St. John Medical Center - The Villager Newspaper Online

ST. JOHN MEDICAL CENTER
March / April 2010
Volume 5 Issue 1
A Conversation With SJMC Hospital President Cliff J. Coker....
St. John Medical Center:
The Future is Brighter Than Ever
According to St. John Medical
Center’s (SJMC) President, the organization is on the move.
With a new name, renewed vision
and major investments in the planning
stages, Coker embraces the days ahead
with enthusiasm and agrees that the
hospital’s future is brighter than ever.
St. John West Shore Hospital became St. John Medical Center two
months ago in a partnership realignment
between University Hospitals (UH) and
The Sisters of Charity Health System
(SCHS). The new identity means St.
John Medical Center is ready to take
things to another level. While the hospital still remains co-owned by the Sisters
of Charity Health System and University Hospitals, University Hospitals now
manages the hospital and is responsible
for strategic planning and investments
as well as working more closely to align
the hospital with UH’s centers of excellence and institutes, including its nationally ranked UH Case Medical Center;
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital; UH Ireland Cancer Center, and
other UH medical centers throughout
Cleveland’s western suburbs.
“We have had a platform, we have
POINTS
Cliff J. Coker, SJMC President
delivered on it and now we have an exciting future,” said Coker. In fact, last year
SJMC blossomed in terms of clinical care,
quality awards and profitability. “While
we had tremendous success last year, we
Continued on page 6
Andrea Patrick:
Where Duty Calls
St. John Medical Center (SJMC) Occupational Therapist Andrea Patrick is ready
when duty calls!
A 12-year member of the SJMC Rehabilitation Services team, Andrea just returned from her second tour of duty in Iraq.
An Army Captain, Patrick enlisted in the Reserves several years ago in an effort to maximize her ability to make professional contributions to the world around her.
“Everyone comes to a point in life when
they want to do more,” said Patrick. “I have
a friend who joined the Navy and who is now
serving. I joined the Army so I could do more
with my profession and help others.”
As an Occupational Therapist, Patrick,
(OTRL) Occupational Therapist Registered
Licensed, (MHS)Mental Health Specialist,
assists people in finding the balance they need
through work, play and rest to live well. “Finding that balance helps all of us,” said Patrick.
“Without balance, you will have issues.”
An occupational therapist treats individuals to perform all types of activities,
from using a computer to caring for daily
needs such as dressing, cooking, and eating. These type of disabilities can result from a
stroke, accident or the aging process. There are some occupational therapists, like Patrick,
who also treat a person’s mental well being to assist with learning to better cope with
Continued on page 7
SJMC Birthing Center is a Hit With the Hafners
Page 2
St. John Medical Center Receives Local
and National Recognitions
Page 2
Festival of the Arts to Celebrate 18th Anniversary
More than 30,000 Expected at July Event
Page 4
New Name Positions St. John Medical Center for Future
Page 4
St. John Medical Center’s ‘Top Chef’
Fund-Raiser is June 25
Page 5
Mae Chandler
Honored for Years of Service!
Page 6
Medical Milestone
Spinal Cord Stimulator Relieves Westlake Man’s
Post-Surgical Chest Pain
Page 6
Roy Seitz, M.D.:
Another Military Tour
As Director of the St. John Medical Center Emergency Department, Roy
Seitz, M.D. works on the front line of
health care every day.
Going to war was not high on Dr.
Seitz’s to-do list when the United States
was attacked in 2001. After all, at the
time he was fully involved raising six
children with his wife, Judy, and spear-
heading a multimillion dollar renovation of St. John Medical Center’s Emergency Department.
That all changed with September
11th. “My wife and I decided 48 hours
after the attack on the World Trade Center, that it was incumbent for us to do
something supportive and active for our
Continued on page 7
Page 2
March / April 2010
SJMC Birthing Center is a Hit With the Hafners
The Birthing Center at St. John Medical Center is
getting a major-league endorsement from one new mother.
Amy Hafner and her husband, Cleveland Indians’ slugger Travis Hafner, welcomed the birth of their first child,
Blake Lee Hafner, on October 14, 2009. Amy is still talking about the natural birthing experience that changed
her life. She credits her terrific experience to St. John
Medical Center and the guidance she received every step
of the way - from pregnancy, to birth and postpartum care.
“I had a great doula (Rebecca “Rae” Schmidt) who
knew that I wanted a natural childbirth,” says Amy. A
doula provides physical and emotional support beginning
with prenatal care. Rebecca referred her to Colleen
Brezine, CNM, MSN, Administrative Director of Nurse
Midwifery at St. John Medical Center who specializes in
water births and natural childbirth.
