Volume 2, Issue 35 - December 8, 2009

Top Story

Flaget Prepares to Break Ground for
Comprehensive Cancer Center

This Thursday, December 10, ground will be broken for Nelson county’s first full-service cancer center—Flaget Cancer Center. The center, which will be completed in the summer of 2010, will offer radiation cancer therapy, another first for the community. Residents currently have to travel out of town for radiation cancer care.

The technology that Flaget Memorial Hospital has purchased for radiation therapy, the Elekta Synergy machine, is a fully digital linear accelerator that allows clinicians to see the tumor at the precise moment of treatment. Older machines use imaging studies done several days in advance of treatment. Under the old system, between the time the imaging is done and the patient receives radiation, tumors can shift position. The Elekta Synergy has the ability to image during treatment, which targets a tumor more precisely, spares healthy tissue, and results in fewer side effects and greater comfort for patients.

The center will be housed in a 2,800 square foot addition to Flaget’s Medical Office Building (MOB). The center will also include 4,800 square feet of renovated space in the MOB that will be used for new, private chemotherapy rooms, intravenous therapy treatment for patients with diseases other than cancer, patient education areas, employee work spaces and other amenities. The new treatment center is designed with patient comfort in mind and will feature calming natural colors and materials. Click here to read more about the new center.

IF YOU GO: The event will be held next to the medical office building on the hospital campus on KY 245 starting at 9 a.m., December 10. Refreshments will be available. Everyone is invited to attend.

    In this Issue:

• News
• Events
• Education
• Wellness
• Feedback
• Accolades
• Look Back

      Happy

     Holidays!

      

   Click here for

   upcoming holiday
   events at
   your facility.

News

Social Networking Survey—Take a quick survey, you may win a prize!

Saint Joseph Health System is currently developing a social media plan to expand its marketing and communications efforts into this arena. One component of the plan is to establish a presence on various social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.). With this in mind, we are interested to hear how active employees are online, what sites are the most popular, and if you would like to receive communication through this route.

Whether you have never been on a social networking site, or can’t stay off, we want to hear from you. By completing this simple online survey, you will register for a drawing for one of three $75 VISA gift cards that will be given after the December 11 deadline. Take the survey at www.sjhlex.org/SocialNetworkingSurvey.

New Weight Loss Surgery Campaign

Saint Joseph Health System has produced new television, radio and print advertising spots to promote its weight loss surgery centers: Saint Joseph Center for Weight Loss Surgery (located at Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph Hospital) and the new Flaget Center for Weight Loss Surgery (located at Flaget Memorial Hospital).

The spots are an extension of a previous campaign that ran in central Kentucky and will feature a theme surrounding the desire for a post-op patient to live a full life after weight loss, including activities and adventures she can pursue at her healthy weight. The spots are currently running in the Lexington and Bardstown markets. To learn more about the centers and procedures offered—gastric banding, gastric bypass and gastric sleeve—visit www.SaintJosephWeightLoss.org and www.Flaget.com.

Working Green, Living Green

Saint Joseph Health System's Working Green, Living Green team encourages you to paste the below message into your e-mail signature to remind those you correspond with to think before they print their e-mail messages.

Employee Hotel Discounts—Note Change from 0riginal Announcement

Beginning December 15, 2009 the process will change for Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph - Jessamine employees working extended shifts requiring an overnight stay at either the Crowne Plaza or Best Western (off exit 104 by Interstate). In order to keep the discounted hotel accommodations from being a taxable benefit, employees will call either hotel directly in order to make a reservation for accommodations and will be responsible for paying the entire charge for each night’s stay.

Saint Joseph Health System has successfully negotiated a low discounted rate of $35.00 per night for accommodations at the Crowne Plaza and $25.00 per night for accommodation at the Best Western and this amount will be paid by the employee upon checkout. We are currently working to pursue other opportunities to provide accommodations to employees at a low cost and will announce these as they become available.

Year-End Payroll Update

• On Friday, December 18, PTO Cash Out will be processed for employees that elected this benefit during last year’s benefit enrollment and will be paid at 100% of the employee’s base pay rate as of December 18. This will be a separate check and taxed at normal withholding rates. More information about the PTO Cash Out is available on the My Benefit tab of HR/Payroll Connection under Benefit & Time Off, Employee Time Off and PTO Cash Out. (Does not apply to SJMS)

• This year instead of receiving 26 pay checks you will be receiving 27. Since January 1 is a legal holiday, this paycheck will be directly deposited into your bank account on Thursday, December 31. Given that the deduction calculation for your health care benefits are based on 26 payroll checks, the extra check issued on December 31 will be FREE of your normal health care benefit deductions. However, deductions will be withheld for employees making up missed health care deductions through a predefined payment plan. Also, your 403B and other deductions will be withheld as normal from your pay check.

• Your final payroll check will be available to view via HR/Payroll Connection, My Pay, sometime on Wednesday, December 30 (or hard copy at SJMS). If there is any item needing correction, you need to contact your local Payroll department immediately. The reason for the urgency is in order to have the payroll correction included on your W-2 for 2009, the correction must be processed by Thursday, December 31. Please communicate any corrections to your Payroll department no later then 10:00 a.m. on December 31.

Employment & Income Verification—The Work Number

If you need to verify your employment to a company, such as a loan company when applying for a loan to purchase a house, the company seeking verification should contact The Work Number at 1.800.367.5690 or go online to www.theworknumber.com.

The verifying company will need your social security number and the Catholic Health Initiatives’ company code. For all Catholic Health Initiatives’ organizations, the system code is: 12815. If the verification company does not know the company code, they may enter your organization’s name. The verifier will need the salary key in order to access your salary history and income. A salary key is a six digit number that provides secure access to the company you identify.

To create a salary key online:
• Go to HR/Payroll Connection from Inside CHI at http://home.catholichealth.net
• Select the My Pay tab
• From the box on the right side of the page, select The Work Number link.
• You will automatically be redirected to The Work Number Web site
• Select the “Prove Your Income with a Salary Key” link under the Verifications box
• The salary key will generate automatically. Each company seeking to verify employment and income information will need its own salary key. You can e-mail the salary key or can print out the salary key and provide it to the company requesting the verification personally.

To create a salary key by phone:
• Call the HR/Payroll Connection Support Center at 888.450.9450.
• Select the HR Policy and Services option.
• Select the Employment Verification option.
• You will be asked for your HR/Payroll Connection Support Center password.
• After providing your password, you will automatically be redirected to The Work Number.

You will need to tell the company to contact The Work Number after providing the company with the salary key. The company should NOT contact the human resources department.

If you have questions or need assistance with The Work Number, please call:
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m., 1.800.996.7566. This message does not apply to
Saint Joseph - Mount Sterling.

Media Inquiries: Please Work With the Appropriate Professionals

It is critically important that we protect the privacy of our patients at all times. Therefore, if you are contacted or approached by a member of the media for any reason, please contact your local public relations representative at your facility. This person will then work with Jeff Murphy, who is the spokesperson for Saint Joseph Health System. No one other than Murphy or his designated marketing representative should be communicating with the media. If you are contacted by a member of the media, simply ask for their contact information, and let them know that someone from the public relations department will return their call. Thank you for your cooperation.

Vice President of Mission Integration Named for Entire System

Michael Garrido is the new Vice President of Mission Integration for Saint Joseph Health System. In this newly created role, Mike will promote the mission and core values and shape and support the strategic goals of SJHS by integrating our Catholic identity into organizational operations. Mike will also serve as the liaison with CHI national mission leadership. Mike will also serve as the on-site leader for Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East and
Saint Joseph - Jessamine.

Mike has more than 18 years in Catholic ministry and health care mission leadership, including providing system-wide mission integration resources, ministry formation programs, and supporting initiatives on issues facing Catholic health care in the U.S. Mike is currently Director of Mission Services for the Catholic Health Association of the United States, based in St. Louis, where he has been since 2005. Mike will join the Saint Joseph family on
December 21.

