August 19, 2013

Way to Go, Covenant!

We all play a role in customer service. Covenant would like to express its gratitude across the organization for everyone's help in meeting, and in some cases exceeding our Customer Satisfaction Score goals in scal year 2013! For the month of June: Our composite mean score is 90.3 which is at the 93rd percentile rank. In FY 2013, Our mean score is 90 and our percentile ranking year-to-date is in the 90th percentile! Two departments that stood out last year include Cooper 4 North, who earned the Most Improved Inpatient Unit for FY12-FY13 and Cooper Nuclear Medicine, who earned the Most Improved Outpatient Unit for FY12-FY13. Some of the ways that we have been able to meet the patients expectations are by actively listening; taking time to talk with our patients and setting attainable goals with the patient and/or family members; actively rounding on patients; participating in safety huddles; and involving Case Management, Social Worker, Manager or a Coordinator to assist with stream lining care needs, said Cooper 4 North manager, Linda Looby. The unit improved its score by 2.01 percent (84.6 to 86.3).

Great Lakes Harley-Davidson Keeps Teddy Bears Rolling into Covenant!

Great Lakes Harley-Davidson & Buell and the Tri-County Michigan Harley Owners Group in Bay City, rolled into Covenant with lots of furry friends for the 8th annual Teddy Bear Ride for Covenant Kids. The Teddy Bear Ride was traditionally held in conjunction with the Pig Gig each year, offering an opportunity for local bikers to brighten the day of local kids in the Covenant HealthCare Pediatric Unit. Joe Yax and the Great Lakes Harley team were committed to continuing the tradition even after the Pig Gig announced it would come to a close. Stuffed animals are used throughout the year to comfort children who are hospitalized at Covenant, the regions only Level II Verified Pediatric Trauma Center complemented by a regional Pediatric Unit and a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Each year, the event draws close to 200 riders and 300 participants.

The bikers are welcomed and bears are collected.

The nurses on 4 North try to identify and anticipate the needs of the patient while in the hospital and what they might need for discharge, Looby said. This is not always an easy task, but the nurses on 4 North understand the importance of providing individualized care. So Congratulations to the staff on 4 North for continuing to support Covenant HealthCare in our efforts to provide the best care possible to our patients. You are EXTRAORDINARY!!!!! Cooper Nuclear Medicine improved its scores by 3.0 percent (92.8 to 95.6)! When Jan Urban, Lead Technologist, was asked why Nuc Meds PG score rose she said, They rose because our care is better. Last July we started living by the old saying, there is no I in TEAM. We truly became a team in Nuc Med. We help each other out, and this really shows up with our patient care. When we bring a patient in to a room, that patient will most likely see everyone one of us working in that area, Urban said. Jon Henige is the Cooper Nuclear Medicine manager.

Cooper 4 North, Most Improved Inpatient Unit FY 2012-13

Most Improved Outpatient Unit FY2012-13

See PAGE 2 for more good news on our current customer service scores and our Traveling Trophy winners!

See PAGE 4 for additional photos!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Traveling Trophies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Culture of Caring Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 7 Main Pilots New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Barcode Medication Administration Nurse Pens Crosswords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Skywalk Caf Celebrates Anniversary . . . . . 3 Job Shadow Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 COOL Line Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Teddy Bear Ride Photo Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mark Your Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Covenant Joins Effort to Boost Number of Baby-Friendly Hospitals

Project aims to improve maternity care practices to support breastfeeding
Last year, Covenant was selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to significantly improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest. This year, Best Fed Beginnings teamed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has awarded nearly $6 million over three years to the National Initiative for Childrens Healthcare Quality to help hospitals nationwide make quality improvements to maternity care to better support mothers and babies to be able to breastfeed. The goal of the project is accelerate the number of U.S. Baby-Friendly hospitals. This project will address the need to improve hospital practices to support breastfeeding by helping hospitals move toward Baby-Friendly status. The core of the Baby-Friendly Initiative are the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a bundle of science-based practices established by the World Health Organization and UNICEF as global criteria to improve breastfeeding rates. These criteria are endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. continued on page 4

Extraordinary care for every generation.

Traveling Trophies
Press Ganey scores allow us to gauge customer service and where we rank in this arena compared to other hospitals of similar or equal size across the country. Covenant high scorers receive special recognition bragging rights for the month, the sweet victory of several pounds of candy and the coveted silver chalice!

