Trinity Medical Center Adds to Management Team

Trinity Medical Center has promoted Dan Crumpton from Human Resources Manager to Director of Human Resources. Crumpton received his bachelor’s degree in pre-law and business from Samford University.

Phillip Fouts has been named Assistant Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his appointment at Trinity, he served as Assistant CFO and interim CFO at Lake Wales Medical Center in Lake Wales, Florida. Fouts is a graduate of Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, and the Quorum Health Resources CFO development program.

Lori Hedvig has been promoted from Assistant Controller to Controller. Prior to her work at Trinity, she served as an Internal Audit Manager for seven years with Baptist Health System. Hedvig received her bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s in business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Trinity Medical Center Receives Performance Achievement Award

The American Stroke Association recently awarded Trinity Medical Center its Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Bronze Performance Achievement Award at the association’s International Stroke Conference 2008. The award recognizes Trinity’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG–Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time,” said Jan Gannon, Trinity’s Chief Nursing Officer. Trinity Medical Center has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate.

To receive the GWTG–Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award, Trinity Medical Center consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the GWTG–Stroke program for 90 days. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation. The 90-day evaluation period is the first in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain this award.

UAB Hospital CFO Named to National Chair Position

Mary Beth Briscoe, MBA, CPA, chief financial officer of the UAB Hospital has been appointed chair of the board of directors for the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

Briscoe, a fellow of HFMA and the American College of Healthcare Executives, chose “making a difference” as a theme for her term. She is challenging the association’s members and volunteers to ignore complacency and become involved and engaged in their organizations, professions and communities. Her HFMA chair term ends in June.

Briscoe, of Vestavia Hills, earned her MBA from UAB. She has been a HFMA member since 1984.

Children’s Hospital Earns National Recognition

Children’s Health System has become one of only two hospitals in the state to achieve Magnet designation for excellence in nursing services by the American Nurses Credential Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. Magnet is one of the highest levels of recognition a hospital can attain. The ANCC recognizes 281 Magnet facilities in 45 states, representing 10.4-percent of all hospitals in the United States.

The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes health care organizations that demonstrate excellence in nursing practice and adherence to national standards for the delivery of nursing services. Applicants undergo a rigorous evaluation.
“The Magnet recognition is a tremendous achievement for Children’s Health System (CHS),” said Surpora Thomas, senior vice president nursing/chief nursing executive of Children’s Hospital. “It is a prestigious international honor that recognizes the excellent work our nurses do each day.”

Health Care Heroes Honored

Recently, the Alabama Hospital Association hosted a luncheon to honor the dedication and compassion of a group of ten Alabama Hospital Heroes who were chosen from hundreds of applicants across the state. Two of the honorees were from the Birmingham area: Louise Standridge, RN, CIC, director of epidemiology at Physicians Medical Center Carraway and Carolyn Young, RN, BSN, nursing home nurse manager at Coosa Valley Medical Center in Sylacauga

Louise Standridge, RN, CIC
Standridge has spent the past 26 years of her 50-year health care career as the director of epidemiology at Physicians Medical Center Carraway. Featured nationally in 2006’s Who’s Who in Infection Prevention, Standridge has been recognized by both peers and co-workers for her expertise and devotion to patient care.
“She is always up-to-date and innovative in instituting policies aimed at promoting state-of-the-art infection control for the benefit of our patients,” said executive assistant Teresa Smith. “She is also a leader among her peers in this community and in professional organizations.”

Standridge has dedicated herself to helping other infection control practitioners. She helped to establish the Alabama Association of Infection Control Practitioners in 1976. Since that time, Standridge has served in every elected office of the organization, including six terms as president. She is also currently a member of the state health department’s task force to develop a statewide pandemic preparedness plan.

Yet, despite her busy schedule, Standridge always takes time to help new infection control practitioners looking for advice.

“Louise has tirelessly mentored countless numbers of new infection control practitioners, myself included, helping each over the hurdles of learning new skills and modeling what it takes to be a professional,” said colleague Cathy Sanders. “She is never too busy to answer a phone or e-mail question from those with less experience.”

Carolyn Young, RN, BSN
Young received her BSN from the University of Maryland in 1967 and has spent more than 40 years in health care. In 1987, she arrived at Coosa Valley Medical Center, where she later assumed the director of nursing position. However, after 12 years of administrative service, she felt compelled to return to the bedside and took over as nurse manager at Coosa Valley Nursing Home in 2001.

Co-workers comment that Young’s eagerness for her job and her commitment to quality care is what makes her a hero in their eyes.

“Mrs. Young continues to work in the nursing home, and I have the privilege of working alongside her,” said Teresa Aldaher, RN, BSN, director of senior services at Coosa Valley Medical Center. “On a daily basis I see her commitment and compassion revealed. She is dedicated not only to providing evidenced-based care, but to providing patient-centered care.”

And while others might be looking to ease their workloads at this stage in their careers, Young is eager to assume new tasks and responsibilities. Co-workers say it is not unusual to see her covering a vacant shift at 4 a.m.

“Ms. Young maintains a work ethic that is unmatched,” said Coosa Valley Medical Center CEO Glenn C. Sisk. “She has demonstrated her commitment to nursing by not only working hard, but ensuring the patient outcomes associated with the nursing home are at the highest level.”

“It really makes you proud to be a part of the hospital field when you hear stories like the ones co-workers tell about these heroes,” said Mike Horsley, president of the Alabama Hospital Association. “These men and women we honored truly represent the best in health care; they are people who make a difference everyday.”

Birmingham Heart Clinic Accredited by ICAEL

Birmingham Heart Clinic was granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). The ICAEL was established with the support of the American Society of Echocardiography, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography to provide a peer review mechanism to recognize the provision of quality echocardiographic diagnostic evaluations by a process of voluntary evaluation. Accreditation status signifies that the facility has been reviewed by an independent agency which recognizes the laboratory’s commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease.

Mount Royal Towers Launches Senior Seminar Series

Mount Royal Towers is launching a Senior Seminar Series, which will bring together medical experts to lead symposiums focused on healthcare issues faced by senior citizens. The symposiums, co-sponsored with Brookwood Medical Center, will be held quarterly and will be open to the medical community, caregivers and the general public.

The first seminar, Alzheimer’s disease: A Caregiver’s Guide, is planned for March 28th from noon to 5PM at Mount Royal Towers. Among those leading the symposium will be, Lawrence R. Lacy, MD, Michael Claggett Collins, MD, FACP, Paul Douglas Roller, MD, MBA, MPH, Kelly Wright, LCSW, and Michael Anthony Remillard, MD.

For more information about the Focus on Health Series, please call Mount Royal Towers at 205-870-5666 or the Brookwood Medical Center call center at 205-877-8800.

DCH Regional Medical Center Employees Awarded

Three DCH Regional Medical Center employees have received awards from the Soroptimist Club of Tuscaloosa.

Director of Volunteers Jane Dunn received the Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award, which honors women working to improve the lives of other women and girls through volunteer efforts, or personal and professional avenues. Dunn, who has worked the Regional Medical Center since 1975, retired in February.

Maria Orrego, a licensed practical nurse, was the first-place winner of the Tuscaloosa Women’s Opportunity Award, and Amber Skelton, a patient care assistant, was the second-place winner of the award. The award aids women seeking to improve their economic status by gaining additional skills, training and education.

Three Honored as UAB Emeritus Faculty

The Board of Trustees of UAB honored three faculty members with Emeritus positions.

Kent Palcanis, DDS, MSD, has been named Professor and Associate Dean Emeritus in the School of Dentistry; Jerry Thompson, PhD, FACMG, has been named Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Biochemistry, Pediatrics, Genetics and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, and Michael Thompson, MS, has been named Professor Emeritus in the School of Health Professions, Nuclear Medicine Technology Program.

Palcanis joined UAB in 1987 in the Department of Periodontology. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1988 until his retirement in 2007. During his career, he has earned the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and been named Dentist of the Year by the Birmingham Dental Society.

Jerry Thompson came to UAB in Biochemistry and Pediatrics in 1972. He is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics, where he was a member of the first board of directors. He is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Alabama Academy of Science.

Michael Thompson joined UAB in 1977. He provided instruction in radiography, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, nurse anesthesia and respiratory therapy. He served as co-author of Principles of Imaging Science and Protection, a landmark radiography text. He also produced videos, computer-animated CD’s and other materials for radiation safety courses that have been used internationally.



March 2008