St Joseph News

Orthopedic Surgeon Alan E. Cooper, MD, Joins SJMG

user.org (User) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Student Athlete? Weekend Warrior? Creaking Joints?

Board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon Alan E. Cooper, MD, has joined the St. Joseph Medical Group and specializes in caring for patients of all ages and who have a variety of orthopedic ailments. Sports injuries. Old sports injuries. Or just the pain from years of joint wear and tear. All are treated in Dr. Cooper's "technology progressive"

Dr. Cooper is a graduate of Hahnemann University School of Medicine and completed his Surgical Internship at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia. He finished his training with a fellowship in Sports Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and had been in practice in the Pottstown area previously, Choose from two convenient locations, make one simple phone call. Patients of Dr. Cooper can make appointments at either St. Joseph's outpatient location in Shelbourne Square in Exeter Township or in the St. Joseph Medical Office Building on the hospital's Bern Township campus.

Appointments can be made for either location by calling 610-378-2996

St. Joseph details $2 million in grants

user.org (User) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

$2 million in grants for youth violence prevention initiatives and jobs training, childhood development and 'aging in place' programs announced

St. Joseph Medical Center details programs at annual public meeting

St. Joseph Medical Center today announced nearly $2 million in grants for projects in the City of Reading to reduce violence among youth, to train inner city residents for jobs in healthcare and to help prepare kids to succeed in school and life and another related grant of $260,000 to help scores of elderly in Berks and Schuylkill Counties remain safe in their homes.

The grants were detailed by representatives of the recipient organizations at the hospital's annual public meeting today held in Reading, Pa.

A significant portion of the grant funding is being provided through St. Joseph's parent organization, Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI).

"We are proud to announce these grants today. The recipients have earned their funding, at least in part, because of the work they have done. They are committed and talented partners who share the same ideals we do in achieving a healthier community. Each of them provides the framework for advancing health and human services in Berks community," hospital President and CEO John R. Morahan said.

The Grants:

1) The Reading Youth Violence Prevention Initiative is a collaborative effort to address youth violence by creating new opportunities for participation, leadership and economic opportunity for young adults. Since 2009, St. Joseph Medical Center has been working with local leaders as well as the nationally recognized Prevention Institute on a public-health approach to reducing violence. The project is supported with $840,000 over five years.

"Violence prevention isn't often thought of as a traditional means of delivering healthcare, but it makes sense that St. Joseph Medical Center should be engaged in this effort," says Kelly Altland, Vice President of Development, who was instrumental in helping the hospital to obtain funding for all of the grants as the leader of the St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation.

"We see the toll of violence every day in our emergency department. It is an epidemic that is as persistent and pervasive as any infectious or chronic disease," She said. "But there is good news: most violence is preventable � but (preventing it) is difficult work. It requires an investment of resources, people, leadership and commitment and that's what we are here to talk about today."

Scott Rehr, the Executive Director of Berks Connection/Pretrial Services, led the two year process that involved more than 100 community leaders, as they worked with the Reading Youth Violence Prevention project to obtain the additional funding.

Rehr said the group's goal is to change the underlying conditions that contribute to violence in homes, schools and neighborhoods and to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. His organization created a Blue Print (see attached) or click on this link for that Blueprint.

The group's three goals are:

� Support positive relationships and home environments for young people.

� Enhance student and school engagement to keep young people in school.

� Improve conditions in communities most impacted by violence.

"The Blueprint is just words on paper. Its implementation will succeed but only if we collaborate and coordinate our efforts and we maintain and grow the engagement in our community," Rehr said. �To do that, we need to empower families, provide safe and positive schools and establish healthy neighborhoods."

**Read the Reading Youth Violence Prevention Project Blueprint for Action by clicking here:
http://www.thefutureofhealthcare.org/inc/pdf/RYVP-blueprint-for-action.pdf

2) Building Brighter Futures is an initiative funded through a federal grant procured by the St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation from the Health Resources Services Administration. It will support health-care job training at the Langan Allied Health Academy on St. Joseph's Downtown Reading Campus, which focuses on the largely Hispanic population in Reading's inner city.

