WellSpan Health today announced that its CEO and executive team will accept salary reductions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective this month, and lasting for 12 weeks, WellSpan President and CEO Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., will have her salary reduced by 25 percent over that period. During the same period, all executive-level positions across the health system – including executive vice presidents, senior vice presidents and vice presidents – will have their salary reduced by 10 percent.

These temporary salary reductions make possible a contribution by WellSpan to a financial assistance fund specifically focused on helping WellSpan Health employees who have endured financial hardship during the pandemic. The new WellSpan Health Family COVID-19 Assistance Program will help cover mortgage or rent payments, utility costs and other urgent bills.

"COVID-19 is more than just a public health crisis; it’s also a financial crisis for millions of Americans," said Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO, WellSpan Health. "As central Pennsylvania’s largest private employer, we know our team members are not immune from the financial impacts of this pandemic. Our executive team is doing its part to support our organization and our 20,000 team members during this trying time. We are in this together, and we’ll get through this together."

There was no script or plan etched in stone that had simple answers or even protocol as potential supply shortages loomed ahead of WellSpan Health’s COVID-19 journey.

Instead, leaders within the organization took a proactive approach by fostering relationships to secure necessary resources needed to care for communities and staff, including a special partnership with Letterkenny Army Depot near Chambersburg, Pa.

On May 1, Letterkenny started production of 70,000 protective gowns for WellSpan Health to help bolster the local health care system’s supply chain as it continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Letterkenny produced prototypes for cloth face masks for WellSpan Health which has shared the designs with other community partners.

"The level of community engagement and support of the health system in an unselfish manner has been overwhelming. Letterkenny has been the epitome of that," said Keith Noll, senior vice president – chief administrative officer for WellSpan Health.

Letterkenny Army Depot has been supporting frontline U.S. military efforts since the 1940s and willingly stepped up to join a much different fight to protect people.

"The Department of Defense is here to help defend our country in time of need, and obviously with the threat of COVID, there's limited options for the Department of Defense to do that. So to be able to work with WellSpan, and really help them out in their fight, since they're the actual frontline of this fight against COVID, to be able to help them out in providing them the supplies that they need is a tremendous opportunity," Letterkenny Commander Col. Gregory Gibbons said.

In February, prior to its first patient testing positive for COVID-19, WellSpan Health was reacting to supply chain demand as production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in China was squelched due to the country’s own battle with the pandemic. For example, an order of 500,000 protective gowns was redirected to cities experiencing the highest rates of COVID inpatient admissions within the United States.

Meanwhile, John Massimilla, chief operating officer and vice president of administration for WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital, watched a local television newscast in early April that highlighted Letterkenny Army Depot’s upholstery shop which produced around 4,800 cloth masks to protect its own employees. He wondered if a similar effort or collaboration could help protect a portion of WellSpan Health’s 20,000 employees.

It opened the door to a partnership as Massimilla shared the information about Letterkenny’s efforts with WellSpan Health’s performance improvement team, comprised of hospital officials and engineers. According to Noll, the team would later be nicknamed the “MacGyver” team after the star of the TV series who used unconventional problem-solving skills to save lives.

"Within a day we were connected with Letterkenny," Noll said.

Thinking outside the box by the team led by Debra Ruckert, senior director of performance improvement at WellSpan Health, resulted in unconventional designs and paths to production that incorporated local manufacturers and distilleries which had capabilities of producing anything from hand sanitizer to intubation devices and masks.

Members of the hospital’s team visited Letterkenny Army Depot to learn more about its manufacturing capabilities. Typically, the upholstery shop at Letterkenny focuses on production of items such as canvas tents, kitchens and vinyl products.

As discussions moved forward and the partnership took shape, Letterkenny shared its mask design for producing cloth community masks, while innovation was taking on a life of its own back in York.

A couple sheets of plastic, garbage bags and a rain poncho were used in figuring out a prototype that would allow WellSpan Health to eventually mesh a material design to create isolation gowns.

"The next question for Letterkenny was 'Can you make this for us?'" Noll said.

Letterkenny didn’t hesitate to support the effort as it reallocated resources to adequately staff its upholstery shop to begin gown production.

While the initial order was to make 70,000 protective gowns, Noll said that there is enough material to support production of at least 225,000. Letterkenny expects production to take six to eight weeks to fulfill the first order, while it provides weekly deliveries to a WellSpan distribution site.

He added that innovative thinking and partnering with manufacturers throughout the five counties that WellSpan Health serves, can allow the system to be less reliant on the national supply chain and be better prepared moving forward.

"It makes you feel good about living in southcentral Pennsylvania. The people that live here, the people that work here, and the companies that exist here, and I have nothing but wonderful thoughts. Letterkenny has been a glowing example of that and I would like to thank them for their support, their patience and their focus on trying to do something from a community standpoint that I have never been part of in my 30 years of health care," Noll said.

The last thing Tammy Sullivan remembers was lying in her hospital bed, staring blankly at the call bell in her room at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital. A nurse for 29 years, Sullivan is very familiar with a call bell. Her mind simply could not figure out how to use it.

At that moment, Sullivan's heart rate was spiking. Her temperature was high. Her white blood cell count was high too. She was experiencing severe sepsis, a life-threatening infection in her body, losing her ability to think clearly and about to lose consciousness.

Fortunately, WellSpan's Central Alert Team was virtually monitoring her condition on that February night in 2019.

The team, a group of nurses with critical care and emergency department experience, are on duty 24/7 from a remote "bunker," to support the work of bedside teams in hospitals. The team monitors a patient’s electronic health record for dangerous changes in vital signs and lab tests that may signal an onset of sepsis. The team quickly notifies a patient's bedside caregivers, so they can determine if the patient may be septic or clinically unstable, and consider administering life-saving drugs, fluids and other interventions.

