Last month, the Department of Psychiatry at Jamaica and Flushing Hospital Medical Center unveiled the anonymous artwork of patients in therapy at the Queens Museum.  This momentous event took place shortly after both hospitals celebrated Creative Arts Therapy Week.

Creative Arts Therapy Week is observed each year, in the third week of March, to raise awareness of the importance of utilizing creative art modalities to improve treatment outcomes for patients in therapy. This year, Jamaica and Flushing Hospital celebrated the observance by hosting the public art exhibit “Creating Balance.”

Creating Balance featured several pieces of art that illustrated the thoughts and reflections of patients participating in therapy.  Artwork with vibrant colors and self-expressive notes were displayed in each hospitals’ main lobby, and enjoyed by the community and staff.

The exhibit was later moved to the Queens Museum where it made its big debut.  An opening reception was held to reveal the artwork.  The event was well attended by several museum visitors, past and present patients as well as their families, artists and staff.  Art spectators actively viewed and explored the various media in which the art was presented.

The showcase included drawings, paintings, sculptures and music. Also presented were a compilation of video and an interactive experience utilizing apps and programs on an iPad.

Overall the MediSys Health Network’s Creating Balance exhibit was a tremendous success. “We achieved our goal of reaching out to the community, to showcase the value of artwork and how it has helped patients and families to facilitate an open discussion about therapy,” stated Michelle Hololob, Chief of Creative Arts Therapy at Jamaica Hospital.

Father Bryan Carney, pastoral care staff member at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, serves as chaplain to the hospital and has become a familiar and friendly face that many in the community have come to know.

Often times when a patient and their family are given news of the status of their health, they find comfort in having Father Carney present to offer encouragement or spiritual support.  His other duties at the hospital include distributing religious materials, offering mass, spiritual counseling, offering prayer, visiting patients and families as well as notifying a families’ spiritual leader about a patient’s admission to Flushing Hospital.

Father Carney’s work at Flushing Hospital and in the community is highly regarded by hospital staff and it is for that reason we are proud to share that the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens have highlighted him and his ministry in the Catholic Appeal video.  The video follows a day in the work life of Father Carney as he interacts with patients and staff. It will be shown in all the diocesan churches throughout Brooklyn and Queens to raise awareness for the Hospital Chaplain Ministry.

Father Carney’s work at Flushing Hospital is invaluable as having him as a full-time pastoral care professional places the hospital in the unique position of being one of only a few to offer this level of service.

We congratulate Father Bryan Carney on the video and thank him for his dedication to helping Flushing Hospital provide quality services to our community.

https://youtu.be/URvvFXTELno

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 recipient is Georgia Martin, Social Worker, Social Work Department.

Congratulations and keep up the excellent work in helping us to serve our community.

Fr. Bryan Carney is our Pastoral Care staff member.  His duties include a variety of services such as patient and family visits, distributing religious literature, offering mass, offering prayers, spiritual counseling, as well as notifying a family pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, or spiritual leader upon your admission or at any time during your hospital stay.

At Flushing Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), we are fortunate to have Fr. Carney as a full time Pastoral Care Professional.  His work in and around the hospital is invaluable.  That is why we were so proud to have his work highlighted in the Brooklyn Diocese Catholic Appeal Video.

The video allows Fr. Carney to talk about his ministry at FHMC, contains interviews with administrators as well as his interaction with our staff.

Take a look at the video and congratulate Fr. Bryan Carney for all the work he does with the patients at Flushing Hospital Medical Center.

https://youtu.be/URvvFXTELno

FHMC Patient Safety Awareness Week

Last week, Jamaica and Flushing Hospital Medical Center celebrated Patient Safety Awareness Week.

The observance is an initiative promoted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the National Patient Safety Foundation to increase awareness of the importance of patient safety among healthcare professionals and the public.

This year’s campaign focused on fostering a safety culture and encouraging patient engagement. Both hospitals hosted a series of events that engaged the community as well as staff.