This project will be funded through a multi-year grant of $700,000 and will recruit from the population around the inner-city locale to train students for careers in healthcare. It is a collaboration with Berks Technical Institute (BTI) and the Literacy Council of Reading/Berks and will recruit and train qualified nursing assistants and home health aides.

"Our model is innovative and comprehensive. It is expressly designed to both meet the urgent and unique needs of our community," says Joseph Reichard, president of BTI. He said the model emphasizes: foundational healthcare competencies; strategies, skills, and support services to promote greater job readiness and academic/career path progression; and language and literacy enrichment.

He said students' practicums, externships, and job placements will be at a wide range of nursing and rehabilitation facilities, as well as home health and adult day care sites, in the city and the suburbs.

3) The Right from the Start (RFTS) program helps kids be better learners by increasing their "school readiness." The program was developed by the United Way of Berks County

Funding for this initiative, which amounts to $250,000 over two years, adds two new components to the RFTS program: The Ages and Stages Developmental Questionnaire (ASQ) is a scientifically-validated screening tool to identify developmental delays in children as young as five months old, and Play & Learn Centers (PLC) are informal, neighborhood-based parent and child activity sessions that will be offered throughout the city in churches, libraries and other locations.

Intervention prior to kindergarten has significant academic, social, and economic benefits, Altland said, noting studies have shown that children who receive early treatment for developmental delays are more likely to graduate from high school, hold jobs, live independently, and avoid teen pregnancy, delinquency, and violent crime. She said such intervention can save society about $30,000 to $100,000 per child.

The Ages and Stages Developmental Questionnaire � identified as the ASQ - is a well-known, scientifically-validated developmental screening tool recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is administered in St. Joseph's Downtown Reading pediatrics clinic to help identify developmental delays in children as early as 5 months old who can be referred for further monitoring or early intervention.

Since November 2009, the Downtown Campus staff has administered 1155 ASQ assessments, and has found:

- 38 percent of the children assessed were developmentally on target for their age.

- 22 percent tested at borderline and parents received education and training to help their child become school ready and meet the developmental standards.

- 40 percent of the children were identified as �delayed". The ASQ coordinator provided additional education and referred the family to early intervention with Berks County Intermediate Unit or Service Access Management.

"We have seen important yet distressing results. The national average shows 1 in 6 children who were administered the ASQ have an identified developmental delay. In Reading, we are seeing an average of 3 out of 5," Altland said.

The second component of this grant is the establishment of Play & Learn Centers (PLC) in collaboration with The Salvation Army.

Mindy McCormick, the Salvation Army's Director of Social Services described the Play and Learn Centers as informal, neighborhood-based parent and child activity sessions, with the goal of working with parents of at-risk children at the earliest stages in order to intervene and encourage healthy development.

"If parents and caregivers are provided information, referrals, support and opportunities to stimulate healthy development, the percentage of disadvantaged children entering kindergarten with developmental delays will decrease," she explained.

4) Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a collaboration between St. Joseph and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Allentown to expand the outreach and volunteer base in Berks and Southern Schuylkill Counties to help older adults stay in their homes safely for as long as possible. It is also hoped the program, funded for three-years and $260,000, will significantly improve access to social services and health care.

St. Joseph's Vice President of Mission and Ministry Sister Janet Henry noted that "the number of elderly requiring services will increase dramatically over the next two decades. They are living longer and wish to remain in their homes."

She said that informal support networks provided by family and friends are being taxed more heavily because of this and that studies show that successful aging-in-place strategies minimize inadequate and inappropriate care as well as the overall costs of that care by offering a range of flexible services to fit the needs of the individual.

Pamela Russo, Assistant Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Allentown said the vision for Neighbors Helping Neighbors "is to provide the benefits of friendship, companionship, assistance, and spiritual care. We hope to enhance, in every dimension, the fullness of life of elders living in their community independently."

