LMH Connect Newsletter, Summer 2016 by LMH Health

connect Lawrence Memorial Hospital

Meet Russell Johnson, new LMH CEO IN THIS ISSUE Renovated Center for Rehabilitation opens Enhancing cardiovascular services Sports performance training LMH named one of the top again Summer 2016

An ideal setting to prepare for return home It’s a brand new world on the fourth floor of Lawrence Memorial Hospital. In March, the renovated Center for Rehabilitation unit opened, and now patients are enjoying stays in private rooms, open dining, a home-like family gathering area, a therapy gym and even an apartment to practice daily living skills. The new design continues the patient-friendly setting LMH is known for with a special emphasis on family involvement and convenience. Program Director Jaye Cole says while the physical enhancements brought about by the renovation are wonderful, the philosophy of the unit has not changed. “Our goal is to prepare patients to return home,” she says. Patients affected by stroke, hip fractures and other debilitating illnesses or injuries can find follow-up care after an acute inpatient hospitalization stay by being admitted to the Center for Rehabilitation on LMH’s fourth floor. The center includes 12 acute rehabilitation beds and 14 skilled nursing beds. Both the acute rehabilitation and transitional care unit programs offer services to help patients return to the highest level of independent living possible, although the types and intensity of services vary based on condition and level of rehabilitation required. “The goal is to return the patient home as functionally independent as

possible,” Cole says. “We work intensively on the essentials — walking, dressing, bathing, feeding, even swallowing.” Staffed by physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, speech pathologists, social workers and roundthe-clock nurses trained in rehabilitation, the unit relies on a strong interdisciplinary team approach to recovery. Physicians work closely with the staff through daily updates and weekly team meetings to devise a plan of treatment and a plan of discharge for each patient. The team approach not only applies to the staff, but to the patients as well. Patients work together during therapy

sessions, and all patients dine together at a structured mealtime in a beautiful dining area. Cole says the group format offers countless benefits. “We try to simulate the home environment and make the unit not so institutionalized,” she says. “It really helps patients to see others at a higher level of recovery than themselves. And the social interaction actually helps some patients heal faster.” There’s even a dedicated “apartment” on the unit for patients to practice activities of daily living. Although no one actually stays in the apartment, it includes a kitchenette with a stove and refrigerator, a washer and dryer and a bathroom

The renovated Center for Rehabilitation is light and bright, functional, and patient- and family-friendly. Above, Betty Bishop walks with Meghan Kirkling, physical therapy intern.

2 For more, visit www.lmh.org/acuterehab or call 785-505-6470

with a tub/shower to give patients the opportunity to work on the skills they need to master before they return home. Cole believes the program can improve the quality of life in Lawrence and its surrounding communities. With an expected average length of stay of 10 to 12 days for acute rehabilitation patients and even longer for skilled nursing patients, the goal is to return patients home so they can resume a somewhat normal routine. That is an accomplishment Cole finds very rewarding. She says the rehabilitative approach has an important dimension to services available. Medical Director Shari Quick, MD, agrees, stating that the acute rehab unit does more than just correct an underlying medical problem; it creates strategies and techniques to help patients deal with their medical problems. Dr. Quick is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and serves as attending physician for patients on the unit. “The Center for Rehabilitation enhances the continuum of care here in Lawrence,” Dr. Quick says. “Even if patients have to be transferred to Topeka or Kansas City for acute services we don’t offer, they don’t have to stay there for their rehabilitation. They can return here and recover close to home knowing they will be receiving excellent care.” Terrie Kaiser, nursing director of the fourth floor units, notes that staff workflow and accessibility also improved with updated nursing stations, physicians’ work space, renovated storage areas, ADAcompliant bathrooms in patient rooms, and spacious patient room entryways that allow for easy assisted movement and wheelchair transfers. The original unit was built in 1977. The renovation cost about $4 million, and nearly half of the cost was funded through community contributions to the LMH Endowment Association. For more information about the Center for Rehabilitation at LMH, visit lmh.org/acuterehab or call 785-505-6470. —by Janice Early

Cardiovascular services at the heart of the ball What an evening it was! Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2016 Hearts of Gold Ball — by donating, by attending, by volunteering. So many amazing people extended a hand to help make this biennial event such a success. At this year’s Hearts of Gold Ball, the more than 500 guests in attendance on April 8 celebrated Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s continuing commitment to providing the best care possible for patients and their families. It also was an opportunity for LMH to showcase plans to enhance the hospital’s cardiovascular services, which are so vital to our community. LMH interventional cardiologists have saved hundreds of lives over the past 10 years. And now, it is time to make an investment in the future and ensure the hospital’s team of exceptional cardiologists and clinical staff continue to provide world-class care close to home.

Hearts of Gold Ball: serious fun for a serious purpose

Every two years, the LMH Endowment Association sponsors the Hearts of Gold Ball and designates that the proceeds from the black-tie affair finance a specific project at the hospital. This year, funds raised will pay for enhancement of cardiovascular services at LMH — including a renovated Heart Catheterization Lab.

