Message from the CEO – May 20

Message from the CEO

Chuck Gijanto
Interim President and CEO

May 20, 2022

Lots to Celebrate this Week!

Several disciplines are celebrating national weeks and days this week. Below is a recap and some commentary on each.

The first group isn’t technically Oneida Health but has a profound impact on our organization. It is National EMS Week. These folks bring patients to us when they are in extremis, and the coordination of care and handoffs are critical to the success in treating these folks. Pre-hospital care sets the stage for what happens in the ER, so communication and transfer are essential. We are blessed to have a strong cadre of EMS services in the area who work so well with Oneida Health. Though I am still new to this area, this relationship feels very strong and very much a team approach to care and care coordination.

Likewise, when we need to transfer a patient out, to another setting, we work in reverse to coordinate to ensure those smooth handoffs so that it is as easy and effective for the patient as possible. So on this occasion of National EMS Week, on behalf of Oneida Health and the patients we mutually care for, thank you for your dedication, the skills you bring forth, and your partnership!

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Healthcare Documentation Integrity Week (Medical Records) Week. Congratulations to all you folks who work in Medical Records on your national week. So much has changed in your world in recent years, it is almost mind-boggling. I remember way back when I started in healthcare, and really up until about 20 years ago, everything was paper. I can remember certain files where it could take up to a shelf for one patient. For better or worse, (mostly for better I think) most of the record now is electronic, portable, and easily accessible. This is great for patients and for us as well. While there is still a ton of room for electronic records, it is moving in the right direction. All that said, you folks still have a ton of work to do to compile and maintain a record. They are detailed and complex and we are fortunate to have you folks keeping us on track and compliant with all of the regulations we must adhere to. Thank you so much for the hard work you do!

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Technology Management Week. These are the fine folks in bio-med that keep all of our higher-tech equipment running. Continuing with the theme of the changing world, this was mostly unheard of until the 1990s. If you think about it, almost all of our equipment now is computerized in some way, in the past, it was mostly mechanical, now it’s a blend. Having the knowledge and ability to maintain and ensure that it is all working so we can keep our patient care moving is a huge task. The sheer number of machines that these folks need to be familiar with is mind-boggling. We simply can’t do it without them. I never cease to be amazed by the variety of equipment they must keep humming along. I believe we have three folks doing all of this for over 1,000 pieces of equipment here at Oneida Health. You guys are rocking it, thank you for keeping us going!

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Last but certainly not least, Wednesday was Speech Pathology day nationally, (sorry I am a day late with this). We are fortunate to have two fine folks at OH who provide this needed service. We take speaking and language for granted often, but imagine suddenly you cannot communicate well by voice, perhaps due to a stroke or accident. I can bet that it would be extremely hard, not to mention frustrating when all of a sudden we cannot do what came so simply to us before. There can be a stigma associated with it as well, for those who struggle with this type of malady, making their daily life that much more complicated. Thankfully we have a great staff to help these folks. Sometimes patients can work their way all or most of the way back, sometimes the best we can hope for is some improvement. Either way, without the expertise of our speech pathologists, it would not be probable for them to see these improvements. Like everyone else in OH, they are an integral part of the team and essential to what we do for our patients and community. Thank you folks for taking such great care of our patients and for the work you do helping them bring effective communication back into their lives, and their dignity!

Sincerely,

Chuck Gijanto
Interim President and CEO