Odessa Regional Medical Center

This is part of a continuing series of articles that will
introduce you to your IASIS colleagues around the country.

More famous for big skies than skyscrapers, Odessa, Texas, seems a world away from the rest of the Lone Star state. Yet despite its remote location, this dusty West Texas town is a thriving community and a regional healthcare center.
With a service area that stretches into communities up to 350 miles away, 121-bed Odessa Regional Medical Center (ORH) is poised for growth. Since first opening its doors as Women’s and Children’s Hospital in 1975, ORH has evolved into a full-service healthcare facility. Yet despite its wide range of specialties, the hospital still has a strong reputation for women’s services. That is a tradition ORH hopes to build upon with the help of a multi-million dollar expansion.

Building on a Legacy
The expansion, which will be complete in April, will add a new labor, delivery and recovery unit with additional rooms; a new, larger newborn nursery and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); additional rooms in the postpartum area; a new outpatient surgery unit; new operating rooms as well as a new waiting area, lobby and entrance.
“The expansion was necessary for us to start building on the blocks we already have in place where women’s services are concerned. Also, it will allow us to increase volumes in areas such as inpatient surgeries where we’ve barely scratched the surface,” says Mike Potter, ORH’s chief executive officer.
An expansion had been discussed by several of the hospital’s previous owners, but no firm plans were made until IASIS purchased ORH in 1999, according to Cathy Kirby, vice president of patient care services.

“There was a great deal of skepticism about the possibility of an expansion,” she says. “Over the years, we’ve had a number of false starts. I don’t think that many of the long-term employees believed it would really happen until they saw the front awning come down. When that happened, we all cheered!”
These days, the excitement surrounding the construction of the new addition is contagious.
“The expansion can’t be finished soon enough!” says Labor and Delivery Clinical Coordinator Michaela Moore, R.N. “We’re on top of each other right now.”
“It never ceases to amaze me how much our employees have accomplished with limited space,” says Potter. “The real challenge will be to keep the excitement and momentum going once the project is complete.”
In addition to adding space, the hospital is enhancing the services it offers area women, who have traditionally been its main customers. ORH recently established the Regional Perinatal Center. With two perinatologists and five staff members, the center offers care to women with high-risk pregnancies caused by pregnancy-related conditions or a pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes or lupus.
“We’re the only community-based perinatologists in this area, so it’s not uncommon for us to see patients from up to an hour and a half away in any direction,” says Roger Wallace, D.O. and chief perinatologist. “Before the center was established, these women had to drive several hours to Lubbock or even Dallas for care.”
According to Wallace, the center is a natural fit for ORH because of its strong obstetrics program and NICU, which is the oldest in Odessa.

“The hospital leadership really had the foresight to see the importance of coordinating what we offer with the other services in a team approach,” he says. “ORH has a solid commitment to providing the community with these services and there has been a lot of attention paid to developing them in the right way.”
The synergies of offering both perinatology and neonatology services are already evident. Since Wallace’s arrival in December of 2000, 36 of the 71 babies born under his care have also needed care in ORH’s NICU.
To further compliment its women’s service line, ORH recently recruited an infertility specialist and is establishing a hospital-based in-vitro fertilization (IVF) lab, which will offer fertility treatments and services to infertile couples. The service will be the only one of its kind in the Midland/Odessa area.
“Because many IVF procedures translate into high-risk pregnancies and multiple births, the lab is a wonderful fit with the Regional Perinatal Center,” says Sandra Bello, M.D., director of the West Texas Reproductive Center.

