Employee Newsletter February 2020
In This Issue
New Employees
Strafford County WIC Selected for Pilot Program
CBS Story
Writing Checks in 2020
Employee of the Month
Heart-Healthy Recipes
Staff Shout Outs
IT Corner
Mark Your Calendar
Pass it On
Staff Anniversaries
Linking You up

Welcome, New Employees
Alyssa Kitila – Patient Advocate
at Families First
Robert J. Richard Snipes – Quality Improvement Coordinator at SOS
Molly Steele - Certified Nurse Midwife
at Goodwin
Ashley Thompson - Medical Assistant
at Families First
Strafford County WIC Chosen for “ Learn The Signs, Act Early” Pilot Program
The WIC programs in Strafford and Carroll County have been chosen to pilot the Learn the Signs, Act Early Campaign for the state of NH starting this month. The New Hampshire Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), in partnership with the New Hampshire Watch Me Grow surveillance system, is now offering families FREE developmental monitoring through the Centers for Disease Control’s Learn The Signs, Act Early Campaign. WIC families will be offered a checklist during their annual certification visit and six-month followup visits. WIC staff will encourage the family to complete the checklist and will review for any concerns. If concerns are identified, the family will be encouraged to contact their doctor to share the concern and checklist with them. (Families may also choose to load the Milestone Tracker App on their phone and may share the checklists on their phone.) This project started in Strafford and Carroll counties in early February and will be implemented at all remaining WIC local agencies in New Hampshire throughout 2020.



Caregiver Support Programs Offer Help to Families Affected by Substance Misuse Disorder
CBS News recently interviewed families from our Relative Recharge Group for a story about the opioid epidemic’s effects on New Hampshire families. The story emphasizes the importance of family and community support for those exposed to adverse childhood experiences. Our family center offers some programs which aim to help and support relatives and caregivers, like those interviewed in this story. 

Don't abbreviate 2020.
It's for your own good.
 With new decades come new responsibilities. This short article shows how to avoid being the victim of check fraud. The biggest tip; write out the year in full when filling out the date on a check. 1/1/20 can easily be changed to 1/1/2021, and writing out the full year can eliminate that risk.
 
Employee of the Month: Shannon DeLee
Shannon DeLee , an MA at Goodwin, is our February Employee of the Month. Here are the four nominations from her coworkers that led to her being chosen. 
 
Shannon is awesome. She works with Dr. Zent tirelessly to maintain flow of his very busy schedule. She does this without complaint and will do what she can to help others when able. Shannon is very thorough in her work and in keeping up with a multitude of tasks including calling No show appointments and order management. Shannon jumps into the call center if Dr. Zent is off and has never complained about doing so. You rock Shannon!
 
Shannon works with the busiest provider and yet has a consistently positive attitude and willingness to do whatever needs to be done to take the best cae of our patients. She goes above and beyond what is required of her, often helping others and helping the call center when she is able. Shannon's work is always very thorough, and it is obvious she takes pride in her work. She is also a great role-model for how to show compassion for a population of patients who can be difficult to take care of. Shannon is a great asset to the organization and we are lucky to have her.
 
Shannon is always willing to help even when things are busy. She is patient centered and is always thinking of the patient first. Her kindness reflects on everyone she comes across even when the days are overwhelming. She is always willing to take on patients when they need to be seen and even if she can't see them she helps to locate a spot where they can be seen.
 
Heart-Healthy Recipe
Are you in the mood for something delicious and nutritious? The Health and Wellness Committee have some great meal ideas to keep you in ship-shape! 
Reach out to Karla Ashenhurst to get involved in the Health and Wellness Committee.
Staff Shout Outs
It’s awards season, and we’re not talking about the red carpet.
 
We want to wish good luck to Tiffany Burdick , MA, who was nominated for the Hunt Blair Leadership Award, and Alejandra Martin , PA, who has been nominated for the Outstanding Clinician Award, given by the Bi-State Primary Care Association. These nominations are a recognition of the amazing work they do each and every day – thank you both and congratulations!
 
Alejandra Martin has something else to celebrate as well: Her work was recently published in the American Academy of Physician Assistants journal.

