COMPASS LATE SPRING 2023 DEVOTED TO HEALTHFUL LIVING 2 Puppy love: Pet therapy returns! 4 What does it mean to be Planetree? Inside Celebrating Planetree gold recertification
CMH earns Planetree gold recertification By Erik Thorsen, CEO I am pleased to announce that after an extensive application review and site visit in January, Planetree has recertified Columbia Memorial Hospital as a gold-level organization. The gold certification is the highest level of achievement and recognizes CMH’s commitment to excellence in evidence-based, person-centered care. There are 174 international organizations that have achieved Planetree certification. CMH is one of 96 to achieve gold status and the only Oregon facility to earn the accolade. This year, we received the best results in all our years working with the organization. This validates for us that we are truly living the Planetree mission. Person-centered health care prioritizes the active participation of patients and their families throughout the health care process, with an emphasis on partnership, compassion, transparency, inclusion and quality. Achieving Planetree gold certification is a team effort. We are thankful for all who took part in this year’s Planetree recertification process — especially Kristen Moss, Patient Experience Manager, and her team, who facilitated the site visit and completed the application. In this issue of the Health Compass, read more about Planetree and what it means to have a culture of person-centered care at CMH. Sadly, therapy dog Gus passed away in March. Pet therapy program returns A wagging tail and a furry face are a welcome sight at CMH these days. We’re thrilled that our pet therapy program has returned after a twoyear hiatus due to COVID-19. “We are very excited to be scheduling pet therapy teams again and are currently recruiting new teams to go through the certification and onboarding process,” says Laurie Olds, volunteer coordinator. Volunteers and pets in the pet therapy program visit the hospital to greet caregivers and patients. The pets and handlers are certified and registered through the Pet Partners Program, a national leader in demonstrating and promoting the health and wellness benefits of animal-assisted therapy, activities and education. Pets and handlers prepare for certification by going through a series of classes led by a local trainer. The training fees are covered by CMH if the team onboards as volunteers at the hospital. During the classes, teams learn to complete tasks such as walking past treats or toys without getting distracted. Pets must learn to stay calm in a busy hospital environment. A Leonberger dog, Gus, and his handler, Christina, were the first pet therapy team back at CMH. The pair would walk throughout the hospital, visiting different departments and patients. Sadly, Gus passed away March 15, 2023, from cancer, but not before visiting patients and caregivers at CMH one last time. He is greatly missed. Another pet therapy team is currently working through the certification process. Pet Partners certifies many types of animals. CMH is open to onboarding diverse volunteer teams that have been approved for the program. Give back Are you looking for a way to make a difference in your community? If you are interested in joining our pet therapy teams, contact Laurie Olds at lolds@columbiamemorial.org. A Pet Partner Evaluation Event will be held May 20 at CMH to get new teams certified. If you’d like to volunteer in another way, our CMH Auxiliary Gift Shop is needing volunteers who can work afternoons. Email Laurie Olds with questions or visit columbiamemorial.org/volunteer to learn more and apply. 2 HEALTH COMPASS LATE SPRING 2023
BUILDCMH EXPANSION PROJECT Get to know the architect/design team ZGF Architects LLP is a design firm with a focus on architecture, interior design and planning. A truly multidisciplinary firm, within its ranks are not only architects, interior designers and urban planners but also artists, sociologists, journalists, registered nurses and engineers. This breadth of expertise and diversity allows for holistic problem-solving; each individual’s unique perspective brings the opportunity for greater innovation. The firm has been a part of the programming and design of hospitals and clinical facilities across the country in urban and rural settings. ZGF works to address the challenges in rural health care that aren’t present in most urban environments, such as workforce shortages, health inequity and other socioeconomic factors. Those issues present great opportunities for community hospitals like CMH to continue providing the best care in their communities. The foundation of ZGF’s approach is to create supportive, healing environments that provide patient-focused care. With these projects, the practice has developed an understanding of community medical centers, integrating new and emerging technologies, and designing environments that increase the quality of care and success of patient outcomes. FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS ... Rich Shiga, ZGF Project Manager for the Design Team What excites you most about the BuildCMH Expansion Project? CMH has a long history as the foundation for the health and wellness of Astoria and all throughout the Columbia coast region. This project is an opportunity to strengthen and grow that crucial role. For our team to be an effective part of that process, it’s important that we build a trusted relationship with you and your community. With the exciting, community-focused resiliency goals of this project, it’s important that we tailor a process and design that not only makes sense for you today but is forward-thinking to provide flexibility for the future. Emma Sawrey, ZGF Interior Designer Can you talk about your connection to the Astoria area? I was born at CMH, grew up in the Cullaby Lake area and went to Seaside High School. Through family heritage and participating in the community, I’ve learned about the rich history of Clatsop County and understand the importance of those connections. I personally understand the importance of having rural health care services. My dad was a patient at CMH, and my family and I are thankful to have had these resources locally. I feel honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this team and contribute to the community through the BuildCMH Expansion Project. Get the latest updates about the BuildCMH Expansion Project at columbiamemorial.org/buildcmh. COLUMBIAMEMORIAL.ORG LATE SPRING 2023 3
What does it mean to be Planetree? The five Planetree drivers and how they are put into action at CMH If you’ve been a patient at CMH, you may have heard the word Planetree or heard about our Planetree gold certification. CMH has been affiliated with Planetree since 2000. Planetree was founded in 1978 by a patient who wanted to change the culture in health care to one that focuses on people, rather than on illness. The Planetree philosophy promotes person-centered care and directs all we do here at CMH and the CMH-OHSU Health Medical Group. What is person-centered care? Person-centered care means that we look at patients, visitors and caregivers at CMH as individuals. We value and respect all who step foot on the CMH campus. We believe a patient is a person to care for, not a condition to treat. Our providers partner with patients and families to prioritize comfort, preferences, values, dignity and empowerment. That means we include patients in all decisions about their care, without judgment. The Planetree certification focuses on five drivers: ● Structures that promote engagement ● Connect values, strategies and actions ● Promote partnership ● Know what matters ● Evidence-based improvement CMH embraces these five drivers in many ways. Here are a few things CMH shared with Planetree during our site review for recertification. Structures that promote engagement With this driver, we show that we are engaging the community, patients and staff in all decisions. This includes things like: Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC) and Planetree Caregiver Council (PCC): These groups of patients, caregivers and family members give feedback to help CMH leaders structure our strategic plan and priorities. Accountability for behavioral expectations: Job descriptions and annual evaluations reflect the organization’s commitment to and expectation for person-centered care. Rewards and recognition: Caregivers who embody person-centered care and show excellence in process improvement are recognized with a variety of awards and honors. Design of space to create engagement: The built environment supports patient and caregiver engagement and well-being, incorporating nature and light into spaces. Connect values, strategies and actions This driver focuses on leadership listening to the needs of caregivers, patients and the community. This includes things like: CEO Coffees: Caregivers may attend quarterly all-employee meetings with the CEO to ask questions and hear about the state of the organization. Leadership rounding and executive listening sessions: Caregivers can use these opportunities to share what they think about their work environment. Community Health Needs Assessment: Every three years, CMH completes a CHNA to assess and address the community’s diverse cultural needs. Training: Every year, CMH hosts experiential education for all caregivers that focuses on person-centered concepts. 4 HEALTH COMPASS LATE SPRING 2023
