Trust Wins Star For Rural Hospital Posted on May 20, 2014May 20, 2014 by Dakota PikeFirst printed in Orthopedics WeeklyBiloine W. Young • Wed, December 4th, 2013How did a 78 bed rural hospital in an economically depressed region of upstate New York end up with a world-class spinal surgeon? The answer lies in the power of human relationships to influence career decisions, the willingness of a hospital administrator and board to invest in equipment for a surgeon who was a continent away and the skills of a Beijing-born doctor, a former molecular biologist, who was just beginning his career as an orthopedic surgeon.The story began when two orthopedic surgeons approached Lawrence E. Kelly, president and CEO of the Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville. New York. They wanted to increase the coverage in orthopedics they were providing the hospital. To do that they needed a third partner—a spinal surgeon.“Great,” Kelly replied. He arranged for the hospital to fund the search and cover the recruitment costs and assigned a staff person to handle the paper work. When the search firm told them about Dr. Jian Shen, a 42-year-old former molecular biologist who was finishing up a residency in orthopedics in North Carolina, they all flew down to meet him.WMAC’s Alan ChartockSomething significant happened at that face-to-face meeting. The two upstate New York orthopedists and the hospital administrator found they really liked this novice surgeon. They flew him up to Gloversville to take a look at their hospital and the surrounding Adirondacks. He promised to come but he could not begin work for a year because he had agreed to serve a year-long fellowship in San Francisco.As Kelly explained, “It was a personal connection that we made. We all hit it off. There was trust there.” Kelly told Shen, “When you get here our commitment to you is we will do everything that is possible to be done to make sure you are a successful spine surgeon.”Kelly was in constant contact with Shen during Shen’s year in San Francisco. Kelly wanted to know what Shen was learning, what equipment he was using there that he would need in Gloversville. As Kelly explained, “We did not wait until he got here to buy a bunch of stuff for him. We bought it before he came, anticipating his arrival.”Looking back on that year Kelly remembers, “We were a small community hospital that was buying all of this equipment for a surgeon who was still 3.000 miles away. The only assurance we had that he would come was his name on a piece of paper. There was a lot of trust involved.”The hospital had also promised Shen that it would have spine patients waiting for him when he arrived. To help fulfill that promise prior to Shen’s arrival the hospital put large “Spine Rejoice” billboards on the highway. The local Northeast Public Radio station WAMC featured Shen on a call-in program and WAMC’s CEO, local celebrity Alan Chartock, had his bad back successfully treated by Shen. Shen had patients waiting for him from the first week of his arrival.Kelly remembers when Shen returned from a medical conference with information about the Mazor Robotic System. He explained to Kelly that, with this system, he could improve the accuracy of his surgery and shorten the recovery time for his patients.For Kelly, the administrator, “It was a hard one to swallow, but we invested. In a big place it would take me a year to get something like that. Here it took three weeks.” Shen, too, noted, “At a major medical center I would be a nobody. I could say, ‘get me a robot’ and it might happen in a year. Here I got it in a week.” As Kelly put it, “The trustees went out on a limb with my recommendation to invest that way and it has worked out for everyone.” Each hospital has invested about $1.75 million in robotic and other specialized equipment for Shen.What attracted Shen to Gloversville? He said it was very important to him to serve in an under-served area. While the two hospitals where he works are rural, they are on the edge of the capitol area of New York with more than a million population. Shen also credits the hospitals and operative room staffs. “We really get along well,” he said. “We have been on the same page from the beginning.”Shen performs the full spectrum of minimally invasive spine surgery thus minimizing damage to soft tissue. Two years and 1,500 patients later he has had no major complications and an infection rate of zero. He says, “Half of my patients leave the hospital from the recovery room, they do not need to be admitted.” He has performed several surgical firsts in the region, including the first robot-assisted spine surgery, and two surgical firsts in the United States.Shen’s goal is to create a “minimally invasive spine surgery destination” in upstate New York. Patients are already coming to Shen from New England and from states such as Texas and Florida. The waiting time to see Shen is now weeks long. He is looking for a partner and interested parties can contact him or the hospital by email at spines@nlh.org. “It is getting so busy that I cannot handle it all by myself,” he said.Cheryl McGrattan, vice-president for marketing, communication and community relations for the Gloversville hospital, says the surgery department is now a crowded place with representatives from medical device companies and other surgeons—including some of Shen’s own medical school professors—coming to watch him perform surgery. “It is very exciting for us to have this going on,” she said.Shen lives with his wife Wencui and their seven-year-old daughter in Loudonville, New York. He is a graduate of Weill Cornell University Medical College.
NLH’s “Falls and Prevention” program earns media attention Posted on April 28, 2014 by Dakota PikeBalancing ActExercise, environment important in senior fall preventionApril 20, 2014By BRIAN McELHINEY , The Leader HeraldGLOVERSVILLE – City resident Doris Clo, 82, is lucky. When she fell while taking out the garbage this winter, she was not hurt.“I do things now because my husband cannot, because of his balance,” Clo said, after attending HealthLink Littauer’s Improve Balance & Prevent Falls program at the Fulton County YMCA on Wednesday. “So [I] was getting the garbage can out of the ice, and it came faster than I thought it would, so basically, I fell backward. I did not hurt anything.”The fall was one of the reasons Clo attended the program, along with nearly 30 other seniors and caregivers. Clo has an artificial hip and knee, she said, and her husband, Lou, suffers from neuropathy, which affects balance.Article PhotosHildegard Cooper, left, a short-term resident at Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home receiving rehabilitation therapy, walks with Kirsten Lennon, Littauer’s coordinator of occupational therapy, Thursday. Photo submitted“I wanted him to come,” she said. “When I did fall this winter, it helped to be able to know how to get back up again. So I wanted to learn more, too.”Many seniors who suffer falls don’t end up as lucky. According to information provided by Nathan Littauer Hospital at the program, nearly 2 million emergency room visits per year are due to falls.“I would say 50 percent of folks that made it into a nursing home, did so post-fall,” said physical therapist William Oates, Nathan Littauer Hospital’s rehabilitation director and one of the presenters at the program.HealthLink, in cooperation with the Y and the Fulton County Office For Aging, has offered the Improve Balance & Prevent Falls program for about four years now, according to Sue Cridland, Littauer’s director of community education.“[A fall] can be such a life-changing event, so anything we can do to help prevent that is really important,” Cridland said.Physical activity is the most important method seniors can use to prevent falls, Cridland said. For seniors who are frail or unsteady, she recommended an evaluation by a physical therapist before starting any exercise program.The Y will offer a number of exercise programs in its Spring II session, which begins Monday and runs through June 8. A specific course dedicated to fall prevention, Balance & Stability For Fall Prevention, will be offered Mondays from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m.“That kind of program that is run here at the Y is wonderful, and the other piece of that, when you have a class, is that you have the whole socialization thing going on, which is also really, really important,” Cridland said. “One of the fellows that I just walked out with now that was going to sign up, he says, ‘You know, I’m 92 and I just don’t get out that much in the winter anymore, so I think this would be good for me.'”Oates sees patients for rehabilitation after falls, as well as patients who come in looking to proactively avoid falling. He said he likes to focus on awareness of the aging process – slower reaction times, lowered visual coordination and other balance-affecting afflictions – when developing a balanced training regimen for seniors to do at home.“One of the things I do like to concentrate on with someone who is beginning to have impaired balance is the strength of the ankle,” Oates said. “That’s the first recovery point. If you’re standing up straight and you start to fall backward, the first thing the body does is lift its toes off the ground to try to get you back into a neutral posture.”Environmental factors should also be considered in fall prevention. Margaret Luck, coordinator for the Lifeline program at Littauer and Fulton County coroner, talked about things around the home that can be changed to prevent falls, including keeping walking areas in free of obstacles; installing hand rails in stairways and bathrooms; and rearranging kitchen storage so that items are more easily accessible.“We can’t go up on ladders and be as sturdy as we used to be reaching for things, so it’s important that [seniors] look at their home,” Luck said.The Lifeline program itself can be an important way to avoid serious injuries from falls. The program equips seniors’ homes with a box and portable sensor button, so that if the senior does suffer a fall, he or she can push the button to alert paramedics.Littauer has offered the program for 25 years now, and the technology continues to improve. An Auto Alert system was introduced to the program about a year ago. The Auto Alert sensor will detect if a senior does not recover from a fall, and automatically alerts paramedics after 40 seconds, Luck explained.“It’s getting more popular,” Luck said. “Time matters. When somebody falls, the longer they’re down, the longer it takes to recover, and Lifeline has proven this fact over 25 years, that if they can get help right away to get back up, the recovery time is a lot less.”Clo said she is hoping to put the information provided in the course Wednesday to good use.“I want to try the strengthening exercises, and I want my husband to try the balancing exercises,” she said.
Littauer featured in “State of Health” Posted on April 28, 2014 by Dakota PikeState Of HealthNew budget well-received by area officials, though some uncertainty remainsApril 13, 2014By BRIAN McELHINEY , The Leader HeraldMost years, when the New York state budget is announced, Nathan Littauer Hospital expects to lose funding. That didn’t happen this year.“This budget’s different in that there’s usually all this negative, and there isn’t,” Nathan Littauer Hospital CEO Laurence Kelly said.The state’s 2014-15 budget will reinvest $8 billion from a federal Medicaid waiver announced in February for projects to improve the health care system, according to a release from the state Senate. There also were no cuts in hospital reimbursement for Medicaid patients, Kelly said.Article PhotosSenior technologist Elishiba Frasier, left, performs a Dexa-Scan to test for bone density on patient Kaytie Compani at Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville on Thursday. Photo by Bill Trojan/The Leader-Herald“That just means that we can do everything that we usually do and not have to scramble to try to be forced to reduce expenses when we didn’t want to,” Kelly said. “We’re looking to do that all the time anyway, to provide more services. … Most years we’re getting a 1 percent, 2 percent cut, 3 percent cut.”The budget also includes funding for a number of health care programs, including $4.1 million to the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program and other senior services; a $1.2 billion capital investment over seven years for restructuring health care facilities; and $163 million for early intervention programs, according to the Senate release. According to the release, along with funding for other health initiatives, including cancer services programs and the Nutritional Information for Women, Infants and Children program, the budget also includes the Safe Patient Handling Act, which requires hospitals to establish a program to prevent injuries to staff and patients during patient transport.However, at the moment it’s still too early to tell how most of these investments will affect local services, according to local officials.Fact BoxBudget numbersSome highlights from the New York state budget pertaining to health care and senior services:$8 billion in funds from the federal Medicaid waiver for transformative projects to improve the health care system.$1.2 billion capital investment over seven years for the restructuring of health care facilities.$95 million to create a statewide electronic medical record system.$4.1 million in increased funding to the New York’s Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program. Additionally, eligibility has been expanded, from $35,000 to $75,000 for singles, and from $50,000 to $100,000 for married seniors.$5 million for the Community Services for the Elderly Program.$25.3 million for cancer services programs.$26.3 million for Nutritional Information for Women, Infants and Children.$2.3 million for the Prenatal Care program.$4.5 million for maternal and child health.$550,000 for women’s health services.$533,300 for the Adelphi Breast Cancer Support program.$1.8 million for the Prenatal and Postpartum Home Visitation program.$34,700 for the Safe Motherhood Initiative.$10.6 million for adolescent pregnancy prevention.$1.8 million in increased funding for Rape Crisis Centers.$5 million in additional funding for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board.$2.5 million in additional funding for the Doctors Across New York program.$2.45 million for addiction services, prevention and treatment.$500,000 for Lyme and tick-borne disease initiatives.$163 million for early intervention programs.Kelly said the state will need to come up with criteria for distributing the $1.2 billion for health care facilities as grants.“We don’t really know what they’re looking for yet,” he said. “Restructuring, on a global term, that kind of means what’s been happening for a long time now. There’s less of a need for people to be admitted to a hospital, and in place of that we take care of them as an outpatient, or they just come for a treatment, they come for a test or they come for therapy, or you go to their home versus them coming to a hospital.”Littauer already has a head start on the Safe Patient Handling Act. The hospital formed a safe patient handling committee about three years ago, and has invested “thousands and thousands of dollars” on lift systems to move overweight and obese patients, Kelly said. Some rooms in the hospital are equipped with stationary lifts, while other lifts are portable.“We all know that there are more people that weigh more than they did in the past,” Kelly said. “It’s so much more of a risk for our staff when you’re trying to move somebody who’s 400, 500 pounds, so we have to have this stuff to do it safely.”Representatives from New York Oncology-Hematology, which has an office in Amsterdam, were not sure how much of the $25.3 million set aside for cancer services in the budget would be coming directly to them.“We are pleased that this year’s state budget includes funding for cancer services,” Edwin T. Graham, Northeast regional senior vice president of the U.S. Oncology Network, said in an emailed statement. “It signals New York’s continued commitment to expanding access to vital screenings for early detection as well as continued cancer research.”“Typically the state will use some of that money to expand access for people not eligible [for cancer care],” said Sarah Bilofsky, NYOH’s marketing director. “Obviously, any money set aside for research benefits everybody as well.”According to Bilofsky, in late January NYOH announced a $3 million investment of its own money for the Amsterdam office to upgrade its radiation line.The budget also includes $26.3 million for the WIC program. However, Fulton County WIC Director Stella Zanella did not have information about the funding and would not comment.“I really haven’t heard anything about that,” she said.Dave Jordan, executive director of the Montgomery County Office for Aging, said he was pleased with the funding allocated to EPIC and other senior services, in particular the $5 million alloted for the Community Services for the Elderly program.“That’s a catch-all state program,” Jordan said. “That’s used for things like outreach.”He estimated that his office would receive anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.“I think often senior issues don’t get on the front page, so they don’t get enough coverage, especially the EPIC program, where people don’t realize how much of someone’s income goes [to medication],” Jordan said.The Office for Aging in Fulton County did not return phone calls seeking comment on the EPIC and senior services funding. St. Mary’s Healthcare also did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Nathan Littauer in the news: Plan ahead to reduce stress Posted on April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 by Dakota PikePublished in the Daily Gazette April 5, 2014Q & A: Plan ahead to reduce stress, health educator says Community health educator Wendy Chirieleison says one way to reduce stress is to stay away from computer screens. (Courtesy Healthlink Littauer)Relax — that’s one word of advice that community health educator Wendy Chirieleison can offer to reduce stress.Chirieleison will offer other advice to free people from personal pressure cookers on Tuesday, April 15, as she presents “50 Ways to Reduce Stress.” Two one-hour lectures, sponsored by HealthLink Littauer — Nathan Littauer’s Hospital’s wellness education and resource center — will be held at the Fulton County YWCA at 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The YWCA is at 213 Harrison St. Extension, Johnstown.People interested in attending either of the lectures are asked to call HealthLink at 736-1120.Q: Can you tell that people in our community are under assorted stresses these days?A: I think you can see people are looking tired, looking a little bit frantic when they’re working and carrying out daily activities. People can be a little short-tempered at times . . . I think it’s a combination of family, not having enough time, high demands at work, not getting enough sleep, not getting enough exercise, not eating well, not getting the fruits and vegetables and water that we need to maintain a healthy balance.Q: How can people dampen their daily stresses?A: Here are some of the ways to help minimize or prevent stress — one would be improving time management, making a schedule and sticking to it. Getting ready ahead of time, prepping things ahead of time and leaving yourself enough time to arrive early. So leave a little earlier for appointments. When you don’t plan for enough time, people start rushing — especially in the car, when you may not have planned to be behind a slow-moving vehicle. Your blood pressure goes up, you need to get to your appointment on time and you didn’t factor in this travel time.Q: How can people reduce their stress in their workplaces?A: Technology has placed an expectation on workers they will be available 24-7. If you’re working on a project, and your team has a question, they may feel they can text you or email you with questions when you’re home trying to have a relaxing evening with your family. Turn off, unplug your devices so you can connect with your family and have a clear division of work time and personal time.Q: How about some other ways to minimize stress at the office?A: Being organized is one great way to minimize stress at work. That means everything from organizing your work space to your schedule and really giving yourself either 30 minutes or 60 minutes to de-stress from what you were doing at work, have a healthy lunch, get in some exercise. I think people would really feel better if they did that. They would feel a lot more energized.Q: How can people on the job beat stress when so many of us have extra duties these days?A: It’s OK to say no. If you are being asked by the PTA to run an event but your plate is full, know that it’s OK to respectfully decline helping out . . . you can ask your supervisor to put that project on hold until you can have finished some of the other things you’re working on. It would give you some time to finish working before starting something new.I think supervisors also have to be mindful of realistic expectations, take into consideration how much time employees are spending working on projects and be a little bit more flexible with the demands they’re placing on their workers and their staffs.Q: How does healthy eating figure into stress?A: Unhealthy eating connects to stress because our bodies need nutrients in order to help us cope with the stress that we experience all day. So healthy eating would make sure you’ve gotten the proper servings of proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoid things that add to stress such as caffeine, excess sugar and alcohol.Q: How does exercise help chase stress?A: Exercise creates endorphins that make us feel happy, so that kind of balances our stress as well. If people were getting 30 minutes of activity every day, even if they divided that 30 minutes into two 15-minute increments or three 10-minute increments, they’d feel more energized and much less stressed.Q: How much sleep do we need to relieve stress?A: You need at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night. That really helps maintain balance. If people have trouble sleeping at night, they might try putting their devices away early because the light from the screens really triggers the brain and doesn’t allow the brain to relax. You might think reading a tablet a half hour before you go to bed is helpful, but really, it isn’t. TV is another thing you would want to avoid in bed.Q: How does positive thinking figure into the de-stress equation?A: Sometimes we tend to be more negative in thinking about ourselves and what we have done. Replace those thoughts with something more positive. So if you made a mistake or, for example, you’re on a diet and you eat something you shouldn’t have eaten and didn’t want to eat. Tell yourself “Tomorrow starts another day . . . I’m not going to beat me up over this one mistake.” Recognize all the good efforts you have made.Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 or at wilkin@dailygazette.com.
Littauer Thinks Pink All Year Long Posted on March 20, 2014 by Dakota PikeAs we celebrate breast health this October, Littauer wanted to do something that would last. See what we did for women in our region…