She said the volunteers will lend a helping hand to elders, serve as their advocates, and help them stay connected to their communities and to help them enjoy a fullness of life residing in their own homes and to participate as fully as possible in the life of the community. She said the program will be offered in cooperation with churches and families, community organizations, health care providers and agencies serving elders.

As the annual meeting closed, hospital president and CEO John R. Morahan said:

"The key word we have heard today is 'partner.' As St. Joseph, like all hospitals, prepares for healthcare reform, partnering will be more important than ever before. Strong collaborations with different organizations build healthy communities."

EKGs from field lead to quicker intervention

user.org (User) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

EKGs from field lead to quicker heart intervention

St. Joseph to honor EMS' Thursday for efforts in providing quick care, helping hospital to achieve Top 50 in Nation Award

Patients experiencing chest pain due to a heart problem have blockages cleared17 minutes faster, on average, at St. Joseph Medical Center, Reading, Pa., when the responding ambulance sends a wireless EKG from the scene to St. Joseph's Emergency Room.

For patients that can mean the difference between life and death, according to St. Joseph Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Liaison Michael Whalen.

�We always tell people who are experiencing chest pain to call 911 and, in looking at these response times, you can see why that is important," he explains. �The EMS crews in Berks are highly trained and they have the tools to give us what we need to prepare for every patient's arrival."

St. Joseph will honor all of the county's EMS crews for their efforts in providing swift care for patients, which was a key element in the hospital's recent selection as one of the nation's Top 50 heart hospitals. The event will be held in the Franciscan Rooms on the 2nd floor of the Bern Township Campus at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15th.

[The Top 50 award was made by an independent firm, Thomson Reuters. Read more on the award here: http://www.thefutureofhealthcare.org/comments/204/blog.pl]

The wireless EKG system used in most area ambulances was donated by St. Joseph in 2008 and can transmit a detailed 12-lead electrocardiogram in mere minutes for diagnosis, long before the ambulance drives up to the emergency room with the patient. The EKG gives a comprehensive picture of the heart through a rhythm strip easily interpreted by the trained eye.

Such advanced knowledge, speedily supplied, allows hospital staff to act even more quickly once a patient enters the emergency room.

The hospital provided 30 monitors free to all county advanced life support (ALS) emergency medical services (EMS) which have compatible systems with the hospital. The project came about through the efforts of two doctors from Berks Cardiologists Ltd. who work in the Heart Institute at St. Joseph, Drs. Guy Piegari and Louis Borgatta.

Danyelle Whalen, a nurse and St. Joseph's Cardiovascular Patient Navigator, said treating the most acute heart attack patients � someone experiencing a ST-elevated myocardial infarction or STEMI � requires intense coordination of a multidisciplinary team, �including the 9-1-1 Center, EMS providers, Emergency Department physicians and staff, and cardiovascular physicians and staff," she noted.

She explains that each team member is �essentially part of a STEMI relay team which quickly and efficiently passes the patient through the continuum of care. Since our processes and actions are measured in minutes, quick treatment, which is so vital to reducing heart muscle damage, is achieved because of these smooth and practiced transfers," she explained.

She said St. Joseph, which is an accredited Chest Pain Center, works in partnership with pre-hospital providers to reduce time to recognition and treatment of acute heart attack patients in the field.

�As a team, we have effectively reduced time for STEMI patient treatment to 45 minutes, half the national recommendation of 90 minutes 'door-to-balloon' (from when the patient arrives at the hospital Emergency Department until the blockage is cleared)," she said. "That is something that we could not do without the active participation and responsiveness of the EMS professionals in Berks County and it was a significant contributing factor in our Top 50 Heart Hospital award."

Architectural firm earns award for redesign of former St. Joseph Medical Center

user.org (User) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

The former St. Joseph Medical Center at 12th and Walnut Streets in Reading has won an architecture award for how it incorporated elements of the former hospital structure into the design of the building and campus.

The hospital donated the building along with the property to the school district following its 2006 move to the new state-of-the-art campus in Bern Township.