Here are the winners for the month of July:

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Support Unit of the Month: Nutrition Services Cooper (Carol Wirgau)

Cooper Nutrition Services received a 86.4 raw score over its 82.8, putting in the 99th percentile. Manager, Carol Wirgau said the following motivational tips help Cooper Nutrition to achieve top scores in customer satisfaction: The knowledge that customer satisfaction is everyone's responsibility. The team works together and understand the common goal. (We) take the survey comments personally. (We) never accept excuses for insufficient customer service. (We) step up and assist a team member when needed.
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Diabetes Education Department with VP Dan George, far left and Director Jacqueline Tinner, far right.

Culture of Caring Award Goes to Diabetes Education

The Culture of Caring award for the second quarter of 2013 was awarded to the Diabetes Education department. The Culture of Caring Award recognizes outstanding unit/ department/group performance and dedicated service to the Covenant Mission, Vision and Values, each quarter. Nancy Dole, Pediatrics educator, nominated the department for providing wonderful follow-through with education and care to the patients. Patients are greeted while still in the hospital and introduced to how the program will assist them once they are home, said Dole. Children and their families travel from all over our service area to meet with this team of experts who denitely represent Covenants values and promise of caring. Dole went on to point out that, each year an overwhelming number of children are newly diagnosed with this life changing illness, and Covenant is blessed to have this collaborative inpatient and outpatient team to guide them in this transition. Thank you to Diabetes Education for following Covenants W.E. C.A.R.E. Values and Promise of Caring and providing Extraordinary Care to Every Generation! If you would like to make a nomination for the Culture of Caring Award, please submit nominations to Customer Service, 3rd oor, Andersen Center, Room 309. The Inpatient Extraordinary Care Team will meet each Tuesday, 8 am, with locations to be announced. Details, call Alison Henige at 3.4261. Nomination forms are available via an Intranet home page link, or on the S:Drive inside the folder marked, Culture of Caring Award.

Support Unit of the Month Cooper Nutrition Services

Outpatient Unit of the Month: Nuclear Medicine Cooper (Jon Henige)

Nuclear Medicine achieved a 98.2 Raw score over its 94.6 goal, placing the unit in the 99th percentile. Between all the people, we do ALL the little things to make the patient comfortable and have the best experience possible, said Jan Urban, lead technologist. Because the staff gets along so well, the patient feels the good vibes that are given off. We are truly blessed to have such a good group of wonderful people, that care so much about our patients. Nuclear Medicine was also recognized as the Most Improved Outpatient Unit for the fiscal year 2012-13.

Jon Henige is the manager.

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Inpatient Unit of the Month: Pediatrics Harrison

Outpatient Unit of the Month Nuclear Medicine

Pediatrics Harrison achieved a 94.3 Raw score, over its 87.7 goal, placing it in the 99th percentile. I believe we have an awesome team! Everyone provides "extraordinary" care to all our patients and families, said Sue Wright, manager. We treat them as if they were our own. The staff also treat each other with respect & work well together.
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Honorable Mentions: Cooper 3M/N, Birth Center,

Cooper 5 East/Harrison 3 South, Cardiac Rehab, Mackinaw CT, 900 Nuclear Medicine, Mackinaw MRI, Midland Lab, Bridgeport Lab, Bay City PM&R and Hemlock PM&R.
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Areas Which Met FY13 Overall: Endoscopy, ECC,

Birth Center*, 3 East Cooper Coronary Heart*, 2 Main Harrison Surgical/Gyn*, CVS Invasive Procedures, Cardiac Rehab*, Cooper Nuclear Medicine, 900 Nuclear Medicine, Mackinaw Breast Health Center, Mackinaw CT, Inpatient Unit of the Month Pediatrics - Harrison Mackinaw MRI*, Mackinaw Nuclear Medicine, Mackinaw Ultrasound, Mackinaw X-Ray*, Wound Center, Alma Lab, Bridgeport Lab*, Freeland Lab*, Gratiot Lab, Midland Lab, PMI Lab*, Bay City PM&R, Frankenmuth PM&R, Irving PM&R, Mackinaw PM&R, Hemlock PM&R*, Cooper Food & Nutrition* and Harrison Food & Nutrition * = At or above the 99th percentile

Congratulations to all of our customer service winners!

