N E W S F R O M T H E R E G I O N ’ S P R E M I E R A C A D E M I C M E D I C A L C E N T E R

ADVANCES JANUARY 1, 2015

Infection Prevention and Control Program Spotlight

2

To suggest a By the Numbers, email Advances@kumc.edu.

Social media provides a differ-ent take on our top stories of 2014. Here are results from The University of Kansas Hospital’s Facebook posts during 2014.

1,545 Average number of people who saw each of the hospital’s 190 Facebook posts during the year

By the Numbers: Social media

It has been another busy year for the region’s premier academic medical center. As 2015 dawns, we look back at our top 10 stories of 2014, listed chronologically.

New executive dean. The University of Kansas School of Medicine in January named Robert Simari, MD, its executive dean. A school alumnus, Simari previously held leadership roles at Mayo Clinic.

Exploring medical data. Backed by a $7 million grant, the University of Kansas Medical Center in January launched the Greater Plains Collaborative. Its goal: Connect electronic medical record systems at 10 healthcare facilities, analyze data and find patient solutions.

Northland cancer care. The University of Kansas Cancer Center-North Kansas City celebrat-ed its grand opening in January at North Kansas City Hospital. It is the cancer center’s 11th cancer care location in the metro.

Cambridge North Tower. The University of Kansas Hospital

in February announced plans to build the 92-bed Cambridge North Tower. Major donors include Greg and Deanna Graves, The Burns & McDonnell Foundation, Sunderland Foundation and Annette Bloch.

Expanded BMT. Following years of growth, the cancer cen-ter’s blood and marrow transplant program in March completed a significant expansion of its patient exam and treatment areas at the Westwood Campus.

Best grad schools. Graduate programs at the medical center posted big gains in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools.” Overall, 11 programs at

the medical center made the list.New medical education

building. The Hall Family Foundation in May announced a $25 million gift to support the medical center’s plan to build a $75 million health education building. It is expected to open fall 2017.

New rehab center. The hospital in June opened the Inpatient Acute Rehabilitation unit. Located in 39Rainbow, just west of the main campus, the facility offers state-of-the-art care, doubling the hospital’s rehabilitation space.

U.S. News rankings. The hospital in July was nationally ranked on all 12 adult medical and surgical specialty lists of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals.” Just 14 hospitals nationwide were ranked in that many categories.

Rural care. In partnership with rural providers, the hospital in September announced the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative. Funded by a $12.5 million federal grant, the group will focus on prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment.

Lab confirms patient does not have Ebola

Olathe mayor celebrates with healthy heart

Novel procedure destroys boy’s bone tumor

Hospital challenges liver allocation proposal

Record day for organ transplant program

Staff named to Ingram’s Heroes in Healthcare

Trauma doesn’t hamper volunteer’s spirit

With child’s nomination, Pediatric RN wins award

Our activities for KC Royals FanFest

Chiefs Fantasy Camp supports hospital

Top Facebook posts

Based on total reach (views) Based on engagement rate (likes, comments, shares)

The year’s top stories included announcements about the planned

Cambridge North Tower and opening of a new rehabilitation unit (left).

13,408 28.04%

12,592 26.43%

12,468 23.02%

11,888 19.88%

11,840 19.85%

Happy New Year!

Events For men only – If you’re a

man living with illness – yours or that of a loved one – explore common and challenging issues and ways to address them. This month’s topic is Changing for the Better: New Year’s resolutions and how to keep them. The session will explore how to set realistic goals and stages of change. The program is 10-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing in Leawood. Call 913-383-8700 to register.

Dance sampler – Learn about dance history while you exercise. Each session explores a different period in history: West African, folk and contra dance, ballet and jazz dance. The class, which can be adapted for sitting in a chair or standing with sup-port, is 6-7:30 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 12-Feb. 2, at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing in Leawood. Call 913-383-8700 to register.

Taming the sugar tiger – We all have sugar cravings, but sometimes our cravings can control our thoughts and actions, leading to an unhealthy life. Learn to understand sugar cravings and find ways to gain control of your sweet tooth without feeling de-prived. The interactive workshop is 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, at the University of Kansas Clinical Research Center in Fairway. Call 913-383-8700 to register.

Yoga for youngsters – Like adults, kids live in a busy world. Children will explore yoga using interactive games, animal poses and breathing. The program can improve concentration, physical/emotional balance, sense of calmness, flexibility and promote relaxation and stress reduction. The class, which is for ages 5 and older, is 4:45-5:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 14-Feb. 11, at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing in Leawood. Call 913-383-8700 to register. Parent participation is welcome.

More events are at kumed.com/event-detail.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Team ‘partners to prevent infections’ Infection Prevention and

Control is a small department with a long reach – one that touches every patient admitted to The University of Kansas Hospital.

“Preventing infections is a key component in providing a safe pa-tient care experience,” said Amanda Gartner, RN, Quality Outcomes and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) nurse manager.

The department’s primary goal is to continuously improve patient safety by reducing and eliminating healthcare-associated infections, the No. 1 complication among hospitalized patients nationwide.

