Is NorthBay’sBlood Drive

Going tothe Dogs? — Page 14

INSIDE

1

…Check My NorthBay, Your Employee Portal, for News in

Real Tim

e…04.24.19

AVP Rolefor Finance

Leader

Supply Chain Takes on

Reorganization

LongtimeCook BringsFresh Mealsto Vacaville

New Hires 2Nurse Week Plans 5 Shared Governance 12 Did You Know: Pharmacy 20

On the heels of an eventful year for Finance, Theo Rallis has accepted a newly created position as assistant vice president, Fi-nance/Controller, according to Jim Strong, interim chief financial officer and vice president of Fi-nance.

Theo joined NorthBay HealthCare in March

After more than two de-cades of sending meals from NorthBay Medical Center’s kitchen to NorthBay Vaca-Valley Hospital, patients in Vacaville will enjoy hot, fresh meals coming straight from the facility’s kitchen starting in May.

It’s the latest in a long series of improvements affecting Nutrition Ser-vices. Just ask hospital cook Domingo Lopez, who in 38 years has seen it all.

He was 21 when he was first hired in 1981 to be the one and only cook at what was then known as Intercommunity Memorial Hospital. He handled both patient meals and the café. The hospital became NorthBay Medical Center in 1986, and in 1987, Domingo spent a week training a new team in a new kitchen at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, which opened its doors in July.

John Willi joins NorthBay Healthcare as senior director, Supply Chain Management, a new position created to shepherd the department through a trans-formation.

The change is designed to

See LEADER, Page 15

Theo Rallis

NorthBay Healthcare Cook Domingo Lopez

See COOK, Page 16

See SUPPLY, Page 19

Two MoreUnits Honored for Success— Page 3

2

TO REMEMBERDATES

IN THE NEWSPEOPLE

LETTERS

DATES

PEOPLE

NEW FACESWELCOMEWELCOME

LETTERS

Vicki AllisonDirector, Medical Staff RelationsNorthBay Medical Center

Shimalatha BentleySenior Data Warehouse SolutionIT Enterprise Information ManagementGreen Valley Administration Center

Froilan CamachoHIM Tech I Customer ServiceHealth Information ManagementNorthBay Medical Center

Mary DavisMedical Assistant IIPain CenterGateway Medical Office Building

Erick GalleguillosManager, Budget & Decision SupportGreen Valley Administration Center

Harold Glenn, Jr.Clinical ManagerPatient Care ServicesNorthBay Medical Center

Kayla GuerreroASC Registered NurseAmbulatory Surgery Center

Brittany JohnsonPatient Services Rep.Ambulatory Float PoolHilborn Administration Center

Bhupinder KaurBusiness AnalystPharmacyNorthBay Health Plaza

Kristian NavalClinical Nurse IIUnit 1600NorthBay Medical Center

Pratikshya UpretyFinancial Analyst IIBudget & Decision SupportGreen Valley Administration Center

Juana VargheseRespiratory Care Practitioner IINorthBay Medical Center

John WilliDirector, Supply Chain ManagementGreen Valley Administration Center

TO REMEMBERDATES

IN THE NEWSPEOPLE

LETTERS

DATES

PEOPLE

NEW FACESWELCOMEWELCOME

LETTERS

04.26.19 Blood Drive, VacaValley Wellness Center04.30.19 Deadline for Nurse Camp applications04.30.19 Retirement Plan Meetings, GVAC Room 16005.01.19 Retirement Plan Meetings, VacaValley Health Plaza, Suite 29005.02.19 Retirement Plan Meetings, NorthBay Health Plaza, Suite 20405.03.19 Focus on TBI and Concussion - CME Conference, GVAC05.04.19 Youth & Sports: What Everyone Should Know Community Event, GVAC05.13.19 Employee Appreciation Meals, GVAC05.14.19 Employee Appreciation Meals, NorthBay Medical Center05.15.19 Employee Appreciation Meals, HAC05.16.19 Employee Appreciation Meals, VacaValley Hospital05.18.19 Solano Wine & Food Jubilee, Harbison Event Center, Nut Tree05.25.19 Fiesta Days Parade, Downtown Vacaville

Starting April 29, PolicyStat email notifications will be turned on.

Policy Owners will receive email notification six months prior to a policy’s review due date.

“That will give them ample time for revisions, consulta-tion with key stakeholders, and to start moving their policy through the approval process, which includes getting ap-proval from a vice president, boards and the review com-mittee,” said Heather Resseger, director of Quality.

Once the notifications are turned on, policy owners could receive a wave of emails for policies that are within or past the review due date.

In addition, the policy approvers will receive email notifi-cations once they are needed to approve or correct a policy.

The notification email will contain a web link to Policy-Stat. Your log-in will be: NBMC\(Your NorthBay Login) fol-lowed by a password prompt. Use your NorthBay password.

All policy owners should have received training on Policy-Stat, but if you have questions or need any assistance, call Emily Brown at Ext. 5783 or Dean Pawley at Ext. 7680, or email Policy.Procedure@NorthBay.org.

Policy Owners Soon WillReceive Update Notifications

3

Vicki Allison has accepted the position of director of Medi-cal Staff Relations for NorthBay Healthcare.

Vicki came to NorthBay last fall on an interim assignment, filling the role left vacant by the retire-ment of Diane Irby.

Vicki previously served as di-rector of medical staff services for Kona Community Hospital in Ke-alakekua, Hawaii. She has been

in health care for 26 years, and with medical staff services for 22 years.