The project, which will cost $2 million, will be paid for entirely with community members’ contributions to the LMH Endowment Association. And community members have been exceedingly generous. The Hearts of Gold Ball 2016 raised $466,000. And LMH supporters have contributed an additional $181,000, bringing the amount raised to date for cardiovascular enhancements to nearly $650,000. “Cardiac care is very important to our community,” says Kathy Clausing-Willis, LMH vice president and chief development officer. “Heart disease causes more deaths than any other chronic illness. We are confident that if our community supports this endeavor, we all will benefit.” Work will begin on a renovation of the Cath Lab in 2017, and upgrades will focus on: • Equipment in the procedure room. Advances in technology will significantly impact patients, clinical staff and physicians at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Interventional cardiologists and others working with patients will see sharper images. And the new equipment will emit less radiation than equipment currently in use in the procedure room. • Patient comfort. Due to how space is configured, it is now difficult for patients and their families to be together in the Cath Lab before or after a procedure. At LMH, the staff understands how important it is for families and patients to spend as much time together as possible. The renovation will include more private and comfortable space devoted to patients and their families and friends. • More efficient workflow. Any time LMH plans a renovation, improving workflow for the medical and clinical staff members is a priority. Lawrence Memorial Hospital is nationally recognized for heart care, and has been named a Top Performer by the Joint Commission for both heart attack and heart failure. And for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year, LMH recently was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics™. —by Caroline Trowbridge

HOW TO HELP If you would like to join us in our commitment to saving lives

and want to contribute to the cardiovascular services enhancement project, please send your tax-deductible donations to LMH Endowment Association, 325 Maine St., Lawrence, KS 66044; or visit www.lmhendowment.org to donate online. For additional information, call the Endowment Association at 785-505-6134.

Care to contribute? Visit www.lmhendowment.org or call 785-505-6134

New LMH nursing leader supports patients and staff

A simple change at the Breast Center at Lawrence Memorial Hospital is making a big difference for breast imaging patients.

For Sarah Bradshaw, vice president of nursing at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, it’s always been about other people. From her youth on an Illinois farm to her days leading the nurses at LMH, Bradshaw has deflected attention from herself in an effort to support others. “It’s pretty easy to explain my goal for this job — that patients get excellent patient care,” Bradshaw says with quick smile. “But I also want our nurses to be as well cared for as our patients. I believe, in order to really care for others, your bucket needs to be a little full. I try to fill our Bradshaw

nurses’ buckets.” Bradshaw came to LMH in September 2015 from Hannibal Regional

Hospital in Hannibal, Missouri, where she held a similar position. “I was a nurse for 24 years and never had a plan to move into a leadership role,” Bradshaw says. “But when the opportunity presented itself, I quickly realized I loved being involved in multiple things and helping others with my experience. I really enjoy doing different things each day to make sure our nurses are supported.” Prior to serving six years as the vice president of nursing in Hannibal, Bradshaw worked as the director of nursing and the director of home health care at the same hospital. Though Bradshaw is clearly passionate about her job and her role in the LMH administration, her motivation for leaving Hannibal was, of course, about other people. “My husband and I have a grandson in Parkville, Missouri, and we intend to spend as much time with him as possible,” she says with a big laugh. Bradshaw and her husband have three grandsons now. And two pregnant daughters-in-law. “My other grandson lives in Hannibal with his mom and dad,” Bradshaw says. “It was tough to move away from them, but we will see them, and the new baby, very often.” When she’s not making rounds with nurses, meeting with other administrators or playing with her grandsons, Bradshaw often is riding with her husband on their Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The duo put as many miles on it as possible, traveling to scenic spots. Bradshaw jokes that she and her husband don’t need an excuse to take their Harley for a ride, but they “need to get to the grandsons somehow.” In the short time Bradshaw has been in Lawrence, she has fallen in love with the community. “I’m so excited to be here,” she says, emphatically. “I mean, what’s not to love? This is a 100 Top Hospital in a very energetic, exciting town. And I’ve quickly learned that Lawrence supports the hospital in a passionate way. That means a lot to me.” —by Derek Helms

Want to send a personal note to a patient at LMH? www.lmh.org/cheer

A surgeon now is on site each weekday morning at the Breast Center, which is on the LMH South campus, 3500 Clinton Place. While a surgeon’s presence doesn’t change the course of care for patients, it can change the pace of care. Cheryl Rice, MD, a surgeon with Lawrence General Surgery at LMH, says that being able to provide patients with biopsies without days of waiting or missing work or traveling from office to office can make a difficult time much easier. In fact, Dr. Rice wishes her own sister, who lives in another city, had that opportunity when she discovered a lump in her breast. Her sister had to drive to one place for a mammogram, then another for a diagnostic mammogram and yet another for a sonogram. Then, after a week spent anxiously waiting, her sister drove to still another office to meet with a surgeon and then to a hospital to have an MRI. Dr. Rice says her sister had four appointments for separate tests. “In the end,” Dr. Rice says, “it was determined that nothing was wrong; but the process was so painful. She had to miss multiple days of work, just for a benign work-up. Worse, she could have had a cancer and, if that had been true, her clinical work-up was significantly delayed, just by logistics. I understand that everyone is paranoid about missing a cancer and sometimes it takes multiple scans to get adequate information. The good thing in Lawrence is that with these staffing changes I don’t usually have to send my patients driving from one location to another.”

