Tufts Medical Center News Headlines
Week of May 28, 2007 - June 4, 2007
The following headline stories are re-printed from the Tufts Medical Center News, Tufts Medical Center's weekly publication.
Fifth Annual HarborWalk to Benefit the Floating Hospital for Children and Tufts Medical Center Is June 10 Family Festival Follows Immediately After the Walk
The fifth annual Tufts Medical Center HarborWalk to benefit the Floating Hospital for Children and Tufts Medical Center will take place on Sunday, June 10 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The walk will begin at the Bayside Exposition Center, Carson Place, in South Boston. The six-mile course will travel along the beach, wind its way around historic Fort Independence and Castle Island, and back along the beach to Carson Place.
Harbor Walk organizers will be in the Atrium to accept donation submissions and sign up new walkers and teams on Tuesday, May 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year, the Medical Center’s Family Festival will
immediately follow the HarborWalk. A fun festival with music, moon bounces, magicians and games will be featured. Hundreds of walkers from more than 50 teams are expected to participate in the event to raise funds for the Floating Hospital and Tufts Medical Center. This year’s fundraising goal is $250,000. The net proceeds raised by each team go to support a Tufts Medical Center or Floating Hospital department, service or program of the team’s choosing.
On-line registration and donation options are available at www.harborwalk.kintera.org. The registration fee is $25 per walker. Event-day registration will begin at 8 a.m. Children ages eight and under can participate free of charge. For more information, contact either Becca Romish at ext. 9846 (bromish@tufts-nemc.org), or Steve Perna at ext. 5219 (sperna@tufts-nemc.org) in the Development Office.
Four Year Old Survives Tragic Accident Thanks to Floating Hospital’s KPTI
To see four-year-old Shea Sullivan laughing and playing air hockey in the playroom last week you would find it hard to believe he was struck by an 18-wheeler less than a month ago. It was April 25 when the tragic accident occurred, and he was Medflighted to Floating Hospital for Children’s Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI) with critical injuries, including significant brain swelling, two collapsed lungs and a severely burned and injured arm.
Floating’s KPTI multidisciplinary team, led by Brian F. Gilchrist, MD, Pediatric Surgeon-in-Chief, sprang into action providing the Level I trauma expertise Shea needed.
“Dr. Gilchrist was our go-to-guy,” said Lisa Sullivan, Shea’s mother. “From the moment we first met him he was very positive and reassured us that every day Shea would get better. That’s exactly what happened. We are so grateful for the terrific care he received. We can’t say enough about the fantastic doctors, nurses, social workers, pastoral care and playroom staff members who helped us during Shea’s stay. Especially every single one of the PICU nurses.”
Shea was discharged home last week and will continue his recovery with outpatient physical therapy. His prognosis is very good.
“His neurologic status is completely normal, and I believe he will have nearly a 100 percent recovery of his arm,” said Gilchrist. “The work done by our orthopaedics staff members under Drs. Charles Cassidy and Wally Yassir, plastic surgery done by Dr. Christopher Davidson, and the tremendous effort of Dr. Nicholas Guerina in the PICU has been simply stellar. I have never seen such good work as done by these men.”
Tufts Medical Center Celebrates National Nursing Assistant Week
Tufts Medical Center will mark National Nursing Assistant Week beginning Monday, June 4 with events in recognition of the Medical Center’s nursing assistants.
The schedule of events includes: Monday, June 4; Picture Gallery of Tufts Medical Center Nursing Assistants, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Atrium. Tuesday, June 5: Caring for the Caregiver with Mary Fitzgerald and Mary Lou Von Euw, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. in the Atrium 8002 Conference Room. Wednesday, June 6: Breakfast Reception Honoring Nursing Assistants, from 7 am to 8 a.m. in the Atrium 8002 Conference Room. Thursday, June 7: Nursing Assistant Award Presentation and Reception, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Wolff Auditorium
National Nursing Assistant Week began in Ohio in 1977 as the Ten Year Club and expanded nationwide in 1985, to recognize and reward nursing assistants. America’s 2.5 million direct care workers provide hands-on care to individuals in nursing homes and other long-term care settings. Nursing assistants provide as much as 80-90 percent of the direct care received by residents and patients in long term care facilities.
All Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital nursing assistant staff members are encouraged to attend the events of the week and receive much deserved praise for their constant effort and contributions.
For questions, please call Stephanie Colman- Brochu at ext. 5756 or ext. 5011 regarding Nursing Assistant Week.
Tufts Medical Center Celebrates Better Speech and Hearing Month
May is “Better Speech and Hearing Month!” and speech-language pathologists from Tufts Medical Center will partner with the Children’s Center for Special Needs to celebrate this event together for the first time.
Learn about the speech-language pathology profession and meet the Medical Center’s clinicians on Wednesday, May 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30pm in the Atrium. Free voice screenings will also be offered along with informational handouts.
Tufts Medical Center participates in COBTH’s Health Fair
Tufts Medical Center joined other member hospitals to help the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals (COBTH) with its second annual health fair at the State House on Wednesday, May 23rd.
Throughout the day, Tufts Medical Center clinicians, technicians and other staff members provided screening for peripheral vascular disease and handed out child safety information and informational fact sheets. The team also answered skin health, vascular and wound healing questions.
“Community engagement and interaction is essential,” said Sherry Dong, Associate Director of Community Health Programs. “It raises our profile and increases awareness of the breadth of programs and services we offer. Participation in community festivals, health fairs, workshops and other community presentations is greatly appreciated.” For more information or to get your department more involved, you can contact Sherry Dong at sdong@tufts-nemc.org.
The Medical Center was well represented by the Wound Center, Vascular Lab, Venous Center, Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute and the Office of Community Health Programs, which coordinated Tufts Medical Center’s participation. Participants included: Mark Iafrati, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery; Donna Crown, RN, MS, CAN, Nurse Manager of Ambulatory Services; Jonathan Nguyen, BS, Vascular Technologist; Ingrid Perry, BS, Vascular Technologist; Yena Do, MD; Marie Gross; Emily Berger; Jon Freeman, Program Specialist at the KPTI and Sherry Dong, Associate Director of the Office of Community Health Programs.
During the day, COBTH also honored Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach for his work advancing public health in the City of Boston during his tenure as Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission.