Employees

Main Lobby Closure to Impact Foot, Bus Traffic

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Main Building lobby (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
The main lobby will soon be closed for renovations. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)

UPDATE: The closing of the main lobby and opening of the academic entrance, originally scheduled for Monday, July 25, has been postponed, with further information to come next week. Therefore, the changes to Shuttle Routes 3 and 4 and the Storrs Shuttle, also scheduled to take place Monday, will be postponed until further notice.

Starting this weekend, the main lobby area of the main building will be under construction for the next several months. This is to allow renovations that will grow and modernize the lobby as well as the dental clinics and the Calhoun Cardiology Center.

The front entrance to the building will remain open with a detour around the construction Foot traffic will flow to the left and let out in the hallway that runs along the windows to the center courtyard. The lobby elevators will continue to function, but only serve Floors G, M and 1.

For employees that use the main entrance to get to and from their jobs, please note that it may be quicker for you to use Garage 2. Garage 2 is for employees only and has a dedicated entrance on the bottom floor of the garage. The employee entrance will bring you to the University Tower and you can access the Connecticut Tower by following the signs, which lead you through Radiology.

With this also comes changes to the campus shuttle services. Starting Monday, July 25, two of the campus shuttle routes will discontinue service to the main entrance. The Munson Road shuttle (Route 3) will go back to stopping at the academic entrance, also scheduled to be re-open by Monday, and the 400 Farmington Ave. shuttle (Route 4) will pick up and drop off at the University Tower instead of the main entrance. All campus shuttle maps and schedules are available at health.uconn.edu/park/shuttle-bus-service. CT Transit and CT Fastrak routes are not changing.

UConn Health Discontinuing Clinical Pediatric Services

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UConn Health has made the strategic decision not to continue to deliver clinical pediatric services.

This decision is in part financial and in part due that pediatric clinics fit more aptly within the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center model of care.

Connecticut Children’s has decided to operate pediatric clinics in the same sites of East Hartford and West Hartford. The effective date for this change is planned for October 1, 2016

However, Connecticut Children’s will be employing the same pediatricians and without any disruption of service to patients. Each year, East Hartford has approximately 8,000 pediatric patient visits while West Hartford has 4,500 visits.

While layoff notices were delivered on July 5 to 11 staff members, UConn Health is optimistic that through the filling of internal needs and jobs with pediatrics that Children’s will be posting that job losses will be minimal.

UConn Health’s leadership is working with the leadership of Connecticut Children’s to ensure a seamless transition that is supportive to patients, providers and employees.

For more information about this pediatrics news, please review the following Questions and Answers:

Q & A about Pediatrics

Does this affect neonatology or pediatric patients seen by non-pediatric specialties?
No, this change affects only the primary care pediatric sites of East Hartford and West Hartford.

Will this impact any UConn School of Medicine education or research activities currently associated with UCH clinical pediatric services?No. Pediatric education is conducted as a UConn School of Medicine function which is already conducted in part by Connecticut Children’s. This relationship will continue unchanged.

How much will be saved by this decision?
This decision will save nearly $700,000 annually.

How many UConn Health employees are employed in pediatric clinics?
Many of the employees are ‘dual’ employees, serving multiple UConn Health clinics in this location, so a count is tricky. In all, there are about 4 physicians and 11 staff who in part or whole support the pediatric clinical operation.

How many employees received notice, how many will be laid off?
Eleven people received layoff notices. Most are expected to be retained by UConn Health in other clinical operations or offered employment by Connecticut Children’s.

With this decision, will employees maintain their state employee status and state benefits?
Employees who stay with UConn Health to support the remaining non-pediatric clinical operations or transfer to other internal opportunities will continue as state employees. Those employees, including the physicians, who join Children’s would leave state service and become Connecticut Children’s employees.

Will all current employees be offered positions with Connecticut Children’s?
Children’s has expressed their desire to make this as seamless as possible. Children’s will make available to all involved their position postings so they can work through filling slots in a way that reflects their business plan and clinical operating model going forward.

Will Connecticut Children’s pay rent at East Hartford and West Hartford; are these locations owned by UConn Health?
Both sites are leased, not owned, by UConn Health. Children’s will assume a portion of the rent proportionate to the space they will use to operate pediatric clinics.

How many patients are seen at each site?
Approximately 8,000 pediatric patient visits occur at East Hartford and 4,500 at West Hartford annually.

Will this change decrease access to care?
Thanks to the Connecticut Children’s plans to operate pediatric clinics at these sites, community access to care will not change.