WellSpan's innovative Sepsis Central Alert Team program has received national recognition, including the prestigious 2019 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum. The award recognizes the innovation in safety and quality exhibited by the team, which brings together the expertise of experienced nurses and real-time data from a patient's electronic health record.

Since its inception, the program is estimated to have saved about 350 people who have been diagnosed with sepsis.

Count Sullivan among them.

Just before she passed out, Sullivan remembers a nurse running into her room and yelling her name. When she woke up, a team of clinicians was swarming her bed, taking care of her.

"If I wasn’t being monitored, no one would have found me," Sullivan said, noting that shortly before she passed out, she told her nurse that she was tired and going to sleep, asking her to close her door. "I don't even want to think about what would have happened to me."

Angela Mays a nurse with 20 years of experience, was the Central Alert Team nurse on duty the night that Sullivan's vital signs triggered an alert.

"She was very sick," Mays said. "She had an infection inside her abdominal cavity. It could have been lethal."

The Central Alert Team monitors patients who are at highest risk for sepsis, based on an algorithm developed by WellSpan expert clinicians. The team typically responds to alerts on 50 to 80 patients every day in the WellSpan system, at five hospitals across southcentral Pennsylvania. During cold and flu season, the team can receive more than 100 patient alerts a day.

During the coronavirus pandemic, their work has been particularly important because patients have had to be placed in isolation.

"The Central Alert Team is here to support the bedside clinicians. These nurses are an extra, critical set of eyes on a patient, monitoring their test results, vital signs and other signals," said Jodi Cichetti, senior director of quality and accreditation at WellSpan Health. "Timing is critically important in sepsis identification and intervention, and this monitoring model has provided positive and rewarding results."

There is an art to the science in the Central Alert Team, which marries the nurses' experience with real-time data.

"We look at the big picture and the trends and the notes that are being written by the bedside team, looking for those small nuances that gives us the gut feeling: this one is sick, something is not right here and I'm going to intervene on their behalf," Mays said. "It's our job to be that safety net."

Tammy Sullivan is very grateful for their work.

Sullivan, case management manager at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, started feeling ill on her 48th birthday. At first, she thought her belly hurt because she had eaten too much birthday cake, which is her favorite dessert.

Her 49th birthday was a special one, she said, marked by a family dinner and a beautiful snowfall. She and her 13-year-old daughter, Julie, baked her favorite chocolate cake for dessert. Sullivan had a big piece.

"It was definitely on my mind that I almost did not see another birthday," she said. "How grateful I am to all of those people who saved my life. It’s a surreal feeling."

WellSpan Health has achieved a preeminent national award in patient safety and quality, making it the first Pennsylvania health system to achieve the prestigious honor in 15 years.

The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum today announced that WellSpan has won a 2019 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award – one of the highest safety awards in healthcare – for its Central Alert Team, an innovative program that works to quickly detect and treat sepsis, a life-threatening medical emergency.

The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare, and the National Quality Forum sets national standards for healthcare performance measurement. The two organizations founded the Eisenberg Awards in 2002 to recognize the best examples of individual, local and national efforts to improve patient safety and healthcare quality.

The awards were to have been announced in March during the National Quality Forum Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., but the conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last Pennsylvania health system to win an Eisenberg Award was the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2004.

Previous award winners have included well-known healthcare organizations across the country, including the Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas, Kaiser Permanente and Henry Ford Health System in Michigan.

"WellSpan teams are reimagining healthcare by providing nation-leading quality and safety for sepsis care," said Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO of WellSpan Health. "This prestigious honor is a testament to their innovation while finding a better way to improve the health of our communities."

WellSpan Health received the Eisenberg Award in the category of Local Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality, which recognizes a project or initiative that focuses on making an impact at the local community, organization or regional level.

WellSpan's Sepsis Central Alert Team program earned the award as an example of successful system changes or interventions that make care safer or advocate on a patient’s behalf. Begun in 2017, the Sepsis Central Alert Team is a group of registered nurses with critical care and emergency medicine experience who continuously monitor patients for signs of sepsis at five WellSpan hospitals from a remote "bunker."

The team is notified when WellSpan’s electronic health record system detects symptoms of sepsis in a patient’s vital signs, including temperature and heart rate, and lab results. When notified of these markers, the Central Alert Team directly contacts the patient’s physician or nurse, so they can determine if the patient may be septic or clinically unstable, and consider administering life-saving drugs, fluids and other interventions.

"The team is a marriage of real-time electronic healthcare data and a highly skilled clinical team," said Steven Delaveris, D.O., vice president of medical services, WellSpan Health. "That powerful combination results in WellSpan hospitals having some of the best survival rates for sepsis in the country. In real terms, this team is saving lives."

In fact, the team has saved an estimated 350 lives since its inception, as it dramatically shortened the time it takes WellSpan to respond to sepsis cases and speeded up the time that patients receive lifesaving medications. Early identification and screening times improved from 67 minutes to 12 minutes. As a result, the percentage of WellSpan patients who receive both timely and effective sepsis care is better than both state and national averages.

WellSpan York Hospital now boasts a sepsis survival rate in the top 1 percent of its peers nationally.

The health system’s work in this area has attracted the attention of healthcare providers from across the country, with leaders sharing sepsis best practices with hospital and health system leaders from Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Virginia and other states.

The Eisenberg Awards, given in three categories, bring together the quality community to recognize groundbreaking initiatives that are consistent with the aims of the National Quality Strategy: better care, healthy people and communities, and smarter spending.

"This year’s Eisenberg Award recipients have demonstrated both a positive impact on the patients they serve as well as fulfilling the quality community’s mission to ensure that care is measured and can be improved," said Shantanu Agrawal, president and CEO, National Quality Forum.

In today’s COVID-19 world, even complex heart procedures can now be performed with at least some social distancing, thanks to new high-tech capabilities at WellSpan York Hospital.

