On August 21^st five physicians from Jamaica Hospital’s Family Medicine Department departed on a ten-day mission to Lare, Kenya as part of a coordinated medical effort.  The medical team was led by Dr. Kamica Lewis and Dr. Maria Perfetto-Tullo and also included three third-year residents,  Dr. Andrew Flowers, Dr. Melissa Bhikham and Dr. Colleen Hautzinger.

Lare is a small community located 4 ½ hours away from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The town does not have a hospital, only a small clinic, a medical assistant and a few midwives who provide care to the approximately 10,000 people who live in this area. The clinic is where people come to for most of their medical needs, but for more serious cases they must be transported by car or ambulance to the nearest hospital which is over an hour away.

In the short time that Jamaica Hospital’s medical team was in Lare, they treated over 1,000 patients. Some of the medical care provided included wound care, OMT, suturing, laceration repair and management of chronic illnesses such as unstable HIV, seizure management, diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Dr. Lewis estimates that 35% of the cases they treated were ER worthy.

The opportunity to send our Family Medicine team was made possible by former Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Dental program graduate, Dr. Joseph Pantaleo, who organized the trip. Dr. Pantaleo and Dr. Lewis are both graduates of St. Francis Prep in Queens. The school is run by Franciscan Brothers. They have a sister school in Lare, Kenya and that is how this community was selected as a place to provide medical and dental care.

The team also provided educational classes to the students at the high school in Lare.  In addition to providing care to the people that they saw, they also helped to get the government of Kenya to fund the rebuilding of a medical clinic which has vastly improved the conditions for the medical providers.

Dr. Lewis finds this work very rewarding. She has participated in 12 overseas medical missions and intends to continue to increase the program. A Grand Rounds is being planned in the Fall to present the findings of the most recent trip.

Every month, employees at Jamaica Hospital who go above and beyond to help coworkers, patients and visitors are nominated for the G.E.M award.

G.E.M stands for Going the Extra Mile and recipients are recognized for their hard work, team spirit, kindness, and professionalism.

This month’s G.E.M recipients are:

Frank Block – Security

Ana Pacora – Administration

Congratulations to you both. Keep up the excellent work in helping us to serve our community.

One day in 2016, Jacqueline Messina received a phone call no mother wants to receive.  Her son Anthony was in the ICU and she needed to come to Jamaica Hospital.

When she arrived she couldn’t believe her eyes. Anthony was sedated and on a ventilator. He was not the 24-year-old boisterous young man she knew; he was unresponsive. While they hoped and prayed daily with Father Andre that he would wake up and return to his family after rehabilitation, the prognosis grew worse as the days past.  His brain injuries were escalating versus improving.  The hospital’s Palliative Care team came to visit her in the ICU and she completely went silent.  Jacqueline had no idea what the words “palliative care” even meant.

“It was an extremely difficult moment for our family. Who anticipates palliative and hospice care? We sat his brothers down and explained the next steps, but in our hearts, we were still confused about how his life was ending, a parent never imagines this.” One additional factor was Anthony’s grandmother.  “They were so close and she was diagnosed with breast cancer the day of his accident,” shared Jacqueline.  “I remember us trying to be strong for her despite my heart breaking because I was worried about how losing Anthony would affect her health and upcoming treatment.”

“I am not sure we could have endured this experience on our own. Thankfully we had the support of everyone on Jamaica Hospital’s hospice unit. They did so much to help my husband and boys as well as Anthony’s grandmother. They made sure the rest of our family and friends were well cared for,” she said.

Hours before his passing, Anthony was admitted to Jamaica Hospital’s Ferrara Family Center for Hospice Care after being transferred from the ICU.  Jacqueline did not know what to expect,   “I was anxious at first.  I must have asked a million questions.”

Jacqueline’s anxieties subsided when she was greeted by a warm staff that addressed her concerns and treated her with compassion. They ensured her that Anthony was in good hands and they would do everything they could to make him comfortable. “The level of service we received was outstanding. The staff did more than what was needed during his time with us and after. They were amazing,” said Jacqueline.

Jacqueline Messina

The staff’s devotion to Anthony and his family inspired Jacqueline to give back. She donates to the hospice every year in honor of her son’s legacy.  “When Anthony died, I wanted to make sure others had the same comfort that he did.  This is why I work hard every year to accumulate volunteer hours of which my company Bloomberg L.P.  converts into funds for charity.  The program is called “Dollars for Your Hours” and I proudly support the Ferrara Family Center for Hospice Care with this gift,” shared Jacqueline.

