Annual Report 2009
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2009 | Year in Review RIGHT CARE, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME + OUR MIssION To excel at the delivery of healthcare to our community. + Dear Friends Throughout 2009, senators and congressmen, lobbyists and insurance companies, the president and the American people weighed and debated the pros and cons of healthcare reform. While this was playing out, Huntington Memorial Hospital continued to provide high-quality healthcare for our community — every hour of every day. Regardless of changes to our national healthcare system that will occur over the next several years, there are several constants that, for Huntington Hospital, will never change: • THE RIGHT CARE: As you will discover in the pages that follow, many factors go into providing the right care for our patients: By attracting and retaining the best physicians and nurses, offering the most advanced technologies, and ensuring optimal coordination of care services, we focus on achieving the very best clinical outcomes. • IN THE RIGHT PLACE: Exceptional patient care can only be provided in excep- tional patient facilities. At Huntington Hospital, ensuring the availability of such facilities remains a priority. In 2009, for example, the new state-of-the-art Huntington Pavilion opened, consolidating a variety of outpatient services for + + + improved coordination and convenience. And construction of our expanded Emergency & Trauma Center — which will enhance our capacity to provide prompt, lifesaving care — was already well underway. • At THE RIGHT TIME: In many cases, reaching care quickly makes a lifesaving difference. In 2009, Huntington Hospital continued to enhance our response for patients with time-sensitive conditions such as heart attack and stroke, including the inauguration of our certified primary stroke center. Emergency & Trauma Center expansion will further increase capacity to provide care for local patient with the most urgent of needs. Regardless of shifting political or economic winds, Huntington Hospital con- tinues to provide all members of our community with the right care, in the right place, at the right time — thanks to the generosity of friends like you. Thank you for your support. STEPHEN A RALPH | President and CEO YEAR IN REVIEW 2009 / 1 + + + Left: Danny Jimenez, RN, manager of the neurosciences stroke center at Huntington Memorial Hospital and interim manager of the hospital’s critical care unit, is committed to excellent care for regional stroke patients. Right: Staff attending a recent Huntington Hospital Stroke Center open house included, from left, Carolyn Lo, clinical laboratory scientist; J. Ruth Griffin, clinical laboratory technician; and Brigette Martinez, RN. 2 / HUNTINGTON HOSPITAL GETTING IT RIGHT: STRoke CaRE Best in class. These words describe Huntington Memorial Hospital’s care for stroke patients. Here, the best of physicians, nursing staff and medical technologies come together to reduce community overall risk — and provide prompt, lifesaving care when stroke occurs. PROFILE A Personal and Professional Commitment Just eight years ago, Danny Jimenez, of Nursing and Allied Health. He from a nursing perspective…and the RN, was on the fast track to becoming then enrolled in the nursing program importance of stroke education in our a member of the Los Angeles County at Azusa Pacific University, where community,” he says. Sheriff’s Department when his family he earned a bachelor’s degree in Danny is helping to spearhead a staged an “intervention,” he says. nursing and qualified as a certified training program through which we “What I thought was going to be a neuroscience registered nurse. With will increase the percentage of certi- congratulatory dinner for complet- these credentials, and additional fied neuroscience registered nurses ing my academy exams became a experience, he is now manager of at the hospital. He is also involved show-and-tell about the nursing the neurosciences stroke center at in educating community members profession — with fliers and every- Huntington Hospital, overseeing our about stroke risks, symptoms and thing!” Danny’s mother (a nursing inpatient stroke unit. (He also serves treatment. (In addition to his work at assistant in her native Ecuador before as interim manager of the hospital’s the hospital, he has been designated immigrating to the United States) critical care unit.) Creation of this an Ambassador of Education to the and sister (who works as a public dedicated stroke unit contributed to Latino community by the American health nurse) encouraged him to take the hospital’s designation as a pri- Heart Association.) a closer look at their own profession. mary stroke center in 2009. “Stroke is the number-one cause of He was convinced. As Danny participated