Published Weekly for Associates & Volunteers of Penrose-St Francis Health Services
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A Look Inside
Note: Many associates do not regularly check their PSF e-mail. Please print this e-newsletter and make it available to your associates and co-workers. All past Penrose Pulse issues and other Centura Health newsletters can be accessed by visiting www.centuranews.org. Thank you.
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2010 Associate Campaign
Making a Vital Difference Do you ever think about how important your mobility and independence are to you? We probably take it for granted, but what if this had happend to you? Your spouse has back surgery only to find that there is now a blood clot near the spine causing leg spasms and preventing your spouse from walking. The physician tells you that your spouse is in need of a wheelchair and the cost of the wheelchair is over $20,000. Insurance pays what they can and you come up with a substantial amount for the rest, but it’s just not enough. Fortunately, in this case, our associates were there to help through the Sisters of St. Francis Associate Assistance Program! This family was able to receive assistance to help with the remaining balance of the wheelchair cost and is able to continue to live with the independence they wouldn’t have without it. Please remember to return your pledge form to the Foundation no later than May 7, to be included in the random drawing for either a hot air balloon ride or a Wii game system. We are looking forward to finding out who the winner is and what prize they choose! To ensure timely processing of your pledge form, please remember to pick a program you would like your gift to go toward. Also, if you select payroll deduction, please don’t forget to sign your pledge form. Back to Top |
Nurses Week
Click on the flyer for a printable version. Back to Top |
Benefits Open Enrollment
Click on the flyer for a printable version. Back to Top |
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High School Career Fair
St Francis Medical Center was the host to a High School Career Fair on Tuesday, April 27. More than 65 students and counselors from School District 11 participated in the event. The Students were treated to a light breakfast before hearing personal stories from CEO Nate Olson, Board Member Tom Bennett and VP of HR Gary Morse. A mock OR was set up in the Julie Penrose Health Education and Research Center wet lab where students donned scrubs, caps and booties to give them the impression of what it is like to be in an OR setting. They also visited different areas of the hospital, where they were able to gain insight into how many different areas of expertise it takes to run a hospital. Tour stops included the Birth Center, Maintenance, Nutrition Services and Radiology. Booths were also set up in the Julie Penrose Center where students were able to talk to associates in other disciplines such as Accounting, Marketing, Human Resources, Patient Registration, Pre-Hospital, and Rehab. Everyone who participated in the event felt it was a rewarding and beneficial experience.
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Meet your Leaders
This is a weekly column where you can meet your Penrose-St. Francis leaders. When you are well over six feet tall, people often ask if you play basketball. In the case of Dennis Bruens, director of the Penrose Cancer Center, he can say yes. “I was born in Holland and came to the United States in 1989 to play college basketball at Mesa State in Grand Junction.” But was he any good? During the ‘91-‘92 season, Dennis had 401 points and averaged 16.7 points per game. With basketball now part of his past, Dennis has other things to keep him busy when he is not working. “I love to cook, play guitar and play golf,” said Dennis. “I love to experiment with cooking and usually don’t follow recipes very closely. My guitar skills and golf abilities need a lot of work.” “There is a group of Dutch people in Colorado Springs that gets together every month at Boonzaaijers Bakery - they sell some fabulous Dutch stuff,” said Dennis. “I get to speak my native language and reminisce about Holland.” Dennis has family, literally, spread across the globe. He has three sons, Bryan (19), Christian (16) and Matthew (12) and a grandson, David, who will turn one next month. They all live in Grand Junction. His mom still lives in Holland and his brother and his family call Athens, Greece home. “I have been at Penrose Cancer Center since June of 2006,” said Dennis. “My day to day responsibilities are to oversee the operations at the cancer center, including Radiation Oncology, Cyberknife, Medical Oncology, GYN Oncology, Tumor Registry, Clinical Investigations, Cancer Administration and the NCI grants. My job is to create an environment for our associates to do their best everyday. We have great physicians and associates with tremendous skills, so I try to help remove any obstacles they have to doing their job. I enjoy navigating the multiple challenges and coming up with solutions that make things work for all the parties are involved” “What I love about my job is to find ways to solve problems and to work closely with the people in my department,” said Dennis. “Their passion and skill level is truly extraordinary and I am honored to work with each of them.” “I often like to make fun of myself,” said Dennis. “It is easy to do and, unfortunately, most of my friends are very eager to jump in and pile it on. Luckily it is usually in good fun.”
