Usually I’m very festive. My tree goes up right after Thanksgiving, I’m done holiday shopping weeks before Christmas, indulging in yummy holiday treats, smiling at little kids waiting in line to meet Santa – you know, the fun stuff!
So, for the first time ever in my life, I am not feeling the holiday. It’s probably a combination of personal and work. I don't want to do a tree - I just don't wanna...and then it happened as it always happens at Children's Specialized, I am reminded of the kindness and generosity that is extended by staff and strangers to our children and our hospital.
Remember the holiday cookie baking fun at Stevens Road? I think our staff deserves a medal for bringing out the sprinkles and cookie cutters, all to help bring a little holiday fun into therapy. That’s the spirit!
Just this morning, Vieno shared with me a wonderful story of holiday cheer.
With the holidays just around the corner, our staff in New Brunswick was getting a little worried because holiday donations had seriously dropped off from years past. Our annual holiday party for inpatients is just a few weeks away and staff was getting a little worried we wouldn’t have enough gifts for everyone! Just in the nick of time, we get a call from Diane Bonanno's office at Rutgers Recreation. The seventh annual Big Chill 5K is on Saturday, Dec.12 and instead of paying a fee, entrants are asked to bring an unwrapped toy for children in need across the garden state. With nearly 5,000 people signed up – we’re sure our patients, and many lucky kids around the state, will have a wonderful holiday with presents to spare. Since its inception, the race has provided over 20,000 presents to several NJ charities including the NJ Housing Authority and now PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital – New Brunswick. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause… and he’s running through New Brunswick on Saturday!
As expected, our staff and generous supporters have given me a dose of holiday spirit.
What is your favorite holiday memory or tradition? Here at Children’s or even at home with your family? What really gets you in the mood to break out the tinsel and eggnog?
Amy
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Impact of Change
Many of you have received the recent news about the 2010 budget changes. I thought I would blog and give you a chance to ask questions anonymously or just offer a place to vent.
I want you to know that none of these decisions were easy and we sincerely regret that some of these decisions may impact you negatively. During the recent employee meetings, you consistently told me that it was most important to protect people's jobs and health benefits. The goal our senior leadership team decided from the very first discussion was to make sure that we had no lay offs, wanting no one to be out on the street during these tough economic times. In addition, we wanted to make sure our kids still have access to the services they so desperately need.
This was one of the most challenging situations we have ever faced. I know everyone on the team has had many sleepless nights contemplating the “what if we did this…” In the end, we accomplished our goal - no lay offs and our kids are receiving their services.
Even with the things we are doing, there is still great uncertainty in the world around us. The State of New Jersey is facing an $8 billion deficit. The Governor Elect has said that under no terms will he raise taxes. That means that all of our funding from the State, 50% of the children we serve, are at risk of funding cuts or elimination. We are still struggling to make sure that we can protect our kids in the federal health care reform. As you know from our employee meetings, the Senate bill doesn't yet have the language in it that would make sure our kids on Medicaid still have the same benefits as they do today.
We will be posting a memo on our intranet with all the details about the upcoming changes. Please take a look at this for reference and hopefully this will clear up any confusion.
Please post any questions. I’d love to clear up any rumors or ease concerns.
I thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to our children.
Amy
I want you to know that none of these decisions were easy and we sincerely regret that some of these decisions may impact you negatively. During the recent employee meetings, you consistently told me that it was most important to protect people's jobs and health benefits. The goal our senior leadership team decided from the very first discussion was to make sure that we had no lay offs, wanting no one to be out on the street during these tough economic times. In addition, we wanted to make sure our kids still have access to the services they so desperately need.
This was one of the most challenging situations we have ever faced. I know everyone on the team has had many sleepless nights contemplating the “what if we did this…” In the end, we accomplished our goal - no lay offs and our kids are receiving their services.
Even with the things we are doing, there is still great uncertainty in the world around us. The State of New Jersey is facing an $8 billion deficit. The Governor Elect has said that under no terms will he raise taxes. That means that all of our funding from the State, 50% of the children we serve, are at risk of funding cuts or elimination. We are still struggling to make sure that we can protect our kids in the federal health care reform. As you know from our employee meetings, the Senate bill doesn't yet have the language in it that would make sure our kids on Medicaid still have the same benefits as they do today.
We will be posting a memo on our intranet with all the details about the upcoming changes. Please take a look at this for reference and hopefully this will clear up any confusion.
Please post any questions. I’d love to clear up any rumors or ease concerns.
I thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to our children.
Amy
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh
Okay we are coming to the end of our first week on the new system. I recently heard a very funny story that I thought would make you smile. This made me wonder whether you may have ironic or funny Meditech stories. If you do, or have heard some, please share! They can be coping stories or just incidental things that have come up.
Joe Assante, facilities, was in the cafeteria in Mountainside when Pat De Martino, director of IT and point man on the whole magilla, came in with Joe Dobosh, CFO. Assante gives DeMartino and odd look and says to Pat "Why are you here? Isn't today is the big day? I am sure of it. I have seen signs all over the place. Isn't today the big Meditech Lunch?”
Pat completely deadpan responds "It's launch, not lunch. Today is the big launch."
Joe was of course pulling his leg trying to lighten the moment but I did laugh out loud.
How about you? Any stories?
I keep hearing threats to "dress" the cows with skirts so they look like Rosie the maid from the Jetsons! I’d love to see that!
Joe Assante, facilities, was in the cafeteria in Mountainside when Pat De Martino, director of IT and point man on the whole magilla, came in with Joe Dobosh, CFO. Assante gives DeMartino and odd look and says to Pat "Why are you here? Isn't today is the big day? I am sure of it. I have seen signs all over the place. Isn't today the big Meditech Lunch?”
Pat completely deadpan responds "It's launch, not lunch. Today is the big launch."
Joe was of course pulling his leg trying to lighten the moment but I did laugh out loud.
How about you? Any stories?
I keep hearing threats to "dress" the cows with skirts so they look like Rosie the maid from the Jetsons! I’d love to see that!
Monday, October 19, 2009
All of The Above
Okay, so I know we’re all feeling it - tension, stress - all of the above.
I too have been feeling the pressure… for me it’s mostly a numbers game. The health benefits we provide to our employees has increased a whopping $800,000 and our reimbursement from insurance companies and the state has either remained flat or decreased; between the 2010 CSH budget and the continuing battles over health care reform - it has been a tough couple of months and as you can relate, it’s hard to stay focused.
I was asked to participate in a panel discussion at the national NACHRI conference last week about how health care reform impacts kids with special needs. I was going to be on a panel with 3 other hospital CEO's and they told me I could do a brief overview and we would open it up for questions. I figured, I can do this in my sleep. I have been living it, breathing it, it will be a no brainer.
So imagine my surprise when I realized the intimate panel discussion was not so intimate but before the ENTIRE NACHRI MEETING and not a break out session that I had thought. Not 40 people in the room but 400 people. We all know I’m a type A personality and something like this just floored me.
In the end the presentation went fine, I made them laugh, made them cry. And of course I told them about the amazing work you do with our kids and why it is so important. I put a face on our story telling them about a little boy who was never going to live a “normal” life who is now fully mainstreamed and has more dates than I do!
Has that happened to you? Please, tell me that I’m not alone here. Have you been distracted, doing too much, trying to get it all in and you realize that you are flying by the seat of your pants?
Let's break the ice a little and share your stories… You don’t have to post your name, just share a laugh.
I too have been feeling the pressure… for me it’s mostly a numbers game. The health benefits we provide to our employees has increased a whopping $800,000 and our reimbursement from insurance companies and the state has either remained flat or decreased; between the 2010 CSH budget and the continuing battles over health care reform - it has been a tough couple of months and as you can relate, it’s hard to stay focused.
I was asked to participate in a panel discussion at the national NACHRI conference last week about how health care reform impacts kids with special needs. I was going to be on a panel with 3 other hospital CEO's and they told me I could do a brief overview and we would open it up for questions. I figured, I can do this in my sleep. I have been living it, breathing it, it will be a no brainer.
So imagine my surprise when I realized the intimate panel discussion was not so intimate but before the ENTIRE NACHRI MEETING and not a break out session that I had thought. Not 40 people in the room but 400 people. We all know I’m a type A personality and something like this just floored me.
In the end the presentation went fine, I made them laugh, made them cry. And of course I told them about the amazing work you do with our kids and why it is so important. I put a face on our story telling them about a little boy who was never going to live a “normal” life who is now fully mainstreamed and has more dates than I do!
Has that happened to you? Please, tell me that I’m not alone here. Have you been distracted, doing too much, trying to get it all in and you realize that you are flying by the seat of your pants?
