When I think of serving others in the traditional sense, I am often reminded of clothing and food drives, charity funds, and volunteering hours of my personal or work time to provide a service to someone in need. It wasn’t until this summer when I learned about a hospital human resources director in Maryland who voluntarily donated one of her kidneys to another hospital employee, that I had even given the idea much thought. This act of kindness demonstrated to me that ordinary individuals still contain the capacity to perform extraordinarily selfless acts of service. Now by no means am I suggesting that anyone go out today and donate a kidney, but I do implore individuals to consider new ways to dramatically impact someone’s life in a positive way. As a result of a growing consciousness of serving others in new ways, I became a member of the National Bone Marrow Donor list. Recently, I was called to serve as I learned that I may be a potential match for someone needing a bone marrow transplant. Since then, I have completed the additional tests to see if I am a full match and I am now waiting for the opportunity to improve someone’s life through service. I will admit I did have some early reservations, but ultimately, I look forward to this unique opportunity to serve others. My hope is that others will also consider new ways to serve.
I have worked in hospitals in various positions over the past 30 years and have been involved in healthcare leadership for over 23 years. Over those years I have only occasionally thought about the founding leaders of the organizations where I was employed. But, just as I gained a new appreciation for my parents after Sue and I had our first child (Sean), I have gained a new appreciation for those who “gave birth” to the many excellent healthcare organizations I have been privileged to work with.
In the early days of every healthcare organization, there has to have been a team of committed leaders, staff, physicians and community members who worked together to “make it happen.” It was not until I was given the opportunity to walk in their shoes that I realized the high levels of energy and commitment that are required of every member of the team. That energy, commitment and ability to work together toward a shared vision are essential to create the positive organizational momentum necessary to develop a “top of class” healthcare team. Our team has so many worthwhile things to do, so much to organize, to plan, to build, to communicate, and to re-communicate. As we are working to set up our systems, staffing, contracts, education, etc., we cannot overlook something that will likely outlive us all, if we build it correctly. That one most important thing is to establish our “organizational culture.” Our SRMC leadership team is committed to establishing a customer focused culture of service and quality. We believe establishing a solid culture of service and quality will help to distinguish us from the many other very good healthcare organizations in the country. Our defined objective is to be within the top ten percent of hospitals across the country in the areas of quality, patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Based on my past experience in HCA hospitals, such a goal is a big challenge; but it is achievable. In less than seven months, our new hospital and our healthcare team will be serving our community. I am very appreciative of the commitment each member of our SRMC team is making to consistently serve our customers (patients, physicians, employees and members of our community) with the highest levels of quality and service.
Tim Tobin, CEO
Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
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One childhood memory that almost everyone shares is that of our mothers constantly reminding us to “wash your hands!”
It turns out this sage advice from mom has been shown to actually save lives. What most people don’t realize is that normal human skin is colonized with bacteria, and that the number of infectious organisms can grow as we come in contact with any number of contaminated surfaces we touch throughout the day (like grocery carts, handrails, money and most importantly, shaking others’ hands).
Nowadays, with antibiotic resistant organisms (like MRSA) in high numbers we can no longer rely on treating all infections with drugs. Keeping our hands clean is one of the most important things we can do to keep from passing bacteria and infections on to others, and preventing infections in ourselves. Current news headlines stress that one of the most effective actions the public can take to reduce the likelihood of contracting and spreading the H1N1 flu virus is to consistently follow good hand hygiene practices.
“What is Hand Hygiene?” That is the term that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) uses to describe either hand washing or alcohol based hand rubs as methods to disinfect hands. One fact most people do not know is that using an alcohol-based handrub that contains over 70% ethanol or isopropanol is better at killing bacteria than washing our hands with soap and water.
Passing infections on to patients in healthcare settings is something every caregiver strives to prevent. Hospitals in recent years have learned that when they increased Hand Hygiene awareness among their healthcare workers, patients and families, their hospital acquired infection rates were dramatically reduced. At Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, we are committed to patient safety practices and will have a vigorous, high profile Hand Hygiene program designed to keep our patients and staff safe from the spread of infections. Our Hand Hygiene program will include education and information about good infection prevention techniques. Even though the hospital has not yet opened, we thought that sharing Hand Hygiene tips would be especially helpful to our community during this flu season.
When should you wash your hands?
- Before preparing or eating food
- After going to the bathroom
- After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom
- Before and after tending to someone who is sick
- Before and after treating a cut or wound
- After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
- After handling an animal or animal waste
- After handling garbage
- After touching potentially contaminated surfaces
How do you wash your hands correctly?