Editors note: I would like to continue this column with profiles of various directors, key physicians and other interesting people within our organization. If you have a suggestion of someone I should feature in a future editions of the Pulse, please e-mail me at christophervalentine@centura.org. Back to Top |
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Virtual Tours
Sit back, relax and tour the hospitals. Last November, we completed the virtual tour for SFMC and The Birth Center. Now, we’ve added a virtual tour of Penrose Hospital. Virtual tours give Web site visitors a 360 degree view of an area and the option to navigate a room with zoom and up/down controls. While a virtual tour isn’t a substitute for an actual walkthrough, it does give future patients, families, guests and associates the opportunity to become familiar with Penrose Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center and The Birth Center before they arrive. The virtual tours are located on penrosestfrancis.org. To view our tours, click on the links below: Penrose Hospital SFMC Back to Top |
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Star Associates
The Rewards & Recognition committee chose to spotlight all of the Centura Pillars for the Winter Quarter 2010. The following associates have been recognized by their peers because they demonstrated outstanding consistency in one of the Centura Standards of Behavior: Compassion, Respect, Integrity, Spirituality, Stewardship, Imagination, and Excellence.
When the Human Resources and Employee Health departments moved into the Margery Reed building recently, Steve went above and beyond the scope of his responsibilities to facilitate the move. He showed a great deal of Imagination when he came up with creative solutions to set up an efficient workspace in a smaller area. His carpentry skills are excellent and he designed work stations, counters, and cabinets that exceeded expectations. In addition, he always showed up with a smile and provided excellent customer service. Also nominated by: Carol Collins Carol nominated Steve under the behavior of Excellence, also due to the service he provided during the HR move. Steve coordinated with the moving company to create a plan for moving the HR files shelving units so they could be functional right away. He anticipated any needs or potential problems with the new office and worked with the entire staff to resolve those issues early on. He dismantled and built the shelving and work stations with ease and efficiency. Thanks to his help and hard work, HR was able to get unpacked and settled into their new home quickly.
Georgina speaks for her team when she says “We are blessed to have Theresa Lutze as our manager”. Theresa is caring, dedicated, and goes above and beyond for the patients and her nurses. You won’t find her in her office because she is always helping out on the floor. She will answer lights, help patients with their needs, or just take a moment to visit with them. When the department is short-staffed, Theresa will take the time to stay a little later and ensure that both her staff and the patients are okay before she leaves. Also nominated by: Susan McQuade Theresa consistently demonstrates great leadership qualities and is a positive role model for her staff. Her door is always open to discuss any problems and her compassion is exemplary. She is always willing to go the extra mile for the patients and the staff.
Theresa has enormous amounts of dedication, devotion, and perseverance towards everything she does. She always acts out of love and genuine concern for others. She shines like a star!
Camille has been a nurse within PSF for many years and she consistently demonstrates the Centura Health values everyday. She is always pleasant, even during stressful or overwhelming moments. In 10 years of working together, Lori cannot remember a time when Camille has shown unacceptable behavior. With her being one of the older and more experienced nurses now, she has been extremely flexible with the new generation of nurses and the new technologies that have developed. She will not let anything set her back, even if it is difficult at the moment. Lori has great respect and admiration for Camille because she is accepting of various kinds of people, no matter their attitudes or backgrounds. Camille treats everyone with respect. The babies come first, but Camille is still very compassionate towards the staff. She takes the time to know each person and is frequently in charge of putting together celebrations like birthday parties or food preparations for those that are ill. She gives a lot of her time to extra things like baking homemade treats, volunteering on several committees, and sewing blankets or equipment covers for the unit. You can count on Camille to be there if any issues arise with staffing and is generous about covering/switching shifts. When she prepares the schedule she does her best to try and accommodate everyone’s needs and wishes. Camille demonstrates love to everyone and her spirituality is a bonus. She will lead a prayer when asked and shares meaningful Bible verses. When Lori thinks of the Centura Health values, Camille comes out on top.
Paul is always the first one to offer help on any job. He will be the “Gofer” if you ask him to be and never complains. He will come in on his time off to help the “on-call” person, no matter the time of day. He strives to do the best job possible, is always willing to learn new things, and try new ideas. As a locksmith, Paul takes care of lock and key problems at all Colorado Springs facilities and Langstaff-Brown. He serves as a HIIP Rep and is motivating to his co-workers. He is a strict adherer to the “Golden Rule” and does not speak badly about anybody or anything. He is nicknamed the “Feather Smoother” because of his diplomatic nature and his talent for smoothing over any customers with ruffled feathers. He’s worked for PSF for 37 years and is genuinely beloved by his fellow associates. Paul’s department puts a lot of trust in him, which speaks volumes about his character. Also nominated by: Karol Powell Paul shows Compassion and Spirituality by taking time out of his day to lift the spirits of the patients on the Hospice unit. He and two other associates, Steve and Daniel, will dress up in Hawaiian shirts and entertain the patients. He shows Excellence in the way he helps keep SFHC operational. He practices good Stewardship and Imagination by using the tools and materials available and comes up with the best way to complete a job. He displays Integrity by his strong work ethic and shows Respect towards his team and other people he encounters daily.
