Picture This

Stopping the Spread

Dr. Joanne Levin, medical director of Infection Prevention at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, recently went to Atlanta to address the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare Associated Infections. She spoke on “Active Surveillance for MRSA in the Emergency Department of a Community Hospital,” and focused on the research she had conducted on MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) with RNs Linda Riley and Christine Parrish, both infection-prevention practitioners at CDH. The research demonstrated how doing nasal swabs in the emergency room allows patients with MRSA to be identified early and put into isolation rooms on admission, before transmitting the infection to other patients.

Project Six

What started as a one-day volunteer service project for Six Flags New England workers ended almost four months later with a donation of a nearly $3,000 water heater to the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. Under the new Six Flags initiative, Project Six, business operations throughout the country were shut down for an entire day in November 2009 to allow Six Flags employees to participate in community-service projects with various nonprofit organizations. Two groups of Six Flags workers were assigned to the Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. Chuck Davis, Six Flags director of maintenance, noticed that the chapter’s water heater was in complete disrepair. The brand-new water heater donated by Six Flags was installed by a technician (pictured) from Spath & Sons Inc. of Westfield; the company donated the cost of installation.

Going Strong at 108

Vivian Henschke recently enjoyed her 108th birthday surrounded by friends and loved ones at the Julian J. Leavitt Family Jewish Nursing Home in Longmeadow, a program of Jewish Geriatric Services. Vivian takes the fuss about her age in stride; in 2003, she was presented the Longmeadow Gold Cane as the town’s oldest citizen. Henschke was born in New Hampshire and came to Western Mass. to attend Bay Path College in 1920. She married, raised a family, and worked as the assistant to the president of a local company. She loved to dance as a young, single woman (as her husband did not share her love of dancing, that interest was not pursued). She now enjoys hearing musicians and singers, plays bingo, and is an exceptional speller.

 

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Learning Leadership

Jewish Geriatric Services has opened its campus to Nursing students from American International College. JGS is providing the clinical component of the Senior Nursing Leadership Class; for six weeks the students will be matched with a nurse leader and shadow her two days each week. Student Nonna Kudrya (who is working with Diane Mintz, executive vice president of Spectrum Home Health and Hospice Care), said she’s “excited to try something new — leadership — and look forwarded to gaining a deeper knowledge of home health care. Perhaps that is a field I will want to pursue.” Pictured are AIC students, from left, Judy Nham, Kudrya, Jenneh Coker, Michaela Wilde, Natasha Dubois, and Carol Nobrega.