• Did you know Swift County-Benson Hospital can provide many of the inpatient, outpatient and surgical services you may need?  JUST ASK your provider if you can be treated close to home at SCBH.
•  Did you know that hospitals the size of Swift County-Benson Hospital usually have less incidences of staph infection than larger hospitals?  JUST ASK your provider to have your surgery or procedure performed close to home in Benson.
•  Did you know that all healthcare professional staff in the nation go to the same schools and take the same tests to be certified and registered?  Your nurse may have attended school and taken the certification test with a nurse that works at Mayo, Alina, or Appleton.  JUST ASK your nurse to tell you about that.
•  Did you know that Swift County-Benson Hospital has an excellent staff retention and education rate.  Our staff comes from the Benson area, not a nurse’s registry.
•  It’s a proven fact that you will heal faster and have more positive outcomes if you receive visits from friends and family.  Visits to Swift County-Benson Hospital are more relaxed for both patients and loved ones because driving to SCBH is easier and parking is a breeze, especially in the winter.
•  Based on patient outcomes,  Swift County-Benson Hospital has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation by Thompson-Reuters.
•  Swift County-Benson Hospital has a new state-of-the-art surgery center.  Skilled doctors from many specialties come to SCBH to perform surgery.  JUST ASK your provider which specialties practice here.
•  If you have treatments or surgery at Swift County-Benson Hospital you will begin your therapies and treatments with the same professional and continue with the same person until you have recovered.  JUST ASK if you can stay close to home.

• If you have a problem or a question and have stayed close to home, your doctors and nurses are more accessible to you.  They know you.  You are a person to them, not a condition or a number.  JUST ASK if you can be treated close to home at Swift County-Benson Hospital.

Hospital, Foundation and Auxiliary Board members give many hours to keep these organizations moving and maintain the vision for the future of SCBH. Thank you seems like such a small thing to say for all the work these people have done for the hospital.

This year we would like to thank our outgoing hospital board members Ed Ulmaniec and Dr. Anthony Hilleren for all the expertise and guidance they have provided to the hospital board. We would also like to welcome Mark Frank and Kory Johnson to the board. We appreciate your willingness to share your time and talents with SCBH.

Helen Claussen, Julie Holte and Julie Zniewski will be leaving the foundation board. Each of these women have been tremendously active on the board and we appreciate everything they have done. New members on the foundation board are Traci Pahl, Jon Hawley and Gary Loen. We welcome you and look forward to working with you as you share your expertise with SCBH.

Many thanks to outgoing Auxiliary Board members Margie DeMarce and Holly Rodahl. They have done an outstanding job. We welcome new Auxiliary Board members Angela Nissen and Angie Mattheisen. 

Board Education Program – Keith Thompson, CRNA, presented information on his pain management program to the SCBH Governing Board at its November 26 meeting.  He reviewed his plans with the medical staff in October and the medical staff recommended implementation of the program at SCBH which the governing board approved at its October meeting.  Keith is son-in-law to the late Dr. Richard and Florence Griffin.  The board also approved purchase of a C-arm injection table necessary for the provision of this service. Keith started treating patients in November.

Project Update – The contractor is completing the installation of the exterior plywood on both the clinic and the PT department. Also, they are working on installing the Tyvek sheathing on the PT area and the clinic as they complete the plywood installation. The roofer has most of the clinic roof completed and has started placing the gyp board on the acoustical decking on the PT area. The mason is on site and is building the mock up panels and is starting to install his 1” insulation on the outside of the building over the Tyvek. The electrician is running his conduit in the exterior walls so that the exterior boxes are roughed in for the mason and the contractor can start to heat the building and install the interior walls with insulation. The contractor estimates the building will be enclosed and ready for heating by the end of next week.

2013 Operating Budget – The 2013 Operating Budget Assumptions were approved by the governing board at its October meeting. The 2013 Operating Budget will be brought to the finance committee for review and to the governing board for approval at the December board meeting.

