Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

Here are today’s updates:

• Global Contrast Shortage Impacting Region
• Walk With a Doc – Dr. Shakila Tanjim – this Saturday
• Community Invited to STOP THE BLEED® Extravaganza
• Marketing Team Wins Emerald Awards
• Epic Achievement Noted
• Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

Global Contrast Shortage Impacting Region

A shortage of contrast media for computed tomography (CT) imaging is impacting hospitals and healthcare organizations across the country and in our region. GE Healthcare reported it is rationing orders for its contrast products after a COVID-19 lockdown temporarily shut down its production facility in Shanghai, China. Stormont Vail Health received notification in April about the potential shortage of Omni Contrast and began developing mitigation strategies. Contrast is used in CT imaging for strokes, cardiac imaging and traumas, and in studies done in several medical care locations, such as cath lab, cancer center, pain clinic and surgery.

Once the potential shortage was known, Stormont Vail began a stringent tracking process of contrast utilized, sourcing for additional contrast agents, and developing conservation strategies. We are working closely with physicians across all service lines impacted and with our radiology partners as we continue to offer timely, high quality care and minimize impact to our patients and team.

Should the shortage be prolonged, we are developing additional plans and collaborating with other hospitals in the region to ensure patients are provided the care needed, similar to how we worked together during COVID-19 surges when patient volumes increased.

Walk With a Doc – Dr. Shakila Tanjim – this Saturday

Walking can improve self-perception and self-esteem, mood and sleep quality, and can reduce stress, anxiety, and fatigue. So grab a friend, or come meet new friends this Saturday during Walk With a Doc from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. with Dr. Shakila Tanjim. This doctor-led walking group is a fun, free, and safe place to get some steps and learn about health!

Please come to the east side of Lee Arena at Washburn University to have a brief discussion with Dr. Tanjim about mental health before the walk begins. Bring all your questions and some dog treats because the Stormont Vail Health Paw Squad therapy dogs will be there too! The walk is open to the community, free, and pre-registration is not required. See you there!

Community Invited to STOP THE BLEED® Extravaganza

Stormont Vail Health invites the community to attend our STOP THE BLEED® Extravaganza this Thursday. This free event offers community members the opportunity to become certified in live saving techniques that can help prevent someone from bleeding to death.

The event is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with classes starting every hour on the hour, in Stormont Vail Health’s Pozez Education Center. No preregistration is necessary.

STOP THE BLEED is one of the nation’s largest public health campaigns and is designed to create awareness and engage new people to join the cause. Someone who is severely bleeding can bleed to death in as little as five minutes. That’s why bleeding control — keeping the blood inside the body — is the purpose of STOP THE BLEED training.

By learning how to STOP THE BLEED, you’ll gain the ability to recognize life-threatening bleeding and be able to act quickly and effectively to control bleeding once you learn three quick techniques. During our STOP THE BLEED Extravaganza, participants will become certified in one hour. Each training class will start every hour on the hour.

Marketing Team Wins Emerald Awards

The Stormont Vail Marketing and Communications team was recognized for excellence recently by the Kansas Association of Health Care Communicators in its Emeralds Awards competition.  Emerald Awards are given biennially to Kansas hospitals and health systems that excel in marketing and communications. The Stormont Vail Marketing team received two Emerald Awards:

Advertising – Print and Direct Mail category for “Orchestra Ad – Join Our Ensemble,” and Writing category for “Colorectal Cancer Blog.” The team also received a certificate of merit in the Video category for “Day in the Life – SICU Nurse.” Congratulations!

Epic Achievement Noted 
Stormont Vail Health was recently notified it has received its 5^th Honor Roll achievement from Epic. The organization earned Cum Laude on the Version 5 Honor Roll Grant Program. Areas where SVH met the honor roll requirements were population health, infrastructure, ease of use by providers, enterprise data and analytics, and staying current. Congratulations to the Stormont Vail Epic team!

Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

• 5 inpatients are COVID-19 positive.
• 65% of recent COVID-19 admissions are unvaccinated or had last dose/booster more than 6 months ago.
• COVID-19 inpatient discharges (previous week): 8. Deaths: 0.
• 4 COVID-19 positive patients in the outpatient Enhanced Primary Care program.
• 13.9% of people tested for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail facilities the past seven days were positive. This is an increase from 10.5% from last week.
• 19 team members and 2 providers on contact leave for COVID-19. The 21 this week compares to 9 last week.
• 104,138 vaccinations (included boosters) administered.
• To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
  • Use online scheduling assistant at stormontvail.org/covid19/vaccine
  • Call (785) 270-4786.

We together,
Dr. Kenagy