"It was imperative that our former site had new life and remain a beacon in the city," said John R. Morahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph. "We felt that our donation to the school district was the best, most valuable re-use of the property. We know that it is about what happens inside those walls that really matters, but it is nice to see how deftly the past and present were incorporated into an award-winning design."

Read the Reading Eagle article about the award by clicking below:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=348852

St. Joe's to host Cancer Society Event

user.org (User) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

American Cancer Society Invites public to share ideas, learn more about Berks resources

The public is invited to an open house in the main lobby of St. Joseph Medical Center on Thursday, Dec. 1 from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. to learn more about the variety of resources available for cancer patients and their families from the Berks Unit of the American Cancer Society.

The Berks Unit's Volunteer Board of Directors will also be attending and will ask attendees for their ideas and suggestions about how to better meet the community's needs as well as how to create more community awareness about the society's resources.

Two-time cancer survivor, Cindy Castner, the president of the Berks Unit's Board of Directors, emphasized the need for people to know what's available to them so that if they or family or friends would not feel alone in dealing with a new cancer diagnosis.

"If I only knew all the support the American Cancer Society offered, it would have made so many things easier for me and my family when I was first diagnosed," Castner explained. "Our board is determined to get the message out and to inform as many people as possible about the education and prevention, and support and treatment resources we have right here in Berks."

The event is free of charge.

##

Ball proceeds support Women's Heart Health

user.org (User) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Ball proceeds support Women's Heart Health

'Urbangreen' theme supports hospital's sustainable practices

The 85th Annual St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation Charity Ball raised $88,950 to support St. Joe's Women's Heart Health Program! The event, held in mid-November at the VF Outlet Center's Designer's Place, was attended by 285 guests, a 23% increase over last year. Following our Franciscan tradition, this year's theme, "Urbangreen", complemented the Medical Center's commitment to sustainable practices to protect and preserve our natural environment.

We gratefully recognize our Diamond Sponsors � Carole and Ray Neag, Brentwood Industries, Giorgio Foods and Respiratory Specialists � for their leadership support of the Ball. We also thank our additional sponsors, guests, contributors, advertisers, silent auction donors, volunteers and our Charity Ball 2011 Planning Committee. Because of their participation, we will be able to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease for more women in our community!

Charity Ball 2011 Planning Committee
Dr. Rocco Santarelli, Honorary Chair
Rosanna Borgatta, Co-Chair
Lori Shober, Co-Chair

Charity Ball 2011 Sponsors
Diamond
Brentwood Industries
Giorgio Foods, Inc.
Carole & Ray Neag
Respiratory Specialists
Sapphire
East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Fox Rothschild LLP
VF Outlet Center
J.M. Winston Radiology Associates
Ruby
Berks Pathology Associates
Boston Scientific
Reading Eagle Company
Emerald
Alvernia University
Dolan Construction
Fulton Bank � Great Valley Division
Highmark Blue Shield
Land Displays
Lillibridge
Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute
Wyomissing Optometric Center
Wine Sponsor
Berks Cardiologists
Table Sponsor
Connors Investor Services
John and Anne Morahan
National Penn Bank
Sodexo

Charity Ball Planning Committee
Santina Connors, Meggan Kerber, Kathy Rogers, Gaye Corbin, Claire Polinsky, Kalpa Solanki, Jackie Fessler, Kathleen Politzer, Sara Tuanquin, Kelley Gross, Monica Quigley, Laurie Waxler, Gretchen Keith, Tabitha Roach, Tina Ziolkowski

November is Diabetes Month

user.org (User) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

November is Diabetes Month
By Angela Serafin RN, MSN, CDE, Certified Diabetes Educator

Diabetes is a complex medical condition which affects blood sugar regulation and affects 8.3 percent of the US population or more than 25 million people. In Type I diabetes, the pancreas produces no insulin. In Type 2, the pancreas
doesn't produce enough insulin, and the cells of the body are resistant to it. In
pre-diabetes, blood sugars are higher than normal, but are not high enough to
meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes.

