VMC Foundation Lifelines

We have moved!

2011-11-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

"Lifelines" is no more. Well, at least the Blogger version.

The VMC Foundation will now be blogging at our new website - www.vmcfoundation.org. You can find all the old content from "Lifelines" on the new site (plus lots of new stuff).

Thanks for reading.

General Surgical Teaching Excellence

2011-06-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

VMC has long been an official teaching hospital of the Stanford University School of Medicine. And now, according to Stanford General Surgery Residents, it’s also their favorite.

Dr. Gregg Adams, Chief of Surgery at VMC announced today that Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has received the “Best Service” Award by the 2011 General Surgery Residents at Stanford. Interns, Second-Year Residents and Fourth-Year Residents all gave VMC top honors, after rotations that included stints at Kaiser, Stanford Medical Center, Lucille Packard and the VA.

The General Surgery Training Program at VMC is headed up by Dr. Adella Garland and Dr. Peter Cahill. Thanks to their work and others, VMC is the largest teaching hospital in the South Bay, having trained a quarter of all practicing physicians in Santa Clara County. It’s just another way that VMC benefits all residents of this valley, regardless of where they normally receive their healthcare.

VMC Nurse wins "Healthcare Hero Award"

2011-06-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

At a ceremony this morning, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal named Linda Richards, R.N. as a 2011 "Healthcare Hero." Linda serves as Program Director for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). She was the only nurse to receive an award.

The VMC Foundation salutes Linda and all SART staff for the tireless and essential care they provide for the victims of sexual assault.

Read more about the event from the Business Journal here.

Good Samaritan gives 85 year old VMC patient birthday to remember

2011-05-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Greg Geier could hardly believe his eyes. Walking back to his office from the construction site, he spotted on older man lying face down on the sidewalk in front of Valley Medical Center.

The man was alone, and on this quiet morning, nobody else was in the immediate vicinity. Greg and his colleagues quickly rush to his side. The man had just left the hospital after a visit with his doctor, and apparently tripped.

“He was disoriented,” Greg said, “and banged up pretty bad.”

Greg quickly found a VMC staff person, who alerted the Emergency Department and arranged for his immediate transport. In just a few minutes, the man was gone.

Greg caught his breath, a carried on with his busy day. As the Piping General Foreman for F.W. Spencer and Sons, Inc., a major HVAC and sheet metal sub-contractor for the new VMC hospital wing, he had plenty of work to keep his mind occupied.

But something didn’t sit right with Greg.

He asked himself why this 80+ year old man in poor health was by himself at VMC? Did he have no family to accompany him to his appointment? And what would become of him now all alone in the Emergency Department? He didn’t even know this man’s name, but he couldn’t get the image of him laying facedown on the cold, damp concrete out of his mind.

“I just kept thinking about the guy and it really bothered me,” said Greg.

He also couldn’t help think of his own father, also in his 80s, who was recently injured after a nasty fall on a busy street. It was total strangers who helped get him to safety. Whatever it was, Greg decided that he needed to make sure this man would be ok.

So Greg returned to the hospital and spoke to VMC staff in the ED. He learned that the man had been hospitalized in the Medical Short Stay Unit (MSSU), where he would remain for the next few days, recovering from his injuries.

Greg found his way to the unit and explained who he was to the nurses. They were somewhat skeptical at first. Greg, after all, was not a family member or friend. And a construction worker looks nothing like a candy striper. But seeing no harm, they led Greg to the proper room.

Greg introduced himself.

The man was named Richard. A World War Two veteran, he used to ferry supplies via truck for the Army between the Bay Area and ports in Southern California. Now in his mid-80s, Richard was living alone in San Jose, his family long since gone. He explained that he had been visiting the doctor that day, when he tripped leaving the hospital. He was grateful for Greg and his colleagues for their help, and touched that Greg would even bother to visit him again in the hospital.

As the two men continued to speak, Greg learned that the very next day would be Richard’s 85th birthday. After a few more minutes of conversation, Greg said goodbye and left for the evening, thinking he had brought closure to the events of that morning.

And yet, once again, Greg just didn’t feel right. On the ride home, his thoughts drifted back to Richard, alone in the hospital – and on his 85th birthday, without family or friends.

So when Greg awoke the next morning, he decided to see Richard again. But this time, he would bring along a birthday card filled with the money he had in his wallet.

“I thought that maybe he could take himself out to dinner with it,” Greg said.

He grabbed a company sweatshirt for Richard and trekked over to his room in the MSSU.

This time, it was Richard who couldn’t believe his eyes.

“He was just beaming,” said Greg. “He was very thankful.”

The events caused a small stir on the unit, as nurses and other MSSU staff crowded into the room to see the scene unfold. By this time, the story of the friendly construction worker who had come to Richard’s rescue had brought smiles all around.

“It just felt really neat,” said Michelle de la Calle, R.N., the MSSU Nurse Manager. “Here is a person who is physically building our new hospital, but cares so much about our patients too.”

“It was just one of those things,” Greg said. “It felt like a calling. I just had to do it.”

TechCrunch profiles eLEGS at VMC

2011-05-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

TechCrunch paid a visit to the Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Unit at VMC last week to profile eLEGS, the bionic exoskeleton designed to help paralyzed patients walk again. VMC is the first clinical testing site of the device in the United States. Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Akshat Shah and a terrific team of therapists and technicians from Berkeley Bionics, TechCrunch captured the amazing potential of this technology.

Watch the video to see eLEGS in actions.

The VMC Foundation is actively fundraising to support the testing of eLEGS of VMC. As VMC and Berkeley Bionics study how patients respond to the device, needed improvements can be made. Our goal is to make eLEGS available to all in need. Please consider a small investment to help us get there.

P.S. Don’t know TechCrunch? They are only one of the leading technology news sites in the United States. Make them part of your daily diet of news and information.

VMC Rehab and Burn Units Win National Quality Awards

2011-05-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Great news out of Omaha, Nebraska today - the VMC Rehabilitation Center and Burn Center received “5-Star” quality awards from PRC (Professional Research Consultants). PRC is an industry leader in healthcare quality data management, working with over 200 of America’s top hospitals.

The awards recognized inpatient services in the Rehab and Burn centers for “Overall Quality of Care.” These awards are based on the percentage of patients who rate the inpatient unit “Excellent” for the overall quality of care question. VMC needed to finish in the 90th percentile of hospitals surveyed nationally to win these awards.

We salute the amazing staff of the VMC Rehab and Burn Units. It’s one thing to be a hospital open to all regardless of ability to pay – but quite another to offer world-class care for those inside. At VMC, we do both.

The Great VMC Earthquake of 1906

2011-04-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

105 years ago today, the Great San Francisco Earthquake nearly destroyed the hospital now known as Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The damage, as you can see from the photograph above, was extensive.

Fortunately, VMC already has a jump on the next big one. Construction of a new, seismically-sound hospital wing (replacing buildings not quite as old as 1906) is well underway, set to open in 2014.

Check out our progress with some great pictures at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33577523@N08/with/5604697414/

Silicon Valley Buisness Journal spotlights new VMC exec Linda Smith

2011-04-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you to our friends at the Silicon Valley Business Journal for creating this wonderful spotlight on VMC's new leader.

Check out http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/ for more great articles.

Health care exec returns to her roots as new head of Valley Medical Center

Premium content from Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - by Lisa Sibley Date: Friday, April 8, 2011, 3:00am PDT

Linda Smith has come full circle in her career.

At age 17, the San Jose native began her health profession as a respiratory therapist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center , while attending Foothill College. She remembers being frustrated that patients could smoke inside the hospital and wanted to make a greater impact on the medical community through hospital management. She transferred to University of California, Berkeley, while she continued to work weekend evening shifts at VMC to pay her tuition.

Now, after more than 20 years in the health care sector, Smith has returned to her roots. She began her post in January as CEO at VMC, the county’s 574-bed acute care hospital and the only level one trauma center in San Jose. With a fresh set of eyes and a focus on quality, patient experience, financial performance and electronic medical records, Smith oversees more than 5,600 employees. Smith has been tasked with $70 million in cuts from VMC’s $1 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2011-12.

