It’s Swamp Rabbit Time!

May 2, 2012 under Sally Foister

The warm weather is here and that means one thing to me … people will come out of hibernation to get out on the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail. In fact, this Friday night close to 5,000 of them will be participating in the annual GHS Swamp Rabbit 5K. More about this later.

I’ve posted about the trail in the past (http://tinyurl.com/7bcbqt6) – about how proud I am of GHS being the title sponsor, how the trail is an example of us improving the health of the communities we serve, and also contributing to economic development of the area.

A recent study, which was a collaborative effort between Greenville County Recreation District (GCRD), Upstate Forever, and Furman University’s Dr. Julian Reed, provides data supporting these ideas. A few key findings from the study:

  • 350,000 users a year on Swamp Rabbit Trail!
  • Eighty percent of those users are bicyclists!
  • The trail provides transportation benefits, encourages economic development, increases quality of life, and improves the environment!
  • Economic impact of the trail was found to be dramatic!

Wow! How awesome! (To learn more impressive findings, CLICK HERE.) I was so excited to read this article. We all know how it feels to have our expectations met. In this case, the benefits of the trail have exceeded my personal and professional goals. The trail is and will continue to be a community asset.

If you’re local and haven’t been on the trail, come try it out Friday night during the GHS Swamp Rabbit 5K. You can still register in person Thursday at the Greenville Hilton from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or at Gateway Park in Travelers Rest Friday starting at 11:00 a.m. Cash and check accepted. The fee is just $11 and you’ll still get a T-shirt!

You can walk, run, push strollers … sorry, no bikes or pets. Even if you’re not local, Greenville is a great place to visit. The trail is the icing on the cake, and so much more.

As the saying goes … “Happy trails to you!”

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What’s Happening in OR#10?

April 4, 2012 under Sally Foister

One thing and one thing only happens in OR #10 at Greenville Memorial Hospital…robotic surgery. This room is dedicated to surgeries performed using the daVinci® robotic surgical system.

GHS entered into the daVinci arena over two years ago. In case you aren’t familiar with the daVinci, according to davinicsurgery.com “it is an effective, minimally invasive alternative to both open surgery and laparoscopy (a form of minimally invasive or minimal access surgery). Through the use of the da Vinci® Surgical System, surgeons are able to offer a minimally invasive option for complex surgical procedures.”

Today, complex conditions ranging from prostate cancer to uterine prolapse, fibroids and even thoracic disease can be treated minimally invasively with da Vinci Surgery. This approach uses a robotic surgical system that provides Greenville Hospital System surgeons better vision, more precision and control. It requires only a few small incisions, so you can get back to your life faster — without the usual recovery following major surgery.

Hear directly from an upstate patient about his experience with prostate cancer surgery. (Hey, if you’re a Clemson football fan, his name may sound a little familiar.)

Remember, there still is a very skilled surgeon (sometimes two) performing the surgery. Every GHS robotic surgeon, whether it is an urologist, gynecologist, or thoracic surgeon, completes a very aggressive training protocol before he or she performs a solo surgery. In addition, there is a dedicated robotics team in OR #10, assisting the patient and surgeon.

At GHS, there are currently eight surgeons trained. To learn more about them, click on the first link under Learn more at the end of this post.

One more thing, our CEO, Mike Riordan, always mentions our mission in meetings or when talking in the community. So, I’m going to follow his lead because I can’t write about the daVinci without thinking about how it is a great example of how we live our mission:

Heal compassionately. The healing process is shorter and incision is smaller. Just as important is that patients no longer have a reason to travel out of the county or state to have daVinci surgery.

Teach innovatively. GHS purchased what is called a dual console robot. It has two consoles. One for the surgeon, and one for another physician who is being trained.
Improve constantly. Now we are able to offer the right care the patient needs – open surgery, laproscopic or daVinic robotic surgery.

So, if you’re a candidate for the daVinci robotic surgical system, we’ll see you in one place and one place only … OR#10. (Until later this year when we are hoping to get another robot.)

Learn more:
http://www.ghssurgery.org/roboticsurgery.php
http://www.ghswomens.org/davinci-surgery-for-women.php

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Midwifery Demystified

March 13, 2012 under Sally Foister

As part of GHS’ ongoing commitment to improve constantly and to provide comprehensive maternity services to the women of the Upstate, we are now proudly offering midwifery care.

Midwifery care? What does that mean exactly?

Rewind 12 months to a marketing brainstorming meeting about how best to market this new program. To be honest, no one around the table really understood exactly what it was we were offering. We didn’t understand the type of services that would be offered or the difference between a midwife and a certified nurse midwife. One thing we all thought we were right about was that midwives provided obstetrical care only. WRONG! It was all very mystical to us.