Uncontrolled diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic
lower limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among
adults in the US and is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke and the
seventh leading cause of death in the US. It is important to note that
these complications most often occur when diabetes is not controlled.

Diabetes is considered controlled if it meets the ABC's of diabetes
control set by the American Diabetic Association (ADA):
� Average daily blood sugar of 154 for the three months prior to the
test
� Blood Pressure: 130/80 or less if no other medical goal exists.
� Cholesterol:
� Total under 200
� LDL under 100 and under 70 for cardiovascular disease
� HDL greater than 50
� Triglycerides under 150

How does someone with diabetes learn to balance diet exercise and
medication to achieve glucose control? By participating in a Diabetes
Self-Management Education (DSME) program.

A DSME program incorporates the needs, goals and life experiences of
the person with diabetes, guided by evidence-based standards. The
goal is to teach them to learn to manage their disease, in conjunction
with the healthcare team, and therefore improve their quality of life.

St. Joe's outpatient Diabetes Education Program is recognized by the
ADA as meeting the national standards for quality diabetes selfmanagement
education, which allows Medicare and other health insurers
to cover this service. The extent of coverage depends on the specific
plan benefits.

DSME are offered weekly at the Walnut Medical Pavilion in Downtown Reading:
� English-language classes are taught on Wednesdays, from 11 am -
12 noon.
� Spanish-language classes on taught on Thursdays, from 1 pm - 2
pm.

Comprehensive classes are scheduled throughout the year at Bern Township
Campus, Shelbourne Square in Exeter Township and, in 2012, at our new Broadcasting Road
site. The class schedule is available on our website, in hospital waiting areas and in
the hospital and doctor's offices. Family members and support persons are always
welcome to attend class with the registered class members.

Individual instruction appointments are also available at the Walnut Medical Pavilion
and in the Medical Office Building. All appointments and classes must be
registered through Central Scheduling, 610-378-2100. A health care provider prescription
is required.

Individuals with diabetes can live a happy and full life and prevent or reduce
complications by learning to manage their diabetes, and working as a partner in
conjunction with their healthcare team. If you have diabetes and are not where
you need to be, consider teaming up with your Diabetes Educator.

Top 50 award on the nightly news

user.org (User) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Click on the link below for WFMZ's coverage

http://www.wfmz.com/news/Local-hospital-among-tops-in-US-in-cardiovascular-care/-/121458/4763368/-/nlbhimz/-/index.html

A Top 50 Heart Hospital

user.org (User) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

St. Joseph Medical Center is named one of 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals in the U.S.

Thomson Reuters bestows award after studying data from more than one thousand hospitals

Reading, PA., November 15, 2011 -- St. Joseph Medical Center has been named one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Thomson Reuters.

The study examined the performance of more than 1,000 hospitals by analyzing outcomes for patients with heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary interventions such as angioplasties.

This year's winners were announced November 14th in Modern Healthcare magazine.

http://www.100tophospitals.com/top-cardio-hospitals/

�This year's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals have continued to deliver excellent care and have been able to improve their performance in a tough economic climate," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals® program at Thomson Reuters.

She continued: �The hospitals in this study have provided measurably better care and are more efficient than their peers, demonstrating incredibly strong focus by hospital leadership at a time when the healthcare system is steeped in volatility."

The study shows that 97 percent of cardiovascular inpatients in U.S. hospitals survive and approximately 96 percent remain complication-free, reflecting improved cardiovascular care across-the-board over the past year. The 50 Top hospitals' performance surpasses these high-water marks as indicated by:

> Better risk-adjusted survival rates (23 percent fewer deaths than non-winning hospitals for bypass surgery patients).
> Lower complications indices (40 percent lower rate of heart failure complications).
> Fewer patients readmitted to the hospital after 30 days.
> Shorter hospital visits and lower costs. Top hospitals discharge bypass patients nearly a full day sooner and spend $4,200 less per bypass case than non-winners.
> Increased use of internal mammary artery (IMA) for coronary artery bypass surgeries. Top hospitals have increased their use of this recommended procedure from 88 to 96 percent.

How St. Joe's became a Top 50 Heart Hospital?

According to Lori Shober, Director of St. Joseph's Heart Institute, St. Joseph has become a Top 50 Heart Hospital by having the right people and right processes in place and delivering care quickly.

"Unlike other illnesses or injuries, if you are having a true heart problem, making the right decision where to go for your care is the most important choice you make," Shober said. "So, first, if you are having chest pains, call 911 because pre hospital care is vital to quick diagnosis."

She continues: �Heart care continues with Emergency doctors who are on the receiving end of vital information from EMS providers and can quickly assess and stabilize the patient. Then our cardiologists, who use the latest techniques, even participating in clinical trials for medical equipment and procedures to determine their usefulness, diagnose the problem and determine the interventional plan. They then work in state-of-the-art interventional laboratories using the latest technology to diagnose and treat the patient. If the patient needs open heart surgery, the patient is referred to our Open Heart Team for care. And, finally, but not last, our doctors are supported in the Cath labs and in the hospital by staff who are highly trained and experienced in caring for cardiology patients."

�There will be people celebrating the holidays this year with their families and friends," Shober noted. "And they will be able to celebrate because they were treated by a team that, as this recognition shows, is among the elite in the nation when it comes to the best heart care treatment."

"We are honored by this designation and proud of our Heart Institute's commitment to quality service and role in helping to set national standards," said John R. Morahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph. �Being in the Top 50 in the nation recognizes our leadership position in bringing the best cardiovascular care to our region.

�We are very proud of this accomplishment," Dr. Lou Borgatta, a board certified cardiologist and a member of Berks Cardiologist, Ltd. said. "It is a result of the hard work and dedication of our physicians and staff, who strive every day to provide the best possible care for our patients. This recognition signifies what can be achieved when we focus on teamwork and offer patient-centered care."

The Thomson Reuters 50 Top Hospitals designation is the latest in a series of honors that recognize the quality of care provided by St. Joseph Medical Center. Recently, St. Joseph was acknowledged as a Blue Cross Center for Distinction for Cardiac Care, and, very recently, St. Joseph also was honored by Healthgrades for coronary intervention excellence in 2011 and with an award for the 'best patient experience.'

The study on which the Top 50 designation was based on evaluating general and applicable specialty, short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals treating a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Thomson Reuters researchers analyzed 2009 and 2010 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, Medicare cost reports, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare data. They scored hospitals in key performance areas: risk-adjusted mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures (a group of measures that assess process of care), percentage of coronary bypass patients with internal mammary artery use, 30-day mortality rates, 30-day readmission rates, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. They combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization.

Free Flu Shots for those 18 and older

user.org (User) — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 16:00:00 GMT

St. Joseph Medical Center will offer free flu shots to those 18 years and older on Wednesday, November 16, from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Bern Campus lobby.

Patient Experience featured in Reading Eagle

user.org (User) — Wed, 5 Oct 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Shhhhhhhhhhh

Doctors, nurses and hospital administrators are working to keep their facilities quieter, making it easy for patients to sleep, rest or just relax.

Jason Brudereck

Reading Eagle

Monitors beep. Doors open and close. People talk in the hallway. A television in the next room drones on.

Yep. It can be difficult to sleep, rest or just relax in a hospital.

Fortunately, doctors, nurses and hospital administrators have noticed and have been working to make improvements in a national trend that has reached Berks County.

Since 2008, St. Joseph Medical Center in Bern Township has made efforts to reduce noise, including curtailing announcements over the hospital-wide public address system.

Averaging 33 pages per month (and only nine at night per month) over the last half-year, there are an eighth of the number of pages there used to be, said Patricia Kelly, communications and hospitality coordinator.

That average does not include a brief daily reflection at 8 a.m. and a few seconds of a lullaby when a baby is born, she said.

�We've gotten great feedback on that," Kelly said of the lullaby announcement. �Everybody loves that. We look at it as a welcome for another angel entering the world."

