participate in the test, which uses a

molecular marker that binds to cancer cells and

fluoresces red under ultraviolet light. Biomoda Inc.,

maker of the diagnostic test called CyPath®, says the

data from Christiana Care should complete the pilot

phase of the study.

“This trial has the potential of developing a useful

alternative to invasive needle biopsy or bronchoscopy,

which are currently used to establish the diagnosis

of lung cancer,” says Thomas Bauer, M.D., principal

investigator. “If accurate, this method could be used

to diagnosis other cancers.”

Developing a better test for cancer genes

A study at the Center for Translational Cancer

Research could lead to the development of a faster,

cheaper blood test to identify individuals who

are at high risk for colon cancer and other cancers.

Researchers are focusing on two genes, MSH2 and

MLH1, known as mismatch repair genes. Four of five

people who inherit these genes will develop cancer.

In the study, researchers are examining blood samples

from patients in the Familial Risk Assessment Program

at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center.

R E S E A R C H | C a n c e r C a r e


Cancer Genome Atlas charts genetics

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is part of the

Cancer Genome Atlas, a massive, federally funded

effort to speed up scientific insight into the molecular

basis of cancer so doctors can ultimately diagnose

and treat patients based on their genetic profiles.

Christiana Care participates in a four-year, $4.6

million subcontract from the National Cancer

Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of

Health. The Graham Center plays a vital role in the

initiative, collecting, storing and sharing tissues and

blood samples for research.

Research program examines salivary gland bioengineering

Robert Witt, M.D., section chief of Head and Neck

Oncology at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center,

collaborates with scientists at the University of

Delaware in a research program on creating a tissue-

engineered artificial salivary gland for people with

dry glands damaged by radiation treatments. He

has published in leading peer-reviewed scientific

journals and has spoken on the topic in North

America, Europe and Asia. He published his first

book, Salivary Gland Diseases, in 2006. He recently

completed his second book, Advances in the

Management of Thyroid Cancer, Surgical Oncology

Clinics of North America.

R E S E A R C H | C a n c e r C a r e

Cardiovascular and cancer research expands

A five-year, $17.4 million federal grant broadens

research into the diagnostics and treatment of

cancer and cardiovascular disease. The funding

supports 15 projects, including research on cancer

stem cells and biomarkers, as well as how kidney

function impacts the link between obesity and heart

disease. The National Institutes of Health awarded

the grant to the Delaware IDeA Network of

Biomedical Research, which includes Christiana

Care, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute at the

University of Delaware, Nemours/Alfred I. du

Pont Hospital for Children, Delaware State

University, Delaware Technical and Community

College and Wesley College.


Christiana Care authors analyze handoffs during shift changes

Lee Ann Riesenberg, Ph.D., director of Medical

Education Research and Outcomes at Christiana Care,

is lead author of an article in the American Journal of

Nursing titled “Nursing Handoffs: A Systematic

Review of the Literature.” Co-authors are Janet M.

Cunningham, RN, MHA, vice president of Nursing,

and Jessica Leisch, BS. “Nursing handoffs occur

when shifts change two, three or more times daily,

seven days a week, yet … there are few evidence-

based standardized procedures to ensure that

communication is managed effectively,” Dr. Riesenberg

concludes. “Errors in communication give rise to

substantial clinical morbidity and mortality and,

therefore, must be addressed.” Dr. Riesenberg is

also lead author of “Systematic Review of Resident

and Attending Physician Handoffs,” published

last December in Academic Medicine, and “Handoff

Mnemonics” in the American Journal of Medical Quality.

Center for Outcomes Research evaluatescost and care to find best treatment

Christiana Care is leading the way in comparative

effectiveness research, identifying the best ways

to treat patients at the most efficient cost. The

Christiana Care Center for Outcomes Research

(CCOR) is one of a handful of national groups in

the science of evaluating the consequences of health

care delivery. “We compare one form of therapy or

treatment with another,” says William Weintraub,

M.D., John H. Ammon Chair of Cardiology and CCOR

director. “We look at different approaches to

management, how we take care of people, not just

comparing one pharmaceutical to another.”

Delaware’s dense, diverse population makes

Christiana Care ideally suited to these types of studies.

The health care system’s patient base includes 1.2

million people in Delaware and its surrounding areas.