“We are advocates for women,” says Brezine, “empowering them to make informed decisions about their health
and the health of their child. Our aim is to help women
achieve a positive pregnancy and a truly fulfilling birth experience.” Brezine is supportive of women’s birthing decisions, whether it is natural childbirth, an epidural, narcotic
pain management or water birth.
Amy was glad to have found Colleen. “She’s great,”
she says, “Colleen definitely inspired me to go with natural childbirth.” Since Amy was interested in water
birthing, she enrolled in a hospital-sponsored water
birthing class and took a tour of the hospital’s new Holistic Birthing Center. “I saw the Center’s state-of-the-art
room, and I liked it very much. I immediately knew this
was the place I would have my baby.”
Housed within the Hospital’s Nursery and Family
Birthing Suites, the Holistic Birthing Center at St. John
Medical Center opened its door in 2009, and provides a
unique environment that closes the wide gap found between home birthing and traditional hospital birthing
suites. The Center is designed for healthy, low-risk mothers and healthy babies and is linked to an acute care hospital to ensure a mother or baby can get the right care
needed if a complication develops.
Labor began for Amy during the morning of October 13. “The first 10-12 hours weren’t so bad,” says Amy.
Then doctors became concerned about the baby’s heart
rate, so Amy opted out of the water birth and transferred
to another area in the Center to continue with the natural
childbirth experience. At about 10 a.m. Amy began pushing, something she would continue for nearly two hours.
“I can’t tell you how reassuring it is for a first-time
mother to be surrounded by happy, smiling faces. I kept asking over and over, ‘Is
everything OK?’And they would respond
with a smile and a simple, ‘it’s OK, Amy.’
There must have been about 10 people
in the room at the end,” she says. “That
includes Travis, Colleen, the nurses and
doctors. I remember Dr. (Jeffrey) Christian (OB-GYN with West Shore
Women’s Health Associates) shouting
out, ‘One last push, Amy.’ They were all
urging me on. They were terrific.”
At 12:44 p.m. Blake Lee Hafner
was born at nine pounds, six ounces. “It
was an amazing, life-changing experience,” says Amy. “Colleen had faith in
me and supported me at every step along
the way and so did everyone at the St.
John Medical Center Birthing Center.”
Blake’s birth gives Amy bragging
rights among the Indians’ wives for the
2010 season. “There’s a ton of babies
on this team,” says Amy, “and the joke
is always to see who is going to have
the year’s largest baby. Well, I won that
prize by one-and-a-half pounds!”
To help with her new baby, Amy
hired a postpartum doula, Lisa Waryck,
who also teaches the birthing and new
photo by David Cartee www.lcdphotography.com
moms classes at St. John Medical Center. “She taught me everything from swaddling to giving
each year. Amy also participates with Travis in a proBlake a bath,” says Amy. “Doulas – both birth and postgram called “Pronk’s Peeps” reaching out to more than
partum – are an amazing help to a new family.” She also
550 kids in 14 area schools by promoting positive attigives credit to her lactation nurse, Deb Hernlund, L.P.N.
tudes, behaviors and lifestyles. They are also involved in
Amy still found the first six weeks after Blake was born
the “Youth of the Year” program, which recognizes three
to be difficult, but she was glad to have Travis around. “Thank
Boys & Girls Club members who excel in academics while
God we had this baby in the off-season,” she says. “I was
overcoming difficult life circumstances.
tired and trying to get a handle on nursing the baby. Travis is
Amy and Travis look forward to spring training and
such a big help. He even changes diapers, although somereuniting with the team. “We’re all very close. We’re
times not quite fast enough.” Amy truly began enjoying belike a family,” says Amy.
ing a mother after about six weeks. “I got that first smile
Residents of Avon Lake, the Hafners are one of a
from Blake, says Amy. “That made it all worthwhile.”
handful of Indians’ couples that make their home in
Amy recently returned to her role as a spokesperson
Greater Cleveland year-round. “We love it here,” says
for the Animal Protective League (APL), a “meaningful
Amy, a graduate of Westlake High School. “We love the
opportunity” that she sought after her marriage to Travis
people. We want to make this our home forever.”
in November 2006. Amy can often be seen on television
For more information on St. John Medical Center’s
with an adoptable dog, and she and Travis raise awareFamily Birthing Suites and Holistic Birthing Center,
ness by hosting the APL at the ballpark during one game
please call 1-877-597-6348.
St. John Medical Center
Receives Local and National Recognitions
St. John Medical Center, a Catholic
Hospital that is co-owned by University
Hospitals and Sisters of Charity Health
System, continues to garner local and national recognition for the quality of care
that it provides to our community, including a ranking as one of the nation’s top
community hospitals.