Reducing pages has resulted in an increased attentiveness to the remaining pages, said hospital spokesman Michael B. Jupina.

Those pages are typically priority events: Code Blue (cardiac arrest), Code Green (violent patient or visitor), CAT (critical assessment team for patients who just don't look right, have had a dramatic change in vitals or are acting differently) and ERT (emergency response team, which could be for an employee or visitor who has fallen or had some sort of accident).

There are some days when there isn't a single page.

�Hearing an overhead page often is startling to many of us because the pages have been so greatly reduced," Jupina said.

Doctors and staff are usually instead notified via beepers, Kelly said.

�We don't even have to call anymore," she said.

The hospital's design also cuts down on noise, Jupina said.

�The creation of individual nurses' stations, which sit outside every four rooms, has dramatically reduced noise, especially on evenings and nights, because staff do not cluster around one big station like in many hospitals so, with fewer people in a specific area, it's just quieter by design," he said.

Research at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, has shown excessive noise leads to stressed workers and increased errors and can even interfere with healing and recovery, St. Joseph told employees when the initiative was introduced in 2008.

Staff was also told to be aware of other causes of noise, from talking to gurneys being wheeled, Kelly said.

Reading Hospital regularly has a Creek and Squeak Week, when employees are urged to notice and correct bothersome noises, said Cindy Legezdh, the hospital's culture of excellence coordinator.

�We encourage anybody with a cart or a door that squeaks to make sure they get it oiled," Legezdh said.

Noise rivals food as a top complaint among patients at many hospitals, and St. Joseph and Reading hospitals aren't exceptions.

�Noise and food are two hot issues," Legezdh said. �We know we have more to achieve on it."

Employees are told to close patients' doors when sensible and to keep large laundry and garbage carts out of hospital units, she said.

Patients are also supplied headphones for their televisions, which have channels to provide soothing music that can block noises from outside patients' rooms, she said.

In addition, noise-reducing ceilings are being installed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Reading Hospital also has eliminated overhead pages except in case of emergencies and relies instead on pagers and cellphones.

Hospital security is working on a way to hold nighttime fire drills, which are required to train staff, without using the audible fire alarm, she said.

The hospital also has ordered - but not yet received - a Yacker Tracker, which is a wall-mounted stoplight-like device that uses green, yellow and red lights to show staff what the noise level is, Legezdh said.

�We are going to try Yacker Trackers on one unit to see how well it works," she said. �We're always vigilant, always looking for ways to decrease our noise. We have patients who need their rest."

Contact Jason Brudereck: 610-371-5044 or jbrudereck@readingeagle.com.

How women's heart attack symptoms differ, a talk

user.org (User) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:00:00 GMT

For Women, wide range of symptoms can indicate heart attack
St. Joseph Cardiologist to discuss differing heart attack symptoms in women, men

Women's Heart Health expert Cardiologist Dr. Andrew Waxler will present a talk at St. Joseph Medical Center on Thursday, Sept., 29th on the differing heart attack symptoms experienced by women and men.

The talk is free and open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the Franciscan Room on the Bern Township Campus.

Dr. Waxler points out that research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that women often experience new or different physical symptoms as long as a month or more before experiencing heart attacks.
In the recent study of 515 women, 95-percent said they knew their symptoms were new or different a month or more before experiencing their heart attack. The symptoms most commonly reported were unusual fatigue (70.6-percent), sleep disturbance (47.8-percent), and shortness of breath (42.1-percent).

"Surprisingly," Waxler noted. "Many women never had chest pains. Fewer than 30% reported having chest pain discomfort prior to their heart attacks, and 43% reported have no chest pain during any phase of the attack." Waxler, noted however, most doctors, continue to consider chest pain as the most important heart attack symptom in both women and men.

"What I intend to emphasize at my talk," he said. "Is that it is important not to miss the earliest possible opportunity to prevent or ease heart attack, which is the number one cause of death in both women and men,"
To register for the talk, please call 610-378-2553.