The Tiniest Patients
Another piece of the women’s services puzzle is ORH’s NICU, which was established in 1975 with four beds. Today, the NICU has 14 beds and will expand to 24 beds once the expansion is complete.
The unit has a staff of 23 nurses in addition to dedicated respiratory therapists who provide intensive, individualized care to babies that are born prematurely or sick.
“To me, this is the best place to work in the hospital,” says Sue Savedra, R.N. “We really bond with the babies and the parents. People sometimes come up to me in the mall or at the grocery store to thank me for taking care of their child years ago.”
“We really make a difference for these babies. The happy stories far outweigh the sad ones,” says Christine LeDoux, R.N. and unit supervisor who started work the same day as Savedra 12 years ago.
Though they’ve cared for hundreds of babies over the years, both Savedra and LeDoux say that one patient stands out in their minds. “There was one baby girl who was born weighing only one pound and four ounces,” says Savedra. “She wasn’t even as big as a Barbie doll.”
Today, that little girl is a healthy four-year-old. “Those are the stories that inspire you,” says LeDoux.
“Our first concern is truly for the babies,” says Nancy Stark, R.N., director of acute care. “Everyone here in the unit takes their care very personally. We’re very aggressive in their treatment and have very good outcomes as a result.”
While there are plenty of happy endings, Savedra and LeDoux agree that not taking their job home with them can be hard.
“I’ve gotten up many mornings wondering how one of the babies did during the night,” Savedra admits. “Sometimes it’s tough not to call in on your day off to check on a baby.”
Similar devotion can be found in the hospital’s labor and delivery department, where an average of four babies are born each day.
“I love this place. It always gets my adrenaline going. The best part of the job is seeing the families so happy,” says Moore. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
In addition to adding more labor and delivery rooms, the expansion will allow more patients to have private post-partum rooms, which is one of the most frequent requests.

Personal Touch
Aside from being known for its expertise in women’s services, ORH is highly regarded for its personal care.
“Our staff is made up of hard-working, dedicated people who understand the needs of patients, families and physicians. They’re willing to go that extra mile,” says Potter.
Several years ago, the hospital introduced a customer service program known as “Celebrate Life” – a phrase that is also used in its advertisements. ‘LIFE’ is an acronym that encourages employees to:

• Look, smile and speak;
• Identify needs;
• Find answers to questions;
• Exceed Expectations.

As part of the program, cards are placed around the hospital to encourage feedback or congratulate a particular employee for a job well done.
“We’re always refocusing our way of thinking to reflect what we hear from our customers,” says Kirby.
Despite the growth the expansion will bring, ORH is committed to remaining a small, community-focused hospital where most employees know each other by name.
“I’ve worked at larger hospitals, and I like the small, family-like atmosphere here much better,” says Myra DeGuzman, R.N., director of critical care. “It’s so much easier to get your job done when you know the people you are working with personally.”
“I’ve stayed here because I really enjoy working in a hospital where the needs of patients and their families are a priority,” says Jan Tinney, R.N., who works in surgery and has been an ORH employee since 1975.

Looking Ahead
While the soon-to-be completed expansion will begin a new chapter in the hospital’s history, Potter doesn’t see drastic changes on the road ahead.
“The expansion will give us a lot of opportunities to do things we haven’t been able to do before,” he says, pointing to the surgery department. “We’ll be able to do more and different kinds of surgeries – which translates to growth and new challenges for employees.”
“We’re not trying to be everything to everyone. We just want to be the best we can be.”

During the formative years of my career, I developed an acute curiosity about the one or two things that might contribute to one hospital being perceived as “better” than another hospital.
Growing up in a mid-sized southern city with four non-profit hospitals, I spent the five years of my undergraduate education working in various jobs in each of the hospitals. I learned that each one was very different from the other in terms of policies, procedures and cultures, but one had a distinctively different “feel,” which lead me to conclude that it was indeed the “better” hospital. It was not the largest hospital in terms of bed size or census. It did not do all the ultra-high-tech procedures. It was not the newest physical plant in town. It did not have an exclusive on all the best doctors, because in those days, most of the doctors practiced at more than one hospital. To me, however, this hospital was the best, and I was very happy not just to work there, but to insist that everyone I know use this particular hospital, should the need arise.
It was not until later in my career that I realized the answer to the riddle. It was not just one or two or three things that made me prefer one hospital over the other; it was 1,000 things… 1,000 little things on which the leadership and the employees of this hospital knowingly, and sometimes unknowingly, focused on every day.
I have previously written about how my supervisor used to make sure I did my job a certain way, not because she was a dictator, but because she paid attention to details, and the details of my little job mattered. I was part of what made that hospital better.
For several years, I have been working to devise a way to translate this concept into action. I’ve talked about it many times to many different people in leadership positions, but until now, I have yet to see someone transform this concept into a living, breathing process. Well, to see the 1,000 little things concept in action, please meet Tammy Clark.
As Director of Patient and Community Relations at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Tammy is leading the effort to make the 1,000 little things concept an ongoing commitment. She took the Mission Impossible theme and renamed it Mission Possible, engaging employees to participate in listing 1,000 little things to accomplish to make an already good hospital even better. To date, she reports that they have listed over 900 items, with another 100 to go. A chart in the cafeteria tracks the hospital’s progress. According to our Salt Lake Regional Medical Center chief executive officer, this has been a very motivating and thought provoking endeavor, and one that he plans to integrate into the hospital’s culture. I’m sure Tammy would be happy to share her progress with anyone interested.
I hope that every hospital will be interested in discovering its 1,000 little things. You might be surprised at what you discover, but I’m know you will find that everything everyone does, and how they do it, really does make a difference.

