News

Burgess Health Center is now offering pet therapy for patients, visitors, and staff. The new program allows a volunteer and their certified dog to make scheduled visits with patients and provide much-needed support to those going through a tough medical situation.

Sloan resident’s Addy Johnson, mom Jamie, and their eight-year-old Cavachon, Mira, are the first therapy team to kick off the program. Addy and Mira gained certification through Alliance of Therapy Dog, whose objective is to “form a network of caring individuals and their special dogs are willing to share smiles and joy with people, young and old alike.”

This is the first year Mira has been visiting nursing home residents and patients as a certified pet therapy team.

“She can run into a room, tail wagging, and bring the biggest smile to any patient,” Addy Johnson said of Mira. “I’m happy that she is able to provide such joy, but also help the patients in their healing process.”

“We have been researching the benefits of pet therapy and were referred to Alliance,” said Katie Knutson, Director of Marketing and Patient Experience at Burgess Health Center. “Within one week, we found our perfect match with Addy and Mira. Seeing the patients interact with the duo is incredible.”

Pet therapy has been known to help relieve stress, reduce blood pressure, and improve the overall healing process.

To learn more about Alliance of Therapy Dog, check out their website www.therapydogs.com

 

Photo: Darrell Wessell, Addy Johnson, and Mira

 

Burgess Health Center’s Compliance and Privacy Officer, Sharon Taylor, is set to speak at the 2019 Coverys Risk Management Summit on August 13, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa.  The theme, “Connecting the Dots” links Taylor’s topic, “Wearing Multiple Hats Successfully in the Smaller Facility Environment.”

This annual meeting features presentations by leaders and experts in healthcare risk management and offers attendees the opportunity to network with peers.

“Sharon wears many hats here at Burgess,” said Burgess Health Center President, Fran Tramp. “She keeps us informed of certain industry changes, education opportunities, and works very hard at keeping our patients safe as well as our staff.”

Taylor has served in a variety of capacities in her 45 years at Burgess. Currently, she is the risk, safety, compliance, privacy, regulator, and infection control director.  Taylor has taken Burgess’ risk, compliance/privacy, and regulatory programs from one that had only a policy to an active and engaging program embedded throughout our organization. She continues to attain certifications, and just recently completed the requirements to be re-certified as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management by the American Hospital Association.

Photo: Sharon Taylor

It was Christmas in July at Burgess Health Center! Burgess People Care hosted a non-perishable food drive on Thursday, July 25, 2019, in the cafeteria at Burgess Health Center.

Employees from the hospital and area clinics came together to donate hundreds of non-perishable food items, totaling nearly 300 pounds.  In addition, $400 in cash donations were brought in as well. Burgess People Care members, Janie Schlitter, Brooke Mills and Lori Jensen, were on-hand to receive the donations.

“We are always looking for ways to help our community, and when Brooke came up with the idea, we ran with it,” said Schlitter. “Burgess employees are very generous, especially when it comes to helping those in need.”

A free hot dog bar and a cookie decorating contest were set up for those who donated. All food and cash donations were given to West Central’s food pantry for Monona County.  Cash donations were also given to each of the food pantries in Dunlap, Mapleton, and Sloan.

PHOTO: Janie Schlitter and Lori Jensen.

In a medical emergency, a quick response from board-certified emergency physicians and critical care nurses can mean the difference between life and death. Burgess Health Center will soon have access to these services, thanks to a new eCARE Emergency telemedicine program funded through a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Rural Health Program.

The $170,988 grant will allow the facility to acquire equipment and training to connect with Avera Health in Sioux Falls, S.D., where emergency staff will be on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help local medical providers deliver the best possible care in the shortest possible time.

High-definition cameras and microphones will allow the eCARE Emergency virtual team at Avera to both see and hear everything that is taking place in the emergency room. They can guide rural nurses and other providers in patient care until a rural physician arrives. They can also consult with doctors on difficult cases.

“We are committed to delivering the best possible healthcare to our community, and this technology takes a big step toward meeting that commitment,” said Fran Tramp, president of Burgess Health Center. “We really appreciate the assistance of the Helmsley Charitable Trust  to make this possible.”

The new eCARE Emergency service is expected to be operational by September 2019.

This type of hub-and-spoke health delivery, pioneered by Avera and Helmsley, is also being used to bring pharmacy services and intensive care specialty access to rural hospitals and patients across the seven-state region.

The eCare programs are part of The Helmsley Charitable Trust Rural Healthcare Program’s ongoing efforts to improve the lives of rural residents in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Programs include telehealth services, training, emergency medical care, diagnostics, cardiac care, cancer care and research into innovations that specifically address the challenges of healthcare delivery in Rural America.

