Nathan Littauer Hospital announces free seminar: “Preventing Sports Injuries in Young Athletes”

Littauer’s Sports Medicine and Rehab Team will host a seminar Nov 30.

Gloversville , NY — Nathan Littauer Hospital Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Team announced today a free seminar aimed at “keeping kids and safe and in the game”. “Preventing Sports Injuries in Young Athletes” will be held November 30, 2011 at the Johnstown Holiday Inn, 308 Comrie Avenue Johnstown., NY. The seminar is aimed at getting the word out to parents, coaches, healthcare workers and athletes themselves about the risks of Overuse Injuries. The seminar will also include new information about sports concussions and heat-related illness. On hand will be Physicians, injured athletes, Athletic Directors and Physical Therapists. The hospital started this campaign in conjunction with STOP Sports Injury about 14 months ago. As such, it is the first of its kind in upstate New York and part of the hospital’s ongoing effort to educate the community about the growing epidemic of overuse injuries and trauma among young athletes. This is the second seminar of its kind since Nathan Littauer joined forces with STOP Sports injuries, a national organization dedicated to sports injury and trauma prevention for kids.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Gerald Ortiz, a leading orthopedic surgeon. He will be speaking about “Sports medicine: A spotlight on the young athlete and ligament injuries.” Also new this year is an Athletic Director’s Round Table: Safeguarding the Young Athlete representing five school districts. “I would think any parent with a child in athletics would want to hear from this group of professionals.” said hospital spokesperson, Cheryl McGrattan. She added, “It will be a rare opportunity to hear what local school districts are doing to keep kids safe while they are participating in sports. This is a good time to hold an event like this as many students start gearing up for spring and summer sports participation now.” She concluded, “Also many winter athletes are particularly vulnerable to injury and dehydration”.

The Athletic Directors Round Table will feature the following speakers and the following topics:

Adam Barnhart, Athletic Director at Broadalbin Perth Schools. Topic: How an effective warm up affects performance and injury prevention. Eileen Rovito, Athletic Director at Mayfield Schools. Topic: A review of the NYS Public HS Athletic Association concussion guidelines. Mike DeMagistris, Athletic Director at Gloversville Schools. Topic: The use of the Head Impact Telemetry System in High School Sports.

Charles Karker, Athletic Director at Fort Plain Schools. Ron Smith, Athletic Director at Amsterdam Schools. Topic: A focus on heat related illness during sports.

Last year, Nathan Littauer Hospital was one of the first hospitals to join a nationwide movement to address the critical issue of safe sports participation. As a participating STOP Sports Injury Medical Institution Nathan Littauer has been working in the region to help prevent athletic overuse injuries and trauma injuries.

William Oates, Director of the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Team states, “Any one who comes to this seminar will leave with knowledge and practical information to keep you athletes safe and in the game.” He added, “Our first conference, held in September of ’10, was a huge success with 120 people in attendance and a great amount of positive feedback. “

“Preventing Sports Injuries in Young Athletes” will be held November 30, 2011 at the Johnstown Holiday Inn, 308 Comrie Avenue Johnstown., NY. Registration and refreshments start at 6:00pm with the program starting at 6:30pm. The program will be about 1.5 hours long. The event is free and open to the public. Anyone who is interested in attending the seminar is encouraged to RSVP by calling 773-5533 or 773-5540 or by emailing stopsportsinjuries@nlh.org.

Compelling Statistics on a Growing Epidemic:

There is a growing epidemic of preventable youth sports injuries that are dismantling kids’ athletic hopes and dreams at an early age. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), participation in organized sports is on the rise. Nearly 30 million children and adolescents participate in youth sports in the United States. This increase in play has led to some other startling statistics about injuries among

America’s young athletes. Sports injuries can cause permanent damage and increase the chances of surgeries and arthritis later in life. If an injury does occur, early identification and proper treatment is the key to a successful recovery.

• High school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries and 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year.1
• Children ages 5 to 14 account for nearly 40 percent of all sports-related injuries treated in hospitals. On average the rate and severity of injury increases with a child’s age.2
• Injuries associated with participation in sports and recreational activities account for 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among children in the United States.2
• According to the CDC, more than half of all sports injuries in children are preventable.

Armed with the correct information and tools, today’s youth athletes can remain healthy, play safe, and stay in the game for life.

References:

1. JS Powell, KD Barber Foss, 1999. Injury patterns in selected high school sports: a review of the 1995-1997 seasons.

J Athl Train. 34: 277-84.

2 Preserving the Future of Sport: From Prevention to Treatment of Youth Overuse Sports Injuries.

AOSSM 2009 Annual Meeting Pre-Conference Program. Keystone, Colorado

http://stopsportsinjuries.reingoldweb.com/files/pdf/Option-B.pdf

*American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, AAOS Now, 2009

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About STOP Sports Injuries

More information can be found at: http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/

About Nathan Littauer

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home is a full-service, 74 bed acute care hospital with an 84 bed skilled nursing home located in Gloversville, NY. Littauer provides the finest in state-of-the-art technology and a caring, dedicated staff of health care professionals. Over the years, the hospital has expanded its services in order offer health care that is comprehensive, accessible, and relevant to the needs of the communities we serve. The Littauer medical staff brings amazing technical expertise and competence to the residents of Fulton County and the surrounding communities.

Faster reports equates to improved patient care.

Nathan Littauer has a new way to document patient diagnostic exams. “The end product will be faster imaging documentation- which in the end benefits our patients” stated Judy Cetnar, Director of Health Information Management for the hospital. She explained, “Front-end speech recognition will enable us to provide faster Diagnostic Imaging report turnaround time which leads to improved patient care. It will also decrease transcription costs for our facility.”

Nathan Littauer will implement Dolbey’s Fusion Expert for front-end speech recognition and document management across their facilities and will be used by about 20 Radiologists. Susan Kiernan, Vice President of Development at the hospital notes, “This is yet one more technology advancement we have done in the interest of seamless patient care.”

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About Nathan Littauer

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home is a full-service, 74 bed acute care hospital with an 84 bed skilled nursing home located in Gloversville, NY. Littauer provides the finest in state-of-the-art technology and a caring, dedicated staff of health care professionals. Over the years, the hospital has expanded its services in order offer health care that is comprehensive, accessible, and relevant to the needs of the communities we serve. The Littauer medical staff brings amazing technical expertise and competence to the residents of Fulton County and the surrounding communities.

About Dolbey:

Dolbey is a leader in providing dictation, transcription, speech recognition and coding solutions for healthcare in the United States and Canada. Together, Dolbey and Company, Inc. and Dolbey Systems, Inc. offer the award winning Fusion Suite™ of integrated products which is backed by the industry’s largest organization of certified professionals who assist in design, implementation and support. XXX

Hospital plays 20 seconds of Brahms Lullaby each time a baby is born

At Nathan Littauer Hospital when Brahms’ Lullaby plays over the hospital’s loud speakers, it is a cause for celebration. In a new program started this week, when a baby is born in the hospital’s Birthing Center, Brahms’ Lullaby is broadcast throughout the hospital. “It is a good reminder to us all that miracles happen almost every day” stated Hospital Spokesperson, Cheryl McGrattan.

Kelly Hartz, RN Manager of the Birthing Center is credited with starting the program.

On November 2, 2011, the second day of the new initiative, guests, patients and staff were treated to three lullabies announcing three births. The hospital averages about 430 births a year. Nathan Littauer Hospital joins other hospitals across the nation adopting the lullaby program.

“Unfortunately, most hospitals are associated with fear, pain and discomfort.” said Kelly Hartz, RN who is credited with starting the program. As the manager of the Birthing Center, she notes, “This program reminds people- staff included- that a hospital can also be a place of hope and promise.” The brief few measures from the German composer Johannes Brahms’ famous melody has already had a lasting effect on staff. Barbara Wilson, HR Generalist for 31 years at Nathan Littauer Hospital said she was elated to hear it explaining, “It was very uplifting and very nice to hear.” It is the first time the hospital has announced a birth in this way. Priscilla Person, who works in Diagnostic Imaging was in a patient waiting room when the first lullaby was played. She reported that the patient broke into a huge smile when she explained what the song meant. She also added, “It gives you the best warmest feeling. I think it is great.”

The calming 20 seconds can be heard throughout the hospital hallways, lobbies, surgical units, laboratory, waiting rooms, cafeterias and patient rooms. When patients and visitors hear the lullaby, nearby staff explain the interruption. “I am thrilled that this has come to our facility. I think it reconnects everyone, both staff, patients and visitors, with our purpose of facilitating life changes that our patients transition through.” stated Kathie Rohrs, RN a nurse at Littauer. She concluded, “It is truly a beautiful symbolic touch that will cause us all to self reflect.”

The Birthing Center At Littauer will play music when a baby is born

The system can be overridden in the event of an emergency and music will play from 7am to 7pm. And staff and patients will definitely know when twins are born — the music will play twice in succession.

Dr. Ramani Receives Certificate of Excellence

November, 1, 2011—Dr. Kamini Ramani was recently recognized by Mohawk Valley Medical Associates for Quality Performance as well as continued excellence in colorectal cancer screening and upper GI endoscopy. Dr. Ramani was one of only 14 groups to receive this award. Dr. Ramani is seen here with Dr. David Phelps (Medical Director of MVMA).

Nathan Littauer Welcomes 11/11/11 baby!

Family welcomes a little girl with a special birthday

November 11, 2011…It will be a unique identity for little Jazlyn Castrello whose birthday is now 11/11/11. Jennifer Castrello gave birth to the little girl at Nathan Littauer Hospital’s Birthing Center at 3:14 am this morning. This afternoon, baby, mother and father, Julio Castrello, all from Amsterdam were resting comfortably. Jazlyn is 8 pounds 7 ounces, twenty one inches long and aside from having a lucky birthday she is after all, simply beautiful.

Besides being born on Veterans Day, today is a rare numerical phenomenon, 11/11/11. “Some call this the luckiest date of the century as it is the only date with identical digits and only occurs every 100 years.” stated Susan Kiernan, Hospital Vice President of Development. 11/11/11 is the ultimate palindrome date- meaning it reads the same forward as it reads backwards. She added, “We are very happy for this family. Everyone is doing very well”. Sue Kiernan concludes, “In all, we may have four 111111 babies as we are very busy in our birthing center today.”

Gloversville, NY…Last night, Nathan Littauer Hospital was served a letter outlining the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) notice of their intent to strike at 6:45 a.m. Monday, November 14, 2011. The hospital management states that if the nurses do strike, patient care will continue with minimal interruption. “Our focus remains supporting our community with excellent health care.” stated Nathan Littauer’s Hospital President and CEO Laurence E. Kelly. He added, “Caring for our patients is our highest priority, and this issue will not change that.”

“For months, the hospital has had a contingency plan in place and we have already started to act on that plan.” stated Ginger Mulligan Vice President of Nursing at the hospital. “If need be, we will supplement our staff with a staffing agency, one which provides a very high level of care.” She concluded, “Our patients will be well cared for and can be confident they will receive safe, courteous and compassionate care.”

Nathan Littauer Hospital has responded to the current contract negotiations with New York State Nurses Association. The letter is printed below in its entirety:

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A LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY:

For months, Nathan Littauer Hospital has remained silent about the current negotiations with the union, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents our Registered Nurses. The time has come to speak plainly to our community. The nurses’ union at Nathan Littauer Hospital says they want a fair and reasonable contract. Everyone has their own opinion on what fair and reasonable is. The hospital Board of Directors and Administration believe we are offering a fair and reasonable contract.

The current contract for registered nurses at Nathan Littauer Hospital provides:

• The starting base salary of new graduate nurse is $51,064.
• At 10 years of experience the base salary is $72,134.
• The top-of-the range base salary is $75,462.
• RNs are given additional salary over and above their base salary for working evening/nights/weekends or having additional training as follows:

Evening shift ………………………………. + $7,800 per year

Night shift …………………………………. +$9,800 per year

Weekend shift ………………………….. + $3.00 per hour

Bachelor’s degree …………………….. + $1.00 per hour

Be a preceptor to a new nurse …… + $1.50 per hour

Perfect attendance for a year ……. + 2 additional days of pay

Overtime ………………………………….. + 1 ½ times regular pay

The average salary/income in 2010 of a full-time RN at Nathan Littauer Hospital with 10 years of experience was $90,000.

The hospital is proud to provide the salaries/wages as shown above. They are competitive with every hospital in Albany, Schenectady and beyond. Our nurses work hard, and they deserve to be paid on a par with RNs in the Capital Region.

Additionally, RNs are given:

• 2 weeks of vacation, 1 personal day and 8 holidays per year when they begin employment.
• At 1 year of employment their personal days are increased to 4.
• At 3 years of employment they are given 3 weeks of vacation plus the personal days and holidays.
• At 8 years of employment they are given 16 vacation days plus the personal days and holidays.
• At 12 years they are given 18 vacation days plus personal days and holidays.
• At 14 years they are given 19 vacation days plus personal days and holidays.
• At 15 years they are given 20 vacation days plus the personal days and holidays.
• At 20 years they are given 25 vacation days plus the personal days and holidays.

Additionally, RNs are given:

• 12 paid sick days per year to start and
• 18 paid sick days at 10 years of employment.

Additionally, RNs are given:

100% paid single health insurance coverage by MVP or Blue Shield

4% pension contribution by hospital

Life Insurance

Tuition reimbursement

The hospital has offered a three-year contract with salary/wage increases of 1.75%, 1.0% and 1.0%. The nurses’ union does not think that is fair and reasonable.

The hospital believes the 18 paid sick days per year that 10-year nurses receive is not fair and should be reduced to the 12 days that other employees receive. We know of no hospital in New York state that gives nurses 18 sick days per year. The union disagrees and thinks that 18 sick days per year is fair and reasonable.

What do you think is fair and reasonable?

The hospital exists to provide health care to our community. We have been impacted by the struggling state and national economy like almost everyone. The state reduced our revenue through Medicaid cuts this year by $500,000 and the federal government reduced our revenue through Medicare cuts this year by $250,000. When people in our area lose their jobs and their health insurance, we are affected too. We provided over $1.4 million of charity care so far this year compared to less than half that just 2 years ago. We are proud to be able to provide that charity care, but it shows that we have to be prudent with every dollar we commit in any future contract, knowing more reimbursement cuts and losses of health insurance are on the horizon.

We understand that NYSNA works hard to represent their members. In our experience, NYSNA never wants to lose a benefit and always expects higher salaries/wages each year. We believe the contract we have proposed is very generous, competitive with other hospitals and is more than fair and reasonable. The union does not agree.

The nurses’ union has also said that the focus of their negotiations is to maintain the quality of care and to recruit and retain quality nurses. The fact is that there is no nursing shortage at Nathan Littauer. For years we have filled any vacancies very quickly. We have scores of nurses who have worked at NLH for decades. For the union to say that we need to pay our nurses more than we have offered and provide 18 paid sick days in order to recruit and retain staff to maintain quality of care is just not true.

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home hopes to have a new contract with our Registered Nurses. Whether we do or do not will not affect our services or the care that we provide to our patients. Quality care is and will always be our mission and our commitment to our community.

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