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News Headlines
- Augustana acquires nursing home
- Mercy unveils state-of-the-art ambulance
- Mercy earns patient safety excellence awards
- Mercy to move Sandstone Diabetes Program to Hinckley
- Mercy Home Care moves to downtown offices
- Mercy to begin Diabetes Support Group on July 12
- Mercy’s Diabetes Program continues ADA recognition
- Mercy receives ACR accreditation in mammography
- Mercy to participate in medical record locator service
- Mercy Ambulance Service receives recognition
- Mercy offers rehab services in Cromwell
Augustana acquires nursing home
MOOSE LAKE: Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center has completed the sale of its nursing home and Kenwood Place Senior Housing to Augustana Care of Minneapolis, effective September 1, 2010.
The sale ensures that an array of senior services, including skilled nursing care, will continue to be provided in the community. The nursing home will be known as Augustana Mercy Health Care Center.
“This sale is a positive step for our community, preserving both services and jobs,” said Jason Douglas, Mercy CEO. “We are confident that Augustana will continue Mercy’s tradition of high quality care while looking at ways to develop new services. We look forward to working closely with Augustana to provide quality services to our community.”
“Augustana is very excited about this partnership,” said Tim Middendorf, Augustana’s COO. “Mercy and Augustana have a common history of providing high quality, compassionate care. Our goal is to capture the best practices from both organizations and integrate them with the goal of enhancing resident and family satisfaction. We look forward to working with the Mercy team.”
Mercy and Augustana have been working together to make this transition as seamless as possible. Residents continue to receive care by the same staff with no disruption in services.
Augustana has maintained a reputation for the highest quality of care and customer service while expanding its mission within Minnesota and beyond. Known for a strong commitment to its Christian heritage, Augustana’s mission is centered on serving older adults through the provision of housing and health care.
Augustana is a faith based not-for-profit organization that has served the senior population for over 113 years. Augustana is financially sound and owns facilities in Minneapolis, Hopkins, Burnsville, Dassel and Hastings, as well as managing facilities in Minneapolis, Fergus Falls, and Montevideo. Augustana has over 1900 employees, 1,400 senior living apartments and 800 health care center beds. Augustana has been meeting the needs of seniors through innovative assisted living, memory care, sub-acute and community based services, such as: adult day care, Meals on Wheels, and Access Solutions, a unique home modification program. More information about Augustana can be found on its website: www.augustanacare.org.
Mercy unveils state-of-the-art ambulance
Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center recently added a new, state-of-the-art ambulance to its Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department.
One of the hospital’s two ambulances, the custom-made ambulance replaces a 2000 vehicle with over 180,000 miles.
The public is invited to tour the new ambulance from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, September 27 at the Moose Lake Fire Hall. The tours will be held in conjunction with Mercy’s free Child Passenger Safety Clinic offered at the same time and location.
The new ambulance features a quiet, roomy interior built to Mercy’s specifications to increase efficiency and accessibility for staff members caring for emergency patients. The exterior is equipped with bright, alternating red and blue LED lights, along with a blue and yellow chevron on the back, making the ambulance more visible to other vehicles on the roadways.
“Our EMS staff is very excited about this state-of-the-art ambulance,” said Sue Bengtson, EMS Supervisor. “The work environment for our EMTs and Paramedics in the new ambulance is much improved, with easier access to supplies and equipment which is critical when caring for emergency patients.”
Bengtson also stressed the importance of the exterior improvements on the new ambulance. “The more visible we are, the safer we are,” she explained.
Mercy’s EMS department answers 700 ambulance calls each year, providing emergency coverage for 700 square miles. The staff of 22 volunteer EMTs and paramedics is scheduled to provide 24-hour emergency coverage.
Mercy earns patient safety excellence awards
Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center has earned two more Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Patient Safety Excellence Awards: one for its work in preventing retained objects in the operating room; the other for its work in preventing wrong-site surgeries and other adverse surgical events. Mercy previously earned awards for successfully implementing three other MHA safety initiatives.
Patient safety is a top priority for Mercy and other Minnesota hospitals. That’s why Mercy joined the SAFE ACCOUNT and SAFE SITE initiatives where Minnesota teams are working collectively to implement an extensive list of recommended safety actions. SAFE ACCOUNT concerns both the counting of and accounting for all items used during invasive procedures, especially in the operating room, while SAFE SITE focuses on preventing wrong-site surgeries and other surgical events. The MHA Patient Safety Excellence Award is given to facilities that have achieved more than 90 percent of the recommended actions. Mercy is one of only 21 hospitals statewide to have earned all five MHA Patient Safety Excellence Awards. Mercy’s previous safety awards focused on preventing patient falls, pressure ulcers and retained objects in labor and delivery.
“Hospitals that receive these awards are to be commended — the bar is set very high,” said MHA Patient Safety Vice President Tania Daniels. “Hospitals that qualify have achieved measurable and meaningful progress toward implementing best practices to drive down adverse health events.”
“The health and safety of our patients is our primary concern,” said Jason Douglas, Mercy CEO. “That’s why our staff has worked so hard to implement these important safety initiatives.”
For more information about the SAFE ACCOUNT and SAFE SITE campaigns, visit the Minnesota Hospital Association Web site at www.mnhospitals.org/index/patient1.
Mercy to move Sandstone Diabetes Program to Hinckley
Mercy’s Diabetes Education Program will move its meeting location from Sandstone to Hinckley beginning September 21. The program will be offered on an individual basis to patients by appointment every other Tuesday at the Gateway Clinic in Hinckley. The program will continue to be offered at Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake through scheduled classes or individual sessions. People interested in taking the course at either the Moose Lake or Hinckley location should call Mercy at 218-485-5836 to make an appointment or for class schedules.
Mercy’s Diabetes Education program is recognized by the American Diabetes Association and features important information to help patients with all forms of diabetes develop good diabetes care practices. Patients do not need to be newly diagnosed to attend the program.
“We have worked hard to develop the best possible education for our patients with diabetes,” said Allicen Waxlax, RN, Diabetes Educator. “Our goal is to help patients reduce their risk of serious complications by educating them to better manage their diabetes treatment regimen.”
In addition to Waxlax, Mercy’s program is led by diabetes educator and dietitian Linda Appelgren as well as Faith Peterson, FNP-C, Betty Zebrasky, RN, and Azur Coleman, EPC.
Mercy also offers a Diabetes Support Group which meets at 2:30 p.m. on the second Monday of every month in Mercy’s Community Room 1 in Moose Lake.
For more information regarding Mercy’s program, including enrollment, please call the Mercy Diabetes Program office at 218-485-5836.
Mercy Home Care moves to downtown offices
Mercy’s Home Care Department has moved from the Mercy campus to offices located in downtown Moose Lake at 316 Elm Street.
Mercy Home Care delivers a wide range of health and supportive services to people in their homes. These services include:
- Skilled nursing care
- Home health aides
- Homemaker services
- Lifeline medical alert service
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
People using home care services include those recovering from illness or surgery, those with disabilities and those with chronic or terminal illness.
“Home care services allow people of all ages to get the safe and effective care they need, all in the comfort of their own home,” said Judy Molis, Director of Mercy’s Home Care department. “These services can range from medical and nursing care to therapy treatments to assistance with the essential activities of daily living. For some, these services allow them to continue to stay in their home, living independent lives.”
For more information about Mercy’s Home Care services, please call 218-485-5506.
Mercy to begin Diabetes Support Group on July 12
Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center will begin offering a free Diabetes Support Group on July 12.
The Diabetes Support Group will meet at 2:30 p.m. on the second Monday of the month in Mercy’s Community Room 1. The group will be facilitated by Betty Zebrasky, RN, and will include education and support.
Please call 218-485-5836 for more information.
Mercy’s Diabetes Program continues ADA recognition
The Diabetes Education Program at Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center was recently awarded continued Recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for meeting national standards in diabetes self-management education. Mercy was originally recognized in 2004.
Mercy’s Diabetes Education program features important information that helps patients with all forms of diabetes develop good diabetes care practices, helping reduce their risk of developing serious complications. Patients do not need to be newly diagnosed to attend the program.
“We have worked hard to develop the best possible education for our patients with diabetes,” said Allicen Waxlax, RN, Diabetes Educator. “Meeting the ADA national standards in diabetes education means that our program is of the highest quality and is consistent with other top programs not only in our own state, but throughout the nation. Our goal has always been to provide state-of-the-art information to our patients with diabetes so that they can successfully live with and control this chronic disease.”
“Our goal is to help patients reduce their risk of serious complications by educating them to better manage their diabetes treatment regimen,” she continued.
Mercy offers diabetes education through scheduled classes in Moose Lake and through individual sessions by appointment at Mercy in Moose Lake as well as Gateway Clinic in Sandstone.
In addition to Waxlax, Mercy’s program is led by diabetes educator and dietitian Linda Appelgren as well as Faith Peterson, FNP-C, Betty Zebrasky, RN, and Azur Coleman, EPC.
For more information regarding Mercy’s program, including enrollment, please call the Mercy Diabetes Program office at 218-485-5836.
Mercy receives ACR accreditation in mammography
Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in mammography as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology (ACR).
The ACR awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.
Mercy recently began offering state-of-the-art digital mammography to women undergoing routine mammograms.
For more information or to schedule a mammogram, call Mercy at 218-485-5578.
Mercy to participate in medical record locator service
Patients seeking care at Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center can be confident that doctors can now quickly locate their health records across several regional health care providers—saving critical time in emergencies, ensuring care is based on accurate medical history and saving scarce health care dollars.
Beginning in June, Mercy is participating in HIE-Bridge™, a new Health Information Exchange project that uses a secure Web-based service to allow health care providers to locate patients’ medical records at other participating organizations. Initially, 17 health care organizations in the region – including the region’s two largest providers, SMDC Health System and St. Luke’s – are participating; that number is expected to grow significantly.
Providing the best medical care requires accurate health care records. However, records frequently aren’t available for people seeking emergency treatment, those with impaired memories or patients whose records are at several institutions—creating delays while staff members try to track down records by calling various institutions.
HIE-Bridge™ fills a critical need by allowing authorized medical personnel to locate medical records quickly through the secure Web server. Once medical records are located, the patient must then give written consent for the hospital to request the records.
Patients who wish to may opt out of the record locator service.
The project was developed by the Community Health Information Collaborative (CHIC), a Duluth-based nonprofit that promotes the use of health information technology to improve health care delivery. HIE-Bridge™ also will provide the telecommunications infrastructure that ultimately could support electronic sharing of patient medical records in a secure environment.
“HIE-Bridge™ puts cutting-edge technology to use for health care providers and the patients they serve,” said Cheryl Stephens, executive director of CHIC. “For the last decade, as policymakers have been talking about health information exchange, we have been laying the groundwork to make it a reality.”
CHIC nationally received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May 2008 to help develop and test a nationwide health information network that ultimately will enable health information to follow the consumer, making it available for clinical decision makers across the board, lowering health care costs, reducing medical errors and ultimately improving patient care.
CHIC’s region includes 18 counties in northeastern Minnesota that covers 30,000 square miles and is home to 650,000 residents.
While developing such a network is complicated, the reasons behind it are simple.
“Someday, our doctors may be able to say that they saved a life because they were able to find critical patient information more quickly with HIE-Bridge™,” said Jason Douglas, Mercy CEO. “That’s really all the motivation we need.”
Mercy Ambulance Service receives recognition
The staff of Mercy’s Ambulance Service is being recognized for their work at the 15th Annual EMS Recognition Event sponsored by St. Luke’s in Duluth in April.
Mercy Ambulance will be featured in a case study focusing on prehospital care as part of the appreciation component of the event.
“In the featured case, the prehospital care and the decisions made on the scene of the accident were critical in the survival of the patient,” said Sue Bengtson, Mercy EMS Manager.
“We feel very honored to be recognized for our efforts on behalf of this patient,” she added. Bengtson also praised the volunteer first responders on the scene for their quick decision making.
“We work as a team with the first responders throughout the area,” she explained. “We completely trust our local first responders. Because our service area is so wide, with some areas having a 30-45 minute response time just because of the distance involved, local first responders play a critical role in emergency care. Not only do they do an initial assessment, but they are frequently key in directing us to the site as the accident scene can often times be in the woods or on a remote trail.”
Mercy offers rehab services in Cromwell
Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center recently began offering rehabilitation services to community members in a satellite office located in the new Cardinal Courts in Cromwell.
The rehab satellite clinic offers physical therapy services on a daily basis, excluding weekends. Occupational and speech therapy services are also offered as needed per referral.
“This is a good fit for us and the community,” said Lynn Folsted, PT, Director of Mercy Rehab Services. “In addition to the home care services we already provide, this satellite clinic should make it much easier for people in this area to get the rehab care they need, conveniently close to home.”
The rehab clinic is staffed by Cromwell residents Marcia Pocernich, Physical Therapist, and Kay Smith, Physical Therapy Assistant.
For more information about Mercy’s Rehab Services in Cromwell, call 218-644-3085.