The March/April issue of Becker’s
Hospital Review names St. John Medical
Center as one of the 20 best community
hospitals in America. The list was determined by using scores from publicly
available indicators, including patient
safety, outcome and satisfaction, and by
rankings on industry lists, including those
by Thomson Reuters, US News & World
Report and HealthGrades. Community
hospitals were defined as having 325 or
fewer beds with no or limited teaching
programs.
In recognizing St. John Medical Center among the 20 best community hospitals, Becker’s cited St. John Medical
Center’s recent award for the Top 100
ICUs in the nation from Thomson
Reuters, its listing to the 50 Best Hospi-
tals in America by HealthGrades; receipt
of the Distinguished Hospital Award for
Clinical Excellence and Patient Safety
Excellence Award from HealthGrades;
Excellence in Stroke and Pulmonary Care
Award from HealthGrades; and its Level
III Trauma Center and Commission on
Cancer-approved community hospital
program.
“We are extremely proud of these
recognitions,” says Cliff Coker, St. John
Medical Center President. “These
rankings reinforce the great work of our
medical staff and employees in positioning St. John Medical Center among the
best community hospitals in the country.”
Another recognition comes to St.
John Medical Center from the Ohio Department of Aging, which lists the
hospital’s Skilled Nursing Unit among the
state’s top 10 of 955 nursing homes surveyed for resident satisfaction. St. John
Medical Center received a score of 96.42
for resident satisfaction. The average
nursing home satisfaction score statewide
was 85.85.
The survey was conducted between
August 2009 and January 2010 by an independent research firm that conducted
the survey face-to-face with a sampling
of residents at each facility. Residents
were asked to rate their satisfaction with
the facility’s environment, activities, administration, direct care/nursing assistants, laundry, meals and dining, social
services, therapy, laundry and general
satisfaction with the facility. “The staff
of our Skilled Nursing Unit can be proud
that their service and care is perceived so
favorably by the residents that they
serve,” says Coker.
The recent recognitions come on the
heels of several honors St. John Medical
Center has received for the care provided
to its cardiovascular patients.
St. John Medical Center is one of
only 120 hospitals nationwide to receive
the American College of Cardiology
Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry
- GWTG Gold Performance Achievement
Award. The award honors St. John Medical Center’s commitment to and success
in implementing a higher standard of care
for heart attack patients. The adherence
to guidelines set forth by the NCDR is a
critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients.
According to the NCDR, this will become
even more important during the next decade as the incidence of heart disease is
expected to grow.
The second cardiovascular recognition is the 2009 Thomson Reuters 100
Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks Award for patients with heart failure and heart attack. According to
Thomson Reuters, St. John Medical Center provides the community with extraordinary value and access to national benchmark-level cardiovascular services in superior clinical outcomes, managerial excellence, high procedure volume, great efficiency and significantly lower readmission rates.
“These recognitions demonstrate an
ongoing commitment to excellence in cardiac care and our superiority in quality
and positive outcomes,” says Coker.
“These awards reinforce our excellence
in cardiovascular care and positions the
hospital as a leader in this area.”
Page 3 - Pulse - March / April 2010
Page 4
March / April 2010
Festival of the Arts to Celebrate 18th Anniversary
More than 30,000 Expected at July Event
The St. John Medical Center’s (SJMC) 2010 Festival
of the Arts weekend will bring more than 200 fine artists
and craft persons from across the country to the Westlake
hospital’s campus.
Celebrating its 18th year, the Festival is scheduled the
weekend of July 9 – 11, with hours of 3 to 9 p.m. on Friday,
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Sunday. With up to 30,000 people expected over the threeday Festival, organizers have ensured that ample parking
will be available adjacent to the event. In addition, a free
shuttle bus will be available on Saturday to drop off and
pick up Festival goers at the Church on the Rise, located
directly across from the hospital on Crocker Road.
“In response to the great crowds, we have extended
the Festival’s Friday hours to 3 to 9 p.m.,” says Cliff
Coker, SJMC President. “It’s amazing how the event has
grown over the years.”
As in the past, admission to the Festival is free with
a $3 parking fee. Visitors also are encouraged to bring
nonperishable food items to bins located at the Festival’s
entrances to be donated to local food banks.
Situated along a one-half-mile walking track, a diverse representation of mixed media will include jewelry, wearable art, stained glass, basketry, ceramics, watercolors, oils, photography and more. The Festival of
the Arts is a juried show and prize money is awarded to
winners in several categories.
The 2010 Festival of the Arts also will feature live
musical entertainment daily, food court and family fun. In
addition, St. John Medical Center’s Community Outreach
program will offer free health screenings from 10:30 a.m.
to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The free screenings
will include blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose.
“Several hundred area residents attended the Mass last year.”
This year’s mass will be at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 11.
“The St. John Medical Center campus is the perfect
location to host this type of venue,” says Coker of the Festival. “The event would not be possible without the tremendous support received by our sponsors, the community-at-large and the wonderful artists. We thank all of them
for their ongoing support.”
The Festival of the Arts is easily accessible via two
major highways (I-90 and I-480). St. John Medical Center
is located at 29000 Center Ridge Road in Westlake (20
minutes west of downtown Cleveland). Directions to the
Festival, as well as additional information, can be found at
www.stjohnmedicalcenter.net.
New this year will be live entertainment under a large
tent featuring the musical group Soul’d OUT from 6 to 9
p.m. Friday. Soul’d OUT is an eight-piece musical ensemble specializing in the great dance music of the 60s,
70s and 80s. They will perform a mixture of R&B, Motown
and Top 40 hits. Founded in 2002, the band has wowed
audiences from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and throughout the
Midwest. The concert is free, and a cash bar (beer and
wine only) will be available.
“Concert attendees can dance the night away or just
sit back and enjoy the music with family and friends,” says
Coker. Net proceeds from the Friday evening event will
benefit the Medical Center’s Community Outreach and
Wellness Ministry programs.
Also new this year will be the participation of Radio
Disney on Saturday and Sunday. (Check the weekend list
of activities for Radio Disney times.)
Attendees feeling lucky can take a chance on the
WDOK Fifth Third Bank Mega Money Machine on Saturday and Sunday. Everyone is a guaranteed winner and
someone could win the grand prize of $102,000.
The Life Share Community Blood Services also will
be at the Festival for those wishing to donate blood.
“As a Catholic Hospital, we have made it a tradition to
offer a public Outdoor Mass at the Festival,” says Coker.
New Name Positions St. John Medical Center for Future
St. John West Shore Hospital is now St. John Medical Center, a name change that
reflects the hospitals’ growth and its new arrangement between the Sisters of Charity
Health System (SCHS) and University Hospitals (UH).
“We are growing in the depth and breadth of the services that we provide to our community
and beyond,” says Cliff J. Coker, President of St. John Medical Center. “The words ‘medical
center’ better reflect the comprehensive services that we offer now and in the future.”
The new name and logo were recently introduced to employees, staff and the community.
“Our identity as a Catholic Hospital is represented in the new logo and name. It
reinforces our commitment as a faith-based hospital,” says Mr. Coker. “As we move
forward with a new identity, we will have a renewed commitment to the community and
the opportunity to build upon our strengths and successes to better meet the needs of
those we serve.”
Revisions are already under way to signs at the medical center and its off-site facilities.
Changes to other applications – such as stationery, printed materials, and ID badges –
will be phased in with new brand identity guidelines.
Other changes taking place at St. John Medical Center reflect its recent agreement
with University Hospitals in which each organization will make equal investments in the
strategic expansion and growth of SJMC totaling up to $100 million over five years. As
part of that agreement, UH will manage SJMC and will more closely align the hospital
with UH’s centers of excellence and institutes, including its nationally ranked UH Case
Medical Center; UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital; UH Ireland Cancer Center,
and other UH medical centers throughout Cleveland’s western suburbs.
As the manager, UH will be responsible for the strategic planning and investment to
ensure that the initiatives enhance the quality of services provided at SJMC.
Some of these investments are already under way, as evidenced by the agreement to
purchase two state-of-the-art, full-field digital mammography machines for breast cancer
screening. The new technology offers significant benefits for doctors and patients,
including greater patient comfort, faster review of images, and equal or better images
than film mammograms.
“We all support the vision to further strengthen the position of St. John Medical
Center as the premier health care provider on the West Side,” says Mr. Coker.
New Logo for St. John Medical Center
St. John Medical Center’s new name and logo incorporates the strength of the Sisters
of Charity Health System and University Hospitals. Visually, it puts St. John Medical
Center as the focal point supported equally by both health systems.
Page 5
March / April 2010
Fund-Raiser is June 25
St. John Medical Center Announces ‘Top Chefs’
St. John Medical Center has finalized its lineup of renowned local chefs who will
compete in the 2010 St. John Medical Center Top Chef competition. The second annual
fund-raiser will take place on the hospital’s Westlake campus on Friday evening, June 25.
“Last year’s first-ever Top Chef was one of the top fund-raisers in Northeast Ohio, and
we look forward to raising the bar again this year,” says Cliff J. Coker, St. John Medical
Center President. “We are excited about the culinary skills of our participating chefs.”
The Top Chef event tests the versatility and inventiveness of four of Northeast Ohio’s
top chefs, each of who will be asked to prepare an appetizer and entrée for competition.
Four large video screens will be suspended from the ceiling to allow audience members
to see all of the action. A team of three professional judges will select the evening’s Top
Chef, who will take home a $2,500 prize. Attendees get to choose the People’s Choice
award-winner, which has a
$1,000 prize.
