Edition 21

Hospital and Nursing Home Week:

Last night, my daughter asked me why I don’t get a summer break like she does. It was a great opportunity to talk about the nature of the work that we do at NVH and about the reality that we are tasked with being here for our community all of the time. In particular, we recognize the incredible commitment of our staff who care for our patients and residents 24/7. Your unwavering dedication to providing compassionate, quality care makes a profound difference in the lives of those we serve. Thank you for your resilience, kindness, and the exceptional work you do every day.

Construction Update:

The sidewalks adjacent to the Verbeck Building will be removed sometime next week to prepare for the new ones to be poured. The construction crew estimates we can use the new ones by 6/4. This creates about two weeks of difficult access for TFMC and Rehab patients who will need to use the southwest entrance to the building.

DAISY Award:

Thanks to our Nursing Leadership Team, NVH is joining a national program to recognize nursing excellence. The DAISY Award is a recognition program to celebrate nurses by collecting nominations from patients, families, and co-workers. As we launch the program there will be posters and nomination forms throughout the buildings, as well as an online form available here.

WMCC:

The Washington Medical Coordination Center has supported hospitals in the state with finding transfer locations for patients who were difficult to place. We typically use the WMCC when our normal referral patterns fail to get us an accepting facility. During COVID or other peak hospitalization times, the WMCC helped load balance and ensured that there was a triage system across the state to ensure all patients would be considered when bed availability was limited. Unfortunately, the WMCC has struggled to find funding and will close on July 1st.

This removes an important safety net and staff support, particularly in rural areas. Rural facilities have chiefly utilized the WMCC to get patients into higher levels of care. Dr. Wallace, the Okanogan County Public Health Officer, is working to bring hospital and EMS representatives together in the county to mitigate the WMCC loss.

Employee Survey:

Stay tuned for the annual employee survey. I really value the input and feedback. The HR team is exploring some changes to the survey we have used for past few years. Keep an eye out for your chance to weigh in next month.

Happy Mother’s Day!