So, what is midwifery (pronounced mid-wif-uh-ree)? I posted this question on Facebook last week. Interesting answers ….having a baby at home, natural childbirth, a birthing coach, exercise balls and bathtubs, no drugs or doctor INTERVENTION – letting the woman do the job she was made to do with as little interference as possible, an experienced non-physician delivering a child, and my personal favorite … middle aged wives.

Mystical? Unclear at a minimum.

According to dictionary.com it is a noun, the technique or practice of a midwife. A midwife is a person trained to assist women in childbirth. 2. a person or thing that produces or aids in producing something new or different.

According to MerriamWebster Wordcentral a midwife is a woman who helps other women in childbirth.

Clearer? Hopefully, but knowing what I know now, these definitions don’t tell the whole story, and may make one ask, “is a midwife the the same as a labor coach? A nurse? A doctor? Do you have to receive any kind of training to be called a midwife? Are there different types of midwives?

Great questions and ones the brainstorming team asked. I’ll take these one at a time.

  1. Are they the same as a labor coach? They are much more.
  2. A nurse? Yes, with specialized training. Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) are registered nurses who have graduated from an accredited midwifery education program and passed a national certification exam to receive the professional designation of certified nurse-midwife. In South Carolina CNMs must have Master’s Degrees, and are licensed through the South Carolina Board of Nursing. (Note: all of GHS’ midwives are certified nurse-midwives.)
  3. A doctor? No, they do not receive training at a four year medical school. However, Certified nurse-midwives are trained and certified to provide primary care for women across their lifespan. Midwives care for women from adolescence through menopause, with a special emphasis on pregnancy, childbirth and gynecologic and reproductive health. They perform comprehensive physical exams, prescribe medications, including contraceptive methods, epidural anesthesia and pain medication during labor if needed. CNMs also provide health and wellness education and counseling.
  4. Training required? Yes, to be a certified nurse midwife. See previous answers.
  5. Are there different types of midwives? Yes. Click here to read more about the differences between nurse midwives, midwives and doulas. GHS’ practice, Greenville MidWifery Care employs only certified nurse midwives.

Clearer? Demystified? I hope so.

As a GHS employee I’m proud we now have this option for women. This is just another example of living our mission. Anyone interested may access a midwife directly through Greenville Midwifery Care (www.greenvillemidwiferycare.com) or via one of these GHS OB/GYN practices: Greenville Ob Gyn, Piedmont OB/GYN or Premier Women’s Care.

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GHS Stories – A Documentary Project

February 23, 2012 under Guest Blogger, Sally Foister

Please welcome guest blogger, Bobby Rettew.  Bobby has been a consultant with the marketing & communications department for a few years. Being the award winning story teller he is, we recently asked if he would work with us to tell the stories inside our walls as a way to celebrate GHS’ centennial throughout 2012.

You will not only have the pleasure of watching these stories unfold via video, but also learn from Bobby about his experiences while capturing these amazing stories. So, it is my pleasure to introduce Bobby Rettew.

—————
GHS Documentary Project
by Bobby Rettew 

There are so many wonderful stories inside the walls of GHS, and the walls of GHS are growing and growing everyday. For five years, I have been working with GHS, using media to share stories and information. The GHS Stories Project has been something that has been cultivating in my mind for a few years.

My mother has worked for GHS since 1990 and has served so many roles as a nurse. She started as an RN/BSN in the operating room and ever since then, she has passionately served GHS. She is now a Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department and everyday when I talk to her, she tells me another story of the amazing things that are happening at GHS. I wanted to start telling those stories.

As a part of the Centennial Celebration, GHS asked me to help find and capture six stories over the next year. These stories are more than just amazing… they are stories with layers. These layers are woven together, told through the eyes and ears of those who experienced the story from their perspective. As a former journalist, I found this was the best way to tell stories…let them come from the perspective of those who live and breathe their experience, their story, their layers. GHS just happened to be one of the many layers.

Our first story surrounds an event that happened to an attorney in Seneca, SC. Many people know Mr. Johnny Fields as the former Mayor of Seneca. Many people know Mr. Fields as their attorney. But most of all, people know Mr. Fields as their friend. I met Mr. Fields many years ago while in high school. I have to admit, I had a high school crush on his daughter, Nina.

When I first met Mr. Fields, I was immediately struck by his persona as a true southern gentleman. Many years later when we had lunch to talk about this project, that southern appeal resonated through his description of the events that happened to him late one night.

The overriding theme stood out to me during our lunch conversation…he described this event as a symphony. How one can describe having a heart attack as a symphony was beyond me. But this story, this symphonic moment in time, saved his life. This symphony defines the regional breadth of the GHS footprint.