Because peace of mind is key At the Breast Center, women who have had a diagnostic mammogram identifying a mass potentially can see a surgeon the same day at the same site for a physical exam and, if necessary, a biopsy. Dr. Rice describes a typical scenario: “Sally comes in for a screening mammogram. She goes home afterwards and receives a call from a surgeon or a nurse who tells her that the radiologist has spotted some abnormal cells. Sally is asked to return for a diagnostic mammogram as soon as possible. Dr. Rice “When Sally returns to the Breast Center for that scan, there is shown to be a nodule in her left breast. The radiologist orders an ultrasound of that nodule and then a surgeon will decide if a biopsy is necessary, in addition to a physical exam. If a biopsy is performed,” Dr. Rice says, “it takes 48 hours for the sample to be tested and results received.” Megan Pedersen, director of Lawrence General Surgery, Lawrence Neurology Specialists and Lawrence GI Consultants, says the new process helps make for seamless patient care. “There is so much going on behind the scenes that patients often never know about,” Pedersen says. “The nurses and ultrasound technicians work hard to check, double-check and triple-check to make sure that patients receive all appropriate care. They do all they can to make sure everyone can work as a team and collaborate effectively.” Other members of the Breast Center’s multi-disciplinary team include a radiation oncologist, an oncologist, a general surgeon, a radiologist and a pathologist. This team of experts meets every week to discuss patients and their care. It’s a big advantage for patients to have multiple minds working together to devise a treatment plan, Pedersen says. “The main benefit of the improvements we’ve made is increased peace of mind for our patients,” Dr. Rice says. “An abnormal mammogram can bring lots of anxiety. Often the patient can’t sleep. Speeding up and streamlining the diagnostic process shaves off waiting time and, as a result, there is less worrying involved.”

Time to schedule your mammogram? Call 785-505-3300

The process put in place in January at LMH South also is a help to patients who have not had regular mammograms or even regular healthcare. With all of the professionals working as a team at the Breast Center, a patient who notices a lump and hasn’t had a physical exam in years can just walk in, have a mammogram and, potentially, have a biopsy the same day. Currently Dr. Rice spends about half of her working hours biopsying and treating breast cancer. Three other Lawrence General Surgery surgeons — Jared Konie, MD; Blake Conklin, DO; and Chad Tate, MD — also keep regular hours at the Breast Center. Dr. Rice says she hopes the Breast Center eventually will have its own MRI and stereotactic mammographic equipment, along with full-time staffing by surgeons. Pedersen says probably the biggest hurdle to bringing this group of experts together at the Breast Center was to create separate waiting rooms, registration desks, personnel and examination rooms for surgery patients and radiology patients. That was a requirement of the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and some patients have questioned why that was necessary. “It’s all about the rules,” Pedersen says. —by Katherine Dinsdale

ABOUT BIOPSIES

Biopsies are typically done with local anesthetics, says Cheryl Rice, MD, one of several surgeons from Lawrence General Surgery who regularly staff The Breast Center. Dr. Rice explains that for most biopsies, a small incision is made and a biopsy device is inserted. Samples of any nodule or mass are sent to a pathologist. Skin glue might be used to seal the incision. Sutures usually aren’t necessary. Another common way to obtain tissue samples is using a fine needle biopsy. This is similar to drawing blood. A less common MRI-guided biopsy is used to study microcalcifications and, at this time, is only available in Lawrence at the main LMH campus, 325 Maine St. After a biopsy, Dr. Rice says a physician will call within two days with test results or a nurse will call the patient with the news that the test results are normal. If appropriate, a follow-up appointment is scheduled to devise a treatment plan.

