LHD board hears Daisy Program presentation
The Lavaca Hospital District Board of Directors met in its regular monthly meeting Monday evening and heard a presentation on the Daisy Program.
Jaden Brewer, RN and Emily Harabis, RN, LFHC assistant manager provided a power point demonstration regarding program that will be incorporated at Lavaca Medical Center.
Brewer said the Daisy Program is based on the acronym Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem and is a way to award nurses who exceed expectations in providing exceptional care to patients.
She said it originated in the state of Washington after a patient (Patrick Barnes) passed away from an autoimmune disease.
“After his passing, the family wished for something positive from his loss and the Daisy Foundation was created,” Brewer said. “The Daisy is the most prestigious award nurses can receive in their career and it’s a world-wide recognized ward that many hospitals participate in. It represents all the hard work nurses do daily.”
According to Brewer, the Daisy Foundation has honored nurses worldwide for over 25 years and is not only for hospitals, but for nursing schools as well.
“This award makes an impact on the nurses receiving it by promoting nursing engagement by igniting extraordinary, compassionate care among the health care workers,” Brewer said. “It improves staff satisfaction by awarding their hard work. It helps retain nurses by recognizing the care they provide and improves the patient-family experience.”
She said it is also a way for the patient-family to express their gratitude towards the nursing care received by nominating a nurse for the award.
“Receiving this award, or even being nominated, sparks fire for the person receiving it and it reminds them of why they went into nursing,” Brewer said.
She said nurses who are honored with the award receive a certificate, a hand-crafted sculpture, a banner that hangs in their nursing unit and a pin that is worn on their badge.
Medical Staff Applications
The board approved medical staff applications submitted by LMC assistant chief of staff Dr. Kody Selzer.
The physicians approved include Gustavo Sandigo, M.D. (family practice/sleep study) for advancement from provisional consulting; Carl Kay, M.D. (internal medicine/gastroenterology) and Billie J. Marek, M.D. (internal medicine/oncology) for application for provisional courtesy; Arthur Joseph, D.O., MPH (diagnostic radiology) for application for provisional consulting and Daniele Burns, CRNA (anesthesiologist) and David A. Conrad (scrub tech/ophthalmology) for application for allied health personnel.
Administration/Financial Report
Lavaca Medical Center administrator Steve Bowen, presented the administration and financial report for February and told the board of the progress of the architects for the Physical Therapy/Wellness Center.
He said they are finished with the drawings and bids will be run in the local newspaper this week.
Bowen also explained the steps that will follow after the bids have been submitted.
Regarding physcian recruitment, Bowen said a family doctor from Brady will be visiting the facility soon and a new gastroenterologist will be joining LMC in late April.
He said they have acquired another mid-level health care provider, who will work in the clinic.
Bowen said the installation of a 3D mammography is being completed and they will start utilizing it soon.
He said the purchase of the 3D mammography machine was made possible by grants from the Johnson and Dixon-Allen Foundations. The cost of the machine was nearly $380 thousand.
Bowen announced that the Parkinson Walk, sponsored by the Physical Therapy department, will take place on April 10 and the annual Health Fair will be held on May 14.
Bowen said athletic physicals will take place in May.
As far as patient visits at the clinic, Bowen said there were 211 more for the month over last year at this time.
A financial report was not reported.
Board president James Fenner presided over the meeting with board members Rosanne Gallia, Carl Hobbs, Forrest Kroschel, Gene Schott, Doug Kubicek and Ronnie Juenke attending the meeting.