WellSpan cardiologists are among the first in the United States to employ Avail Medsystems^TM camera and video technology to collaborate with their fellow physicians during complex cardiovascular procedures, all while limiting hospital in-person interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using this state-of-the-art Procedural Telemedicine^TM solution, a WellSpan specialist not in the procedure room can offer real-time support during live procedures taking place in the hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab. Multiple high definition cameras can be remotely controlled to get close up views of the procedure. Remote physicians also have the ability to access views from external imaging equipment, split the screens to view inputs side by side, annotate and freeze frames. A portable Avail Console in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab allows the treating physician to see everything the remote physician displays in real-time and provides a clear audio/video feed of the remote physician offering consultation.

“We’re harnessing the power of technology to find a better way to provide leading-edge care for those who need it, ensuring we do so in a safe environment,” explained Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO of WellSpan Health. “As we continue to manage COVID-19 in our communities, our care teams are reimagining healthcare for our patients with new, innovative approaches such as this remote consulting option for complex heart procedures.”

WellSpan York Hospital physicians have also utilized this technology beyond the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, for orthopedic endoscopic procedures.

Daniel Hawkins, Founder and CEO of Avail Medsystems, said, “We created Avail with the goal to enhance clinical knowledge sharing, collaboration and speed of training while mitigating infection risk and lowering costs. Our technology can play an even bigger role during the current COVID-19 surge and into the post-surge “new normal” by ensuring the right experts have access to a procedure, even when they cannot physically be in the room. We’re thrilled that WellSpan York Hospital is offering Avail’s Procedural Telemedicine^TM solution during this unprecedented pandemic.”

WellSpan York Hospital interventional cardiologists and their teams are currently on a rotating schedule that involves one week of covering procedures and being on call, followed by two weeks of self-quarantine in order to stay responsive to patients who need cardiovascular procedures, while limiting the probability of any transmission of COVID-19. Using Avail, physicians who are under self-quarantine at home can virtually join the procedure room to provide support.

“It’s safely adding the support of a second set of eyes from our expert physicians in the middle of these complex procedures,” said James Harvey, III, M.D., interventional cardiologist, WellSpan York Hospital. “Collaboration is key, and this affords us that opportunity regardless of our physical location. It ensures the safety of everyone involved, while allowing us to deliver the quality care our patients expect.”

Interventional cardiology procedures offered at the hospital include diagnostic cardiac heart catheterizations, coronary interventions (including stent implantations), treatment of chronic total occlusions, and transcatheter aortic valve replacements.

Learn more about WellSpan Heart & Vascular care, visit www.WellSpan.org/Heart.

About Avail Medsystems^TM

Avail Medsystems^TM is a pioneering medical technology company that provides simple cost-effective solutions that connect procedural healthcare professionals regardless of location. The organization aims to democratize access to clinical and procedural expertise by removing physical, economic and logistical barriers. Avail’s Procedural Telemedicine^TM solution addresses these barriers by enabling on-the-go collaboration with any remote healthcare professional.

Two EMS providers were recently awarded grants through WellSpan Health to help better protect staff and patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Shippensburg EMS was awarded $9,620 for advanced medical treatment supplies, while Fayetteville Volunteer Fire Department EMS received $3,336 to purchase a remote sterilization system for its ambulances.

Slow the Spread grants were paramount to these frontline providers which depend on fundraisers such as bingo and capital campaigns that have been tabled as a result of COVID-19.

“Without WellSpan we wouldn’t have been able to purchase this at this time,” said Andrew Melius, EMS chief for the Fayetteville Volunteer Fire Department EMS.

Added Shippensburg EMS Chief Shawn Hartsock, “Getting this grant will allow us to continue to perform invasive procedures that minimize risk to our people.”

Slow the Spread grants provided by the WellSpan Community Health Program and the Summit Endowment were established to help community partners navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants awarded to the Fayetteville and Shippensburg EMS departments were coordinated and funded through the Summit Endowment.

“It is a privilege for Summit Endowment to provide this support to our EMS providers,” said Ann Spottswood, director of community services for WellSpan Health. “While we have always appreciated their responsiveness and quality care, we understand the additional burdens due to COVID.”

Overall, the program issued 42 grants to 41 organizations for more than $272,000 since March 24 in categories such as food (82,614), sanitation/prevention ($71,653), housing ($64,165), virtual/other ($28,851) and medical ($25,000). “Because WellSpan is involved in each of its communities and works collaboratively with many community organizations, we recognize that we all play a key role in slowing the spread of COVID. No one entity can do this alone,” said Nancy Newton, manager of grants and special projects for WellSpan Health.

WellSpan Health already had a grant program in place that focused on top-priority needs for its communities and accepted applications three times a year.

Newton said that since that program was already established it allowed for a “seamless process” to modify the current application and a quicker review process to fit more emergent needs brought on by COVID-19.

Hartsock says that the challenge for his department is the nearest hospital is 20 minutes away from the communities it serves and sometimes up to an hour away depending on which of the 31 municipalities it responds to.

Items purchased that will allow Shippensburg EMS to safely continue advanced procedures include PPE kits, LTD rescue airways (secure patients airways without having to visualize and be inches within), video laryngoscopes, viral filters and sidestream end-tidal monitoring for remote monitoring of a patient’s respiratory status.

“It’s not the right answer to withhold treatment, so this grant allows us to continue to do advance procedures when needed,” Hartsock said.

For Melius and his team of 38, comprised of paramedics, EMTs and van drivers, protecting staff and patients has been top of mind since the pandemic broke.

While additional protective gear and social-distancing measures have been used, sterilization of an ambulance is more complex. The inside of an ambulance is disinfected after every call, but there are nooks and crannies that cannot be reached during a typical sterilization, according to Melius.

