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Healthcare Journal of new orleans
I
NOV / DEC 2014
61
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members. The institute’s mission is to impact future
generations through the promotion of healthcare
education and disease prevention, along with ath-
letic injury prevention and post care.
STPH Employees on the Move
St. Tammany Parish Hospital has named Lola Bal-
lard Operating Room supervisor for Environmental
Services, Christy Billiot Health Information Man-
agement operations manager, Sandra Cosentino
Patient Financial Services supervisor, Kim Lemas-
ter Pre-Access supervisor, Billie Matthews Materi-
als Management operations manager, and Daniel
Vanek a chaplain.
In addition, Jane Freudenberger MSW OSW-C,
licensed clinical social worker at Mary Bird Per-
kins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospi-
tal, received her Oncology Social Work certification;
Michelle Hickman RN, 2 South department head
and nurse manager, graduated with her bachelor’s
degree in nursing from theWilliamCarey University;
and Paula Schindler RN has received her Wound,
Ostomy and Continence Nurse Recertification.
SMH Volunteer Retires
After 34 years of service, SMH Volunteer Catherine
Prendergast has announced her retirement. At a
recent farewell ceremony to honor her dedication,
Slidell Memorial Hospital leaders thanked Prender-
gast for her many years of service to the community.
Prendergast assisted with the opening of the SMH
gift shop 25 years ago and has since volunteered
as Gift Shop Manager. She took on many responsi-
bilities including managing the books and ordering
all merchandise for the gift shop. Prendergast has
recorded a total of 16,672 volunteer hours.
Ochsner Integrates EHR
with Apple HealthKit
Ochsner Health System announced that it is the
first Epic Systems client to successfully integrate its
electronic health record (EHR) with the new Apple
HealthKit. Approximately 53 percent of Americans
have their medical records within the Epic EHR, and
its MyChart application is the most used patient
portal in the United States.
Ochsner began a home monitoring program ear-
lier in the year for patients with heart failure. Grad-
ual fluid accumulation can be dangerous for these
patients, so they were sent home from the hospi-
tal with wireless scales that tracked their weight
daily. The patients only had to step on the scale
and their weights were sent to Ochsner’s EHR. The
pharmacist monitoring the patient could adjust the
patient’s medication over the phone, thus preventing
unnecessary hospitalizations.
Ochsner was one of three health systems tapped
to beta-test the iOS8-integrated application, said
Jonathan Wilt, Assistant Vice President of Och-
sner’s Center of Innovation. “On Sunday, October
5, we signed up our first patient and were able to
successfully import his personal health data into
the Epic medical record.”
Additionally, Ochsner was the first organization to
successfully implement Fitbit® and Withings auto-
sync integration with MyChart. That means patients
can use theirWithings wireless blood pressure moni-
tor at home and their blood pressure will automati-
cally populate the Epic chart.
Terrebonne General
Declared Baby Friendly
Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC) has
received prestigious international recognition as a
Baby-Friendly Designated birth facility from Baby-
Friendly USA. TGMC has also been recognized on a
national level by the National Institute for Children’s
Health Quality (NICHQ) and National Centers for
Disease Control and prevention (CDC) for achiev-
ing this impressive recognition. TGMC is one of only
two hospitals in our state to hold this distinction and
one of five hospitals in a national collaborative effort
to pursue this honor.
TGMC overhauled old, outdated policies and prac-
tices in order to meet the strenuous requirements of
the Baby Friendly Designation. All staff nurses have
had over 20 hours of extensive training in breast-
feeding and lactation education in order to give
breastfeeding families the most exceptional care
and support possible.
In addition, as part of this exclusive designation
TGMC now offers “skin to skin”as part of every birth-
ing experience. This means that, if there are nomedi-
cal problems, a baby is placed “skin to skin”with his
mother immediately after birth.
TGMC also offers the only Level III Neonatal Inten-
sive Care Unit (NICU) in the region for newborns who
need a higher level of care.
EJGH Enters Agreement with
Tulane Neurosurgery Group
East Jefferson General Hospital has entered into an
agreement with Tulane University Medical Group to
provide neurosurgical services, including enhanced
cranial and spinal care at its Metairie campus.
“This group of physicians brings with them the
clinical expertise required for complex endovascu-
lar care, aneurysm treatments, and embolization
procedures. Previously these cutting edge skill sets
were not available at East Jefferson,” noted Mark J.
Peters, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of
STPH Employees on the Move
From left, top to bottom, Lola Ballard, Christy Billiot, Sandra
Cosentino, Kim Lemaster, Billie Matthews and Daniel Vanek.