Mr. Fields gave a wonderful and tremendous interview. I remember thinking during our conversation how well he articulates his thoughts. He is the type of interview we journalists/documentary storytellers love to find…ones that can articulate their ideas on camera not only as complete bookended thoughts, but with such descriptive adjectives. But his perspective is only a small portion of this story and I can not wait to share the whole video.

We will be sharing Mr. Fields’ story on GHS’s Centennial Website (ghs.org/100years) under Centennial Stories. I hope you check back in a few days. I am truly excited to share Mr. Fields’ story…it is truly amazing. There are also many other stories being shared, so spend some time poking around ghs.org/100years — this is just one of many that will be shared over the next year.

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Sleep and Teens: How much is too much?

February 22, 2012 under Sally Foister

If you watch WYFF4, Greenville’s NBC affiliate, you may have seen a story about sleep and teens (Morning broadcast, Monday, Feb 20). The short of it is that a new study published in the March 2012 edition of Pediatrics stated that less sleep is ideal for teenagers; more sleep can actually hurt a child’s grades. This study is the first to analyze the school performance of teens, and it looked at over 1700 students. It found that seven hours sleep is optimal. Federal guidelines recommend teens get nine hours.

(The complete article can be found in Pediatrics – “Never Enough Sleep: A Brief History of Sleep Recommendations for Children, published in Pediatrics, Vol 129 (3), March 2012.)

Also watching WYFF that morning was Dr. Dominic Gault, medical director of GHS Children’s Hospital, division of pediatric sleep medicine. Dr. Gault was outraged. He was very concerned that the story misrepresented the literature and research that has been done on sleep needs, and the effects of sleep and sleep deprivation on performance. He said, “it is an outright dangerous recommendation which may ultimately lead parents to make misinformed and misguided decisions that affect their children’s health and well-being. “

Wow! If that doesn’t get the attention of parents, what will? As parents the last thing we want to do is make a decision that will negatively affect our children’s health and well-being. We try everyday to make decisions to do just the opposite. As parents the best we can do is to educate ourselves about issues and make the decisions we feel are best for our children.

So, what is Dr. Gault’s recommendation? Watch his interview with WYFF4 and read below for more details. This information below was taken from a letter he sent to area pediatricians:

There is no single set “optimal sleep time” for all adolescent patients. Recommendations are based on a range of normal sleep amounts for which there are many clues, including but not limited to spontaneously awakening in the morning for school, not sleeping in on weekends or vacations, not napping etc., to aid in their individual determination.

Developmentally, the timeframe over which this study assessed sleep needs is relatively short in terms of evolutionary standards, and unless there was a significant evolutionary shift, true sleep needs have likely not significantly changed in the last 100 years, and other influences should be considered. The “inflation” in sleep needs deemed by this article more likely represents the increasing divergence between true biologic needs and sleep attainment of our pediatric patients, with even the recommendations we are providing to our patients perhaps being overly influenced by the sleep they are attaining and not their true needs. This would be akin to stating that eating fast food, because the majority of Americans to do so, is a healthy diet.

He also shared that a response is being formulated at the national level.

Though my children are too old for me to have any influence on their “bed times”, I will share this with them, especially the college freshman, hoping they will use it to make an informed choice. Hopefully, this information also will help parents set more realistic bed times. Sleep tight, everyone.

Learn more about Dr. Gault and his practice at GHS Children’s Hospital.

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(Not) Sleepless in Greenville

January 24, 2012 under Sally Foister

This blog is titled Inside GHS blog. We’ll approach “Inside” in a variety of ways. Some blog posts will be about topics to keep you healthy, like Karen’s blogs. Others will be about a new technology or treatment we’re providing to our patients. Others will be about the business (in)side of GHS, such as this one.

Recently I attended a marketing and PR conference. One of the sessions was about what keeps health care CEOs awake at night. Honestly, my thought was, I bet nothing keeps my CEO up at night. He has been President & CEO for five and half years and has made Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) a different place. An exciting place. A place focused on transforming health care.

Why do I think nothing keeps him up at night? He stays the course. He doesn’t react to every little thing our competitors do. He’s disciplined. He measures our success quarterly and shares how we are doing. But, before I decided he probably sleeps through the night, I did review a few things that may go through his mind like the proverbial gerbil on the wheel … does the budget keep him up. Probably not. We exceeded our financial target this past year. What about physician engagement. No, he’s made huge improvements in this area – physicians are represented at all levels of decision making. Reimbursement. Maybe. But, I feel he along with the other executive leadership are being proactive and focused to make sure GHS is positioned to be successful no matter which turns health care reform takes.

