May has been a month of recognitions and celebrations. We recognized our nearly 900 nurses during Nurses Week, including a decorating contest on our nursing units. Congratulations to first place winner, Allen-Calder 2 West, for their baseball team theme. They really hit it out of the park with their enthusiasm and design. Runners up were the Rapid Admission Unit and Emergency Department. Greg McLean, our new board of directors chairman, and I really enjoyed the decorated units. My thanks to all the nursing areas for their creativity and spirited competition. 

We also celebrated Hospital and Nursing Home Week. More than 400 employees enjoyed the recognition dinner where we honored employees who have reached milestones for years of service. More than 427 employees have from 5 years to 45 years of service with our organization. And 105 employees have been employed for 20 years or more. A special congratulations and thank you to Karen Apel, charge RN, CCU; Linda Dape, unit secretary, Pediatrics; Jacqueline de Lalla, LPN II, Dialysis, Sharon Jensen, food preparer, Nutritional Services; and Barbara Mierek, RN, Operating Room for 40 years of services. Also to Nina Fiorentino, RN, Ambulatory Surgery, who received our 45 year service recognition!

We also want to congratulate and recognize our four 2009 Team Excellence Award Winners. They are teams for Rapid Response led by Sue McKinstry, RN, clinician for Critical Care; Emergency Department Service Recovery led by Mary Beth Dowling, RN, nurse manager ICU/CCU; Insulin Pen Conversion led by Kevin Hoehn, Pharmacy and Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infection (CLABSI) led by Heather Bernard, Infection Prevention. These were patient-focused initiatives that live and breathe our culture of safety, quality and Relationship-Based Care (RBC).

The School of Radiography celebrated its 57th graduation with fifteen graduates awarded a diploma in Radiography and three received their Associate in Science Degree from Mohawk Valley Community College.

In June we celebrate our 4th anniversary of our reward and recognition program known as Applause. Recently Tony Scibelli and Sue Warwick accepted two awards at a national conference for Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare from Recognition Professionals International (RPI) for Recognition Strategy and Training. My thanks to the Rewards and Recognition Team for their work with this program and to all of you for taking time to thank the good work of your co-workers!

Not so positive news is the continued delay in Albany over the state budget. It has been nearly 60 days and counting and a budget has still not been passed. We continue to be active in that process, voicing our concern, and working with HANYS toward a final budget agreement.

We received notification from DNV that we are now accredited for three years effective March 26, 2010. Remember DNV will survey our organization annually. In the next few months, all of you will be part of process-improvement teams working to address our nonconformities and building a culture of accountability to sustain the changes we make. It’s not about the survey process, it’s about building a better culture of safety and quality for our patients and residents.

Summer is upon us. I hope you take time with your family and friends to ‘renew’ your spirit and enjoy all that our region has to offer.

Scott H. Perra, FACHE
President/CEO