Thursday, August 11 was the 60th wedding anniversary for Mr. and Mrs. Dixon…but the couple thought a celebration did not look possible and would have to wait because Mr. Dixon was a “visitor” here.
Then came the staff of the University Tower’s 5th floor. They got busy, called in help, and the party was on.
Food and Nutrition Services delivered individually made meals on white china and wine glasses for their sodas. Sounds of their wedding song – “Sunrise, Sunset” by Perry Como – filled the room.
A magical anniversary for the Dixon’s brought a tear to everyone’s eye….including the newlyweds.
Users of the Patient and Family Education Center kiosks in the Outpatient Pavilion will see a welcome screen like this.
The first of two kiosks to go with the UConn Health Auxiliary Patient and Family Education Center in the Outpatient Pavilion has arrived.
The kiosks will enable patients and visitors to access health information via L. M. Stowe Library’s HealthNet service, an outreach resource designed as a tool for them to research health questions.
Wendy Urciuoli (left) and Irene Engel demonstrate one of the kiosks that will be available for use in the UConn Health Auxiliary Patient and Family Education Center. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health)
The Auxiliary Patient and Family Education Center is located on both the second and third floors of the Outpatient Pavilion. The second floor kiosk will go online first, likely in the coming weeks. The kiosks will have print capability and offer guided accesses to vetted health websites, community services and hospital programs.
“Providing high-quality information resources which are convenient and easy to use will help patients learn about their health conditions and empower them to become more active in managing their health care,” says HealthNet librarian Wendy Urciuoli.
A half dozen notebook computers also will be available to patients, enabling access in areas in the Outpatient Pavilion beyond the Patient and Family Education Center locations. The Auxiliary has purchased a machine that will sanitize the notebooks after each use to prevent the spread of germs.
“The doctors also will use this as a resource for patients. They’re excited about where we’re going with this,” says UConn Health Auxiliary Facilitator Irene Engel. “This is for educational purposes, so patients leave their appointments with a better understanding.”
More information about HealthNet is available by calling 860.679.4047 or emailing urciuoli@uchc.edu.
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.
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
UConn Health nursing staff wheel a patient into the new hospital tower. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)
After three years of building and more than 2,000 construction jobs, move-in day arrived at the new UConn John Dempsey Hospital tower Friday morning.
It started at 5:16 a.m. with the opening of the Emergency Department, and an hour later the new ED’s first patient arrived.
Meantime a carefully orchestrated plan to safely move 70 inpatients from the old hospital tower to was underway.
“If we continue at this pace, we’ll be done before 1 o’clock,” said hospital CEO Anne Diamond at about 7:45.
She was right. The last patient was in place shortly after 11:30.
“It was truly an amazing experience,” Diamond says. “We all had opportunities to talk to patients and really see what their reaction was as they moved into the new space, and it has just been so rewarding.”
“This facility is beautiful,” says nurse Sarah Higley, who now works on the 5th floor in the new tower. “The floor is brand new, all the rooms are private, all of the equipment that we have is brand new. Things are going to work a lot better. I was on Surgery 7 for a long time –I worked there as a student, as an aide, and as a nurse – so I’m very familiar with that floor, that floor is my home. And I’m very excited to call this floor my new home.”
UConn Health Chief Nursing Officer Ann Marie Capo delivers a UConn blanket to Myles Connolly, one of 70 patients relocated to the new hospital tower. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)
One of the first patients moved to Higley’s floor was Dr. Michael P. Kruger, a graduate of UConn’s orthopedic residency program in the mid-80s.
“At the time, the hospital was state of the art, and I was well aware of the capabilities of it and the niceties of it,” Kruger says. “But now, moving into this facility, going from semi-private to private rooms, it is a big change. Having a facility where you do get the privacy – when doctors come in to talk to me, I don’t have to share the information with the guy next door – it makes a big difference on how I think you recover and how the outcome’s going to be.”
The 11-floor tower has 169 single-occupancy rooms for enhanced privacy and infection control, and features artwork and natural light.