Sports Performance Training:

customized training for young athletes Adam Rolf stands with his arms crossed and a slight scowl on his face as eight teenage boys share a laugh and casually stretch on the floor. “Come on, fellas,” he says sternly. “Focus on your form. If you’re not going to do it right, we don’t need to do it at all.” The Lawrence High School baseball players slow down and change their form. “There,” Rolf says with a hint of satisfaction. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

FIND OUT MORE

For more information about LMH’s Sports Performance Training: • Call 785-505-5840 • Visit www.lmh.org/perform • Email adam.rolf@lmh.org • Drop by anytime between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday

Rolf is sports physical therapist at Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Sports Performance Training. Early this year, the center moved from the LMH main campus to an expanded training and wellness center at Sports Pavilion Lawrence, near the intersection of Sixth Street and Kansas Highway 10. The center provides customized sports performance training for athletes ages 8-18. The program is led by medically trained certified strength and conditioning specialists, certified athletic trainers and exercise physiologists. The training is designed to improve speed, strength and agility while lowering the risk of athletic injury. More important, according to Rolf, the center works to teach athletes and other people about their bodies. “Sure, we hope to increase an athlete’s abilities,” Rolf says. “But we look at a bigger picture than just hitting a baseball or maybe running a little faster. We really work with each athlete to help them understand their body structure. We concentrate on getting kids to understand how important proper form is to both success and preventing injury. It’s very, very common for an athlete to see increased performance just after learning more about their body. Once we have that understanding, we can build into sports-specific goals.”

“ We work with each athlete to help them understand their body structure.” —Adam Rolf The programs incorporate proven methods for developing functional strength, balance, coordination, footwork, flexibility and proper athletic posture. Athletes train in a fun and positive fitness environment that encourages correct techniques and appropriate progression to higher levels of training. Shari Quick, MD, praises the lessons the center has taught her son Austin, who is a baseball player at Lawrence High School. “We really wanted to help Austin with his speed and agility,” Dr. Quick explains. “He’s a catcher and his ability to quickly pop up from a catching stance is very important. In the couple of years he’s been working with the center, his ‘pop time’ has significantly improved.” Dr. Quick says weekly sessions with Rolf improved Austin’s understanding of his body and helped increase his overall physical health. “When Austin is at baseball practice with his team, he’s working on baseballspecific drills and situations,” Dr. Quick says. “At Sports Performance Training, he’s working on his body and movements that will help him be more successful on the field. It’s hard work, I know. He comes home tired and sore, but he always wants to go back the next week.” Rolf says that the majority of athletes who use the performance center are high school age or older, but participation among younger athletes is increasing every session. Diane Folks’ two daughters attend the center. Broken Arrow Elementary School students Maelee, 11 and Lydia, 9, began working out at the center in October 2014. Folks signed her daughters up not to train for a specific sport, but to keep them active. “I thought it looked fun and wanted them to keep busy over the winter,” Folks says, laughing. “I thought it could help with their speed and body movement and give them some awareness of their bodies. I didn’t want it to be too intense for them at such a young age and it hasn’t been. The exercises are perfect for their age. I wanted them to start getting a love of exercising and didn’t realize what a wonderful place I’d stumbled across.” While Folks’ intention wasn’t to help her daughters become better athletes, she says the change in their abilities is significant. “They both have definitely become faster and stronger,” Folks says. “They are able to move side-to-side better and have a better sense of balance.” According to Folks, the benefits go well beyond physical conditioning. “First of all they have so much more self-esteem and confidence in what they can do. Victor White (exercise physiologist) does an amazing job with the kids to keep it positive and fun but still get work done. They have also learned life skills by having to have good work ethics and staying focused. Victor has the kids set goals at the first class. The kids work hard at meeting their goal by the end of class. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. But they know they’ve tried their best to get there during all the classes.” With the move to Sports Pavilion Lawrence, Rolf is hopeful more parents will take advantage of what the training center offers. “We’re not here to turn your child into a Division I athlete,” Rolf says. “We’re here to teach them how to manage their bodies in a healthy way and to encourage lifelong healthy habits.” —by Derek Helms Looking for a physician? Check out www.lmh.org/providers/

DocTalk We welcome these physicians who recently joined Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s medical staff. Alicia Cardona, MD Dr. Cardona joined The Internal Medicine Group in March. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Cardona completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas. She received her doctorate in medicine from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she also completed her residencies in general psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry. THE INTERNAL MEDICINE GROUP 4525 W. Sixth Street Lawrence, KS 66049 785-843-5160 www.lmh.org/internalmedicinegroup

Jennifer Clair, MD Dr. Clair began seeing patients at Total Family Care in April. Her special interests include preventive medicine, women’s health care and pediatrics. Dr. Clair is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas, and she received her doctorate in medicine from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Her residency training was at Trinity Lutheran Hospital in the Kansas City metropolitan area. A long-time Lawrence resident, Dr. Clair has worked as a family physician in the Topeka and Kansas City areas for the past two decades. TOTAL FAMILY CARE 1130 W. Fourth Street, Suite 3200 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-505-5850 www.lmh.org/totalfamilycare