 

 

HealthONE Project Now Officially Underway

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R. Dirk Stanley, MD, MPH Chief Medical Information Officer
R. Dirk Stanley, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Information Officer

By R. Dirk Stanley, Chief Medical Information Officer

Disclaimer: The modern “information age” may not really be so modern. It actually started about 35,000 years ago in a cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Some of our earliest human ancestors made cave paintings to share information with other humans and – voila – Homo sapiens thrived. Since then, information sharing among humans has grown exponentially, and in the last 150 years, health care leaders such as Florence Nightingale and John Snow have used this information to help save lives. Indeed, documentation, information management, and health care share a long tradition.

Therefore, as a history-loving doctor and technologist, I’m very proud to report the HealthONE project at UConn Health is now officially underway!

The HealthONE project is a 22-month journey to replace our various current clinical systems with a single, unified electronic medical record (EMR) from the Epic Corporation in Verona, Wisconsin. This ambitious and forward-thinking project will bring together large numbers of our staff, both clinical and administrative, to help decide as a team: What do we want clinical care for our patients to look like in the future?

Not only will the project break down barriers between doctors, nurses, and other clinical and administrative staff – it gives us a real opportunity to combine the best practices of the past with the most recent evidence-based research. New clinical decision support tools will help improve and streamline care, while new analysis tools will help drive research and identify opportunities we have yet to discover.

UConn-Health-One-sqWill all this bring change to our organization? You bet. But the change is going to be great. Just imagine the clarity, efficiency, and harmony of being able to find the information you want, at the right time, to guide the best decisions. The HealthOne project is going to help us design that future together, for the benefit of patients, families, and clinical providers.

To make this happen, UConn Health has now assembled a dedicated technical team who will be working very hard with clinical and administrative leaders over the next 22 months. They will collect information from our many doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other clinical and administrative staff, and build the configuration and processes needed to break down barriers, create new opportunities, and bring HealthOne to our patients, staff, and community.

As a chief medical information officer, I’ll be part of both the technical and clinical teams, helping to guide the project to our go-live. It’s rewarding work, with a great outcome in our future. Until we get there together, I’ll keep an eye out for more opportunities to show you what one place, one record, one reason is all about. You.

Parking News Roundup

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parking, skyWe know parking is one of your favorite topics so we’ve got some parking-related news you should know.

Name Change

First of all, the room scheduling folks are now part of the parking department so its new name is Parking Transportation & Event Services.

Director Allan Peterson says the change is a good thing because “as we continue to expand our beautiful and innovative patient care, academic and research facilities we also experience increased demand for event space, meeting rooms and parking. Bringing event scheduling and parking together allows us to more efficiently manage the capacity in both areas of our organization, while continuing to provide our patients with convenient parking options.”

Peterson adds that the room scheduling process should be relatively seamless with Leslin Vinton still overseeing the scheduling. They will continue to use the Meeting Room Management (MRM) system, and the current reservation process.  The room scheduling information which is currently on the Facilities Management website will be moved to the Parking, Transportation and Event Services website on July 1. The employee parking registration and payment processes will not be changing.

There will be two general email boxes for inquiries and suggestions:

parking.transportation@uchc.edu and roomscheduling@uchc.edu.

Good News for Paying Parkers

The employee payroll deduction for parking has automatically become a pre-tax deduction for all employees. “We’ve been working on this for the past several months after receiving inquiries from employees,” explains Peterson. “It’s really been a team effort along with Human Resources/Payroll-Benefits and the Office of the State Comptroller.”

It’s automatic so no need to fill out any forms. So check your pay stub – you should see the change in this week’s paycheck. If you don’t, contact the parking department at extension 4248 or Human Resources/Payroll at extension 2426.

And FYI, if you currently participate in the Qualified Transportation Account (QTA) program, someone from HR will contact you with further information.

Patient & Visitor Parking Rate Changes

For those of you who deal with patients and visitors, be aware that the parking rates are changing July 1. Also important to know – they’ll now be offering discounted self-park options for patients and visitors.

Up to 30 Minutes Free
31 Minutes to 1 Hour $2.00
61 Minutes to 2 Hours $3.00
Each Additional Hour $1.00
Daily Max $8.00
Lost Ticket $8.00
Valet Parking $6.00

Discounted Self-Park Options
Frequent patients and visitors may purchase discounted single use self-park validations.

10 Validations: $20.00
30 Validations: $50.00

The discounted self-park validations are single use and cover 100 percent of the fee. They may be purchased at the Parking Transportation & Event Services office on the 3rd floor of the ASB building, the LAZ parking office on level 1 of Garage 1, and at the LAZ valet cashiers.

