NEWSLETTEREMPLOYEEJULY 2014

Volume 2 Issue 6

Patient Safety First…a California Partner-ship for Health was launched in 2010 to improve quality of care, reduce health care costs and ultimately save lives by im-proving patient safety and perinatal care in California. Patient Safety First (PSF) is a groundbreaking partnership between National Health Foundation, California’s Regional Hospital Associations, Anthem Blue Cross and over 160 hospitals across the state, including El Centro Regional Medical Center. During the first three years (2010-2012) of focused attention on specific quality measures, partner- hospitals reported phenomenal results, including:

• 74% reduction in early elective de-liveries prior to 39 weeks gestational age

• 57% reduction in cases of Ventilator Assisted Pneumonia

• 43% reduction in cases of Central Line Blood Stream Infections

• 26% reduction in Sepsis mortality

• 3,576 deaths avoided as a result of reduction in Sepsis mortality

• $63 million in costs avoided for participating hospitals

“Our team at El Centro Regional Medical Center has done a remarkable job of as-sessing patient safety needs, and imple-menting new, meaningful programs that are focused on improving patient safety,” said David Green, Chief Executive Officer of ECRMC. “Their dedicated efforts have paid off which is evident in our most recent patient safety scores and awarding of the Eisenberg Award. I couldn’t be prouder of the staff,” Green added.

The John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards were established in 2002 by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission in memory of John M. Eisenberg, MD, Director of the Agen-cy for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Eisenberg was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the NQF and an impassioned advocate for health-care quality improvement. These annual awards perpetuate the enduring contri-butions of this health care and community leader by recognizing the achievements of individuals who have made significant contributions to improving patient safety and health care quality, and organizations that, through a specific initiative or proj-ect, have made an important contribution to patient safety and health care quality.

El Centro Regional Medical Center, along with other partners in the Patient Safety First…a California Partnership for Health, was awarded the 2013 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission. The Eisenberg Award recognizes major achievements of individuals and organizations in improv-ing patient safety and health care quality, consistent with the aims of the National Quality Strategy - better care, healthy people and communities and affordable care. Better care in particular focuses on improving the overall quality by making health care patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe.

ECRMC Awarded John M. EisenbergPatient Safety & Quality Award

Patient Safety First... A California Partnership for Health

1

WELCOME NEW PHYSICIANS

IN THIS ISSUE

- Paul A. Dobransky, MD – Telepsychiatry- Jason D. Hinman, MD – Teleneurology- Mohammad A. Mahmood, MD – Teleneurology- Panna R. Shah, MD – Teleneurology- Shlee S. Song, MD – Teleneurology- Steven N. Sykes, MD – Teleneurology- Robert R. Villegas, NP – AHP – Emergency Medicine

John M. Eisenberg AwardAPI Star AwardECRMC Dress & Grooming PolicyAvoiding Email ScamsEmployee of the MonthTeam of the Month Recipe of the Month Rethink and Rehydrate New Director of Dietary Congratulations and Retirees

P1P2P3P4P5P5P6P7P8P8

ECRMC Presented API Star Award At the annual API Services meeting in Wisconsin, Teresa Penuela, our Account-ing Manager over Payroll and Diana Salazar, Manager of our Central Staffing Office, were each presented with the API Star Awards of Excellence for their work and achievements with the API Systems in Personnel Services and Management. They were given a beautiful Crystal Star Award in a beautiful blue velvet cush-ioned box. The awards made the trip home safely and are on display in their respective Departments.

A second award was given to ECRMC for the work done in developing the Central Staffing Office and the work in putting to-gether the intricate systems to enable the API System to serve the hospital house- wide. With this system, all departments are scheduled and coordinated through one staffing office rather than the inde-pendent schedules that were previously done in individual departments. This system has also helped the hospital better manage the labor budgets and control premium time. The systems they were engaged in putting together will continue to bear fruit for the hospital far into the future as more of its capabilities mature.

“We are proud of the work these individ-uals and their staff are doing in producing superior outcomes on the systems they are entrusted with, and commend them for their diligent continued hard work on behalf of ECRMC and its employees, management and Board of Trustees,” said Chief Executive Officer David Green.

JOIN US IN WELCOMING NEW STAFF TO THE ECRMC FAMILY!

- Griselda Lipscomb - Surgical Technician I - Surgery - Laura Correa - MA - El Centro OPC - Cynthia Marquez - MA -Calexico OPC- Lorna Castro - RN - Labor & Delivery - Richard Gonzales - Distribution Associate - Purchasing- Fernandeo Arreola - EVS Associate - Housekeeping

2

You are the image of the hospital, so how you dress reflects on the public’s view of our organization. Although the dress and grooming policy can’t cover every style of clothing, it does provide enough information that a prudent person ought to know what would be acceptable to wear in a professional work environment.