LAWRENCE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NAMES NEW CEO

Russell Johnson returns to his Kansas roots Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s new CEO believes his professional experience and his Kansas roots will put him on solid footing as he begins work later this summer. “I know and love this area of the country, and that’s foundational: to just know what it means to be in a community — to be in a Kansas community — to enjoy and embrace the unique culture that is the Midwest,” says Russell Johnson, who grew up in Merriam, Kansas. He will begin work at LMH in late July or early August. In April, the LMH Board of Trustees selected Johnson, 57, to fill Johnson the position that Gene Meyer has held for the past 19 years. Meyer, 64, who retired May 31, plans to teach a graduate-level health care administration class at the University of Kansas. Johnson, who comes to Lawrence Memorial Hospital from a large health care system in what he describes as an aggressive market in Denver, says his

experience in that arena, as well as the 13 years he was CEO of a small regional hospital in southern Colorado, have prepared him well to lead LMH. “I have a palette of experience that I think will be a good fit for Lawrence,” he says. “At the same time, Lawrence Memorial Hospital is exciting to me. It’s a little jewel.” Chosen from more than 150 applicants, Johnson notes LMH’s financial performance and its great reputation for patient care as reasons he initially was attracted to the job at LMH, a 174-bed hospital that primarily serves patients in Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson and Leavenworth counties. “Obviously, Gene and his team, the entire staff, and the physicians, have created quite an impressive list of accomplishments and recognition,” he says.

And during the interview process, he was impressed that LMH trustees, employees and physicians, as well as community members with whom he met, were so enthusiastic about their community hospital. Johnson said he hopes to enrich an already-successful hospital, and help define its future. “It was really clear that people love this place,” Johnson says. “They’re personally committed, and they were looking for someone to share in that personal engagement.” Cindy Yulich, chairperson of the LMH Board of Trustees, says trustees are gratified that an extensive search culminated with Johnson’s selection. “His expertise will help lead our organization as we face an increasingly challenging, and exciting, future,” she says. “We are confident he will build upon the strong foundation established at Lawrence Memorial during Gene Meyer’s tenure and advance the

“It was really clear that people love this place. They’re personally committed, and they were looking for someone to share in that personal engagement.” —Russell Johnson

SPOTLIGHT ON RUSSELL JOHNSON

continued vision for LMH to be the best community hospital in the nation.” Johnson describes himself as a high-energy and creative person. “I’m capable of teeing up and balancing a lot of things at once,” he says. “And I genuinely care about and care for the people I work with. I tend to like to mentor and be personally engaged in people’s professional development.” He’s eager to become involved in the Lawrence community. Moving to Lawrence and taking the reins at LMH is a homecoming for Johnson and his wife, Isabel, who is director for a preschool that serves 85 children in Denver and who also is working on her doctorate in educational leadership at New England University in Portland, Maine. Both of them have family members who live in the Kansas City area. The couple’s daughter, 25, lives in New York City, where she is a

choreographer and dancer. And their son, 27, is studying portrait painting at University of Colorado-Denver. During time away from work, Johnson enjoys “puttering around the house.” “I’m kind of a simple guy,” he says. “We like old movies. We like to travel, especially to New York. I have a brother in Oregon and a sister in Florida. We’re a very close family, and that’s important.” He’s a sports fan, and enthusiastically says he’s now a Jayhawk basketball fan — unless KU is playing his alma mater, the University of Tulsa. “I already bought a couple of Jayhawk hats for Isabel and me,” he says. Until Johnson is on board at the hospital, LMH Chief Operating Officer Karen Shumate will serve as interim CEO. —by Caroline Trowbridge

Career • Most recently was senior vice president of network development and research for Centura Health, headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. • Previous experience: CEO for 12 years at the 49-bed San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colorado; chief operating officer for three years at the 169-bed Edinburg (Texas) Regional Medical Center; assistant administrator of operations for Saint Luke’s Northland in Kansas City from 1989 to 1997; assistant administrator and administrative fellow at a 540-bed regional medical center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Education • Earned a bachelor’s degree in management and economics from the University of Tulsa and a master’s degree in health care administration from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Kansas roots • Grew up in Merriam, Kansas, and graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.

From top left: Gene Meyer offers his keys to Russell Johnson; the newly named CEO shares a laugh with Jessica Johnson, lead clinical informatics specialist, and Kathy Clausing-Willis, chief development officer; he talks with Ben Kincaid, a college senior who hopes to be a physician, and Megan Chun, a college sophomore who hopes to be a physician assistant, both of whom volunteer in the Oncology Department; he visits with LMH Trustee Allen Belot

