The Baltz Blog

Philippine Presidential Visit at Community Regional Medical Center

pbaltz — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:27:00 GMT

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited our hospital this morning to meet Filipino physicians, nurses and other allied staff who work at our hospital and in the community. We were honored that she selected our hospital to visit. Having never before participated in an event where the Secret Service handled the logistics it was quite fascinating to watch. We had both the U.S. and Philippine Secret Service in attendance.

The event ran slightly behind schedule this morning due to the President's flight delay, but once she and her husband, referred to as the "first gentleman," arrived at our hospital, the time flew by quickly. I was fortunate to greet her and welcome her to Community Regional Medical Center. The Presdient's visit lasted approx. 15 minutes. Dr. Dominic Dizon, Dr. Orly Dyoco and Dr. Fonte introduced the physicians to President Macapagal-Arroyo. Dr. Dizon organized the printing of a banner to welcome the President that was hung proudly in the Sequoia Room. Two of our own wonderful nurse leaders, Imelda Gamboa and Norlina De La Vega introduced the Filipino nursing staff and other staff members attending this morning. John Taylor, our Director of Public Affairs, was integral to the planning and coordination of the event, along with our Security Manager, Kevin Weaver.

It was quite an honor to have the Philippine President visit our hospital today. She is on her way to Washington D.C. to meet with our President Bush. She will visit a hospital in the local D.C. area, which is the only other hospital in addition to ours that she will see during her trip to the U.S. I can't recall that we have ever had a Presidential visit in our facility before, so this serves as a historical marker for us.

The spirit in the room this morning was very up-beat, lively, and generally fun. Many of those attending wore traditional clothing from the Philippines. The connection President Macapagal-Arroya made with the Filipino community in Fresno through this visit is tremendous. It is a great respect she paid to recognize the dedicated health professionals in our community. We are blessed to have nearly 250 of our Community employees who come from the Philippines and other parts of Asia, including nearly 90 nurses. We value our staff very much and the patients of our community are fortunate to have access to the skilled care of Filipino professionals.

Styrofoam: To Be or Not To Be???

pbaltz — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:58:00 GMT

A recent reader asked me whether or not we are considering removing the styrofoam from the Cafeteria? This reader is on the right track. As one of the largest employers in Fresno, together we can impact the environment through the decisions we make to support recycling and environmentally friendly products.

I am pleased to let this reader and other readers know that we definitely are working on it. You have probably noticed the recent addition of recycling containers throughout the facility. I think we'll see most of the Styrofoam gone from our Cafeteria in the next 12 months. The management team in Nutrition has eliminated the Styrofoam cups for coffee and soda. They are now working to secure some long-term deals for paper plates and other products to move toward replacing the remaining styrofoam containers.

Thanks for asking...

Why no more blogs?

pbaltz — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:07:00 GMT

Okay, I'm guilty! Pretty catchy title though, hugh? This question was actually sent to me recently by one of my colleagues. Well, the answer is this..........

It has been a little while since my last Blog. Following the Transition of our University Medical Center hospital in April over to our main campus, consolidating operations at the Community Regional Medical Center, I have been a bit overwhelmed with patient flow issues and a multitude of other items. The days have run long and my energy short. No excuses, actually, the Blog writing is a nice escape from all that and I should have returned to this much sooner!

Just to give you a glimpse of some of the items that have needed attention following the Transition, here's a brief listing:

Converted 3 ancillary spaces to patient hold processing areas creating 13 beds to pull patients out of our Emergency Department and into the patient care areas.
Reviewed surgical block schedules and reallocated block schedules to create more time for orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons.
Reviewed weekly issues related to security concerns, waiting rooms, supply and medication distribution and we are continually implementing improvements to address feedback from our staff and patients.
Multiple meetings with physicians related to the flow of patients and timely exchange of information to expedite patient care.
Opened a new Endoscopy service.
Preparing for the construction of 104 new patient beds for acute care operations, and a new 57 bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Working to create an environment where staff want to stay to advance their careers and where we can attract new staff to work.

There are so many more things our team is doing, but this gives you a sense of the focus.

