MERCY REACCREDITED AS A CHEST PAIN CENTER
For the second
time, Mercy Iowa City has received Chest Pain Center Accreditation
from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC). Hospitals
that have received SCPC accreditation have achieved a higher level
of expertise in dealing with patients experiencing symptoms of a
heart attack.
This means that Mercy has focused on:
Reducing the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment
Treating patients quickly during the window of time when heart muscle can be
preserved
Monitoring patients when it is not certain that they are having a heart attack to
ensure that they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital
“People tend to wait when they think they might be having a heart attack, and
that’s a mistake,” says Stephen Scheckel, MD, Medical Director of Mercy’s Emer-
gency Care Unit. “The sooner a heart attack is treated, the less damage to the
heart.”
MORE HEART CARE KUDOS
Mercy has received the American College of Cardiology
NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2014,
one of only 256 hospitals across the country to receive this honor. What’s more,
Mercy has received this award for three years in a row. It recognizes a very high stan-
dard of care for heart attack patients.
GREAT CHEF—AND A GREAT NEIGHBOR
Mercy Executive
Chef Ron Hall was honored by the Iowa Restaurant Asso-
ciation in September 2014 with the prestigious Restaurant
Neighbor Award. It recognizes Ron’s generous and longtime
involvement with two programs that address food insecu-
rity: Table to Table and Thanksgiving in July. These are just
two among many causes Ron has supported with his time
and talent.
Table to Table is a food rescue program that gathers
and distributes food to local agencies. Thanksgiving in July
is an annual food drive that Ron cofounded in 1999. It
bene ts the Johnson County Crisis Center food bank.
“We live in the nation’s breadbasket,” says Ron. “No
one should ever go hungry.”
MERCY HELPS KIDS GET HEALTHY
Healthy Kids Community Care is a
community collaboration serving
children in the Iowa City school
district who don’t have access to
affordable health care. In October
2014 Healthy Kids celebrated an
impressive milestone: More than
$1 million has been raised to sup-
port its work.
Mercy was instrumental in this
success, donating $500,000 over
the rst ve years of Healthy Kids’ existence.
The framed artwork seen here was created for Mercy by children from Grant Wood
Elementary School; it now hangs in the Bloomington Street main level corridor.
Healthy Kids provides two clinics in Iowa City school buildings.
NEW MEDICAL STAFF MEMBERS
Mercy welcomes these physicians to its medical
staff:
Joseph M. Kukla, DPM, podiatry, practicing at Podiatry Associates PC
Benjamin T. Stevens, MD, pediatric hospital medicine, practicing in Mercy’s
Pediatric Hospitalist Program
Umashankar Subramaniam, MD, pediatric hospital medicine, practicing in Mercy’s
Pediatric Hospitalist Program
BRIEFS
M
When Jami Tandy had
to face the most di cult
challenge of her life, she
found a calming presence
in Jessica Williams, RN,
BSN, OCN.
Jessica had recently
started her position as Mer-
cy’s Breast Care Coordinator
when Jami arrived for her
rst round of chemotherapy.
“Obviously, I was scared
to death that day,” says
Jami, , who was diag-
nosed with breast cancer
in December
. Not only
did Jessica explain the pro-
cess, but she put Jami and
her husband at ease by talk-
ing about family and other
topics unrelated to cancer.
“She was with us from
beginning to end that day,”
Jami says of the six-hour
treatment. “We didn’t get
passed from person to per-
son. at was huge.”
Jessica says that this start-
to-finish role for breast
cancer patients is the most
meaningful aspect of her
job. “I like seeing someone
from beginning to end,” she
says. “I do really like to con-
nect with people and feel I’m
able to help in that way.”
As Breast Care Coordi-
nator, Jessica works with
breast cancer patients to
help them navigate the
process of cancer treatment
from diagnosis through the
end of treatment and recov-
ery. She describes herself
as a “personal nurse” for
those patients. “I get to
know the person and their
family, probably even their
dog’s name,” she says with
a smile.
An oncology-certified
registered nurse with
years of experience,
Jessica worked for a private
oncology practice in the
Quad Cities for seven years
before becoming Mercy’s
Breast Care Coordinator
in January
. Jessica
of the job is giving each pa-
tient a gi bag donated by
the Mercy Hospital Guild
with comfort items such
as a pink travel mug, eece
blanket and notecards.
While she works solely
with breast cancer patients,
Jessica says Mercy’s goal is
to expand the program and
o er similar positions for
other types of cancer. She
also is working on a survi-
vorship program for breast
cancer patients.
Patients know they can
call on Jessica any time
she’s needed to answer
questions. She also has
accompanied women who
arrive at appointments
without friends or family
members to take notes and
otherwise o er support.
“I love working with
people every single day,”
she says. “It’s great for me
to feel like I’m making a
di erence.”
Start to nish,
‘personal nurse’ is
there for women
facing breast cancer
had previous Mercy expe-
rience. While receiving her
nursing degree from Allen
College in Waterloo, she
worked in Mercy’s sum-
mer internship program in
cancer care.
“ at’s where I got into
oncology, and I’ve loved it
ever since,” she says, add-
ing that her inspiration
comes from her mother,
Jean Semsch, who is a
nurse in Mercy’s Intensive
Care Unit. “I always knew
I wanted to be in the health
care eld.”
The Breast Care Co-
ordinator role was devel-
oped to provide resources,
information and support
for women diagnosed with
breast cancer. Jessica also
helps make referrals, gath-
ers records and enhances
communication between
various o ces involved in
the patient’s care.
One of her favorite parts
Jessica Williams, RN,
BSN, OCN, Breast
Care Coordinator
Executive Chef
Ron Hall
BREAST
CANCER
A SNAPSHOT OF
U.S.
NUMBERS
12.3
THE PERCENT OFWOMENWHOWILL BE
DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER AT
SOME POINT DURING THEIR LIVES.
THE AGES AT WHICH BREAST
CANCER RATES AND
DEATHS ARE THE HIGHEST.
55 64
2.9
MILLION
THE NUMBER OF WOMEN CURRENTLY LIVING WITH THE DISEASE.
61
89.2
THE PERCENT OF WOMEN
WHO SURVIVE FIVE
OR MORE YEARS AFTER
BEING DIAGNOSED.
Source:
National
Cancer
Institute
z
W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1 5
W W W . M E R C Y I O W A C I T Y . O R G
5
N E W S , V I E W S & T I P S
W E L L A W A R E
