Weekly Updates: Week of Aug. 24
New ambulance entrance at Hershey Medical Center provides enhanced patient privacy
The new ambulance entrance to the Hershey Medical Center Emergency Department offers privacy for ambulance and helicopter patients, separating them from walk-in patients and visitors. Part of phase two of the Emergency Department expansion project that began in November 2017, the dedicated entrance opened Aug. 10.
“The separate entrance provides patients privacy during a very stressful, upsetting time,” said Kain Robbins, director of emergency services operations at Hershey Medical Center.
The new entrance allows ambulance crews to take patients into the emergency department through a hallway separate from the clinical area, away from the emergency department’s triage, registration and patient waiting area. Patients who require decontamination and infectious disease isolation or care in the sexual assault exam space can now be taken to those areas directly from the trauma bay, avoiding walk-in patients.
Sinoway elected to lead American Heart Association Capital Region board
Dr. Lawrence Sinoway, director of Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, will play a key role in community outreach and education as board president for the American Heart Association’s Capital Region Division.
An established investigator with the association from 1992 to 1996, Sinoway seeks to advance its goals and apply them to the Capital Region, which includes Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties.
During his two-year term, Sinoway will aim to:
- Identify the role social determinants of health play in heart disease
- Encourage people with heart symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue) to seek hospital care immediately
- Educate people about the measures taken by all hospitals regionwide to ensure safety during COVID-19
“I’ve had the great fortune of being awarded American Heart Association grants various times, and serving as board president is one way for me to give back to the association and promote heart health throughout our community,” Sinoway said.
Walk where you are: American Heart Association Heart Walk goes virtual
Looking to stay well and promote healthy lifestyles while still practicing social distancing? Register for the American Heart Association 2020 Capital Region Heart Walk, which will take place virtually for the first time.
Participants will “walk where they are” and track their steps from Tuesday, Sept. 1 to Wednesday, Sept. 30, using an activity tracker on the walk’s website. Funds raised will support additional research, advocacy and education on heart and brain health.
Walkers can share their progress on their fundraising page and post photos of themselves on the American Heart Association Facebook page using the hashtag #hbgheartwalk.
Sign up at heart.org/capitalregionwalk. Choose “join a team” to find a Penn State Health team, “start a team” to form your own group or participate as an individual.
36th Children’s Miracle Network Telethon to air on WGAL8
The 36th annual Children’s Miracle Network Telethon benefitting Penn State Health Children’s Hospital will air Monday, Aug. 31, through Thursday, Sept. 3, on WGAL8. The event was rescheduled from June due to COVID-19.
Now a multi-day event, telethon segments highlighting stories of children who have received life-saving care at the Children’s Hospital will air throughout the week on WGAL’s regular programming followed by a finale special on Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. Gifts will support equipment, programs and research.
Guests in this year’s event will participate virtually. The telethon theme is #KidsCantWait. Telethon viewers can make a donation online this year at WGAL.com or CMNHershey.org. There will be no phone bank this year. However, donors who would like to give by phone may contact the CMN office at 717-531-6606 or mail their donation to CMN, P.O. Box 852, Hershey, PA 17033.
PRIDE 2020: Penn State Health looks at top health issues facing LGBTQ community
People of color who are part of the LGBTQ community face greater hardships during the pandemic than the general population.
That topic was part of the virtual conversation during the Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine PRIDE 2020 Celebration on Aug. 19.
- Watch a video replay of the PRIDE event here.
J. Maurice McCants-Pearsall, director of HIV and Health Equity at the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., said 38% of LGBTQ people of color have had their work hours reduced during the pandemic, as opposed to 24% of the general public.
McCants-Pearsall suggested medical students refrain from making assumptions about the genders of their patients. Rather, he said, they should use neutral terms until their patients are comfortable with the discussion.
Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Penn State Health physicians, members of the Penn State Health Children’s Hospital Gender Health Clinic and the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania added their perspectives on the state of LGBTQ health in the commonwealth.
Penn State Health FAST PASS launches at Hershey Medical Center, St. Joseph emergency departments
Penn State Health FAST PASS will allow clinicians who use shared clinical computers to quickly log in with a tap of their employee badge, providing an alternative to repeatedly typing their e-pass ID and password to log in. When finishing their session on the computer, another tap of the badge will securely log them out.
Information Services will introduce the technology, commonly known as “badge in and out” or “tap & go,” to ED clinicians in the Hershey Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) on Tuesday, Aug. 25, and the St. Joseph ED on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Next, Penn State Health will systematically extend FAST PASS to shared clinical computers on the hospital floors and clinic common use areas during the next several months. FAST PASS is supported by our vendor partner Imprivata.
Phone line established for DAISY Award nominations
For the past decade, Hershey Medical Center has honored nurses through the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award. The accolade recognizes nurses for their skillful, compassionate care and their daily support of patients and families.
To simplify the nomination process and solicit more nominees, the Daisy Award Committee has established a new phone extension, 717-531-0003 x281055. Employees can call, leave their contact information and the name of the person they wish to nominate. Someone will contact the nominator for additional details.
The new DAISY Award phone extension does not replace the Infonet nomination process. Infonet nomination forms can be submitted to the Reward and Recognition Council at interoffice mail H096.
The committee accepts nominations continuously. They can be made by fellow staff nurses, clinical head nurses, nurse managers, nursing directors, administrators, physicians, patients, families, visitors and other staff.
Learn more about the DAISY Award.
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