The time has passed quickly and it is already well into the Fall of the year. Halloween has passed (my two sons dressed up, one as a Knight and the older as a "Gool") and we are rolling right into Thanksgiving. The Fall is my very favorite time of the year. I grew up in the midwest in Iowa, where the Fall air is cold and crisp and the leaves turn bright beautiful colors. I like the Fall here too, the weather getting cooler, though I could do without the fog. I'll sign back on soon.

It's Really Happening!

pbaltz — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:33:00 GMT

You may have noticed, I've been absent on the Blog Posting lately. So many issues and processes to address preparing for the big move of patient from UMC to CRMC next week that I took a little break from blogging, but now I'm back.

It has been amazing to witness the move of patients from the DeWitt Sub-Acute unit yesterday (April - Friday, no less - the 13th) to their new home on 3rd floor at UMC. The unit at UMC looks very good, bright and alive. A great place for the patients and their families.

We start the balance of the in-patient moves from UMC to CRMC on Monday April 16th. On Monday, the Pediatrics unit moves to 5C short hall beds, and the Burn Unit ICU moves to 5th floor Trauma Critical Care Building. Both of these units need to move ahead of the rest of the patient so they are in place to support flipping the switch on the Level I Trauma & Burn designation from UMC to the CRMC Emergency Department at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday April 17th.

Starting Tues the 17th, approximately half of the in-patients will move to CRMC, and then the balance of patients move over on the 18th. These patients will relocate to beds available on the 10th floor, 5C, 2C and the former DeWitt unit space that we will now call 1E.

I spent time in the Emergency Department this week with staff preparing for how we handle admissions efficiently and how we ensure we have bed capacity at CRMC to receive the UMC patients. There are so many talented staff and physicians preparing for this move; it could not happen without them! This past week I also had my first experience on live television on Channel 26 with Kopi & Kim on Great Day. What an experience. I can attest, they are as bubbly in person as they appear on TV. This was probably the fastest 4 minutes in my life, trying to talk about a complicated topic like the UMC move of patients in a few short sentences.

It's an exciting time, and we mark a truly historic event in the future of Fresno's healthcare next week. I'm proud to be a part of it and very proud of the team at the hospital. Signing off for now.

What is being done to make the public aware of the move from UMC?

pbaltz — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 02:09:00 GMT

This is a question recently posted to me by a reader. Good question. The answer is a lot is starting to happen with public communication, and this will only increase as we move closer to the Transition date.....42 days and counting!

About 2000 letters went out In February to our community partners, such as referring hospitals and clinics, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), fire and law enforcement, government offices and legislators, and various community groups to help get the word out regarding the transition of services from UMC to the Community Regional Medical Center.

Our leadership has also made public presentations in public forums such as a recent Fresno County Board of Supervisor's televised session, Fresno's Downtown Rotary and Metro Ministries Healthcare Coalition meeting. This Wednesday, March 7th, we are holding a meeting with elected officials and Foundation Board members to share our plans for the Transition and to offer tours of the new facilities in the Trauma Critical Care Building.

We have also used existing communication tools such as MedWatch, our weekly TV show, our recently launched news site, http://www.medwatchtoday.com and local print and TV media to help communicate our plans to move UMC in April.

In March, we will publish public notices in newspapers within our service area, launch public service announcements and appearances at various TV and radio stations (including Spanish and Hmong stations). Also, patient letters and flyers will be distributed within our facilities in the clinics and Emergency Department as the move date gets closer. We are in the process of translating these letters into the various languages of the patient population we serve.

Great care is being taken to communicate that our ambulatory clinic operations at UMC will remain and continue to provide the excellent services our patients have come to expect.

Reflections on this Week

pbaltz — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:16:00 GMT

Another busy week! We received great news yesterday, the hospital received clearance from OSHPD (Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) on the entire TCCB so we can use the new ICU's on the 4th and 5th floors and the Surgery space on the 2nd floor. We also received approval on the three basement projects in 5/10 Story Building which includes Faculty offices, teaching space and sleep rooms that support the Medical Education Program. We anticipate Department of Health Services approval today, and then we can officially begin occupancy.

