Remembering John McGraw

The editorial on hospital affiliation

Said The Post-Standard last week:

. . .[T]here is renewed talk of affiliation between Crouse and Community General, and such talk deserves to be encouraged. . . .

The two hospitals should be able to find ways to benefit from closer association, both in containing their costs and fulfilling their missions.

Here's the link to the newspaper's editorial.

Register online for "Wine & Wildlife"

There still time to sign up for the "Wine and Wildlife" party this Friday at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park.

You can register online for this fund raiser by the Auxiliary to Community General Hospital. Tickets are $35 apiece in advance ($40 at the door).

Center for Orthopedics nears completion

There's been great progress on Community's Center for Orthopedics, now under construction as 36 private rooms on the hospital's sixth floor.

Sheet rock has been installed, room finishes are in progress, tile is on bathroom walls, and flooring and millwork is about to stat.

The design is by King & King Architects and the construction manager is Heuber Breuer Cosntruction.

With the work more than 60% complete, we are looking for patient occupancy as early as February 1.

HealthGrades rates Community the number one hospital for orthopedic surgery in New York State.

H1N1 and health worker vaccinations

I am pleased to say that 90% of the employees at Community General Hospital have been vaccinated against the seasonal flu. That's a high proportion, and it should help protect our patients.

Vaccinations against the H1N1 (swine) flu started several weeks after the seasonal flu vaccine arrived, and to date about 50% of Community's employees have received the H1N1 vaccine. The Infection Control and Employee Health Departments are following-up with employees, and we are hoping for a higher vaccination rate.

When the New York State Department Health mandated flu vaccine for heath care workers, there was a fair amount of controversy, resulting in a lawsuit and a temporary injunction. With H1N1 vaccine in short supply, the state has since rescinded its mandate but promised to introduce permanent regulations to require vaccinations for health care workers in the future.

Given the state controversy and the mass media stories about the vaccine safety, some people may have second thoughts about the H1N1 vaccine.

Yesterday the Washington Post reported that 98,000 people have been hospitalized so far with H1N1 flu, with more than one-third of them under age 17. Of the 3,900 deaths from the H1N1 flu, fully 75% have been in adults between the ages of 18 and 64. This is different from the experience of seasonal influenza, in which 90% of the deaths typically occur in those 65 years of age and older.

There are risks to every medical procedure, of course, but the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration report the H1N1 vaccine to be safe, and these agencies say the benefits of the H1N1 vaccine “will far outweigh the risks.” For a review of vaccine side effects, as well of the risks of the H1N1 flu itself, go to the CDC’s “General Questions and Answers on 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Safety.”

I urge everyone who is able to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.

Foundation gala raised $310,000

There were more than 600 guests at last week's "Jeans and Jewels" Gala at the Hotel Syracuse -- all in support of the Community General Foundation.

The Gala raised more than $310,000 for Community General Hospital, making it the most successful such event in the Foundation’s history. That amount includes the generous $50,000 gift from the Auxiliary to Community General Hospital.

That's Auxiliary President Dottie DeSimone dancing with husband Jeffrey DeSimone, MD, a general and bariatric surgeon.

My special thanks to the 2009 Gala Committee and its co-chairs Jim Barger, Key Bank senior vice president (at left, in photo), and Mark Re, vice president and general manager of Gallinger RealtyUSA (at right). Through their committee's hard work, more than 60 companies, event patrons and donors helped the Foundation achieve its record-setting results.

Leadership sponsors for the 2009 Gala included the Community General Hospital Medical Staff; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #43; the Laboratory Alliance of Central New York; the Pepsi Bottling Group; Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC; and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Honored at the Gala were the FamilyCare Medical Group, PC; Burns Bros.; along with three former hospital board members: William Burrows, Donald Dew, and John Morrissey, Jr.

It was a great evening as guests, who combined evening attire with blue jeans, enjoyed Pascale’s Catering and three choices of bands: Prime Time, the DeSantis Band and Andrea Miceli Trio.

As one party-goer commented, "This event makes a prestigious affair feel like a fun of a night with friends."

New TV spot today

INFOMERCIAL Community General Hospital "Health Grades Awards" from Solon Quinn on Vimeo.

Here's the new television spot about Community General Hospital's HealthGrades awards. It premiers today during the Syracuse -Akron football game at 3:30 p.m.