As a reminder, the following attire is NOT appropriate to wear as work clothing at ECRMC:

• Blue denim jeans (white or black denim jeans are permitted, so choose these colors if you have a special day where wearing denim is necessary).

• “Low rise” pants intended to sit low on, or below the hips, which can inadvertently allow for exposure of undergarments or buttocks.

• Athletic attire or attire that resembles athletic attire appropriate for exercise (undershirt type T-shirts, gym shorts, transparent or tight fitting clothing, sweat suits/warm-ups and leggings). Note: We’re seeing a lot of staff wear-ing leggings, so please keep this attire for use at home.

• Pajamas or sleep attire.

• Shorts (of any kind)- Shorts are defined as anything above the knee.

• Attire with open/deep necklines or exposure of mid-body.

• Attire displaying any words or graph-ics other than ECRMC’s name and/or official logo.

• Exposed undergarments. Note: The latest fashion trend is to have open-backed tops or lace-backed tops that expose undergarments this attire is for use at home unless accompanied by a jacket or sweater.

• Shirts and/or blouses with straps of less than two (2) inches in width. Note: Dresses with spaghetti straps are for home use, unless they are ac-companied by a cover such as a jacket or sweater.

• Open-toed shoes for Clinical, House-keeping and Maintenance personnel. However, open-toed shoes can be worn in business offices and adminis-trative areas by those individuals not having patient contact.

Appropriate footwear includes pumps, flats, wedges, boots, loafers, and other leather shoes.

• Open toed shoes do not include any kind of sandals, slippers, flip-flops, in-cluding thong-style flip-flops, beach-wear and yoga flip-flops. Note: We’re seeing more and more staff wearing sandals and flip-flops, so please keep this attire for use at home.

Alternative attire can be worn for special projects and events as determined and approved by the Department Director. Any other exceptions to the dress and grooming policy may be granted upon advance written request approved by an Administrator or the Chief Executive Officer.

ECRMC takes the dress and grooming policy seriously and employees who choose not to follow the policy will be asked to go home and change, on their own time. Continued violation of the policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

For information on other grooming policies, such as tattoos, piercings, hair and nails, please refer to the Dress and Grooming Standards found on ECRMC’s Intranet, under the Policies & Procedures tab found on the left side of the page.

ECRMC Dress and Grooming Standards Summer is here and the urge to dress in more comfortable clothing is tugging at our every fiber. So, before you give in to the urge to “dress down” a bit, please be reminded that ECRMC has a dress and grooming policy that must be adhered to.

3

Continued on page 8

Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams – Part 6 of 6

Excerpted from www.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/publications/emailscams_0905.pdf

The ECRMC May 2014 Employee Newsletter includ-ed part 5 of a 6-part series on email security.

We last described some com-mon fraud schemes initiated through email.

What You Can Do to Avoid Becoming a Victim

Filter Spam

Because most email scams begin with unsolicited commercial email, you should take measures to prevent spam from getting into your mailbox. Most email ap-plications and web mail services include spam-filtering features, or ways in which you can configure your email applications to filter spam. Consult the help file for your email application or service to find out what you must do to filter spam.

You may not be able to eliminate all spam, but filtering will keep a great deal of it from reaching your mailbox. You should be aware that spammers monitor spam filtering tools and software and take mea-sures to elude them. For instance, spam-mers may use subtle spelling mistakes to subvert spam filters, changing “Potency Pills” to “Potençy Plils.”

Regard Unsolicited Email with Suspicion

Don’t automatically trust any email sent to you by an unknown individual or orga-nization. Never open an attachment to an unsolicited email. Most importantly, never click on a link sent to you in an email. Cleverly crafted links can take

you to forged web sites set up to trick you into divulging private information or downloading viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Spammers may also use a technique in which they send unique links in each individual spam email. Victim 1 may receive an email with the link <http://dfnasdunf.example.org/>, and victim 2 may receive the same spam email with the link <http://vnbnnasd.exaple.org/>. By watching which links are requested on their web servers, spammers can figure out which email addresses are valid and more precisely target victims for repeat spam attempts.

Remember that even email sent from a familiar address may create problems: Many viruses spread themselves by scanning the victim computer for email addresses and sending themselves to these addresses in the guise of an email from the owner of the infected computer.

Treat Email Attachments with Caution

Email attachments are commonly used by online scammers to sneak a virus onto your computer. These viruses can help the scammer steal important information from your computer, compromise your computer so that it is open to further at-tack and abuse, and convert your comput-er into a ‘bot’ for use in denial-of-service attacks and other online crimes. As noted above, a familiar “from” address is no guarantee of safety because some viruses spread by first searching for all email ad-dresses on an infected computer and then sending itself to these addresses. It could be your friend’s computer is infected with

just such a virus.

