The care of a patient who has experienced the loss of a pregnancy, newborn or infant does not end when the patient goes home from the doctor's office, emergency department or hospital. That is when Community's support programs, known as Open Arms both at Community Hospital Anderson and at Community's Indianapolis hospitals, offer services to help parents through the grieving process. Each December, memorial services are held in Anderson and Indianapolis to bring together families who have experienced a loss.
"We have families who have come for several years in a row," says Joni Cutshaw, R.N., bereavement coordinator for Open Arms. "This is often the one time of the year that parents say their baby's name."
The memorial service at Community Hospital Anderson was held at the hospital on Thursday, December 18. Dick True, chaplain, led the service. A mother who experienced a loss at 38 weeks shared what has helped her get through the holidays. Another mom who lost her baby at 37 weeks sang. Attendees were invited to share their experience with the group, and gathered at the end of the service for refreshments and fellowship. "It's very uplifting to the families," says Ruthie Smith, LPN, maternal child support services coordinator. "It's something that we do in the community that is very special to these families, and they appreciate that we remember them."
The Indianapolis memorial service took place on December 4 at Ellenberger United Church of Christ, near Community Hospital East, and followed a similar format. Approximately 25 families gathered for a sermon offering words of encouragement and a candle-lighting ceremony to remember each loss. This year a 13-year-old, whose mother has experienced three losses, played the harp, and Lorraine Garner, OB tech at Community Hospital North, played the organ. At the end of the service, families gathered for refreshments and fellowship. Parents were presented with a memory book and angel ornament, compliments of the Community Health Network Foundation. "This is an opportunity for parents to remember their baby at the beginning of the season, and it helps them to then enjoy their holiday," says Cutshaw.
Community's pregnancy, infant and newborn loss support services are available to all parents, regardless of whether they are patients at Community. Likewise, programs at other area hospitals welcome parents who may have experienced a loss at Community. For more information on these memorial services and other programs throughout the year, please visit https://www.ecommunity.com/openarms/.
Community Health Network, The Indiana Heart Hospital and cardiovascular physician practices are uniting services, creating a new structure to deliver an integrated model for heart and vascular care in central Indiana. Beginning January 1st, these integrated services will be called Community Heart and Vascular to reflect the comprehensive cardiovascular services offered, including hospital, ambulatory and physician sites of care.
"We strongly believe that integrating hospital and physician care more closely will benefit patients," says Tom Malasto, current CEO of The Indiana Heart Hospital and CEO of Community Heart and Vascular. “These new integrated relationships set the highest standards for heart and vascular care and will allow us to meet a growing demand for cardiovascular services in the area.”
The integrated model will unite cardiology, vascular and cardiothoracic physician practices with The Indiana Heart Hospital, part of Community Health Network, to form one cohesive entity.
Community Heart and Vascular will consist of the existing specialty heart hospital (The Indiana Heart Hospital); cardiovascular services at four acute care Community Hospitals (Community Hospitals East, North, South and Anderson); and 31 physicians (cardiologists, vascular and cardiothoracic surgeons) from five physicians groups, totaling over 600 combined employees. The physician groups include: Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Indiana; Indiana Heart Associates; Jetty Heart Clinic; Vascular Physicians of Indiana; Russell Dilley, M.D.; and Dennis Jacob, M.D.
“Community Heart and Vascular is unique in that all aspects of the program are co-managed with physicians,” says Ramu Yeleti, M.D., president of Community Heart and Vascular. “Patients will benefit from having access to a full continuum of integrated cardiovascular services.”
Advantages of integration include the development of innovative clinical care programming; the ability to better harmonize and leverage related clinical services, such as primary care, emergency departments and intensive care services; the expansion of clinical research and teaching opportunities; a paradigm shift to the longitudinal care of the patient; alignment of economic and operating efficiencies; and the ability to effectively apply physicians’ time and talents to program development, leadership and management at full program levels.
“Combining forces will have a very positive impact in the care of heart and vascular patients across the network,” says Bill Corley, president and CEO of Community Health Network. “This affiliation with the specialists we have worked with for several years will integrate the top-quality care and services of The Indiana Heart Hospital and physician practices with the other services of Community Health Network. This is the most desired and cost-effective way to deliver the best care for our patients.”
All physician practices will continue to care for patients at the same office locations. The Indiana Heart Hospital will continue to provide care at its current locations, and on the campuses of Community Hospital East, North and South in Indianapolis.
Opened as the nation’s first all-digital heart hospital, the programs and services of The Indiana Heart Hospital have been nationally recognized for clinical quality measures. Recently, Thomson Reuters Healthcare rated the hospital as one of the nation’s top 100 cardiovascular hospitals for the third consecutive year. The integration of cardiovascular services will reinforce the exceptional quality of programs network-wide.