“Vicki brings a wealth of experience to NorthBay,” noted Seth Kaufman, M.D., chief

medical officer. “One of her first goals will be to lead our electronic credentialing efforts.”

“We recently purchased a cloud-based product for that,” she explained. “It will automate our office, and include an online ap-plication for physicians and allied health staff. Our goal is to be as paperless as possible, and this new system will provide us with the technology to do that.”

“I’m excited to have the op-portunity to be part of the great things happening here. I felt right at home and have never worked with such a great group of people committed to service excellence.”

NorthBay Healthcare’s Nursing Quality Committee added two more teams to the list of Safety Stars to be honored for outstanding efforts to reduce hospital-ac-quired infections. The Vascular Access team and Wound Care were presented cer-tificates for reducing infections and injury. Vascular Access (above) was awarded for a 67 percent reduction in CLABSI (Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infection) events from 2017 to 2018. Wound Care (below) was honored for a 20 percent reduction in HAPI (Hospital Acquired Pressure Injury) events from 2017 to 2018. Infectious Disease expert Gregory Warner, D.O., lauded the teams for their work, noting that “they’ve done their best to make sure we do our best and prioritize patient care and safety.” Wound Care Clinical Manager Karen Harris, R.N., also praised the teams saying, “It takes a team of dedicated profession-als to ensure we practice to standards in order to work toward reaching our goal of zero harm.” She also praised the collaborative effort with bedside staff in the reduction of pressure injury events. Previously honored Safety Star teams are NorthBay VacaValley Hospital’s ICU and NorthBay Medical Center’s Unit 1700.

More Outstanding Work!

New Directorto Lead

Medical Staff Relations

Vicki Allison

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Vascular Surgeon SharesExpertise with PVE Residents

Brandi Upton, M.D., vascular surgeon with North-Bay Healthcare, shared with Paradise Valley Estates residents some of the signs and symptoms of vas-cular disease, as well as some prevention tips and treatment options available, during a lecture held on April 3. More than two dozen attendees learned that peripheral arterial disease (PAD) can affect about one in 20 Americans, many of whom are men over age 60. Smoking is one of the causes and it can lead to muscle pain and cramping, coldness to the touch and sores on feet, among other symptoms. She concluded by noting that the disease is more common than people might think and that symptoms should not be ignored. Dr. Upton’s lecture is part of a regular series of educational events at the campus where NorthBay has a primary care facility.

Epilepsy and other brain dis-orders will be the focus of discus-sion during the next NorthBay Healthcare Facebook chat, #Our-DocTalk.

Neurologist Ruby Ali, M.D., will answer questions during the half-hour chat which is scheduled for 12:30 to 1 p.m. on May 2 on the NorthBay Facebook page: Face-book.com/NorthBayHealthcare.

#OurDocTalk, is a series of live Facebook chats designed to connect NorthBay practitioners with the community to answer questions on a variety of health issues. Interested followers who visit NorthBay’s Facebook page will be able to post their ques-tions and comments or send them via Facebook Messenger, and then Dr. Ali will reply. Questions can also be submitted in advance to:

Epilepsyis Focus ofDoc Talk

Robin.Miller@NorthBay.org. Have a question you would

like answered? NorthBay wel-comes, and encourages visitors

to its Facebook page to submit questions in advance. In order to protect personal medical information, followers who submit questions in advance are asked pose to their questions in a more general way. For

example, instead of writing, “I have …,” write “I know someone who has ...” or “What if a person has …”

Ruby Ali, M.D.

Magnet VisitComing in JuneNorthBay Healthcare

learned that it has been selected for a three-day Magnet site visit June 24, 25 and 26, according to Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Traci Duncan.

“This is great news,” said Traci. “It means that ap-praisers have confirmed that our Magnet redesignation document is complete.”

According to Jennifer Tudor, R.N., Magnet Program director, the site visit will give auditors a chance to validate, verify and amplify on NorthBay’s report to en-sure it is in compliance with all necessary components.

NorthBay Healthcare first earned the three-year Mag-net Recognition in December 2014, although the official award was presented at a conference in October 2015. Work began almost imme-diately to get ready for the redesignation application.

Watch FYI for more infor-mation to come.

5

Time to Celebrate NorthBay’s TeamsNot only does May provide the perfect time for

NorthBay Healthcare to salute nurses during Na-tional Nurse Week, but it’s also a time to celebrate employees, during NorthBay’s annual Employee Ap-preciation Meals. (See information on Page 16.)

There is something special happening every day during Nurses Week, according to Jennifer Tudor, Magnet Program director, who recently took on or-ganizational duties for the celebratory week.

The week’s highlight is the announcement of NorthBay’s newest DAISY winners during special ceremonies on May 7 and 8. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

Some Nurse Week events return from years’ past, such as the poignant “Blessing of the Hands”

service Chaplain Natalya Johnson will provide at various times and places throughout the week.

Other events are completely new, such as chair massages and yoga classes. And, for those seek-ing to cleanse their mind and calm their spirits, a Labyrinth meditative walking path will be created for one day only on both hospital campuses. (See schedule below.)

The week wraps with an opportunity to gain 4.5 CE units, by attending the Mobility is Medicine Workshop on Friday, May 10. (See complete story on Page 13. The workshop is free, although regis-tration is required.

“This is an excellent opportunity for staff to gain some valuable continuing education, particularly as it is focused on patient and staff safety issues,” noted Linda Pryor, Risk Management program man-ager, who is coordinating the workshop.