At Flushing Hospital, various departments collaborated in providing information used for an educational display that demonstrated the importance of infection control, as well as safety measures for fall prevention. Brochures and other reading materials were also made available in the hospital’s main lobby.

Jamaica Hospital celebrated all week long by engaging the community and employees in a number of activities that included hand sanitizer giveaways; 675 hand gels were distributed during the “Got Soap” hand hygiene campaign. Departments participating in Patient Safety Awareness Week performed Environment of Care (EOC) rounds on 25 patient care units to ensure health and safety requirements were up to par. Hospital guests and employees were also invited to take part in patient-safety related raffles as well as games such as Wheel of Fortune.

One of the highlights of Patient Safety Awareness Week at Jamaica Hospital was the debut of the “Scrubbing in Finesse” music video.  The video, a collaborative effort of several departments, was created to show the community- in a fun and educational way- the many safety measures practiced by staff to ensure patient safety. Scrubbing in Finesse was well received and enjoyed by many.

Patient Safety Awareness Week was a success at Jamaica and Flushing Hospital. We look forward to next year’s creative and educational contributions.

In an effort to encourage employees to improve their health, the MediSys Health Network has partnered with the Fitbit Corporation to offer staff the opportunity to purchase fitness trackers at a discounted price.

As part of their Corporate Wellness Program and partnership with MediSys, Fitbit will offer Network employees a 20% discount on a variety of trackers. To further incentivize staff to join the program, MediSys has agreed to pay an additional $20 towards the purchase price.

Those who are interested in taking advantage of this offer, which began on March 15^th, should visit the specially created MediSys Fitbit storefront at www.fitbit.com/welcome/medisys and enter a special promo code, (three zeros plus your Kronos identification number). Each employee is permitted to purchase up to two trackers.

After your tracker arrives in the mail, simply download the Fitbit app, follow the enrollment instructions, and join the MediSys Wellness Program.  Employees who already own a Fitbit tracker can still participate. All they have to do is contact the Program Administrator, who will invite them to join.

Once employees are enrolled, they can track their individual exercise statistics or share their activity with the rest of the group. Members will have the ability to participate in challenges and games that include: determining who has taken the most steps, who has climbed the most stairs, or who has burned the most calories. The purpose of these friendly challenges is to motivate employees to live a healthier lifestyle through exercise.

This offer is only available for the first 250 devices. For more information about joining the MediSys and Fitbit Corporate Wellness Program, please contact Program Administrator, Josh, Sclair at [email protected] or 718-206-8918.

The MediSys Health Network is introducing a new patient-friendly meal ordering system that will enable our Food and Nutrition staff to provide a more individualized and efficient dining experience for our patients and nursing home residents.

The new system is called CBORD Nutrition Service Suite and it was first implemented in early January at Jamaica Hospital and the Trump Pavilion and is expected to launch this month at Flushing Hospital.

The CBORD Nutrition Service Suite along with the Room Service Choice module was built to interface with each facility’s Electronic Medical Record system allowing for menu changes and diets to be reflected in real time. With this program,  a new host system was introduced which allows for greater menu selection, options, and most importantly honoring patients’ and residents’ choice. The host/hostess visits patients’ and residents’ rooms daily to obtain their selections for upcoming meals which are preloaded on a tablet. They offer an array of selections daily including multiple hot entrée items, cold entrees, salads, sandwiches, and snack items.

The Food and Nutrition Management Team hopes this will enhance patient and resident satisfaction, and optimize their nutritional status.  The system will also help to minimize food waste as patients and residents are now able to choose what they want to eat to meet their dietary needs.

The MediSys Health Network recently launched a website dedicated to the research efforts conducted at both Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center.

The new site, www.MedisysResearch.org offers a comprehensive database of the network’s clinical academic achievements, including a listing of poster presentations, performance improvement projects, clinical studies, as well as links to published articles. The website offers visitors the opportunity to search for a specific project by article type, author, or keyword.