Equipment Update – The installation of the wireless system has, for the most part, been completed which will be much appreciated by both patients and visitors. The 800 mhz radios have been installed and programmed and are ready for staff training. The injection table for the pain clinic has been delivered.

Strategic Planning Update – The strategic planning committee reviewed a progress report on the strategic initiatives approved for 2012. The initial draft of the marketing plan for the balance of this year and 2013 was reviewed with the department managers and with the strategic planning committee and an overview of the plan was presented at the October governing board meeting.

We have reviewed the initial list of proposed activities developed by our marketing consultant, Mary Downs, for our 100^th Anniversary and we will be scheduling a meeting in early December to have Mary visit with the foundation and auxiliary boards to discuss this information in greater detail. Emerald Eve/2013 will focus on SCBH’s 100^th Anniversary.

Operating Room Supervisor Change – Helen Claussen, Operating Room Supervisor, will be retiring December 15.  We conducted a comprehensive search process and are pleased to announce that Cindy Kanten, Surgical Services RN, will be our new OR Supervisor.  We thank Helen for the service she has provided to SCBH and look forward to working with Cindy in her new role.

Retirement Recognition – In addition to Helen’s impending retirement, Kathy Walsh, longtime nursing department LPN will be retiring December 7, after 46 years at SCBH.  There will be a retirement recognition open house for Helen and Kathy on Thursday, December 13 at Noon in Conference Room A/B.

Christmas Decorating – The members of the SCBH Auxiliary will be putting up Christmas decorations this week.  We always appreciate the commitment of the auxiliary and SCBH Foundation to SCBH.

OB Update – Holly Rodahl and Sarah Helmberger are working on developing the protocols and standards for the nursing department. Holly has also developed a tentative schedule for program implementation which includes staff training at Rice and other details. We will be meeting with Beth Jackson and her anesthesia team to establish anesthesia protocols as well.  Dr. Dammeyer will join the board via conference phone at the December meeting to provide an update on his activities and his experiences thus far in his fellowship.

Andrew Falk Visit – Chuck and I had the opportunity to visit with State Representative Andrew Falk and his wife, Marnie, earlier this month.  Andrew had requested the opportunity to meet and it provided an opportunity to discuss our concerns about the legislation regarding proposed mandatory staffing ratios and other issues involving the state legislature.  We invited Andrew to attend an upcoming board meeting to discuss issues of interest to him and he indicated he is always interested in visiting with the various hospital governing boards.

Grounds Work – The drought and runoff from snow melting chemicals have resulted in irreparable damage to some grass areas around the front entrance.  Jim Moeding had those areas replaced with rock and mulch which definitely improved the appearance of the front entrance.

SCBH Auxiliary Learn For Life – The SCBH Auxiliary’s annual Learn for Life event took place on Thursday, November 1, at the First Evangelical Free Church in Benson. The speaker, Gail Svor, SCBH Home Health Director and Certified Diabetes Educator, presented the program on diabetes prevention which was well received by those in attendance.  Thank you to our SCBH Auxiliary for providing this excellent educational opportunity for our community.

December SCBH Governing Board Meeting – The SCBH Governing Board scheduled its December meeting for Thursday, December 20.  The regular meeting date would have been Monday, December 31, and the date of the meeting was moved up to avoid the holidays.

Appleton Prison Resolution – Rob Wolfington made the governing board aware of a potential opportunity to house federal prisoners in the Appleton prison. The governing board approved sending a resolution in support of this opportunity for Appleton to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

ACMC will lease and operate the new 13,747sf clinic facility.  Besides convenient first floor access, the clinic will have 23 exam rooms, 7 procedure rooms, a lab and office space for 7 providers.  The new clinic building is bordered by McKinney Avenue and 19th Street. It will add 54 parking spaces to the hospital campus.

Rehab services in the 3,646sf facility are being provided by Big Stone Therapies. It will house 6 private treatment rooms, a multi-use exercise equipment gym complete with state-of- the-art exercise and rehabilitation equipment, a dedicated occupational therapy suite and offices.