Use Common Sense

When an email arrives in your mailbox promising you big money for little ef-fort, accusing you of violating the Patriot Act, or inviting you to join a plot to grab unclaimed funds involving persons you don’t know in a country on the other side of the world, take a moment to consider the likelihood that the email is legitimate.

Install Antivirus Software (on your home computer) and keep it up to date.

If you haven’t done so by now, you should install an antivirus software on your com-puter. If possible, you should install an antivirus program that has an automatic update feature. This will help ensure you always have the most up-to-date protec-tion possible against viruses. In addition, you should make sure the antivirus software you choose includes an email scanning feature. This will help keep your computer free of email-born viruses.

Install a Personal Firewall (on your home computer) and Keep it Up to Date

A firewall will not prevent scam email from making its way into your mailbox. However, it may help protect you should you inadvertently open a virus-bearing at-tachment or otherwise introduce malware to your computer by following the instruc-tions in the email. The firewall, among other things, will help prevent outbound traffic from your computer to the attack-er. When your personal firewall detects

Continued on page 6

4

Employee of the Month

We want to recognize the Budget Team in the Finance and Accounting Department that worked so hard with all managers throughout the hospital in developing the budget for this coming year. They all worked long hours, often over the week-end, to get the job done on time to meet the needs of the hospital. They contin-ued to work with the managers through-out the hospital to assure that an accurate, realistic, yet tight budget was produced.

Their hard work, combined with the man-agement team of the hospital, was able to meet the challenge this year to produce a budget that will meet the goals and needs

Congratulations Brenda Rivera from Infection Control

The Employee of the Month for June is Brenda Rivera, RN, our Infection Control nurse. Brenda is being recognized for her support of the hospital and willingness to do what it takes to make things work around the clock for nursing. Brenda was asked to cover over a weekend as the House Supervisor, and on that Saturday there was a shortage of personnel in the lab phlebotomy group. Without hesitation, Brenda went to the lab and coordinated a team to begin drawing blood all morning until a phlebotomist was able to arrive in the afternoon.

Brenda has been recognized for her willingness to serve in whatever capacity to maintain customer service for our patients. We commend her for her attitude and example she has set for so many other nurses.

of the hospital. The budget will propel us into the future and qualify for financing to meet the requirements for the building and capital needs in our near future.

Our hats are off to this remarkable team, who often come together to meet the demands and needs of our organization which enable us to stay financially healthy and productive. We want to thank each of them and commend them for their wonderful example to the rest our staff to go the extra mile in producing outstand-ing work.

ECRMC Team of the MonthCongratulations to the

ECRMC staff after being awarded the John M. EisenbergPatient Safety & Quality Award. Pictured from left to right: Christina Valencia, Darin Smith, Judy Cruz, Dan Garlin, Jacquelin Ramos, Suzanne Martinez, Jackie Gomez, Ruben Magos, David Green CEO, Ron Olds CNO

5

Continued from Page 4

Avoiding Email Scams suspicious outbound communications from your computer, it could be a sign you have inadvertently installed malicious programs on your computer.

Learn the Email Policies of the Organizations You Do Business With

Most organizations doing business online now have clear policies about how they communicate with their customers in email. Many, for instance, will not ask you to provide account or personal informa-tion via email. Understanding the policies of the organizations you do business with can help you spot and avoid phishing and other scams. Do note, however, that it’s never a good idea to send sensitive infor-mation via an unencrypted email. Always use the “Confidential” setting on your work email to ensure its safety.

Configure Your Email Client for Security

There are a number of ways you can con-figure your email client to make you less susceptible to email scams. For instance, configuring your email program to view email as “text only” will help protect you from scams that misuse HTML in email.

ECRMC follows all of the best practices above regarding firewalls and antivirus. However, YOU are the most critical piece of email security at ECRMC. So take heed and follow the best practices mentioned in this series and you’ll go a long ways in protecting both your work and home computers!

Tootie’s Cole SlawSubmitted by: Marcia Fisher from Pathology

1 large package shredded cabbage 1 package shredded carrots Chopped Green Onions Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half 1 large package grated sharp cheddar cheese Chopped apples, any kind but not Granny Smith 1 can chunk pineapple, drained Sunflower seeds Green Bell Pepper, chopped Raisins Bottled Cole Slaw Dressing (Hidden Valley Ranch or any good quality brand) Mix dry ingredients together. Add dressing and toss about 1 hour before serving.

The amounts of what you add are really up to you but make sure you do add all the ingredients.

This recipe was developed by my German mother. She never really measured anything. “Just until it looks good” she would always say.

This makes a great summer salad. Serve with some tasty crackers and it becomes a full meal.