DEPARTMENT/UNIT SPOTLIGHT:

7 Main Pilots New Barcode Medication Administration

Becoming a Highly Reliable Organization (HRO) requires continual improvement when it comes to employee efciency and patient safety. At Covenant HealthCare, we strive toward that mark by consistently updating technology and medical care processes. Carmen VanGelderen, Inpatient Oncology Manager and PICC Team Manager, and her team on 7 main have been working since the beginning of the year to test and incorporate the new Barcode Medication Administration technology. Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) uses a scanner to register the barcode on the patients bracelet ID and on the medication to ensure that we are upholding the ve patient rights; right patient, right medication, right time, right route, right dosage. Carmen says, Its kind of like the grocery scanners. This creates major change for the workow of 7 Maininstead of having carts stationed in the hallway, now each nurse has their own cart per shift and they take it directly into the patients room, preparing the medication in front of them. Previously the nurses were making up the medicine and ensuring ve patient rights without checking it in. Its been quite a painstaking process, Carmen admitted, And the team on 7 Main has worked very hard to identify potential problems, potential concerns which they have done very well. So theyve really done a good job with it. BCMA will help a great deal in eliminating human error. I loved it, said Carmen. I wished I wouldve had it years ago. It helps you to give the patient the right thing, at the right time. After the initial trial on 7 Main, 6M Harrison was selected to conduct a follow up trial. It is currently being utilized organization-wide. BCMA will aid in helping Covenant reach HRO status and improve the quality of care that our patients receive. A big thank you goes to the employees that participated in testing the software.

by Hannah Maine, Covenant Volunteer

A High Reliability Organization (HRO)

is an organization that has succeeded in avoiding catastrophes in an environment where normal accidents can be expected due to risk factors and complexity.

The cheerful Skywalk Caf is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 am to 3 pm.

Robin Volker, LPN, scans the barcode of a medication, efficiently checking it into the system before giving it to a patient. The handheld barcode scanner makes the BCMA technology easy to use.

Happy Anniversary Skywalk Caf!

The Skywalk Caf ofcially opened for business today, August 29, 2011, on the second oor at the entrance of the skywalk at 900 Cooper. The caf is a collaborative effort between Cardiovascular Services, Nutrition Services and Volunteer Services. The cafe offers a variety of healthy snack options, such as, two to three cup combinations daily which will be either $2 or $3, juice and energy drinks and an assortment of Hostess products and crunchy snack items. Business hours are: 9 am 3 pm, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

DEPARTMENT/UNIT SPOTLIGHT:

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT:

Covenant Offers Covenant Nurse Pens Crosswords Book Job Shadow to Help Keep Patients Healthy Opportunities
by Callie Hagen, Covenant Volunteer
Sandra Wilbanks, a nurse at the Freeland Primary Care and an adjunct professor at Saginaw Valley, started creating medical crosswords as a project while in graduate school. Since then, her one time school project has turned into a way to help educate medical and nursing students, and help patients better understand their medical condition. It began in 2002 when Wilbanks had the idea to create a crossword puzzle for a newspaper for nurse practitioners, as well as Elsevier, the world's leading producer of medical information. As a professor, she started making crossword puzzles for her students to help them study. They were so popular that she decided to publish a full crossword puzzle book, called Cross Check Medical Crossword Book. The book is available at the Saginaw Valley Bookstore as well as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. Recently, she has begun creating crosswords for patients help them learn and better understand their ailment. Currently, she is writing Volume 2 to her published crossword which is Medical Terms A-Z. In the future she hopes to write some of her unique crosswords for Covenant HealthCare. Covenant HealthCare strives to be a good community partner by providing job shadow opportunities in various health care careers. This program allows for high school and college students to experience what its like to work in the health care field, alongside any one of our extraordinary health professionals. High school students must be at least 16 years of age and additional requirements apply. Our workforce is comprised of a highly professional, diverse group of over 4,000 individuals. You will have the opportunity to spend approximately two to four hours shadowing a health care professional. They will provide you with insight that can assist you in selecting your future health care career. For nursing job shadow opportunities, please contact Central Education.

Heres how to get started. Its easy. Go online to

www.covenanthealthcare.com and click on the careers tab at the top of the page. In the bottom, left corner, click on the Job Shadow tab and follow the link for high school student or college student. Or, send your questions to afent@chs-mi.com.

Sandra Wilbanks, a nurse at Freeland Primary Care, is the author of Cross Check Medical Crossword Book.