Within the existing hospital walls an 8,481sq ft hospital addition/renovation will provide space for lab, cardiac rehab, Dexascan facilities, and also a large conference room. This area also includes an area for campus vehicular storage and a maintenance shop.

NEXT, Inc. is providing project leadership for this new addition. The firm has worked with SCBH on previous architecture, interior design, master planning, space planning and construction projects. NEXT, Inc. projects have been featured in state and national publications and have received numerous design awards.

If you think that someone may be having a stroke you can use this simple test from the National Stroke Association, called ACT FAST to determine signs and symptoms:

F= Face. Ask the person to smile. Does one side of their face droop?

A=Arm. Ask them to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S=Speech. Ask them to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred? Can they repeat the sentence?

T=Time. If the person shows any of these symptoms, time is important. Call 911 or get to SCBH fast!

Here are some of the ways the EHR will result in more informed  and accessible care for you:

• John was in St. Paul helping his son build a garage.  He shot his hand with the nail gun and needed to go to the emergency room.  The first question the nurse asked was when he had his last tetanus shot.  John couldn’t remember.  It was easily found in the EHR.   EHRs can bring a patient’s total health information together when and where it’s needed.  No waiting for charts to be found and read.

• Elaine went to the ER with chest pain.  She had to wait in the ER until her doctor came from home to treat her.  With EHR her doctor could pull up her records from home and consult with the ER staff to order additional testing and tell the ER physician and nurses how to make Elaine comfortable until he or she arrived to treat her. EHR’s enable clinicians secure access to information needed to support high quality and efficient care.

• Or have you kept a running record of your blood pressure numbers over the years? How about records for your glucose levels or all of your cholesterol numbers?  Or paps smears, PSAs, X-Ray and lab information? Your doctor can easily access your individual health history and prescribe tests or order medications directly from the pharmacy.  It will be easy for your doctor to pull up your record and see the changes over the years.

• At your annual physical or a hospital stay, you could get a printout of your overall results and everything that you discussed with your physician for your records.  Your individual instructions and information can be printed with reminders for follow-up care.

With EHR, all information is held on-site, AND it is also backed up and held off-site in a central system which allows record sharing. The records will instantly be there for you and your health care providers. They can be shared with other providers and will result in fewer duplicated tests.

“When this is accomplished, providers should be able to access our electronic records from anywhere in the U.S.  This will affect thousands of patients having to travel to see a specialist (at the Mayo Clinic, for example) as well as the “snow birds” that go south for the winter,” added Janine Ellingson, RHIT, Health Information Manager.

Does all this come with privacy concerns?   Yes, certainly.   However, do you remember when the patient records were hung on the end of the hospital bed?    Or put in a holder outside your door in the hospital hallway?  Change is inevitable.  With greater access to data, there is always going to be risk and concern about moving away from the old and embracing the future.  Yes, we have a long way to go, and yes, we will remain vigilant to this change and patient privacy.  Overall, in 2014 when Electronic Health Records are in place, you should be able to see an improvement in the safety, quality and efficiency of your care.

When the event was over, the Swift County-Benson Hospital “sailed away” with over $20,000 that will be used for improvements at the hospital’s physical therapy department.

Emerald Eve’s decorating committee outdid themselves this year, with help from friends, spouses, the community and especially from Mrs. Sather’s seventh grade art class who made the pelicans that were perched on each table.

Event organizers are thankful to all the businesses and individuals who contribute prizes, time, money and talent to make Emerald Eve happen each year. This year, they especially want to thank Bob Zielsdorf and his crew from Zielsdorf Auction and Real Estate Services. Bob has conducted the live auction for many years, but this year his crew provided the clerking services for the live and silent auctions. It’s a huge job and the Emerald Eve committee is grateful that one of the most difficult jobs associated with the event has been taken over by professionals willing to volunteer their services!