R E S E A R C H | H e a l t h C a r e D e l i v e r y


R E S E A R C H | W o m e n ’ s & C h i l d r e n ’ s H e a l t h

Study links inductionsand C-sections

Deborah Ehrenthal, M.D., of

the Departments of Obstetrics

and Gynecology and Internal

Medicine at Christiana Care,

is lead researcher in a study

published in the July issue

of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Researchers found that women who had their labor

induced were twice as likely to need Cesarean section.

“The current findings suggest that putting more limits

on elective inductions would help lower the number of

C-sections performed nationally,” Dr. Ehrenthal says.

“The bottom line for pregnant

women is that they should

understand the reasons for

and potential risks of all types

of delivery methods and have

a frank discussion with their

doctor about all of their

options.”

Study delivers newfindings on late pre-term births

Christiana Care played an

important role in delivering

a study showing that the

likelihood of a baby developing

respiratory problems shortly

after birth increases substantially

for late preterm infants—babies born between 34 and

36 weeks—compared to full-term births of 38 to 40

weeks. Matt Hoffman, M.D., director of OB/GYN

Education & Research, was a co-author, and data from

15,000 births at Christiana Care

contributed to the findings

published in the July 28 issue

of Journal of the American

Medical Association.

JAMA®

The Journal of the American Medical Association


Christiana Care undertakes pioneeringresearch into fetal growth

Christiana Care is undertaking groundbreaking

research to establish a national standard for normal

fetal growth, gathering data that will help doctors to

more accurately determine if babies are developing

normally. One of only six institutions in the United

States selected for a $1.136 million grant from the

National Institutes of Health, Christiana Care is the first

to enroll expectant mothers in the three-year program.

The study focuses on low-risk women, age 18-40 and of

all ethnicities, living above the poverty line. Christiana

Care’s large, diverse population—more than 6,500

babies were born here last year—and proven track

record in OB/GYN research make it an ideal institution

for the project.

Basic training reducesrate of stillbirths

Stillbirths are a leading cause of

infant mortality, especially in the

developing world. Most of the

stillbirths occur during labor and

thus represent infants whose

lives can be saved. Research from

National Institutes of Health’s

sponsored Global Research Network for Women

and Children’s Health indicated that with early

intervention, 30 percent of stillbirths can be born alive.

Richard J. Derman, M.D., MPH, Christiana Care’s chair

of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is a principal investigator

in the collaborative study published in the Feb. 21

edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and

included sites in Argentina, the Democratic Republic of

Congo, Guatemala, India, Pakistan and Zambia.

Christiana Care’s collaboration, along

with its partner in south India, JNMC

Medical School, supports research on

the leading causes of death in women

and infants. This work has relevance

to our own patient population in

Delaware, as the same conditions that

affect women globally occur in the

United States at lesser rates and lessons

learned are often transferrable.

Delaware babies in national spotlight

Christiana Care is one of the 105 sites of the National

Children’s Study, the largest long-term study ever of

children’s health in the United States. Researchers,

including Deborah Ehrenthal, M.D., of the Departments

of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Internal Medicine

at Christiana Care, hope to develop a snapshot of

American children by following 100,000 youngsters

from before birth to age 21. The government-funded

study could help researchers understand how genetics

and the environment interact to impact health. It also

could provide clues to conditions such as autism,

asthma, mental illness, obesity and other orders.

In Delaware 1,000 babies in New Castle County

will be included in the study. Christiana Care

is working with the University of Delaware

and Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children in

partnership with investigators at the Children’s

Hospital of Philadelphia.


Joint Commission awards seal of approval

Christiana Care Health Services is the recipient of the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of

Approval, based on an unannounced on-site survey. The seal is proof of Christiana Care’s

organization-wide dedication to providing quality care for its neighbors.

Christiana Care receives Magnet® recognition for nursing care

Christiana Care Health System has achieved Magnet recognition for excellence in nursing

by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only 6 percent of the nation’s hospitals

have earned this honor, the highest level of national recognition for health care

organizations that demonstrate sustained excellence in nursing care. Christiana Care is the

only hospital in Delaware to achieve Magnet status.

Christiana Care named a US News & World Report Best Hospital

For the fourth consecutive year, Christiana Care ranks as one of the nation’s best hospitals.