The AMBUstat Surface Decontamination System fogs the ambulance by utilizing an atomized cold sterilant to decontaminate surfaces that ultraviolet light cannot reach effectively. As surfaces have been a big part of the spread of COVID-19, the device will reduce surface-borne pathogens across a multitude of spaces.

The disinfecting process takes about 15 minutes, but the entire process can take up to 45 minutes.

“It will not be utilized after every single call, so we need to determine that, but it allows us a remote-control option to sterilization,” said Melius, who has held the chief’s role since 2016.

Not only are Melius and Hartsock thankful for the award, but they said WellSpan Health’s ability to expedite the process and payments allowed them to order their equipment quickly.

“This will help us protect our community and staff during the COVID-19 crisis,” Melius said.

As patients receive more of their health care online, WellSpan Health is offering Madeline, a convenient online pharmacy service for women to receive birth control.

Madeline is a stand-alone website, powered by WellSpan Health, its clinicians and WellSpan Pharmacy. Women may go online at any time to order their birth control, choosing their preferred method and having the prescription delivered straight to their door. WellSpan Health clinicians oversee the process, ensuring the patient receives safe, effective contraception. Currently, WellSpan is the only southcentral Pennsylvania health system to offer this kind of service.

"Patients want and deserve safe, simple, convenient and cost-effective care," said Megan Lecas, service line vice president. "Madeline is a consumer-friendly way to deliver birth control to women."

No doctor's appointment is necessary to receive contraceptives, but patients may consult with a clinician online, if they have questions or concerns.

Patients get started by logging onto MadelineRx.com. They then select the birth control method they desire (pill, patch or ring) and complete an online questionnaire. A WellSpan health care provider reviews the questionnaire to ensure the selected birth control will be safe and effective for the patient.

A WellSpan pharmacy fills the prescription, which is free with most insurances, or as little as $20 per pack without insurance, then ships a three-month supply to the patient’s door. Prescriptions also can be picked up at more than a half-dozen WellSpan Pharmacy locations in Adams, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.

Patients also can connect with a WellSpan provider via Madeline for follow-up care.

BAE Systems typically works to manufacture products for our armed forces to support our national defense. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country, they found some of their employees under siege. WellSpan Health, who has long been their partner in occupational health, took the call of duty to help them in their time of need.

WellSpan's occupational health team worked quickly to help consult with their York-based operation on implementing employee screenings.

Now, they’ve returned the favor by providing a large donation of supplies that WellSpan clinical staff can use in the battle against the coronavirus.

"We have worked closely with BAE to develop a strong partnership," said Cheryl Kuhn, Director of Occupational Health. "When they called on us for support during COVID-19, we responded quickly to help keep their employees safe. We are very grateful for their donation today, and deeply value the relationship."

Thanks to their generous support, WellSpan Health received a large delivery of six pallets of personal protective equipment and sanitary supplies, making it one of the largest donations received to date. The donation included masks, gloves, safety glasses, disposable gowns, toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

The WellSpan York Health Foundation philanthropy team has spearheaded the efforts to coordinate donations from the community.

"The community support during this pandemic has been tremendous," said Mike Kochenour, WellSpan York Health Foundation board chairman. "More than ever we're seeing the true essence of community partnership, and we’re so grateful for the overwhelming support of BAE Systems."

To learn more about how you can help with donated items, visit our "I Want to Help" webpage for guidelines on acceptable donations and to submit your donation request.

We thank all who donate to help keep our medical family safe, so that we can best support our community.

For more than 60 years, crowds of shoppers have filled the York City Ice Arena and other York City locations for the annual Book Nook Bonanza. The largest used book sale on the East Coast raises tens of thousands of dollars for the York Hospital Auxiliary's Small Grants Program every year.

In 2020, the 62-year tradition came to a halt. The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to cancel the event.

"The Book Nook Bonanza is our biggest fundraiser of the year," said Tamara Scott, president, York Hospital Auxiliary. "The decision was made to cancel due to the COVID-19 restrictions since it attracts thousands of shoppers and would be impossible to hold with social distancing in mind. It was an unfortunate decision, but a necessary one, because our top priority at all times is safety of our community."

The cancellation left a unique problem on the hands of organizers. Throughout the year, community members had donated books for the bonanza. They were now sitting in a warehouse with nowhere to go. The creative wheels started to turn for the organizers.

"We've worked with the United Way in the past to donate remaining books for their York Reads initiatives after the sale is over," said Matthew Lane, executive director, WellSpan York Health Foundation. "This year, we felt it was very important to continue this connection to serve children in our communities by donating these books. When we learned that the sale would be canceled, we offered to donate books so the children would be able to use them now and throughout the summer."

The United Way of York County encourages reading at home by getting books into the hands of children who need them. Even before WellSpan's donation, they were able to distribute 4,200 books to school districts during the month of April.

Meanwhile workers with WellSpan Philanthropy were boxing up thousands of books that had been donated to the Book Nook Bonanza to send them to a new home.

At the end of April, United Way of York County staff pulled up to the warehouse in three empty SUVs. Assisted by a crew from WellSpan, those vehicles were then packed with 76 boxes containing a total of approximately 4,000 children's books. Those books will be dispersed to school districts and community partners who will distribute them at lunch programs during school closures.

"Having books in the hands of children is so important for their education at all levels," said Julie Myers, FOCUS Program Associate with United Way of York County. "The positive response to our book deliveries has been a bright spot in these challenging times."

Organizers of the annual Book Nook Bonanza are disappointed they were forced to cancel the 2020 event but are now looking forward to continuing the tradition in 2021. Until then, they're happy the unsold books will be put to good use.

"We are a part of this community, plain and simple," said Lane. "When we made the decision to cancel this year's Book Nook Bonanza, we immediately started looking at what we can do to turn this into a positive for our friends and neighbors, and we hope this donation is a big benefit for families across the region."