MONDAY-SATURDAY,MAY 6-12:

Free Cinnabon Giveaway. All day. Show your badge at the So-

lano Town Mall.

MONDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 6-11 Blessing of the Hands —

During huddles at various times, locations.

MONDAY, MAY 6Labyrinth Reflection – All day, NorthBay Medical Center lawnby the Southeast Entrance.

Yoga — 9 to 10 a.m. with Brandi, GVAC Room 154. Bring a yoga mat.

Yoga — Noon to 1 p.m. with Allie, NB Annex 3&4. Bring a yoga mat.

TUESDAY, May 7DAISY Award Presentation — Noon to 1 p.m.,

NorthBay Annex 1&2.

WEDNESDAY, May 8Free Professional Development Opportunity

— ANA Webinar “Elevating the Profession” for 1 CEU, 10 to 11 a.m.;

https://www.nursingworld.org to register.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR NURSES WEEK, MAY 6-12

10-minute chair massages – 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m., NorthBay Annex 3&4;

first-come, first-served.

DAISY Award Presentation — 11 a.m. to noon, VacaValley Well-

ness Center, Room 1501.

THURSDAY, May 9Labyrinth Reflection — All day,

VacaValley Hospital lawn outside Administration.

10-minute chair massages — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., VacaValley Wellness Center Conference Room

1501; first-come, first-served.

FRIDAY, May 10Free Professional Development Opportunity

— Mobility is Medicine Workshop for 4.5 CEUs, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pre-register at https://fs30.formsite.

com/atlaslifttech/pcogyjldtg/index.html Click for Agenda.

10-minute chair massages — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., GVAC Room 162; First-come, first-served.

Yoga — Noon to 1 p.m. with Allie, VacaValley Wellness Center ConferenceRoom 1501. Bring a yoga mat.

6

Feeling crafty and clever? Want to showcase your depart-ment and possibly win tickets to the Solano Wine & Food Jubilee in the process? The Gift Basket Challenge is on again.

The Solano Wine & Food Jubi-lee committee invites employees to create department-themed gift baskets to be auctioned off in the Jubilee’s silent auction. The ones judged most creative will win Jubilee tick-ets as a prize.

The challenge was first issued last year, and more than 10 NorthBay depart-ments participated. Their contributions were incredibly clev-er, and their com-bined efforts raised more than $4,000 of the auction’s $35,000 in funds collected that night.

The idea for the challenge came from Adam Burke of Pixar

Animation fame and Foundation board member. Unfortu-nately, he lost his fight with lung can-cer last October and the committee has requested that the challenge be issued again this year, in Adam’s memory.

His son, Zach-ary, who works as

an Environmental Services aide at NorthBay Medical Center, will be asked to select the winning basket.

The deadline to apply for NorthBay Nurse Camp 2019 is just days away.

Nurse Camp will be held June 18-22. The online application must be submitted by midnight on Tuesday, April 30. Applications for the annual NorthBay Nurse Camp 2019 are available online at NorthBay.org/NurseCamp.

Thirty students will be se-lected to attend this year’s camp. All teens living in Solano County

or attending Solano County high schools who are interested in nursing are welcome to ap-ply. Designed to give local high school students a first-hand look at the nursing profession, the four-day camp is taught by working registered nurses from a variety of hospital departments, including the ER, ICU, Labor and Delivery, Surgery, NICU, Mother/Baby, Med-Surg and the Trauma Center.

As part of the online applica-tion, students are asked to write short essays on who their biggest role model is and why, a time when they made a difference, and what super power they wish they possessed and why.

Once a student is accepted into the program, a $100 non-refundable tuition payment is required. For further information, email NurseAcademy@NorthBay.org.

Deadline to Apply for 2019 Nurse Camp is April 30

The baskets will be judged on their desirability, creativity, and how the item represents the sub-mitting department.

Every department that do-nates a basket will receive two general admission Jubilee tickets, and the winning department will be invited to a movie premiere with a VIP reception.

The deadline to submit a basket for judging is May 6. Contact Susan Cianci, Foundation program coordinator/executive assistant at ext. 3131 to make arrangements to have baskets picked up.

BasketChallenge

is Tradition Adam Burke’s challenge to staff last year resulted in the creation of some amazing gift baskets for the silent auction, and the Jubilee committee is asking employ-ees to partici-pate again this year.

7

NorthBay Hosts Business MixerThe annual joint mixer for the Fairfield-Suisun and Vacaville chambers of commerce always brings a crowd to the Green Valley Administration Center. As host, NorthBay pulls out all the stops to showcase many services available, in fun and informative ways. Founda-tion President Brett Johnson (above, left) performs CPR, under the encouragement of Heather Venezio and Brian Johnson, while chair massages (above, right) were offered by HealthSpring Fitness. Special-ity Care staff (right) hand out snacks and literature to guests.

Mary Jameson, director of Primary and Urgent Care, (above) tries out the Urgent Care Center’s putting exercise, while Lacy DeQuattro and Gregory Bounds demon-strate the Sim Lab’s birthing mother to chamber guests.

8

From Mail to Online

Patient, Family Grateful for Dr. Nguyen

Feedback Policy

FYI publishes letters written to administration and staff of NorthBay Healthcare, as well as social media posts and excerpts of patient reviews. Editors of FYI reserve the right to edit them for length and content. We suggest letters be limited to 250 words in length.

We typically withhold names of patients unless they specifically request to be named.

If you’ve received a letter you’d like to share, or want to write a letter to share with fellow employees, please e-mail it to dbarney@northbay.org.

