Category: Uncategorized

Food Drive Update – donate through March 29th!

We are making great progress on packing the wellness office with donations for our local food pantries! We have collected a wide variety of items this year as a result of assigning a specific item to departments. Please bring your final donations in  to your department by Tuesday March 29th as the items will be delivered on Wednesday March 30th.

Thank you so much for your contributions!

Food Drive Pic March 16

WOW Tip of the Week – Avoiding the Diet Sabotage of Office Treats

office treat

Happy Anniversary. Happy Birthday. Happy Retirement.  Happy My-Kid-Is-Off-To-College. Happy Monday. Happy Friday.  Happy I’m Getting Married! Happy I’m Single! Happy I’m Going On Vacation Tomorrow. Happy Haircut. Happy Valentine’s Day. Happy You’re a Great Co-Worker. Happy Here is my Leftover Halloween Candy.  Happy We Met Our Goal-Let’s Celebrate!  Happy New Baby! Happy Here are my Leftovers from a Party.  Happy I Love Working With You.  Happy Weight Loss Challenge.

We love celebrating don’t we?  Many of us show people we love and appreciate them through the giving of you guessed it – treats. It seems there is always a pan of bars, bowl of treats, or tin of something sweet somewhere in the office.  Treats are not taboo in and of themselves but why do treats always seem to appear when we are trying to avoid them?

Here are some tips on how to stay on track and defend your diet when those yummy treats show up unannounced at work:

  • Ask yourself, how worthy is this treat?  Is it a crummy 5-day old cookie that will be thrown out tomorrow or is it something amazing that you may never see again in your lifetime.
  • Focus on what you will do instead of eating that treat, such as drinking a glass of water or going for a quick walk down the hall.
  • Put up your own defense and pack your own snacks.  Keep a healthier version on hand so if you do feel tempted, retreat to your hidden healthy stash.
  • If it is something you can split with a few co-workers, portion it up into bite sized pieces and share the love.  Just take one little bite.
  • If you get word of treats in the break room, set your limit in advance: exactly how much will you allow yourself to have?
  • If you keep a food journal, remember that you will need to enter that item in-which is fine-as long as you don’t feel guilty later.
  • Remember that what treat you eat is your responsibility.  Make the choice and own it! 🙂

WOW Tip of the Week: Weight Loss and The New Year

lose-weight-resolution

With the Employee Weight Loss Challenge right around the corner, and weight loss being the #1 resolution in the New Year for most Americans, it is good to remember the concept of: slow and steady wins the race.

Trying to lose weight quickly with fad diets, deprivation, and detoxes may work for a short time, but research proves that a majority of people gain this weight back and more within two years.  I know if I spent the time, energy and money to lose weight I would want the hard work of that weight loss to last, not have to turn around and have to try something else in a year.

In order to be successful at weight loss, it might be a couple big changes that you make, or it might be a few small changes.  Strategies will be different for everyone depending on your situation.  One small step could be just keeping track of what you eat in a food journal.  Another would be committing to exercising 15 minutes each day.

Be mindful of healthy weight loss, which is about 1-2 pounds per week.

With the New Year approaching, think about sustainable changes you can make that will have a positive impact on your weight, along with your overall health.

 

 

WOW Tip of the Week – Use the resources around you

Sometimes it is easy to forget about the fitness resources we have around us.  Out of sight, out of mind. Take a look around the organization and see what resources you can tap into that will help maintain or improve your fitness level during the winter months.

Here are a few tips:

  • Use the employee gym.  This is a wonderful resource for all employees and it is FREE of charge + it is open 24/7.  It’s a breeze to hop on a bike, treadmill and elliptical for a few minutes during the day. Get a badge from the ED desk to let you in to the gym if you are working out after hours.  If you work at a satellite, check with your therapy department on their policy of using gym equipment during non patient hours.
  • Walk the halls on your break and/or lunch.  If the gym isn’t your thing, take a brisk walk around the halls of the organization.  Create a loop that you like, grab a co-worker or two, and catch up on each other’s happenings while you walk.
  • Use the stairs.  Go up and down the stairs a few extra times in  row or just more frequently throughout the day.  You burn more calories than walking on level ground and it also gives a little boost to your tush.

TITLE: ENVIRONMENT OF CARE COMMITTEE Date November 4, 2015
FOCUS DISCUSSION ACTION/FOLLOWUP/EVALUATION

ATTENDANCE:
Mark Vizenor, Ellen Ryan, Karen Renaud, Cindy Teichroew, Leann McMullen, Kim Carlson, Diane Bankers, Kris Bombard, Heather Sanftner, Brent Thompson
GOVERNING BOARD RESPONSE:
Documentation reflects the Governing Board indicates a concurrence to the action of the Safety Committee with no additions or information required for the meeting of August 18, 2015

MINUTES:
The Minutes of August 18, 2015 meeting were accepted as written.

GENERAL SAFETY:

Employee incidents for the 3rd quarter of 2015 were reviewed. There were 3 reported.

There were 7 inpatient falls reported for the third quarter, 2 inpatient, 2 ED and 3 Clinic with no serious injuries. Continue reading “”

All Clinic Staff Meeting Agenda 11-2015

FirstLight Health System

Pine City

All Clinic Meeting Agenda

November 19, 2015

 

TOPIC LEADER ACTION POINTS
Drs. Cady at PCC Sandy Zutz-Wichek Michael and Rachel Cady OB-Gyn physicians, will start seeing patients at Pine City on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month starting in January. They will continue to see patients in Mora every Friday. These physicians do not offer birth control options for patients. Will only use that type of medication for therapeutic reasons. They do not perform tubal ligations or endometrial ablations.
Additional ED / US Staff   Sheryl Delude, PA-C and Megan Bohn, PA-C will be starting in December and will be supporting both Pine City and Mora. They will start training in the ED at the hospital, will have a training time at Abbott and when comfortable, will float over to Pine City. One more provider is being recruited.
Engagement Survey   Engagement Survey is open until November 20. Please complete the survey so that the leaders know what we are doing well and what we need to improve.
   
Pine City CT / X-ray Leann McMullen Pine City CT performed 44 scans in October. 182 patients were seen for x-rays. Great start with Urgency Services
Pine City Ultrasound   Ultrasound is now being performed at Pine City. Patient are being scheduled on Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons.
Breast Screening Quality Goal   Imaging front desk staff have taken over the breast cancer screening goal. They are calling all patients that are due for their mammogram. The percentage of compliant patients was at 76% in July. At the end of October the percentage of compliant patients is now at 82%. We are sending letters with mystery
   
Staffing Karen Renaud One person has been hired to staff Pine City Urgency Services. He will start tomorrow and will complete training at the hospital and move to Pine City. There are still 2 full time positions, 1 at Pine City and 1 at the hospital. A .8 phlebotomist position has been posted also.
DCA Interfaces   Karen will be working with Excellian to build an interface for results to blow into the chart for A1C testing / POC monitoring.
   
Review walk in policy Stacey Heins Policy has been updated. Should check with PCP first, then another provider and then triage patient.
Colonoscopy Scheduling   Alicen Himmelspach, x 9157, has been trained to schedule patients for colonoscopies. Please call her and schedule the patient before they leave.
   
Rehab: Scheduling Workflow Changes Garrett Estenson Scheduling for PT has become much more complicated. Providers just need to place the order for PT and Rehab schedulers will call the patient to schedule.
Tobacco Cessation   Aaron Korte will now rotate between Pine City and the hospital and offer Tobacco Cessation appointment with patients. His is also working on standing orders for tobacco replacement prescriptions.
   
Office remodel Julie Ray Michelle Mowry’s office will be remodeled similar to the INR office at Mora.
Urgency Services Hire   Tim Nord, RN has been hired for Urgency Services. He will start the end of December.
Supervisors.   Michelle Mowry has accepted the supervisor position at Hinckley. Brent Nihart is the supervisor for Pine City. Dawn Brown is the supervisor for Mora. They will be able to help with issues or concerns.
Staffing   There is still one more .86 LPN position that needs to be hired.
   
IT update Becky Gallik Denise will resume her Wednesday rotation thru Hinckley. She had been pulled away for the Pine City go live needs.
Upcoming projects in 2016   The bandwidth to the Hinckley Clinic will be upgraded which will allow data to move through the system more quickly. Network equipment will be upgraded as well as exam room computers.
 
   
Other discussions.   Patients are stating that they would like longer hours for the pharmacy.
    Parking – a new parking lot has been created so that a space can be left open for a helicopter to land.   Please do not park in the area south of the dumpster.
    Engagement Survey is open until November 20. Please complete the survey so that the leaders know what we are doing well and what we need to improve.
    Patients are still driving on the north side of the building where there used to be a road. Some type of road block needs to be put up.
    Pizza oven needs to be removed.   Julie is looking into an industrial type of toaster oven.
    Looking at refrigerator options.   Please limit # of items you bring.   You should only bring enough items to get you through each day. There isn’t enough space to bring items for a whole week.
    Patients are wandering around the clinic reception area after hours. Will put up additional ropes to direct them and will remove the Urgency Services sign.

  Next Meeting – December 17, 2015 from 12:15 to 1:15