“It is a tough job. I don’t have the financial resources I had in Wisconsin,” Smith said. “I never thought I would come back here, but this is the facility that has powered my career for the past 26 years.”

Smith comes back to the facility at a significant juncture in time. In November 2008, Santa Clara County voters approved an $840 million bond, Measure A, which provides for $790 million in seismic safety improvements as older facilities at VMC are upgraded or replaced by modern patient care and hospital support facilities. Measure A included $50 million to construct a health facility in downtown San Jose. The project is expected to open in 2012-13 on time. Another Measure A project is a building currently under construction on the center’s Bascom Avenue campus, expected to have 168 acute/transitional and intensive care unit beds.

Below is an interview with Smith edited for length and clarity.

Q: What experience do you bring to the job?
A: I am used to thinking about regional clinics and their connectedness to an acute care hospital. In Wisconsin, patients flowed back and forth between the hospital and 24 regional clinics. I am now taking that experience and learning how that applies to Santa Clara County and its network of clinics, which is smaller.

Q: How much has the need for health insurance coverage grown?
A: The Santa Clara County Public Health Department ’s 2010 Risk Factor Survey found about two in 10 adults do not have health insurance in the county, and over the past decade, the percentage of adults without health insurance increased from 8 percent to 18 percent.

Q: Knowing this huge need, what are some of the challenges you face?
A: The data sharing system in place needs to be improved, especially in the area of electronic medical records. Before I arrived, there was a request for proposal to implement a $20 million electronic medical record program. Initially the hardware and training costs would be steep, but those costs would go down after the first year, and costs would be mostly for licensing the software. Putting this in place would improve the patient care, so we are re-evaluating this.

The need for this system is hitting just as county finances are stressed because property tax revenue is so low, and the county relies on these dollars. The federal government does offer some incentives to mitigate some of that, but you as a health care provider have to make the upfront investment.

Q: How are you going to close the budget deficit for VMC?
A: The vast majority is going to come from new revenue opportunities. The state has a program called the Delivery System Reform Incentive Pool. It ties federal funding to milestones in care delivery improvements, and will provide some significant revenue opportunities to help us make up that gap.

The remainder will come from a combination of cuts to head count and looking at dislocated services that will enable us to consolidate and still achieve needed clinical turnarounds. I have gone through financial problems in other health care leadership positions. It is not unique to VMC, rather it is the evolution of health care. Los Angeles County had severe financial problems in the mid-1990s, and we unfortunately ended up laying off 5,000 people. This is a much smaller system. Our labor organizations have also been coming up with cost-saving ideas, and we’re pursuing some of their suggestions.

Another thing we did in Los Angeles was look at where we could make deals on legal costs and supplies, and we didn’t give raises one year. That is normal business in the health care industry and in private industry. We look for ways to continually improve our operations and save money. I feel responsibility toward the taxpayers of Santa Clara County, and I keep them in mind in decisions I make.

VMC shares US News medal podium with Stanford as South Bay’s best.

2011-03-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Silicon Valley is home to some of America’s best hospitals. So when the competition is this tough, there is no shame in taking the silver.

In the recently released U.S. News and World Report's “America’s Best Hospitals” annual report, VMC was ranked second only to Stanford for best hospitals in the San Jose Metro Area. VMC was specifically recognized for “high performing specialties” in Ear, Noise & Throat, Gynecology, kidney disorders and rehabilitation care.

Rankings aren’t everything, of course. But the recognition is well deserved.

VMC and Stanford, of course, share a long-established bond. Together, both hospitals operate Santa Clara County’s only top level trauma centers. VMC is an official teaching hospital of the Stanford University School of Medicine, and numerous VMC physicians also serve on the Stanford faculty. To see the report, check here.

Grateful Garments Project makes VMC so…well, grateful

2011-03-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Just last week, Lifelines was thrilled to report on a remarkable woman, Lisa J. Blanchard, and the Grateful Garments Project. What started as a class assignment at Norte Dame de Namur University has blossomed into a resounding success. Lisa has been busy raising money to purchase clothing for women treated at the Sexual Response Assault Unit (SART) Clinic at VMC. Oftentimes, patients are asked to turn over clothing on-the-spot as evidence for law enforcement. With replacement clothing in short supply, Lisa stepped-up to make sure that every patient can leave in something comfortable and that fits.

Since we ran the first story last week, Lisa has raise over $1000.00. She presented the gifts to Linda Richards, R.N. and other SART staff on Friday. Lisa solicited money from friends and colleagues – and online using a Facebook Cause page. She was so successful, in fact, that she had funds to purchase a flat-screen TV for the SART waiting room, along with dozens of donated DVDs and VHS tapes to occupy the young children of patients.

Grateful, indeed.

To learn more about the Grateful Garments Projects, visit on Facebook causes at (http://www.causes.com/causes/588638-the-grateful-garment-project).

Pictured from left to right: Linda Richards, R.N., SART Program Coordinator, Lisa J. Blanchard, Program Director, Grateful Garments Project, and Michael Elliott, VMC Foundation smile with a new TV and donations for SART.

VMC wins national award for diabetes care

2011-03-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

Valley Medical Center has received the prestigious American Diabetes Association (ADA) Education Recognition Certificate for having an excellent diabetes self-management patient education program. The certificate is awarded to programs that offer high-quality education, which is an essential component of effective diabetes treatment.

“We are proud and honored to receive this national recognition. Education is a key component of our program and this recognition confirms what our patients know – that they are getting high-quality services at our Center,” stated Dr. Tyler Aguinaldo, Director of the Diabetes Center at SCVMC. “We use a variety of innovative strategies and components of the Chronic Care Model to help manage this ever-increasing and deadly disease. These strategies include self-management support, electronic registries, care management programs, and evidence-based protocols. We also use cutting-edge technologies such as insulin pumps and sensors, retinal camera screening and tele-medicine.”

Santa Clara County, like the much of the United States, is facing a growing epidemic of diabetes. Driven by obesity, poor nutrition and lack of exercise, diabetes related illness is a leading cause of death and hospitalizations. The VMC Diabetes Center sees more than 20,000 patients a year. And the number keeps growing, as VMC officials believe nearly 1/3 of all Santa Clara County residents are at risk for the disease.

That is why the VMC Diabetes Centers deploys dietitians, social workers, pharmacists, case managers and others to help patients navigate a complete overhaul of their lifestyle. After all, the goal is not only to help the patient in the short-term, but to keep them from ever having to come back.

Grassroots community effort helps clothe victims of sexual assault

2011-03-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

Need proof that only takes the power of one person to make a positive change in the lives of others? Look no further than Lisa Blanchard and the Grateful Garments Project she has just launched to benefit VMC’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). The idea for Grateful Garments began when Lisa was working on a school project. Tasked to develop a fundraising initiative, Lisa chose a cause that aligned with her volunteer work with SART. She knew that the clothes of the clients treated by SART were being collected for evidence, leaving the patients in need of comforting, warm clothing to wear home after their exam. The Grateful Garment Project's mission, then, is to ensure that every client that crosses the threshold of the SART facility is provided with whatever clean, new clothing, toiletry and food items they may require to reduce any additional impact on their being. Additionally, VMC’s SART Program can benefit from upgrades to equipment and supplies…sadly, this need is real, no matter how we wish it wasn’t.

Lisa’s project has put her passion into action. Working with resources provided by the VMC Foundation and SART, Lisa has raised hundreds of dollars to support this act of compassion, and she is showing no signs of slowing down. The Grateful Garments Project is now a Facebook Cause: http://www.causes.com/causes/588638-the-grateful-garment-project Join the cause and use your donation to say “thank you” to Lisa, for showing us that it only takes the power of one person to make a positive change in the lives of others.