Dorothy Carter, a housekeeper in environmental services, will perform in the Community Hospital North gallery on November 13 at 3:30 p.m. near the Rollins Family Chapel.
Every other Thursday, Carter comforts Community North patients, visitors and employees by singing four or five gospel songs. She has donated her time and her talent as part of an initiative to provide comfort through music to patients and visitors.
Carter has always had a love of music. She has sung in a secular band and church choirs and performed solos for different churches. She has always had a love for gospel music and she says nothing gives her as much pleasure as singing.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Carter says. “Months ago I read a flyer asking for people to share their talents with patients and I just put it on the back burner. Later I saw the flyer again and told myself I needed to look into it.”
She approached Dawn Hoffman about the opportunity and completed an audition for her. Soon after, Carter performed her first “gig” at Community North.
“I sort of look at it like a ministry,” Carter says. “I want it to be a blessing to somebody. I don’t consider myself to be the best singer in the world, but the Lord blessed me with a talent and I think He would want me to share it.”
Carter is the mother of three children, two girls and one boy. The Anderson resident has worked for Community North for a little more than a year. When Carter is not at work or with her family, she volunteers for the Madison County Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) by participating in the Indiana Reading Information Services (IRIS) program.
Through IRIS, Carter volunteers to read the sports section of the newspaper to people who are visually impaired. She calls in on Wednesdays and Saturdays and records her voice so that these people can call in to listen.
“I’ve been doing it for about two months,” Carter says. “I just wanted to volunteer to help people.”
Community's quality data are compared against national hospital averages and are provided for all network hospitals: Community Hospitals North, East, South and Anderson, and The Indiana Heart Hospital.
More information, including national averages for hospital quality data, can be found at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
Quality indicator data for Q4 2007 has been posted at eCommunity.com/quality.
The data reflect Community's high quality of patient care for indicators in three categories:
Community's quality data are compared against national hospital averages and are provided for all network hospitals: Community Hospitals North, East, South and Anderson, and The Indiana Heart Hospital.
We also have added a new section for Outpatient Quality of Care. On this page you can review quality measures regarding care provided at physician offices and/or by Community physicians. Quality measures are compared across 2005 - 2007 for diabetic and heart failure patient care, pediatric immunizations, women's health, safety, patient satisfaction and improvement projects.
More information, including national averages for hospital quality data, can be found at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
Congratulations to Community Hospital Anderson and The Indiana Heart Hospital for being selected to receive 2008 Leadership Awards for Clinical Excellence from VHA Inc., a national health care alliance based in Irving, Texas.
Community Anderson and The Indiana Heart Hospital were recognized at the VHA Leadership Awards Recognition Banquet on Sunday, May 4, at the 2008 VHA Leadership Conference in Philadelphia.
The 2008 VHA Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence honors VHA member organizations that have distinguished themselves by meeting or exceeding national performance standards in specific clinical activities. To be selected for a Clinical Excellence award an organization’s composite score must be in the top 10 percent for at least the core measure category beginning third quarter 2006 through fourth quarter 2007. All information was based on data from the Joint Commission. VHA serves more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals nationwide.
Community Anderson: Acute Myocardial Infarction Care
See how Community Health Network compares for heart attack care >>
Community Anderson is one of 16 VHA member hospitals nationwide to receive a 2008 Leadership Award for excellence in treating heart attack patients.
For heart attacks, best practice standards include:
"At Community Hospital Anderson and throughout Community Health Network, we treat common health care problems uncommonly well, always focusing on quality and safety, which leads to better outcomes for our patients." says Bill VanNess, M.D., president and CEO of Community Hospital Anderson. "We are proud to be recognized for these high standards and to provide exceptional health care in Madison County and across Central Indiana."
TIHH: Congestive Heart Failure Care
See how Community Health Network compares for congestive heart failure care >>
TIHH is one of 20 VHA member hospitals nationwide to receive a 2008 Leadership Award for excellence in treating congestive heart failure. The best practice standards for treating congestive heart failure include:
"Our participation in VHA helps us achieve a higher level of performance both operationally and clinically, and we are pleased to receive recognition from VHA for our work in cardiac care," says Tom Malasto, president of TIHH.
Surgical care
TIHH is one of 13 hospitals nationwide to receive a 2008 Leadership Award for surgical care. These steps toward quality include:
"The award validates the dedicated focus of our clinical staff and physicians to pursuing excellence in the care provided to our surgical patients," Malasto says. "Preventing infections following surgery is a key objective of our surgical team. To ensure the proper outcome, our staff focuses on national indicators of quality."
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