The WellSpan York Hospital Auxiliary awards many small grants in the York community to promote health and wellness as well as assist with programs and equipment in the hospital. Areas such as the neonatal intensive care unit, behavioral health unit, cardiac care and emergency department have all benefited from these grants.

Learn more about the York Hospital Auxiliary.

In the WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital Catheterization Lab, you can expect to hear the beeps and rings of heart monitors and medical equipment. However, these days you’ll also hear the buzzing of six sewing machines working to make handmade masks.

“It started as a project to make masks for our families, and now we’ve made well over 1,500 masks,” said Erica Shoemaker, Catheterization Lab Technologist.

The group of women, who usually work healing hearts have been busy making masks from their own hearts, transforming a vacant patient care area into their very own sewing shop. They started with a few masks made from a few yards of material found in a call house. From there, team members brought in their home sewing machines, as others ran to the store for more supplies.

“That’s just how everything rolls in the Cath Lab, we start with a good idea, then it just blossoms into something bigger,” said Tanya Parson, RN.

Beyond the family

As the group continued to produce masks, the Franklin County Housing authority approached WellSpan Community Services with a need: 728 masks for their clients in the community who did not have masks to protect themselves. With donated fabric from the Salvation Army, the Cath Lab team got to work.

“We were already making the masks, so we said, ‘why not?’” recalled Parson.

“Our department as a whole truly believes in community outreach and doing good in the community, at no point do our patients start and end at our doors,” added Nikki Morelock, RN.

In all, more than 800 masks were made and delivered to clients of the Franklin County Housing Authority.

“Within two weeks, we were able to distribute 872 masks to every resident in every household in our Chambersburg and Waynesboro locations,” said Amanda Keefer, Resident Initiatives Coordinator, Franklin County Housing Authority. “Words cannot express how grateful our residents were when they received these masks. They were touched by the community expression of care and concern for them.”

Extra masks were given to St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church and Waynesboro Community and Human Services.

“We are the community. It is our family, it’s our extended family everywhere. We never think of it as doing it for someone else, it’s just a continuation of doing it for our family,” added Parson.

A Team United

Over the last few weeks, the mask project has brought the Cath Lab team closer together, as they taught each other new sewing skills.

“As soon as we’re done with a case, we’re right back sewing,” said Coree Sharrah, RN.

Parson added, “For me, I made a challenge to see how many I can do in a day, I set the goal and do it.”

Any that are left, the group has been giving to other departments in the hospital. Including an estimated 300-to-400 masks to patients in the Emergency Department.

Shoemaker says the project has even helped make connections within WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital.

“It’s introduced us to new people within our hospital, some people from different departments have been coming down for masks who we have never met before, it has brought everyone closer together,” she added.

Oh, the joys of college! You have the delicious freedom of being on your own, social outings with groups of friends, late-night gab sessions with roommates and opportunities to figure out your path in life.

Until COVID-19 arrived this spring.

Like most of us, college students now find themselves sheltering at home, cut off from many of those stimulating and enjoyable events and that newfound freedom. Because of that, they face some particular stresses.

WellSpan Philhaven is offering free online support groups for college-age students in sessions being held in May and June. The groups, held via Zoom, will allow students a safe space to discuss the challenges posed by COVID-19 and learn some coping skills.

“This population is significantly unique,” says Whitney Quinlan, a doctoral psychology intern at WellSpan Philhaven who will be helping to run the groups. “College brings about several layers of autonomy and freedom. Whether kids are living on campus or at home, in another state or down the street, the freedom associated with college life that has been ‘taken away’ by COVID feels like a deep loss to me in some ways.”

In addition to discussing coping skills, the moderators of the one-hour support groups will talk about checking the facts of the pandemic and the healthy benefits of positive emotions. They also will give participants a chance to vent and share.

“As we all know and have experienced in the last couple of months, the isolation caused by the pandemic can have a significant impact on our mood and put us in a vulnerable place,” said Kate Hatley, director of the WellSpan Philhaven Day Hospital and Intensive Outpatient Program, who was involved in starting the groups. “That is why the goal of this support group was to provide a space where these college-age students can connect to other people who are experiencing similar issues and identify some tangible tools that can help them cope through this difficult time. At the very least, just knowing that they are not alone in what they are feeling and experiencing can be helpful.”

The groups, which are limited to 20 participants to allow everyone a chance to participate, are not intended to serve as counseling, therapy or as a crisis resource.

The groups will be offered from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, and from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 10.

Find More Support Groups from WellSpan Philhaven

Looking for a way of supporting senior students at nearby Fairfield Area High School during the COVID-19 pandemic, the WellSpan Pharmacy has donated customized face masks to members of this year’s class for their upcoming graduation ceremony.

Led by manager Anthony Bixler, the pharmacy worked with a vendor to create customized Fairfield Knights Class of 2020 face masks for approximately 100 graduating seniors.

“The pharmacy team continues to support the school district because we are truly impacted on a daily basis by the students, teachers, and parents,” said Bixler. “We are literally just next door to the school and supporting them means we are helping our neighbors.”

The special masks will be worn by seniors during their commencement, which has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 30 in the hopes that it can be a traditional graduation ceremony.

“We are extremely grateful for the donation of the masks for our senior students,” said Tara Phillips, co-senior class advisor and a teacher at Fairfield Area High School.

“These students will undoubtedly have a unique celebration given the unprecedented situation in which we find ourselves. We want to ensure the safety of our students as a top priority, so masks will be an absolute necessity to protect one another. WellSpan Pharmacy was extremely generous in this gift to our students, and we greatly appreciate their heart for the kids and the community.”

The donation of custom masks represents the most recent effort by the pharmacy team to support the school district. In December, the members of the pharmacy team donated $300 of their own money to the school district to help eliminate the district's entire negative meal balance.

As part of their ongoing community effort, the pharmacy sells Fairfield Knights school merchandise with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Fairfield Athletics Stands Together, the booster group for the school district. By the end of this fiscal year, the pharmacy will donate more than $1,000 to the booster group.

Currently, Fairfield Knights face masks are on sale in the pharmacy with a portion of the proceeds going back to support the boosters.

A WellSpan audiologist has spent busy days emptying trash, gathering dirty linens, sanitizing equipment and restocking supplies in the Cardiovascular/Intensive Care Unit at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital.

A WellSpan Brossman Health Center office assistant found himself baking brownies and making potato salad in the kitchen at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital.

And a WellSpan Sleep Center employee bundled up and stood outside in all kinds of weather, taking in box after of box of face masks, hand sanitizer, protective gowns and other donations from generous Lancaster County neighbors.

Welcome to the life of a redeployed WellSpan employee, a life that offered a new look at health care, new challenges and new joys during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am very glad I had the opportunity to do this,” said Wendy Carter, a 28-year employee of WellSpan who went from being an office assistant at the WellSpan Sleep Center in Lancaster to working at a donation site in northern Lancaster County. “I loved being with the people. This is historic and what we saw expressed the incredible kindness of people.”

Carla Pielmeier normally spends her days in an office, fitting patients with hearing aids at WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital. But since late March, she has donned scrubs and worked in the hospital’s CVU/ICU, which has cared for the most critically ill COVID-19 patients, doing housekeeping and nurse’s aide duties.

“I never thought I would be doing this,” she said. “But if the cleaning work is not done, nothing else can be done. If it’s not sanitary for the nurses to do their jobs, they can’t do them. I feel just as important doing this as I would doing my hearing services. I am going to miss it!”

WellSpan began redeploying workers in mid-March, after the pandemic slowed or temporarily paused normal work in some areas. Most of this redeployment occurred within WellSpan entities, with employees moving to different roles at or near their hospital or location.

But some of this redeployment occurred across the system and, at one point, several hundred WellSpan employees were redeployed to a different part of the health system, facilitated by the organization’s Talent Acquisition team, who themselves were doing a different work than normal.

“Our goal has been to support our departments and team members as our services shifted and needs across the system changed due to the pandemic,” said Kim Brister, senior director of Talent Acquisition, Diversity and Inclusion for WellSpan. “We were creative with placing available staff in open positions that aligned with their skillset, COVID-related assignments and sharing our team members with community partners who needed screeners.”

Some workers, such as Calvin Chang, chose to be redeployed after their hours were reduced. Chang works as an office assistant in the speech and occupational therapy department at the WellSpan Brossman Health Center in Ephrata. After his department moved services online, and he was only working 16 hours a week, Chang decided to make a temporary move to a full-time position in the kitchen at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital.

Chang, who had previous food service experience, ended up doing a lot of food preparation, making desserts and side dishes. He also washed dishes.

“Now I know how to bake,” he said. “I never made brownies. I love cooking but I’m more of a cook and a griller. I don’t do desserts but here I am.”

Redeployed workers had some adjustments to make. For Chang, it meant he had to work different hours and some weekends. But he’s glad he could continue to get full-time hours.

“This taught me if everyone works together as one, we can get through this,” he said. Carter said she learned a lot about herself by being redeployed. At 67, she found she could lift heavy boxes and work outside. “My daughter said, ‘Mom! You have such a tan forehead!’ “

Pielmeier said she learned the importance of cleaning and stocking the 20 different hand sanitizer stations in hallways of the CVU/ICU (“That is a LOT of dedication to clean hands!”). She also realized that housekeepers could act as a visitor for a patient, especially during the visitor ban of the pandemic, providing uplifting conversation and cheer. And she also learned how nurses, housekeepers, dietary workers and other hospital employees roll up their sleeves and help each other, day in and day out, in a busy hospital unit.

“Just seeing how they are a well-oiled machine taking the best care of a patient, but also taking care of each other, was amazing,” she said. “I also got choked up when I saw the care the nurses provided. If the patients’ families could see these nurses brushing the hair off a forehead, like someone would do with a loved one, it showed their great care and empathy.”

Pielmeier’s co-workers have appreciated her flexibility and presence.

“Carla has been selfless during her redeployed time,” said Bonnie Connor, nurse manager of the CVU/ICU. “No job is too big, too small or beneath her and it is completed with a smile. She recognizes and acknowledges the work of others.”

Connor said the unit has benefited from other redeployed staff as well. For example, redeployed nurses were paired with an experienced ICU nurse to provide care in a team approach to complex COVID patients.

Carter got to see the kindness of community members, including members of the Plain Community who dropped off thousands of homemade masks at the donation site.

“The most memorable moment for me was when we had an Amish girl come on her bike,” she said. “It had rained like crazy. The wind was just insane. She was struggling to come in, with her mask on. She brought a pack she had made of 25 masks. That just touched my heart.

“I am glad I got to do this job. I would do it again. It was good!”

Budget reports, executive meetings and conference calls fill WellSpan Executive Vice President Patrick O’Donnell’s schedule, but this week one phone call in particular made the top of his “to do” list. Wednesday afternoon, O’Donnell made a very special video call to Chambersburg kindergartener, Greyson Meyers, to thank him for his donation to WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital.

“So really, I just got it in a couple days because I asked my mom and my pap, and people like that,” said Greyson who also established an iced tea stand to help raise money.

Greyson’s mom said shortly after he was sent home from school because of the coronavirus response, Greyson approached her with the idea to raise $500 for WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital.

“I wanted to give them $500 so they could use the money to buy machines and stuff like that,” said Greyson.

O’Donnell assured Greyson that the money he donated will go a long way to help patients recover at the hospital.

“You were a great helper,” O’Donnell told Greyson, “I can’t wait to tell all our helpers what you have done for them, I know some that know about you so far are really appreciative of your kind gesture.”

“This virus is being so, so, bad!” commented Greyson as he discussed plans for summer and his hopeful return to the campground with his family.

Greyson and O’Donnell talked about future career plans and while O’Donnell said he’d put in a good word for a future at WellSpan, Greyson said he wanted to be a builder.

As a token of appreciation for his kind gesture, O’Donnell gave Greyson a gift card to get ice cream. “The best part of my job is meeting people like you,” said O’Donnell. “I love that part and I got to meet so many nice people and you know, you are at the top of the list.”

Imagine the challenges if you are homeless or living in temporary housing and starting to exhibit the fever, cough and other symptoms of coronavirus.

How can you isolate from others if you are living in a shelter or couch surfing, where you are sharing a kitchen or bathroom? Where can you find food if you are living on the street and depending on community meals, if you are sick? How can you access testing or medical care?

WellSpan Health is collaborating with numerous community partners, including emergency management officials in every county. Together, the partners are working to ensure that the region’s vulnerable patients get the help they need during the pandemic, with access to testing, medical care, housing, food and even transportation if they have possible or confirmed COVID-19.

“This is a community-wide effort,” said Katie Wilt, manager of case management special programs for WellSpan Health. “We are working with shelters, residences, state and county government, community groups and others to make sure everyone has access to care. We realize there is whole other population we need to guide and work with during this crisis.”

The efforts vary from county to county, but the main components of the community outreach program include:

• Computer tablets provided to shelters and group homes with vulnerable populations, offering access to WellSpan Online Urgent Care, so residents can connect with a provider and be assessed for potential coronavirus symptoms.
• Transportation, including to WellSpan testing tents for those who have COVID-19 symptoms and to other parts of the program.
• Housing at area motels for those who need to be isolated either while awaiting test results or while completing the recommended 14-day isolation period following a positive test result. This is designed for people who live in shelters or sites where isolating is not possible.
• Meals at the motels during the isolation period.
• Support and check-in calls to ensure that patients get any needed care during the isolation time.

The outreach is being funded by a variety of means, including philanthropic donors as well as government funding across the service area.

The details of the programs and the partners vary slightly from county to county. Community partners across the region include the York County Coalition on Homelessness, the Northern Lancaster Hub, Lebanon County Christian Ministries and the Healthy Franklin County Group, among others.

The program highlights the unique ways that community partners are collaborating to care for vulnerable patients.

Meet Josh Medina, a 36-year-old driver for Rabbit Transit, a regional public transportation provider that serves an area that includes Adams, Franklin and York counties. Medina stepped up to be the driver transporting possible and confirmed COVID-19 patients to testing sites, hotels or medical appointments within the WellSpan program.

To make that possible, Rabbit Transit has set aside a bus and a van for patients, which will be cleaned with a special “fogger” that will disinfect them after use.

Medina is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had experience with hazardous materials during his service, and so knew how to wear personal protective equipment. When his boss asked him if he would be willing to be the designated coronavirus driver in the region, working with WellSpan patients, Medina readily agreed. He will be on call, while continuing to drive his regular bus routes when he is not needed to drive COVID-19 patients.

“It’s a crazy time and somebody’s got to do it,” Medina said. “I want to do my part. Let’s do the best we can to help each other out and help each other through this situation.”

Dozens of fire, police and EMS vehicles lined up at WellSpan York Hospital on Tuesday morning to honor the staff for all of their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and staff gathered outside the hospital, as first responders from City of York Police, City of York Fire & Rescue, Shrewsbury Volunteer Fire Company, Goodwill Fire Company No. 1 in York Township, First Capital EMS, Grantley Fire & EMS, and Community Life Team drove past, flashing lights and sounding sirens in appreciation of hospital staff. The York County District Attorney’s Office and West York Police also assisted with the parade.

A STAT Medevac helicopter ended the parade with a flyover of the hospital.

Since she was in elementary school, Laurie Miller knew she wanted to be a nurse. Even though, she says, she used to cry whenever she would see the school nurse—a formidable older woman in a starched, white uniform. “She struck fear in my heart!” Laurie recalls.

Perhaps that’s why Laurie exhibits such a caring nature as a WellSpan VNA wound, ostomy, and continence nurse.

Laurie has been with WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for 30 years, the past 20 of those years with the VNA.

She cares for patients with acute and chronic wounds, patients with an ostomy (those who have had some kind of bowel or bladder diversion), and patients with incontinence conditions, also providing associated skin care.

“Wounds don’t bother me,” says Laurie. “I always wanted to be a wound nurse since the late ‘90’s.  Wounds are dramatic and dynamic – you can often make a difference by what you do to it and for it. And hopefully you can help heal it.”

It’s exactly that kind of dedication that motivates Laurie to continue to pursue her WOCN recertification every five years. And in support, WellSpan paid the recertification fee.

Becoming board certified is a voluntary process that requires consistent evaluations of a nurse’s professional knowledge and skills, including specialized skills and experience to adequately provide expert care. Board certification recognizes that a nurse is knowledgeable and well qualified to provide specialized care to meet patients' wound, ostomy and continence needs and differentiates the value of expert nurses from those at an entry level.

Recertification is important to Laurie and WellSpan; it also allows Laurie to teach, practice in the field and collaborate with colleagues. In addition to caring for patients in their homes, Laurie provides orientation education to all new hire staff at the VNA with lectures and in-the-field training. Laurie is also integratedwith the wound centers and acute facilities – working along the continuum, and collaborating with surgeons and other providers.

“There’s a great need for the services WOCNs provide,” she explains. “There’s value in what I do and WellSpan recognizes and supports that.”

Working in a home setting is very personal and Laurie says she likes the variety and challenge of helping patients achieve their goals, whether that’s healing a wound, finding the right ostomy appliance for their needs, or supporting them emotionally.

“They may be depressed and struggling to regain their independence,” Laurie says. “I get to engage with them on a very personal level and teach them how to manage their care needs and be independent again. Doing actual wound or ostomy care is sometimes secondary to listening to patients and the challenges in their lives.”

Back to Celebrate Nursing

As we continue to hear about people who have had COVID-19, both the remarkable recoveries and the unfortunate tragedies, it's clear that at any point in time a medical crisis could leave you too ill to make your own health care decisions.

Now is the time to make sure you're developing the plan of care you want even when doctors and family members are making the decisions for you.

WellSpan Health offers an advance care planning initiative called Horizon Planning. Horizon Planning encourages everyone in our community to make sure they have had conversations with their family and loved ones about what they would want and not want for care when they face an end of life health crisis.

"It's important to just have the conversation," said Roberta Geidner, manager of Horizon Planning and Advance Care Planning, WellSpan Health. "It's about what you value most and how you would want to live if you only had a few months, weeks, or days left in your life."

Before a crisis occurs, choose who you trust to speak for you when you cannot, Geidner says.

That person will have to communicate your wishes on very important decisions such as whether you stay at home or go to the hospital if you are close to death, and whether doctors should do everything they can to help you, even if it would not result in a meaningful life afterward.

Choosing more than one person is best, and it means having the people you choose agree to this responsibility. It can be a challenging role, even for those who know what you want.

Currently, the COVID-19 virus is disproportionately affecting older adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), older adults are much more at risk of dying and eight out of 10 deaths reported in the U.S. have been in adults aged 65 and older. In Pennsylvania, most COVID-19-related hospitalizations are of people aged 65 and older.

The CDC also indicates that the risk increases with age, and for those who have chronic conditions and serious progressive diseases.

It's important to remember that COVID-19 can impact anyone of any age, and so everyone should be prepared.

Horizon Planning Response Team members can assist individuals in completing advance care planning documents, including a Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. The team can also help with creating a POLST (PA Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment) if that is appropriate based on an individual's health condition.

"With these documents in the hands of a person’s health care providers, they can be sure that wishes will be followed, and that family members will know exactly what to do to help," said Geidner.

Geidner says having these conversations between families as well as care providers before a crisis is a valuable gift to yourself and to your family. Whether a health crisis arises from a car accident, a heart attack or stroke, or a serious illness like COVID-19, WellSpan Horizon Planning wants you to be prepared at the end of your life to meet dying on your terms.

For more information, please call WellSpan Horizon Planning at (717) 812-6065, visit Wellspan.org/HorizonPlanning, or find information through the MyWellSpan patient portal using the Horizon Planning link.

WellSpan Health has named Anthony Aquilina, D.O., as executive vice president and chief physician executive for the health system. He will join WellSpan in July.

Aquilina will come to WellSpan after more than 25 years at Geisinger Health, most recently serving as regional president of Geisinger Northeast. In that role he was responsible for developing strategic partnerships, growth and planning for Geisinger delivery system services and was accountable for excellence in clinical are, operational efficiency and financial success.

“Dr. Aquilina’s track record of leading teams of physicians and administrators to improve quality, safety, patient experience and operational efficiencies will help us advance our WellSpan vision and strategy,” said Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO of WellSpan Health. “This is coupled with his health plan background, including experience leading data transparency and cost management, which will advance our journey to value-based care.”

In his new role, Aquilina will serve as WellSpan’s senior physician leader. He will align and engage providers in strategic priorities, including quality and experience. Aquilina will also act as president of WellSpan Medical Group and clinical executive of all service lines.

In partnership with John Porter, executive vice president and chief operating officer of WellSpan Health, Aquilina will have executive oversight of physician and clinical practice, hospital operations, ambulatory and home care, population health and graduate medical education.

“WellSpan is an organization committed to its community, demonstrating high-quality care and delivering on its promises to improve health,” said Aquilina. “As we look to the future, we must continue to find better ways of providing greater value to our patients through safe, reliable care with the best experience at an affordable price. I’m excited to join such a dedicated team to advance WellSpan’s vision of reimagining healthcare.”

Prior to serving as regional president, Aquilina served as chief medical officer of Geisinger Community Medical Center and regional medical director for Geisinger Health Plan, among other positions.

Aquilina has also been actively involved in medical education, serving as a faculty member with Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and King’s College Physician’s Assistant Program.

Aquilina earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Master of

Business Administration from Auburn University in Alabama. He is a board-certified family practitioner and geriatrician and was a practicing primary care physician with Geisinger since 1993.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - As most people relate the month of January to a fresh start to work towards their New Year's resolutions; local health experts are resolving to spread more awareness about the risks and prevention of cervical cancer.

January has been designated as Cervical Health Awareness Month by the United States Congress, a time when healthcare professionals and advocacy groups across the nation work to educate women on issues related to cervical cancer, human papillomavirus disease, and the importance of early detection.

"No woman should die from cervical cancer," explained Dr. Waymee Conner of WellSpan OB/GYN - Chambersburg. "Regular screenings mean cervical cancer is highly preventable, and can be cured when found early and treated."

According to the CDC, cervical cancer is almost always caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Two tests can help prevent cervical cancer or find it early; a pap smear, which looks for cell changes on the cervix that could become cervical cancer if not treated, and the HPV test which looks for the virus that can cause cell changes.

"All women need to be having conversations with their healthcare providers regarding how often they should be screened, and until what age," explained Dr. Conner. "Pap smears and pelvic exams don't take long, but we know they save lives. Also, one of the most important preventative tools for lower genital tract cancers is the HPV vaccine, so not only should women be thinking about getting Pap smears for their own health, but also getting their children of both genders vaccinated starting at ages 11 or 12 before they are even exposed to these various strains of sexually transmitted human papilloma virus."