Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

Here are today’s updates:

• Stormont Vail Health Awarded Two Grants
• Stormont Vail Supports Local Companies by Getting Employees Back to Work
• New Safety Screening Process for Stormont Vail’s Topeka Hospital
• Stormont Vail Blog: Staying Active with Kids

Stormont Vail Health Awarded Two Grants

Stormont Vail Health has recently been informed that it is the recipient of two grants that will provide support to workforce development through enhanced simulation lab capabilities, and team training and equipment for our Topeka child care program.

The state’s SPARK Executive Committee and Kansas Department of Commerce has awarded a Delivering Residents and Workforce (DRAW) grant of $217,950, with a minimum match requirement of $72,650. The DRAW grant will fund the Simulation Lab’s e-REAL full immersion interactive classroom package. Stormont Vail is one of 26 recipients of grants through the DRAW program for training and workforce development initiatives in high-demand and high-wage industries.

Building Blocks, Stormont Vail’s Topeka child care center for team members’ children, was selected as a recipient of a SPARK Child Care Capacity Accelerator grant. This opportunity will support the expansion efforts of Building Blocks by providing about $105,000 in training for teachers and equipment for classrooms. The Stormont Vail Health application was submitted in partnership with Greater Topeka Partnership, and included nine projects and through funding received will increase child care capacity by more than 450 slots in Shawnee County. The child care grants are through the Kansas Children’s Cabinet from funding through SPARK and the Department for Children and Families.

Great work team and congratulations!

Stormont Vail Supports Local Companies by Getting Employees Back to Work

Stormont Vail employs three team members whose work is designed to support Kansas businesses and their employees by getting employees back to work safely, quickly and healthy. These employees are part of a grant-funded program called RetainworKS that identifies patients who have suffered from a personal injury that has sidelined them from working.

RetainworKS staff works with patients to get them enrolled into our healthcare system, navigate care throughout our system and partners with the Kansas workforce center to get the out of work employees trained on other skills during their recovery with the intention of getting them back to regular work. Recently, RN Nurse Navigator Susie Mirowski was featured in supporting an Abilene, Kansas firefighter in getting him back to work so his family did not have to suffer the burden of a loss of income.

If you are a provider or anyone else interested in supporting this program and the community in which we serve, please contact Carrie Mitzel at [email protected] or (785) 354-6611. This program is yet another example on how Stormont Vail supports our region and continues to be a national leader in comprehensive healthcare services.

New Safety Screening Process for Stormont Vail’s Topeka Hospital

Stormont Vail Health will be transitioning to a new safety screening in lieu of the COVID-19 screening process for our patients and visitors entering the main Topeka hospital. This process will have a soft go-live on July 6 and will be fully transitioned on July 11. This will allow Stormont Vail to know which patients and visitors are in our main hospital and where they are located. The safety screening process will include obtaining a photo ID or photo of patient/visitor.

Since the implementation of a screening process at the Topeka Hospital thefts, suspicious person activity, trespasses and disorderly conducts have declined by 88 percent. An elevated safety screening will allow for the continued decline in security events while fostering a positive patient, visitor, and employee experience when entering the Topeka hospital. This will also ensure a timely and high quality first impression for our visitors.

Stormont Vail Blog: Staying Active with Kids

It’s summertime! The kids are out of school, it’s sunny outside – are you ready to stay active?

“We need to relearn that physical activity is not a responsibility we have to be healthy, rather it is something that we are lucky enough to have the ability to do,” says Brian Avila, Wellpower Services Manager, Employee Relations.

Let’s find time to participate in physical activities, inside and outside, and help our kids do them too. Read this week’s blog on stormontvail.org here for more info on why and how to stay active.

We together,
Dr. Kenagy