Please note, the self-park validations are intended for use by patients and visitors and may not be used by staff, students, or contractors for parking on campus during employment or academic activities. Misuse of validations may result in disciplinary action and parking citations.

Finally, Peterson wants to thank everyone for their patience. “We believe the parking situation has improved for many people, especially since the opening of Garage 2, and will continue to improve as more of our construction projects are completed.”

 

 

Cost Saving Opportunity

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Thanks to so many of you for your help, engagement and suggestions on ways that together we can tackle an unexpected budget shortfall. In this article, you will find some additional thoughts around one of those suggestions – voluntary reduction in hours announced earlier this week via the Broadcast Message. Just to recap, I have asked that management take 3 mandatory furlough days in 2017, and we are asking that non-management employees consider taking a voluntarily reduction of time in 2017.

Many of you will remember this from a similar voluntary schedule reduction in 2009 and the details, to be found in the plan and policy are largely the same. This can be, for many, a very tangible way to ‘do something’ to help the organization while addressing a personal time need as well. Our thanks in advance for all volunteers. Please note, that to make sure we are appropriately staffed to meet core business needs at all time, all voluntary reductions of hours need approval in advance.

There are several ways it can work, depending on your work, the needs of your team and your personal situation. Common situations include:

Unpaid days off: Working in coordination with your leader, many work units know the day before or after a holiday are particularly slow. Think about taking that additional day off, days like September 3 (the day before the Labor Day Weekend), November 25 (the Friday of Thanksgiving week), or December 23 (the start of the Christmas holiday weekend).

Reduction in schedule: The most popular concepts here are a) I’ve have been wanting to reduce my FTE and have not wanted to bring it up or b) reducing for the summer, reducing a day a week or other mutually agreeable schedule change that helps you navigate life, and helps UConn Health.

Make a Vacation Day a Voluntary Reduction Day: Swap a planned paid vacation day for an unpaid day. The department has already planned not to have you, the vacation day stays in your bank AND you do a part in helping the organization.

Again this is voluntary not mandatory and requests will have to be approved by management to ensure that schedule reductions do not affect patient care or other critical functions. To apply for the voluntary reduction program, please talk to your leader or review the policy at http://health.uconn.edu/human-resources/services/benefits/leaves-of-absence/voluntary-schedule-reduction-program/.

So we can process and plan the work, we ask that all voluntary reductions proposed for Fiscal 2017 (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017) be submitted to your leaders no later than Friday, June 17th for consideration.

Sincerely,

Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, M.D., M.B.A.
Chief Executive Officer, UConn Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

UConn Health Employees Receive High Honors

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Several UConn Health employees were recognized with PAWS awards at a recent reception.  The award honors employees who consistently perform above and beyond the expectations of their job and exhibit the following attributes:

  • Part of a team
  • Awesome attitude
  • Wonderful work ethic
  • Superior service
From left, Chief Information Officer Jonathan Carroll, AVP for Business and Ancillary Services Kevin Larsen, congratulate PAWS award winner Christine Miller with UMG Infectious Disease. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)
From left, Chief Information Officer Jonathan Carroll and AVP for Business and Ancillary Services Kevin Larsen, congratulate PAWS award winner Christine Miller with UMG Infectious Disease. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)

PAWS award winners are announced every-other-month. If you know someone or a team of employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, nominate them for a PAWS award. Visit the Human Resources website for the criteria and nomination form.

The May PAWS award winners are:

Blagoje Filipovic – Voice Network & Mobile Services

Diana Guerrera – Surgery 7 Unit

Heidi Lytton – UMG General OB

Christine Miller – UMG Infectious Disease

Scott Nivolo – Rehabilitation Services

Sarah Thomson

Jacqueline Dombrowski

Daniel Yesu

James Castro

Nightingale Nominees

Joan Blythe – Procedure Center Unit

Frank Faccin – CMHC-Garner: Medicine

Lisa Gentile – UMG Infectious Disease

Keisha Johnson – CMHC-Osborn: Medicine

Arlene Morin – JDH Organization and Staff Development

Lynne Neff – CMHC-Central Office

Anne Niziolek – Medicine 4

Dawn Smith – Cardiology

Jennifer Sposito – Stroke Center

Timothy Tralli – CMHC-Hartford: Medicine

Dental Administrative Team Award

Loreander Davis – Pediatric Dentistry, Craniofacial Sciences

Jo-Ann Gates – Oral & Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences

Shelly Gioia-Morelli – Orthodontics, Craniofacial Sciences

Kimberly Giove – Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Craniofacial Sciences