“Our goal is to ensure that people who live in rural America have access to quality healthcare as close to home as possible,” said Walter Panzirer, trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “To achieve this, rural hospitals need to be viable and they need to have up-to-date equipment, so patients can receive essential healthcare services locally. This initiative is one of many that aims to improve healthcare access and health outcomes in our region.”

 

Burgess Health Center Contact:

Katie Knutson
Marketing Director
1600 Diamond Street
Onawa, IA 51040
712.423.9198
kknutson@burgesshc.org

 

HELMSLEY CONTACT:
Elizabeth Ruen
ERuen@helmsleytrust.org
605.361.9848

 

About the Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $2 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel. To date, this program has awarded more than $380 million to organizations and initiatives in the upper Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, and Montana. For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

 

 

 

Burgess Health Center is proud to announce that Hannah Archer recently earned the credential of Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) after successfully completing a rigorous national exam. This license is critical to providing patients with the highest quality of care.

Archer worked in registration at Burgess Health Center before making the decision to continue her education to become an LPN. This fall, Archer plans to continue improving and validating her knowledge and skills by enrolling to become a Registered Nurse (RN) at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

“We are so proud of Hannah,” said Tami LeFebvre, Specialty Clinic Supervisor at Burgess. “She dedicated herself, and in the end, Burgess patients are the ones who will benefit the most.”

 

Photo: Hannah Archer, LPN

 

Burgess Health Center now offers a telemental health services in order to meet an urgent need for psychiatric and substance abuse cases in the emergency department. This service will provide more timely access to mental health evaluations in a rural hospital setting.

“We’ve been facing an increase in mental health and substance abuse cases coming through our emergency room doors,” said Karla Copple, Director of Emergency Services at Burgess. “This option will give our physicians and nurses’ real-time support, not to mention increasing quality of care and decreasing costs for our patients.”

Patients that arrive with psychiatric and substance abuse often face long wait times to be evaluated by a trained mental health provider. Some patients may also be discharged from the hospital before receiving an evaluation or roomed in a hospital bed for observation, reducing the quality of care and increasing costs with repeated visits.

Photo: Karla Copple, Director of Emergency Services

 

Burgess Home Health/Hospice certified two new volunteers, Beth Kirby and Harold Remmenga, through hospice training, bringing the total number of volunteers for this outreach program to 14. These volunteers serve patients and their families as far north as Sergeant Bluff, as far south as Modale, as far east as Dunlap, and anywhere in between.

Hospice volunteers go into patient homes, nursing homes, and the hospital to visit patients. They may run errands, help around the house, take the patient for a ride, or provide respite for the family members. Hospice volunteers are great support for the patient and the patient’s family.

“We would not be able to provide hospice service to our patients if we did not have wonderfully caring volunteers,” said Jenny Kenney of Burgess Home Health/Hospice. “We are truly blessed to have this great group of volunteers working with our patients and their families. Our volunteers are a special group of people, they are caring and compassionate.”

Photo: Beth Kirby and Harold Remmenga

Terry Framke, Vice President of the Burgess Health Center Board of Directors, retired in May after 29 years of service.  During her tenure, she has also served as a Burgess Foundation board member, which she will retire from in June.

“We thank Terry for her 29 years of dedicated service to our board of directors, including her years on the Burgess Foundation Board,” Fran Tramp, President of Burgess Health Center exclaimed. “We appreciate her leadership and commitment to our organization, and we are grateful for her many contributions to Burgess’s success. We wish her all the best.”

Framke was present through the navigation of numerous healthcare legislation changes, hospital and service line expansions, and a facility name change, just to name a few. She also fully supported the Foundation Board and their goal of donating $1 million dollars for the purchase of new equipment at Burgess Health Center over the last 5 years.

“I want to express my deep appreciation for the opportunity to work with and benefit from so many talented and dedicated colleagues,” said Framke. “My board position has also allowed me to engage with many of the most impressive community leaders and members and I thank them for allowing me to help support the goals and priorities of the organization.”

Pictured: Jim Westergaard, president of the Board of Directors; Terry Framke, retiring/outgoing Board member; Fran Tramp, president of Burgess Health Center.

The Burgess Whiting Pharmacy is pleased to announce employee Sara Utterback successfully challenged the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) exam in April 2019.  Sara is joining a group of health care certificate holders that is nearly 700,000 strong nationally.

PTCB certification is not a given, as evidenced by an exam pass rate of less than 60%.  Sara has been receiving on-the-job training in the Pharmacy Department for the past six months, as well as taking the time to study the various areas that are tested on her own time.  Her dedication to improving her skills is undoubtedly deserving of commendation.

“Becoming certified is a major accomplishment and we honor Sara’s commitment and hard work,” said Sandy Rose, Pharmacy Director at Whiting Pharmacy. “She has now equipped herself with additional expertise and has become an invaluable asset to our organization.”

Pictured: Sara Utterback, Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT)