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NO GIFT TOO SMALL
As phone calls buzzed back and forth in her family,
Dottie Williams, Billing Manager in Trauma &
Surgical Critical Care, learned that her nephew’s
wife, Tracy, was working furiously to get emergency
food, clothes, and supplies to her family — who had
been left homeless by the heavy winds of Katrina.
“I spoke to my sister — who is Tracy’s mother-inlaw — and she shared with me that Tracy’s family
had lost an awful lot,” said Williams.
The remains of the home of Dottie Williams’ relatives.
HUP SPECIALISTS
As a result of donations from supportive family
members — including $50 from Dottie — Tracy was
able to purchase much-needed items in Pensacola,
Florida, and then take them back to the devastated
family who lived outside of Gulfport, Mississippi.
“I was happy to contribute,” said Williams,
“especially in this instance – when the victims
were members of my own extended family.”
HEAD SOUTH
In the early-morning hours of September 12, six critical-care
doctors and nurses from HUP boarded a privately-chartered
plane to Baton Rouge, LA, in order to help relieve their overworked colleagues in the Intensive-Care Units at Ochsner Health
Care Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences
Center. “Our goal is to help provide relief to the physicians at
those facilities because they’ve had no opportunity to attend to
their personal affairs since the hurricane,” explained group member Daniel Sterman, MD, of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine.
Their first night there, the group slept in their sleeping bags on
the floor of a clinic, reported John Hansen-Flaschen, MD —
who, as chief of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care, remained
at HUP while his colleagues went into the field. “The next
morning, they got booster inoculations at the FEMA Command
Center, which is under heavy military protection,” he said.
“Three physicians and one nurse were then assigned to a walk-in
clinic near New Orleans that is seeing 400 patients a day —
up from the usual 25 a day. The other two are working to
reconstitute the Ochsner Lung Transplant Outpatient Practice
in a new location. These patients are on powerful immunosuppressive medications and need continuous access to
knowledgeable physicians and nurses.
“Conditions at the walk-in clinic are poor,” adds HansenFlaschen, who remains in regular daily communication with his
group. “There is risk of mosquito-born diseases such as West
Nile, but all are in good spirits.”
HANDS-ON
NURSING CARE
IN BATON ROUGE
After Katrina hit, Kathryn Gallagher was dining with her girlfriends — all of whom,
like her, were nurses. “We kept saying we wished we could help out,” she said,
“so we called the Red Cross to find out about their training sessions.”
On September 17th, with her training completed, Gallagher packed a bag and flew
to Baton Rouge, LA, for assignment to a Red Cross shelter. A surgical critical-care
nurse at HUP, Gallagher will help provide basic first-aid care to shelter patients.
“I expect to be providing wound care to diabetics, making sure that patients have
their prescription medicine, and providing lots of TLC,” she said before departing.
“I’m also happy to do whatever needs to be done.”
During Gallagher’s two-week field-shelter assignment, her colleagues have
arranged to cover for her at work. “We’re all very proud of her, and happy to
pitch in,” said Diane Leichter, Nurse Manager on Rhoads 1.
She got the same reaction at home. “My three children said, ‘Mom, we can
manage — go!’ And my husband, Joe, assured me he could handle things while
I’m away,” said Gallagher. “I think it’s their way of helping.”
Gallagher, who had always wanted to join the Peace Corps, feels that this experience was meant to be. “All the pieces just fell together,” she says. “I’m looking
forward to helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina. After all, you can’t be a
good nurse if you don’t want to help people,” she adds.
The Penn team flanks Benjamin Shein, Esq.(center), one of two sponsors of
their trip. Members of the medical team include (l. to r.) Lorrie Bokelman, RN;
Lisa Douglas, RN; Colin Gillespie, MD; Giora Netzer, MD; Vivek Ahya, MD;
and Daniel Sterman, MD
Kathryn Gallagher packs for her “tour of duty” as daughter Maggie looks on.
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UPHS RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS
BU R G E R S, P I Z Z A , A N D
MANY ACTS OF
KINDNESS
Although Chad Williams has been based at Penn Presbyterian for only about four
months now, he’s already experienced the robust sense of community that
emanates from its many employees. As Retail Manager of ARAMARK’s Food
Services Division at Presby, Williams figured that donations for Katrina victims
could be more easily solicited in the high-traffic area of the hospital’s cafeteria.
“We have well over 1,000 people a day coming through to buy burgers, pizza, and
combination hot-entrees, so why not put an empty bottle near the cash-register
to try and encourage contributions?” he asked.