Cisco Systems employees give a young VMC patient a Valentine’s Day for the ages

2011-02-16T09:52:00.001-08:00

Cisco employee Karen Spicer isn’t one to take Valentine’s Day lightly. To her, it’s not just a holiday for sweets and maybe romance, but an opportunity to give back. For several years, Spicer and her colleagues at Cisco Systems have raised donations to purchase toys and other Valentine’s gifts for children hospitalized in VMC’s Burn Unit. The gifts help bring a smile to children facing long hospital stays and difficult recoveries. This year, they raised over $5000 in donated cash and toys.

For one young patient, Edgar Flores, the day was extra special. Flores was a former VMC patient who experienced massive burn injuries at the age of 5. The ongoing costs associated with his injury have been difficult for his family to absorb. Last year, Cisco employees raised $1400 for Edgar. This year they nearly doubled that result, presenting Edgar’s family on February 15th with a check for over $2700.

The donation drive is an all-volunteer effort led by Karen and her colleagues at Cisco. Pooling modest donations of $5, $20 and even $100, they turn Valentine’s Day into one of the best of the year for dozens of young patients.

And for the Flores family, a chance to get back on their feet.

Once again, Cisco proves that it’s not only an industry leader in networking and IT services, but one of the Silicon Valley’s best when it comes to philanthropy and employee involvement.

To see Karen and the Flores family together, check out this video below.

VMC’s award winning research seeks safer C-sections

2011-02-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Some expectant physicians in VMC’s OB/Gyn Department got terrific news last week, and it had nothing to do with the birth of a child. A team led by VMC’s Dr Neena Duggal learned they had been awarded a top prize by The Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) in recognition of their research to reduce infection rates associated with a cesarean section. Of nearly 1,500 projects submitted for review by the SMFM, VMC’s was one the few to be recognized at the SMFM annual meeting. VMC was honored alongside a prestigious list of international medical centers that included; Harvard; Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands) Yale; UCSF; Johns Hopkins; University of Bern (Germany); Columbia U; and the London School of Medicine (United Kingdom). Duggal, the Vice Chair of VMC OB/Gyn Department and (like many VMC Physicians) a Stanford School of Medicine Clinical Professor, was assisted in her research by VMC Department of Anesthesia Attending Physicians Dr Tim Park and Dr Carter Cherry, and recent VMC OB/Gyn residents Dr Vineela Poddatoori and Dr Sara Noroozkhani.

The study intended to determine whether supplemental oxygen given to mothers at the time of cesarean section would decrease infections. This is a topic of great medical interest in hopes that simple and inexpensive interventions may improve outcomes, particularly in obese patients. All research, which included over 800 participants, took place on the VMC Labor and Delivery Unit.

As the largest and busiest hospital in Silicon Valley, VMC has long been a hub for important clinical research. Yet again, the world is taking notice. The VMC Foundation salutes Dr. Duggal and her colleagues for making this study possible. Once again, VMC is proving that we are the (not so) little county hospital that could.

For expectant mothers considering induction, VMC prescribes patience

2011-02-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Dr. James Byrne, Chief of Obstetrics at VMC, talks to NBC Bay Area on the hazards of labor induction for non-medical reasons. As the leader of the regions largest birthing center, Dr. Byrne has heard more than a few unusual requests from expectant mothers eager to have their baby early. He prescribes patience. See why.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/?__source=embedCode.

New VMC CEO Linda Smith

2011-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

(republished from Connections, a newsletter for employees of the Santa Clara County Health & Hospital System)

"Linda M. Smith Appointed to Head Santa Clara Valley Medical Center"

On December 17, 2010, the County Executive Jeff Smith announced the appointment of Linda M. Smith, FACHE as SCVMC Chief Executive Officer effective February 1, 2011. Ms. Smith will be returning to SCVMC where she began her health career as a respiratory therapist.

Ms. Smith was employed by the $4 billion non-profit Aurora Health Care system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 2001 to 2010. During her tenure, she served as Hospital Administrator of the Aurora BayCare Medical Center, responsible for daily management of the 167-bed regional tertiary level 2 trauma center with two ambulatory surgery centers.

From 2003 to 2009, Ms. Smith served as Executive Vice President for Aurora's North Region overseeing 24 clinics and two hospitals, co-leading LEAN and Six Sigma initiatives. In recent restructuring, she became Vice President for Critical Growth Markets and oversaw the successful openings of two medical centers, and served as interim Chief Administrative Officer for Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center.

Prior to joining Aurora, Ms. Smith was employed for 17 years by LA/USC Medical Center. She served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Women's and Children's Hospital Center from 1998 to 2001.

Sylvia Gallegos, Acting Director for SCVHHS, welcomes her arrival. "We have high confidence in Linda and know she will help move SCVMC forward toward health care reform implementation. She has been successful in leading hospital and clinic operations and achieving high patient outcomes."

Ms. Smith, a returning San Jose native, received her MBA from the University of Florida, MPH in Health Services Administration from Columbia University, BA in Health Arts and Science from UC Berkeley, and AS in Respiratory Therapy from Foothill College.

"I am excited to be returning to the facility that inspired my career for the past 25 years," said Linda Smith. "My passion for superior patient care has its origins in the patients I served at SCVMC. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the facility and meeting the staff, the patients, and the community of Santa Clara County."

The San Jose Rep Supports VMC

2010-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

During the fall 2010 production of "Secret Order," cast and staff of the San Jose Rep asked members of the audience to donate in support of VMC's Sobrato Cancer Center. The Center - like all services at VMC - provides world class care to all, regardless of ability to pay. On Tuesday, December 14, 2010, leaders from the San Jose Rep presented the proceeds to VMC Foundation and Cancer Center staff.

VMC Rehab patient shares the story of his care

2010-12-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

In the Fall of 2010, Dr. Lincoln Krochmal, the CEO of a Bay Area Pharmaceutical company, suffered a stroke. After being rushed to a nearby hospital and stabilized, Dr. K, as he is known to VMC staff, needed to choose a Rehabilitation Center. He chose VMC; this is the story of his care.

At VMC you will walk, never alone

2010-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

VMC physicians save lives everyday – curing disease, rehabilitating injury and giving our patients hope for the future. But rarely do they get the opportunity to fundamentally alter the course of modern medicine, potentially impacting lives throughout the world. Until now.

Dr. Akshat Shah, a leader of VMC’s renowned Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Unit, joined the Medical Advisory Board of Berkeley Bionics to do what many would say is impossible - to use technology and robotics to allow paralyzed people to walk again. He joined Berkeley Bionics last week in San Francisco for the unveiling of their revolutionary bionic exoskeleton. The results, as the video shows, are astounding. (Dr. Shah is identified as affiliated with Stanford University in the video because like many VMC Physicians, he also teachers at the Stanford School of Medicine.)

Dr. Shah and Berkeley Bionics will continue testing the technology at VMC in the coming year, working with the VMC Foundation as we seek funding to support the project.

The potential is clear – thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, may walk again.

As Dr. Shah says in the video below, “that’s how you change the world.”

"A Special Delivery"

2010-09-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Rehabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Recognized nationally as a "Center of Excellence", the VMC Rehab Center treats patients with severe head, spinal cord and stroke related injuries, regardless of ability to pay. Since its founding, over 15,000 patients have been served.

Each one of those patients represents an amazing story of struggle and hope. The following video features just one. Kinsley Thomas Wong came to VMC with a severe spinal cord injury in July. His wife Jaime was over 8 months pregnant with their son, Taizen.

VMC Burn Center at the Ready

2010-09-10T11:54:00.001-07:00

As the tragedy in San Bruno unfolded last night, staff from the award-winning VMC Burn Unit went on high alert.

"Just about everyone not scheduled to work called me to say they could come in," said Jill Sproul, R.N., Nurse Manager for the VMC Burn Center. "Everyone was ready."

Fortunately for the victims, hospitals closer to the fire in San Mateo County were able to handle the patient load, at least for now.

