RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital April 15, 2013 Vol. 69 No. 14

Above: A crowd turned out to celebrate the announcement: 1,240 new organ donors registered in 60 days!

Below left: Al Terzi from Fox CT interviews Hartford Hospital President/CEO Jeffrey Flaks about the success of the organ donor drive.

Below right: Jami Tyska, organ procurement coordinator for LifeChoice Donor Services, thanks the newly registered donors.

Free Money From Homeownership Incentive ProgramAs part of our continued efforts to improve the quality of life for our staff members, as well as the eco-nomic vitality of the city of Hart-ford, Hartford Hospital is very pleased to offer interest-free loans to employees in good standing who wish to buy homes in Hartford, anywhere in the South end except downtown.

Through the Hartford Hospital Home Ownership Incentive Pro-gram (HIP), these loans are inter-est-free and forgivable. We will offer five mortgage loans of up to $10,000 per employ-ee. Staff mem-bers must live in the homes for at least five years. The mortgage will be forgiven over the course of the five years. These loans will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.

The area covered by the program is outlined in the map at top right.

Below are the steps for apply-ing for the loans:

Step 1 - Obtain and com-plete your application and send it to Dianne LePore in the Human Resource Administra-tion Office, High Build-ing Room 136 (across from the Cashier’s Of-fice) along with a pre-approval letter from your lender.

Step 2 - Within a few days, you will be con-tacted by our HIP man-ager, Dean Iaienn-

aro (860-493-1618) to verify your eligibility.

Step 3 - You have 60 days from the date of your initial application to locate an eligible home and obtain a purchase and sale agreement. Af-ter 60 days, you must reapply.

Step 4 - At least three weeks be-fore your closing date, you must

provide the HIP manager with the name and ad-dress of your at-torney as well as your Social Secu-rity number.

Step 5 - Before your closing takes place, a check in the incentive amount (current-ly up to $10,000) will be paid joint-ly to you and your closing attorney.

We believe this is an outstand-

ing opportunity for our staff members and their families to ex-perience home ownership with-in relative close proximity to the hospital.

For more information, contact Di-anne LePore in the Human Re-source Administration Office at ext. 5-1820.

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Compliance/ Privacy

Questions or Concerns?

If you need to obtain information about compliance/privacy 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

National Neurodiagnostics Week April 14-20

Neurodiagnostic technol-ogists provide a valuable

contribution to quality patient care through

recording and study of the electrical activity of the

brain and nervous system.

Neurodiagnostic technologists have many areas of expertise and act as eyes and ears

for specially trained physicians.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 • 2pm Remarks at 2:15Hudson Street Employee Parking Garage, Lower Level • Refreshments will be served on Skybridge

Join us for a ribbon cutting:Employee Parking Garage | Barney Fitness Center | Joseph Sargent Skybridge

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The Hartford Hospital Epilepsy Mon-itoring Unit (EMU) located on C-11 opened its doors in November 2012, and it immediately began making a difference in many patients’ lives. In the five months since the cen-ter opened, we’ve had 75 new office visits with our epileptologists; and on April 5, the center celebrated its 35th patient admitted for advanced monitoring.

Of the 35 patients we have seen, three patients currently suffer-ing from epilepsy now have the op-tion of undergoing surgical proce-dures that will we believe w i l l cure them; and 10 now have posi-tive confirmation that they do have epilepsy and have been provided with key medication adjustments to free them from seizures. Anoth-er 17 patients now know that they were misdiagnosed with epilepsy and have been taken off multiple medications that had life-altering side effects.

The Comprehensive Epilepsy Cen-ter offers the most-innovative tech-nology available, specialized equip-ment and services, and the clinical guidance of a highly trained multi-disciplinary team.

Patients receive consultation, diag-nosis and treatment in one location for a very coordinated experience and, for convenience, have the op-tion of receiving care at any of three locations: the main center in Hart-ford or our satellite offices in Enfield and Wethersfield.

The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at HH is now growing from two to four beds, and the reputation of the cen-ter is growing too.

We are making progress to-ward being designated a Level 4 center by the National Asso-ciation of Epilepsy Centers.

Level 4 is a designation for compre-hensive epilepsy centers with pro-grams that offer the most complex surgical procedures and a high vol-ume of inpatient diagnostic testing.

A Level 4 designation will place us among the nation’s most elite epi-lepsy facilities, and we will be the only Level 4 program in central, eastern and northern Connecticut.

In addition, we have partnered with the Epilepsy Foundation of Con-necticut to form a support group at Hartford Hospital. We developed a 12-member Patient Advisory Board,

which is working on developing a discharge summary plan that in-cludes what patients really want in a plan. This kind of patient in-put will ensure we provide the most positive patient experience possible.

Our Comprehensive Epilepsy Center has been recognized on “Better Con-necticut” on WFSB-Channel 3, in the Hartford Courant and on Channel 3’s “Medical Rounds.”

With more than 60,000 Connecticut residents affected by epilepsy, we know there is a huge need for the care we deliver.