Presby’s Chad Williams and cashier Florence Speller next to their 10-gallon donation bottle.
T H E A RT
… A N D H E A RT …
OF SCIENTIFIC
COLLABORATION
No sooner had a designated 10-gallon water-cooler bottle been positioned in place
than physicians and staff began dropping in their leftover change … and more.
“The money just started flowing in,” said Williams, “with people putting $5, $10,
and $20 bills in the bottle. In fact, everyone was so eager to help that they were
thanking us for having put the bottle there!”
To date, more than $400 has been raised from Presby’s employees and visitors —
and each of those dollars will be matched by ARAMARK before being turned over
to the American Red Cross. The contributions haven’t slowed down yet, notes
Williams, “and we’ll keep the bottle there as long as the need is there.”
When researcher Valerie Weaver, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology
& Laboratory Medicine, heard from her New Orleans-based colleague that
he had lost everything to Katrina’s fury — his house, his car, his lab —
she told him, “Don’t worry. We’ll find space for you in my lab.”
Her extemporaneous response, she said, was “just the natural thing to
do” — but, after hanging up the phone, she thought, “Uh, oh — I better
figure out how to actually do this!” Weaver then contacted Mark
Tykocinski, MD, Chair of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, and Glen
Gaulton, PhD, Vice Dean for Research & Research Training in the School
of Medicine — both of whom enthusiastically endorsed a plan permitting
Suresh Alahari, PhD, to join Penn as a visiting scientist.
Weaver and her lab team — including students, post-docs, and technicians — set about finding housing for both Alahari and his technician,
Yuemin Ding. They then purchased or donated their own household
supplies (such as coffee-makers and linens) to their new research guests
… and made room in their lab for Alahari’s studies.
“He’s an adhesion guy,” says Weaver of cell-biologist/biochemist
Alarhari, whose work on cell-signaling has focused on tumor invasion and
growth. “We’re quite eager to see how our separate research interests
and paths may intersect to advance our understanding of tumor growth
in cancer,” said Weaver, who is internationally renown for her enterprising
investigations into the molecular basis of force-dependent tissue differentiation and malignant transformation.
On September 12, Alahari took up residence in the Weaver lab. “We’re
already quite excited about some of the ideas we’ve been exploring,”
said Weaver.
P.J. Brennan, MD, meets the press
WO R K I N G W I T H
THE MEDIA
As soon as news reports of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina began
appearing, UPHS physicians were called upon to share their expertise with the
public via interviews with local and national news outlets. Penn specialists
commented on many aspects of Hurricane Katrina — including its immediate
and long-term health effects (both physical and psychological) and the healthcare community’s response to the disaster.
Physicians featured or quoted in various news reports included Vivek Ahya, MD;
Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care; P.J. Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer;
Michael Cirigliano, MD, General Internal Medicine; Edna Foa, PhD,
Psychiatry; Michael Phillips, MD, Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care;
Mark Salzer, PhD, Psychiatry; and Mindy Shuster, MD, Infectious Diseases.
B E YO N D F O O D & S H E LT E R :
HELP FOR THE MIND
As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continued to unfold,
Edna Foa, PhD, knew that she would be able to offer
assistance – both directly and indirectly. As Director of the
Center for the Study & Treatment of Anxiety, Foa leads a
team of ten psychologists at Penn who specialize in the identification and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders.
“Right now, people are in shock and disbelief — and, at
this point, the most important thing for the evacuees is to
make sure they have food and shelter, and that they have the
security of knowing what will happen to them in the next two
or three weeks,” she explains. “But later on, starting in
about six weeks, we’ll need to be prepared to deal with the
more chronic effects of their trauma — which could be
manifested in such symptoms as an inability to sleep, nightmares, and visions of what they saw.”
Foa estimates that 15-20% of Hurricane Katrina victims will
need counseling and treatment for chronic traumatic stress.
To that end, she has offered to share the expertise of her
faculty with local relief-agency officials. “I let them know
that we are available to see and treat patients at our Center,”
she said, “and that we can also train relief workers in how
to identify people who need additional help.”
Edna Foa, PhD
UPHS RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS
3
(L. to r.) Corporate Finances’ Sharon Holmes, Tonya Monroe and Terry Devine
HITTING CLOSE
TO HOME
“We were all just devastated,” recalls 25-year-old Sharon N.
Holmes, about her office’s response to the initial news reports about
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. “We were upset and crying …
and wondering what to do.”
Those tears quickly gave way to decisive action by the Patient
Services Team in Corporate Purchasing (a division of Corporate
Finance). In her typical can-do fashion, Holmes began organizing
a committee of her colleagues to help solicit donations for the
American Red Cross. “We definitely wanted to help the victims —
especially since one of our co-workers is originally from New
Orleans and still has family there,” said Holmes. “That really
made it hit close to home for us.”
‘ADOPTING’
SIX FAMILIES
As Pennsylvania Hospital began gearing-up for its annual Day of Caring to
provide assistance to community residents, the idea of helping the victims
of Katrina was never far from people’s minds. “So we decided to combine
the two — and help evacuees who had found their way to our community,”
said Japreet Kaur, the hospital’s Administrative Fellow.
It didn’t take the hospital long to find such neighbors in need. Food &
Nutrition worker Altrucia Jones knew of six families who had escaped to
Philadelphia and found safe haven at the Bible Way Baptist Church, in
West Philadelphia. “Once we learned from the church leadership that they
were going to ‘adopt’ the families for about six months, we knew we
wanted to help,” said Kaur.
A few phones calls later, Kaur had received a list of items most needed by
the families — including clothes, shoes, sheets and pillows, toiletries, and
telephone calling-cards so they could keep in touch with other relatives.
Kaur then helped organize the placement of bins throughout the hospital to
collect the needed items for the recently displaced families.
“We’ll continue collecting through September 30th,” she said. “With this
community initiative, the physicians and staff of Pennsylvania Hospital will
be able to reach deep into their hearts to help six very brave families —
who now call Philadelphia home.”
FUND
ESTABLISHED
to Help Hospital Workers
in Gulf Region
Hospital workers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Alabama suffered devastating losses from Hurricane
Katrina – some lost everything, yet they continued
caring for their patients and neighbors.
Now we have an opportunity to help them. The Care
Fund, established by the hospital associations in
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, will assist
hospital staff and their families rebuild their lives.
To get the word out, Holmes used her computer to print some
flyers, and also hastily made some collection jars. Then a supervisor
came up with the idea of giving hot pretzels to employees who
contributed at least $5.
The group raised $1,254 in just a few days …and they plan to raise
more. “The jars are still out!” exclaims Holmes.
N E O N ATA L
NURSING
“One of our greatest concerns was for our fellow nurses who were still
working in the areas hit by Katrina,” said Ann Phalen, PhD, Clinical Nurse
Specialist in HUP’s Intensive Care Nursery. “We kept seeing TV images
of them having to hand-ventilate patients — can you imagine having
to hand-ventilate patients for up to 24 to 36 hours straight?” [Handventilating requires the continuous manual operation of an airbag in
order to maintain the flow of life-saving oxygen into a patient’s lungs.]
According to Phalen, when the ICN first got the call from UPHS
Administration to send volunteer nurses to help triage evacuees expected
to arrive later that day at Philadelphia International Airport, the response
was so overwhelming that they had to quickly organize a lottery system
to select the nurse (Kristy Kennedy) who would be permitted to go.
Many others on the unit — Kate Pocius, Sandy Rodgers, Sunny
Bernardo and Molly DeCock — volunteered portions of their weekends
and days-off to assist in any way needed.
On Tuesday night, September 15, the Health System’s ICN nurses joined
approximately 45 of their colleagues from throughout the Delaware Valley
to celebrate National Neonatal Nurses Day. For this year’s event, the
group met at a local Italian restaurant, and each neonatal nurse was asked
to provide either a financial contribution or donation of infant-related
items, such as diapers, blankets or baby formula. “We viewed this as
another opportunity to contribute what we could, and turned our donations over to the local chapter of the American Red Cross,” said Phalen.
Individual donations are tax-deductible and management costs are being donated so that 100% of your
contribution goes to those in need.
At this time, the fund is only able to take donations
by check – which should be made payable to
The Care Fund, and mailed to:
The Care Fund
P.O. Box 11407
Birmingham, AL 35246-1288
A process for online donations is being developed.
System News Special Issue
Senior Vice President for Public Affairs & Chief of Staff:
Susan E. Phillips
Editor Sally Sapega, M.A.
Writer Rebecca Harmon
Graphic Designer Lisa Paxson
Photographers Dan Burke, Nicole Gaddis and Bridget Donaghue
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UPHS RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS
(L. to r.): Valerie Shaw, ICN Nurse Manager; Ann Phalen; Patti Clifford of ICN; and
Corinne Lynyak and Ann Schwoebel, both from Pennsylvania Hospital.