in plan- disability in the United States and the Initially becoming a patient care ning to enhance the stroke program number-three cause of death,” he says. associate at Huntington Memorial here, his mother suffered two mini “There are still too many people who Hospital, Danny earned his associ- strokes. “That really gave me the don’t know this — and who don’t know ate’s degree in nursing, as well as impetus to learn more about the what they can do to prevent a stroke. certification as a registered nurse, prevalence of the disease…what it I want to do all I can to help.” from the Los Angeles County School takes to care for stroke patients YEAR IN REVIEW 2009 / 3 + + + Arbi Ohanian, MD, medical director of Huntington Hospital Stroke Center, is a fellowship‑trained neurovascular neurologist. He recently helped lead Huntington Memorial Hospital in achieving designation as a primary stroke center. 4 / HUNTINGTON HOSPITAL Ellen and David Lee made an important leadership gift toward creation of the stroke center at Huntington Hospital. Seal of Approval Stroke education and outreach activities at the hospital are funded through a generous grant from The California Endowment, In December 2009, Huntington facilitated by Endowment board Hospital was designated a primary member John Bryson. stroke center by (and received a Gold Seal of Approval from) the Joint Commission — an independent certification body. We also became one of just 11 hospitals to be approved for participation in Los Angeles County’s emergency stroke system. Recognizing that primary stroke centers provide better and more rapid treatment, the county’s system emphasizes transportation of stroke patients to a center such as ours, even if another hospital is closer. Led by Medical Director Arbi Ohanian, MD, a fellowship-trained neurovascular neurologist, our stroke center services include: • Rapid intervention: When a stroke occurs, time is brain. From the Powerful Patient-care Technologies moment stroke patients arrive at Huntington Hospital, they receive prompt intervention, guided by a The primary stroke center at the Penumbra system, for instance, series of time-sensitive protocols. Huntington Hospital is home to the neurointerventional specialists can • A 24-hour Code Stroke team — most advanced diagnostic and treat- gently aspirate clots from the obstruct- comprised of neurologists, stroke ment technology available for stroke ed blood vessel, renewing blood flow to coordinators, phlebotomists, CT patients. In 2009, we became the first the area. Studies show that it is approx- technologists and pharmacists — in Southern California to acquire a imately twice as effective at renewing that assists in the prompt diagnosis 320-slice CT scanner, for example. This blood flow than the average using other and treatment of stroke patients as powerful x-ray imaging technology clot-removing devices — and offers they reach the hospital’s emergency measures subtle changes in blood flow lower risk of adverse side-effects. department. and tiny blockages forming in blood The MERCI — or Mechanical • Dedicated stroke coordinators who vessels in the heart and brain — in one Embolus Removal in Cerebral work beside physicians and nurses second or less. The newest-generation Ischemia retrieval system — is used to provide an extra measure of scanner can image most of the body’s to remove clots and restore blood flow assistance and support for stroke organs in their entirety. In addition, the among stroke patients who are experi- patients, as needed. clarity of its images further enhances encing a more significantly narrowed • A dedicated 10-bed inpatient unit diagnostic capabilities and treatment or fully blocked artery. Such patients for stroke patients. decision-making. typically have more limited options • Advanced inpatient and outpatient Patients at Huntington Stroke for treatment. Our surgeons use the rehabilitation services. Center also have access to the most MERCI device to capture the clot and • Community outreach and advanced clot-retrieval technology extract it from the body, via catheter. education regarding stroke risks available — the Penumbra and MERCI Like the Penumbra system, it offers and prevention. devices — for optimal treatment. Using enhanced outcomes for patients. YEAR IN REVIEW 2009 / 5 + + + Robert T. Goldweber, MD, assistant director of emergency services at Huntington Memorial Hospital, played a key role in planning and implementation of the hospital’s Emergency & Trauma Center expansion. 6 / HUNTINGTON HOSPITAL WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT NOW: EMERGENCY & TRAUMA CENTER Huntington Memorial Hospital offers the only Center for Trauma Care in our region and the only emergency department in the City of Pasadena. In 2009, our Emergency & Trauma Center provided care through more than 61,000