Dear Dr. Nguyen,

I am writing to express my gratitude for your kindness and caring attitude you have given me and my family. You have always been kind and offered me and my family the moral support that we desperately needed when I was down with my mental, moral and physical health prob-lems.

The personal attention, con-cern and kindness shown by you helped me cope and over-come my fears, disappointments

and feelings of hopelessness. The counseling my family and I received from you was crucial in overcoming and handling the stress and tough times that our family is going through.

Your motivating and reassur-ing words gave me hope and help me and my family move on with our lives and restore our faith.

The exceptional caring and concern you have shown puts my mind at ease, knowing that you’re always there for us.

I am so fortunate and feel

blessed to have you as our doc-tor. You are a great human being and a fine gentleman.

You have been much more than just a doctor. You have been my therapist, supporter, friend, well-wisher and an angel in disguise. I will never be able to thank you enough for everything that you do and have done for me and my family.

With my sincerest gratitude, I want to thank you for everything. I am and will forever be grateful.

— A patient

Sensitive to My Anxiety

— Posted on Twitter

Patient Grateful for Dr. Heeren’s Compassion

NorthBay Healthcare:I wanted to write in with

feedback about one of your physicians, pediatrician Matthew Heeren, M.D.

Dr. Heeren has been my son’s pediatrician since birth. A recent

change in insurance led to a switch in physicians. I wanted to let NorthBay know how much Dr. Heeren is appreciated.

I’ve never come across a phy-sician who genuinely cares like Dr. Heeren. He has gone above and beyond with the care of our child. He is always knowledge-able, professional, and down to

earth. He is so easy to talk to, and easy to trust.

Dr. Heeren always shows true care, respect, dignity, and exper-tise. He is the epitome of what a doctor should be. He is a true asset to your company.

My family and myself thank him for all he’s done for us and our son.

— A patient’s family

Honestly, this was the best experience I could have possibly had at @NorthBayHealth.

I told my nurse in pre-op that I have a history of sexual assault and I was really scared/anxious. She completely understood and assured me exactly who would be in the room and told me I had control over the situation.

She brought in the nurse who would be in the room with me who took it a step further and

had someone else switch so the only man in the room would be my doctor. She told me exactly what was happening, step by step, and didn’t move from my line of sight the whole procedure.

These women understood my anxiety in a way previous male healthcare professionals haven’t. I still had severe anxiety during the procedure but not a full-on panic attack, which has hap-pened during my last two surger-ies. I’m so grateful...

9

Brian Johnson, R.N., with NorthBay Medi-cal Center’s Emer-gency Department, (far right) answers questions from staff following a simulat-ed Code White pe-diatric resuscitation drill. NICU nurse Margaret Dorcy, R.N., (below, right) listens as incuba-tor vendors explain the features of their particular units.

Autumn Thacker, R.N., (second from left) helps WCS team members run through a fluid warming and blood transfusion exercise.

More than 120 NorthBay team members from the Mother/Baby, Labor & Delivery and NICU units attended a quarterly skills and simulation training last week at Green Valley Administration Center, according to Amy Ciraulo, R.N., clinical nurse leader for the OB Unit. They came in shifts over the course of two days.

Every quarter, nurses spend some time in the Sim Lab, refreshing their resuscitation skills on either the birthing mother or infant simulation manikins. This time the drill fo-cused on a Code White, or the pediatric version of a Code Blue.

Staff also had a chance to inspect several different brands of incubators/warmers, as vendors were on hand

to answer questions about their products. “Several of our incubators are old and being phased out,” Amy explained, “and we’re gathering input from staff.”

They also sat in on a staff meeting led by Heather Troutt, R.N., clinical manager for Women and Children’s Services, on the department’s progress toward Baby Friend-ly redesignation, the status of the Omnicell roll-out, and an infant security update.

Jennifer Tudor, R.N., Magnet program director, also provided an update on what team members can expect as NorthBay moves through the next steps in its Mag-net redesignation process.

CODE WHITE!Women and Children’s Services Teams Boost Skills

10

Fire Alarm System Passes the Tests

Just in time for the Sunshine:Outdoor Tables Now Available

The cafe at the new North Wing at NorthBay Medical Cen-ter may still be months away from completion, but out-door dining areas are now available for those who want

to enjoy their lunch with some fresh air. Three table and chair combinations are in a shady spot right outside the

up-and-coming cafe, while a number of picnic tables and benches can be found in the landscaped area to the east

of the new wing. Projections call for the three-story North Wing to open Oct. 1 for patient care. In the meantime, construction work continues inside. Some small groups of employees have been out to tour their floor to get a

sense of the layout. (See photos, Page 11.)

After weeks of testing, the sights of blinking lights and sounds of system alarms are over. Repairs on the fire alarm systems between the existing hospital and the new wing are now complete and they passed inspection after the fire marshal made a visit on April 19, accord-ing to Joelyn Gropp, assistant vice president, Real Estate & Facilities Development.

“We now have a fully function-al fire alarm system, and October 1 is the date for first patients

to be settled into the new wing,” she added.

Testing in March revealed some nec-essary modifica-tions and corrections needed to be made to the old fire alarm system before it all would meet OSHPD compliance, which ultimately pushed back the “heads in beds” timeline from August to October.

Even throughout the repair

process the safety of our patients and employees was never compromised, stressed Aimee Brewer, president, NorthBay Healthcare Group. “Fire safety systems have mul-tiple redundancies

built into them, such as sprin-klers and ventilation systems.”