Residents of Santa Clara County, however, should take comfort at the level of readiness maintained by the VMC burn team. As one of 2 Burn Trauma Centers in California north of Los Angeles, VMC provides burn victims with the highest level of care, with a specially trained team of doctors and nurses uniquely experienced to treat burn related emergencies.

Burn Trauma Centers are increasingly rare in the United States. Highly trained staff are hard to find, and operational costs can be prohibitive. But the need for this care is still acute, evidenced by the fire in San Bruno last night.

VMC staff remains at the ready, and have reached out to impacted hospitals in San Mateo County offering support. It is highly likely that, in the coming weeks, burn patients from that region will be diverted to VMC, as those hospitals cope with the aftermath of the San Bruno disaster.

Just as always, VMC will be ready.

Former 17-year-old VMC Rehab patient mobilizes community to give back

2010-07-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

In early June of 2010, 17-year-old Pioneer High School student Zack Herndon was enjoying a day at the beach with friends when an accidental fall changed the direction of his summer. Only three days after finishing school, and weeks after completing his Eagle Scout project, Zack sustained a neck injury that required emergency medical attention, and a whole summer of healing. Zack was hospitalized for a week at Valley Medical Center, eventually moving to VMC’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation unit. Just weeks after his release from the hospital, he decided he wanted to give back to the department who helped him recover from his injuries.

Yesterday, Zack and his Father, Bill, Mother, Julie, and brother, Keagan, came to VMC Rehab to donate a DVD library of 130 titles for the patients of the department to enjoy. “I decided to give back to the hospital because all of the patients have DVD players in their room, but they don’t have any DVD’s to watch,” Zack remembers. So as soon as he was well enough to, he posted the need on his neighborhood’s blog, made a presentation to his Boy Scout Troop, and mobilized his parents local Rotary chapter…and the DVD’s started rolling in.

On behalf of the VMC Foundation, and SCVMC Rehabilitation we would like to thank Zack and the entire Herndon family for their generosity and swift action to fulfill this need. What a guy! What a gift! Zack is an incredible reminder of the impact that an individual can have on their community.

Focus Bank makes surprise gift to the VMC Foundation

2010-07-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Focus Business Bank stopped by the VMC Foundation office on Tuesday to make a surprise donation. We decided to record the moment.

Focus is the bank of the VMC Foundation. For more info, visit http://www.focusbusinessbank.com/.

Deputy Sheriff’s Association makes a surprise gift to VMC Sexual Assault Response Team

2010-06-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Surprises at a hospital are usually not a good thing, especially at VMC, home to one of the Santa Clara County’s top trauma centers and a focal point for emergency medical services and disaster response.

But thanks to the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Santa Clara County, the surprise was a good one at VMC on Thursday, June 24, 2010. The DSA joined the VMC Foundation for a special event to announce a donation to the VMC Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). SART provides victims of sexual assault with a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, social workers and other staff, and assists law enforcement in the collection of forensic evidence. It is California’s oldest, continually running program of its kind.

The DSA has been a long-time supporter of SART, donating needed money and equipment to keep the program going. Their members know first hand how traumatic a sexual assault can be, and are dedicated to putting the guilty behind bars. Their most recent gift, announced on June 24^th, was a specially configured, high-resolution digital camera that SART nurses will use to photograph patient injuries. Those photographs are critical to prosecutors and often used as evidence against sexual predators. The new camera package was assembled by Sheriff’s Deputies using the same equipment to photograph crime scenes. The previous camera used by SART was over 10 years old.

SART staff knew they would be receiving a donation, but the DSA has a surprise in store. Watch the video to see their reaction

–

Additional news coverage of the gift can be found at the following

KGO

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7519438

Palo Alto Weekly

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=17376

Mountain View Voice

http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=3048

KGO Radio

http://vaca.bayradio.com/kgo_archives/kgo_player.php?day=4&hour=18

China Press

http://epaper.uschinapress.com:81/qiaobao/html/2010-06/25/content_316111.htm
http://video.uschinapress.com/2010-06/24/content_470295.htm

Renova drive re-opened, an idea becomes reality

2010-06-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

This week marks a historic milestone in the completion of the new (and earthquake safe) VMC – Renova Drive re-opened Monday to traffic, creating a new entrance to the main Valley Medical Center campus.

The new road provides a streamlined access point to both VMC and Valley Specialty Center, and will serve the new VMC hospital when it’s done and open in 2013. It will ease congestion and provide better visual and directional cues to visitors. Traffic lights on Bascom have been moved, and in time, the construction zone will be replaced with plantings and trees.

The VMC Foundation played a unique role in making the new Renova Drive entrance a reality. After reviewing plans for the new hospital in 2008, John Sobrato, the highly successful Silicon Valley developer and member of the VMC Foundation Board of Directors, observed that the natural entrance point to VMC on Bascom Avenue and Renova Drive – one that would make it easiest for driver to find the hospital and manage the flow of traffic – was obscured by a large and unattractive 50-year old building that was falling apart. The “Public Health Building” (which housed, amongst other things, the office where residents obtained birth and death certificates) had long served no valuable purpose. Sobrato made the call – tear down that building to create the proper entrance point for the hospital. In turn, he would donate office space to the County in the Sobrato Non-profit Center to compensate. Within days, a new plan was hatched, resulting in the work completed this week.

It won’t go down as his most famous project, but as the entry point to the busiest and largest hospital in the region, it will be one of his most well-used. On behalf of hospital-visiting motorists everywhere, thank you John.

VMC employee shows support for VMC Foundation...and then some!

2010-06-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we are right in the middle of our annual Give A Booser Shot Campaign. The Give a Booster Shot campaign encourages VMC employees to support their hospital by giving to the VMC Foundation. To date, close to 400 employees have decided to participate in this program. This serves as a testament to the dedication the staff of the Health and Hospital System has to keeping VMC open for the entire community. After all, they give their time and energy already, often in the face of stressful work conditions. To give their own money as well is truly special.

Last Friday, a true hero emerged from this group of 400. After a 12-hour shift in the Emergency Department, Assistant Nurse Manager Tina Thibeau-Boyd called our office announcing that she had recruited 16 new donors representing $16,000 in pledged donations to the VMC Foundation! For that we are eternally grateful. Tina truly exemplifies the dedication VMC employees embody every day in their world.

Thank you, Tina, you are our hero!

Community organizes to support VMC Rehab patient

2010-06-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

After a serious car accident this past January, Castillero Middle School choir director Joeseph DeMar's life was changed forever. While he survived the injuries he sustained, they left him requiring 24-hour care and specialized equipment to keep him mobile.

Joe is completing his rehabilitation here at VMC's nationally recognized Rehabilitation Center. One important focus of rehabilitation is the involvement of family, friends, loved ones and communities coming together to help the patient participate in their recovery. We were moved to learn that all of the students that Joe has affected through teaching and music are coming together this Saturday to host a concert to benefit his recovery.

If you know Joe, or would simply like to support his recovery, please consider attending this special event.

Click here to purchase event tickets

EVENT: TBI Matters Presents- Gary Karp on Sexuality and Disability

2010-06-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

The VMC Foundation is proud to support the TBI matters program at VMC.

On June 23rd, the TBI department at VMC will be hosting an important discussion, hosted by Gary Karp (http://www.blogger.com/www.lifeonwheels.org ) on Sexuality and Disability.

Please follow this link for event details:

http://bit.ly/9rljUm

How one VMC Foundation program is being affected by Healthcare Reform

2010-06-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you have been following VMC in the news or on any of our blogs, you know by now we're busier than we ever have been. Over the last 10 years, the patient demand for services all throughout our health and hospital system has doubled. Next year, because of healthcare reform, we estimate that an additional 50,000 more patients will utilize the services provided by VMC. Here is one way the VMC Foundation is feeling this patient increase: we have distributed 4,200 more books to children in our outpatient clinics in 2010 than we did during the same time last year. Just take a look at the graph below.
Reach Out and Read is a program run by every pediatrician in the hospital system. When children visit the doctor for their regularly scheduled well-child visit, their Pediatrician introduces them to a culturally and developmentally appropriate book to take home. As the child interacts with the book, parents are coached on the importance of reading with their child every day and different read aloud techniques. 12,000 of the 50,000 new patients VMC will see next year will be children that will benefit from Reach Out and Read. That represents nearly a $30,000 projected increase in program cost for the next calendar year.

