From August 1^st to 7^th each year, Jamaica Hospital highlights its support for pregnant and nursing mothers in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week.

World Breastfeeding Week began 30 years ago as an initiative by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) to shed light on the many benefits of breastfeeding for newborn children and their families, including food security, nutritional benefits, and poverty reduction.

According to the WABA, this year’s main goal for World Breastfeeding Week is to strengthen the capacity of health systems, governments, communities, and other groups “to provide and sustain breastfeeding-friendly environments for families in the post-pandemic world.”

When it comes to supporting pregnant and nursing mothers with a healthy environment for breastfeeding, this year is also an important one for Jamaica Hospital in particular.

Jamaica Hospital currently in the Re-Designation Phase for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a UNICEF program that recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal environment and meet high standards of care for breastfeeding. The Baby-Friendly USA designation is provided to care centers that recognize and promote breast milk as the standard for infant feeding.

The process runs from January 2021 through December 2022. To demonstrate compliance with the BFHI’s standards, Jamaica Hospital is assisting staff in developing their expertise and caregiving capacity for mothers and infants.

In addition to equipping care providers with the information they need to maintain a high level of care for breastfeeding mothers and infants, Jamaica Hospital offers a variety of programs to support both patients and staff. These include:

• Breastfeeding classes
• A lactation room for patients, visitors, and staff
• A milk depot for infants who are born prematurely or whose mothers cannot produce milk on their own
• Frenectomies for babies who face breastfeeding difficulties due to tongue tie

We proudly announce that Jamaica Hospital Medical Center’s Emergency Department recently earned the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Bronze level Pain and Addiction Care in the Emergency Department (PACED) accreditation.

PACED is a national accreditation program that identifies hospitals that seek to prevent drug addiction and improve pain management for their patients in the emergency department. PACED accredited hospitals are recognized for implementing prompt, safe, and effective pain management protocols and procedures for treating patients who are in pain or addicted to pain medication.

To receive PACED accreditation, Jamaica Hospital’s Emergency Department was required to submit an online application and supporting documentation including documentation of credentialed providers, a history of opioid prescriptions, and examples of our pain management protocols and quality improvement projects. All applications undergo a comprehensive evaluation by a team of ACEP- appointed physician reviewers.

 According to ACEP, the potential benefits of receiving PACED accreditation for patients and hospitals include:

• Improved patient outcomes and satisfaction.
• Reduced ED visits.
• Reduced hospital readmissions.

By receiving PACED accreditation, Jamaica Hospital’s Emergency Department has established the highest standards for quality care for pain and addiction management.  Most importantly, accreditation conveys to everyone that we are committed to addressing the growing issue of prescription medication addiction in our community.

Congratulations to all involved in helping Jamaica Hospital to achieve this accomplishment. 

Jamaica Hospital employees who go above and beyond to ensure the safety of our patients are recognized and awarded a certificate of excellence for their Good Catch.

Good Catch nominees receive recognition based on their actions in preventing accidents from occurring. These actions may include keeping our facilities safe, correcting a medication order, preventing a patient from falling, or reporting a significant change in a patient’s status.

Please join us in congratulating:

Abraham Resuello, RN

Lisa Fraumeni RN, ADN

Suni Mathew RN, ADN

Keshan Bisnauth

Sgt. Jafra Wilson

Katheryn Finescu

Denese Holder, RN

Jincy Joykutty, RN

Khemchand Ramlogan

Mathew Hernandez

By identifying a problem before it became a patient safety issue, our nominees have helped Jamaica Hospital provide patients with excellent care.

We thank them for being exemplary members of our team and contributing to our goal of being a high-reliability hospital.

Congratulations to Flushing Hospital’s C.A.R.E (Compassion Advocacy Respect and Engagement) award recipients.

The hospital’s Person-Centered Care Department created the C.A.R.E award program to recognize employees who received positive remarks (written and verbal) from patients or their loved ones after receiving high-quality and compassionate care.

Criteria for the award require that recipients exemplify G.R.A.C.E:

G- Gracious: Having a courteous and kind demeanor.

R- Respect: Treating others the way they want to be treated.

A- Assisting: Anticipating needs and concerns (for example wayfinding).

C- Communication: Talking to patients and family members according to their health literacy.

E- Empathy: Using the patient’s perspective, making the patient feel understood, and ensuring that their feelings are validated.

We congratulate the following employees, and thank them for their contributions to making Flushing Hospital a high-reliability hospital that focuses on patient-centered care:

1. Robert Benya
2. Gonzalo Bravo
3. Alfonzo Siu
4. Mufang Yu, RN
5. Catherine Huang, RN
6. Deborah Davis, CNA
7. Robert Campbell, CNA
8. Jeanne Barthelemy
9. Alisa Gonzalez, CNA
10. Loretta Johnson, CNA
11. John Sanchez, CNA
12. Diola Agpalo, CNA
13. Mohanchand Singh, RN
14. Regina Holmes, RN
15. Jennifer Contreras, RN
16. Fabienne Daquin, RN
17. Linda Perez
18. Alex Khaimov, RN
19. Labor & Delivery Department
20. Emergency Department
21. Medical Intensive Care Unit

Congratulations to Jamaica Hospital’s C.A.R.E (Compassion Advocacy Respect and Engagement) award recipients.

