Littauer celebrates World Breastfeeding Week with an event Posted on July 27, 2016 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Nathan Littauer Hospital, led by World Breastfeeding WeekNancy Quinlan, RN, IBCLC is celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, Aug. 1 through 7, with an event on Aug. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.at the Littauer Surgical Center., located in the hospital at 99 E. State St., in Gloversville. Supporters, new or expectant moms with families are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served and mothers are welcome to share their stories and socialize.Littauer’s lactation services allows for a comfortable place for breastfeeding and pregnant families to get professional breastfeeding support, check baby’s weight and milk intake, and connect to community resources. Nancy Quinlan is a Registered Nurse and an International Breastfeeding Certified Lactation Consultant at Littauer. She has helped countless new mothers nurse their babies with breastfeeding classes or one-on-one consultations.“Breastfeeding is the one gift that only a mom can give her baby that will have a lifelong effect on them both,” said Quinlan. “Breast milk keeps your baby healthy and breastfeeding keeps the mother healthy.”By June, Qunlan had already celebrated 50 consultations for the year at Nathan Littauer Hospital, and her visits are constantly growing.This year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme, “Breastfeeding: A Key to Sustainable Development,” is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the very start of life, how to respect each other, and to care for the world we share.For further information or an appointment, call Nancy Quinlan at (518) 775-4101.
Littauer announces new Director of Community Education Posted on July 19, 2016July 20, 2016 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Littauer is proud to announce Tammy Merendo, RN, as the next Director of Community Education working for Littauer’s HealthLink. She is filling a position recently vacated by the retired Sue Cridland. Merendo currently is a nurse manager at the Nathan Littauer Hospital Nursing Home.“I am looking forward to transitioning into this exciting role,” said Merendo. “HealthLink offers so much to the community, and this is such a pivotal time to be in public health.”Merendo is a tireless patient advocate and enjoys helping people negotiate their health care needs. “I love working in the community and I look forward to linking people to the many health services offered, including some they may not even know about.”Prior to Littauer, Merendo has worked as an RN case manager specializing in HIV/AIDS and Hospice. She has led community projects through the Creative Connections Art Center, and assisted with programs such as Adirondack Friends in Need, Red Ribbon Partnership, and Flash Forward 4H group.Merendo is also the recipient of the 1998 Excellence in Nursing Award and the 2001 Most Honorable Student for the Health Science Department from Southern Union Community College, 2007 Nurse of Excellence Award for Fulton-Montgomery Community College, and the 2015 Gregory Hoye Caregiver Award from Mountain Valley Hospice.“I am thrilled to welcome Tammy as our new director at HealthLink,” said Littauer VP of Communications and Public Relations, Cheryl McGrattan. “Our mission is to bring healthcare into the community. Our neighbors will definitely benefit from Tammy’s integrity and enthusiasm.”Merendo attended Southern Union Community College in Opelika Alabama to receive her Associate Degree in Nursing. She is currently enrolled in Utica College working toward her Bachelors in Nursing. She grew up in Broadalbin and lives in Amsterdam.Merendo will assume her new position in August at HealthLink, Littauer’s Wellness Education & Resource Center, located on 2 Colonial Court in downtown Johnstown, (518) 736-1120.Littauer Community Educator, Tammy Merendo, RN
Littauer and American Renal Associates set the foundation for Fulton County dialysis center Posted on June 17, 2016 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Nathan Littauer Hospital, in partnership with American Renal Associates, is proud to announce the “foundation setting” for its new state-of-the-art dialysis center in Gloversville. The new facility in Fulton County will offer the latest technology for the care and comfort of patients suffering from kidney disease. On Friday, June 17, Nathan Littauer Hospital administrators, together with Dr. Soo Lee and Dr. Hani Shahata of American Renal Associates and local dignitaries, ceremoniously set the foundation as the construction of the center got underway. “We are very excited about this venture with Littauer,” said Dr. Lee. “Dialysis is an essential service, and it will be a tremendous advantage to patients in Fulton County and beyond the region.” The new dialysis center at Nathan Littauer Hospital will be the first dialysis center in Fulton County and one of the few dialysis centers in the nation attached to both a hospital and a nursing home. The center is fully prepared to serve all local patients suffering from kidney disease on an outpatient basis. “Drs. Lee and Shahata of American Renal Associates share our mission of providing world-class healthcare services to Fulton County,” said Laurence E. Kelly, president and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital. “Our ongoing partnership with these extraordinary doctors will increase our capacity to better serve our neighbors.” Littauer expects the dialysis center to improve the quality of life for patients suffering from kidney disease. Many dialysis patients have to travel hours for a treatment that can last up to four hours, three times a week. It is Littauer’s mission to provide world-class healthcare locally. Although the new dialysis center is an outpatient facility, Littauer has filed an application with the New York State Department of Health to offer dialysis to patients admitted to the hospital. The facility fully expects approval for this request. As stated, the Gloversville dialysis project is unique to the area since it is adjacent to a nursing home. According to Dr. Shahata, many nursing homes cannot offer dialysis services due to the time, frequency, and transportation costs. The new 7,000-square-foot facility will house 12 dialysis stations, with one isolation station, and will treat approximately 60 patients a week. The total cost from start to finish is $3.5 million. Littauer anticipates being in the test phase by Dec. 1, and being open for dialysis by Jan. 1, 2017. “This is the right project, at the right time, with the right partners,” confirmed Kelly.From left: Leslie Beadle, Vice President, Administrator/NLH Nursing Home; Geoff Peck, Executive Director, Nathan Littauer Foundation; Laurence E. Kelly, President and CEO, Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home; Dr. Irina Gelman, director of the Fulton County Public Health Department; Dr. Soo Lee, American Renal Association; Jean Wilkinson, Littauer Auxiliary; Brian Hanaburgh, Chairman, Littauer Board of Directors; Janine Dykeman, Board Chair, Nathan Littauer Foundation and Mark Kilmer, President, Fulton Montgomery Regional Chamber of CommerceLaurence E. Kelly, President and CEO, Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home, left, together with Dr. Soo Lee, American Renal Association stand together on the new dialysis center construction site in Gloversville
Littauer expansion will temporarily move providers Posted on June 14, 2016 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Nathan Littauer Hospital is pleased to announce the renovation and expansion of their Gloversville Medical Arts Building. The offices, located at 99 E. State St. on the hospital’s first floor will be temporarily moved to accommodate the construction. The following providers will be assigned to temporarily practicing at other Littauer Primary & Specialty Center as indicated:David Pesses, MD, will be at Johnstown Primary & Specialty Care, phone 775-4201James Vacek, MD, will be at Johnstown Primary & Specialty Care, phone 775-4201Rainer Feyer, PA, will be at Caroga Lake Primary & Specialty Care, phone 835-2341Crystal Baker, PA, will be at Perth Primary & Specialty Care, 883-8620 “We anticipate this transition will go smoothly, and the project will produce optimal results for our patients,” stated Littauer Vice President of Marketing and Communications Cheryl McGrattan. “We expect the new offices to be completed by fall.” Please contact your provider with any questions.
NLH Gastroenterology campaign gets National nod from American Hospital Assoc. Posted on May 3, 2016 by Dakota PikeThe American Hospital Association’s Matthew O’Connor reached out to Littauer after hearing about our gastroenterology campaign – his story is in the this months issue of the associations Health & Hospital Networks.Using Humor to Address a Serious Health Care ConcernNathan Littauer Hospital in upstate New York uses silly pint glasses, puzzles to help improve colon cancer mortality rates.May 3, 2016Matt O’ConnorUnable to make a dent in colon cancer patients’ mortality rate through traditional means, a small hospital in upstate New York is adding a new ingredient to its approach: humor.The 74-bed Nathan Littauer Hospital found its home county of Fulton was near the national average for incidence, but had a higher than average mortality rate. Leaders there decided to look at their gastroenterology department, and specifically its colonoscopy procedure — or lack of procedures in this case. They staffed up from one gastroenterologist to three and opened a new endoscopy center, but something was still missing.“Everyone knows that nobody wants a colonoscopy,” says Laurence Kelly, president and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital, in Gloversville, N.Y. “We said, ‘Let’s do something different and creative to get people’s attention,’ and it certainly has worked.”That’s where their humorous colonoscopy initiative comes in. Patients who schedule a colonoscopy receive a notepad filled with quizzes, puzzles and a space to write “a haiku about #2” for their frequent trips to “the office.”The real draw is that each patient who schedules a colonoscopy gets a pint glass with tick marks to help measure out his or her laxatives for the procedure. It also makes a great beer glass for later.The program is only five months old, but many are optimistic it will help to bring the hospital’s colon cancer rates down, including Nathan Littauer gastroenterologist Kamini Ramani, M.D., who some patients call “Dr. Innerds” because of the logo on the pint glass. “I’m hopeful we will reach our goal and at least get near the national standard,” she says.Hospitals don’t often employ humor to tackle such serious issues, but Kelly believes it has made all the difference. “Listen to ideas that are out of the box,” he says. “You think your usual efforts will work: this is science, this is medicine, it’s preventive and the right thing, so people would say, ‘Yes, sign me up’ — but it just doesn’t work that way.”