“Thanks to Eric Van Pelt for leading this repair work,” added Joelyn.

11

Small groups of team members from 2 North and Perioperative Services are regularly touring the new wing to perform informal “walk-throughs.” It’s an opportunity for team members to visualize work flows, spot potential obstacles and ask lots of questions, according to Jim Bollig, senior director, Perioperative Services, and Elizabeth Scott Paulson, manager of 2 North, (at right). “I encourage staff to come over as often as they can to become familiar with the layout of the floors,” Jim said. In the coming weeks and months, walk-throughs will give way to “Day in the Life” exercises between the departments that will be working in the new building.

We’re smack-dab in the middle of Patient Experience week, and whether you know it or not, no matter where you work, you are an important part of the Patient Experience. This week — April 22-26 — is a chance for North-Bay Healthcare to recognize all that staff do to positively impact the patient experience every day, in myriad ways, according to Jen-

nifer Shoemaker, Patient Experi-ence program manager.

One way, among many, is an invitation to take part in a Con-nection Challenge, for a chance to be entered into a raffle.

Jennifer encourages employ-ees to pick one of these challeng-es, listed above, to take on this week and then answer reflective questions on what you enjoyed,

learned or would do every day. Be sure to sumbit your answers by April 30.

Send answers from your NorthBay email address with “PX Week Challenge” in the subject line to feedback@northbay.org to be entered into the raffle.

Questions? Contact Jennifer at 646-5757.

Rise to the Patient Experience Challenge

Jim Bollig, senior di-rector, Perioperative Services, and Elizabeth Scott Paulson, manager of 2 North, (left to right) were joined by 2 North’s first hires — Sonnel deGuia, Evelyn Prakash, Debra Mason and Maureen Allain — on an informal walk-through of the floor. Not pictured is Brian Jackman.

2 North Team Gets Sneak Peak

12

Vendor Fair Lively, Full of Color

This is another in a series of blogs written by Valerie Valentin, R.N., who works at NorthBay VacaValley Hospi-tal and is the communication officer for Shared Governance. You’ll also find it online on My NorthBay, your employee portal. — Editor.

By Valerie Valentin

It was definitely a lively and colorful Shared Governance in March, as mem-

bers of the Nursing Congress attended the Suction Regula-tor Vendor fair. These vendors included Ami-co, Ohio Medical, and Tenacore. Members of the Nursing Congress toured the vendors during their DBC time. They evaluated each vendor based

on specific criteria such as user-friendly mode selector switches, easy to read numbers, antimicrobial rotary knobs/switches, color-coding for depart-ments and ability to perform dual suction.

The fair was not only colorful as the vendors presented a rainbow of regula-tors on their tables, but also interactive. Each of the vendors demonstrated an

The Scoop on Shared Governance

Valerie Valentin

See VENDOR, Page 13

Colorful displays were everywhere at the vendor

fair.

Tenacor and Ohio Medical products were available for review.

13

Safe patient handling experts, physicians, nurses, physical therapists and hospital adminis-trators from throughout California will gather at Green Valley Administration Center on May 10 to share best practices when it comes to patient and staff safety.

NorthBay Healthcare is sponsoring the Mobility is Medicine Workshop, in conjunction with Atlas Lift Tech, the Hospital Association of Southern

California, Hospital Council of Northern and Central Cali-fornia and other mobil-ity experts

for the daylong program.The program’s goal is to help attendees de-

velop a goal and plan to implement one change in how mobility and function can be implemented at their facilities, including the use of bedside as-sessments.

“Nurses and physical therapists can learn a lot about how bedside assessments can reduce the risk of falls, especially in the acute care units, and to reduce staff injuries,” noted Linda Pryor, Risk Management program manager, who is coor-dinating the event.

“As this workshop falls on Nurses Week, we also encourage all care staff to treat themselves to education, collaboration, action-oriented plan-ning and giveaways they can find at this event.”

It addition to speakers and panel presenta-tions, a number of mobility equipment vendors will also be on hand.

NorthBay staff members can receive 4.5 CEUs for attending the free event, Linda added.

The workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pre-registration is required and can be done online by visiting https://fs30.formsite.com/atlaslifttech/pcogyjldtg/index.html.

actual functioning suction system to display their regulator setup. Amico exhibited a disposable see-through back body and contamination sensor while Tenacore presented color-coded side grips and a glow-in-the-dark scale and needle. Ohio Medical demonstrated a Push-To-Set function that would eliminate the need to occlude patient tub-ing to set accurate suction levels.

Results of the chosen regulator will be an-nounced during April’s Shared Governance.

Vendor ... (from Page 12)

Solano County is reminded of all the ways that NorthBay Healthcare is “Here for You” when the Spring 2019 edition of Wellspring starts landing in nearly 75,000 mailboxes. The issue is packed with patient stories, detailing how NorthBay sup-ports patient care like no other health care provider in Solano County. As an example: How our neurosurgeon, Edie Zusman, M.D., collaborated with OB/GYN physician Dr. Rachel Villalon, M.D., to help a patient finally realize her dream of pregnancy. Or, our “paramedicine partnership” with Medic Ambulance and NorthBay complex case managers, who together follow COPD and heart failure patients after they’ve been discharged home, to provide a care bridge and hopefully reduce the risk of read-mission. Or, stories detailing the teams across the continuum of care who regularly care for our stroke and heart attack patients. To read it online, visit Wellspring/NorthBay.org. If you’re not on the mailing list and would like to receive a copy, email Stacy Andersen at Stacy.Andersen@NorthBay.org.

Wellspring is Here!

Workshop WillFocus on SafePatient HandlingGVAC to Host Safety Event

14

If you think NorthBay Healthcare’s April 26 blood drive is going to the dogs, you’re not entirely wrong.

Dogs and cats have teamed up to “Save the Humans,” in a campaign created by Vitalant, formerly BloodSourse, to promote blood drives across the United States.

You can find short videos featuring a dog and cat spokesmen, er, spokes-animals, extoling the virtues of donating blood on NorthBay’s FaceBook page.

“So that time I peed in your shoes? I was telling you to give blood,” says a white feline in his video.

NorthBay’s event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, April 26, in the conference center at the VacaValley Wellness Center.

Want to save waiting time on donation day? Sign up early for your preferred time slot by visiting Blood-Source.org/Drives, location code H101. Walk-ins are also welcome.

In addition to the regular dona-tions, Vitalant will bring an automated collection machine for Power Red (Double Red Cell) donations.

“We’ve been down locally and nationally on red cell do-nations and it puts a strain on our community blood supply,” explained Heather Sharp, Donor recruitment representa-tive with Vitalant.

“After the donor reg-isters, we will evaluate them to see if they’re good candidates for Power Red and ask them if they would like to double their impact by adding just an extra 10

Fur Pals Promote NorthBay Blood DriveIt’s Not too Late to Sign Up for April 26 VacaValley Event

to 15 minutes to their donation time. They don’t need to sign up for the Power Red donations in advance.”

As a bonus, co-host NorthBay HealthSpring Fitness will offer 10-min-ute chair massages between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to all donors.

All participants will receive a promo code that may be redeemed for a “Save The Humans” T-shirt.

This is the third year the blood drive has been held on the VacaVal-ley Hospital campus. Organizers hope to bring a one-day event back to the NorthBay Medical Center campus (or nearby mall parking lot) in 2020, when construction will be complete on the three-story North Wing.

Melissa Ermitano donates blood during the 2018 event at the VacaValley Wellness Center.

15

Leader ... (From Page 1)

NorthBay Healthcare invites em-ployees and families to join in the 2019 Fiesta Days celebration, in particular to help with decorating this year’s float, according to Bob Armijo, Human Resources services manager/employee relations and parade com-mittee chair.

As with past years, this year’s NorthBay parade entry will feature a flatbed truck packed with former Fiesta Days Grand Marshals and help will be needed in decking out the truck with streamers and more.

A special area along the parade route for NorthBay will be set up in front of Bryan Braker in downtown Vacaville for the Saturday, May 25 event. There are 30 free carnival wrist bands that will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Employees are encouraged to wear NorthBay Healthcare T-shirts to the parade.

Join NorthBayat the Parade!

2006 and most recently served as senior director of Account-ing and Supply Chain, helping departments throughout the organization meet Operational Excellence goals, enhance rev-enues and trim expenses, result-ing in a $70 million turnaround.

Through the years, Theo as-sumed increasing responsibilities within Finance, having served in position with oversight of Budget and Decision Support, Account-ing, Payroll, Accounts Payable and Supply Chain departments. His responsibilities expanded even before last December, when Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Art DeNio died unexpect-edly. Over the past few years, Theo stepped up to greater roles

in NorthBay’s banking, financ-ing and credit rating processes, faciliating the issuance of bonds to fund the new wing at North-Bay, collaborating with many of NorthBay’s Operational Excel-lence work streams, coordinat-ing the annual credit rating with Standard & Poors and providing leadership during the annual financial audit.

“He has been instrumental in improving the standards and outcomes of our financial and accounting responsibilities,” Jim said. “In his new role, Theo will continue working closely with the entire management team. Please join me in congratulating Theo on this well-deserved promotion, as well as his recent master’s de-gree in business administration.”

Theo’s immediate goals are several: to focus on supporting the recently announced trans-formation of NorthBay’s Supply Chain (see related story); to continue to build on financial re-lationships developed under the vision of Art DeNio to fund asset and plant needs; and to celebrate the solid results from the recently completed annual audit.

“We went from 2017, which was a very difficult year and a $30 million loss from operations, to our recent 2018 audit results, which reveals a positive operat-ing margin of $40 million,” Theo noted. “It took the work of every single employee to achieve this remarkable achievement, which contributes to our strategic goal of remaining independent.”

Award-winningStudent Ad

This advertisement for NorthBay Healthcare, de-signed by Kamryn Clark, earned her honors in The Reporter’s annual Campus Star Student Newspaper Design contest. Kamryn is a seventh-grader in Mrs. Bentley’s class at Notre Dame School in Vacaville.

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The VacaValley kitchen han-dled both café meals and patient meals for nearly 10 years, until the patient census dropped dra-matically in the mid-1990s. With an average of only 20 patients a day at VacaValley, the decision was made to prepare all patient meals at one facility — North-Bay Medical Center. Once again, Domingo found himself cooking for all patients from his Fairfield kitchen.

Transporting the meals was a process that wielded a variety of challenges — from the weather and driving conditions on Inter-state 80 to keeping meals hot and tasty. It also made last-min-ute requests virtually impossible to honor.

Census today at both hospitals is at an all-time high, and the timing is right to bring patient cooks back to VacaValley, said Kathleen Shafer, director of Nu-trition Services.

“This will greatly improve the quality of the food that’s being delivered,” explained Kathleen. “We’ll also be able to honor last-minute changes and requests. We expect this to have a dramat-ic impact on patient satisfaction.”