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Gene Meyer looks forward to life after retirement It’s fair to say Gene Meyer is looking forward to finding out whether he really is an early riser or if, in fact, he’s a night owl. After a career in healthcare administration that spans 35 years, Meyer left the CEO position at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on May 31. And now, he’s set his sights on spending time with family and friends as he explores what retirement might bring. Perhaps it even will bring more sleep and a more leisurely morning workout. Meyer does plan to teach and serve as the executive in residence for the University of Kansas Health Services Administration Program. He and his wife, Carol, are eager to relax at Clinton Lake, where they have a boat and likely will move their kayaks. “We don’t have any big trips planned,” he says, “just hanging out and enjoying the summer. It will be nice to spend time at Clinton Lake during the week. And, frankly, there’s a lot of work around the house.” And, of course, the couple will have more time for family, including their three grandsons. The youngest is 2; the middle one is 12 and is active in music; and the oldest just completed his first year at KU. Meyer is looking forward to the next chapter of his life. However, he won’t soon forget his 19 years at LMH and the many lives he’s touched and the many people who have touched his. Meyer took over day-to-day management of LMH after a divisive time in Lawrence’s healthcare history that included attempts by a for-profit hospital to enter the Lawrence market. Since then, LMH’s quality of care has soared. The hospital has succeeded in strengthening its financial position. It has focused on providing more care locally and upgrading facilities, including 200,000 square feet of new construction. And its employees have embraced their community hospital, and they are devoted to caring for their friends and neighbors. In 2013, LMH was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics™, an achievement it has repeated every year since.

Gene Meyer can relax. At least, he says he’s going to try.

2000 LMH Oncology Center opens

2003 LMH receives Kansas Excellence Award

2007 McLouth Medical Clinic becomes fourth rural clinic to open (others in Eudora, Tonganoxie and Baldwin City)

1999 LMH South, hospital’s first outpatient facility, opens 2005 LMH launches interventional cardiology services

2006 Construction begins on $45 million expansion including new Surgery and Emergency departments; community contributes $8 million to LMH Endowment to support capital campaign

Take charge of your health! See www.lmh.org/wellness/wellcare/

GIFTS OF HE(ART)

Donors share art with LMH

A few months after their youngest child graduated from the University of Kansas, Dr. Chuck Loveland and his wife, Mary, decided to take a spontaneous road trip to Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico. At an art gallery, they discovered and purchased a statue of a boy with his nose in a book, a stack of books next to him.

Picture this: After a 35-year career in healthcare administration, Meyer looks forward to navigating retirement. He’s pictured here with his wife, Carol.

Meyer deflects much of the credit for the turnaround of the hospital that has occurred since 1997. He attributes LMH’s success to its strong leadership team; a strong commitment and guidance by the board of trustees; and a growing and outstanding medical staff. Many of the executive and management staff members have served with him for a long time and he lauds them for their commitment. That administrative team, working in concert with all LMH associates, has made the difference, he says. “I have had a great career working with associates who are committed to helping others,” Meyer says. “The past 19 years have been incredible working at Lawrence Memorial Hospital as the CEO. I am very lucky and grateful for the opportunity.” —by Caroline Trowbridge

2011 First of five years LMH earns Health Care’s Most Wired Hospitals Award

2014 Opening of Lawrence Endocrinology brings number of LMH-affiliated physician practices to 19

2012 Moody’s Investors Service upgrades LMH credit rating to A1

2016 Truven Health Analytics™ honors LMH with 100 Top Hospitals® Award for fourth year

2015 CEO Gene Meyer (pictured here with Donna Osness, long-time LMH trustee) receives Charles S. Billings Award from Kansas Hospital Association

The couple couldn’t resist the statue because it depicted one of Dr. Loveland’s goals as a pediatrician: To champion the importance of books in a child’s life. Their attraction to the sculpture was further reinforced by Dr. Loveland’s comment that it reminded him of their son, a voracious reader. When Dr. Loveland died in October 2014, after practicing pediatric medicine at Lawrence Memorial Hospital from 1976 to 2013, Mary Loveland used a portion of a memorial fund set up in his honor at LMH to purchase an identical statue and add to it a second statue, of a little girl reading. She worked with the LMH Endowment Association team to place the statues on the rooftop garden. It’s fitting that the statues are visible from the entrance to the Family Birthing Unit, where new babies come into the world, ready to grow and discover, just as Dr. Loveland would have prescribed. “Chuck always encouraged reading as an important parent-child opportunity,” Mary Loveland says. “When you look at the statue, you know how important children were to this man’s life, and how important he was to young people.” The hallways, treatment spaces and patient rooms at LMH are filled with artwork donated by patients and their family members, as well as LMH associates. The donated works are as diverse as the community members who receive care at the hospital, and the art collections cover the spectrum from modern —continued on page 14

LMH again named one of the best in nation Lawrence Memorial Hospital has again been named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics™. This is the fourth consecutive year LMH has been recognized with this national award for organizational performance. “For the fourth year in a row, Lawrence Memorial Hospital has earned its place among the nation’s top 100 hospitals, making us the first and only hospital in Kansas to achieve this prestigious recognition four times,” says Gene Meyer, LMH president and CEO. “I know it’s not the same as 12 Big 12 titles,” Meyer quips, “but in our world it’s a significant accomplishment given the number of hospitals that are in the running for this type of recognition.” To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Truven Health researchers evaluated 2,769 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals. The Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals study evaluated hospitals in five categories: major teaching and teaching hospitals, and large, medium, and small community hospitals. LMH was one of 20 winners in the medium community hospitals category (100-249 beds), the largest category which includes 950 hospitals.

COURTESY STEVEN HERTZOG / LAWRENCE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Additional information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals® research is available at www.100tophospitals.com. Truven Health Analytics, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a leading provider of data-driven analytics and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. The Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals study identifies hospitals and leadership teams that provide the highest level of value to their communities, based on a national balanced scorecard measuring overall organizational performance across

For more, visit www.100tophospitals.com

11 key analytic measures, including patient care, operational efficiency and financial stability. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor. The study has been conducted annually since 1993. The 100 Top Hospitals researchers used risk-adjusted methodologies to analyze public information — Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare reports. Rather than conducting a one-year analysis, which only captures performance at a specific snapshot in time, the Truven Health study looks at data that reflect five-year performance for most measures. Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Truven Health Analytics, says, “The 2016 100 Top Hospitals award winners represent the highest national standards in hospital care and management. They set the benchmarks for peers around the country to follow.” This year’s 100 Top Hospitals study revealed significant differences between award winners and their non-winning peers. The nation’s best hospitals: • Had a lower mortality index, considering patient severity • Had fewer patient complications • Followed accepted care protocols • Had lower 30-day mortality and 30-day readmission rates • Sent patients home sooner • Provided more timely emergency care • Kept expenses low, both in-hospital and through the aftercare process • Score better on patient surveys of hospital experience Says Meyer, “At LMH, we have earned our position among the top U.S. hospitals through our culture of performance improvement, our outstanding leadership, physicians and staff who embody evidence-based management as well as evidence-based medicine, and our unwavering dedication to the health of our community. As the center of healthcare in this community — not to mention one of Lawrence’s largest employers — we know financial health, operational efficiency and high-quality patient care must be at the center of everything we do, and every decision we make. “Our focus going forward will be to continuously reset our performance targets for ongoing improvement throughout our hospital. From our board leaders to our physicians and healthcare providers, staff and volunteers, LMH is proud to share this honor with our community for the fourth consecutive year.” —by Janice Early

Gifts of he(art)

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and classical paintings, to photos, textiles and sculptures. For LMH patients and visitors, the artwork makes the hospital feel warmer, friendlier, more approachable, says Kathy Clausing-Willis, LMH vice president and chief development officer. For the artwork donors, each piece is an expression of gratitude for the care they or their loved ones received at LMH.

photos by award-winning news photographer Bill Snead, who worked for The Washington Post and National Geographic, and returned home to Lawrence to work for the Lawrence Journal-World. Snead, who received treatment at LMH, donated the work. He and Paley died earlier this year following long battles with cancer.

ART THAT CELEBRATES LIFE

The waiting area of the Family Birthing Unit is the site of a sculpture depicting a mother holding her son, donated by Connie Pelham Oliver upon her retirement after working as a nurse at LMH for more than four decades. “Connie spent her career here and wanted the hospital to have this statue,” Clausing-Willis says.

When visitors enter the hospital, they are greeted by “Triumphant Dawn,” a large, colorful mural painted by local artist Zak Barnes. The painting, dotted with ribbons that symbolize different kinds of cancer, is dedicated to cancer fighters and survivors, including his father, Dr. Rod Barnes, a retired physician and cancer survivor who received treatment at LMH. The entrance to the Oncology Department is accented with a collection of sculptures created by Lawrence artist George Paley. Inside the department, galleries include

ART THAT HONORS LOVED ONES

Often, when people experience the loss of a loved one, they struggle with how to honor their family member’s memory, Clausing-Willis says. Sometimes, the gift of art helps them find healing while honoring their loved one’s life. Clausing-Willis remembers a young couple whose child died at birth. “They didn’t want to lose sight of that life, so they took the memorial funds and talked with Jan Gaumnitz (a Lawrence artist), who created this wonderful portrait of families in South Park,” she recounts. The large, colorful painting located in the third floor waiting room of the Family Birthing Center depicts a typical summer day in Lawrence, with children playing in the fountain, people riding bicycles, strolling, even painting. ART THAT OFFERS RESPITE AND RENEWAL

Walking down the busy corridor that leads from the hospital’s entrance to a surgery waiting room and other treatment areas can be intimidating for patients awaiting treatment or for

HOW TO DONATE

COURTESY NICK KRUG / LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD

Lawrence artist George Paley created the sculptures that grace the entrance of the Oncology Department at LMH.