COVENANT

Spiritual Snack for the Soul...

Baby-Friendly Hospitals
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are:

continued from page 1

There are stars whose light only reaches the Earth long after they have fallen apart. There are people whose remembrance gives light in this world, long after they have passed away. This light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow. ~ The Talmud

The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding were developed by a team of global experts and consist of evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration. Baby-Friendly hospitals and birthing facilities must adhere to the Ten Steps to receive, and retain, a Baby-Friendly designation.

1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy. 3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. 4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. 5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants. 6. Give infants no food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated. 7. Practice rooming in allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day. 8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand. 9. Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants. 10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birth center. We know that breastfeeding rates are higher in Baby-Friendly hospitals, yet only 5 percent of babies in this country are born in these facilities, said William H. Dietz, MD, Ph.D., director of CDCs Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. We need to help hospitals improve their maternity care to better support breastfeeding. This project takes steps to do that, and it offers real solutions to improve the health of mothers and babies. Covenant has set at goal to have 82 percent of our patients initiate breastfeeding by 2020. Covenant is the only hospital in the Great Lakes Bay Region selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings. Nine Michigan facilities in total were selected and 90 hospitals nationwide.

COOL Line: Ready to Take Your Call!

The COOL Line is a simple and fun way to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts by our staff every day. You can call the COOL Line 3.COOL (3.2665) or email your Cool Line submissions to CoolLine@chs-mi.com. On a monthly basis, we will print the COOL stories we receive from the COOL Line. We will draw $25 gift cards for two of the COOL Stars (who are acknowledged by callers) and one COOL Spotter (who calls or emails to share their story). The Covenant COOL Line is a quick way to share stories about your coworkers. Remember were waiting to hear from you! See the special insert for the latest in COOL Line Calls!

Teddy Bear Ride 2013 Photo Highlights

Joyce Burpee lost her six-year-old grandson to cancer on March 28, 2009. She fastened more than 20 teddy bears to her motorcycle, which she planned to donate in his honor. He always had toys in the hospital and would donate them to kids who didnt have toys, Burpee said. His wish was that kids didnt have to be in the hospital without toys. A small group of bikers are selected each year to personally deliver stuffed animals to the children. Bikers are able to participate in the Teddy Bear delivery through a two-way video with the Pediatric Unit.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Covenant Connections is published the rst and third Mondays of each month for the staff and volunteers of Covenant HealthCare. If you have ideas or submissions on topics that you would like to see in future issues of Covenant Connections, please contact the editor directly.
Youre invited to the Back To School Vendor Fair hosted by C3! Join us on Wednesday, August 21, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm at Cooper in Bickle/Geyer room. We will have Barnes & Noble, Covenant Child Care Center, Sams Club, Cyclefit, Sylvan Learning Center, Great Lakes Eye, elements Fitness for Women and The Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe on site. Stop in and check out the special deals our vendors are offering and register for the drawing! Call C3 at 583.2273 or log on at www.covenantcaresconcierge.com today to place your request.

MAKING BACK TO SCHOOL EASIER:

COMING SOON! Covenant Farmers EDUCATION EXPO: Covenant HealthCare will Market brought to you by Nutrition host the Education Expo on Tuesday, October 29
Services and C3! Get ready to enjoy the most convenient way to serve your family farm-to-table fresh food! On Thursday, August 29, we will have local farmers and merchants set up under the skywalk (near Harrison employee parking) selling delicious, local and fresh vegetables along with other unique items. Covenant Nutrition Services will be there with an exciting demonstration and innovative food preparation ideas just for you! Stop by and take advantage of this awesome event between 11am and 3pm. Call C3 at 3.2273 with any questions!

Shena Camese, Editor 989.583.7653 Tel 989.583.7667 Fax Email: SCamese@chs-mi.com

Amy Quackenbush, Assistant Editor, Graphics & Layout

in Harrison Siderooms C&D from 7-11 am and in the Bickel/Geyer room at the Cooper campus from noon to 4 pm. Several colleges and universities will be available to provide program information, including members of the Higher Education Network of Mid-Michigan (HENMM); Central Michigan University, Ferris State UniversityGreat Lakes Region, Concordia University-Frankenmuth Center, Davenport University, Delta College, Saginaw Valley State University and Spring Arbor University. Other schools such as University of Michigan-Flint and Baker College will also be represented. Please take time to stop by and chat with the representatives.