US News & World Report places Christiana Care’s Department of Medicine and Department

of Surgery among the top hospitals in two specialties – Gastroenterology and Urology.

More than 4,800 U.S. hospitals are evaluated, and only a select 152—or 3 percent—are

included. Christiana Care is the only hospital in Delaware to make the list.

Christiana Hospital recognized for excellence in community value

Christiana Hospital has been recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals for community

value in the nation by Cleverley + Associates as part of its Community Value Leadership

Awards. Cleverley, a health care data and consulting services firm, ranks the top 100

hospitals each year based on financial viability and plant reinvestment, hospital cost and

charge structure and quality performance. Christiana Hospital also earned recognition as

a Community Value Five-Star Hospital for 2010 for placing in the top 20 percent of all

hospitals nationwide.

Excellence Every Day


Consumer Choice Award earned again

For the 15th consecutive year, Christiana Care has been named the top health care provider of

choice in Delaware based on a National Research Corporation survey of 200,000 area households.

Winning hospitals possess the best doctors, nurses and reputation and provide the best overall

quality of care.

Christiana Care tops in improvement education

The Christiana Care chapter of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Open School received recognition from IHI for earning more basic certificates of completion than

any other chapter in the world.

Kidney Transplant Program is a leader in treating kidney disease

Christiana Care’s Kidney Transplant Program has

earned the National Kidney Foundation’s Bruce

Zakheim, M.D., Memorial Legislative and Advocacy

Award for outstanding work in fighting chronic

kidney disease.

Christiana Care named a top workplace employer

For the seventh consecutive year, the News Journal names Christiana Care a Top Workplace

employer, an honor based on employee surveys from 90 companies in the Delaware region.

Only 50 companies made the best-place-to-work list. Here is what some of Christiana Care’s

employees say:

• I believe this organization is going in the right direction.

• I have many opportunities to learn and grow at this organization.

• I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life.

Christiana Care noted for providing quality respiratory care

Christiana Care has been named a Quality

Respiratory Care Institution for 2010 by The

American Association for Respiratory Care. The

honor recognizes hospitals that promote patient

safety by providing access to qualified respiratory

therapists. Only approximately 700 of the more

than 5,000 U.S. hospitals received the recognition.


Dr. Laskowski serves on COTH board

Christiana Care Health System

President and CEO Robert J.

Laskowski, M.D., MBA, is a

member of the Council of Teaching

Hospitals (COTH) and Health

Systems Administrative Board and

is a COTH representative to the

Association of American Medical

Colleges Assembly. He serves on

the Health Management Academy

Chief Executive Officers Forum and

the American Medical Association

Section on Medical Schools. He also

serves on the board of directors of

the United Way of Delaware and

the Wilmington HOPE Commission

and chairs the Delaware Public

Policy Institute. He was appointed

to the Economic Advisory Council

of the Federal Reserve Bank of

Philadelphia.

Dr. Gardner named toresearch foundation

Timothy Gardner, M.D., medical

director of the Center for Heart

& Vascular Health and past

president of the American Heart

Association, was elected Trustee

of the University of Delaware’s

Research Foundation and

appointed to the AstraZeneca

Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Gardner is also chair of the

Steering Committee, Cardiothoracic

Surgery Clinical Research Network

of the National Heart Lung and

Blood Institute of the National

Institutes of Health.

Dr. Petrelli providesleadership in cancer care

Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of

America endowed medical director

of the Helen F. Graham Cancer

Center, delivered the Commission

on Cancer keynote address at the

American College of Surgeons

annual clinical conference.

Dr. Petrelli is also a president-elect

nominee of the American Society

of Clinical Oncology.


Dr. Dickson-Witmer appointedvice chair of CoC task force

Diana Dickson-Witmer, M.D., associate

medical director of the Christiana Care

Breast Center at the Helen F. Graham

Cancer Center, was appointed vice chair

of a Commission on Cancer task force

charged with helping to establish the CoC’s new standards for cancer

centers around the country. She is also a member of the American Society

of Breast Disease’s Education Program Committee and of the Education

Committee of the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

Dr. Little honored with medical education award

Brian Little, M.D., Ph.D., chief academic officer, received the Association for Hospital Medical Education’s

President’s Award, a distinction that honors national thought leaders in graduate medical education.