Promote partnership With this driver, CMH looks at each individual’s situation and involves the patient and their family in health care discussions and decisions. This includes things like: Bedside reports: Inpatient nurses give their shift report at the bedside. The patient’s goals are assessed, and the plan for the day is influenced by their preferences. Patient-guided visitation: Visitors are welcomed 24/7 based on a patient’s wishes. Care Partner Program: Patients may designate a Care Partner, who can access certain benefits, to help them through their stay. Open chart: Medical records are available to patients and can be amended at their request. Transitions of care: CMH strives to improve the experience patients have when transitioning from one provider to another or from health care to home to ensure continuity of care. Know what matters This driver focuses on accommodating patient and caregiver preferences. This includes things like: Stratification of data: The Patient Experience Department stratifies patient experience data by race, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic status to look for improvement trends and opportunities. Compassionate care and shared decision-making: From our Billing Department to HR, caregivers, leaders and patients work together to make health care in Clatsop County a good experience. Recognition of patient preferences: Patients are asked what they prefer regarding sleep, bathing, grooming, scheduling, complementary therapies, such as pet therapy, life enrichment and spiritual care. Caregivers are people, too: Support services, wellness opportunities and benefits are available to staff to ensure that health care workers are taken care of, too. Evidence-based improvement With this driver, CMH studies multiple data points to improve. This includes things like: Surveying data: Feedback from staff satisfaction and patient experience surveys is used to improve departments and determine organizational goals for the next year. Collecting data: With the aim of top performance, the Business Intelligence Department looks at data to understand trends, set goals and plan for the future. COLUMBIAMEMORIAL.ORG LATE SPRING 2023 5
True North Awards highlight performance improvement CMH recently updated its mission, vision and values as it developed its new Five-Year Strategic Plan (2023 – 2027). The new mission statement is: “We help people live their healthiest lives.” In accordance with that mission, all departments at CMH complete annual performance improvement (PI) projects to enhance CMH’s clinical and administrative processes and outcomes. The projects also meet part of CMH’s Planetree certification requirements. Each year, a project or two are chosen as winners of the True North Award to recognize excellence in process improvement. PI projects from 2022 were reviewed for impact and alignment with the Strategic Plan. Four nominees were selected to present their projects to the Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC), which chose the winners. Winning projects One winning project, “Acute Care Services Bedside Shift Report,” was completed by Med/Surg and the Critical Care Unit. Kelly Cope, manager, and Whitney Beecham, supervisor, led the project. Brett Byers, Molly Wing, Kristen Moss, Shannon White and Elise Thornton were additional team members. Cope and Beecham knew CMH’s bedside handoff policy was not being implemented 100% of the time with inpatients. The policy requires nurses to meet with each other at a patient’s bedside at the beginning of a nurse’s shift. Completing a bedside report can increase safety and satisfaction for caregivers and patients. To improve compliance with this practice, a survey was distributed to understand what barriers were causing the low percentage. The team was able to address all barriers, and by October 2022, Acute Care nurses reached a 90% completion rate of bedside handoffs. The project also had a direct correlation with reducing patient falls. In the third quarter of 2022, both inpatient units had no patient falls, a big win for safety. The second winning project, “Medication Barcode Scanning,” involved caregivers and leaders from Pharmacy, IT, Business Intelligence and Nursing, including: Amy McKelvey, Judy Geiger, the entire Pharmacy team (especially LeAnne Morvee and Jessica Ganschow), Kelly Cope, Whitney Beecham, Jenna Tarabochia, Katie Allen and Grace Smith. The project aimed to ensure medications were properly scanned in so patients received the right dosages and prescriptions and inventory was correct. Some medications do not work with CMH’s interface, so the team worked to manually check and log every single barcode into CMH’s system. Over a year, the team improved their accuracy by nearly 18%, a definite patient safety upgrade. Other nominees Other nominees for the awards included efforts to reduce patient no-shows and gain more information on patients’ tobacco use. As a result of these projects: ● Patient no-shows for appointments were reduced by 10%, and more than 1,000 additional appointments were completed throughout the year due to efficiencies in scheduling. ● Nearly 80% of Cancer Collaborative patients were asked about their smoking habits, an increase of more than 30%. 6 HEALTH COMPASS LATE SPRING 2023
