On Friday, October 2, 2009, Cook County North Shore Hospital’s first H1N1 patient showed up in the emergency room. He was not a typical H1N1 patient – he was in his 80s, according to Head Nurse Bridget Sobieck.
Sobieck told the hospital board Thursday, October 15 that the man had just returned from extensive travel abroad and also had pneumonia from Legionnaires’ Disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Legionnaires’ Disease is usually picked up through bacteria in water supplies or water vapor.
The patient was transferred to a Duluth hospital. He came in on a Friday, and the lab results confirming H1N1 did not get back to North Shore Hospital for a week, Sobieck said.
H1N1 cases are on the rise in Minnesota, Sobieck said. The hospital has preordered 200 H1N1 vaccines in single-dose shot form. Most of it is for the hospital and EMS staff, although getting the shot is voluntary. The vaccine will be offered to those who need it most, such as front line staff, patients whose immune systems are compromised, pregnant women, and young children.
The virus was present back in the 1970s, Sobieck said, and most people who were around back then have developed antibodies to it. The hospital is looking for volunteer health professionals such as nurses, nursing assistants, and pharmacists willing to be trained to help in the event of a community-wide outbreak of H1N1.
Assisted living
The board voted to hire Wipfli, an accounting firm based in Madison, Wisconsin, to conduct a study on the feasibility of an assisted living facility in Grand Marais. Hospital Administrator Diane Pearson had called references on several companies offering the service and recommended Wipfli to the board. Wipfli has worked with clients in Grand Rapids and Two Harbors.
Board member Kay Olson wondered if now was the right time to have a study done since Pearson will be leaving in a few months. They have been talking about doing this study for two years, Howard Abrahamson said, and he didn’t think they should continue to delay the process.
“It’s a step we need to take,” said Sharon Bloomquist. “We might as well get it done.”
Hospice developments
North Shore Health Care Foundation Hospice/Palliative Care Coordinator Kay Grindland reported on progress toward the development of a Cook County hospice program.
Grindland is working eight hours a week for one year under a $10,000 grant from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundations. Pledges for annual support are up to $6,000, and Grindland hopes to raise that number to $25-30,000. Figuring out what it would take to run a hospice program cost effectively is one of her goals this year. She anticipates the program could serve four to eight patients a year.
A physician, a pharmacy, and an oncall nurse must be available 24 hours a day seven days a week in order for the program to be licensed by the state and allowed to call itself a hospice, Grindland said. One option would be to coordinate services with the hospital, which has staff and pharmaceuticals available 24/7. Hospital staff would need special training in hospice care if the hospital became involved.
For now, Grindland said, the program is being called “end of life and palliative care in the spirit of hospice.” Trained volunteers are already providing some services in the hospital and care center, and Grindland is researching how volunteers could provide care in the home under the supervision of home health care staff.
Finances
The hospital saw a loss of $9,253 in September. Controller Yvonne Gennrich is anticipating a potential loss of $300,000 for the year but hopes the final amount is less than that.
The emergency room had 218 visits in September, down from 361 in August. The decrease is typical for this time of year, Gennrich said.
The hospital purchased some computer equipment that can be used at the ambulance garage in case it needs to be used to treat H1N1 patients. Theequipment, which cost under $5,000, can be used in other ways as well.
Search committee
Board member Tom Spence worked with Diane Pearson to create an advertisement and job description to be used in a search for Pearson’s replacement. Spence said he would like to findcandidates without help from a search agency.
Thead will appear on the Minnesota Hospital Association website and on Boreal Access. The hospital also routinely advertises on two other employment sites, Yvonne Gennrich said.
Computerizing data
Thehospital is starting the process of obtaining software that will enable it to comply with seven new federal mandates regarding computerizing patient data.
The new software, which must be in place by 2015, will track things like medication administered bedside, patient notes, and risk management efforts According to Gennrich, the intention of the mandates is to reduce test duplication, allow easier record sharing, and reduce healthcare costs.
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