The competition will be
once again be hosted by Ted
Allen, host of several television
series, including the hit series
“Chopped”
and
“Food
Detectives” on the Food
Network. He also has hosted
“Uncorked:
Wine Made
Simple” on PBS, which is now
available on DVD, and has
appeared as a frequent guest
judge on Food Network’s “Iron
Chef America and Bravo’s “Top
Chef””
Allen also will serve as the
competition’s judge with Al “Bubba” Baker, executive chef and owner of Bubba’s Q World
Famous Bar-B-Q in Avon, and Brandt Evans, chef of Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern in
Twinsburg and winner of the 2009 Top Chefs’ competition.
Baker is a former NFL player who participated in three Pro Bowls in his 12-year
career. His Bubba’s Q restaurant has consistently been recognized with “Best Barbecue”
and “Best Restaurant” awards from local publications in recent years.
Evans is nationally recognized as a creative and innovative chef, and is well published
in magazines, newspapers and trade journals, and has
appeared on television’s Food Network.
The outstanding local chefs who will compete in
the 2010 St. John Medical Center Top Chef event are:
Jonathan Bennett, executive chef and
partner of award-winning Moxie, the
Restaurant, and Red, the Steakhouse, both in
Beachwood. Bennett has created his personal,
unique culinary style integrating the flavors of
his past to formulate a mélange of flavors he
defines as American Bistro cuisine. A graduate
of the Culinary Institute of America and a native
of North Carolina, Bennett has served as sous
chef in the prestigious kitchens of The
Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia; Plaza 600 in
Cincinnati, and Classics in Cleveland.
Jonathon Sawyer, chef and owner of the Greenhouse Tavern in downtown
Cleveland, operates the first certified green restaurant in Ohio. His restaurant
offers French-inspired dishes using local and sustainable ingredients with the belief
that the proximity of farm and soil directly correlate to its quality. The Greenhouse
Tavern was recently named one of the Top Ten Best New Restaurants by Bon
Appétit
Magazine.
A
graduate of the Pennsylvania
Institute of Culinary Arts,
Sawyer has worked at
Miami’s Biltmore Hotel, New
York City’s Prea, Michael
Symon’s Lolita, and at Ohio
City’s Bar Centro. He has
appeared on The Food
Network’s Dinner Impossible
and Iron Chef America.
Ellis Cooley, executive
chef of AMP 150, in the
Airport Marriott. With his
simple, straightforward and
ingredient-driven culinary
style, Cooley combines a
passion for cooking and over
10 years spent working in
some of the world’s top
restaurants in South Florida,
Spain, France, Austria and
New York City. He was
recruited to Cleveland to
create AMP 150, which offers
local, seasonal, and high quality ingredients to a menu that is rotated during the
course of the year. He jumped at the opportunity to create a farm-to-table
restaurant here. “What better place than Cleveland to work along side so many
up and coming chefs and practically be surrounded by farms,” he says.
Regan Reik, executive chef at Pier W in Lakewood. Reik is a veteran of worldclass dining. He works daily to present Pier W customers with contemporary and
creative American dishes derived from sustainable and often local sources. As
an intern at New York’s esteemed Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Reik gained
an affinity for using the best quality ingredients
to create impeccable courses. This experience
became the cornerstone of his approach to
cooking. Previous to Pier W, Reik was executive
sous chef of The Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn,
Michigan, and spent time at other Ritz-Carlton
locations, including the Century Restaurant at
the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland.
Be a part of Cleveland history and find out
who will “pack their knives” and who will be crowned
the St. John Medical Center Top Chef on Friday, June
25. Doors will open 6:30 p.m., with the competition
beginning at 7 p.m. Dress is casual. A limited number
of tickets are available at $150 each, or $200 each for
collector tickets with your name listed in the event
program. Tickets and sponsorship information are
available at www.stjohnmedicalcenter.net, or by
calling Freda at 440-827-5002.
Proceeds from Top Chef will benefit the Community Outreach and Wellness Ministry
Programs of St. John Medical Center. These programs promote health and wellness in the
community through numerous health screenings, seminars, support groups, childbirth education
classes, women’s services programs and community education at little or no cost.
Here Come the Judges!
Ted Allen
Guest Host and Judge
Emmy Award winner Ted
Allen is host of Food Detectives, a primetime series on
Food Network. Ted has
been a judge on every
season of Bravo’s Top Chef
and Food Network’s Iron
Chef America. He is host of
the PBS series Uncorked:
Wine Made Simple and
the Food Networks smashhit Chopped. He also authored a cookbook, The
Food You Want to Eat: 100
Smart, Simple Recipes.
