UMMC

In an effort to better match patient care training with patient needs, UMMC recently eliminated eight licensed nurse practitioner positions in one department, but most of the people in those positions still have jobs, said Colleen Flynn, spokeswoman for UMMC.

Four part-time LPNs -- employees working no more than 20 hours a week -- were offered positions elsewhere in the hospital, Flynn said. Two accepted, one decided to go back to school and Flynn hasn't heard yet what the fourth LPN decided to do.

The four per diem positions -- LPNs who filled in for vacations or to shore up other staffing shortfalls -- in the medical surgical floor unit were eliminated but these nurses were given the opportunity to train for new per diem positions with the hospital.

Three were retirees who elected to stay retired, Flynn said, and the fourth will continue to work on a per diem basis for UMMC.

"We separated the positions to better match up skill sets for staffing reasons," Flynn said. "In most cases, hospitals no longer utilize LPNs in acute-care settings, but we still need them in other places. The scope of the practice and licensure determines what they can do for a patient."

In modern health care, patients are not as routinely hospitalized as in the past, so when patients arrive at UMMC now, Flynn said, their needs are much more acute.

"To be a hospitalized patient these days, you have to be very sick," Flynn said. "Because the acuity of patients there are more demands for patient care, so that’s why we decided just to use registered nurses (in that department)."

There's no doubt bath salts have added to the workload at UMMC's ER, according to Chief Medical Officer Michael Merrill.

Merrill said emergency room staff deals with patients coming into the hospital on practically a daily basis who often need to be restrained and sedated.

"We see fairly frequently individuals coming in with intoxication and basically acute psychosis from (bath salts)," Merrill said. "It's quite common."

While Merrill is not working directly in ER, so he can't confirm specifics of patient behavior, they are often described as confused, delusional and agitated.

Those are all common traits with amphetamine-type drugs taken in high doses.

"I don't think people are trying to achieve psychosis," Merrill said. "They are just looking for the high.

"What drug users do is dose themselves for drugs," Merrill added. "They make a calculation on how much they want to take and I don’t think that is an easy calculation to make."

A miscalculation leads to an overdose and the bizarre behavior now associated with bath salts.

In Batavia, recently, we've seen reports of people climbing on roofs, waving knives and calling 9-1-1 to report the sounds of gushots fired.

Talk to just about anyone about bath salts and invariably somebody mentions face eating.

Rumor has it, people high on bath salts have a propensity to try and take a bite of other people's faces.

Merrill said there's no reliable evidence that's a behavior associated with bath salts.

"I don't know if there's anything specific about bath salts that would make anybody want to bite anybody's face," Merrill said. "I know that’s in the news, but I don’t know that’s an intoxicating feature of bath salts. It’s not known to be a typical intoxicating feature of bath salts."

One interesting aspect of reports about bath salts is the patchy nature of the seeming epidemic across the United States. Some communities, such as Batavia, Utica, Fulton and even big cities such as Los Angeles, seem to have significant problems with bath salts. Yet Merrill said he talks to colleagues in places such as San Francisco and Buffalo and is told bath salt problems are rare.

Meanwhile, the Batavia Daily News reported today that 420 Emporium, 400 Ellicott St., Batavia, has been selling a bath salt known as Amped.

The story doesn't even use the word "alleged" to describe the assertion that 420 Emporium has been selling the controlled substance.

A reporter said she observed Amped transactions Saturday night and that an employee handed a package of Amped to Councilwoman Rosemary Christian after she inquired about purchasing the drug (Christian did not complete the purchase). 

An employee reportedly said the shop would continue selling Amped until today.

U.S. Attorney for Western New York William Hochul confirmed today something he told The Batavian last week, that as he understands the new law, as of July 9, when President Barack Obama signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, it is a federal crime to sell and possess bath salts.

If it's true that 420 Emporium sold bath salts through Sunday, and the law was effectively immediately upon the president's signature, any such alleged sales would be in violation of federal law.

Also, if the store employee said sales would be discontinued, he is implicitly admitting to bath salt sales prior to today. Besides the new law, bath salts were on a Drug Enforcement Administration emergency controlled substance list prior to July 9 and illegal to sell, though the federal government had a much higher bar to cross to prove any crime.

When The Batavian entered 420 Emporium today, as soon as we identified ourselves, a stocky male employee pointed to the door and said, "Have a nice day."

We asked, "Is the information in this article accurate?"

He repeated the gesture and said, "Have a nice day."

When asked if he wanted a chance to correct any issues, he said, "Please leave." 

The employee refused to answer a number of repeated questions, saying each time, "Have a nice day."