The hospital’s Person-Centered Care Department created the C.A.R.E award program to recognize employees who received positive remarks (written and verbal) from patients or their loved ones after receiving high-quality and compassionate care.

Criteria for the award require that recipients exemplify G.R.A.C.E:

G- Gracious: Having a courteous and kind demeanor.

R- Respect: Treating others the way they want to be treated.

A- Assisting: Anticipating needs and concerns (for example wayfinding).

C- Communication: Talking to patients and family members according to their health literacy.

E- Empathy: Using the patient’s perspective, making the patient feel understood, and ensuring their feelings are validated.

We congratulate the following employees, and thank them for their contributions to making Jamaica Hospital a high-reliability hospital that focuses on patient-centered care:

1. Gilene Achil
2. Stephanie Kearney
3. Rosa Rosario
4. Rory Robinson, PCA
5. Orayne Hibbert, PCA
6. Noely Diaz
7. Monique Licerio RN
8. Mariusz Baczewski
9. Margie Rodriguez
10. Dr. Luigi Tullo
11. Kamini Ramgoon, RN
12. Dr. Jeffrey Chan
13. Dr. Robert Laskowski
14. Dr. Philip Cruz
15. Dr. David Dovnarsky
16. Aziza Sharipova, RN
17. ASU Team
18. Emergency Department

The Hospital Association of New York State (HANYS) recognizes member hospitals and health systems across New York that invest in forward-looking initiatives that strive to improve health outcomes and care quality outcomes. The HANYS member spotlight categorizes these initiatives into three categories, Innovation, Community Health, and Commitment to Excellence.

The MediSys Health Network was highlighted recently for Innovation for placing a priority on employee well-being. In the spring of 2022, the network creatively adapted and provided much-needed care for its healthcare team. This initiative was created in response to the extraordinary impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the mental health and well-being of healthcare workers which could have potentially threatened the quality of care to our patients.

MediSys implemented a multi-faceted approach to provide increased support for its team’s mental and emotional well-being. This program continues to grow as the pandemic persists.  The programming includes:

• Staff wellness stations – physical spaces set up to facilitate relaxation and access to verbal and non-verbal therapeutic modalities
• Wellness Rounds – therapists walk through medical units to briefly check in with staff and other support.
• Aromatherapy and handmade affirmation cards
• Wellness groups – therapeutic art groups facilitated by licensed creative arts therapists
• Wellness sign-outs that focus on guided meditations and discussions
• Individual phone calls to offer wellness resources to all frontline team members
• Individual wellness sessions – therapists provide short-term, confidential emotional support to staff experiencing difficult life circumstances

Congratulations to all involved, specifically Karen Codd and Deb Brass for their hard work and dedication to the overall wellness of the MediSys Health Network team.

For more information, contact Karen Codd, MPS, LCAT, ATR-BC, DAT-c, Jamaica Hospital senior wellness coordinator, at [email protected], or Deb Brass, MS, LCAT, ATR-BC, Flushing Hospital senior wellness coordinator, at [email protected]. 

Flushing Hospital Medical Center is the proud recipient of the New York State Obstetric Hemorrhage Project 2021 Quality Improvement Award.

The award recognizes Flushing Hospital’s participation and dedicated work in the New York State Obstetric Hemorrhage Project which was created by the New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative (NYSPQC) to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality associated with obstetric hemorrhage.

Maternal morbidity is defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as, “any short- or long-term health problems that result from being pregnant and giving birth.”  While maternal mortality, “refers to the death of a woman from complications of pregnancy or childbirth that occur during the pregnancy or within 6 weeks after the pregnancy ends.”

Both issues have been causes for concern nationally as data shows that maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the U.S. have been inclining steadily.

In November of 2017, the NYSPQC initiated the NYS Obstetric Hemorrhage Project in collaboration with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Healthcare Association of New York State, and the Greater New York Hospital Association with the support of the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality to address this problem.

Flushing Hospital joined the project as part of its ongoing efforts to provide patients and their families with the best, safest, and most equitable care.

As a participant, Flushing Hospital has met or exceeded the project’s goal of assessing at least 85% of patients for risk of obstetric hemorrhage upon admission and during the postpartum period. The hospital also implemented measures to improve readiness to respond to obstetric hemorrhage.

“This project involved a multidisciplinary approach with monthly webinars and in-person meetings in Albany. Together, we worked on updating our policies, acquired a hemorrhage cart, and updated our hemorrhage kit.  We also performed simulation drills and devised a hemorrhage assessment for patients antepartum, upon admission to Labor and Delivery, and postpartum. Our team has been educated and trained on all changes to ensure the delivery of quality care,” explained Maria Smilios, Director of Nursing Maternal and Child Services at Flushing Hospital.

Flushing Hospital was commended for its dedication and “exemplary work” by the New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative. The hospital will continue to focus on improving maternal morbidity and maternal rates in its community to ensure a healthier future for all.