Our plan is to relocate the existing 10th floor ICU patients into their new home on the 4th floor TCCB on Tuesday, February 27, 2007. At the same time, we will be relocating the Open Heart surgeries into the new Surgery area in the TCCB, OR's 7 & 8. There have been many staff and physicians working very hard to make this all come together. It is impressive and we should all be proud of the tremendous team work in our organization.

All plans are still on track for the big patient move on April 17th-18th to relocate the inpatient services from UMC to the Community Regional Medical Center campus.

A few other major projects from this week included entering the hospital's capital requests for next fiscal year for medical equipment and construction projects. Some of the larger projects we anticipate for next fiscal year include starting the build-out of the new Short Stay areas on the 2nd floor of the 5/10 Story Building and completing the two shelled OR's in the new TCCB, OR's 5 & 6. Also attended a lively Surgical Advisory meeting Tuesday evening with the medical staff.

Today my agenda includes running our bi-weekly Friday Facility meeting for all Managers, completing a Board Transmittal asking for approval to purchase a new CT scanner to install into the Emergency Department, and reviewing a stack of contracts for services.

What does a COO do anyway?

pbaltz — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 01:21:00 GMT

One of the comments I received during my first week of blogging (Note: I didn't even know what a Blog was up until a month ago!), was the following: "What exactly does a COO for a regional medical center do? I mean, do you worry primarily about facilities and such or do you have pt care responsibility or quality or ?? How are you tied into the trainsition?"

Wow, a lot to think about and answer. Basically, anything operational falls under the scope of responsibility of the COO. I work with a great administrative team. Karen Buckley, the CNO, and Robyn Gonzales and Jim Hiney, the Associate Administrators report to me, and I in turn report to the CEO, Jack Chubb. The CFO, Joe Nowicki, also reports to Jack.

Beyond the reporting structure, perhaps the easiest way to answer this reader's question might be to give you a glimpse into just a couple of the issues on my calendar this past week. For example, every Monday I participate in the Transition Planning Steering Committee. It's here that we iron out all the global details related to relocating the inpatient services from UMC to the CRMC campus - where the nursing units from UMC will be relocated into the CRMC, licensing beds, timelines, etc. Tuesday morning, I participated in a presentation, along with Jack Chubb, Bruce Kinder, Mark Mathieson, and Dr. Joan Voris where we shared our plans for Transition with the Board of Trustees. It can be a little nerve-wracking to present to the Board, but we packed in months of planning and operational details into a fast-paced 55 minute presentation! It certainly doesn't hurt to do a few practice runs with your material before presenting to a large group.

Other issues this past week included finalizing the RN recruiting plan with Human Resources on how we are going to fill open staff positions and those occupied by Travelers. There were several physician and equipment contracts that I reviewed for approval, and I attended meetings on quality of our Total Joint Replacement program and performance improvement for Patient Flow.

All in all, I really enjoy what I do and where I work. I find that being an administrator in healthcare requires a certain amount of creativity and I like that challenge. Now, let's see what this next week brings!

CRMC Lobby Gets a Face Lift

pbaltz — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:27:00 GMT

Thought you might be pleased to know that our lobby at the Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) will be updated to tie the look together from the new Trauma Critical Care Building (TCCB) to the 10-story and 5-story buildings of the hospital. The updates will be complete prior to the April 17, 2007 Transition of the acute care services from University Medical Center to the CRMC campus. What will be done you ask? The floor surfaces will be replaced with hard surface floor tiles, new paint, new vinyl wall coverings, new light fixtures for the main lobby, new frames for the wall art, new furniture, and new carpet inlays in the lobby where the seating will be located. This new look will extend from the hallway by the Sequoia meeting rooms, through Admitting, into the 10-story elevator cabs, and down the first floor hallway to where the current Short Stay service is located.

You would be amazed at the positive comments we receive on a daily basis from people regarding the exterior of our campus who come to visit and have not been downtown for some time. With the investment to refresh our very public lobby, it sets a great stage to greet the public as they come to see our new facilities. The lobby project is funded as part of our capital budget for this fiscal year.