When the search began for patient cooks, Domingo, a Vacav-ille resident, raised his hand.

“Pops,” as he is called by his co-workers, is happy to give up the commute, and thrilled that his patients in Vacaville will re-ceive fresh, hot food.

“Reheating is never ideal. It changes the look and texture. This will be a real pleaser for the patient experience at Vacaville,” he said.

Domingo will be joined by an-other patient cook — soon to be hired. They will share the kitchen with café cook Beatriz Valdez.

It will require some rearrang-ing in the kitchen, new storage racks, new tray carts, tray ware and some new staff, said Kath-leen. At NorthBay Medical Center, a team of four cooks will handle the patient meals and café du-ties, assisted by supervisors and Nutrition associates.

Domingo is a bit disappointed he won’t get a chance to test-drive the sparkling new kitchen in the North Wing, scheduled to open in October.

“But I can be available if they need some training,” he said with a smile.

Nutrition Services, he said, is like family to him. “I’ve spent my whole career here. I didn’t plan it that way, it just happened,” he said. “And now it’s a part of me.”

Cook ...(From Page 1)

Negotiations Continue withAnthem Blue Cross

NorthBay Healthcare and Anthem Blue Cross remain in contract negotiations, according to Elnora Cameron, vice president of strategic development and president of NorthBay Health Advantage.

Blue Cross put a termination on the table as part of its negotiating tactics, which becomes effective May 1. It covers members in An-them’s HMO and PPO plans.

“We have spent several months in negotia-tions with the goal of reaching an agreement on a new contract, prior to the expiration of the current one,” said Elnora. “Please know we are being diligent and willing to compromise to trim millions from their costs, but to also re-main responsible to our health system and the financial impact rate reductions will have on it,” she said.

If you are approached by a patient or family with questions, or if you have questions about the situation, please contact NorthBay’s Health Plan Specialist Kelly Rhoads-Poston at (707) 646-3280 or email AskKelly@NorthBay.org.

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NorthBay Healthcare Chief of Staff Pete Zopfi, D.O., and Trauma Program Director Heather Venezio, R.N., are teaming up with neurosur-geon Edie Zusman, M.D., to develop back-to-back sym-posiums focused on Trau-matic Brain Injuries that will showcase some exemplary speakers.

The first conference, on May 3 at NorthBay’s Green Valley Administration Center conference facility, will be a half-day CME event for phy-sicians and other health care professionals. It will feature presentations from emer-gency room physicians, to neuroscience experts, from NorthBay Healthcare, Mayo Clinic and the U.S. Air Force.

“The goal is to make NorthBay Healthcare a creative leader for patient care in the region,” said Dr. Zusman. “We are targeting primary and specialty care physicians and provid-ers, emergency providers, physical therapists and first responders.”

May Symposium to Focus on TBI Cases The cost is $130 for

physicians and $105 for other health care provid-ers. A walk-in rate on the day of the event is $160 for physicians and $135 for other health care profes-sionals. For more informa-tion, visit NorthBay.org/TBI or call (707) 646-3284.

The second conference, scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, will also be held at the Green Valley conference center. Titled, “Youth & Sports: What Everyone Should Know,” it is free and open to the public.

Dr. Zopfi, who is not only the medical direc-tor for NorthBay’s Trauma Program, but also serves on the U.S. Youth Soccer Board of Directors, will speak, along with orthope-dic surgeon Neil Pathare, M.D., and others. For more

information, visit NorthBay.org/concussion. Space is limited. RSVP by visiting the website or call (707) 474-4822.

Solano County in conjunc-tion with the U.S. Drug Enforce-ment Agency will host a National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day across the county on April 27.

Residents can bring their unwanted, unneeded or expired prescription drugs to be disposed of in a safe manner.

Acceptable items that can be disposed of through the program are medication waste intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or preven-tion of disease in humans or animals, according to the county.

Residents can visit the following locations between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 27 to drop off their unwanted pills:w Benicia Police Department,

200 E. L St.w Dixon Police Department,

201 W. A St.w Rio Vista Police Department,

50 Poppy House Drive.w Solano County Sheriff-

Coroner’s Office, 520 Clay St., Fairfield.w Vacaville Police Department,

660 Merchant St.w Vallejo Police Department,

111 Amador St.All personal information must

be removed from the containers, or the contents can be emptied into a zip-lock bag.

Liquids and creams should be properly sealed, or contained inside a plastic bag, to prevent spillage.

Needles, sharps and lancets will not be accepted, but they can be brought to a sharps collection container at the emergency room entrance at NorthBay Medical Center and VacaValley Hospital.

Collecting Sharps During Drug Take-Back Day

Surgeon William Fulton, D.O., (left to right), Chief of Staff Pete Zopfi, D.O., and neurosurgeon Edie Zusman, M.D., are involved in the May TBI events.

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NorthBay Adult Day Center program participants have been treated recently to performances by “Dr. Blues,” also known as Alan Werblin, husband of NorthBay’s Tina Werblin, senior ambula-tory clinical adoption strategist for Information Technology.

Alan is a retired physician who offered to perform at the center after Tina noticed an article in FYI calling for volunteer musicians.

When not volunteering to play at the Adult Day Center, Tina says Alan also works part-time at Solano County Medical Clinic and at the VA clinic on Travis Air Force Base, and is a member of the Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church health ministry. Music and patient care are mutual passions, Tina says.