Annmarie Martin – Center for Regenerative Medicine, Reconstructive Sciences

Tara Morrison – General Dentistry

Deborah Osborne – Endontology, Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences

Jozii Ruiz – Pediatric Dentistry, Craniofacial Sciences

Cynthia Smith – Behavioral Sciences and Community Medicine, Oral Health & Diagnostic Sciences

Kathleen Thomas – Prosthodontics, Reconstructive Sciences

Robin Tiso – Center for Regenerative Medicine, Reconstructive Sciences

Carmen Vazquez – Pediatric Dentistry, Craniofacial Sciences

Donna Bailey-Gates – Peridontology, Oral Health & Diagnostic Services

 

Employee Engagement Survey: Final Days

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employee-engagement-630x420[1]Those who haven’t taken the employee engagement survey introduced earlier this month only have until Monday, May 30, to respond.

So far 43 percent of active regular payroll employees have participated, according to Press Ganey, the survey administrator.

As the survey period winds down, Dr. Andy Agwunobi, CEO and EVP for health affairs, addresses a few questions:

Q: If the survey is confidential, why does it ask about our work area?

AA: It is confidential. The responses go directly to Press Ganey and the data are delivered to UConn Health leadership with no identifiable attributes. The basic demographic questions are standard practice, are not tied to any responses, and do not in any way diminish the responses from the rest of the survey.

Q: The questions feel like they’re focused too much on clinical positions. What about the rest of us?

AA: It was not the intent to focus too much on clinical positions so this feedback is a learning experience; the next survey will be broader and worded in a way that ensures everyone feels represented. While we understand no survey is perfect, please answer as best you can so your opinions can be captured. It is my hope that all employees will participate, as every voice matters.

Q: How does this survey fit into the big picture here?

AA: I am committed to building a great culture at UConn Health, a place where we feel happy to come into work and as a result we accomplish excellent service whether clinical, research or academics. We partnered with Press Ganey to make a legitimate effort to collect honest data from employees that can be used to help shape UConn Health’s workplace culture moving forward. I’ve said it before: It’s important every employee has a voice and that we hear as many of those voices as possible. Clinical, research or education – all responses are valued, and really, needed, in order to be effective in helping us strengthen our organization. This is just the latest (and currently most visible) of several approaches I’ve been taking to engage employees and solicit feedback. Recent examples of that include our town hall meetings and our “Dear Dr. Andy” feature, which you will find in the Pulse every Friday.

https://youtu.be/bgtqnxsjl14

More information about the employee engagement survey is available on UConn Health Express.

 

New Neurology Chair to Join UConn Health in September

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Dr. L. John Greenfield joins UConn Health as chair of Neurology Sept. 2. (Photo from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences )
Dr. L. John Greenfield joins UConn Health as chair of Neurology Sept. 2. (Photo from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences )

Dr. L. John Greenfield, chair of the Department of Neurology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, is joining UConn Health to chair its Department of Neurology later this year.

Greenfield also will serve as the academic chair of neurology at Hartford Hospital.

A graduate of Yale University, Greenfield received his doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1988 and his medical degree at the school the following year. He finished his residency training in neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1993 and served on the faculty of its Department of Neurology. He also completed a fellowship in electroencephalography (EEG) and epilepsy during that time, and is board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology.

“I see a whole lot of possibilities at UConn,” Greenfield says. “It’s not just the brand new hospital tower and the beautiful outpatient pavilion I’m very excited about, it’s also the dynamic young faculty. There are a lot of great opportunities at UConn Health now and in the foreseeable future, and I’m glad I can be a part of it.”

His start date is Sept. 2.

Greenfield lectures nationally on the role of inhibitory neurotransmission in epilepsy and the mechanisms of antiepileptic drugs. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association, and is a councilor of the Association of University Professors of Neurology. He is also active in the American Epilepsy Society. He was a charter member of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Acute Neural Injury and Epilepsy Study Section (2009-2015), and was recently elected to the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

“Dr. Greenfield in a nationally renowned clinician and researcher, a perfect choice to chair our Department of Neurology,” says Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine. “I’m grateful to our search committee for its diligence.”

