Key component of fitness for seniors is preventing falls
by Leah Ward
Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima now has a small army of fitness instructors who have as their mission nothing less than preventing falls among the elderly, a leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations across the state.

ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic
Celia Young, in pink, leads a training class at North Star Lodge in Yakima, Wash. Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 for people who will be conducting senior fitness classes.

“We are honored that our community has selected Memorial as their hospital of Choice,” says Rick Linneweh, President and CEO of Memorial. “With this recognition, we re-dedicate ourselves to the mission of quality care in a safe environment with state-of-the-art medicine. Our community deserves nothing less.”

This is the fourteenth year NRC has awarded hospitals whose consumers have recognized them for providing the highest quality healthcare. Ginny Martin, President of NRC’s Ticker Division, said winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker℠ study. Of the 3,200 hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities rank highest in their Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs), as defined by the US Census Bureau. The Ticker study surveyed over 250,000 households representing over 450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia.

“Healthcare has become an increasingly important issue across the country and empowered consumers are making decisions for themselves and their families when selecting their healthcare facilities and services,” Martin said. “As care options multiply and financial challenges remain strong, consumer perception of quality continues to grow in importance. Dedication to providing high quality healthcare has become essential for all hospitals. In the face of adversity, these Consumer Choice award winners exemplify the dedication it takes to provide quality healthcare to their communities, and we are please to honor them through the eyes of their patients.”

NRC’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study.

November is national Hospice month. Yakima Valley’s four cooperating hospice agencies; Memorial Hospice, Yakima Regional Home Health & Hospice, Kittitas Valley Home Health & Hospice and Lower Valley Hospice and Palliative Care; again welcome professional speaker and grief counselor Doug Smith for a free public seminar to teach individuals and families how to best deal with loss and grief.

Helping Ourselves and Our Families Heal in the Midst of Grief
Wednesday, November 4 from 6-8 PM
Howard Johnson-Plaza Hotel
9 N. 9th Street
Yakima, WA 98901
Featuring: DOUGLAS C. SMITH, M.A., MS, M.DIV
FREE to the public

Smith presented a hospice seminar entitled “It Takes a Valley to Say Goodbye” in April, 2008 to a combined audience of over 300 people. Those present were very moved and motivated by his thoughtful and meaningful remarks.

With over 25 years experience as a counselor, therapist, and health care administrator, Smith offers guidance from his own personal struggles with grief, having lost to death a brother and two daughters.

“Dying is a topic not spoken of much in our culture, especially to children, because we try to “protect” our children from death,” says Mark Young with Memorial Hospice. “But that is not healthy. This seminar is a way for parents and grandparents to find ways to help their children and grandchildren understand and accept the death of a loved one, a pet, a playmate, a sibling, or a parent or grandparent.”

This seminar is open and free to the public.

It’s time to end the careless chatter doubting the seriousness of swine flu and the vaccine developed to prevent it. The illness has reached unprecedented virulence for so early in the fall.

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Learn more about Cottage in the Meadow.

Effective  September 1, Community Health Of Central Washington (CHCW) and Memorial Hospital are collaborating to offer a new service in Yakima– a Pediatric Hospitalist Service (PH Svc).  This is important information  about how services will be delivered to newborn and pediatric patients admitted to Memorial Hospital.  We are excited to bring this innovation to patients and providers in our community, and look forward to improvements in care and service for all of the people in our community.

Why We Have Started the Service

- Recruitment: Many pediatricians today prefer to limit practice to the outpatient setting. They need hospitalists to support their practice.

- Patient care: Pediatricians devoted to the care of hospitalized patients are able to bring a higher level of experience and expertise to the care of those patients.

- Service to Patients and Families: Today, many patients and families from Yakima and surrounding communities are directed to Seattle or Spokane because of limited capacity or expertise in Yakima. A dedicated Pediatric Hospitalist Service will serve them better, and use local resources more efficiently.

- Education: For 16 years, the CWFM Residency has been sending residents to Seattle Childrens Hospital for pediatric training. Now that will be provided right here in Yakima. Residents from Seattle Childrens will also rotate on the service.

How Does The Service Work

The PH Svc is staffed 24/7, every day of the year, by a pediatrician at Memorial Hospital.

Our pediatric hospitalists are:

- Dr. Benjamin Barsotti: “Benj” was recruited by CHCW to be a full time pediatric hospitalist, and is new to Yakima. He is from Portland, OR. He completed his MD at Thomas Jefferson Univ., and his pediatric residency at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital.

- Dr. Kerry Harthcock: Dr. Harthcock has been the acting director for the PH Svc for the past year. He will be taking a leave from his practice at YPA for a few months and serve as a full time pediatric hospitalist while he is recruiting for two or three additional pediatricians to join the PH Svc.

- Community Pediatricians: Pediatricians from YPA and from Yakima Neighborhood Health Services have joined forces to help get the PH Svc started. Together, they will rotate on the service until additional full time hospitalists are recruited. They include: Dr. Simms, Dr. Bartlett, Dr. Cazorla-Lancaster, Dr. Carlson, Dr. Jabile, and Dr. Prier.

The PH Svc physicians will admit and provide care for a wide variety of pediatric patients. Local pediatricians and family doctors can ask the service to routinely admit their newborn and pediatric patients, or to provide consultation. Specialists with pediatric patients can consult them. Physicians up and down the Valley can call them to arrange for transfer and care of their patients at Memorial.

How will the PH Svc effect the care of CHCW patients?

Effective September 1, all of our pediatric admissions to Memorial Hospital will be cared for by the PH Svc. To discuss admission of a pediatric patient, please call the Pediatric Hospitalist at 509-388-5321. When children from our practice present to the Memorial ER and need admission, the ER doctor will contact the PH Svc directly. The PH Svc has access to Chart Connect, and will message providers about the care of their patients.

The situation with newborn patients is a bit more complicated. YPA physicians will continue to care for newborns destined for their practice. At CWFM, a resident and FM attending are assigned to care for the mother and baby when the prenatal care was provided by a CWFM resident or faculty physician. All other newborns will be cared for by the PH Svc.

Questions?

If you have any questions, contact Michael, Maples, MD. , CEP, Community Health of Central Washington at 509-574-6117