Dear IASIS employees

In December, we experienced a significant challenge when our hospital computer system went down. I spoke to numerous individuals, and each person was willing to help by providing information and direction. Among them were representatives from Phoenix information systems department and the information systems and pharmacy departments at Odessa Regional Medical Center. Everyone was eager to assist in any way possible. My thanks to each and everyone who helped during this challenging time.
I would like to send special thanks to Jimmy Diaz in the Odessa Regional Medical Center IS department. He was available and willing to stay on the telephone with me until he finished generating all of the reports that I needed. Without these reports, patient care might have been compromised.

Richard White, R.Ph., Director of Pharmacy
Southwest General Hospital, San Antonio, Texas

This is the first installment of a series of success stories from across the IASIS system, spotlighting employees who have found creative solutions to common challenges. Not so long ago, case managers throughout the IASIS system, like those in many other hospitals, found themselves awash in paper. Producing monthly reports, logging physician advisor hours and documenting care was taking up reams of paper, not to mention valuable time. “When you’re doing everything by hand, you have lots of hard copies and that can consume an entire filing cabinet very quickly,” says Sharon Cooke, director of case management at Southwest General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Nurses and unit secretaries weren’t exempt from the paper problems either. All patient diagnostic tests and consults with other departments were ordered and processed by hand. Today, case managers at IASIS hospitals have a new tool to help them manage the paper flow. The utilization management (UM) module of the McKesson STAR system was introduced in October and has changed the way patient care is monitored in IASIS hospitals. The computer-based module allows case managers, who work with physicians and nurses to ensure that patients receive appropriate medical care while monitoring the hospital’s use of resources, quick access to clinical and financial patient data. The system also tracks a patient’s progress through the hospital system, which helps case managers identify ways to better manage their care. “It’s definitely helped us get organized and work smarter,” says Sandra Whitley, director of case management at Mesa General Hospital in Mesa, Ariz. “It’s a great tracking mechanism to help us identify problem areas in the patient’s course of treatment.” The module allows Mesa General to track a patient’s ‘avoidable days’ – or days where the patient was well enough to be discharged but could not be due to a delay in some element of the patient’s care. According to Whitley, the module has automated the tracking, trending and reporting of such problems so that corrective actions can be taken. “For example, if we see that patients aren’t being discharged because they’re waiting to be evaluated by a speech therapist, then we can evaluate our staffing in that department to see if hiring another person would help speed the process,” says Whitley. Caregivers have experienced the benefits of the new STAR system as well. Tests that used to be ordered manually are now entered directly into the system. “The STAR system and the UM module within the system have give case managers and nursing staff more opportunities to collaborate,” says Whitley. “While the effect on patient care is more indirect, it does free up the nurses and clinicians to spend more time with the patient.” “Because all of the information about a patient’s care is entered into the system as it happens, we have more current information and a better overall understanding of what is going on with the patient,” says Tammy Ellsworth, R.N., patient care coordinator in Mesa General’s medical/surgical unit. “It makes us more efficient and I think the patients are definitely feeling the positive effects of that.” If you or your co-workers have found a successful solution to a common challenge, please email forum@iasishealthcare.com or call 615-467-1264.