The Batavian then attempted to contact the owner of the 420 Emporium chain by calling the Brockport store and the Fulton store. Both employees took messages and the employee in Fulton offered to send a text message to the owner with our interview request. So far, the owner has not called The Batavian.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center is pleased to announce that Urgent Care Services will open at the Jerome Center located at 16 Bank St., Batavia on July 2. Urgent Care will be co-located with Laboratory and Medical Imaging Services.

Urgent Care services are a cost effective and convenient way for patients to receive quality medical care when their primary care physician is unavailable and they do not want to spend time waiting in an emergency room to be treated for a non-life-threatening injury or illness. Co-payments for urgent care are typically less than emergency room co-pays.

UMMC’s Urgent Care Center in Batavia will be well equipped to treat a variety of ailments, including sprains and fractures; cuts and lacerations, animal and insect bites and stings, cold and influenza symptoms; ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, urinary tract infections, asthma, sore throats/strep and mono and influenza vaccines.

Urgent Care at the Jerome Center will be supported by United Memorial’s state-of-the-art medical imaging services, the most advanced in Genesee County. The Jerome Center is conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Batavia. It offers handicap accessibility, convenient parking, a gift shop and refreshment kiosk.

In July 2010, United Memorial opened Genesee County’s first Urgent Care Center at 3 Tountas Ave., Le Roy. There were more than 5,000 patient visits to the Urgent Care Center in Le Roy during 2011. This volume had no noticeable impact on the number of emergency room patients treated at United Memorial during the same time period.

Both Urgent Care centers will operate from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for accreditation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in hospitals. The accreditation award recognizes United Memorial’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s advanced standards.

United Memorial underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey in late January 2012. A team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated UMMC for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of patients, including infection prevention and control, leadership and medication management.

"Achieving Joint Commission accreditation, demonstrates United Memorial’s commitment to the highest level of care for our patients," said Mark C. Schoell, CEO of United Memorial. "With Joint Commission accreditation, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down. Achieving Joint Commission accreditation, for our organization, is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”

The Joint Commission’s hospital standards address important functions relating to the care of patients and the management of hospitals. The standards are developed in consultation with health care experts, providers, measurement experts and patients.

United Memorial has received accreditation for three years, from January 28, 2012 to January 27, 2015.

The auditorium at UMMC's Cary Hall (next to the YMCA) is all set up for important patient care -- with all of the care stations, instruments and devices of good medical care ready to help heal any teddy bears or dolls that are brought in today.

The event is UMMC's annual Teddy Bear and Doll Clinic, designed to give pre-schoolers, kindergarteners and first-graders an understanding of what is involved in medical care in case they or anybody else they know needs significant medical care.

The clinic is sponsored by Healthy Living Department and is open until 5 p.m.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center is pleased to announce that it has received $500,000 in NYS Economic Development funding. Five years ago, United Memorial began a multi-phased project to rehabilitate the former St. Jerome Hospital building, which is located at 16 Bank Street in the heart of Downtown Batavia.

The first phase renovated the ground floor to create an outpatient diagnostic center along with offices for primary care and occupational medicine services. The second phase addressed the upper floors and created 37 housing units for seniors 55 years of age or older earning less than 50 percent of the area median income. Several of the units contain features to assist those with mobility, hearing or visual impairments.

At the beginning of the second phase of the project, New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Senator Mary Lou Rath and then County Legislator Mike Ranzenhofer announced $500,000 in NYS Economic Development Assistance funding to assist with the redevelopment.

At that time, United Memorial’s President and CEO Mark C. Schoell stated, “The support from the State Senate will help us reinvigorate an important area of Downtown Batavia and re-purpose a vacant structure so that it once again serves the residents of Genesee County by providing the necessary elements of employment, housing and access to health care.” 

The adaptive reuse of the building was completed in November 2010; however the NYS Economic Development Assistance funding had not been received. United Memorial solicited help from the 61^st District, New York State Senator Mike Ranzenhofer’s office.

“Senator Ranzenhofer has been diligent in assisting the hospital access the funds promised in 2008,” Schoell said. “The Jerome Center Project is an exemplary illustration of cooperation between government and the private sector to preserve an historic property and provide important services to the community. We greatly appreciate Senator Ranzenhofer’s dedication and commitment to healthcare, housing for our vulnerable population and economic growth.”

Senator Ranzenhofer said "Mark and I have been working closely together for many months to ensure that United Memorial received the funding it had been promised in 2008 for the Jerome Center Project. As a result of our collaborative efforts, we were able to push the funding part of this project across the finish line.

"The Jerome Center Project has had a positive impact -- particularly, the many jobs it has created and the services the site now offers to the community. I hope that the project serves as a paradigm to encourage both organizations and individuals in the community to contact me when encountering a state-related issue."

