Each week, Brenna Seitz, an occupational therapist at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, takes horseback riding lessons in Firestone, CO. Last month, she was practicing jumps when her riding partner, 55-year-old Ken, slumped over and fell off his horse. Brenna is certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and CPR but had never performed it on a person. Another rider called 9-1-1, and the operator helped Brenna count as she performed compressions. She continued CPR for 12 minutes until the paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital. It took 4 more minutes in the ambulance before they could get his heart to beat on its own. Brain scans at the hospital confirmed Ken suffered no neurological deficits, which, after his heart, was the first thing everyone was concerned about. He’s a healthy, active guy with a genetic predisposition that caused 80-100% blockages in four arteries he wasn’t aware of because he didn’t have any noticeable symptoms. “Brenna is a real hero,” said Ken. “Statistically, I’m told I shouldn’t be alive and am extremely fortunate to have no neural losses. Because of the high-quality CPR she performed, and because she stuck with it for so long, I’m still here, and I suffered no brain or even any heart muscle damage from the event. She knew exactly what to do and how to do it correctly and didn’t hesitate to help me. She impressed every doctor, nurse, and staff person who read my chart. It’s a miracle I’m alive.”
Here’s Sammy Twito's go-to icebreaker story: she grew up in a corner of Montana so rural that her home was 45 miles from the nearest school. Her dad was a pilot and owned a small plane, and on days when they were running late, he took advantage of it. “He’d be like, hop in the plane, we’re flying,” she recalls. “The airport was right next to the school, so people would see me fly in and I thought it was the most absolutely embarrassing thing that could ever happen to me.” Not the most common childhood mortification. But an experience, perhaps, that has prepared her to find common ground among disparate teams – and for the four-state road-trip she and her team have undertaken to align patient experience across the enterprise. As director of patient experience for inpatient and pediatrics – along with Jenna Gonzalez, RN, MSN, over ambulatory and Sahar Ameri, MBA, over outpatient, oncology and hospice & homecare – she helms the Patient Experience Accelerator, an all-sites effort to operationalize best practices and improve the patient experience. “Our job is to look at the big picture,” she says. “That’s part of the reason why it’s so important to us to go out to each care site, because we’re listening to their unique needs and challenges and showing them how they can operationalize best practices as leaders.”
We are proud to have clinched the top spot as the best-performing large health system in the U.S., according to Fortune and PINC AI's "15 Top Health Systems" list released on May 21st! 🎉 The analysis took into account data from every hospital within a system, and considered eight performance indicators, like inpatient mortality and average length of stay, that measure an organization’s clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and patient experience. The top-ranking systems, divided into three groups—large, medium, and small—outperformed their peer systems on all eight measures. “What an incredible recognition for our organization and our caregivers,” said JP Valin, MD, chief clinical officer. “This is a true testament to the exceptional caliber of care our patients can expect when they come through our doors. May this recognition only inspire us to continue our efforts in building a model health system for our patients, our caregivers, and our communities.”
Our Central Lab, one of the most sophisticated testing laboratories in the nation, has expanded and nearly doubled in size, bringing state-of-the-art testing and advanced diagnostic technologies to help lower testing costs and enhance lab services for patients and hospitals throughout the Intermountain West. Our Central Lab, which is located on the Intermountain Medical Center campus in Murray, is unique because it tests millions of medical samples from patients hundreds of miles away and does so at a scale rarely seen by a single hospital system. This high volume helps keep costs lower, which makes healthcare less expensive for patients. The new space also allows for the addition of specialty testing previously unavailable at Intermountain Health facilities in Utah. This includes testing for organ donation compatibility, which previously was sent to labs, including those out of state.
Dave Green, a St. George, Utah resident, was on his way from North Carolina to Hawaii with his wife, and while packing and preparing, he started to feel dizzy and have some double vision. When his symptoms didn't subside, he called Intermountain Connect Care, and the provider recommended he be seen as soon as possible. “We went to an urgent care in Hawaii and they sent me immediately to the ER. After a battery of tests, we learned I’d suffered a stroke.” When symptoms of illness arise it can be tempting to wait a few days to see if they subside before making a doctor’s appointment. While that tactic may work for things like a cough or sore throat, when it comes to loss of vision, arm or leg numbness or weakness, loss of speech, or difficulty walking, the clock is ticking. The time to see a doctor is now. “We’re never going to condemn someone for coming in for ‘too small of a problem,’” Dr. Brett Christiansen, medical director for emergency medicine at St. George Regional Hospital and executive officer for Intermountain Southwest Emergency Physicians, said of those who might feel awkward going into the ER for a stroke symptom that exhibited and then subsided. And Dave concluded, “You don’t know if it’s a stroke until you do the testing. I learned that it’s better to err on the side of caution. I’m so grateful for the many caregivers at St. George Regional who have helped me recover. I’ve still got a ways to go, but because of their great help, I’m doing so much better.”
Congratulations to Keyona Cole, chief nursing officer for Intermountain Health's Desert Region, for being recognized as one of Becker's Healthcare's 231+ Black healthcare leaders to know for 2024! 🎊 The leaders featured on this list are shaping the patient experience, educating and training the next generation of healthcare providers, and furthering equity and inclusion. Keyona oversees patient care delivery at St. George Regional Hospital, Cedar City Hospital, and Garfield Memorial Hospital in southwest Utah, along with 125 clinics in the Las Vegas and Utah area. She is committed to the our health system's priorities of quality, safety, and equity. In her time serving as one of our system's DEI leaders, she was a major partner in creating our medical assistant program, which was designed to provide applicants the necessary training they need to pursue a career in healthcare, regardless of their financial situation. This has greatly contributed to our mission to develop and diversify our workforce.
We recently celebrated a Milestone in Medical Research at St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, MT!🌟 Our dedicated research team has reached an incredible milestone with 800 patients enrolled in therapeutic trials. Bringing cutting-edge therapies closer to home for Montana and the region, we're proud to offer access to innovative treatments at St. Vincent. Director of Research Operations, Matt Adler, reflects, 'We get to be part of helping patients and potentially changing someone else’s life in the future by developing new treatments.' From oncology to neurosciences, diabetes, and orthopedics, our patients benefit from groundbreaking trials tailored to their needs.
Social worker Eli Menet may not consider the extra care and work he gives to patients and team members going the extra mile. He just finds it 'the right thing to do,' he says. However, Garfield Memorial Hospital patients, caregivers, and the community he works with have noticed he goes above and beyond expectations regularly, and they are adding up his extra miles as he puts in extra hours, rescues stranded tourists, or travels the rural roads of Utah to reunite loved ones. "Doing the right thing comes naturally to Eli. He doesn't hesitate to jump to action to help ease the burden and stress of patients and their families," said Garfield Memorial Hospital Administrator DeAnn Brown. Eli's extra miles continue to add up. He was chosen as the 2022 Garfield Memorial Caregiver Excellence Award winner and recently he was honored during a Desert Region Leadership Conference for his connection to the purpose, "We do the right thing." Whether Eli is spending a lifetime paying it forward or is simply dedicated to doing the right thing, his influence has been felt by his fellow caregivers, his community, and the patients he serves, from the smallest to the grandest gestures.
In celebration of National EMS Week, let's take a moment to honor and thank all EMS professionals for their commitment to providing prompt and skilled care in emergencies each and every day! 🚑👩⚕️👨⚕️ #NationalEMSWeek #ThankYouEMS
Our mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible begins with our caregivers and their families. At Intermountain Health, we are proud to support the personal, work-related, and community well-being needs of our caregivers through a variety of programs and resources, including our Be Well Program. Learn more about how our Be Well Program helps support our caregivers below. ⬇️ #CaregiverWellBeing #JoinOurTeam