Creating this site was the idea of Mr. Tony Maffia, Vice President of Psychiatry, who believed that such a site would provide a forum to showcase the many contributions Jamaica and Flushing Hospital are making in various fields of research to both an internal and external audience.

Construction of the site began in late 2017 and completion required the collaborative efforts of the Information Technology, Graduate Medical Education, Public Affairs, Medical Library, and Research Departments. The site was launched last month and it has received a great deal of positive feedback from many providers and members of our clinical leadership.

If you are interested in learning more about the site or would like to submit a project for inclusion, please contact Kelly Cervillione, Director of Research at 718-206-5800 or email her at [email protected]

Being admitted to a hospital or having to undergo a procedure can be a very stressful and even scary experience for many patients and their families, and that is especially true when that patient is a child.

In an effort to reduce the stress of our pediatric patients and offer a calming distraction for them, Flushing Hospital Medical Center is now offering children an escape from the hospital environment with the help of the Samsung Applied Virtual Reality headset. This state-of-the-art, interactive tool was purchased by Flushing Hospital thanks to a grant from the Child’s Play Foundation.

This fully mobile, virtual reality technology allows Flushing Hospital’s smallest patients to leave the confinement of their treatment area by taking them on a variety of exciting journeys. Pediatric patients can now relax on a sandy beach or tranquil ocean or they can visit any number of scenic destinations across the country and around the globe, including Los Angeles, Yellowstone National Park, London, Tibet, Iceland or Machu Picchu. The VR software is constantly being updated, offering patients an ever-expanding assortment of places to go to.

The headset is easy to operate and is being used to further assist Flushing Hospital’s Child Life Specialist while they care for patients. This technology offers an entertaining distraction to children when they are receiving important, yet typically anxiety-inducing treatments, such as blood draws, IV insertions, spinal taps, dressing changes and blood transfusions.

The virtual reality headset is utilized by most patients as it requires very little movement by the patient and it has proven to be very effective in helping children cope with stress associated with a clinical environment.

Patients as young as three years old have used the Samsung headsets and thus far, it has received an overwhelmingly positive response from both our patients and their parents. Both providers and family members have expressed that this technology has resulted in increased cooperation and enhanced comfort for our pediatric patients.

Flushing Hospital’s Pediatric Department is very grateful for this generous gift made possible by the Child’s Play Foundation and the staff is equally thrilled to have another tool to help them provide a positive atmosphere for our pediatric patients.

Last week, Dr. Alan Roth; Jamaica Hospital Chairman of Family Medicine and Palliative Care, participated in a one-on-one, studio interview with NY1 News anchor Shannan Ferry to discuss this year’s flu season and the hospital’s Antibiotic Stewardship program.

During an in-depth discussion, Dr. Roth informed viewers about the perils of antibiotics misuse and Jamaica Hospital’s initiatives to curb physicians overprescribing and patients overusing the drug.  “Patients need to be educated that antibiotics are only indicated for bacterial infections. So, if you have a viral infection such as the flu, antibiotics are not helpful at all, in fact, they can be harmful,” he explained.

Jamaica Hospital has developed measures to improve how antibiotics are prescribed by doctors and how patients are using them. As part of its efforts, the hospital has implemented tools to assist physicians in their electronic medical records and has used teaching aids from the CDC’s “Get Smart” public education campaign which includes posters and prescription pads explaining what illnesses are caused by virus vs bacteria, and  whether or not antibiotics are the best course of treatment respectively.

Dr. Roth also discussed factors that may have contributed to the heightened activity of this year’s flu season.  He reminded the public that while the flu shot is not 100% percent effective, it is recommended that people still get vaccinated because it is their best defense against the virus.

Jamaica Hospital strives to improve the overall wellness of the community it serves. Through initiatives such as the Antibiotic Stewardship Program, the hospital aims to provide patients with the information needed to help them lead a healthy life.

Watch the interview here: