According to the Kansas Office of the State Fire Marshal, more than 130 fireworks-related injuries occurred last year in Kansas.
Here are some tips to celebrate safely.
Fireworks safety
- Make sure an adult supervises all fireworks activities
- Have a water supply and first-aid kit available
- Light only one firework at a time, and use a long-handled lighter
- Ignite from a solid, flat, and stable platform
- Never reignite malfunctioning fireworks
- Make sure debris has cooled before disposing
Covid-19 cases are growing in our area
. Be sure to remember to remain vigilant to protect yourself and your family.
Practice social distancing, and wear face masks when in groups. Wash and sanitize your hands often!
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Travel updates and mask order
- KDHE has added Florida and South Carolina to its list of locations that require quarantine upon arrival back in Kansas. Review the full list here. As covered in last week's E-Connection, associates are advised that personal travel is at their own risk.
Curious or confused about the science behind mask-wearing? Here are some resources.
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PTO and downstaff policy
At the same time, we are
resuming our typical PTO/downstaff policy.
- Associates who haven't worked their normal number of hours will need to use PTO to make up the difference.
- For associates who can't work the right number of hours because of low census or lacking business, managers can choose the "downstaff" pay code when recording time. Downstaffed associates accrue PTO but don't have to use it.
- Associates who are required to use PTO but who have 80 hours or less can submit a request to take unpaid time off. Please contact HR at extension 5026 or 5030 for details.
Additional notes
- If you need to access Tuesday's Zoom meeting, click this link or find it in Public Folders > COVID-19 Updates.
- An updated FAQ is posted on the "For Associates" page of our website.
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Eastridge passes federal infection control survey
Congratulations are in order for Eastridge staff for completing and passing a rigorous federal infection control survey this week!
According to Lura Flentie, director of long-term care services, the surveyor visited on June 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The surveyor reviewed all policies and procedures, examined five charts, observed PPE donning and doffing processes, and asked about PPE, labor pool, and other meetings related to COVID-19.
Eastridge received only one deficiency that was easily corrected.
Overall, the survey provided a good learning opportunity for future surveys and demonstrated that our associates are doing a good job protecting residents and that they are well educated in infection control measures.
Thank you to IT and HIPAA experts for answering questions during the survey.
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Managing workplace fatigue
The pandemic has touched all aspects of society, including how we work. Healthcare workers and others providing essential services have been stretch especially thin. Long work hours combined with stressful or physically demanding work can lead to poor sleep and extreme fatigue.
No one solution works for everyone, but here are some tips to improve sleep.
- Keep your room comfortable, dark, cool, and quiet.
- If it takes you longer than 15 minutes to fall asleep, set aside some time before bedtime to do things that help you relax. Try meditation, relaxation breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation.
- Avoid sunlight or bright lights 90 minutes before you go to sleep when possible.
- Before you begin working a long stretch, try "banking your sleep," or sleeping several extra hours longer than you normally do.
- After you've worked a long stretch of shifts, remember that it may take several days of extended sleep before you begin to feel recovered.
Know what to do if you feel too tired to work safely.
- Use a buddy system at work: Check in with each other to ensure everyone is coping with work hours and demands.
- Watch yourself and coworkers for signs of fatigue. When you see something, say something to help prevent workplace injuries and errors.
- Report to a manager when you feel too tired to work safely.
—
Karen Elliott
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Songs of summer: Playlist time!
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We need some new tunes around here!
What is the best song on your summertime playlist? What song should be on a special summer 2020 playlist?
We want to hear from you, music fans!
We are creating two special Spotify playlists to share:
CHCS Classic Songs of Summer,
and
CHCS Songs of Summer 2020.
Here's how to participate:
- Make sure the songs you want to add are available on Spotify. Get a free account by downloading the mobile app from The App Store or Google Play or using this site on your desktop: https://www.spotify.com/us/
- Email ONE song for EACH playlist to news@chcsks.org by 12 noon Monday, July 13.
- For each song, tell why you're nominating it in a sentence or two: For Classic Songs of Summer, tell us why you love the song or what it means to you, what memories it brings to mind, etc. For the Songs of Summer 2020, tell us why the song is appropriate for our unusual summer.
- We'll share the playlists -- and a special quiz -- in the July 16 edition of the E-Connection.
Be sure to keep lyrics clean! If you don't have access to email, you can call extension 5133 to nominate your song.
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New 340B Third Party Administrator
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At the beginning of 2020, the CHCS 340B Committee felt it was time to review the marketplace and discover if there were any 340B Third Party Administrators (TPAs) that could help meet our ever-evolving 340B needs.
SUNRx, our previous TPA, was instrumental in helping us establish our 340B Contract Pharmacy Program. Through this program, we have been able to save patients hundreds of thousands of dollars on their out-of-pocket prescription drug costs throughout our system. We have worked hard to collaborate as a system with registration, clinic and hospital nursing, and our provider staff to identify patients who would benefit from this program.
A benefit to being a 340B-eligible, covered entity is the ability to purchase medication at the discounted 340B rate. This part of the program is where a lot of the savings to the covered entity (CHCS) are discovered.
With our transition to our new TPA, PharmaForce, we will be able to maximize our potential savings on our system’s drug spend.
Every hospital is trying to maximize savings in these trying times, so this transition could not have come at a better time for CHCS.
The most exciting news that results from our transition to PharmaForce is the launching of our new Smoking Cessation Program!
This has been a dream of the CHCS 340B Committee for some time, and now we have the technological ability to see it realized. With this program, CHCS will be using a portion of our 340B savings to help reduce the patient’s copay on smoking cessation products.
To be eligible for this program, a patient must be seen by a CHCS provider at an eligible 340B location (Onaga Clinic, Holton Clinic, St. Marys Clinic, Frankfort Clinic, and Centralia Clinic) and receive a prescription for a smoking cessation product (including over-the-counter products). That prescription can then be filled at one of our independent contract pharmacy locations (Onaga Pharmacy, Medical Pharmacy, St. Marys Pharmacy, Yungeberg Drug, and Medical Arts).
Questions about this program or 340B in general?
Contact Hali Brown at ext. 5064.
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Caring Community Foundation donation
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The
Caring Community Foundation
, or CCF, recently donated $4,000 to Community HealthCare System, or CHCS, as part of a larger effort to provide local COVID-19 relief. CHCS is allocating those funds to the purchase of a new transport ventilator, raising the total to two.
In the photo above (left to right), Robert Ladner, Community HealthCare System and Caring Community Foundation board member, and Susie Kufahl, Caring Community Foundation director, present the AHP 300 transport ventilator to CHCS CEO Todd Willert. The ventilator was purchased with funds donated by area residents to the CCF Emergency Fund to provide COVID-19 relief.
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During our Core Values sessions last fall, we heard many stories about
how CHCS associates deliver the WOW experience.
We have TWO wow experiences to share this week courtesy of Kim Domann and Julia Donaldson.
Alyssa Nider, Eastridge LPN, wrote, "I have a coworker I want to give a shoutout to.
Kim Domann, Eastridge cook and dietary aide, goes above and beyond to make sure the residents have anything they want to eat!
If they don’t like the options for the menu, she goes out of her way to get them anything they want! I just think she deserves some recognition!" Theresa Meade, Eastridge Dietary supervisor, added, "Kim
greets all residents with a bubbly personality, really gets down one-on-one to see how their day has been and if there is any way she can make it better. She goes around and makes sure everyone has what they need and are happy with their meal, and if they are not, she lists all the choices they have and finds something else."
Bailey Tucker, Onaga RN and charge nurse, wrote to recognize night nurse
Julia Donaldson, RN
. Julia went above and beyond with her patients recently. She provided personal care for a very difficult patient. "Then she gave another patient a haircut. This patient had a hard time doing some of her own care and had a lot of mats and knots in her hair that weren’t able to be brushed out. She gave her a cute haircut and brushed out the remained knots. The patient was thrilled and offered payment over and over again. Of course Julia declined and was just happy to make the patient feel better," Tucker said.
Thank you for providing the WOW experience, Kim and Julia!
(And thanks to Alyssa, Theresa, and Bailey for sharing.)
*****************************************************************************************
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Welcome
We are happy to have the following associates joining us. Welcome to CHCS!
- Paul Egner, EVS tech, Onaga
- Laurie Horgan, Cook/dietary aide, Onaga
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Are you registered to vote?
Are you sure?
The Kansas Hospital Association is offering help for healthcare workers
and others who need to register or double-check their registration.
Text VOTE KHA to 34444
to receive a link to check your registration status.
The deadline to register for the August primary election is coming soon! Be sure to register by
July 14
so you can make your voice heard in the primary.
U.S. House and Senate seats are on the ballot.
In Kansas, you must choose a party affiliation to vote in the primary.
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The deadline to register for the general election in November is Tuesday, October 13.
Thanks to all who entered the prize drawing by answering the question! The winner of the patriotic sea salt caramels is:
LINDA HENNEBERG
Congratulations, Linda!
More resources on voting:
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CHCS providers in the news
Dr. Nancy Zidek and Lt. Col. Jeremy Brandt, PA-C, were both recently featured in the news. Thanks to both of them for representing CHCS so well!
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Coffee Shop special
July 6-10
Turtle Latte
- Chocolate, caramel, and macadamia nut
- 16 oz., $4
- Hot, iced, or frappe
Cherry limeades
(20 oz., $2.25) are available on Fridays after 11:00 a.m.!
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Note: St. Marys menus are changing frequently because of ordering challenges. We will resume publishing menus when we are able. For now, St. Marys menus are available each morning through the Activities chronicle.
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Send items for the E-Connection or for sharing with our broader Facebook audience
to
sarahhancock@chcsks.org
. Please send items by close of business on Tuesdays when possible. Ideas are welcome!
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