Our Epilepsy Center continues to build a national reputation for ex-cellence, thanks to our ability to put state-of-the-art treatments and technologies into the hands of our extraordinary staff members, who truly deliver beyond advanced care.

Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Celebrates 35th Patient

Front row (left to right): Eliete Perez, Yan Zhang, Kelly Sandblom, Ruthy Benitez, Elvire Sanon, Penny Lawrence, Melissa Strange, Abby Baecker, Abby Smith and Mary Babcock. Back row (left to right): Gerardo Ramos, Erica Schuyler, Bryan Proxee, Alex Rivera, An-thony Williams, Jason Alster, Daniel Rodriguez and Cindy Swick.

National Housestaff Appreciation Week April 14-20

Please join us in thanking our Hartford Hospital and UConn Residents and Fellows for all the efforts,

knowledge, expertise and compassion that they bring to the care of our patients at Hartford Hospital.

Their participation in our clinical activities is essential to the quality of our outcomes.

Tuesday is National Healthcare Decisions DayNational Healthcare Decisions Day is Tuesday, April 16. It is designed to edu-cate the public about the importance of choosing a health care proxy and writing a living will. There’s a big gap between what people say they want at the end of their lives and what actually happens: only 23% have put their wishes in writ-ing. It is our goal to encourage all Hart-ford Hospital employees to thoughtful-ly consider and make their own health care decisions known by completing their advance directives. Staff from So-cial Work Services, Pastoral Care, Pallia-tive Medicine, the Ethics Committee and the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center are sponsoring information tables in the lobby and the cafeteria from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find a link to the advance directive forms from Hartford Hospital’s Patient Guide and Critical Care pages.

Organ Donor RegistrationApril is National Do-nate Life Month. Representatives of the hospital and of LifeChoice will be in the main lobby on Wednesday and Thursday, April 17 and 18 to raise awareness of organ donation and facilitate signing up new donors.

Ring Rage!The Ring Rage ven-dor will be in the Hartford Hospital Cafeteria on Thurs-

day, April 18 from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. All 3,000+ rings, normally priced from $30-$60, will be only $12 each. All rings are 14K gold electroplated. We will also have an amazing collection of bracelets, pins, necklaces, and earrings.

RSVP NOW!!! Quarter Century ClubThe 2013 Quarter Century Club event is scheduled for Friday, May 10. Members of the Quarter Century only, please click on this link to view the invitation, print it, complete the RSVP and fax it back to Maria Rodriguez-Furlow at 860-545-4751 by Friday, April 19.

Depression SessionThe Family Resource Center at the IOL is offering an educational session, Depres-sion: An Introduction To The Disorder, Tues-day, April 16 from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in the IOL’s Center Building Conference Room.

Support Group For Deal-ing With Mental IllnessThe Family Resource Center is offering a support group for families dealing with major mental illness, Thursday, April 18 from 5:15-6:45 p.m. in the IOL’s Center Building Conference Room.

Celebrating The Life and Legacy of Dr. David HullA celebration in mem-ory of Dr. David Hull, emeritus director of the Transplant Program, will be held Friday, April 26 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the ERC’s Heublein Hall. Remarks will begin at 5:30 p.m. All staff are invited to attend. Dr. Hull, the face, voice and hands of the Hartford Hospital Transplant Program for more than two decades, died Feb. 11. He was 59. For more information about this event, please contact Nadia Wood-man at nwoodman@harthosp.org or 860-545-2161.

Pancreatic Disease: What’s The Risk for Cancer?There is a free educa-tional seminar with Hartford Hospital phy-sicians on the impor-tance of pancreatic cancer prevention, detection and treat-ment on Tuesday, April 23 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Gateway Medical Park, 300 West-ern Blvd, Glastonbury. Registration is re-quired. Please call the Health Referral Service at 860-545-1888. For more infor-mation, please call Hartford Hospital’s Cancer Connect Line at 860.545.6000.

Join The ACS-3 Now!The American Cancer Society Cancer Preven-tion Study (CPS-3) is now enrolling partici-

pants at Hartford Hospital. The study is designed to better understand ways to prevent cancer. Previous studies (CPS-1 and CPS-2) have played a major role in understanding cancer prevention. To en-roll now, call 1-888-604-5888, visit www.cancer.org/cps3ne, or e-mail cps3@can-cer.org. There will be enrollment events on Wednesday, April 24 from 2-5:30 p.m. in the ERC Informal Lounge; and Friday, April 26 from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Gilman Auditorium. Participants must call or go online to get an appoint-ment for one of the two days.

Kidney WalkOver 26 million Amer-icans--1 in 9 adults--have chronic kidney disease. The National Kidney Founda-tion’s Annual Kidney Walk will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 9:30 a.m. in Wick-ham Park, Manchester. Join team Hart-ford Transplant there to call attention to the prevention of kidney disease and need for organ donation. Contact Regi-na Radikas, outreach coordinator for our Transplant Program, at 860-972-4738.

Happening at Hartford Hospital

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