Photo by Jason Friedman
Al “Bubba” Baker
Guest Judge
One of Cleveland’s alltime favorite sports figures,
Al “Bubba” Baker is Executive Chef of Bubba’s Q
World Famous Bar-B-Q
Restaurant and Catering
in Avon, which he owns
and operates with his family. Bubba’s Q has received “Best Barbecue”
and “Best Restaurant”
awards from Cleveland
Magazine, as well as the
“Silver Spoon Award” for
four consecutive years.
Brandt Evans
Guest Judge
Winner of the 2009 Top
Chef competition, Chef
Brandt Evans of Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern returns this year as a judge.
Evans believes in food
that’s fresh, fun and bursting with flavor. Nationally
recognized as a creative
and innovative Chef,
Brandt is well published in
magazines, newspapers
and trade journals, and
has appeared on the TV
Food Network.
Page 6
March / April 2010
A Conversation With SJMC Hospital President Cliff J. Coker....
Continued from page 1
St. John Medical Center:
The Future is Brighter Than Ever
never lost sight of our mission and the
outstanding quality of care we provide
everyday to our patients.”
Coker agrees with others that being a
top performing hospital is a wonderful position to be in. And the accolades keep rolling in. The hospital was recently recognized
as one of the top performing hospitals in
America by an independent healthcare rating company and its cardiovascular services
were recognized on national levels for quality and positive outcomes. The magazine
Inside Business also acknowledged the hospital with its NEO Success Award for profitability and employee growth.
Another strength of St. John Medical
Center can be found in its spirit of compassion that treats patients in a caring environment with emphasis on the staff to
connect with every patient, every time.
Coker points out another differential
factor for St. John Medical Center is its
adherence to its Catholic identity that is
inherited from the Sisters of Charity
Health System.
“Our mission and our culture remains
deeply rooted in our Catholic identity,” he
said. “The spirituality of the organization
is our culture. You don’t want to run the
risk of losing that. It is our birthright and
the DNA of the organization.”
That birthright comes to life through
programs like The Guardian Angels.
The Guardian Angels Program is a
unique outreach effort where nonclinical
employees can oversee the patient care
experience. They emotionally relate to the
patient and increase patient satisfaction
through bedside visits and interpersonal
connection.
“By living our brand in this way, we
have a far greater number of people who
leave this hospital as advocates for us,”
said Coker. “Patients are sharing their
great experiences with family, friends and
neighbors.”
The Guardian Angels, in turn, report
improved morale. “Some even get emotional because it is about life experiences,
giving back and going the extra mile,”
said Coker. “There may be an employee
who works in supplies, but today he/she
can give back directly to a patient. So, it
is the Guardian Angels, too, who are coming back and saying they are blessed by
Mae Chandler
Honored for Years of Service!
The entire staff of St. John
Medical Center recently
wished Mae Chandler a heartfelt congratulations for being
a dedicated, valued volunteer
and friend since 1981. That
was the same year the Hospital opened its doors to the community.
A career RN, at age 97, Mae
is going strong and last week
earned recognition from her associates with a letter of commendation from hospital President
Cliff J. Coker and a special gift
from her fellow volunteers and
friends.
“Mae has made over 1500
baby hats for newborns and at
least 600 heart pillows for cardiac patients,” said Penny
Evans, manager of SJMC Volunteer Services.
Penny agrees with the rest
of SJMC volunteers that words
cannot adequately express the appreciation felt for Mae’s length of time and
giving spirit. “Mae has given so much
of herself in service to others,” says
Evans. “If there is inclement weather,
Mae is there ready for work,” adds
Evans.
Many people have come in contact
with Mae through the years, especially
because of her role as a Gift Shop
worker. She is well known for wearing
distinctive buttons on her jackets – many
of them memorabilia from her family
and grandfather from long-ago wars.
“We are just so fortunate and
grateful to have her and call her our
own,” says Hospital President Cliff J.
Coker. “Her smiling face and welcom-
ing spirit serve as a testament to her
compassion and passion for St. John
Medical Center.”
Mae is amazed that she has been
with the Hospital since 1981. “I have
met so many nice people many of whom
I still call my friends,” said Mae. “I really believe that SJMC has made a difference in the community, and I am so
pleased and proud of my association
with this wonderful organization.”
A 1934 graduate of Fairview High
School, Mae served as a nurse at Akron City and Metro General Hospitals
until she retired at age 62. Since that
time, she has been a volunteer at St.
John Medical Center and continues to
touch the lives of many.
this program.”
As part of the new agreement announced earlier this year, both SCHS and
UH will make equal investments in the
strategic expansion and growth of St. John
Medical Center totaling up to $100 million over five years. “With the infusion
of monies, the hospital is gearing up for
several major investments that will bring
clinical excellence, modernization and
critical services,” said Coker.