So, thank you Mike Riordan and executive team for staying focused on the course you’ve set for all of us… because this helps me sleep at night. To learn more about Mike Riordan and his mission to transformhealthcare, subscribe to his blog @ www.totransformhealthcare.com.

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Digital Annual Report

January 12, 2012 under Sally Foister

As I typed this title my first thought was I hope this doesn’t turn out to feel like I’ve had a digital exam. This is the first time we’ve tried to do a digital report. Last year we didn’t print any, but it was still designed as a print publication then converted to a user friendly magazine on line. Not this year.

This year it is being designed as a digital piece from the beginning –at my insistence. It’s not exactly what I had in mind to start, but that was going to cost more than I wanted to pay. So, we went with plan B and used a format from another tool we’ve used for over three years. It may not be as flashy and interactive as my initial vision, but it conveys annual report info just fine.

We used mostly video and links to our website. These are videos that have been shot over the past year – not for the purpose of the annual report. We’re just repurposing them.

When the report was 97% complete, I sent a link to the CEO and other Vice Presidents who were in it, so they could preview it before it was emailed to our databases. I literally held my breath when I pushed the SEND button. Less than an hour later, the CEO’s assistant called to say “Mike would like to speak with you for a few minutes…” So, here it was. The moment of truth. Did I hit the mark or NOT? Big breath in … call is transferred and on the end of the line I hear, “This is Mike.” I respond, “This is Sally.” He says, “I love it!” Not sure I heard the rest. What a great thing to hear from your CEO about a new project; One that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but good enough.

Whew! And, no, it hasn’t felt like I’ve had a digital exam through this process. Actually, I’m looking forward to the FY 12 report. To view our 2011 Report to the Community, visit http://ghslive.com/annual-report-2011/.

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Discipline = Success

December 21, 2011 under Sally Foister

I hadn’t visited Google+ in a while and was using Google Docs, so decided to visit it since it was right there on my tool bar (how very convenient!). Much to my surprise, my son had some recent posts. This one caught my eye, and while reading it, I kept thinking how true this is, not only in college but in life. While you read, replace the word “college” with any situation you’re dealing with: work, exercise, losing weight, household projects… you get the idea.

Here goes … in the words of an 18-year-old freshman at Clemson University, a biology major who plans to become an orthopaedic surgeon. (I may have to remind him of this post along his journey to becoming Dr. Foister.)

What is it that makes college hard for some and not others? A simple answer is discipline. It’s not that some students are inherently smarter. It’s that the ones who are disciplined can “survive” the college atmosphere much better. The disciplined student not only can set aside time to study and do just that, but they also know what they don’t know. As one of my professors put it, “They can assess their mastery of the information.” A disciplined student can effectively use their study time to learn the information they don’t know, thus leaving the disciplined student more time to “play” in college while still maintaining a 4.0.

The best student in college is the one who can manage their time effectively and efficiently with the utmost discipline.

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Community investment in the Swamp Rabbit Trail

December 6, 2011 under Sally Foister

As GHS’ 100th anniversary approaches, we’ve been asking employees about their most memorable moments. I remember one of mine like it was yesterday. I was sitting in a conference room right off the GHS Board of Trustees board room with my new CEO, Mike Riordan, and my colleague Robyn Zimmerman, director of community and public relations, when he says to Robyn, “I understand why you would want to do this”, then turns to me and says “but from a marketing perspective, why do you want to do this?” Gulp! So obviously he and I aren’t thinking alike. A little intimidating.

The “this” was sponsoring the Swamp Rabbit Trail for $100,000,000 – $100,000 for 10 years. From a marketing director standpoint it may not be in the traditional tool box, but from a system standpoint how could we not do it. Also, my background is public health, so keeping people healthy is something I understand and is my passion. I couldn’t separate the two. GHS is the healthcare leader in upstate South Carolina, so therefore should be the leader in not only treating patients when they are sick, but also in helping to keep them healthy.

I can’t remember exactly how I answered him, but it had to be similar to what I just wrote above. I know from my public health experience that “rails-to-trails” programs worked to get people to be active. And, an active lifestyle is one of the most modifiable risk factors for heart disease – the leading cause of death in the U.S. Again, how could we not do it?!

Well, we did do it. I believe it is the best $1M we’ve spent. Fast forward three years. I’m never more proud to be a GHS employee than when I’m riding my bike on the trail and see all the people on it, too. There are families, older woman, older couples with new bikes who probably haven’t been on bikes in 40 years), all shapes, sizes, colors, ages. Walkers, runners, bikers … one day even some llama (they aren’t allowed, though, only dogs.) It is simply amazing. Each time I ride the feeling is the same. This is a wonderful thing GHS did. Thank you, Mr. Riordan! Check out the facebook page “Having Fun on the Swamp Rabbit Trail” to hear directly from the community.

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