COURTESY LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD

Bill Snead, award-winning news photographer, donated several of his photographs to the Oncology Department at LMH, where he received treatment during his long battle with cancer. friends and family who are supporting a patient. So the LMH team filled the long hallway and several others with a phalanx of 118 beautiful photographs taken by LMH associates and members of the medical staff, many during their travels. The photos allow patients and family who feel worried or anxious to stop and escape for a few minutes, then feel restored and encouraged, says Lauren Cobb, student coordinator for LMH’s Volunteer Services and a member of the LMH picture committee, which oversees the competitive selection process to find images appropriate for a hospital setting. Mary Loveland agrees. “Environment is very important. It can be conducive to healing, and to coming to peace with a situation,” she says. “Pieces of art included in that environment can make you think or remind you of something.” Now, every time Loveland visits the rooftop garden at LMH, she is reminded of a special trip with her husband, and the delight of finding a piece of art that helped summarize his life and his commitment and dedication to the children and young people of our community. Through it, she says, “This amazing man lives on.” —by Micki Chestnut

If you’re interested in donating artwork to Lawrence Memorial Hospital: • Contact Tiffany Hall of LMH Endowment, 505-3318 or tiffany.hall@lmh.org. • Internal Revenue Service rules govern the deductibility of donations of artwork. Generally, if the claimed deduction is more than $5,000, donors must get a qualified appraisal and complete a special tax form, and other special requirements must be fulfilled before donations of artwork can be accepted.

5 Questions with Dr. Bonnie Cramer Years with Family Medicine of Baldwin City: three Specialty: family medicine Education: undergraduate degree in biology from Kansas State University, medical degree from the University of Kansas, residency at Smoky Hill Family Medicine Residency in Salina Age: 35 Family: husband, Brian; daughter, Alli, age 8; son, Nate, age 6 1. Why did you become a family practitioner? I have wanted to specialize in family medicine from the time that I decided I wanted to be a doctor, which was during seventh grade. I really enjoy people of all ages and I love the idea of being able to care for someone across their lifespan. 2. What’s the best part of your job? I really enjoy the relationships that I am able to form with patients over time. Family medicine is unique in that we can take care of multiple generations of the same family at the same time, and I think that is so special. 3. What’s important for your patients to know about you? I am a physician, but I am also a daughter, wife and mother. I try to treat my patients as I would want my family members to be treated. 4. If you weren’t a family practitioner, what would your work be? I would probably be a science teacher. Luckily, I get to do simple science experiments with my kids at home. It is so fun to watch them learn and explore. 5. You recently were honored as Baldwin City’s Businessperson of the Year. How cool is that? It was a great honor! As a physician, I never thought I would be given a business award!

Try this at home: Dr. Cramer and her family do science experiments for fun.

SAVE THESE DATES

LMH Summer Spray 5K Runs/Walks June 25 in Baldwin City | July 16 in Tonganoxie | July 30 in Eudora Register at lmhendowment.org

Looking for a physician? Check out www.lmh.org/providers/

35th Annual Penny Jones Golf Tournament Sept. 9 at Lawrence Country Club

NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID AMERICAN PRE-SORT INC 325 Maine Street Lawrence, KS 66044

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Winners The 2016 Elizabeth Watkins Award was presented by the LMH Endowment Association at its annual meeting in January. Winners are, from left: Martin Moore of the Bob Moore Family; Jason Edmonds, Don Duncan and Steve Edmonds of Edmonds Duncan Registered Advisors; Doug Gaumer of Intrust Bank; Margie Brummett of LMH Print Shop; Gene Meyer, LMH president and CEO; Faye Jones; Drs. Rich Galbraith, Leana Guerin and Michael Thompson of LMH Pathology; Carol and Sherry Schaub; Tandy Reussner; and Kurt von Achen.

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Reaching out to Ottawa LMH staff attended a community open house for Ottawa Cancer Care in February. CEO Gene Meyer was among the officials who spoke at the event and participated in the ribbon cutting. LMH launched its oncology affiliation with Ransom Memorial Hospital in Ottawa on Jan. 5. Dr. Matt Stein is providing consultations there one day a week and has been seeing several new patients.

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Special lunch Several of the 50 female physicians in Lawrence recently gathered for lunch. Physicians attending the event were, back row, from left, Michele Bennett, MD, Jennifer Clair, MD, Nancy Nowlin, MD, Toni Reynolds, MD, Joan Brunfeldt, MD, Dee Ann DeRoin, MD, Barbara Schupp, DDS, Loree Cordova, MD, Cheryl Rice, MD, and Lorraine Nichols, DO; and front row, from left, Lynley Holman, MD, Emily Riggs, MD, Christina Salazar, MD, Lida Osbern MD, and Malati Harris, MD.

connect is published by Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The information in this newsletter is intended to educate readers about subjects pertinent to

their health and is not a substitute for consultation with a personal physician. To have your name added to or removed from this mailing list, please call 785-505-3315. Gene Meyer | President and CEO, Lawrence Memorial Hospital Editorial Board | Sheryle D’Amico, Janice Early, Caroline Trowbridge, Kathy Clausing Willis

Lawrence Memorial Hospital • 325 Maine Street • Lawrence, KS 66044 • 785-505-5000 • www.lmh.org