Author: richardzorza

I am deeply involved in access to justice and the patient voice movement.

Breakthrough on Collington Healthcare and a Pledge

Sometimes we use this blog sot to update our friends with information that has been shared already with residents, but should also be helpful for those who care about them.  This is one such.

We are now officially moving forward with having MedStar Health taking over our clinic, as the first phase of further changes.  The most important thing about this is that the new system we develop with MedStar will be modern gerontology focused, rather than traditional primary care.  Indeed MedStar has long been operating a geriatric program so we can expect quick changes with their expertise.

Let us hope and plan that as we welcome these new providers to our community, we will start from day one as partners, not only as institution to institution, but also as patient to individual provider.  I once ended my first meeting with an oncologist by saying , “you must tell me how I can help you,” and she replied, “you already have.

What a lovely way to start working together.  Lets start with the same spirit.  With all the work that our health and strategic planning groups and management have done to put this together with just this spirit,  I have great confidence that we will.

 

 

 

The Resident Association Officer Candidates

At a meeting on September 25, Joyce Garrison, speaking on behalf of the Nominating Committee, introduced a slate of candidates to head up the RA Council starting next month.  The candidates are, from left to right in the picture below:
Lois Brown for President
Nadine Hathaway for First VP
Sue Regen for Second VP
(Joyce Garrison)
Judy Collins (returning) for Secretary
Linda Ewald (returning) for Treasurer
The community will be voting on the candidates in the Clocktower all day on October 4, and the Annual Meeting of the Council will be at 1:30 pm in the Auditorium on October 5.   We need a quorum to attend, so be sure to be there to welcome the new officers!
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Moving Modern Geriatrics to Take Advantage of Nurse, Family and Patient Intuitions

As our strategic plan moves forward in the health area, we are given a useful reminder in the New York Times of the value of instinct in alerting people to potential medical crises.  The Times article focus on the instincts of nurses, and is fascinating.  I have done a blog that asks if we can also take value from the intuitions of the family and the patient themselves

I suspect that we could “train” patients and families to be much more mindful about patient monitoring, including how to trust their instincts and how to communicate their feelings to the medical personal.  This, of course, should be accompanied by training of medical staff on how to take the most advantage of, and how to solicit such communications.  It is not hard to construct model ways of doing so.

I suspect that when things work, that is very much happening in our long term care facility already.  Nurses and care staff know the patients, and communicate with them regularly.  It makes such sense to empower them to raise their concerns, to train and encourage family and resident to do so too, and finally to ensure that all medical personnel not only listen to, but affirmatively seek such help as part of an inclusive team.

I am sure that this will fit in well with our general themes of community cultural change and inter-generational initiatives, as well as the specifics of modern geriatric medicine.