“He has played blues harmonica since 1969 and acquired the name Dr. Blues during medical school,” Tina explained. “He has accompanied well-known blues musicians such as Cool Poppa Sadler, Sonny Rhodes, Buddy Ace, and most recently Alvon John-son and The Suspects of Soul. He is featured on recordings by Alvon Johnson and the Bay Area group ‘The Coup.’”

“Our program participants love it when Dr. Blues comes,” added Sapna Boyapati, supervisor, Adult Day Services.

NorthBay Guild scholarship applications are now available for any NorthBay Healthcare em-ployee or Guild volunteer who is presently at-tending or who has been accepted to a school or college to further their education in the medical field.

For a scholarship application, please contact Car-los Battley, Guild analyst for NorthBay Healthcare Foundation, at CarlosBattley@NorthBay.org. Be sure to include your name, email address, and your phone number.

The deadline to apply is Wednesday, May 15.

Staff, Volunteers Can Apply by May 15 for Guild Scholarship

NorthBay Healthcare’s 6th An-nual Evidence-Based Practice and Nursing Research Conference is fast approaching.

The conference is open to all healthcare professionals who are interested in exploring the challenge of delivering evidence-based care and attempting to keep pace with the latest rec-ommendations for excellence in clinical practice.

The event will be held on Friday, Aug. 23, at the NorthBay Healthcare’s Green Valley Admin-istration Center and this year’s theme is “Attain, Engrain, Sus-tain: The Pathway to Implemen-tation Science.” Keynote speaker will be Dr. Sharon Tucker, Ph.D., R.N., who is the director of the Translational/Implementation Re-search Core for the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-Based Practice at Ohio State University.

Visit www.NorthBay.org/con-ference for additional information on this year’s conference.

Sign Up Nowfor EBP

Conference

‘Dr. Blues’ Brings Joyto Adult Day Center

Some Adult Day Center participants had to “move to the groove’”with Dr. Blues.

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help the department more ef-ficiently and economically deliver supplies, equipment and services across the organization, accord-ing to Jim Strong, interim chief financial officer and vice presi-dent of Finance.

Both the Finance and Sup-ply Chain Management depart-ments began working a year ago to create a Supply Chain Target Operating Model (TOM), with the mission of supporting NorthBay’s strategic goals of trust, indepen-dence and seamless care. This will be supported by technology, efficient business processes and identifying the necessary skill sets within the Supply Chain team.

“It also helps us take advan-tage of financial savings op-portunities from the purchasing power we’ve gained through our affiliation with Captis, a regional group including Mayo Clinic and more than 80 other hospital systems within Vizient, our Group Purchasing Organization,” noted Theo Rallis, assistant vice presi-dent, Finance/Controller.

“Improvements in the use of technology, including modifica-tions to our software systems, will occur,” Theo added, when explaining the transformation.

“We plan to launch Mobile Supply Chain, which will help us to stream-line receipt and delivery of goods simi-lar to UPS and FedEx models.” Ultimately, the

system will replace our current use of yellow stickers in the supply rooms with a much more automated charge capture system.

“TOM will also help us to establish efficient procurement, inventory management, receiv-ing and replenishment, which will help ensure that our patients, physicians and clinicians have the supplies and equipment neces-sary to deliver excellent care,” Theo added.

“Meeting the demands of healthcare delivery requires in-novation in technology, stream-lined processes, insight into data and trends, and high-performing teams to rapidly determine orga-nizational direction,” Theo noted in the announcement. “To meet these demands, new job descrip-tions and positions have been developed. Strong skillset and

a deep understanding of supply chain business principles will be required for each strategic job function.

“John comes to NorthBay from Weston, Massachusetts,” Theo explained. “He earned his bache-lor’s degree and master’s degree in finance from Boston University and has held the roles of senior director, supply chain manage-ment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and vice president of Supply Chain Management at NYU Langone Medical Center and Steward Healthcare.”

John is a fellow of the Asso-ciation for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (FAH-RMM), a society of the Ameri-can Hospital Association and a Certified Materials & Resource Professional (CMRP); a Certi-fied Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) from the Institute for Supply Management; and a Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) from the National Con-tract Management Association.

“I am very excited to join NorthBay and will immediately focus on executing the Supply Chain TOM to transform into a best-in-class organization to sup-port NorthBay’s mission and our community,” John said.

Supply Chain Reorganization ... (From Page 1)

John Willi

Is your get up and go, getting up and going? Learn about an amazing new way to treat enlarged prostate that won’t require ongoing medication or surgery during a live lecture by NorthBay Healthcare urologist Herkanwal Khaira, M.D.

Dr. Khaira will present information on UroLift during Doc Talk Live events scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. April 30, at the Hampton Inn & Suites, 945 Hartle Court in Napa and at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12, at the same location in Napa. Talks are also slated from 10 to 11 a.m. on June 27 in Fairfield and from 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 12, in Vacaville. For more information, visit: www.NorthBay.org/Urolift.

Urologist Will Discuss Urolift Spot a blue Transport Chair randomly

parked around NorthBay Medical Center campus without a patient in it? You can help the Guild just by letting them know where it is, and they’ll come retrieve it.

Dial a volunteer at extension 3120, and an automated system will answer, explained Jane Hilliard, director of Volunteer Services. “Ask for a NorthBay floor volunteer, and if there is one on duty you can ask them to pick it up. We need them desperately in the Welcome Pavilion, since this is our main ac-cess point for patients,” she added.

Get Blue Chairs Back to the Pavilion

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