Dr. Masters honored asstatesman in cancer care

Gregory A. Masters, M.D., FACP,

medical oncologist at the Helen

F. Graham Cancer Center at

Christiana Care, is a recipient of a

2010 Statesman Award from the

American Society of Clinical

Oncology.

Lynn C. Jones receivesAHA appointment

Lynn C. Jones, president and CEO

of the Christiana Care Visiting

Nurse Association, was named to

the American Hospital Association

Governing Council for Long Term

Care, Rehabilitation and Home

Health Care.

Dr. Granite reappointed toexam committee

Edwin L. Granite, D.M.D., chair

of the Department of Oral and

Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital

Dentistry, was reappointed for

the third year to the Examination

Committee of the American Board

of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Darcy Burbage receivesnational oncology award

Darcy Burbage, RN, MSN, clinical

nurse specialist at the Christiana

Care Breast Center at the Helen F.

Graham Cancer Center, is the 2010

recipient of the Pearl Moore

Making a Difference Award from

the Oncology Nursing Society.

Dr. Rizzo chair-elect ofLung Association board

Albert A. Rizzo, M.D., chief of

the Section of Pulmonary and

Critical Care Medicine at Christiana

Care, was elected Chair-Elect of

the National Board of Directors

for the American Lung Association.

Tricia Strusowski joinscancer panel

Tricia Strusowski, RN, MS, director

of Cancer Care Management, was

named to a special Technical Expert

Panel appointed by the National

Cancer Institute and the Agency for

Healthcare Research and Quality to

develop a survey of cancer patients

gauging their cancer care experience.

Dr. Galinat elected to AOA

Brian Galinat, M.D., chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, has

been elected to membership in the American Orthopaedic Association.

He is also in his last year of a six-year term as the Board of Councilors

representative to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and

serves on the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Coding,

Coverage and Reimbursement Committee.

EM residents Drs. Coletti and Hess are winners

Two Emergency Medicine residents earned national recognition at the 2009 American

College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly. Fifth-year Emergency

Medicine/Internal Medicine program resident Christian Coletti, M.D., won the

Emergency Medicine Residents Association Leadership Excellence Award for outstanding

leadership. First-year resident J. Daniel Hess, M.D., received the National Outstanding

Medical Student Award, which recognizes students who excel in compassionate care of

patients, professional behavior and service to the community and/or specialty.


Patrick Grusenmeyer joinsASCO advisory group

Patrick Grusenmeyer, Ph.D.,

completed his term as president

of the Association of Cancer

Executives in February and now

serves as immediate past president.

He was appointed to the American

Society of Clinical Oncology

Workforce Advisory Group for a

four-year term, and serves on the

Society’s Education Committee

and Practice Management

and Information Technology

subcommittee. He is also a member

of the Medicare Ambulatory

Payment Advisory Panel.

Sandy DelCoglin leadsresidency coordinator group

Sandy DelCoglin, general surgery

residency program coordinator,

has been selected president of the

National Association of Residency

Coordinators for Surgery.

Maureen Seckel named to nursing board

Maureen Seckel, RN, APN, MSN,

clinical nurse specialist, Medical

Pulmonary, was named to a three-

year term on the Board of Directors

of the American Association of

Critical Care Nurses, the world’s

largest specialty nursing

organization.

Dr. Jasani receives national appointment

Neil Jasani, M.D., MBA, residency director and assistant chair of the

Department of Emergency Medicine, was appointed to the Board of Examiners

for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest award

for quality presented to recipients by the President of the United States.


Linda Laskowski Jones’s article wins silver award

Linda Laskowski Jones, RN, MS, vice president of Emergency, Trauma &

Aeromedical Services, coauthored an article in Nursing 2009 that won a silver

award in the “how to” category from the American Society of Healthcare

Publication Editors.

0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000100,000 150,0000 50,00050,000

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS

06 47,051 99,477 146,528 total

07 48,518 100,996 149,514 total

08 49,881 103,670 153,551 total

09 51,559 108,932 160,491 total

10 52,382 112,659 165,041 total

Wilmington

Hospital

Christiana

Hospital


Vital to the local economy

Christiana Care’s economic impact on Delaware

Christiana Care employees paid more than $21.7 million in taxes to the state of Delaware.