With a mission statement of “Partnering to Prevent Infections,” the six-person IPAC – five of them nurses – works with departments hospitalwide to help establish and maintain the safest possible patient care environments.

Education is vital, Gartner said. “We promote awareness that infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” from physicians and caregivers to transporters and dietary staff, even families and visitors.

IPAC’s work is evident:• The hospital is ranked among

the top seven U.S. academic

medical centers for quality and safety, based on the most re-cent University HealthSystem Consortium study.

• In October, IPAC helped es-tablish and implement rigorous protocols to ensure patient and staff safety when a suspected Ebola patient was treated. (Lab tests eventually confirmed the patient did not have the virus.)

• Hand-hygiene compliance among hospital staff is consis-tently at 90 percent and higher, well above the national average. The high rate is due in part to IPAC’s work with nurses, physicians and other caregivers.

Led by Medical Director Michael Luchi, MD, the depart-ment in 2014 also developed the “Safe Zone.” It allows staff to step into an isolation patient’s room within a small, designated area without donning a disposable isolation gown.

During IPAC testing, the initiative was shown to improve staff response time to patients and is projected to reduce, by up to 20 percent, the approximately 2 million gowns hospital staff use annually.

“Every day is a new challenge as we find more ways to make our patients even safer,” Gartner said.

Infection Prevention and Control staff such as Carol Roberts, RN (left), and Maggie Reavis, RN, work with hospital caregivers on a variety of initiatives, including isolation procedures.

EXPOSURE

Spreading good cheerPatients, families and staff share holiday joy every year at The University of Kansas Hospital. Right: Brandy Burton and daughter Ryley selected a holiday wreath for Brandy’s father, who is a patient. (Wreaths are decorated by employees.) Opposite, top: During a trip to Pediatrics, Santa (former Chiefs safety Deron Cherry) visited 9-month-old Lucian Larimore and his mom, Deanna.

Organ transplant team sets recordThe University of Kansas Hospital’s Center for Transplantation

on Dec. 11 performed seven lifesaving organ transplants, its most ever in one day.

Surgeons and staff transplanted four kidneys, two livers and one SPK (simultaneous pancreas-kidney) into patients. They also retrieved organs (kidney, pancreas and liver) from a donor patient.

Surgeon Atta Nawabi, MD, performed four of the proce-dures – three kidney transplants and the SPK transplant.

“This accomplishment perfectly illustrates we are maturing as a program – and we’re on a light-speed run to perfection,” said Richard Gilroy, MD, medical director of the liver trans-plant program.

He credited Center for Transplantation leadership for the “brilliant work done by the team. And the program design you have assembled has enhanced the team so that they might accomplish this.”

The center performed 233 solid organ transplants in 2013, up from 190 in 2012. In 2014, the center performed 235 organ transplants through Dec. 29.

Experts investigate newly discovered virus Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) are investigating a new virus linked to the death last summer of a patient at The University of Kansas Hospital.

The Bourbon virus, named after the Kansas county where the man lived, is thought to be transmitted through ticks, not human-to-human contact. Symptoms of the patient included fever and fatigue.

“Bourbon virus has likely been around for some time, but only recently did we have the diagnostic techniques to isolate and identify such viruses,” said Infectious Diseases’ Dana Hawkinson, MD, at the hospital. “Since it isn’t tick season, there is little chance a person will contract Bourbon virus right now.”

Initially it was believed the patient had contracted Heartland virus, a tick-borne illness. However, lab tests were negative for that virus. As a precaution, the CDC and KDHE are reviewing the case history and laboratory tests of other area residents, with similar symptoms, who tested negative for Heartland virus in the past year.

The Bourbon virus genome “is similar to viruses that have been found in eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, but no virus like that has ever been identified in the Western hemi-sphere,” Hawkinson said. Watch an interview with Hawkinson at the hospital’s MedicalNewsNetwork.org.

New

s Br

iefsIn the News

A recap of recent articles, TV segments and other media coverage of the region’s leading academic medical center

Challenges to liver allocation change – The New England Journal of Medicine, Dec. 25. A proposal to shift the way donated livers are allo-cated for transplant has met scrutiny among many physicians. Timothy Schmitt, MD, director of The University of Kansas Hospital’s Center for Transplantation, said the proposal would decrease the number of organs available for transplant at our hospital. A better solution, he said, is to focus on increasing donation rates around the country.

Organ recipient spreads holiday cheer – KSHB 41, Dec. 25. Bryan Weaver has received two liver transplants since 2007, the most recent at The University of Kansas Hospital. He and his family spent Christmas at the hospital, cooking dinner for transplant patients, families and staff, and encouraging them with his story of survival. “I just like coming down here to talk to people,” he said. “I was extremely sick. I was not well and here I am seven years later.”

New stroke procedures in rural Kansas – KOFO (Ottawa, Kan.) News, Dec. 24. A yearlong experiment involving Franklin County EMS ambu-lance service is deemed a major success. Under the new procedures established by The University of Kansas Hospital, Ransom Memorial Hospital and EMS, people suffering a stroke are treated with the same speed as those having heart attacks. Treatment begins immediately in the ambulance once it’s determined the patient is suffering a stroke.

