RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital March 11, 2013 Vol. 69 No. 9

Employee Fitness Center Opens Today!!!

Welcome to the new Hartford Hos-pital Employee Fitness Center! The world-class facility opened this morning (March 11) in the new Hudson Street Garage.

The Fitness Center will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and features the latest exercise equip-ment. It will also offer a variety of classes, and individual movement and health evaluations – all free to Hartford Hospital staff.

“Hartford Hospital is once again joining other elite medical centers across the United States in offer-ing staff members a tremendous opportunity to improve their own health and wellness,” said Jeffrey A. Flaks, president and CEO. “Build-ing a fitness center dedicated to our staff is another important step on our journey to excellence. As a HealthGrades top 100 hospital, we offer some of the best care in the nation. It’s fitting that we work to-ward building one of the healthiest working environments as well.”

All members of our fitness cen-ter staff are nationally certified trainers with a total of 80 years of experience. Their mission is to help other staff members learn the right way to exercise and to

develop healthier lifestyles. They will conduct innovative functional movement screenings for individ-uals and then structure exercises to help improve movement pat-terns and reduce the risk of inju-ries. The center staff also will gear exercise programs toward weight control and provide advice on diet-ing and nutrition.

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Members of the Cigna staff volunteer knit-ting team, called “A Common Thread,” do-nated 140 handmade baby hats to the Post-partum unit on March 6.

Each newborn in the unit gets a hat short-ly after they are born. There are about 200 babies delivered at Hartford Hospital ev-ery month.

Cigna has a very ac-tive volunteer knit-ting program, with 120 members in 20 states, and 60 in Connecticut.

Each hat takes a volunteer knitter about an hour to make.

Cigna volunteers began knitting baby hats during last year’s March of Dimes campaign. Cigna is in its 19th year as a national spon-sor of the March of Dimes’ March for Babies.

The Cigna knitters donated 1,700 baby hats to the NICU at the UConn Medical Center last year.

Cigna Knitters Donate Hats For Hartford Hospital Newborns

The new Skybridge, which crosses Jefferson Street to connect the new Hudson Street Garage to the Ingalls Building, will greatly enhance the safety of our staff.

Jefferson is one of the busiest streets on our campus. The well-lit, window-lined Skybridge is only accessi-ble with an ID employee badge.

Skybridge Opens Today; Connects Hudson Garage with Ingalls

Above: Staff from Labor and Delivery and the Postpartum Unit admire the 140 handmade hats delivered by volunteer knitters from Cigna. Left to right: Gertrude Anisyk, Tanya Riddick, Elizabeth Carey and Sue Ekwall, and from Cigna, Karen Parsons and Sally Moore.

Left: Two-day-old Samuel Kennison wears a new hat donated by the Cigna knitters.

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United Way Corner - Did You Know?One in six Americans struggles to put food on the table.

SNAP-the Supplemental Nutri-tion Assistance Program (food stamps) help, but more than 30% of SNAP-eli-gible households in Connecticut aren’t receiving benefits.

United Way works with Foodshare to increase participation in S N A P. Foodshare provides 16 tons of food per day. If we can increase par-ticipation in SNAP by just five per-cent, the additional amount of food purchased in Connecticut would be more than what Foodshare can dis-tribute in a whole year!

Why is this important? Besides pro-viding food for people who need it, using SNAP is a good way to boost the economy. SNAP is federal money being spent in our own community. Research shows that every $1 spent in SNAP benefits results in $1.73 worth of local economic activity.

Your contribution to the United Way helps in this effort. Would you like to do more?

Volunteers are needed to help Food-share inspect and repack fresh pro-duce. Last year, Foodshare volun-teers saved more than 4.3 million pounds of fresh, safe produce for distribution to Greater Hartford’s low income families! Their major limita-tion in growing this program is hav-ing volunteers to sort and repackage all the fresh produce when it be-comes available.

Shifts are available on Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So if you have a few hours and want

to do some hands-on work to bright-en a neighbor’s meal, give us a call - you might be available on the day we most need your help!

This is a great opportunity for indi-viduals or for group projects (groups of 5-15). This can be a one-time or ongoing project, with volunteers asked to commit to a two hour ini-tial shift.