On average, a Christiana Care employee returns $93,000 to Delaware’s economy every year.

ADMISSIONS

54,556 55,512 55,049 54,597 53,267

06 07 08 09 10

p OUTPATIENT VISITS

450,238 457,348 528,897 533,618 530,466

06 07 08 09 10

1,362 CHRISTIANA CARE VOLUNTEERS

GAVE A TOTAL OF 91,375 HOURS

OF SERVICE THIS YEAR. That translates to

more than $1.9 million.


PHYSICAL THERAPY PLUS number of visits

84,718 88,325 94,421 101,877 100,332

06 07 08 09 10

SURGICAL PROCEDURES

45,091 42,834 42,362 41,879 40,773

06 07 08 09 10

7,219 7,100 7,249 7,199 6,520

06 07 08 09 10

RADIOLOGY PROCEDURES

253,957 258,814 335,776 320,907 317,863

06 07 08 09 10

WILMINGTON HOSPITAL HEALTH CENTER VISITS

67,281 68,937 70,047 71,562 73,912

06 07 08 09 10

AVERAGE INPATIENT STAY number of days

5.21 5.30 5.43 5.41 5.20

06 07 08 09 10

Vital to the local economy

BIRTHS

COST OF AVERAGE PATIENT STAY

Source: American Association of Medical Colleges’ Autumn 2009 Databook.

Christiana Care Health System $ 7,861

Cooper University Hospital $ 9,124

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital $ 9,455

Temple University Hospital $ 9,566

Georgetown University Medical Center $ 10,336

Crozer-Chester Medical Center $ 10,341

.27 Therapeutic & Diagnostic Services

.24 NursingServices

.01 Other Affiliates

.08 Medical Education& Social Services

WHERE CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SERVICES’

OPERATING DOLLAR GOES

.01 Insurance & Other

.15EmployeeBenefits


$ 1.40 $ 1.55 $ 1.70 $ 1.87 $ 2.03

06 07 08 09 10

CHARITY CARE in millions of dollars

$ 32.4 $ 35.7 $ 37.7 $ 46.8 $ 55.7

06 07 08 09 10

Christiana Care Employees 10,234

Medical-Dental Staff 1,452

Medical & Dental Residents & Fellows 238

RNs, LPNs and Patient Care Technicians 3,641

CHRISTIANA CARE HOME HEALTH

AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

Home Health Care Visits 272,774

High School Wellness Centers and

Alzheimer’s Day Program Visits 20,394

CENTER FOR ADVANCED JOINT REPLACEMENT

AND CENTER FOR REHABILITATION

Total Knee and Hip Replacements 1,767

Rehabilitation Patients 778

.03 Administration

.06 Depreciation & Interest

.07 Support Services

.08 Facilities & Services

PERSONNEL STATISTICS

PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN OFFICES number of visits

174,679 168,698 179,289 191,587 193,677

06 07 08 09 10

TOTAL PATIENT REVENUE in billions of dollars

P.O. Box 1668Wilmington, Delaware 19899-1668800-693-CARE (2273)

www.christianacare.org

Christiana Care is a private, not-for-profit regional health care provider and relies in parton the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations to fulfill its mission.

11GEN4

Christiana Care offers a wide range of health care services

in Delaware and surrounding communities.

On the Christiana campus:

• Christiana Hospital (907 beds)

• Center for Heart & Vascular Health in the Bank of America Pavilion

• Helen F. Graham Cancer Center

• Christiana Care Breast Center

• Christiana Surgicenter

On the Wilmington campus:

• Wilmington Hospital (241 beds)

• Wilmington Hospital Health Center

• Center for Advanced Joint Replacement

• Center for Rehabilitation

• Roxana Cannon Arsht Surgicenter

Delaware and the community:

• 16 School-Based Health Centers

• Home Health & Community Services-Visiting Nurse Association

• 2 Alzheimer’s Day Programs

• Eugene du Pont Preventive Medicine & Rehabilitation Institute

• 18 Primary Care Centers (2 in New Jersey)

• 9 Christiana Care Physical Therapy PLUS sites

• 10 Christiana Care Imaging Services locations

Documents

2010 Year in Review