Positive review for new diabetes pump – Healthline, Dec. 12. A new device can help people with Type 1 diabetes better monitor blood glucose levels and adjust insulin delivery, said David Robbins, MD, director of the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Diabetes Institute. The FDA-approved Animas Vibe involves an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. “The monitoring system communicates with the pump wirelessly,” he said. “It provides users a real-time graphic look at where sugar levels are and in which direction they are trending.”

Left: Maxine Bay and daughter Vicki Elliff do-nated 64 homemade quilts to patients on units 41, 42 and 45, including Walt Kennon. It is the ninth year the Elliff family has donated quilts in memory of their son, Jonathan.

The hospital’s Center for Transplantation

ADVANCES

is a bi-weekly publication produced by:

The University of Kansas Hospital Corporate Communications

2330 Shawnee Mission Pkwy., Suite 303 Westwood, KS 66205

Send story ideas to Advances@kumc.edu.

Bob Page, President and CEO The University of Kansas Hospital

Doug Girod, MD, Executive Vice Chancellor University of Kansas Medical Center

Kirk Benson, MD, President The University of Kansas Physicians

Staff: Mike Glynn, Editor Kirk Buster, Graphic Designer

facebook.com/kuhospital facebook.com/kucancercenterfacebook.com/kumedicalcenter

youtube.com/kuhospitalyoutube.com/kucancercenteryoutube.com/kumedcenter

@kuhospital@kucancercenter@kumedcenter

Our People A passage to India (on a

wheelchair) – Joel Strain traveled to India to learn, but the paraplegic occupational therapy student ended up teaching by example, inspiring those he met in a country where disability has traditionally been viewed negatively.

Strain was among seven students from the University of Kansas School of Health Professions and School of Nursing to study last summer at Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India. They were part of the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Robinson Scholarship Program.

One of Strain’s greatest experi-ences was working with a 17-year-old who had permanently injured his spinal cord when he fell from a tree while picking coconuts. Ten years ago, Strain suffered a similar injury in a car accident at nearly the same age. He shared the story of his journey toward independence with the young man, who learned to push himself into a seated position while Strain was there.

Because of India’s limited wheel-chair access, patients with injuries like Strain’s are generally taught to use leg

braces and crutches. As a result, most lack Strain’s physical capabilities and mobility, which he admits are due in great part to his top-of-the-line tita-nium custom wheelchair. He amazed staff and patients alike during his stay by demonstrating many of the skills and maneuvering techniques he’s learned over the years.

Occupational therapy looks differ-ent when practiced halfway across the world. “But I was encouraged to see the same underlying mission I’ve been taught by faculty at KU Medical Center: OTs help people engage in the activities that are meaningful and important to them,” he said.

Since 2004, 62 medical center students have studied in India as Robinson Scholars. The program was founded by School of Medicine professor emeritus Mani Mani, MD, to preserve the legacy of his mentor, the late David Robinson, MD.

Outstanding resident – Rehabilitation Medicine’s Brett Schoen, MD, has received The University of Kansas Hospital’s Outstanding Resident Award. Hospital nurses each quarter recognize a medical resident who demonstrates excellence in practice.

“Dr. Schoen continually displayed patience throughout his rotation on the rehab unit,” wrote nurses who nominated him. “He is incredibly ap-proachable and available for anyone with questions, not just RNs.

“He is thorough and prompt when assisting nursing with anything patient-related. He often completes patient education that could be completed by nursing staff – because it is what best serves the patient and the patient’s family.”

The Outstanding Resident Award, which is open to any of the approximately 500 residents at the hospital, honors excellence in professionalism, quality and patient and family care.

Decorating the White House – Jenny Hascall, senior administrator for Plastic Surgery at The University of Kansas Physicians, was one of 80 volunteers chosen to decorate the White House for the holidays.

“It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Hascall, who was selected after applying online and submitting an essay and examples of her decorating experience.

She arrived in Washington D.C. on Thanksgiving along with other volunteers from around the country. Hascall was assigned to the Blue

Room, home to the main White House Christmas tree.

Her group spent two days paint-ing, wiring and sorting ornaments at an off-site location, then three more days placing more than 2,000 ornaments on the 18-foot tree.

“Being in the White House and meeting the First Lady was amazing, but it also was wonderful to work with people of all ages from around the country,” she said.

Watch a local TV station’s cover-age of her White House adventure at facebook.com/kuhospital.

of academic medicineLearn more about how the Cambridge North Tower expansion will help The University of Kansas Hospital deliver more options, more hope, to patients throughout the region.

giving.kumed.com/building

This is academic medicine.

Building the future

Proposed Cambridge North Tower

During their trip to India, Joel Strain (right) and fellow student Jenna Schulte expe-rienced occupational therapy in a variety of settings, including with K. Suresh, a volunteer at a rehabilitation institute.

Schoen

Hascall