Fifty-One Years and Counting for Tempe St. Luke’s Nurse While much has changed during her 51 fast-paced years in nursing, Nancy Murray, R.N., of Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital in Tempe, Ariz., remains dedicated to the reason she chose her profession in the first place: patients. “We should always remember that our first concern is the patients, and not get so engrossed in small details that we forget why we’re here,” says Murray, who has worked in Tempe St. Luke’s emergency room for two years. Caregiving has changed greatly since Murray took her first nursing job for $1.75 an hour. She’s noticed a dramatic rise in the number of patients seen in the ER over her five-decade career. “Mothers used to sit in a rocking chair and hold their babies if they got an ear infection,” she says. “Now they bring them straight to the emergency room.” Higher traffic forces ER personnel to be more versatile in their caregiving. “A lot of people use the ER as their primary care doctor now. We see everything, and we have to be able to respond.” Part of that response includes broader use of medicines. Murray remembers when a shot of penicillin was used only for drastic situations. “Now we have such sophisticated antibiotics, and most are given through IVs,” she says. Though she retired at age 67, Murray missed the activity and was back in the ER, working a full shift, three weeks later. “You’d think by now, I’d be smart enough to get out,” she laughs.

It’s not every day that the Olympics come to town. Yet thanks to thousands of volunteers, Salt Lake City was ready when the world came to enjoy the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in February.
Employees at the four IASIS hospitals in the Salt Lake City area were among the volunteers who gave their time and energy to make sure visitors had a safe and enjoyable experience.
Whether carrying the Olympic torch or bandaging a broken arm, everyone involved agreed that volunteering offered a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Though there were scores of IASIS volunteers, here is a look at some of the ways employees and physicians helped make the 2002 Olympic games a success.

The Thrill of Victory

Dale Hull, M.D., proved that it is not just the athletes who experience the thrill of victory during the Olympics. Hull, who is an obstetrician and gynecologist at Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Utah, was asked to carry the Olympic torch in the Olympic Flame Relay after battling his way back from a devastating accident in July 1999 that broke his neck and threatened to leave him paralyzed.
Some weeks after his injury, doctors found signals from Hull’s brain were getting to his muscles. Surgeries, physical rehabilitation and determined exercise helped restore functions he feared he had lost.
On Feb. 8, after more than two years of rehabilitation and training, he held the torch high, slowly walked his two-tenths of a mile leg of the relay and passed the flame to the next runner. “The chance to carry the torch was my way to say thanks to my family, friends, therapists and doctors for helping me and for not giving up,” Hull says. “I felt so much emotion carrying a symbol that represents all of humanity.”
Hull says the opportunity to carry the torch gave him a goal to work toward, and also an opportunity to demonstrate that severe spinal injuries can – in some cases – be overcome through intensive rehabilitation.
“The experience was overwhelming in terms of the support I received – being part of the torch chain, and the personal accomplishment of walking down the middle of the road without a crutch or cane,” he says.

Standing Guard
When Ed Carder, R.N. and family nurse practitioner at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, enlisted in the U.S. Army to fly helicopters 37 years ago, he never guessed he’d end up working at the Olympics. But, Carder and other members of his Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter unit found themselves on active duty as part of the extraordinary security precautions for the Winter Games.
“We were assigned to transport security personnel and fly air cover over the events,” says Carder, who is one of only a few Guard pilots in the United States to hold the rank of CW5 – roughly the same as a lieutenant colonel in the army.
Carder’s colleagues in the emergency room covered for him while his unit was on active duty for the month of February. The unit had been on alert to go to Afghanistan, but because it spent several months last year in Kuwait, the National Guard assigned it to help guard the Olympics instead.

Fast Response
From a cut finger to a cardiac arrest, teams of volunteers from Salt Lake Regional Medical Center were on hand to tackle emergencies big and small at a variety of Olympic venues. Some were participants of the American Red Cross’ First Responder program, which patrolled event venues in Salt Lake City and nearby Park City to provide first aid services. Others staffed clinics that treated spectators or athletes.

Each First Responder volunteer committed to working a minimum of three, eight-hour shifts, with many shifts stretching late into the night. Before being certified as an official Olympic volunteer, employees had to complete a rigorous six-week training course and pass a written exam.
“As First Responders, we walked around the venue carrying first-aid kits, automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), which treat people who have heart attacks, and two-way radios to summon additional help,” says Lori Gay, R.N.
“Much of the training was a refresher course in first-aid, triage, basic