PARTNERS in Advancing Health
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PARTNERS in Advancing Health News for Donors and Friends of Emory Healthcare • Fall 2018 In This Issue Emory Saint Joseph’s Auxiliary, A Team of Health Care Emissaries BRAIN HEALTH Alzheimer’s Disease harlie Cayce is a humble leader, to supporting families while their loved in Focus Cquick to downplay his role as one is having heart surgery, Charlie and a longtime member and current the numerous others who volunteer president of the Emory Saint Joseph’s with the Emory Saint Joseph’s Auxiliary Auxiliary as simply wanting to “give have touched countless lives. EMORY EYE CENTER back” to the hospital that he credits RB Kids Day! for saving his life more than once. “It’s about empathy,” he says of After undergoing heart bypass surgery working with patients and their and having recently retired, Charlie families. “I’m there to reduce joined the volunteer group more than a their concerns, their fear of the SYSTEM EXPANSION decade ago. unknown. I try to make sure people Dekalb Medical are comfortable. I talk to them and Becomes The Emory Saint Joseph’s Auxiliary answer their questions. My goal is Emory Healthcare is entirely staffed by volunteers and to help patients have as pleasant of provides a variety of support services an experience as possible under the for Emory Saint Joseph’s patients and circumstances.” WINSHIP CANCER INSTITUTE their families and caregivers. From In addition to the support they provide Thomas Family signing in new patients, to transporting for patients and families, Auxiliary Pays it Forward them to x-ray or the catheterization lab, (Continued on page 6) Currently led by a heart patient, Charlie Cayce, the volunteer group is closely aligned with both patients and staff in delivering outstanding care. EMORY HEALTHCARE Partners in Advancing Health When you or someone you love are With Your Support, We Are Significantly hurt or sick, you need a partner Improving Health in Our Community: who puts your wellbeing top of mind. Emory Healthcare is that n Emory currently has 18,977 n The Emory Vaccine Center is one of partner. With the support of our participants enrolled in 1,895 clinical the largest academic vaccine centers in trials of investigational drugs, devices, the world, with scientists working on community, we are serving Georgia and procedures, making it the vaccines for influenza, Ebola, AIDS, and beyond and advancing the preferred destination for Georgians malaria, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, and seeking innovative, world-class care other diseases. future of health care. close to home. n Winship Cancer Institute is the only n We are the only health system National Cancer Institute (NCI)- Our medical professionals and researchers in Georgia with three Magnet*- designated Comprehensive Cancer represent the full spectrum of disciplines designated hospitals—Emory Saint Center in Georgia and one of only and specialties, so Emory is able to provide Joseph’s Hospital, Emory University 49 in the country. Hospital, and Emory University advanced, compassionate, cutting-edge n The Woodruff Health Sciences Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital. Center invested a total of $125 million patient- and family-centered care to all the n Approximately 613,561 individual in research costs not covered by gifts people we serve. That includes providing patients are treated annually at Emory or grants in fiscal year 2016-2017. advanced access to clinical trials, investing in Healthcare. our core facilities, and growing our programs * Magnet Recognition® from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is the highest and most prestigious distinction a healthcare organization can receive for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. of distinction, including heart and vascular health, neurosciences, cancer, transplant and regenerative medicine, and orthopaedics. Support for Patients and Caregivers Every step of the way, we are informed and supported by donors and volunteers who share Featured at Emory’s Integrated our vision for improving the overall health of Memory Care Clinic our community. hen Harry Haisten’s wife Sandra was Your participation and support are always Wdiagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, he quickly realized that the welcomed and appreciated. disease had progressed more than her internist or neuropsychologist seemed to realize. That’s when he turned to Emory at the recommendation of a friend. In 2014, Harry enrolled Sandra in a clinical drug trial at Emory’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center—now The Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center—and was immediately impressed with the quality of care she received. When the Integrated Memory Care Clinic (IMCC) opened in 2016—a partnership between Emory School of Medicine, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and Emory Healthcare—the Haistens knew they were in good hands. Jonathan S. Lewin, MD “I was completely sold at the first appointment,” Harry recalled. When he and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Emory University Sandra arrived, they barely had to wait until