The Jerome Center currently houses a comprehensive diagnostic center offering medical imaging and laboratory specimen collection; the Corporate Health Center for occupational medicine services; Batavia Family and Pediatric Care; Surgical Associates; Hope Haven, the only secure inpatient chemical dependency rehabilitation unit in the GLOW region; and the fully occupied Jerome Senior Apartments.

The site also hosts a gift shop, refreshment kiosk and cafeteria. Next month an Urgent Care Center will open in the Jerome Center to provide an affordable and timely alternative to emergency room care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries.

United Memorial Medical Center will offer FREE important health screenings to uninsured Genesee County residents between the ages of 40 and 64 next week.

The screenings will take place from 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday, March 8, at the Jerome Center, 16 Bank St., Batavia.

Please call United Memorial’s Healthy Living Department to schedule an appointment at  344-5331.

Services will include blood-sugar testing, total cholesterol and take-home colorectal cancer screening kits. Healthcare providers will also give free mammograms, pap smears and clinical breast exams for women and prostate screening exams for men.

Light refreshments, health information and free giveaways will also be available.

This event is planned by the Cancer Services Partnership of Genesee and Orleans Counties, and made possible by a state grant administered by United Memorial.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center Laboratory has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for accreditation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in laboratories. The accreditation award recognizes United Memorial’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.

The UMMC Laboratory underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey in the Fall of 2011. A team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated the lab for compliance with standards of care that directly affect the quality and safety of diagnostic services and patient care.

"In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, United Memorial has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients," says Jennifer Rhamy, M.B.A., M.A., M.T. (ASCP) SBB, HP, executive director, Laboratory Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission.

"With Joint Commission accreditation, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down. Joint Commission accreditation provides us a framework to take our organization to the next level and helps create a culture of excellence,” said Mark C. Schoell, president and CEO of United Memorial.

“For our organization, achieving Joint Commission accreditation is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”

The Joint Commission has been evaluating and accrediting laboratory services since 1979. Today, The Joint Commission accredits almost 2,000 organizations providing laboratory services. This represents almost 3,000 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment certificate laboratories, including independent reference labs and in vitro fertilization labs, and those connected with other health care organizations such as hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and long-term care facilities.

The Joint Commission’s laboratory standards emphasize the results a laboratory should achieve instead of emphasizing the technical methods of performing testing, and were developed with input from professional laboratory organizations.

Joint Commission standards address processes that follow laboratory specimens -- from the doctor’s order into the laboratory, from specimen collection then back to the patient through result reporting -- focusing on the provision of high quality, safe laboratory services integrated with patient care.

These standards highlight the essential nature of laboratory services on the actual care and service delivery processes that contribute to and support the overall health care delivery system.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center is pleased to announce that it will continue to provide a Phase II Cardiac Rehabilitation Program and will eventually add the service to its newest physician practice, United Memorial Cardiology and Internal Medicine, located at 229 Summit St., Batavia. Planned renovations to the practice will be altered to accommodate Phase II cardiac rehab.

Acquiring the cardiology and internal medicine practice of Dr. Keun Oh and Dr. Mohammad Rathor following Dr. Oh’s retirement in December, allows the hospital to continue to provide the medically monitored Phase II program on a smaller, flexible scale than what was previously available.

In November, United Memorial announced that it would close its Cardiac Rehabilitation Department effective March 1 due to declining patient volumes in the Phase II program and high expenses that were not offset by the self-pay, cardiac maintenance program. The 90-day time frame allowed the current eight participants in Phase II to complete the medically monitored portion of their program. For the 70 individuals enrolled in Cardiac Maintenance, the hospital has worked closely with the GLOW YMCA, Genesee County Branch, to develop a cardiac maintenance program to meet their specific needs in a community setting.

“By working with our community partners and thinking creatively, we have found a way to provide locally delivered cardiac rehabilitation services for our residents in a manner that maintains the quality and availability of care and is economically feasible,” stated Mark C. Schoell, president and CEO of United Memorial.

Phase I cardiac rehabilitation occurs while the individual is still in the hospital following a cardiac issue such as a heart attack. Phase II is an outpatient rehabilitation program that begins following discharge from the hospital, usually within a few days.

Participants in Phase II exercise regularly in a closely supervised setting. They learn stretching and cooling techniques, how to monitor their heart rate and activity levels, increase their aerobic capacity and become stronger. While exercising, a health professional assesses their heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure and symptoms of distress. Patients receive extensive education that includes risk factor modification, stress management, and nutrition counseling. Phase II is a medically monitored program and requires a physician in close proximity.

Phase III cardiac rehab is often referred to as cardiac maintenance. It focuses on long-term lifestyle changes to prevent future cardiac issues and patients continue to exercise to regain physical function. They learn to monitor their pulse and weight and watch for symptoms of coronary artery disease. Patients track their progress in written logs and share the information with their physician. Cardiac maintenance usually has a group format where participants offer support and encouragement to each other. Many cardiac rehab maintenance programs are typically held in community facilities.

When the department closure was announced, cardiac maintenance patients expressed concern about having a program to go to where they could continue with their groups. Many patients have exercised together, following the same routine for a number of years and formed deep bonds and friendships.

“The mission of the YMCA to build the spiritual, mental and physical wellness of all people aligns itself perfectly with the needs of the Cardiac Maintenance participants. We want to focus on healthy living by helping people achieve lifestyle goals through wellness, education and social interaction,” said Scott Taylor, CEO of the GLOW YMCA.  

The Genesee County YMCA is currently developing the cardiac maintenance area for all those in the program. They will waive joiner fees for current cardiac rehab participants and offer the program at the same, if not slightly reduced, monthly fee level. United Memorial will donate much of the exercise equipment currently used in the program to the YMCA for their program, easing the transition of the clients and provide education regarding nutrition and wellness through the Healthy Living Department, UMMC’s community outreach program.

The YMCA will begin offering ardiac maintenance services on March 5 and provide a smooth transition to current participants.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center is pleased to announce that plans are under way to provide Urgent Care Services at the Jerome Center in Batavia.

“This continues United Memorial’s efforts to increase access to necessary health care services to residents of Genesee County,” said Mark Schoell, president and CEO.

United Memorial currently operates an Urgent Care Center on Tountas Avenue in Le Roy which opened in July 2010. Visits to United Memorial’s Urgent Care Center in Le Roy have grown from an estimated 3,500 to more than 6,000 annually. Analyzing patient demographics based on zip codes indicate that a great deal of that growth is from the Batavia area.

Urgent Care services are a cost effective and convenient way for patients to receive quality medical care when their primary care physician is unavailable and they do not want to spend time waiting in an emergency room to be treated for a non-life-threatening injury or illness. Co-payments for urgent care are typically less than emergency room co-pays.

UMMC’s Urgent Care Center in Batavia, like the center in Le Roy, will be well equipped to treat a variety of ailments, including: sprains and fractures; cuts and lacerations; animal and insect bites and stings; cold and influenza symptoms; ear infections; pneumonia; bronchitis; urinary tract infections; asthma; sore throats/strep and mono; and influenza vaccines.

Urgent Care at the Jerome Center will be supported by United Memorial’s state-of-the-art medical imaging services, the most advanced in Genesee County. The Jerome Center is conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Batavia at 16 Bank St. It offers handicap accessibility, convenient parking, a gift shop and refreshment kiosk.

An opening date will be announced soon and is expected to occur in early spring.

Press release:

Dorothy M. Baker received the 28th annual Health and Humanitarian Award of Genesee County from the UMMC Foundation during a luncheon at Terry Hills on Friday afternoon.

Baker was recognized for her many years of volunteer work, including at the Jerome Center gift shop and kiosk, the tourism information booth, Office of the Aging, Veterans Administration and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Baker logged 1,750 volunteer hours in 2010.

Press release:

(Batavia, N.Y.) United Memorial Medical Center has experienced tremendous growth in the past year. The surgical expansion project was completed, the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center opened and a number of new physicians joined the medical staff. Several advancements were made in healthcare information technology, quality initiatives and improvements to our physical plant. Each program and project was a direct result of our strategic planning process to improve locally delivered healthcare based on the needs of the community and to continue to strengthen financial performance.

While growth is important to our viability, we must also assess established services and practices to determine whether they are fulfilling the mission of the organization and are sustainable. To maintain the financial balance of the organization and the needs of our community, several changes have been implemented.

The Cardiac Rehab Department and the Byron Family Care Center will close by March 1, 2012 due to unsustainable patient volumes. Cardiac Rehab will not accept new referrals and current patients will have the opportunity to complete their 90-day program. Patients of Byron Family Care were mailed letters informing them of the closure and information on transferring their medical records.

The primary care provider at Byron Family Care, Dr. Stanley Ambis, will continue with United Memorial’s Family Care centers in LeRoy and Batavia. Patients will be encouraged to remain with Dr. Ambis at one of the other sites. United Memorial Medical Center has filed its intent to close the Byron Family Care Center with the NYS Department of Health and will work through the appropriate steps in the next 90 days to complete this process.

Discontinuing the two services and realignment of job functions in other departments will result in the elimination of 16 positions, with the equivalent hours of approximately 14 full-time employees, slightly less than 2 percent of United Memorial’s 795 member workforce.

The eliminated positions include two Allied Health professionals, four registered nurses, four technicians, one licensed practical nurse, one patient access specialist, an administrative secretary and three salaried positions. Those eligible were offered severance packages and, where appropriate, options to extend their healthcare coverage. If qualified, they will be encouraged to apply for and be considered for other positions within the organization.