Prayer Request Lines

Saint Joseph Hospital: A dedicated voice mail box has been established for patients, families, and employees to leave prayer requests. You can reach the voice mail by calling (9) 313.3444, ext. 7729 (when calling inside the hospital) or 1.859.313.3444, ext. 7729 (when calling outside the hospital). The extension “7729” spells PRAY, so you can easily remember it.

Employees who would like to pray daily over these needs as well as requests written in the chapel prayer book are needed. The prayer team meets Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. If you have a desire to pray daily for the needs of Saint Joseph Hospital, please call Lara Harris at 313.2042.

Saint Joseph East: There is now a Saint Joseph East Prayer Request Line. Simply press ext. 4673 (HOPE) for your confidential Prayer Requests needs. The Prayer Team will pray for these needs on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. and the Chaplains will pray Monday-Friday. Please feel free to call and use anytime. If you’d like more information about the prayer team, call Chaplain Judy Donohue (967.5676).

Give the Perfect Holiday Gift through ‘Project Outreach’

You can avoid the holiday rush and still give a special and memorable gift to every person on your holiday list! Make a tax deductible donation to the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation in honor of someone on your gift list through our PROJECT OUTREACH. Once the donation is received we will mail each recipient a special holiday card. This card will read, “In celebration of the Holiday Season, a gift in your honor has been made to the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation benefiting Project Outreach by (your name here).” You may designate your gift to one of the following Foundation programs: Appalachian Outreach Program, Free Health Clinic, Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship Fund, Patient and Family Assistance Fund, and Where Most Needed.

To obtain a donation form, please contact the Foundation at 859.313.1705 or download a donation form at www.SaintJosephFoundation.org. Please submit “Project Outreach” donations by Friday, December 18 to allow for processing and mail delivery.

Looking for a Few Good Santa’s Helpers

We need a few Santa’s helpers to deliver Christmas presents to our Appalachian Outreach Project families in Berea, Irvine and McKee. You would be driving to clinics and easy-to-find drop-off locations, not houses, during the day. If you’d like to load up your sleigh, call Barbara Baumgardner at 859.313.4447.

The Appalachian Outreach Program’s Christmas Partners Project is an annual tradition in which employees partner with the program’s staff to provide clothing, food, toys and other needed gifts to families and individuals in eastern Kentucky. This year's participating hospitals are Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East, Saint Joseph - Jessamine, Saint Joseph - Berea and Saint Joseph - Mount Sterling.

THIS JUST IN: There are still families who need to be matched with employees or departments. If you’d like to help, contact Barbara Baumgardner at 313.4447.

Events

Education

LEARN and Complimentary CE

Nearly all clinical staff members are required to complete a certain number of CE hours each year. Complimentary CE, available exclusively through the “Hospital Direct” tab of the LEARN e-Learning Center, provides access to more than 50 continuing education courses for nurses, pharmacists, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, case managers and physicians. Free CE courses are available to you for assignment through the standard assignment tools and for student self-enrollment through the catalog and Hospital Direct tabs. Check it out!

Grant funds for these continuing education activities have been provided by Action Products, Aspect Medical, B. Braun, Baxter, Cardinal Health, Covidien, Encision, KCI, Medegen, Oridion, Pyxis, and Stryker Orthopaedics.

Wellness

Flaget Health Connection

Flaget Health Connection, a service of Flaget Memorial Hospital, is offering the following upcoming events. For information, call 502.348.7010.

Compassionate Friends
Worldwide Candle Lighting
Sunday, December 13, 7 p.m.

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting is held at 7 p.m. for one hour in every time zone around the world on the second Sunday in December. As candles go out in one time zone, they are lit in the next, creating a virtual 24-hour memorial of candles that encircles the globe to honor and remember all children of any age who have died. The Nelson County group will meet at Hospice, 111 N. Third, at the rear of the building, then go outside for a free candle lighting ceremony. Candles provided. Everyone is welcome.