Let's break the ice a little and share your stories… You don’t have to post your name, just share a laugh.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Concerns About Meditech
It is hard to believe October is here already. There has been so much going on at Children’s Specialized and with federal health care reform it doesn’t really feel like we had much of a summer "break."
Here at home, I’m hearing a lot of concern from employees about Meditech. The issues are two fold.
First, I am hearing that people are just uncertain. Will the system work as well as what we have now? What happens if it doesn’t work? We don’t have enough time to practice before we go live. It is never going to happen.
Let’s all take a deep breath. There is a lot of information to take in and many hours of training. But just like anything else, you only master a new skill when you are working with it everyday. All the practice in the world doesn’t replace the real time process.
It is important to remember that we used our finest clinicians from Children's Specialized to customize the drop down fields and made the modifications necessary to suit our special needs.
Is everything going to be perfect day one? No. Nothing in this world works that way.
We will have our bumps but the test of both an individual and an organization is how we perform when trouble arises. In this organization, time and time again, we have risen to the occasion through a thoughtful, practical process. This is exactly what we do with the kids we serve. We identify the problem. We develop a plan and we will fix it. There won't be finger pointing that says “you should have anticipated this” or “you should have done it better.” That isn't part of our values and that isn't who we are.
Will we be scared and frustrated over the coming weeks? Sure, but we need to remember the pay offs. The ability for all of our systems to speak to each other will allow us provide our patients with the highest quality of care.
For example, Meditech will allow an outpatient therapist to access a patient’s records and see the actual doctor's notes or what the child’s goals were as an inpatient. This type of immediate access to crucial information is huge. Let alone having everything in one place for the insurance authorization, coding and billing.
Secondly, the automation will give people the thing that we all want more of - time. A therapist recently shared with me that she is most excited about using Meditech because she will “have her life back,” so she doesn’t have to do her notes at home any more.
Let's all agree to keep the lines of communication open. We know there will be pitfalls and we will figure it out together and our work productivity, process and performance will be much better as we move forward.
I’d like to ask employees to share their comment, excitement and even concerns for using this new aplication. Please leave comments below.
One favor to ask of you. This week marks my first set of employee meetings for Fall 2009. I have updates on our corporate goals, updates on the Meditech project, federal health care reform and other strategic plan objectives.
Are there other things you would like me to cover? Please let me know – shoot me an email. Also, check our intranet for the employee meeting schedule.
Looking forward to seeing each of you at the employee meetings.
Amy
Here at home, I’m hearing a lot of concern from employees about Meditech. The issues are two fold.
First, I am hearing that people are just uncertain. Will the system work as well as what we have now? What happens if it doesn’t work? We don’t have enough time to practice before we go live. It is never going to happen.
Let’s all take a deep breath. There is a lot of information to take in and many hours of training. But just like anything else, you only master a new skill when you are working with it everyday. All the practice in the world doesn’t replace the real time process.
It is important to remember that we used our finest clinicians from Children's Specialized to customize the drop down fields and made the modifications necessary to suit our special needs.
Is everything going to be perfect day one? No. Nothing in this world works that way.
We will have our bumps but the test of both an individual and an organization is how we perform when trouble arises. In this organization, time and time again, we have risen to the occasion through a thoughtful, practical process. This is exactly what we do with the kids we serve. We identify the problem. We develop a plan and we will fix it. There won't be finger pointing that says “you should have anticipated this” or “you should have done it better.” That isn't part of our values and that isn't who we are.
Will we be scared and frustrated over the coming weeks? Sure, but we need to remember the pay offs. The ability for all of our systems to speak to each other will allow us provide our patients with the highest quality of care.
For example, Meditech will allow an outpatient therapist to access a patient’s records and see the actual doctor's notes or what the child’s goals were as an inpatient. This type of immediate access to crucial information is huge. Let alone having everything in one place for the insurance authorization, coding and billing.
Secondly, the automation will give people the thing that we all want more of - time. A therapist recently shared with me that she is most excited about using Meditech because she will “have her life back,” so she doesn’t have to do her notes at home any more.
Let's all agree to keep the lines of communication open. We know there will be pitfalls and we will figure it out together and our work productivity, process and performance will be much better as we move forward.
I’d like to ask employees to share their comment, excitement and even concerns for using this new aplication. Please leave comments below.
One favor to ask of you. This week marks my first set of employee meetings for Fall 2009. I have updates on our corporate goals, updates on the Meditech project, federal health care reform and other strategic plan objectives.
Are there other things you would like me to cover? Please let me know – shoot me an email. Also, check our intranet for the employee meeting schedule.
