System Hospital News March 2019

Atrium Medical Center

Jill Aston, MD, medical director of Atrium’s Emergency Trauma Center, was featured on several Cincinnati TV news broadcasts as part of Premier Health’s announcement of a partnership with EMS agencies across Southwest Ohio to relay patient information more rapidly between hospitals and first responders. Dr. Aston described how the information that first responders gather in the field is critical to decisions made by physicians in the emergency department. EMS agencies in Middletown, Brookville, Monroe, New Jasper, and Tipp City are piloting the program with early signs of success. Additional groups will begin interfacing their records as soon as technical requirements are finalized. The interface is available at all Premier Health emergency departments.

A free seminar to educate the community about the connection between atrial fibrillation (AFib) and stroke drew more than 60 attendees to the hospital. Presenters Sandeep Gupta, MD, FACC, Premier Health electrophysiologist; and Elizabeth Gilbert, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, an advanced practice registered nurse who has specialized in stroke care, discussed topics such as options for managing AFib-related stroke risk.

More than 300 people visited Atrium Medical Center’s sports medicine and physical therapy office at Countryside YMCA in Lebanon during Healthy Family Day on February 9. Countryside and Atrium partner on the event, which offers free fitness classes and a health fair. Those who passed through Atrium’s space received information from Premier Health physicians and Fidelity Health Care and learned about services offered at Atrium, including cardiac and cancer care. Visitors also received health screenings from the Premier Physician Network office in Lebanon, and the mobile mammography coach was on site for appointments.

A $7,000 donation from Berachah Church will benefit the hospital’s Help Endure a Loss (HEAL) program. Proceeds from the Middletown church’s 2018 Master’s Mission golf tournament were donated to HEAL, which helps families dealing with the loss of a child.

Following a record-setting year for participation and fundraising, a date has been set for this year’s Butler/Warren County Heart Walk. The walk will be held on Saturday, September 28. Premier Health and Atrium Medical Center host the walk and are signature sponsors. The Butler/Warren County Heart Walk is held in partnership with the American Heart Association’s Greater Cincinnati chapter and Atrium Family YMCA.

Two physicians have joined Liberty Family Medicine, a Premier Physician Network office located in Atrium’s footprint. Heather Markwell, MD, and Faisal Khatri, MD, have joined Aleda Johnson, MD, in practicing at the new building on Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Liberty Twp. that opened late last year. Liberty Family Medicine, a primary care practice, relocated to the newly constructed building from existing leased space, also in the township, as part of plans to expand services in the growing Butler County community.

Miami Valley Hospital

Miami Valley Hospital has been named an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The hospital in Dayton is one of the first health care facilities in the country to earn the recognition. The IDSA developed the Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence program to promote excellence in antimicrobial use and combat antimicrobial resistance by recognizing health care facilities that maintain highly effective antimicrobial stewardship programs. Criteria for designation include having interventions in place to effectively optimize antimicrobial use; providing on-going education to medical staff; effective use of electronic health records and/or clinical decision support systems to report on overall antibiotic use and trends; having in place an annual action plan for antimicrobial stewardship; and more.

The first Resident and Fellows Wall of Excellence luncheon took place. Twelve residents/fellows were recognized; this will be an annual event that takes place in the month of February.

One goal of Miami Valley Hospital is to increase breastfeeding rates in the Dayton community. Miami Valley Hospital currently has five dedicated employee lactation rooms. In response to requests from employees for additional lactation rooms, three designated lactation rooms have been added at the Miami Valley Hospital main campus. These spaces allow working mothers to pump breastmilk more easily and efficiently without the concern of leaving their unit or workspace for extended periods of time.

February marked the beginning of several fundraising events by the Miami Valley Hospital Foundation. Nomination forms for this year’s Champions of Hope ceremony, honoring four exceptional individuals in the fight against cancer, are now available online. Also available online are applications for scholarships for dependent children of Premier Health employees for post-high school education (deadline 11:59 pm, March 29). Mueller Youth Scholarships have traditionally been associated with employee giving campaigns through the Premier Health hospital foundations. Planning for this year’s overall employee giving campaign, which takes place this spring, is in progress.

Upper Valley Medical Center

The Miami County media in February featured UVMC’s announcement about Steve Staley of Piqua being named UVMC Board of Directors chairman for 2019/2020. Steve joined the board in 2012 after serving on the adjunct community finance committee for more than a decade and has held a variety of leadership positions on the board. Active in the community all his life, he has served on boards of the Miami County YMCA, Piqua Area United Way, Piqua Community Foundation, and Piqua Public Library and has been involved with the Piqua Rotary Club and Piqua American Legion baseball team. Steve is a past recipient of the Piqua Chamber of Commerce Order of George Award and the Piqua Salvation Army Others Award.

The UVMC Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program was highlighted in the Miami Valley Sunday News heart month publication in February with a feature on program participant Dean Fairchild of Covington. Dean is a heart transplant recipient who has expressed great appreciation for care provided through years in the UVMC Emergency Department and Cardiac Rehab program. Also featured in the publication was a donation from the Hearts to Hats Group from the First United Methodist Church of Troy. The local group donated hand-made red caps for newborns to be given to patients in the maternity department at UVMC throughout Heart Month.

The Miami County Progress Edition published by the Miami Valley Today in February featured coverage of UVMC’s expanded heart capabilities, the PT/OT expansion at Outpatient Care Center North in Piqua, the SpringMeade rehab bed expansion, and Premier Health’s system-wide Magnet® nursing recognition.

UVMC hosted a Delay the Disease™ community seminar for Parkinson’s disease February 25 in the UVMC Physician Office Building. Guest speakers were David Zid, BA, ACE, APG, and Jackie Russell, RN, BSN, CNOR, who are co-founders of Delay the Disease™ – a life-changing, evidence-based fitness and mobility program that originated in Columbus, Ohio, and is offered at UVMC. The free seminar focused on topics of importance to care partners of those living with Parkinson’s disease.

In other community outreach activities, UVMC leaders participated as judges and presenters at the Upper Miami Valley Science Day events held at Tippecanoe, Anna, and Greenville high schools in February and was a sponsor of the Troy Main Street Taste of Troy Trivia Night held February 22.

Back to the March 2019 issue of Premier Pulse