Marga consistently demonstrates all of the Centura standards. She shows Compassion for the residents, families, and staff through simple things like taking time to give a hug, place a shawl around the residents’ shoulders, or bringing flowers to a spouse in the hospital. She shows Excellence serving as a 2020 Champion. As a chaplain, she lives the mission of Integrity and Respect. Many associates go to her regularly for advice and/or assistance. She helps them with resources and keeps everything in the strictest confidence. Marga shows good Stewardship with resources and a new water fountain was donated to the facility thanks in part to her efforts. She promotes Spirituality by setting up a lovely display for the Easter holiday and through speaking engagements for local organizations. Lastly, Marga shows Imagination through fun activities and contests at the facility. She also serves as Namaste’s unofficial photographer and can be seen snapping pics at all the events. The residents and staff enjoy the collages of them that Marga puts together. Because of her thoughtfulness and caring for everyone at Namaste, Christine says Marga is a Super Star Associate! Mary Carol Allen, CSSC/CCOM Back to Top |
Be a Hero - Learn CPR
On Tuesday May 18, during EMS Week, Penrose-St. Francis is supporting the Colorado Springs Fire Dept. in their quest to break the World Record for the number of people trained in CPR. The goal is 7000+ people trained and it's all happening at Sky Sox stadium before the 6:05 game.
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PSF Art Show
At a recent lunch with Margaret, associates expressed interest in learning more about the wonderful artwork that decorates our hospitals. This is the first in a weekly series featuring the artwork and historical pieces seen in the hospitals.
On the first floor of St. Francis Medical Center, just across from the Chapel, is this piece of art titled Heaven's Gate by artist Bill Hayer. The artist had a near death experience and this painting is his recollection of his vision at that time. It is said that if you focus on this painting, various images will appear. Back to Top |
March of Dimes
We had over 80 people register for the March of Dimes walk held on April 24, at America the Beautiful Park. More than 65 people from PSF showed up on the cold, blustery day to brave the cold and walk for a wonderful cause. PSF had one of the largest teams, which included both of our CEO's, Margaret Sabin and Nate Olson, and VP of Operations at SFMC, Mark Hartman, who all ran the 5K event. More than $7000 was raised between donations and sponsorships. Special kudos go to Mimi Stilson and her family for raising over $1000.
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Better Hearing and Speech Month
Coinciding with May's Better Hearing and Speech Month, an annual event to raise awareness about communication disorders, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) released guidelines to help the more than 70 million Americans age 55 and older identify and prevent a speech, language or hearing disorder. As people age, normal changes occur in hearing, speech, language, memory, and swallowing. Once an individual turns 55, their chances of having a hearing loss, suffering a stroke, developing dementia or Parkinson's disease increases which can lead to a related communication disorder. Warning signs of speech, language, and hearing problems include: Tips for preventing communication disorders For most American 55 and older, unlike many disabilities, speech, language, and hearing problems can be prevented. The key is early identification and intervention; the earlier a problem is identified the sooner treatment can begin. If you suspect that you or family members have a communication disorder, consult one of our certified speech-language pathologists at 776-5200. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists play an important role in working with individuals who are 55 and older, assisting in differentiating between normal aging and disordered communication, and providing you with tips and techniques to prevent communication problems. For more information about speech, language, and hearing disorders and prevention, visit www.asha.org. Back to Top |
Sports Medicine Symposium
Click on the flyer for a printable version. Back to Top |
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Laughter is the best medicine
This is a weekly series of fun stories and jokes to help brighten your day and put a smile on your face. These are actual excerpts from church bulletins...
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News Briefs
Mothers Prayer Walk A Mothers Prayer Walk on Friday May 7 is a way of physically and spiritually supporting these mothers and their families. Bishop Sheridan will begin the walk with a special Blessing for mothers starting at 10:25 a.m. at 228 N. Cascade Ave at the Catholic Pastoral Center. The walk will then proceed to Monument Valley Park ending at the Marian House with the option of joining others for lunch. All activities are free for all participants. “May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!” Did you complete your survey? Back to Top |
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HIIP News
MAY LUNCH 'N LEARN Did you Know May 1st is World Fitness Day? FY10 HIIP EDUCATION CLASSES WALKING CLUBS Pick up a schedule at HIIP Wall pockets at all sites for registration form WELLNESS CENTER ORIENTATIONS Back to Top |
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HLC Second Quarter Classes
SCHEDULE OF HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM CLASSES Please call the following number for additional information or to register for any of the classes listed below. All classes require pre-registration / cancellation a minimum of 24 hours prior. Penrose Health Learning Center All Wellness classes held at Penrose Health Learning Center, 1644 Medical Center Point (Union and Templeton Gap) unless otherwise noted. T’ai Chi – A form of ancient Chinese martial arts that works to improve body awareness, strength and coordination. Cost: $40.00 / 4-week session Cost: FREE Back to Top |
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Cafeteria Menu
PENROSE HOSPITAL Breakfast & Lunch Menu (for more choices including Dinner, call # 776-5408) For SFMC menu, please call menu line at # 571-1001 TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Back to Top |
Deadline for submissions is Wednesday of each week. Please send submissions to Chris Valentine at christophervalentine@centura.org. For questions or more information, email or call Chris at 776-5250.