Looking forward to seeing each of you at the employee meetings.
Amy
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Oreos and Obituaries
A few weeks back, I got to watch our Brain Injury team in New Brunswick do wheelbarrow races. You know the eggs on spoons and all sorts of team building exercises. Everyone was really competing and having so much fun. Watching them reminded me of how important these activities are. I was at an organization where they made us do them a lot.
I also understand that our Brain Injury team did the Oreo cookie analysis. I included the key at the end so you can see the way you eat an Oreo cookie is very telling about your personality.
Honestly the one I dreaded most was the "write your obituary and share it with the group." My eyes would roll in the top of my head and I would have rather stuck a fork in my eye than participate.
What’s important to keep in mind is each time I did any of these activities; I learned something new about someone I had been working with for years. I took the opportunity to share something about myself that gave my coworkers insight into who I am and why I do things a certain way. These activities, when done correctly, give people the tools to work together well, especially as a team.
Are there any activities that you have participated in, at CSH or beyond, like the Oreo cookie quiz that you want to share? Maybe we could even incorporate one of these activities into our next round of employee meetings?
Let me know what you think.
Amy
PS - I am a "dunker"
Psychologists have discovered that the manner in which people eat Oreo cookies provides great insight into their personalities. Choose which method best describes your favorite method of eating Oreos:
1. The whole thing all at once.
2. One bite at a time
3. Slow and methodical nibbles examining the results of each bite afterwards.
4. In little feverous nibbles.
5. Dunked in some liquid (milk, coffee...).
6. Twisted apart, the inside, then the cookie.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and toss the cookie.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.
10. I don't have a favorite way because I don't like Oreos.
Your Personality:
1. The whole thing: This means you consume life with abandon, you are fun to be with, exciting, carefree with some hint of recklessness. You are totally irresponsible. No one should trust you with their children.
2. One bite at a time: You are lucky to be one of the 5.4 billion other people who eat their Oreos this very same way. Just like them, you lack imagination, but that's okay, not to worry, you're normal.
3. Slow and Methodical: You follow the rules. You're very tidy and orderly. You're very meticulous in every detail with every thing you do to the point of being anal retentive and irritating to others. Stay out of the fast lane if you're only going to go the speed limit.
4. Feverous Nibbles: Your boss likes you because you get your work done quickly. You always have a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Mental breakdowns and suicides run in your family. Valium and Ritalin would do you good.
5. Dunked: Every one likes you because you are always up beat. You like to sugar coat unpleasant experiences and rationalize bad situations into good ones. You are in total denial about the shambles you call a life. You have a propensity towards narcotic addiction.
6. Twisted apart, the inside, and then the cookie: You have a highly curious nature. You take pleasure in breaking things apart to find out how they work, though not always able to put them back together, so you destroy all the evidence of your activities. You deny your involvement when things go wrong. You are a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant, if not criminal, behavior.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and then toss the cookie: You are good at business and take risk that pay off. You take what you want and throw the rest away. You are greedy, selfish, mean, and lack feelings for others. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that's ok, you don't care, you got yours.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside: You enjoy pain.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them: Stay away from small furry animals and seek professional medical help - immediately.
10. I don't have a favorite way, I don't like Oreo cookies: You probably come from a rich family, and like to wear nice things, and go to up-scale restaurants. You are particular and fussy about the things you buy, own, and wear. Things have to be just right. You like to be pampered. You are a priss.
I also understand that our Brain Injury team did the Oreo cookie analysis. I included the key at the end so you can see the way you eat an Oreo cookie is very telling about your personality.
Honestly the one I dreaded most was the "write your obituary and share it with the group." My eyes would roll in the top of my head and I would have rather stuck a fork in my eye than participate.
What’s important to keep in mind is each time I did any of these activities; I learned something new about someone I had been working with for years. I took the opportunity to share something about myself that gave my coworkers insight into who I am and why I do things a certain way. These activities, when done correctly, give people the tools to work together well, especially as a team.
Are there any activities that you have participated in, at CSH or beyond, like the Oreo cookie quiz that you want to share? Maybe we could even incorporate one of these activities into our next round of employee meetings?
Let me know what you think.
Amy
PS - I am a "dunker"
Psychologists have discovered that the manner in which people eat Oreo cookies provides great insight into their personalities. Choose which method best describes your favorite method of eating Oreos:
1. The whole thing all at once.
2. One bite at a time
3. Slow and methodical nibbles examining the results of each bite afterwards.
4. In little feverous nibbles.
5. Dunked in some liquid (milk, coffee...).
6. Twisted apart, the inside, then the cookie.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and toss the cookie.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.
10. I don't have a favorite way because I don't like Oreos.
Your Personality:
1. The whole thing: This means you consume life with abandon, you are fun to be with, exciting, carefree with some hint of recklessness. You are totally irresponsible. No one should trust you with their children.
2. One bite at a time: You are lucky to be one of the 5.4 billion other people who eat their Oreos this very same way. Just like them, you lack imagination, but that's okay, not to worry, you're normal.
3. Slow and Methodical: You follow the rules. You're very tidy and orderly. You're very meticulous in every detail with every thing you do to the point of being anal retentive and irritating to others. Stay out of the fast lane if you're only going to go the speed limit.
4. Feverous Nibbles: Your boss likes you because you get your work done quickly. You always have a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Mental breakdowns and suicides run in your family. Valium and Ritalin would do you good.
5. Dunked: Every one likes you because you are always up beat. You like to sugar coat unpleasant experiences and rationalize bad situations into good ones. You are in total denial about the shambles you call a life. You have a propensity towards narcotic addiction.
6. Twisted apart, the inside, and then the cookie: You have a highly curious nature. You take pleasure in breaking things apart to find out how they work, though not always able to put them back together, so you destroy all the evidence of your activities. You deny your involvement when things go wrong. You are a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant, if not criminal, behavior.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and then toss the cookie: You are good at business and take risk that pay off. You take what you want and throw the rest away. You are greedy, selfish, mean, and lack feelings for others. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that's ok, you don't care, you got yours.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside: You enjoy pain.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them: Stay away from small furry animals and seek professional medical help - immediately.
10. I don't have a favorite way, I don't like Oreo cookies: You probably come from a rich family, and like to wear nice things, and go to up-scale restaurants. You are particular and fussy about the things you buy, own, and wear. Things have to be just right. You like to be pampered. You are a priss.
Monday, June 29, 2009
NEW THINGS GOING ON
I am trying to think of a way to get more traffic, and therefore your comments to the blog. When I heard about the video that the Make Friends with Autism team had done, I decided to post the following memo sent to me by that team. Maybe there are more things going on that you want to share with your colleagues? If so, you can do it under the post, ask questions of the people and I will make sure they are answered. Innovation is running wild around Children's Specialized. There are so many incredible ideas being presented and programs going on, I thought this might be a good place to share.
There is an exciting program coming this fall that may interest the families and staff of Children's Specialized. Make Friends with Autism, a community focused autism education initiative, will be officially launched during National Disability Awareness Month this October. This program is made possible by a generous grant Children's received from Kohl's. The program focuses on improving community autism awareness and inclusion. There will be tools, guides and resources to enhance relationships between businesses, recreation providers, community members, and people with autism. There will be a video available for download featuring an original song, "That's What Friend's Do." The film provides an in-depth view of the challenges people with autism may face when participating in community outings. The film production company follows three families' struggles and triumphs while visiting a supermarket, playing with other children, and having a meal in a restaurant. The project will also include workshops and meetings with businesses across the state to discuss how to encourage inclusion .
Don't forget the Public Service Announcement contest! There are 3 categories for entrants: kids, adults, and Children's employees and there families . The goal is to create a brief video that promotes inclusion for people with autism . For more details contact Adrienne Robertiello at extension 5343. The winner will be announced in the fall.
There is an exciting program coming this fall that may interest the families and staff of Children's Specialized. Make Friends with Autism, a community focused autism education initiative, will be officially launched during National Disability Awareness Month this October. This program is made possible by a generous grant Children's received from Kohl's. The program focuses on improving community autism awareness and inclusion. There will be tools, guides and resources to enhance relationships between businesses, recreation providers, community members, and people with autism. There will be a video available for download featuring an original song, "That's What Friend's Do." The film provides an in-depth view of the challenges people with autism may face when participating in community outings. The film production company follows three families' struggles and triumphs while visiting a supermarket, playing with other children, and having a meal in a restaurant. The project will also include workshops and meetings with businesses across the state to discuss how to encourage inclusion .
Don't forget the Public Service Announcement contest! There are 3 categories for entrants: kids, adults, and Children's employees and there families . The goal is to create a brief video that promotes inclusion for people with autism . For more details contact Adrienne Robertiello at extension 5343. The winner will be announced in the fall.
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