Every child who visits a physician at a Valley Health Center clinic deserves to receive literacy coaching and a book each time they see their Primary Care Physician. We are actively seeking out additional grants and funding sources to ensure that this happens. But a little goes a long way in the Reach Out and Read, and we are hoping you can help. A $40 donation will sponsor one child's entire ROR book library. Will you help us maintain the imapact of the this program?

For more information on how you can help, or to make a donation to Reach Out and Read, please contact Andy Groggel at 408-282-2687 or andrew.groggel@hhs.sccgov.org

How Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Is Staying Seismically Safe

2010-06-01T13:44:00.001-07:00

If you have traveled to the VMC campus lately, you will notice that construction is well underway on Bed Building 1, a project funded by the residents of Santa Clara County after the passage of Measure A back in 2008.

The efforts of SCVMC were recently highlighted in the Winter 2010 issue of Healthcare Building Ideas, a quarterly publication focused on innovative construction projects in the Healthcare Industry. Read the FULL ARTICLE for an informative narrative on the important construction project taking place at your hospital.

Upgrading Seismic Safety Standards
California's hospital safety law spurs Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to greater efforts to meet the deadline
by Tom Gormley

The medical center leadership decided to do more than just replace the hospital beds. They took an innovative approach to the planning and design process, and to the long-term functionality of the new bed building and facility upgrade. The new 370,000-sq.-ft. facility includes 168 ICU and acute-care beds.

“In addition to the usual goals of providing a positive patient experience in a state-of-the-art facility with electronic medical records, and wireless remote ICU capability, an additional focus was on providing maximum flexibility to accommodate changes in healthcare delivery, operations, and technology in the future,” Mowry says. “One place this is demonstrated is in patient rooms, which will be 100% private rooms. These rooms will have ADA-compliant bathrooms and patient lifts. Since they are private rooms, this will improve the patient experience and enhance quality care by decreasing patient transfers and hospital-acquired infections.”

FULL ARTICLE

Diabetes Law Collaborative removes barries to staying healthy

2010-05-27T14:57:00.001-07:00

The Diabetes Law Collaborative, housed on the VMC hospital campus, helps individuals living with diabetes advocate for their health. Please read the article below, originally posted on the Diabetes Forecast blog, to learn more about this important program.

Removing Legal Obstacles to Good Health
By Katie Bunker

[The Diabetes Law Collaborative] is the nation's first medical-legal partnership specifically for people with diabetes. It is housed at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., where doctors may refer patients to a lawyer or social worker under the same roof. People with diabetes whose income is under 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $43,000 a year for one person, may get legal help with any obstacle to their staying healthy.
FULL ARTICLE

Non-traditional fundraising methods produce results

2010-05-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Traditional methods of fundraising are well established – direct mail, planned giving and gala events. The non-traditional? Try dressing your Executive Director in a ridiculous costume to dance for potential donors in a music video posted on the Internet.

The VMC Foundation is many things – traditional is not often one of them.

By now, we hope you’ve had a chance to watch the “Give a Booster Shot 2010” launch video, featuring our favorite VMC Foundation Executive Director Chris Wilder. The video, available for viewing at www.giveaboostershot.org and YouTube, was produced to kick-off our annual fundraising campaign that asks employees of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital system to donate to the VMC Foundation. Within a week of posting the video online it earned more than 1,000 views (mostly via the giveaboostershot.org website, which aren’t counted in the YouTube tally).

The video features Chris Wilder dressed as the “Give a Booster Shot” mascot: surprising, dancing for and sometimes confounding VMC staff during an impromptu tour of Valley Medical Center. The idea behind the video was simple – create something fun and joyous that would drive traffic to the campaign website and spread delight among employees.

Humor and delight, in fact, have been central to the VMC Foundation’s fundraising strategy for years, particularly when it comes to asking for money from hospital staff. From producing fun-filled events like “VMC Idol” (yes, exactly what it sounds like), to Chris’ often amusing “Wilder Side of Health” blog, the Foundation believes that a campaign dedicated to raising money from hospital staff must also serve to improve employee morale.

“We wanted to do something that would make people laugh and take them out of the daily grind,” said Wilder. “Working at VMC is tough right now. We have more patients than ever, and are dealing with some challenging budget cuts.”

The video did in fact make people laugh and feel good about working at VMC. A three-person crew followed Chris as he walked through the hospital for an afternoon, surprising staff everywhere he went. In addition, the Foundation recruited existing hospital employee donors to participate in three dance routines; each featuring a group of doctors, nurses and protective services officers. Those scenes were choreographed by Ian Leonard, a San Jose-based actor and director for San Jose Children’s Musical Theatre.

“People were very excited to participate,” said Wilder. “They helped to create a lot of buzz for the campaign.”

The video “premiered” at a special donor reception at Santana Row’s Sino Restaurant on April 27. By the end of the following week, after Give a Booster Shot was officially launched, over $15,000 in donations had already been raised.

“We’re not sure exactly how much of that was due to the video, but judging from how many people have told me that they loved it, it’s safe to say the video has made a big impact,” said Wilder.

Toys, Cheeseburgers, and Santa Clara County: one opinion from VMC Foundation Executive Director

2010-04-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

In politics, sometimes it is hard to tell which issues will trigger emotion from the public. When the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors opened their chambers to public discourse on whether or not to ban the distribution of toys with food at fast food restaurants, the emotional responses were clear, launching Santa Clara County into the media spotlight.

The story is hard to miss, as it has been picked up by the New York Times, the L.A. Times and Mercury News. At issue? The County Board of Supervisor’s 3-2 decision in favor of incentivizing fast food with toy giveaways. As you know from many of the articles posted on this blog, the VMC Foundation actively supports the fight against childhood obesity in Santa Clara County.

Our Executive Director Chris Wilder was at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting, and had this observation to share with the public that we felt compelled to share with you:

“Good morning President Yeager, Board of Supervisors, County Staff. When I first saw yesterday’s half page ad in the Mercury News, I initially agreed with a part of it: this may not be the most important topic for the County Government to be taking up. County Government is better suited to work with the budget, corrections and child welfare. When I thought about child welfare a little more, however, I said to myself ‘Wait a minute. This issue does have to do with child welfare.’

I remembered that when I was 17 and began my first semester at San Jose State University, it was commonplace for tobacco companies to set up in front of the student union and give away their products. By the time I graduated in 1989 that was no longer the case. Somewhere in there, there was a policy decision that prevented them from doing that. I think this is a good example of how policy change can impact attitude and behavior. If someone walked into this room right now smoking a cigarette, I think everyone would be appalled. That wasn’t necessarily the case 20 or 30 years ago. Policy decisions can, in fact, have a positive impact on behaviors.

As described today, childhood obesity is a huge issue in this county. The combination of fat, salt and sugar is an addictive combination. It may not be as addictive as tobacco, but, on the other hand, when I accepted that free sample in front of the student union and tried it I didn’t like it. I wonder how many children don’t like the cheeseburger, french fry and chocolate shake combination that they get while incentivized by that toy.

So, as I continued to think about this, I came to the conclusion that I strongly support this ordinance and I am very glad you decided to take it up today. Thank you very much.”

VMC honors corps of 400 volunteers for National Volunteer Week

2010-04-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Each year, over 400 hundred residents of Santa Clara County volunteer their time and services as volunteers at VMC. The work is often thankless: a warm smile given to a wayward family looking to visit a patient, a cup of water refilled in a patient room, or a book read to a child in a clinic waiting room. The roles that volunteers play at VMC are essential to the high level of care provided at the busiest hospital in Santa Clara County, and deserving of widespread recognition and thanks. Volunteers enhance the services provided in the hospital so that the staff can focus solely on patient care and raise money to support the hospital through the leadership of the Volunteer Auxiliary Leadership team.

Every volunteer completes a minimum of 100 hours each year, but some exceed this commitment by 8 fold and sustain that level of service for as long as 15-20 years. At the VMC Foundation, we call on the help of volunteers multiple times a year, and couldn't be more thankful for their support. Arriving on time and with a smile on their faces, volunteers have helped the Foundation welcome members of Congress, help guide guests to the appropriate event site, and staff reading zones in Valley Health Center clinic waiting rooms. An all volunteer staff help Foundation employee Kathy Trutz run the hospital Gift Shop, with all proceeds going to benefit the VMC Foundation. Another hospital volunteer, Jean Meddaugh, serves on the Board of Directors of the VMC Foundation. A retired VMC nurse and volunteer of 11 years, Jean helped launch VMC Foundation's Reach out and Read program and continues to serve as a volunteer on VMC's main hospital campus.

The volunteers at VMC really do play an essential role in helping achieve the mission of the hospital: to provide top quality health care to everyone in Santa Clara County, regardless of their ability to pay. So, if you see a volunteer in their signature blue smock, take a minute to thank them for all that they do each day. We thank you, VMC Volunteers! Your impact is felt in every corner of the hospital.

Technology Empowers VMC Rehabilitation Patients

2010-04-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

Imagine that you wake up one day in a hospital after a serious accident and are told that you are paralyzed. How do you communicate with the outside world? What do you do when you need to write someone an e-mail or access the Internet? Luckily, patients who are admitted to VMC’s rehab center have an answer: the Technology Access Program (TAP), championed by the VMC Foundation’s own Debbie Burdsall.

An Occupational Therapist with 22 years of experience, Debbie understands her patients and their shifting needs. “The whole point of rehab is to become as independent as possible and to get back to life,” Debbie explains. “Technology is now a part of almost everyone's life, and part of getting back to life today is resuming paying your bills, talking to your friends online, and emailing.”

Because technology is so pervasive, allowing rehab patients access early on is empowering. “It is the connectivity to the outside world and what happens as a result of that that is the most compelling part of TAP,” Debbie explains. “Because of this program, patients are now looking online and seeing what their options are for bath equipment, wheelchairs, etc. They are doing price comparisons and taking a much more active role in making decisions early on. I think that translates into a better outcome when they go home.”

Another one of TAP’s strengths lies in its ability to facilitate a patient’s interaction with their life and loved ones; to communicate with a world that doesn't easily accommodate their life changing injuries. Using technology to communicate is such a creature comfort these days, checking e-mails and chatting online serves to reduce stress levels and improve the mood of patients, all elements that help the healing process.

While outcomes vary for each patient, the stories of recovery Debbie catalogs really solidify TAP’s importance. Take the young girl who wasn't expected to live when she came in as an example. Her diagnoses was dire, but she began showing lightning fast progress when she was re-connected with the poetry she had written on her MySpace page after being loaned one of TAP’s laptops. At the time she was re-introduced to the Internet, she could only move her eyes. But because of the Technology Access Program's ability to match technology assistance to a patient’s need (i.e. voice recognition, eye tracking software, and customized operating system) her recovery occurred that much faster. Today she is talking and beginning to walk; two skills doctors never thought she would accomplish on her own.

And the stories go on and on, one after the other highlighting a different strength of the Technology Access Program. Each laptop that patient’s use, every head mouse and customized operating system are purchased through the generous donation of community members and corporations. Currently, Debbie has 14 laptops to loan out to patients during their stay. Those laptops are in constant use and require maintenance from wear and tear. It’s hard for Debbie to keep up with the demand, so what does her ideal world look like? “Well,” she thinks out loud, “More laptops for patients to use while they are here, and I really wish I was able to send a laptop home with the patients who can’t afford to buy one of their own!” A noble goal for a very special program.

To learn how you can contribute to this program, please contact Michael Elliott at 408-885-5299

History made at VMC's Flag Dedication Ceremony

2010-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

History was made yesterday at Valley Medical Center.

In a moving ceremony Monday morning VMC's new flagpoles, installed as a result of 2008's Measure A, were commissioned and dedicated. The Stars and Stripes, California State Flag and POW-MIA flag are now flying proudly in front of the main hospital thanks to our own VMC Color Guard, Veteran Marines all, from VMC's Protective Services Department. No ceremony like it had ever taken place before.

VMC Foundation Executive Director Chris Wilder posted his thoughts, and a moving speech from Colonel William Peacock, on his blog yesterday. To read Chris' full article, click here: http://bit.ly/abFsIQ

Smart, strategic, self-made: VMC Foundation Board Chairperson Norman Kline was a natural choice

2010-03-25T14:04:00.001-07:00

Entrepreneur, Mayor, Community Leader - Norman Kline, President of Library World Inc. and former Mayor of Saratoga, added a new title to his resume in January – Chairperson of the VMC Foundation Board of Directors. Norman has served on the Board since 2007. His ascension to Chairperson is not only an acknowledgment of his contributions to the Foundation, but of the important role he plays as a business and civic leader in Santa Clara County.

“Norm has a unique combination of business sense, political acumen and a passion for community involvement,” said VMC Foundation Executive Director Chris Wilder. “He was a natural choice to be our next Chair, and we are grateful for his leadership.”

Norman’s involvement with VMC started very early in life – at the very beginning, to be exact. Born at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Norman and his family relied on VMC for their care throughout his childhood, be it for check-ups or trips to the Emergency Room. He grew up in San Jose, attending public schools. In his junior year of high school, he served as the student representative to the San Jose Unified School District Board of Directors. It was his first foray into public office, and clearly inspired a lifetime of civic engagement.

“You can really change the world in local politics,” he said. “You can build a park, increase community access to transportation, help a hospital…do things that would surprise most people.”

Norman served on the Saratoga City Council from 2002 – 2006, and as Mayor during a portion of that term. He serves on numerous local boards and commissions, and takes an active role in local politics.

He also has a day job, running a successful business with customers world-wide. Library World provides online inventory management tools to school, university, public and private libraries throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. Headquartered in San Jose, Norman hopes to expand the company to serve10,000 facilities in the coming years.

“He is a classic Silicon Valley entrepreneur,” said Wilder. “Smart, strategic, and self-made.”

As Chairperson, Norman says he looks forward to promoting the VMC Foundation Capital Campaign. With funds from the voter-approved Measure A, VMC is in the process of replacing outdated facilities that do not meet California earthquake safety standards with a new hospital wing. While Measure A will pay for construction costs, millions more are needed to outfit the building with the best possible equipment. It will be a major undertaking, given the economy and decline in charitable giving.

But it is a challenge that Norman will face head on. After all, he knows the value of VMC to the next generation. The young patient of today could be a mayor, entrepreneur or community leader of tomorrow. Or, in Norman’s case, all of the above.

John Sobrato, Peggy Fleming Jenkins and Dr. Greg Jenkins unveil VMC's Sobrato Cancer Center Donor Wall

2010-03-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

In 2009, Valley Medical Center opened a new, world class outpatient cancer treatment center, named for the Sobrato family. It is open to all, regardless of ability to pay.

Thanks to John Sobrato and other generous donors, like Peggy Fleming Jenkins and Dr. Greg Jenkins, the VMC Foundation raised over $2 million in support of the center. On March 19, the Foundation hosted these donors – and many others – to unveil a commemorative donor wall in the lobby of the Sobrato Cancer Center.

"You all know that most of the patients here are not insured. Approximately 80% of the people who are treated here, whether its cancer or something else, are not able to pay,” said Sobrato at the event. “It's because of the foresight of elected officials like Susie Wilson years ago that set up this hospital to take care of those folks that makes me proud to live in Silicon Valley, where we take care of our own."

Thanks to our generous donors, VMC is able to take care of this community. Thank you to everyone who came out for this special event.

Are you “Dining Out for Life” in April?

2010-03-11T09:29:00.001-08:00

One of the VMC Foundation's important community allies, The Health Trust of Silicon Valley, invites you to attend "Dining Out for Life." On Thursday, April 29, 2010, participating restaurants across Silicon Valley will contribute a portion of your bill to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

For a complete list of participating restaurants and for more information, go to: www.healthtrust.org/diningoutforlife or call 408.559.9385

Santa Clara County unveils Healthy Workers program

2010-03-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

While the debate on health care reform rages on in Washington, local leaders in Silicon Valley are getting it done. From the same coalition that created the wildly successful Children’s Health Initiative in 2001 comes a new effort to provide affordable health insurance to the employees of local small businesses. The new program, called “Healthy Workers,” kicked off Monday with a press conference on the campus of Valley Medical Center. Through a unique partnership with small businesses, community organizations, and the public health care system, the coalition has created a new insurance product that is affordable and comprehensive. Check out the video below, featuring Bob Brownstein of Working Partnerships USA and Elizabeth Darrow from the Santa Clara Family Health Plan.

Video: San Jose Sharks visit VMC Pediatric Unit

2010-03-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

It is always nice to have visitors to cheer you up when you are in the hospital. It's good to see the people you care about when you are feeling under the weather. When you are a child, those visits are especially important. Being in a hospital can be emotional, and having a visitor take your mind off your injury is a welcome distraction. That's why we feel so fortunate that the San Jose Sharks are so generous with their time. This was the third visit from Sharks players this year, and, as always, they totally made the day of the pediatric patients they saw. This time, we brought a video camera along to document the visit. Give the video below a watch, and GO SHARKS!

Great article from the Merc highlights tai chi practice at VMC Rehab

2010-02-26T15:53:00.001-08:00

Mercury News: Ancient art of tai chi finds new disciples
By Marissa Cevallos

Every Monday afternoon, a handful of people roll, hobble and shuffle to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to learn an ancient art that students say reduces pain, steadies their balance and makes them feel happy.

For patients with spinal cord injuries-about 475 at Valley Medical alone-exercise options are slim, and most are done alone. Patients with spinal cord injuries are more likely to be depressed, and Shem hopes that tai chi, which is often done in a group, will help them feel more "emotionally connected."

FULL STORY

Doing More With Less: A Look Into the Increased Efficiencies in VMC's Emergency Department

2010-02-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

To say that Dr. Jeffrey Arnold, VMC’s chief of the Emergency Department (ED) is a busy man is a dramatic understatement. He is in charge of heading up the team of docs and nurses responsible for providing emergency medical services in the busiest hospital in Santa Clara County, home to San Jose, the 10th largest city in the United States. We had a chance to sit down with Dr. Arnold and talk about some of the advancements in patient care and increased efficiencies that have been implemented over the past three years. We’re so glad we did, because the accomplishments the ED has seen since 2006 are truly remarkable.

When Dr. Arnold joined the ED in 2006, VMC was just starting to feel the impact of a surge in patient demand from the closure of the San Jose Medical Center, among other factors. They knew that if more and more people kept coming to the ED and did not act, they would run over capacity. Understanding the urgency of the situation, Dr. Arnold and his team of talented physicians and nurses went to work implementing changes to the way things were run in the ED. Just to give you an idea of the type of changes we’re talking about here, since taking over in 2006, the collective ED team has reduced the time to provider rate (the amount of time you wait to be seen by a doctor) by 9,000 hours each month. If you multiply that out over the entire year, just for fun, the residents of Santa Clara County were saved 4,500 days of human wait time in 2009. 4,500 days! Oh, and did we mention they save lives during all of that, too? Because they do.

2006: a new beginning

To get a true sense of how far patient care has advanced over the past three years, we should take a step back to 2006. In 2006, the average number of patients visiting the ED each day was around 200, or 73,000 a year. At that point in time, new systems weren’t yet in place to help accommodate such a large patient population, and wait times often suffered as a result. “Back in 2006,” Dr. Arnold explained, “what the patient experienced in our ED was going directly against why they came to see us in the first place. From a patient perspective, they came to see a doctor. They didn't come to see anybody else. From a treatment perspective [the way we were running things] was preventing the patient from being united with what they came to get.” So Dr. Arnold and his team went to work immediately implementing two key processes to begin the process of repairing the patient experience: the expansion of the Express Care Clinic, and the adoption of Rapid Medical Evaluation (RME).

Express Care Clinic

Most patients who present at the ED throughout the day do not have immediately life threatening conditions. Those that do are, of course, rushed into the ED and treated immediately. But what happens to those people who aren’t having a heart attack? Before, they would wait for hours to be seen, or go elsewhere. But now they have a third, and much more reasonable, option: the Express Care Clinic at VMC.

“The Express Care Clinic serves patients coming to the hospital with urgent problems by combining an urgent care setting with doctors and nurses who are experienced in Emergency Medicine,” Dr. Arnold explains. This is a 14 bed unit directly adjacent to the ED. Each bed is in a private room that is stocked with medical equipment, and by the time each patient gets to a room, they have already seen a doctor. That’s right; the first person a patient talks to when they present at Express Care is a doctor. The intake doctor takes the patient through a filtering process called a Medical Screening Examination. They take a “why wait?” attitude with the goal of “keeping vertical patients vertical.”

“Once you take somebody, put them on a bed and put oxygen on them, they start looking a lot sicker than they actually are,” says Dr. Arnold. “If someone comes in complaining of pain when they urinate, it's kind of a no-brainer; they need a urine test. Why would we make them wait another hour to get a room, to see a doctor, who then orders a urine test, etc. Why not just see them then? Send them to get the test, and by the time they get back the test results are there and a room is ready.” Today, nearly 70% of patients coming through the ED doors know to head directly to the Express Care clinic, a huge win for both the patients and VMC.

Rapid Medical Evaluation (RME)

This type of common sense approach to emergency medicine has gone a long way in improving the patient experience. A similar approach to care has been adopted by Dr. Arnold’s team in the ED proper. RME take is a small 4 bed unit right next to the ED proper which takes low acuity patients out of the pool that goes into the ED. RME is used for outer extremity injuries that are easily observed without need for additional observations like x-rays or CAT-scans. The same “why wait” approach is still applied to slightly more serious cases, preventing the unnecessary clogging of ED beds. Patients are treated in this small unit, and released directly from there.

Essentially, the team of doctors and nurses have created three levels of injury treatment to slot patients in to when they come to VMC: the ED proper, where people with life threatening emergencies should go. RME, where patients that present with non-life threatening but still emergency situations like lacerations can be treated. And Express Care, for less acute patients like those with chronic low back pain.

Results

If these changes were implemented during a period of time when patient use of the ED was staying steady, they would be impressive and still needed; but the results Dr. Arnold’s team have seen have been remarkable. In 2006, VMC’s ED department treated 73,000. In 2008 they treated 102,220 patients. In 2009, they hit 127,750. In the first month of 2010, the ED treated 12,144 patients. If they patients keep coming at that rate, VMC’s ED will treat 145,728 patients in 2010. That means that the patient rate will have doubled in 4 years. While the patient population has doubled, our VMC ED has reduced the left without being seen rate from 40% in 2006, to 2.5% in 2009.

“Statistics show that 1 out of 10 patients who leave an ED without being seen need to hospitalized later with greater morbidity and cost,” Dr. Arnold points out, “the difference we make is that four people every day are now getting care that wouldn’t have. That means that there are around 1,500 people out there who you have really done an incredible service to by preventing them from leaving without being seen.” To add to the degree of awe, these improvements have taken place with 50% fewer beds than what a patient population of that size is expected to have. They have streamlined processes, dramatically reduced patient wait times, improved the quality of patient care, and saved countless lives all within the context of a doubling in the patient population, having a deficit of patient beds, and budget cuts.

When asked what he was most proud of about his and his team’s work in the ED, Dr. Arnold summed things up with humility:

“We always have stories in the ED about how we heroically do something, or we make the right diagnosis, or save someone's life by intervening at the right moment, and they are real stories. But the thing we are the most proud of over the past three years is affecting so many people in a positive population way. We have really good patients at Valley. They are really grateful, good patients.”

VMC Foundation Champion and Donor Dick Levy recieves 2010 David Packard Award.

2010-02-19T10:30:00.001-08:00

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SAN JOSE, Calif. February 8, 2010 Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network announced today that Varian Medical Systems board chair and longtime Silicon Valley community leader Richard M. Levy is the recipient of the 2010 David Packard Award.

The Packard Award is Joint Venture’s highest honor, presented annually to an individual who brings an entrepreneurial, cross-boundary, problem-solving approach to Silicon Valley’s challenges. Recipients embody the spirit of David Packard, Silicon Valley’s legendary pioneer who set the highest standard for civic engagement.

“Richard Levy’s long record of selfless personal and professional commitment to our region made him the unanimous choice of the jury,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture.

“He has been willing to step outside his normal role in order to tackle hard problems,” Hancock added. “It’s one thing to serve on boards and commissions; it’s quite another to lead them, and to start new ones. This is what Dick has done for decades, most recently by chairing Joint Venture’s Smart Health Initiative.”

“One of the many things that make Dick Levy such a special volunteer is his passion for the mission of improving lives,” said United Way Silicon Valley president and CEO Carole Leigh Hutton. Levy chaired the organization for the past two years. “Working under his leadership is as inspirational as it is informative.”

Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian Medical Systems, said Levy “is consistently looking for ways to make the world better, from working to transform healthcare to meeting the most urgent needs of our community.”

Levy, who has been with Varian since 1968, has been chair of the Varian Medical Systems board of directors since 2002 and was CEO of the company from 1999 to 2006. Levy is also vice chair of the board of trustees of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a board member of the Sutter Health.

Don Watters, director emeritus of McKinsey & Company, will present this year\'s award to Levy at the annual State of the Valley conference this Friday, February 12, in San Jose.

Previous David Packard Award honorees are Paul L. Locatelli, S.J. (2009), William F. Miller (2008), Eric Benhamou (2007) and Bruce Chizen (2006).

Hospitals and Social Media- good to reflect on your strategy

2010-02-18T10:13:00.001-08:00

It is always a good idea to take a step back and evaluate the effectiveness of your Social Media strategy. This blog post from Mark Horoszowski is a good reminder of that.

He links to two great resources: VMC Foundation friend, and hospital Social Media pioneer, Ed Bennett, and to a great presentation by Phil Baumann.

This is a must read reflection piece for all of you #hcsm followers out there.

As H1N1 fears subside, support for Public Health Departments should not

2010-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Fifty-seven million Americans were infected with H1N1 since last April, according to a new estimate for The Center for Disease Control released today. That’s roughly the population of all of Italy. While thousands did sadly perish form the disease, the rate of mortality was nowhere close to previous flu pandemics, thanks in large part to the aggressive response by local, state and federal public health agencies.

Of course, the danger from this pandemic and others is still present. And while we breathe easy that our worst fears about H1N1 never materialized, major weaknesses to our public health infrastructure have been exposed, so says Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, public health officer for Santa Clara County. Many public health agencies, including the one in Santa Clara County, are have seen budgets and staff slashed in recent years, slowing the ability to monitor and respond to major public health crisis.

As we think about health care reform in this country, it is critical that we remember how essential Public Health Departments are to our safety net. It seems we dodged a bullet this time with H1N1 – but it’s a game of Russian Roulette not worth playing.

Chef Jamie Oliver speaks eloquently on America's obesity epidemic

2010-02-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

This is an eloquent summary of the obesity issues we have been discussing on the blog this week. Please take the time watch this video.

VMC Foundation and Santa Clara County take action against Childhood Obesity

2010-02-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

If you have been following us on Twitter this week, which we know you have, you’ll know that First Lady Michelle Obama launched her obesity awareness, called “Let’s Move.” Let the record show that we think this is a great program with tons of potential. By changing the food served to children in our schools, promoting active lifestyles, and actively educating youth through a social media campaign, Let’s Move will make a huge difference in the lives of our nation’s youth.

1-in-3 three children in the United States are obese. The rate of obesity in children has tripled in the past three decades for children aged 6-11. The first step in any recovery is admitting that you have a problem, so articles like this one published in the Mercury News in January is an encouraging first step; but action is needed to help stymie this epidemic.

Thankfully, we have been directly addressing this at the county level for some time. Currently, the VMC Foundation helps support a program, VMC’s Pediatric Healthy Lifestyles Center, which intervenes directly with populations at the highest risk for childhood obesity. The SCC Board of Supervisors is also making this epidemic a priority. County President Ken Yeager committed to promoting prevention and healthier living for all residents today in an opinion piece in the Mercury News. Supervisor Liz Kniss with support from the SCC Library, SCC Office of Education, and San Jose Public Library Foundation, is also taking action by using the Silicon Valley Reads program to educate both adults and children on healthy eating habits.

When we work together to combine our resources, our ability to affect change grows exponentially. Let’s hope these actions are sustained far into the future.

If you would like to support any of the programs run by the VMC Foundation, please contact us at 408-885-5299

Ken Yeager highlights plan for County success

2010-02-11T10:47:00.003-08:00

Santa Clara County President Ken Yeager highlights plan for County success amidst fiscal challenges. Focus on prevention and healthier living is central in county efforts. http://bit.ly/9QpCcI

Youth from San Jose Leadership Academy tour VMC

2010-02-09T11:03:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, the staff of the VMC Foundation had the opportunity to take 40 high school students from the San Jose Leadership Academy on a tour through VMC. The group, composed of Juniors from seven San Jose Unified high schools, spend nine months expanding their awareness of the San Jose community, networking with their peers, and inspiring change. We conduct tours each month but rarely with young adults from the community, so this was an exciting day for the staff of the VMC Foundation.

Before touring VMC, the youth from San Jose Leadership Academy had visited the county jail and a homeless shelter downtown, two experiences that opened the eyes of these high school students to a completely new side of San Jose. After observing these county services it was fitting for them to tour our county's Safety Net Hospital. We were given the chance to show how comprehensive VMC's system of care really is. The young leaders were able to see our Valley Health Clinic at Bascom, which serves a large portion of San Jose's homeless population. We were also able to point out that we really do treat everyone regardless of their ability to pay here at VMC, even prisoners from the jail they just visited! Educating the community to the vast array of services that are offered throughout the Health and Hospital System is a critical part of connecting everyone to the mission of VMC.

Touring our hospital for the first time can be an emotional experience. Being exposed to people receiving care during critically important moments in their life can sometimes feel invasive. Seeing pre-mature infants being cared for in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is an experience that you will never forget. The students from the San Jose Leadership Academy approached this tour with a mature curiosity that was contagious. In fact, the first question some of the youth asked us (even before the tour started!) was, "how can we sign up to volunteer?" Talk about being impressed!

A big thanks to the San Jose Leadership Academy, to their leader, Rick Holden, and to the VMC Foundation staff for conducting the tours. We can't wait until next year!

If you are interested in arranging a tour of VMC, please contact Jace Soper at 408-885-5299.

For more information on the San Jose Leadership Academy, go to: http://www.sjleadership.org/sjlc/npo.jsp?pg=about

VMC Partners with Stanford University Medical Center in Traumatic Brain Injury Study

2010-02-04T16:44:00.001-08:00

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.-Approximately 1.5 million people suffer from Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) each year, and TBIs are the leading cause of disability for individuals under age 44. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is joining Stanford University Medical Center in the Progesterone for the Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury (ProTECT) collaborative study to research if the administration of progesterone improves patient recovery.

"We can achieve exponentially more when public and private entities work together," said Board of Supervisors President Ken Yeager. "As one of three trauma centers in Santa Clara County, VMC is an ideal partner for Stanford in this important study."

To Read the Full Article, click below
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