- Soap, Water, Friction are the 3 most important components to handwashing
- Wet hands first with warm water
- Apply soap
- Vigorously wash hands for 20 seconds, covering all surfaces of your hands, between webbing of fingers and under nails
- Rinse hands and leave water running
- Use clean dry paper towels to turn off faucet and dispose
- Dry hands with clean paper towels and dispose
How do you use hand rubs correctly?
- Use a dime-sized dollop of alcohol handrub product
- Rub all the hand surfaces until dry -including in-between fingers & thumbs
- Note: Don’t touch electrical fixtures with wet hands
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“He was in hacker’s paradise. Breaking into Harvard’s computer system really was child’s play to him. He was going to call the site Facebook.com and it was going to be beautiful.” And thus, as chronicled in the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich¹ , on that dark cold night the social media network known as Facebook was born in a Harvard dorm room in 2004.
Today, Facebook is being used across the world as individuals and companies alike attempt to network and information share with thousands of people at once. From middle school students who are networked to their friends, to hospital CEO’s who are sending updates to thousands of employee fans, Facebook has taken on a life and most importantly a utility of its own.
As a COO, I was very excited when we embarked last April on Facebook. It was rewarding to finally bring our hospital to the world of social media because it provided SRMC with a great opportunity to connect with our community, potential employees and also civic organizations within Fredericksburg.
The way I see it, we invest our time and money with our local community, and social networks such as Facebook are just extensions of that community, as many of the people who live near our hospital use this form of communication. With Facebook, the definition of the SRMC community extends beyond the physical boundary and we can reach fans from outlying areas who may be interested in learning more about our hospital, our culture and our team.
While our fan site has grown to over 200 members , we still have a long way to go. One day we may even reach the level of Mayo Clinic mega social media status, but for right now we will continue to build our social networking community one loyal fan at a time….
Signing off until next time……. Terika Richardson
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A few of the SRMC team members met with a group from our community last week and we asked of them what it is that they want from a new hospital in their community. Their answers were reflective and thoughtful. One gentleman had spent a significant time in an intensive care unit several years ago. He told us that he wants the care team to remember that being a patient in ICU can be scary and the nurses caring for our patients need to be able to explain things well and have compassion.
He is right. In healthcare, more than any other industry, the understanding of communication surrounding a person’s care and treatment is critical. Unfortunately because the language of healthcare can be unique, there is often a mismatch between the clinician’s level of communication and a patient’s ability to understand. “Health literacy” is an individual’s ability to read, understand, and use healthcare information to be able to make effective healthcare decisions and follow instructions for treatment. Last year, a research study found that a significant portion of the population – perhaps as many as one half of American adults-lacks sufficient health literacy to effectively undertake and execute their own medical treatments.
At SRMC, we are committed to help the patients we are privileged to serve, assess and improve understanding about healthcare needs. Communication to our patients and their families will be made with compassion and in a way that promotes their understanding. It’s just the right thing to do.
Wow, all I can say is WOW! Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center is something to behold.
I know what you must be thinking… Who is this guy, (right?) And why is he on the SRMC Blog?
Well, my name is Richard G. Hill IV, but just about everyone calls me Rich. Essentially, I’m SRMC’s “Head Box Kicker.” Formally translated that means I am the Leader of Supply Chain Services. I come to SRMC from Reston Hospital Center and Dominion Hospital in Northern Virginia. What’s interesting about that is…for the last five years I have commuted (much like many others in our community) to NOVA for work. My family and I chose Spotsylvania County because during our search for housing in NOVA, my wife had an opportunity to advance in her organization (in Richmond) and asked if there was somewhere “in the middle” that might fit our needs. We investigated several locations and Spotsylvania County was the best fit all the way around.
Now, I’ve introduced myself so let me get back to what I started talking about; SRMC. I had the opportunity to see the hospital for the first real time (living close to the build site, I drive by it all the time, but had not had the opportunity to see it up close and personal) this past Thursday, at the Medical Office building’s cornerstone ceremony. What a beautiful facility it is shaping up to be, from the exterior façade to the tile in the cafeteria, it is really something for our community to be proud of.
The cornerstone ceremony was a pleasant experience to have attended. The comments, made by the leaders of the community and the hospital organization, were inspiring. By the way, have you met the leadership team for SRMC?They are an inspired and motivated bunch; the more I am around them, the easier it becomes to see the vision and passion that these capable individuals have for our hospital. SRMC is shaping up to be an excellent healthcare facility for the people of Spotsylvania County. I am proud to say I am part of the team bringing Healthcare to our community.