By Mark Kujala, Executive Director of the CMH Foundation Grateful patients often ask us how they can say “thank you” to the CMH caregivers who provided excellence during a hospital stay or clinic visit. With Circle of Care Awards, patients give a donation to the CMH Foundation in a caregiver’s name, commending them for a job well done. Delivering the awards, along with balloons, cupcakes and notes from patients, is one way I get to recognize our fantastic team. We recently received “thank you” letters and Circle of Care donations from patients in honor of our outstanding team in the Emergency Department. The ED often sees patients at their most vulnerable, and the skill and compassion of our ED team is being noticed — whether for a lifesaving procedure or an extra touch of kindness or comfort. Enhancing your care If you are familiar with our current ED, you know that it lacks space and privacy. That’s why one focus of the BuildCMH Expansion Project will be a larger ED that will contain more rooms for patients, comfortable spaces for long-term visitors, safe rooms for those experiencing behavioral health emergencies, and dedicated imaging and CT equipment. There will be greater resources devoted to triaging patients when they first arrive, and the increased efficiency and better technology will be impactful for both patients and caregivers. This improved space will also help CMH recruit and hire more physicians and team members. We’ve worked hard to build a reputation as an innovative rural health care provider offering a wide range of state-of-the-art treatment opportunities. We’re committed to maintaining that reputation for generations to come. More importantly, we want to continue to provide our friends and neighbors in the Columbia coast region with the care they deserve. As we begin our fundraising campaign for the BuildCMH Expansion Project, you can take part and make a generational change in the quality of health care for this region. Your gift will make a difference for our friends and neighbors and make sure we are equipped to provide critical care to you and your family in your time of need. TO LEARN MORE about how you can support the CMH Foundation, visit columbiamemorial.org/giving. Circle of Care gives back to CMH caregivers COLUMBIAMEMORIAL.ORG LATE SPRING 2023 7
Putting the patient first Decisions about patient care and the patient experience should include a patient perspective. This is why the CMH Patient and Family Advisory Council is an important group of people. The council, also known as PFAC, is a committee of community members who are current or former patients and hospital employees. The group meets monthly to provide feedback and collaborate on projects that affect CMH patients’ care. PFAC has been speaking up for patients since 2012 in discussions about the hospital experience. PFAC’s goals are to: ● Share thoughts, opinions, questions, concerns and ideas to help improve the patient experience and overall care. ● Collaborate with hospital employees to improve the health care experience for members of our community. ● Work on improvement projects that enhance the patient experience at CMH. Last year, PFAC worked on many projects to benefit CMH. Major projects included providing feedback on interview tools, CMH’s Five-Year Strategic Plan, the BuildCMH Expansion Project and the patient cost-estimate process. PFAC has also assisted with other projects over the years, including: ● Testing new inpatient beds and pillows. ● Consulting on construction projects and website design. ● Reviewing access to care, referral to specialties and scheduling appointments. ● Improving the LGBTQIA+ health care experience. Patients, their families and friends are welcome to apply to PFAC. We are always looking for people who are passionate about improving health care in our community. Cover photo by Kristen Moss, Patient Experience Manager. CMH HEALTH COMPASS is published as a community service by COLUMBIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, a Planetree Gold-Certified Person-Centered Care Facility. 2111 Exchange St., Astoria, OR 97103, telephone 503-325-4321, website: columbiamemorial.org For information about CMH HEALTH COMPASS: Sarah Bello, MBA, Marketing Manager Robert Holland, MD, PhD President, Board of Trustees Erik Thorsen, MBA, CPA, FACHE Chief Executive Officer Nicole Williams, MPA Chief Operating Officer Christopher Strear, MD, FACEP Chief Medical Officer Information in CMH HEALTH COMPASS comes from a wide range of medical experts. If you have any concerns or questions about specific content that may affect your health, please contact your health care provider. Models may be used in photos and illustrations. 2023 © Coffey Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Jarrod Karnofski, PT, DPT Vice President, Ancillary and Support Services Judy Geiger, RN, MBA Vice President, Patient Care Services Christopher Laman, PharmD, MBA Vice President, Strategy COLUMBIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL 2111 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 97103 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Walla Walla, WA Permit No. 44 Find us on social media! @cmhcommunity @cmhcommunity linkedin.com/company/ columbia-memorial-hospital @cmhcommunity SHARE YOUR VOICE Interested in being part of the Patient and Family Advisory Council? Learn more and fill out the application to join at columbiamemorial.org/pfac.
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