The search committee represented both UConn Health and Hartford Hospital:

  • David Steffens, professor and chair, UConn Health Department of Psychiatry (committee co-chair)
  • Harold Schwartz, psychiatrist-in-chief, Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital and regional vice president, behavioral health, Hartford Healthcare (committee co-chair)
  • Linda Barry, UConn Health assistant professor of surgery
  • Doug Fellows, professor and chair, UConn Health Diagnostic Imaging and Therapeutics
  • George Kuchel, director, UConn Center on Aging and Citicorp Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology, UConn Health
  • Ajay Kumar, assistant professor and chief, Hartford Hospital Department of Medicine
  • Al Lizana, UConn Health associate vice president of diversity and equity
  • Richard Mains, professor and chair, UConn Health Department of Neuroscience
  • Wendy Miller, assistant professor of medicine, assistant designated institutional official, and quality and safety education officer, UConn Health Graduate Medical Education
  • Erica Schuyler, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, Hartford Hospital
  • Anthony Vella, professor and chairman, UConn Health Department of Immunology

Passing of Anthony Voytovich, M.D.

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The UConn Health community is deeply saddened and mourning the loss of our beloved colleague and friend, Dr. Anthony Voytovich.

A longtime member of the Department of Medicine faculty, Tony pioneered primary care at UConn Health and was an excellent educator at UConn School of Medicine. He was the epitome of “UConn magic” as he often described our institution and its talented people.

Tony first arrived to UConn’s medical school in 1974 and over the years he held many leadership roles including chief of general medicine, chief of staff at UConn John Dempsey Hospital and dean of students. His decades of leadership and service contributed greatly to the advancement of internal medicine at UConn Health, he was a “go-to” physician to many and an early advocate for quality assurance in patient care.

Tony was an inspiration, mentor, and celebrated educator to countless medical students, young physicians, and colleagues. He was a man of many talents. He had the great gift of storytelling, and creatively dually taught and entertained. He was a pilot and as an avid musician, he played the alto saxophone as a member of the Seizure Jazz Ensemble, composed of UConn Health former and current faculty and staff.

Tony received his medical degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical University and completed his residency training at Cleveland Metro General Hospital, the teaching hospital of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Tony’s passing is a great loss for our institution, he will be missed deeply, but his memory will live on in all his students, colleagues and friends who knew him at UConn Health.

We share our heartfelt condolences with his wife, Glenna, and their children.

Funeral services are planned in Connecticut and will be announced later this week.

Bruce T. Liang, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Dean, School of Medicine

Andrew Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, UConn Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

 

New Tower, New Shuttle Routes, New Valet

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A shuttle bus in the shadow of the new UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital tower. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)
A shuttle bus in the shadow of the new UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital tower. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)

With the new hospital tower opening come some changes to the UConn Health shuttle system effective Monday, May 16:

Route 1 (Night Bus) will be relocated from the main building entrance to the new hospital tower entrance. This route will continue to serve patients, visitors, staff and students travelling between the new hospital tower entrance, Garage 1 Level 6, Musculoskeletal Institute/UConn Surgery Center, Outpatient Pavilion, Shuttle Lot 3, and the Cell and Genome Sciences Building. The service cycle time will remain the same, approximately every 15 minutes.

Route 2 will be relocated from the main building entrance to the new hospital tower entrance. This route will continue to serve patients, visitors, staff and students travelling between the new hospital tower entrance, Musculoskeletal Institute/UConn Surgery Center, Outpatient Pavilion, 195 Farmington Ave., 10 Talcott Notch, 230 Farmington Ave., the Exchange, and 21 South Rd. The service cycle time will remain the same, approximately every 30 minutes.

Route 3 will serve staff and students travelling between Munson Road, main building entrance, Musculoskeletal Institute/UConn Surgery Center, and the Outpatient Pavilion.

Route 4 will serve staff and students travelling between Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Shuttle Lot 3, the bus shelters on Main Road near Jackson Labs and the pond, and the main building entrance.

Route 5 will serve patients, visitors, staff and students traveling between the new hospital tower entrance, main building entrance, Garage 1-Level 6 shelter, Musculoskeletal Institute/UConn Surgery Center and the Outpatient Pavilion.

All the new maps and schedules are available at park.uchc.edu/shuttle-bus-service.

Parking Changes

The employee entrance from Garage 2 to the new hospital tower opens today. It is located on Level 3 of Garage 2, and is accessible by elevator.

For patients and visitors, valet parking will be available at the new hospital tower starting Monday, bringing the number of valet locations to three, with the following hours:

New Hospital Tower
Arrivals 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Departures 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Main Building Entrance
Arrivals 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Departures 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Outpatient Pavilion
Arrivals 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Departures 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

New Walkway to New Tower

An exterior walkway between Garage 1/lower campus and the new tower is now open. At the hospital end is a covered stairwell that leads to the front entrance of the new tower.

Questions and concerns should go parking.transportation@uchc.edu or 860-679-4248.