I will leave you with a quote from Oliver Wendell Homes “Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. ~ But sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” The direction and course in which SRMC is moving is impressive and something to watch, again all I can say is WOW!
Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in two events held by the “Grace Oughton Cancer Foundation,” This is a wonderful organization here in Fredericksburg that raises funds to assist families with children battling cancer as well as cancer research. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center was proud to sponsor their memorial golf tournament as well as fourth annual 5K run/walk & kid’s 1-mile firemen chase. To say the least it was a very busy weekend. I was fortunate enough to win the longest drive contest at the golf function and didn’t do too bad with the 5K run. The Kid’s Fireman’s Chase was especially enjoyable because my son and two daughters were able to participate. It also didn’t hurt that they were a little tired after running a mile, climbing the many fire trucks, and touring the rescue helicopter. It was a great event and I believe they had more participate than they have ever had in the past. I am already looking forward to next year.
It’s a wonderful feeling coming to a new community and being able to participate with these great organizations. The best part about the entire weekend was the feeling of support generated by the community to the Oughton family in support of their cause. I look forward to doing many more of these type of events in the future.
Recently our executive leadership team and I met with our division president and our group president to review our progress and future plans for our new hospital. Although our anticipation regarding the meeting had us all on edge wondering what the focus of our company leaders might be, we were very quickly immersed in discussions that largely focused on making sure we had the support we needed to achieve our goals. Although we all know it is important for our new hospital to be fiscally successful, we didn’t talk about income; we talked about patient satisfaction, serving our medical community, employee satisfaction, creating a healthy work environment, making sure wait times are short and turnover times are fast; ensuring quality is within the top 10% of all hospitals in the country, and making sure our facilities are exceptional so that we can exceed the expectations of our customers. We also spoke about working continuously to strengthen our relationships with our physicians, our community and our employees.
I feel positively challenged by the exceptional team we have already developed. I am proud of what we have already built together and I feel blessed to have the honor to work with so many exceptional people focused on doing the right thing and serving others with quality and compassion. We still have so much to do, but we are blessed to work in an industry that is focused on making a difference in the lives of others. It is not always easy; in fact it is often very difficult. In spite of our constant challenges we have so many opportunities. While our primary focus is on improving the lives of our patients, we have the opportunity to create and sustain meaningful and rewarding jobs for our employees, a positive working environment for our physicians, and, the opportunity to be a contributing member of our community through new jobs, tax revenue, leadership in community organizations, and volunteer support.
I am so thankful my path has brought me this way and given me this opportunity to work with this excellent companywith such superb leadership support, and to build such an exceptional team focused on serving our community.
What a great mission!
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This weekend the world watched as Edward “Teddy” Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. For five decades, virtually every piece of major legislation related to healthcare has bore his name and ultimately resulted from his efforts. His work increased government-backed health insurance coverage for children (SCHIP), pushed forward the mental health parity bill, and lead to the passing of the bill that added prescription drug benefits to Medicare.
As I watched our President and the Kennedy family eulogize this great man, I began to think about how important it is to do meaningful work and leave behind a legacy you can feel proud of. Working at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, I feel very proud of the work we do every day and the legacy we are building. Our aspiration to strive for excellence is driven by wanting to create a hospital that the community and our company can be proud of. Our goal is simple…. To create a legacy of “service, quality and choice.”
My thanks to Teddy for all he has done for healthcare.
This week we had a tour of our hospital to allow our community to see our construction in progress. The SRMC team gets to see the work going on within the building every day so it is a really special time when we can see the hospital becoming a reality through the eyes of those coming for the tour–our community.
I drove away from the tour grateful for the enthusiasm of those present. As we introduced ourselves around the room, I heard their stories of why they were excited for our new hospital, Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. There were expressions of good will for what will be another healthcare choice for Fredericksburg’s growing community. There were nurses who were curious about another place to make a difference with their expertise and compassion.
Next June, the bricks and mortar being seen on the tour this week will be a beautiful hospital where our community will be well cared for.
For those on the tour –thank you for letting us see the hospital through your eyes. The SRMC family shares your enthusiasm, your excitement!
Please feel free to experience a tour for yourself. Your next opportunity will be September 3oth at 4pm. Contacts us at (540) 834-1500 to reserve your spot.
