Vol. 1 No. 7 May 27, 1988 Plan To Attend Annual Picnic It will soon be picnic time for all hospital employees, their families and friends. This will be the first year TAH-LVHC will have a com- bined event. The picnic will be held on Saturday, June 18, rain or shine at Camp Olympic from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Activities will be varied and will include an egg toss, softball and other games for adults. Children will enjoy face painting, a fish pond, a moonwalk and much more. The pool will be open, so plan to bring your bathing suit. The picnic is the perfect opportu- nity to indulge your appetite with hot dogs, beef barbecue, fried chicken, Italian sausage sand- Chol esterol screening draws ct·owd - Page 3 wiches, barbecued ribs, baked beans, tossed green salad, pasta salad, beer, soda and brownies. Volunteers are needed to help Why Should You Read CheckUp ? with all the activities. Those inter- In recent weeks changes have been made in the distribution of CheckUp at var- ested in helping can contact Vicki ious sites. Still more changes will be imple mented at the LVHC site with the Hackett, ext. 8162 or Ann Kelby, next issue of CheckUp . These changes have been instituted in orde r to make cer- ext. 2279. tain all employees have access to the valuable material in CheckUp. Tickets are on sale at both sites It is essential that EVERY employee read CheckUp in order to be info rmed of and also with picnic committee such critical matters as employee benefits, educational opportunities and members. The cost is S3 for adults c hanges in policy. This will become even more important in coming months as and Sl for children 3 to 11 years. info rmation on changes in the benefits plan becomes ava il able. Children under 3 are admitted at In order to contain costs, much of the information that was previously distrib- no charge. uted to departments on printed flyers is now anno unced only in Ch eckUp. Due to limited parking, there will If you are having difficulty obtaining a copy of CheckUp please call the Com- be a shuttle bus making runs from munications Department at your site (TAH - ext. 2581; LVHC - ext. 8900) as LVHC to nearby Camp Olympic. soon as possible. A The All( V Hospitc: MOORE , PAME LA Lehigh 905 FI NANC I AL SERVICES Hospita A HealthEast Hospo After The Merger ... john Salventi, Ph.D., and Ann Lyon Quality Assurance Now Common of the Office of Integration have ToTAH-LVHC begun meeting with groups ofTAH- With the merger of the medical LVHC department heads and physi- staffs due in July, a Quality Assurance cians to outline and update the consol- program common to both sites has idation process and priorities. All been developed for July impleme nta- department heads will have had a tion. The program will encompass all chance to meet with john and Ann by QA activities within the hospital, mid-June. including clinical departments and Human Resources Management hospital services. Structure In Place William Frailey, M.D., newly The management structure for a Shuttle Service To appointed vice president of medical combined TAH-LVHC Human Begin Soon! affairs, will have ultimate responsibil- Resources department has been estab- ity for QA and Utilization Review lished with Luis Martinez, senior vice who will be responsible for several activities at the hospital. Working president, at the helm. functions through their respective closely with him will be Susan Fioren- With this reorganization, the con- managers, including: tino, former QA/ UR director at The solidation of Human Resources as Keith Strawn, employee informa- Allentown Hospital, who is the new well as integration of policies and tion system manager, whose responsi- director of the department for TAH- procedures for the merged hospital bilities include consolidation of all LVHC. have begun. employee data including full integra- Shuttle Update Key management personnel for tion of payroll and personnel data Two shuttle buses have been pur- TAH-LVHC Human Resources under one data management system; chased to transport employees reporting directly to Luis include: Lynn Schaughency, employment man- between the two hospital sites. Ser- Susan Knapp, director of Educational ager, who will be in charge of all vice is slated to begin July 12. Development for TAH-LVHC, who recruitment and staffing functions Finally... will consolidate activities of the for TAH-LVHC; Rose Haas, R.N., In preparation for the upcoming department at both sites; David director of employee health, who will group meetings, john and Ann report Kozemchak, employee relations spe- be in charge of employee health plan- that their meetings with individual cialist, responsible for assisting TAH- ning and services at both sites; and department heads to assess similari- LVHC employees with their griev- Linda Leddy remains director of Vol- ties and differences between sites ances; Sue Reinke, personnel unteer Services at LVHC. have been completed. With the manager, who will be accountable for Candidates are being interviewed insight gained from these sessions, the design, interpretation and imple- to fill the manager of employee bene- john and Ann can advise Samuel Hus- mentation of Human Resources poli- fits position. The successful applicant ton, president and CEO of TAH- cies and procedures for the hospital; will oversee the activities of the two LVHC, regarding consolidation oppor- and G. john D'Aurora, vice president, benefits counselors. tunities. From sausage sandwiches to tacos, there was something for everyone at May Daze. 2 Cholesterol Screening Draws Thousands Over 4,600 men and women waited CountDown Le high Valley is affil- serum cholesterol and heart disease, up to two hours to have their choles- iated with the Voluntary Hospitals of to e mphasize the need for everyone terol level determined at the Lehigh Ame rica's (VHA) CountDown USA, to know his cholesterol level in the Valley Mall from May 4 through May 7 the first national blood pressure and same way that he knows his blood as a part of CountDown Lehigh Val- c holesterol screening event. Eve ry pressure, and to provide opportuni- ley. VHA hospital in VHA East, the region ties for individuals to learn their cho- During the same week, close to to which HealthEast belongs, partici- lesterol level in convenient, commu- 1,200 people took advantage ofcholes - pated in this event. Both as an individ- nity sites such as shopping malls, terol screening services offered at the ual site (Lehigh Valley Mall) and as a schools, churches and service organi- Community Health Center at Slate system, HealthEast held .the record zations. Belt Medical Center. Still more peo- among the VHA hospitals fo r screen- CountDown Lehigh Valley is avail- ple were screened at Carbon Plaza ing the most people on May 4; 1,069 at able to businesses, community Mall in Lehighton and at the May Daze the mall and 804 at SBMC. groups and organizations who wish celebration. CountDown Lehigh Valley is a year- to conduct cholesterol screenings at CountDown Lehigh Va lley, a choles- long program whic h seeks to increase their worksites, meetings or special te rol education and screening pro- awareness among Lehigh Valley resi- events. To arrange for a screening, gram, is being conducted by the Divi- dents of the relationship of high call ext. 7929. sion of Community Health, TAH-LVHC, in cooperation with Slate Belt Medical Center, Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital, CALL THE HOTLINE - Ext. 2999 HealthEast Labs, M.W. Wood, Inc., Q. At times, when we go to late lunch, we find the menu exhausted and Lehigh Valley chapter of the Ameri- the soup as broth. Can something be done about this? can Academy of Family Practice, A. It is true that at times we sell out of some items rather quickly, but that does Lehigh Valley Dietetics Association, not happen often. However, sold-out items are always replaced with a substi- and Lehigh Valley Fitness Centers tute item. In regard to the soup, if you ever experience "thin" soup, just inform with partial support from the the service personnel who will immediately re medy the situation. Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Q. Is there any chance the cafeteria at TAH will be open more hours in Trust. the future? A. Currently, we are examining the cafeteria hours in an attempt to increase ser- vice and hours. A decision will be made in the near future. Q. Why is it the soda machine on the street is priced at 50 cents, at Phar- Nurses To Mor, 35 cents, and at the TAH site, 60 cents? A. Soda mac hines in the hospital are not owned or managed by the hospital, and Sponsor Art therefore we do not set the price. It is important to note, however, that this firm Auction donates a substantial part of the profit to the hospital Auxiliary. On Thursday,June 2, the Profes- sional Nurse Council of the Lehigh Valley Hospital Cente r will sponsor an art show and auc- tion in the Hospital Center's audi- torium. An admission charge of S5 will include champagne, fruit and cheese, and desserts which will be served throughout the eve- ning. The preview will begin at 7 p.m. followed by the art auction at 8 p.m. Over 200 works of art includ- ing oils, watercolors, etchings, lithographs and more will be avail- able fo r the novice as well as the experienced collector. Proceeds from the event will benefit Friends of Nursing. For tickets or further information, contact Carol Bury, ext. 8240. Face painting was a p opular activity in the children's tent at May Daze.