a member of the staff came out, Executive Director, Woodruff Health Sciences Center introduced herself, and welcomed them both with warmth and reassurance. “I knew President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, Emory Healthcare we were in the right place,” he said. 2 EMORY HEALTHCARE Partners in Advancing Health Harry, who serves on the IMCC’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, has nothing but praise for the IMCC and its staff. When Sandra developed a respiratory infection right before a planned Christmas visit to see their daughter and grandchild, Harry called the IMCC and they treated Sandra “as Introducing the kindly and quickly” as any healthcare Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease provider they had ever seen. Research Center As part of its team-based, nurse- Emory University has renamed its Alzheimer’s led approach to care, and with the Disease Research Center (ADRC) in recognition of assistance of a social worker, the IMCC The Goizueta Foundation’s ongoing support for is better preparing dementia patients Harry is glad to see Sandra getting the transformational research toward developing a and caregivers to meet the challenges care she needs so she can spend time with treatment for the disease. that lie ahead. As IMCC clinical their children and grandchild. team lead Carolyn Clevenger, DNP, The Goizueta Foundation’s $25 million gift explains, “The unknown is a fear for of 13% for dementia patients. The this year follows an initial investment of $25 anyone affected with dementia, so we 24/7 access that IMCC patients and million in 2014—and a subsequent $3.9 million strive to ensure that we share the best their caregivers have to on-call staff is supplemental gift—to launch and support the information about what is happening the major reason for this significant Emory Healthy Aging Study and the Healthy now and what’s to come so that decrease, and reflects the quality of care Brain Study, both of which are ongoing and still caregivers and patients know what to that sets the IMCC apart from other enrolling participants. These two landmark clinical expect. Patients and families shouldn’t similar clinics. studies have dramatically expanded the reach and be surprised by anything the clinicians impact of the Emory Brain Health Center and aren’t surprised about.” What has become clear already is the the ADRC. profound impact that the IMCC’s One of the unique elements of the approach has on its patients and their The gifts are a tremendous vote of confidence coordinated care that the IMCC caregivers, families, and loved ones. in Emory’s leadership and steadfast dedication provides is their support for caregivers. By managing medications, focusing to developing new diagnostics, biomarkers, and “They recognize the complications and on comprehensive primary palliative fundamentally changing the course of this disease, trauma that caregivers go through,” care, providing caregivers with support according to Allan Levey, MD, professor and chair explained Harry. The education, and education, and coordinating of the Department of Neurology, and director of resources, and support that Harry has needs across the healthcare system, the the renamed center. received from the IMCC as his wife’s IMCC is changing the way Emory cares “This new gift will not only allow us to continue caregiver has helped him navigate for people living with dementia and enrolling participants in these studies, but also to Sandra’s care more effectively, but has their families and this care is improving eventually offer therapies to affected individuals also helped him manage the emotional quality of life for Emory patients and to either delay development of Alzheimer’s or halt toll of caregiving and connect with their caregivers. it altogether,” noted Levey. others who are in similar situations. “The staff has been such a great “The Integrated Memory Care Clinic support,” he said. is not just about this one clinic,” Clevenger explains. “We are creating The Haistens’ story highlights the a best-practice approach to integrating ways in which the IMCC is helping dementia and primary care that can be patients living with dementia and used nationwide.” their caregivers throughout the care process. In just over two years of Gifts to the Emory Brain Health The Emory ADRC, now renamed The Goizueta operation, the IMCC has earned a 97% Center impact patient care, research, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, is part of satisfaction rating from patients, and and education. To learn more the Emory Brain Health Center. It is one of 32 contact Courtney Harris , director of at less than 2%, the rate of avoidable Alzheimer’s disease research centers supported by development, at 404-727-5282 or hospitalizations among IMCC patients the National Institute of Health in the nation. [email protected]. is well below the national average 3 EMORY HEALTHCARE Partners in Advancing Health Emory Eye Center Hosts Special Day for Child Survivors of Eye Cancer lmost 20 years ago, ophthalmology Achairman Tom Aaberg, Jr., MD, suggested that Emory Eye Center (EEC) host a fun-filled day for children who had faced a cancer of the eye known as retinoblastoma (RB).