Full disclosure: The spot is by 7053 Productions, the production company owned by Solon L. Quinn, my son.

Top honors in orthopedics, maternity & prostate surgery

For 2009/2010, HealthGrades has awarded Community General its Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award, one of just two hospitals in New York State so designated.

HealthGrades gives its five-star honors to Community's total hip and total knee joint replacement surgery, to the back & neck surgery (for spinal fusion and for surgeries without fusion), and to our repair of hip fractures. Community has received the highest honors in orthopedics for five consecutive years – recognizing the excellence of our growing orthopedic service. A new Center for Orthopedics will open on Community's sixth floor early next year.

Community also gets HealthGrades' top honors in Maternity Care, one of 21 New York hospitals to receive its Maternity Service Excellence designation.

With the busiest robot-assisted surgery in Syracuse, Community is also the only Syracuse hospital five-star rated in prostate surgery.

My thanks and congratulations for these honors goes to Community's physicians and nurses, and to the supporting staff. Working together they have helped achieve (and increase the number of) high marks we receive.

Considering the changes ahead

Over the summer, Community General Hospital began working with FTI Consultants, a national firm, to assist with strategic planning to help us prepare for changes associated with health care reform. We have recently provided the results of FTI’s research to our Board of Directors and to the Medical Executive Committee. Our planning activity will continue this fall.

Among the options presented by our consultant is the development of a collaboration with another hospital, and Crouse Hospital has been identified as our leading potential partner.

Independent of our planning process, Crouse Hospital has worked with its own strategic planning consultant (a national firm called Sg2), and its planning has identified Community General as a potential partner. Consistent with these results, I have held preliminary discussions with Dr. Paul Kronenberg, President & CEO of Crouse Hospital, regarding the potential community benefits of working together.

The fact that Community and Crouse are talking again may seem surprising, given our past, unsuccessful relationship in the Health Alliance of CNY (1999-2002). However, the health care world is different today with new regulatory and financial pressures on hospitals and doctors, and there are important reasons for looking at ways we might work together, as well as important lessons to be learned from our past experience.

The progress each hospital has made since 2002 is noteworthy. For example, HealthGrades has awarded Community its five-star service designation for several years, while Crouse was named “Business of the Year” by the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and has been the recipient of a “Human Resources Excellence – Employer of Choice Award” from the Central New York Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. In addition, both Community and Crouse were named “Top 100” most improved hospitals by Thomson Reuters.

To date, our discussions have been exploratory, and both hospitals will continue with normal business operations. As discussions progress, recommendations will be developed for the Board of Directors, and we will involve physician and clinical leaders.

Community General's physicians, employees, and volunteers are dedicated to advance health care in Central New York that is high quality, safe, compassionate, and cost effective. That has not, and will not, change.

The limited vaccine supply

The photo is from the flu vaccine clinics at Community General Hospital.

To date, some 85% of Community’s employees have been vaccinated against seasonal flu. That’s a significant number, but we have not yet reached 100%, as required by the New York State Commissioner of Health.

Yesterday a State Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order that bars the State Commissioner from mandating flu shots for hospital personnel. Stay tuned.

Although we received all the seasonal flu vaccine we ordered, our order was placed long before the Commissioner mandated 100% vaccinations. Because of the mandate, the vaccine use rate is greater than expected, and this has reduced the amount of vaccine we have available for the general community.

Each year Community General provides flu vaccinations for workers at dozens of local companies. Because of the higher vaccine rate this season, we will be far short of the supply needed for these companies.

In addition, other hospitals reportedly do not have enough vaccine even for their own staffs to meet the 100% directive.

Because the supplies of seasonal flu vaccine are limited, we notified the Onondaga County Health Commissioner that, after we comply with our flu plan and the state mandate, we will transfer the limited amount remaining to the County for its redistribution based on priority community needs.

We have also informed area companies about the vaccine supply problem. They are not happy, understandably so. The companies have a heightened awareness of influenza risk this year, and their employees have been counting on Community’s annual flu shots. I am sorry we will not have the vaccine for our company flu clinics, as planned.

With respect to H1N1 (“swine flu”), Community received a supply of the vaccine last week, and vaccinations for medical staff, employees, and volunteers begin October 22.

Flu vaccines for health care workers are a patient safety issue. By protecting ourselves, we confer a measure of protection on the vulnerable patients in our care.