Mr. Bruce J. Flanz, Chief Executive Officer of MediSys Health Network and Dr. Sabiha Raoof, Chair of Radiology and Chief Medical Officer at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals were special guest presenters in a Physician Leadership Forum webinar sponsored by the American Hospital Association. This webinar was entitled “When the Radiologist Becomes the Patient: Radiologists as Hospital Change Agents”.

Mr. Flanz and Dr. Raoof spoke about the diversity of the patients that are seen at both Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals and how important it is to overcome challenges to meet their needs medically, culturally and linguistically. Dr. Raoof stated, “our strength lies in being able to offer culturally competent services through our diverse staff that understands the specific needs of our patients”.

Mr. Flanz expressed that cultural sensitivity is only one aspect of delivering high-quality care. He continued by stating “our network is transforming on several fronts. We are moving from quantity to quality, from inpatient to outpatient, from fee for service to value-based payment and from physician focused care to patient and family-centered engaged care”.

Dr. Raoof then spoke about how she learned first-hand what the patient experience is all about while she was a patient, and how important it is to communicate with the patient in order to make them feel comfortable  and to become more participatory in their care. Her experience led her to the “Make A Difference (MAD)” program which focuses on communicating better with our patients.

Dr. Raoof also provided a departmental perspective on how she and her staff are following the American College of Radiology’s Imaging 3.0 roadmap to provide patient-focused high-quality care.  Radiologists in her department are becoming more involved with patient care and seeking to improve the overall patient experience. This is being accomplished by being involved from the outset of the medical team’s plan of action.

Radiologists are no longer just interpreting scans and films. They are actually getting involved with the other clinicians who are consulting on which radiologic exams are necessary and how their results should be interpreted. Additionally, the Radiology Department uses an app called “Rate My Hospital” where patients are asked to provide feedback so that we can see how we are performing. All of these tools are focused on improving the patient’s experience and ultimately their care.

Mr. Flanz stated “Our greatest asset is our workforce. If we keep our workforce focused on three main priorities, taking care of their health, their families and then their work, they will perform very well. Transformational change at a safety net hospital will only take place if the workforce is reaching their individual potential. With continued hard work I have no doubt that we can reach our goal of becoming a high-reliability organization”.

Flushing Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) is proud to introduce Schwartz Rounds®. This program provides a forum and supportive environment for caregivers to discuss the human side of healthcare and the challenging emotional and psychosocial issues they face when caring for patients and families.

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare was created more than 20 years ago by Ken Schwartz, a healthcare attorney who died of lung cancer at age 40. Writing about his experience, he explained that what made “the unbearable bearable” was the compassion shown by his doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. The Center’s vision is that “all patients receive compassionate care and all health professionals are supported in providing it”.

The Schwartz Rounds program is a result of this vision and is now implemented in close to 500 healthcare organizations in the US, UK and Canada—helping more than 200,000 health professionals to provide compassionate care to millions of patients.

“Participating in Schwarz Rounds gives us an opportunity to focus on the caregiver.  As medical professionals, we spend so much time taking care of others, we often forget that we also need to be taken care of,” stated Catherine Ferrari, RN, Administrator for Professional Services at FHMC.

At FHMC, Schwartz Rounds are coordinated by Planning Committee members: Catherine Ferrari, RN, Administrator for Professional Services; Rubin Silvestre, RN, Chief Nursing Officer;  Maria Smilios, RN, Director of Nursing; Margaret Belony, RN, Clinical Nurse Specialist; Dr. Lucan Rodrigues, Director Palliative Care; Arlene Burke, RN, Nursing Supervisor; Patricia Boucher, RN, Nurse Manager and Denise James, RN, Director, Case Management.

Rounds are offered bi-monthly where participants from multiple clinical and administrative disciplines attend a one-hour, case-based, interactive discussion. Each session begins with a brief introductory presentation of a case that includes a panel of health care team members who cared for the patient.  This presentation focuses on the psychosocial themes in caring for this patient and family. Audience members and the panel participate in a facilitated group discussion. Those who have had interactions with the patient or have had similar experiences contribute to the discussion.

The first Schwartz Rounds at FHMC took place in October and the second one is scheduled for January 2018. At the first session, an audience of over 200 individuals attended from all areas of the hospital. The results were overwhelmingly positive with the majority of participants stating that after the “Rounds” they had a better sense of belonging to a team, a new appreciation for their colleagues of other disciplines, more compassion for patients and families, as well as, new ideas and strategies for dealing with challenging situations.

Jamaica Hospital’s Department of Cardiology has been recognized as being a leader in the treatment of heart patients.

The hospital recently received the Silver Performance Achievement Award from the Action Registry, which was established by the American College of Cardiology. This award recognizes Jamaica Hospital’s success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients by meeting aggressive performance measures as outlined by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) clinical guidelines and recommendations.

The  Action Registry also acknowledges Jamaica Hospital’s team-based approach to consistently treat heart attack patients while adhering to national standards of care specifically with high-risk heart attack patients.

This achievement was published in U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 Best Hospital’s edition. The article lists every hospital across the nation to receive this honor, and it is with great pride that we boast that Jamaica Hospital was one of only three hospitals in New York City, and the only hospital in Queens to receive an achievement award from the Action Registry.

In addition to this honor, Jamaica Hospital’s Cardiology Department received the 2017 Get with the Guidelines Heart Failure Bronze Award. The award was given to the hospital by the American Heart Association and it demonstrates our commitment to treating heart failure patients with 85% or higher compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association for 90 consecutive days.

Both awards are reflective of the hard work and dedication of the hospital staff in caring for some of our most critically ill patients. Congratulations to all on a job well done.