The Ferrara Family for Hospice Care provides comfort care for those with life-limiting illnesses. Great pride is taken by their staff in providing patients and families with quality medical services as well as the emotional and spiritual support needed to help them through a challenging time.

To donate to the Ferrara Family Center for Hospice Care, please visit https://jamaicahospital.org/ways-to-give/

In an effort to reach our goal of becoming a patient-centered, high reliability healthcare system, the MediSys Health Network has implemented several initiatives to help us as we continue to transition into a patient-centered care delivery model. One such initiative is inviting influential health care leaders to be keynote speakers at our network grand rounds.

On Friday August 2^nd MediSys welcomed a very special guest to present at  Grand Rounds,  Dennis Wagner, MPA – Director of Quality Improvement and Innovation Group Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (CMS), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The title of this program was: Choosing to Lead – Leadership Mindsets to Generate Results for Yourself and Others.

During his discussion, Mr. Wagner identified various key CMS objectives and ways that leadership can utilize each one to create a highly successful patient-centered model of care. These objectives included:

• Empowering patients
• Focusing on results
• Unleashing innovation

Mr. Wagner also spoke about having effective questions that will help all of us to invent our own pathways to change. We should be asking questions like:

• What is working?
• What is causing it to work?
• What are our objectives?
• What should we do more of, better or differently?
• We should not be asking “Why did you do that?”

Mr. Wagner ended his Grand Rounds presentation by thanking MediSys Health Network’s leadership for their commitment to building and strengthening relationships with patients, providers, quality improvement organizations and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He also thanked other attendees for doing their part to improve and transform our nation’s health care system.

The Grand Rounds presentation was given to a packed auditorium of Jamaica Hospital doctors, nurses, and administrators. The Flushing Hospital staff was able to participate via video conference as well. Everyone in attendance greatly appreciated and benefitted from Mr. Wagner’s presentation.

Every month, Flushing Hospital Medical Center recognizes employees for their contributions to patient safety.

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.

Join us in congratulating:

Janet Reiss- Psychiatry

Mary Halder- Blood Bank

Good Catch nominees receive recognition based on their actions in preventing the potential harm of patients. These actions may include correcting a medication order, preventing a patient from falling or reporting a significant change in a patient’s status.

By identifying a problem before it became a patient safety issue, our nominees have helped Flushing Hospital to improve our quality in patient care.

To our Good Catch recipients, thank you for being exemplary members of our team and contributing to our goal of being a High-Reliability Hospital.

Every month, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center recognizes employees for their contributions to patient safety.

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.

Join us in congratulating:

Melissa Florival, Social Worker

Dropattie Ramsammy, RN

Gustave Smith, Environmental Services

Jelva Smith, SCA

Divis Desintonio, Staff Associate

Dr. Hemanth Chitneni, Resident Psychiatry

Eduard Kandov, RN

Kretika Johnson, RN

Ruth Dunaboyina, LPN

Denise Dicks, Staffing Associate

Abu-Sabe Mohammad, Lead Echo Tech

Edward Agusto, Environmental Services

Mindy Ruiz, Administrative Assistant

Good Catch nominees receive recognition based on their actions in preventing the potential harm of patients. These actions may include correcting a medication order, preventing a patient fall or reporting a significant change in patient status.

By identifying a problem before it could have become a patient safety issue, our nominees have helped Jamaica Hospital to improve our quality in patient care.

To our Good Catch recipients, thank you for being exemplary members of our team and contributing to our goal of being a High-Reliability Hospital.

Every month, employees at Flushing Hospital who go above and beyond to help coworkers, patients and visitors are nominated for the G.E.M award.

G.E.M stands for Going the Extra Mile and recipients are recognized for their hard work, team spirit, kindness, and professionalism.

This month’s G.E.M recipients are:

Janet Reiss- Mental Health
Abbey Jacobs- Wound Care 

Congratulations to you both. Keep up the excellent work in helping us to serve our community.

Every month, employees at Jamaica Hospital who go above and beyond to help coworkers, patients and visitors are nominated for the G.E.M award.

G.E.M stands for Going the Extra Mile and recipients are recognized for their hard work, team spirit, kindness, and professionalism.

This month’s G.E.M recipients are:

Jafra Wilson-Security
Jung-Sik Kim- Respiratory

Congratulations to you both. Keep up the excellent work in helping us to serve our community.