“This building is a lot more conducive to healing,” said nurse Katelyn Putney after checking on a patient who’d recently moved to the new 6th floor. “It’s brighter, with more open space, and the communications systems we now have are more advanced and better for patient care.”
“It looks beautiful, it looks cheerier. It doesn’t look like a hospital,” said patient Jennifer Boutin shortly after being relocated to her room on the 6th floor. “Everything looks so brand new, everything looks great.”
About 90 minutes after the last patient was moved, asked about the hospital’s readiness for a full opening to the public, Diamond said, “100 percent. We’re ready right now.”
When University Tower opens in a week, it will be equipped with the latest technology to enhance patient care. One of the biggest advances (literally) will be the nearly 5 ton Siemens MRI unit that was delivered dangling from a construction crane last week. It took an hour and a half to carefully lift and place the new MRI into the suite through an unfinished facade (later replaced by a window) on the main level.
The new Magnetom ‘Aera’ MRI offers patients a more comfortable experience with a larger 70 cm opening (more than 2 feet for those metrically challenged), and shorter exam times thanks to enhanced software, according to Joseph Phillips, director of diagnostic imaging.
In addition, it offers “Quiet Suite” which reduces examination noise levels by 70 percent for neurologic and orthopedic examinations. Computer aided detection software will also improve the accuracy and sensitivity for MRI breast imaging and MRI guided breast biopsies.
Wendy Pasckowski, a housekeeper here for nearly 24 years, went above and beyond the call of duty recently. Her keen observations and quick action helped save a patient’s life. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health)
Wendy Paszkowski, a housekeeper here for nearly 24 years, went above and beyond the call of duty recently. Her keen observations and quick action helped save a patient’s life.
Anne Niziolek, the nurse manager of Medicine 4, recently shared the story in the hospital newsletter:
“Our unit housekeeper on Med. 4, Wendy Paszkowski, was cleaning a patient’s room. She noticed there was something wrong with the patient and immediately went to get the nurse, who was in another patient’s room. It turned out the patient Wendy observed had blood sugar that was critically low. The patient could have gone in a diabetic coma or worse. Wendy took the appropriate action and knew to “ARCC it up!” She saved the patient! Way to go, Wendy!”
Dr. Lauren Geaney, UConn Health foot and ankle surgeon, helps distribute footwear at the Friendship Service Center on November 24, 2015. Dr. Michael Aronow (back left), formerly of UConn Health and now in private practice, has been the local organizer of the annual "Our Hearts to Your Soles" campaign since 2007. (Chris DeFrancesco/UConn Health Photo)
Dr. Lauren Geaney, UConn Health foot and ankle surgeon, helps fit a pair of shoes at the Friendship Service Center on November 24, 2015. (Chris DeFrancesco/UConn Health Photo)
Willie LeVesque, a physician assistant at Orthopedic Associates of Hartford, provides a foot exam at the Friendship Service Center on November 24, 2015. (Chris DeFrancesco/UConn Health Photo)
UConn Health medical assistant Lori Engengrro helps fit a pair of shoes at the Friendship Service Center on November 24, 2015. (Chris DeFrancesco/UConn Health Photo)
In what is now a Thanksgiving week tradition, a group of local foot care providers offered free shoes, socks and foot exams at homeless shelters in New Britain Tuesday night.
The volunteers included three from the UConn Musculoskeletal Institute at UConn Health – Dr. Lauren Geaney, cast technician Kathleen York and medical assistant Lori Engengrro – as well as Dr. Michael Aronow, a former UConn Health physician now in private practice. It was Aronow who first got UConn Health involved in the nationwide Our Hearts to Your Soles campaign eight years ago.
At the Friendship Service Center, 28 people received a new pair of shoes or boots and left with a least one pair of socks, and 15 more people received footwear at the Salvation Army. Some also received a free foot exam.
The shoes and boots were donated by Red Wing Shoes, and the socks were provided by Dignity U Wear. Enough shoes, boots and socks were left behind at the two locations to give to at least 100 other people in need in the coming months.
Generally considered the start of the winter holiday season, Thanksgiving also represents the start of the holiday eating season.
We may not need a registered dietitian to tell us that it’s easy to overindulge this time of year and we should enjoy food and drink in moderation.
But what an R.D. can tell us is how to make wiser choices when it comes to holiday meals and parties, snacks that show up in the office, and the eating options available to us while we’re on the go during this often busy time of year.
UConn Health dietitian Linda York in-studio at WILI-AM 1400 Nov. 23. (Courtesy Wayne Norman) Click on image to hear the broadcast.
“I think before you go [to a party], you kind of have a plan, and decide, ‘OK, I’m going to eat the dinner, and I’m not going to eat a lot of the appetizers, and maybe I’ll have either one drink or a dessert,’” says Linda York, a registered dietitian at UConn Health. “Make a pact with yourself, decide what you’re going to do.”
Drinking alcohol, while it may not increase our hunger, may cause us to be less mindful about what we’re eating.
Another tip is to avoid showing up to a party or dinner on an empty stomach.
“Make sure you have something to eat beforehand so you’re not totally famished,” York says. “Have a big salad. It’s high in fiber, it fills you up… Or have a Greek yogurt, very high in protein and carbohydrates, before you go, and an apple. You’ll still want to eat, but you’re going to eat in a more controlled way.”
Drinking water before a meal also can make us less prone to overeating.
“You might think that’s not a lot, but in 10 years, that’s 10 pounds,” York says, adding that the same study found people who were overweight or obese did gain more than a pound over the holiday season.
Other holiday weight-gain traps include straying from our exercise routine, substituting fast food for planned out meals, and nibbling on holiday goodies at work.
The Thanksgiving Feast
At the Thanksgiving table, the turkey may be the least of our worries.
“Turkey’s a great lean protein, there’s really nothing wrong with turkey,” York says. “It’s the gravy we tend to put on the turkey. So just be aware of that. Whenever you add a topical fat – gravy, butter, whatever – think of your thumb tip, or a teaspoon. Try to think, ‘I’m only going to add that much.’ Be aware of those topical fats, remembering that one teaspoon is about 45 calories… You can really get a lot of calories that way.”
Another Thanksgiving staple, stuffing, carries the dual threat of oversized portions and high calories. York recommends limiting starches – that’s both stuffing and potatoes – to a quarter of your plate, with turkey occupying another quarter and vegetables getting the rest of the plate. Modifying the stuffing’s ingredients can also help.
“You can make over any recipe. If you make it lower in fat, it’s going to be lower in calories,” York says. “I make my own homemade stuffing. I might not put sausage in it. I might use chicken broth instead of a lot of butter, which is fat, or margarine, which has the same calories as butter. I might add some nuts or I might add some cranberries to make it interesting. I’d add some celery to it. Put other things, don’t always fill everything with fat.”
When the desserts come out, here again it’s a matter of quantity as well as how they’re made. For those who can’t decide which one to eat, York recommends taking samples to try that collectively are no larger than a single dessert portion.
“After you eat a meal, to me, it’s just having two bites of something sweet,” York says. “And after about two bites, you’re just like, ‘I’ve had enough.’ You don’t have to feel stuffed. That doesn’t have to be the goal.”
Some dessert recipe makeovers include losing the fattening crust and substituting pumpkin pudding or apple and berry crisps for pies, and replacing oil with apple sauce or sweet potatoes when baking.
“I think at Thanksgiving and those special holidays – remember, there’s not many – enjoy it, eat it slowly, and eat the meal, and less of the appetizers.”
Ready to Lose
York runs the six-week “Ready to Lose” weight management program at UConn Health. The next one starts Jan. 12. The introductory session is followed by meetings from 5 to 6 p.m. each Tuesday through Feb. 16. Each session includes a weigh-in, discussion of progress, and a timely nutrition topic such as strategies for eating out, cooking light and right, emotional eating, exercise and activity, and smart shopping. Registration fee is $70, or $50 for past participants. The number to register or to learn more is 800-535-6232.
Thursday, August 11 was the 60th wedding anniversary for Mr. and Mrs. Dixon…but the couple thought a celebration did not look possible and would have to wait because Mr. Dixon was a “visitor” here.
The Thanksgiving Feast