Hurricane Relief Team Update

Our relief teams in Puerto Rico continue to provide much-needed medical assistance to the island’s residents.

Team 1 remains on the USNS Comfort where they are treating hundreds of patients a day. Team 2 is working with Americares on the western side of the island in Aguada. The members of this team were featured on WNBC News as they made house calls to help those in remote areas.

To view this news clip, view below or click the link

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Local-Doctors-Provide-Healthcare-in-Puerto-Rico_New-York-454860993.html

We will continue to keep you updated on both team’s efforts.

Jamaica Hospital Medical Center recently celebrated the major milestone of becoming the first hospital in Queens to offer a milk depot to the community.

To mark the momentous occasion, the hospital hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Staff involved in the coordination of the project as well as representatives from the New York Milk Bank and other community organizations were in attendance.

During the opening remarks, Roseanne Motti; Operations Manager for the New York Milk Bank,  applauded members of Jamaica Hospital’s staff for their determination to bring the project to fruition and offer women and babies in the community a much-needed service.

The event’s guest of honor, Conny Suriel, was recognized for being the milk depot’s first donor.  Upon accepting a beautiful bouquet of roses, Conny shared with guests why giving back was so important to her. “I’m a donor because I am honoring the memory of my baby.”  Although Conny’s daughter passed away, she felt that it was important to give other babies a chance to survive by becoming a donor.

Jamaica Hospital’s milk depot is vital because it serves as a safe location where women in the community who choose to donate their excess breast milk can make a deposit.  After the milk is collected, it is sent to the New York Milk Bank for testing and pasteurization.   Once processed, the milk is distributed to help mothers who are unable to breastfeed their premature babies or infants with weakened immune systems.

For babies who are born premature, breast milk not only serves as nutrition but also as medicine. It helps to reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening disease that can damage or destroy the intestinal tracts of preemies.

Jamaica Hospital’s milk depot is now open to the public and welcomes donors approved by the New York Milk Bank to donate their excess breast milk.

If you are interested in becoming a donor, please contact the New York Milk Bank at 212-956-6455.  A representative will help you with the process, which includes a health screening and a blood test.  Further information is also provided on their website, www. NYMilkBank.org.

To learn more about depositing milk at Jamaica Hospital’s milk depot, located on the 3rd floor of the Axel building, in the WIC department, please call 718-206-8607 or visit, www. JamaicaHospital.org.

The hurricane relief effort in Puerto Rico continues with both of the MediSys Health Network teams being kept very busy. Team 1 is working on the ship, the USS Comfort, where they are providing urgent care to hundreds of patients on a daily basis. Team 2 has been with working with Americares to staff pop-up clinics in small remote towns on the western portion of the island. They have also been seeing hundreds of patients on a daily basis.

Both team leaders have been reporting that they have been working twelve to fourteen hour days without any days off. The members of the teams are in good health and spirits. We are very proud of our team members who are working so hard to help with this effort in Puerto Rico. We will continue to keep everyone updated on the team’s progress.

The MediSys Health Network, comprised of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center deployed a team of medical personnel to Puerto Rico to help provide much-needed healthcare services to the areas devastated by Hurricane Maria.

Both facilities are the first Queens-based hospitals to send their staff to the island.

The 20-member volunteer team of largely bi-lingual employees, including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and administrators were deployed on the morning of Tuesday, October 24^th.

As reported, much of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure has been decimated and most of the island’s healthcare facilities have been compromised. The MediSys team will deliver urgent medical care in an extremely difficult situation by supplementing staffing for the ongoing Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) missions or providing assistance to Federal Medical Shelters (FMS).

When details of the hurricane destruction emerged, Over 100 individuals offered to provide assistance.  Additionally, the Network’s Board of Trustees, medical staff and employees set a fundraising goal of $100,000 to support relief efforts. To date, half of that goal has been achieved.

The MediSys Health network has a long history of providing disaster relief to those in need. Some past relief efforts of the MediSys Health Network include:

• Hurricane Andrew – Homestead, Florida, 1992
• Northern Country Ice Storms – Watertown, NY, 1998
• World Trade Center Attacks (9/11) – New York, NY, 2001
• Hurricane Katrina –Louisiana & Mississippi, 2005
• Hurricane Sandy – Far Rockaway, New York, 2012

According to Bruce J. Flanz, President & Chief Executive Officer of the MediSys Health Network, “It has always been our mission to provide relief to those in need. We believe our experience in responding to disasters and exporting our talents where they can be utilized is something that we are proud to do and will continue to offer whenever it is needed.”

New York State ranks last in the nation in the percentage of residents registered as organ donors, and as a result, every 18 hours someone in New York dies while waiting for a life-saving organ. 

As part of an effort to bolster the number of organ donors and reduce the number of people on the organ transplant waiting list, New York has adopted October 4^th as Organ Donor Enrollment Day.

Jamaica and Flushing Hospital Medical Center joined this statewide initiative to increase the number of donors by collaborating with LiveOnNY to host donor registration events in their main lobbies.

During the course of registration, people were given informational brochures that debunked myths that would have kept them from becoming an organ donor in the past. With the help of dedicated staff and volunteers which included Flushing Hospital’s Mary Fischer and her daughter Lauren Fischer (pictured)-a double lung transplant recipient; approximately 80 new organ donors were registered.

Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals thank all who signed up and those who took information to decide at a later date.

If you have not done so already, please consider becoming an organ donor. It is truly a gift that only one person can give to another.

To find out how you can register as organ, eye and/or tissue donor please visit http://www.liveonny.org/