  • Take a look at her article about drug-induced proarrhythmia HERE.
Alejandra Martin, PA
Tiffany Burdick, MA
IT Corner: Setting up Out Of Office for your EMR Desktop
Whenever you send a care alert/flag or route a document, there is always the potential that the person you’re sending to is unavailable. In a clinic, it can be critical to know who can sign documents or respond to urgent care alerts/flags. So it’s important to set up an OUT OF OFFICE message on your EMR desktop to alert senders that the recipient is out of office. When the care alert/flag sender or document router receives the out of office message, the application gives them the option to cancel their care alert/flag or routed document.
 
Note: The system will still route documents to the designated user even if that user has the out of office assistant turned o n. 
Mark Your Calendar
Staff Yoga Classes
Open to:  All Staff
When: Class dates and times TBA by Misha Lugo
Where:  Upstairs conference room at Goodwin
Contact:    Misha Lugo
Step on the mat, breathe, and discover your flow. Staff yoga is a great way to get your body moving and de-stress. Each session is beginner-friendly and will focus on different techniques and parts of the body. Drop in anytime between 12-2 p.m. as your schedule allows.
 
Strafford County Public Health Network All Partner Meeting
Open to:  Health Care professionals, public health partners
When : Friday, March 27 from 7:30 am to 1pm
Where: Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Garrison Wing Auditoriums
The public health network’s all partner meetings, where players in the public and community health sphere gather to share ideas, info, and make connections. Breakfast and lunch are provided. The theme of this all partner meeting is ‘Unpacking Community Priorities.’ RSVP required. RSVP here .  
 
BANFF Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour
When: March 11 and 12 (evening)
Where: The Music Hall, Portsmouth
Top films from the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival play at the Music Hall to benefit Greater Seacoast Community Health every March. Learn more .
 
All Staff Meetings
Open to:   All GSCH employees
Next meetings:  Wednesday, March 11, 8-9 a.m.
Monthly meeting times:  2nd Wednesdays, 8-9 a.m. most months; 8-10 a.m. the first month each quarter (January, April, July, October). 
Where:   Parent Room @ Families First ... Kitchen @ Goodwin
Zoom info:  
Phone: 1 (646) 5588656 |Meeting ID: 444 837 473
Pass It On
Public Health Cold Weather Shelter
The Strafford County Public Health Network is working with its partners to recruit volunteers for this winter season’s cold weather stations. The stations offer a low-barrier shelter to people in need of housing on the coldest nights during winter. Trainings are available to those interested in volunteering. Please reach out to SCPHN@GoodwinCH.org to volunteer. Both clinical and non-clinical volunteers are encouraged to register with NHResponds , New Hampshire’s central clinical and non-clinical volunteer registry.
 
Family Fun Night
Open to: Parents, caregivers, families and children aged infants to teens
When:  3/2/20 and every first Monday of the month
Where: Families First
Contact: Patrice Baker
Monday is Family Fun Night! Enjoy a family-style dinner and family-friendly activities, without the stress of making it happen at home! A fun, relaxing evening out for families with children from infants through teens. Join us on the first Monday of every month. Free! Please sign up in advance. Participants may sign up by using the Family Center Calendar.
 
Communication Makes a Difference
Open to: Parents, caregivers of children aged infant to teen
When:  3/3/20 and 3/10/20 from 6-7:30pm
Where: Families First
These communication workshops will focus on building strategies and skills for parents and caregivers to improve their interactions with children. The skills reviewed in these sessions are useful for communicating with kids of any age. Participants are encouraged to sign up ahead of time. 
January Work Anniversaries
1 Year: Kristin Corbin, Gonzalo Cedeno, Michelle Gagne, Amy Feitelson
2 Years: Amy Feitelson, Jennifer Riggio
3 Years: Janice Vaughn, Diane Bistyga, Kelly Czerwinski, Elizabeth Carmer, Rebekah Wynn, Timothy White, Nancy Brink, Tonya Silva, Richard Salvati
7 Years: Jo Ann Clement
17 Years: Dawn Holmes
Helpful Links
About This Newsletter
Looking for an article from a past newsletter? They are archived here , and if you lose this link you can always find it on your ADP home page. The newsletter comes out around the 10 th of each month. Please send any info you would like to see included in the next issue, or ideas for improving the newsletter generally, to Mike Vinci o r Margie Wachtel .