Interested? http://volunteer.truist.com/uwcact/org/opp/657718.html

Compliance Questions

or Concerns?If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies,

please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a

confidential and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAP or online at

HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

New Cafe-teria Price Structure Effective Tuesday; 5% Staff Discount The Department of Food & Nutri-tion Services will introduce a new 2-tier pricing structure in the Cafete-ria tomorrow (Tuesday, March 12).  While prices will be increasing slight-ly, employees displaying their ID badge will receive a 5% discount. Please keep in mind that all prices dis-played will be the higher, visitor prices. Employees must show their ID badge.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness LectureLearn the importance of colon cancer pre-vention, detection and treatment at a lec-ture Wednesday, March 13, from 6:30–8 p.m. at the Hartford Public Library. Speak-er is GI nurse navigator Marlene Silvis.  A free FIT test (Fecal Immunochemi-cal Test) will be provided.  Screening is the most realistic approach to re-ducing new cases of colorectal cancer. Please call Health Referral Service at 860-545-1888 to register. For more informa-tion, call HH’s Cancer Connect Line at 860-545-6000.

Kidney Trans-plant: Is it right for you?

Free educational seminar about kid-ney transplantation on Wednesday, March 13 from 7-8 p.m. Hartford Hos-pital Family Health Center in Enfield. Hartford Hospital experts Dr. Anne Lally, Coleen Smart, and Paul Persaud will pro-vide education about the kidney transplant evaluation process, surgery, living kidney donation and financial considerations.    To register, call the Health Referral Ser-vice at 860-545-1888.

St. Patrick’s Day Menu in the Cafeteria ThursdayA traditional St. Patrick’s Day menu will be served in the cafeteria on Thursday, March 14: Split Pea Soup Potato Leek Soup Shepherd’s Pie Irish Lamb Stew Corned Beef and Cabbage Parslied Red Potatoes Baby Carrots Leprechaun Cake

Red Cross Blood DriveWe will hold a Blood Drive on Thursday, March 14 from 7 a.m.-12:45 p.m. in Heu-blein Hall. After the February blizzard, the Red Cross experienced a shortfall of

over 1,200 units of blood. Please help us restore the blood supply. Donors can schedule an appointment by calling Erin Estremera at ext 5-2079, or going to www.redcrossblood.org and en-tering the Sponsor Code

3962. Donors should contact Erin or Pe-ter Boucher at peter.boucher@redcross.org with any questions.

Tupperware in the CafThe Tupperware vendor will be in the Cafeteria on Thursday, March 14 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sponsored by the Auxil-iary Store.

“No One Dies Alone” Seeking VolunteersA national program called No One Dies Alone is being piloted at Hartford Hospi-tal. A “compassionate companion” vol-unteer provides reassuring presence to patients who would otherwise die alone. If you are interested, contact the Volun-teer Department at ext. 5-2198. Manda-tory training will be held March 25.

Seeking Medi-cal Volunteers for Sandy Hook 5K Hartford Hospital has agreed to provide medical coverage for the Sandy Hook 5K Run for the Families scheduled for Saturday, March 23 from  8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in downtown Hart-ford. If you are an MD, RN or EMT who is interested in helping, we could use your help. Please call Ralf Coler at ext 5-2373.

Whalers VouchersThe Whalers will be recognizing our HH fan support with a puck drop in our hon-or at a home game vs. Manchester on Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m. We will also have a table in the atrium where we will be distributing flyers about the hospital recruiting participants for the American Cancer Society’s long-term study. Volunteers for this kiosk are need-ed. A new block of 50 Whale vouchers are available in the Auxiliary Store. All tickets are just $13, and $5 of that goes to the Auxiliary!

Applications Available For “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day”Applications are now available for the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, which helps girls and boys discover the

power and pos-sibilities associ-ated with a bal-anced work and family life. Chil-dren from 4th to 12th grade are el-

igible. The event date is Thursday, April 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. To obtain an application, please contact Amanda Blaszyk at ablaszyk@harthosp.org or ext. 5-4732. Applications must be submitted by Friday, April 5.

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-545-2199