Blood Sugar Testing
Tuesday, December 15, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Free.
111 N. Third, Bardstown

Grief Support Group
Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m.
Led by a Hospice of Nelson County social worker or chaplain. Free.
111 N. Third, Bardstown
For info: 502.350.5570

A Message from Your EAP

Here are some tips from your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) about things you can do to make your holidays more enjoyable and help you have a healthier and more financially manageable holiday season.

• Talk to family members now about which holiday traditions really are important.

• Give yourself permission to celebrate in a different way if this is the first year a loved one is absent.

• Start a new holiday tradition that helps reduce spending and make the holidays more fun (bake cookies together, create homemade keepsakes, volunteer).

• To reduce the stress of holiday meals, consider asking family members and guests to share in the cooking by bringing favorite dishes with them or consider buying some items that are already prepared.

• Buy all your holiday meal fixings during pre-holiday sales.

• Set spending limits for gift-buying with friends and family.

• Buy early; you’ll have more time to comparison shop and get bargains, instead of waiting until the last minute.

• Leave your credit cards at home, if you can.

• Be creative: give photographs, home-made treats, coupons for services, a family videotape for distant relatives.

• Think outside the mall; consider garden stores, coffee shops, arts and crafts stores, the hardware store.

Holidays are emotional times, and sometimes they are not the best of times. If you find yourself feeling blue, or if the financial or other pressures seem to be getting the best of you, call your EAP. We offer free, confidential help for understanding and dealing with the emotions, the blues and the pressures.

FOR FREE CONFIDENTIAL ASSISTANCE, CALL YOUR EAP AT 800.455.5579 OR 859.224.2022. [Flaget employees should contact Mark Cain at the Lighthouse Counseling Center at 502.348.5454.]

Feedback

Letters to Saint Joseph – Mount Sterling

“To all the Maternity Nurses,

Thank you so much for taking such good care of us while we were in the hospital. I cannot thank you enough for making my stay so comfortable and so nice. The entire hospital was very welcoming. I also sent you a week-old picture of [our daughter]. We love her so much. God Bless You All.

D & DH”

For the Med-Surg staff:

“For everything you have done, for everything you have given, thank you very much. Thanks to all the Nurses and Staff who helped in my care. Without your help my condition would have not improved as good as it has. Also, thanks for your kindness you showed my daughter who stayed with me.

Thanks,

BH”

Way to go Saint Joseph - Mount Sterling!

Accolades

A Look Back

Feed the Children Day in Berea

Saint Joseph - Berea participated in a Feed the Children event in Berea on November 21. The hospital provided financial counseling and height/weight/BMI and blood pressure screenings.

Debra Hamilton of Case Management and Delilah Blair of Quality packed children's mittens, hats and mufflers for distribution at Feed the Children November 21. "Winter Warmth" to gather clothing items for children was a project of the Saint Joseph - Berea Employee Council.

Misty Naze of the Self Pay Team gave a Feed the Children participant a Get Healthy Berea T-shirt. Saint Joseph - Berea employees were on hand to provide financial counseling for participants who might be eligible for a program they were not aware of.

Barbara Baumgardner (right) attended the event from Saint Joseph Hospital to provide nutritional counseling. The event provided free hot meals for all, haircuts for the kids, balloons and face painting, children's activities, gift bags for the mothers, health information booths staffed by local agencies, a prayer tent, and a buggy full of groceries for each family to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner. More than 800 local low income families with children were served.

Financial Counselor Sonja Merritt, Misty Naze, and HIM's Mary Jo Napier handed out mittens and Beanie Babies to the children and T-shirts to the adults.

An often observed scene at Feed the Children—friendly volunteers helped families to their church buses and prayed with them before they left.

Tree Lighting Service in Bardstown

Flaget Memorial Hospital invited the community to its annual tree lighting service to kick off the Advent and Christmas season November 30. The ceremony, held in the front foyer of the hospital, featured music by the Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral Youth Choir and included a blessing of the tree and Nativity scene. Employees, patients and visitors enjoyed the festivities.