Do you have a recipe you would like to share? Email me! romorales@ecrmc.org

6

With the official start of summer and temperatures on the rise, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reminds everyone to rethink your drink and keep hydrated during the summer months and through-out the year.

“With warmer temperatures and in-creased outdoor activities of a typical summer, it is important that everyone make sure their bodies are getting the fluids they need to stay healthy and avoid dehydration,” says registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy spokesperson Kelly Pritchett. “With an almost endless variety of beverages to choose from, we need to make smart choices when it comes to hydrating right while keeping calories in check.”

Studies suggest calorie intake from beverages has more than doubled since the 1960s, primarily due to a surge in soft drink, sports drink and sweetened tea consumption. “According to the research, people don’t balance out these extra liquid calories by eating less from food or by increasing physical activity,” Pritchett says. “Over the long run, these addition-al beverage calories can lead to energy imbalance and weight gain.”

Pritchett offers four tips for quenching your thirst and maintaining energy bal-ance at the same time:

Drink Plenty of Refreshing, Calorie-Free Water Whether it’s bottled or from the tap, wa-ter does the body good. Without any un-necessary calories, it helps your muscles and brain stay hydrated for optimal phys-ical and mental performance. “Add slices of citrus fruit, strawberries or cucumber to water to make the flavor more appealing, which may help you drink more,” Pritchett says. How much water you need depends

on your gender, size, and activity level; larger, more active people need more fluids. Drink enough for your urine to be pale or almost colorless.

Limit Soda and Sugar-sweetened Drinks More than 35% of added sugars in the United States come from soft drinks. “Make beverages like soda, sweetened teas, fruit drinks, sports drinks, ‘energy’ drinks, or your favorite coffee drink a spe-cial treat instead of a daily need,” Pritchett says. “They have little if any nutrition value, and they add a significant amount of calories to your diet.” Sports drinks are appropriate for athletes engaged in mod-erate to high intensity exercise that lasts an hour or longer.

Add Milk and Milk-Alternatives Daily Milk is one of the best sources of calcium for the body and can be a good way to keep hydrated since it contains almost 90% water. “Whether it’s flavored or unflavored, milk offers calcium, phospho-rus, protein, riboflavin, and vitamin D,” Pritchett says. Nondairy alternatives that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D can be nutrient-rich alternatives for vegans and those with milk

allergies or intolerances.

Drink Alcohol in Moderation Barbecues, picnics, beach parties, and baseball games are all traditional venues for drinking alcohol, but alcohol actually has a diuretic effect, meaning it can dehy-drate the body. “If you feel thirsty, drink water first and alternate a glass or two of water in between each alcoholic beverage to keep your body hydrated,” Pritchett says. Women should limit themselves to one alcoholic drink per day, while men should limit consumption to two drinks per day.

“Fluids, like food, are essential for our health, but it’s important to remember that not all beverages are treated the same,” Pritchett says.

Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Rethink Your Drinks and Hydrate Right This Summer

7

Rubin Retires, Walters Named New Director of DietaryLinda Rubin, RD, director of dietary, announced her retirement last month after 25 years with ECRMC. She will be succeeded by Marc Walters, RD, CNSC, CDE, who currently is a Clinical Dietician in the dietary department. We would like to give Linda Rubin a big Thank You for all the years of service to ECRMC!

Linda Rubin is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her internship was completed at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. She began her career as a di-etician in 1976 at Pioneers Memorial Hospital where she served as the Food Service Director for four years. In 1989 she joined ECRMC and served as the Administrative Dietician for 12 years. In 2001 she was named Director of Dietary.

Interesting fact: Linda is a certified lactation educator

Mark has been with ECRMC since 2004. He is a graduate from the University of Arizona. His internship was completed at St. Mary’s Hospital. Mark also completed dietetic internship preceptors at Iowa State University and Tecnologico de Monter-rey – Escuela de medicina y ciencias de la salud (Monterrey Institute of Technology- School of Medicine & Health Sciences) in Monterrey, Mexico. Aside from working at ECRMC, Marc consults for private practices, Hospice of Imperial Valley and Alegria Adult Health Care Center.

Interesting fact: Marc is also a certified diabetes educator

Dr. Avelina Torres Ramirez - Graduated from the University of San Diego with a Doctor’s degree of Nursing Practice - Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Robert Villegas, FNP - Graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Masters in Nursing / Nure Practitioner.

Ruben Magos - Received a Midas+ Certified System Manager certification

Linda Rubin 6/30/2014

David Green 7/3/2014

Kathleen Pipkin 6/30/2014

Victor Gonzales 7/31/2014

To The Following Retirees!

8

Continued from page 3

Footwear that is NOT acceptable:

Footwear that IS acceptable: