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     Congratulations to Dr. Homer Huntley who has been voted Outstanding Attending of the Year by the first- and second-year students in the Case Western Reserve University Master of Science in Anesthesia Program. An anesthesiologist (and frequent performer at the annual Christmas celebration) here at St. Vincent Charity, Dr. Huntley was recognized by the students for the work he does in helping them to become skilled anesthesiologists. He will be honored at the Instructor Honors Ceremony at Shooter’s on the Water on May 17^th.  Please join us in congratulating Dr. Huntley on this honor!

Spring is here and soon we'll be able to take advantage of warmer weather, fresh spring vegetables and enjoy more time outdoors. With warmer weather right around the corner, now is great time to get ready for spring and give your kitchen a healthy, spring cleaning.

First step – Clean out your cupboards and refrigerator.

• Throw out outdated foods and condiments
• Pull out all of the sugary foods and drinks (candy, pastries, pop, energy drinks)
• Gather the bags of chips and other processed high calorie, salty snacks and choose a couple of your absolute favorites to keep in the back of the cupboard or refrigerator for a snack every once in a while. 

Second step – Plan out a few simple healthy meals for the week. Then make a grocery list and stick to it!

Refresh your refrigerator

• Buy green, red and orange vegetables
• Choose fruits such as strawberries, oranges, apples and grapes
• Include low fat dairy, yogurt, soy or almond milk and low fat cheeses
• Finish up with eggs, hummus, fresh fish and chicken

Fill your freezer

• Bags of frozen fruits – like blueberries, strawberries and mango
• Frozen vegetables
• Whole grains – freeze cooked brown rice, breads and tortillas for quick meals

Update your cupboards with:

• Canned low sodium broths and soups
• Canned no added salt tomatoes
• Canned beans
• Cans of tuna and salmon
• Bags of whole grains – barley, quinoa and rice
• Whole grain cereals

These spring cleaning tips are courtesy of Nutrition Services and the Wellness Committee at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center.

Before Sherwin-Williams standardized the formula for paint;

Before Charles F. Brush invented a system for electrifying street lights;

Before Dayton C. Miller and Dudley Wick invented the X-ray; and

Before Alexander Winton sold the first automobile in the U.S., the citizens of Cleveland, then largely a Protestant city, supported the building of a Catholic hospital—St. Vincent Charity—to provide nursing care for the citizens of Cleveland by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine.  

Since the end of the Civil War—nearly 150 years ago—St. Vincent Charity Medical Center has been providing healthcare to Clevelanders.

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center will kick off its yearlong 150th anniversary celebration on October 18, 2014 at Pizzazz, its signature fundraising event. But before that happens, we want to get our city excited about this milestone anniversary. On May 22, 2014—exactly 150 days until the kickoff—we will unveil a special social media campaign to promote the anniversary. Each day until kickoff, we will be sharing a fun fact about St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. This will include throwback photos, historical facts, Caregiver memories, as well as information about what St. Vincent Charity is doing now and in the future.

Be an ambassador for St. Vincent Charity and spread the word on your social media accounts by using our hashtag #STV150. Our goal is to DOUBLE our Twitter followers and Facebook fans by the May 22nd social media launch. Below is a sample Tweet and Facebook post you can use to help us reach our goal!

Twitter

Celebrate 150 years of healthcare in #CLE & follow @stvincentcmc. Anniversary countdown kicks off 5/22! #STV150

Facebook Post

Join St. Vincent Charity Medical Center as they countdown to their 150th anniversary celebration with 150 days of fun facts! “Like” their Facebook page and you can get in on the yearlong anniversary celebration! For more information visit stvincentcharity.com/blog.

Join us Thursday, March 27th at 12 pm EST for a live q&a with dietitians Jen Del Rio and Kevin Thomas. Jen and Kevin will be answering all of your questions related to nutrition, dieting, weight maintenance, cooking, meal planning and bariatrics.

Meet the Dietitians

Jen Del Rio, RD, LD

Jen Del Rio is a Bariatric Dietitian at the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Jen graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Akron in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics and a Bachelor of Science in Food and Environmental Nutrition. Jen is a Registered Dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is a Licensed Dietitian in the state of Ohio. In May 2013, she received her certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Jen has worked with many patients providing pre-surgical dietary consultations, as well as guiding the bariatric patients through all phases of the post-surgical diet. She enjoys working with her patients to help them achieve their weight loss goals and hearing of their successes.

Kevin Thomas, RD, LD

Kevin Thomas is a Bariatric Dietitian at the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Kevin graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition. Kevin is an active participant with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and completed the Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management in May of 2010. Kevin has guided over 125 patients through their monitored weight loss requirements in preparation for weight loss surgery. He is passionate about bariatrics and takes a personal interest in his patients’ success.

We are honored to recognize our generous donors who made contributions to St. Vincent Charity Development Foundation in 2013. On behalf of our entire family of Caregivers, thank you for your investment in our mission of healing, established nearly 150 years ago by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. 

As we move into 2014, philanthropic support will be more important than ever as we kick off our 150^th anniversary. Your charitable gifts allow St. Vincent Charity to meet the needs of the Greater Cleveland community through services and programs that provide state-of-the-art spine and orthopedic care,  address obesity and related chronic conditions and treat emergent and ongoing mental health and addiction. Most importantly, St. Vincent Charity strives to provide care for all regardless of ability to pay.

You can make a gift here or call us at (216) 694-4685. With your help, St. Vincent Charity will continue its exciting path forward as Cleveland’s faith-based, high quality health care provider.  

We are pleased to announce that Craig Eyman, DO, has joined our Medical Staff as a bariatric surgeon in our Center for Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Eyman recently returned from a tour of duty as a U.S. Army surgeon stationed in Afghanistan.

A graduate of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Eyman completed an internship at South Pointe Hospital and his residency at University Hospitals Richmond Hospital, where he served as chief resident.

Board-certified in bariatric and general surgery, Dr. Eyman is a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, a fellow of the American College of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).

He joins us from Southwest General Hospital, where he will remain on the Medical Staff, and Parma Community General Hospital. He will be seeing patients in the Center for Bariatric Surgery office, Suite 207 of the Medical Office Building. Appointments can be made by calling 216-592-2801.

Cuyahoga Health Access Partnership (CHAP) has a navigator available three days a week to help people learn options available for enrolling in health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Navigator services are available by appointment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Healthcare Center at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Call Rachel DeGolia at 216-206-6419.

What happens inside the operating room during surgery? St. Vincent Charity Medical Center recently gave viewers the unique opportunity to see firsthand. In partnership with the Northeast Ohio Media Group—which owns The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com and Sun Newspapers—3,874 people were tuned in to watch video, interact with the surgical team and follow along via Twitter as a patient underwent total knee replacement surgery.

More than 700,000 people receive total knee replacement surgery annually in the United States, making it the most common joint replacement surgery. Increasingly, younger patients such as Baby Boomers are opting for the surgery. St Vincent Charity performs more than 350 total knee replacement surgeries annually. Under the guidance of Lou Keppler, MD, orthopedic surgeon and Co-Director of the Spine and Orthopedic Institute at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, we were able to share with a virtual audience what happens when surgeons replace a total knee joint.

After identifying our patient, 52-year-old John Favaloro, the Northeast Ohio Media Group was able to document through print, web, social media, photo and video, his journey from pre-surgical, surgical to post-surgical care. “New Knee, New Life,” coverage began on October 25, 2013, on Cleveland.com with an introduction to John’s story. Readers and viewers learned about his high school football injury, his military service and his eventual realization that surgery was the only answer to resolve the pain. Viewers and readers got to know John’s family and hear from Dr. Keppler as he planned the surgery.

Although typically a private person, John viewed this as an opportunity to help others learn about the procedure. “If it helps someone else, that’s a good thing,” he said. On November 19, 2013, the day of his surgery, John was even able to chat with another total knee patient in the surgical waiting area who had been following the series as a kindred spirit.

Identifying a surgeon who was able to articulate in plain language what he was doing was critical to the success of the venture. But John’s decision to allow cameras into the OR was the lynchpin that gave us the chance to educate more than 3,000 viewers who were tuned into his surgery as it live streamed on the homepage of Cleveland.com. In addition to the live broadcast, live tweets from the surgery were sent out from St. Vincent Charity’s Twitter account (@stvincentCMC). Viewers from as far away as Seattle followed along with live tweets, photos and videos from the operating room using the hashtag #stvknee.

“This was a great educational opportunity for people who may be considering knee replacement surgery and a first for Northeast Ohio,” said Wendy Hoke, Vice President of Marketing and Communications. “Viewers could ask questions in real time and become more familiar with what happens during the procedure. We even heard of watch parties for those who were considering the surgery.”

“Hopefully, people now have more of an appreciation of the surgery process and the incredible skill of our OR staff,” said Hoke.

Following a three-day stay in the hospital, John is now regularly attending outpatient physical therapy appointments and is looking forward to heading back to work after New Year’s. Thanks to our partners at the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Clevelanders are following John’s progress and wishing him well on his path to recovery.

Catch up on the entire editorial series and watch the video from the surgery at Cleveland.com. Or follow all the tweets and photos from the day on our blog.

For nearly 150 years, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center has been committed to serving the needs of the community by extending the healing mission of Jesus. Inspired by the example of our founders, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSA), we have a legacy of identifying and serving the unmet needs of the community.

One of the tools we use today to assist in that effort is the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The Cuyahoga County Health Partners, comprised of member hospitals and healthcare providers of the Center for Health Affairs, came together to commission the 2012 Cuyahoga Community Health Needs Assessment This comprehensive survey tool identified specific health needs in the community.

Based on data gathered from this unique county-wide collaboration, the St. Vincent Charity Medical Center Community Benefit Planning Committee met over a period of months to define priority health issues that the hospital will address. This process allows us to focus our resources toward prevention, education, wellness and outreach that will have the greatest impact on the community we serve.

The St. Vincent Charity Medical Center Board of Directors approved the Community Health Needs Implementation Plan on October 2, 2013. Read our full plan here.