Recently, the medical center’s joint
venture board approved investment in two
state-of-the-art, full-field digital mammography machines for breast cancer screening. Digital mammography presents a number of benefits for the doctors, the hospital,
and most importantly, the patients. The new
technology conforms to the natural contour
of the breast providing greater comfort for
the patient. In general, digital mammograms
are as good as film mammograms for diagnosing cancer, but significantly better for
three groups of women:
• Women under age 50 (regardless
of breast tissue density)
• Women with heterogeneously dense
or extremely dense breast tissue (approxi-
mately 40 percent of patients)
• Premenopausal women and
perimenopausal women (women who had
a last menstrual period within 12 months
of their mammograms)
“We are very proud of this new technology and upgrades, but it is truly the
employees, nurses, volunteers and doctors
here who have really rallied to step up to
the challenges. They have that burning
desire to achieve and don’t want to settle
on being just good, but want to move that
needle to being great,” said Coker. “At the
end of the day it is personally touching
people that creates your image and brings
gratification to the people and community
for whom we want to do so well.”
We are fortunate to have St. John
Medical Center as an active member of
our West Shore community. Next year, the
hospital will celebrate 30 years of serving
the community. The professionals at St.
John Medical Center understand that the
best health care takes a balance of both
high-tech and high-touch advantages. That
winning combination will take the hospital to new levels of success and holds the
promise of an even brighter future.
Medical Milestone
Spinal Cord Stimulator Relieves
Westlake Man’s Post-Surgical Chest Pain
Bruce Hamilton was in
trouble. “I couldn’t function with
my pain and medications. I was
on a fast train to nowhere,” said
the Westlake rough condition
mowing contractor.
Bruce’s problems began
nearly two years ago with
chronic chest pain and two minor heart attacks. A quadruple
bypass and stent cleared his arteries, but his debilitating chest
pain would return within weeks
of the procedures.
The turning point came
when Abdullah Kabbara, M.D.,
board certified in anesthesiology and pain management, visited Bruce in the ICU during one
of his return visits.
Dr. Kabbara suggested a
spinal cord stimulator (SCS), a
small, battery-powered device
surgically placed under the skin
that sends a mild electric current
to the spinal cord. By interrupting pain with a tingling sensation, the device has been successful in returning some patients to an active lifestyle. Al- Abdullah Kabbara, M.D. and Bruce Hamilton
though SCS is rarely used in the United States to treat chest pain, after a oneweek trial, Bruce confirmed that the stimulator could interrupt the pain in his
chest. Bruce’s spinal cord stimulator was permanently implanted last July.
“Spinal cord stimulation is a tool that can be used for a significant part of
the population who suffer from angina,” says Dr. Kabbara, who has several
years of SCS training.
“It works,” said Bruce, who has had no more trips to the hospital and is free
of pain medication. “Dr. Kabbara has given me my life back.”
For more information on St. John Medical Center’s Pain Management Program, please call 440-827-5058.
Page 7
March / April 2010
Dr. Roy Seitz: Another Military Tour
Continued from page 1
country,” reports Dr. Seitz.
Dr. Seitz offered his services to the U.S. Navy. He
was commissioned and deployed to Kuwait to support
army camps already in place just outside the Iraqi border. He served for a year through October 2005.
Now promoted to Commander, Dr. Seitz is leaving again. His unit, the Headquarters & Service Company, 25th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion, of Brook
Park, will leave for Afghanistan after a training session in California in April.
Once again, Dr. Seitz is ready to serve. A native of
Cleveland’s West Side, Dr. Seitz grew up in North
Olmsted and attended St. Edward High School. He matriculated to Notre Dame and medical school in Cincinnati. Dr. Seitz will turn 58 years old this May.
“I have been practicing emergency medicine for
more than 25 years and find it as interesting and challenging as the first day I tried it out,” said Dr. Seitz.
“Originally, I had my eye on either family practice or
neurosurgery, but found emergency medicine to be the
most challenging and the most global of all medicine—
from trauma to deliveries and everything in between!”
Camp Life
An experienced emergency room physician, Dr. Seitz
had no previous military involvement prior to this first
deployment. He quickly synchronized with life in Kuwait near the Iraq front. “Living conditions were better
than I expected—mostly indoor berthing and good medical equipment. The extreme heat, sandstorms, isolation
and, at times, boredom and loneliness were the biggest
Continued from page 1
challenges most of us faced. We were deployed for 9 to
10 months, and although communication by telephone
or e-mail was always present to some degree, the sense
of homesickness was overwhelming,” he recalls.
Many of Dr. Seitz’s duties included taking care of
military training injuries and he, along with his team,
treated many medical emergencies like chest pain, psychological problems, appendectomies, and pneumonia. “We routinely flew unstable patients to our main
hospital in southern Kuwait,” adds Dr. Seitz.
The camp was busy with troop transports in and
out of Iraq. Many of the soldiers endured 18-hour days
for 10 to 12 days in a row without a break. “They obviously worked in the same heat we did, with 50 to
100 pounds of gear, riding in non-air-conditioned
Humvees into combat zones full of roadside bombs
and insurgents. This led to a high amount of heat exhaustion, dehydration and stress,” said Dr. Seitz. “Despite all that, morale was unbelievably high, and most
of the soldiers and Marines were glad to get back to
work after treatment.”
Program Development
Dr. Seitz actively used his periods of “downtime”
to offer courses in ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), BLS (Basic Life Support), and PALS (Pediatric
Advanced Life Support). Several hundred medics and
corpsmen attained or renewed their AHA (American
Heart Association) course credentials.
“Because of the incredibly generous help of regional manager in Ohio, Joe Laskowski, as well as several other physicians and nurses from my hospital back
home, we were able to assemble enough equipment
and books to teach courses,” said Dr. Seitz.
Teaching in tents and trailers within yards of the
border, U.S. Embassy personnel also took part in the
training. It was not uncommon to see a cache of weapons stacked along classroom walls. “We also trained
the Medevac crews that flew the Black Hawks transporting ill and injured patients to our main hospital,”
said Dr. Seitz.
After completing several courses, Dr. Seitz added
instructor classes. “Overall, we issued approximately
350 cards and processed about 40 new instructors,”
said Dr. Seitz. “We worked to keep up morale and provide an education incentive for medical people to advance their knowledge and careers.”
Looking Ahead
Dr. Seitz will obviously miss his family and colleagues when he is gone. He is grateful to see St. John
Medical Center’s Emergency Department moving forward. “At the hospital’s Emergency Department we
are experiencing a steady growth in both cardiac and
trauma care and now have a vigorous stroke program,”
said Dr. Seitz. St. John Medical Center’s Emergency
Department is one of only a few community hospitals
in the area to boast a Level III Trauma Center, Primary Stroke Center and Chest Pain Center.
“These are great achievements for the hospital and
the community,” said Dr. Seitz. “I am pleased to be at
St. John Medical Center since I spent most of my life
growing up in North Olmsted. Coming back to this
area, from Cincinnati, was a long-time goal of mine.”
Andrea Patrick: Where Duty Calls
daily life and stress-related disorders.
The combat situation heightens the stress most people normally feel
in day-to-day living right here at home.
“It helps to understand that the feelings you have are normal reactions to difficult situations,” said Patrick. “That happens all the time here
at home. In the combat situation, there is so much more that attacks you
emotionally. You worry about things back home, the next day’s mission,
dealing with anxiety.”
When people learn to find balance in life, they feel and cope better.
“We taught a lot of self-help groups for stress and anger management as well as conflict resolution. We also help with areas of sleep hygiene to assist people in finding the regular rest they need. And we offered a lot in the way of hobbies, and just getting your mind off things so
you have a chance to normalize.”
Occupational therapy is critical to defusing potential post traumatic
stress disorder possibilities. Ironically, Patrick’s unit was touched by re-
Andrea Patrick (far left bottom row) with her unit the 55th Medical Company CSC (combat stress command).
placement PTSD (Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder) incidents when she left for Iraq in January of
2009 and also when she came back six weeks ago.
Units both preceding and following her tours experienced incidents of PSTD events.
On her days off in Iraq, Patrick volunteered at
the Airforce Hospital in Balad. “We saw a lot of
IED (Improvised Explosive Device) injuries as well
as many automobile victims,” she said. “There just
are no rules when driving in the villages or Balad.”
“The reason I went – to help treat combat stress
– is just so important,” said Patrick. “We need it so
much. When these tragic incidents happen to us,
Andrea Patrick, with the 2 star General who got the 1908th out to that shows us just how much it is needed. We all
Iraq on time to replace her unit, receives her second Army have to be ready for anything in life.”
Patrick agrees from a personal standpoint, it
Accommodation Medal.
was very important for her to take what she was
doing at St. John Medical Center to Iraq and do
something meaningful with it over there. “And now
that I am back, I will continue to do it here because
it is just as important right here at home,” she adds.
For Andrea Patrick, the message of her career
is clear: “We all are affected by stress. It is good to
have and know stress management techniques that
help us through life,” she said.
If anyone wants to contribute to the troops and
help out they can send care packages with the following suggested items, like toiletries, hard candies,
crafts, models like airplanes and cars, and art supplies like paper and markers, to Lt. Col. Breedlove,
1908th Combat Stress Detachment, APO AE 093911260 currently in Balad, Iraq.
Page 8 - Pulse - March / April 2010