Tobacco-Free in Martin

Since Saint Joseph - Martin became a tobacco-free campus one year ago, Robbin Conn, Barb Hancock and Amy Sparkman have successfully quit smoking. Robbin and Barb attended the Cooper/Clayton classes offered on campus by Carol Jo May, and Amy did it on her own! To celebrate their accomplishments, each of these employees received a turkey during the Great American Smokeout festivities (Nov. 19) to enjoy for Thanksgiving.

(From left) Robbin Conn, Barb Hancock and Amy Sparkman received turkeys right before Thanksgiving in honor of their quitting smoking since Saint Joseph - Martin's tobacco-free campus policy took effect last November.

Carol Jo May (left), who runs the Cooper/Clayton smoking cessation classes at Saint Joseph - Martin, and President Kathy Stumbo (right) joined Robbin Conn, Barb Hancock and Amy Sparkman in celebrating their quitting smoking.

Cold Turkey Day in London

Saint Joseph - London held a Cold Turkey Day event November 18 with the Laurel County Health Department to distribute information and ask employees to stop smoking for 24 hours in honor of The Great American Smokeout (Nov. 19). Those who went without smoking were registered for a chance to win turkeys. Employees who have quit smoking since Saint Joseph Health System implemented its tobacco-free policy last year were awarded a free T-shirt.

Telemetry CNAs Samantha Reid and Rebecca Bowling picked up some information at the Cold Turkey Day event from Angie Collett, Saint Joseph - London Healthy Communities, and Brandi Gilley, Laurel Co. Health Dept.

Melanie Jackson, laboratory (left), learned about the Quit for Life program during the Great American Smokeout event at Saint Joseph - London. She visited with Healthy Communities staff members Angie Collett (center) and June Rawlings, director (right).

Keeping Healthy at Saint Joseph - Jessamine

Saint Joseph - Jessamine employees took advantage of a nice November day during their lunch break by taking a stroll on the walking path, located on facility grounds.

Winning in Martin

Chris Dye received an umbrella for entering the winning name of a new weight-loss program at Saint Joseph - Martin—“Gut Busters.”

Reaching Out

The maintenance department at Saint Joseph East mourned the loss of a co-worker this past summer, Frank Seale. Trevor Payne, with the help of the Saint Joseph East maintenance department and Joe Phelps with Hillenmeyer, completed some landscaping work for Frank Seale’s widow, Diane. Trevor is the son of Perry Payne in the maintenance department and a Boy Scout. He earned his STAR Award for this project.

Diane Seale with Saint Joseph East maintenance crew members Mike Lavens, Joe Phelps, Mary Jane Wellinghurst, and Trevor Payne (son of Perry Payne in the maintenance department).

Perry Payne, Diane Seale, Joe Phelps, Mary Jane Wellinghurst, and Trevor Payne

An Introduction to Advent

As the days of autumn give way to the fallow time of winter, the Church enters into a new season of its liturgical year: Advent–literally, “The Coming.” The readings of this season give us a clue as to what the meaning of this “Coming” is all about. As the season waxes onward, the readings move backward in time, to recall the story of the coming of Jesus into the world. We hear the ancient words of the Jewish prophets speaking of a Messiah who would come to initiate God’s reign. And, we hear the testimony of the earliest Christian gospel writers who proclaim that Jesus was that Messiah. That his birth marked the beginning of a new age in which God’s reign would come into its fullness.

Advent is often described as a time of waiting for the coming of Christ. Several popular devotions in Christian traditions help us to mark this waiting. One is the Advent wreath—a circular wreath of evergreen branches signifying the everlasting, unending faithfulness of God that undergirds all of history. The wreath holds four candles. Each week, Christians light a new candle, symbolizing the light of Christ coming more and more fully into the world. Three of the candles are purple, a sign of waiting and longing. One candle is pink, a reminder that our waiting is to be joyful. Advent prayers prepare us spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ.

In our work in Catholic health care, we strive to bring about the Reign that Jesus announced—the Reign that the whole Church awaits in this season of Advent. As we continue our work together, let us recommit ourselves to the mission that shapes all that we do and pray that we shall know Christ’s presence this advent season.