EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Construction of the new Emergency Department (ED) expansion at St. Mary’s Hospital is underway after the groundbreaking celebration last October. Treatment spaces will increase from 32 to 52 and more treatment rooms will be private. Upgrades include the very latest in imaging, monitoring, and electronic documentation technology, as well as a rooftop helicopter-landing pad for emergency air transport. The patient waiting room and reception area will be larger, as will the support space for physicians, staff, equipment and storage. The Emergency Department (ED) expansion at St. Joseph’s Hospital has been completed.

These projects would not be possible without the generous support of many donors. At press time, Carondelet Foundation has raised $9.5 million of the $10 million needed for ED construction and renovations. Some of our special donors to these projects include The Centurions and The Auxiliaries at St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s hospitals. Recent individual and family supporters include Donald and Joan Diamond; Adib H. Sabbagh, MD and Entisar (Vivi) Sabbagh, PhD and their family; Mrs. Evelyn Pozez; Fred and Olga Pace; Walter and Patricia Arnell; and Mrs. Rosemany Edmonston.

HEALTHCARE FRONT & CENTER

Carondelet Health Network (CHN) spreads its influence in many quiet yet effective ways, laying the groundwork for public policy that will affect all of us in years to come. Many of these activities involve working within the community’s network of leaders who are concerned about healthcare. CHN’s partnering with the Southern Arizona Leadership Council (SALC) is one such activity.

SALC will make healthcare an important concentration in 2004. A new SALC healthcare task force will address trauma funding, community collaboration, federal and state policy, shortages of physicians and nurses, and rising employer healthcare costs. Members plan to enhance current efforts to address these problems and create new approaches.
Even though healthcare had not yet been formally added to SALC’s agenda last year, the group did take a formal position on trauma care and worked with policy makers on the issue. They did this because the current funding formula from the state could have resulted in inadequate funding for Tucson.

The driving force behind SALC’s success is the commitment of its influential members who believe community groups must come together to protect and enhance the region’s economic assets to create a better region for businesses and residents. As a consortium of regional CEOs, SALC provides collective leadership, guidance and input into some of the most significant policy issues facing the community. The group offers a forum to engage community groups in a thoughtful and deliberate process to expand economic opportunities.

Carondelet Foundation CEO and CHN Vice President for Public Policy Jannie Cox was part of a workgroup formed at the 2002 SALC annual retreat that included CHN board member Bruce Beach, who will chair the effort. CHN President and CEO Sally Jeffcoat joined the group in January. They have involved many organizations in the decision to add healthcare to the 2004 SALC agenda: Tucson Healthcare Council, Greater Tucson Economic Council, Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and the Arizona Healthcare Institute.

“This is a very important, collaborative community effort,” says Jannie Cox. “Carondelet is pleased to be in on the ground floor. It will be hard work, but it is important that these issues are addressed by the business community in concert with healthcare providers.”

As Carondelet addresses the healthcare workforce shortage, St. Mary’s welcomes first semester nursing students from Pima Community College (PCC) and their instructor Mary Vaughn. An important community healthcare resource, PCC’s two-year nursing program is one of the largest in the State of Arizona, graduating more than 150 students per year.
 

MICHAEL RYAN

“We just did something,” Michael says. “We developed a program and put it into action. We had great results and amazing support from Carondelet Administration.”

Many hospice professionals will tell you their work is a calling. Michael Ryan, R.N., is no exception. A 17-year Carondelet veteran, Michael returned to Carondelet Hospice in 2003 after more than five years in Carondelet Health Network’s (CHN) Staff Development Department. His move to Staff Development in 1998 coincided with the organization’s participation in Supportive Care of the Dying: Coalition for Compassionate Care. This national coalition includes 13 Catholic healthcare systems that came together in response to the passage of Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide legislation.

Sister St. Joan Willert, CSJ (CHN President and CEO at that time) asked Sookie Dominguez, RN and Michael to develop and implement a plan that focused on effective pain and symptom management for hospitalized patients with life threatening illnesses and patients with chronic pain; this type of treatment is called palliative care. It was a perfect assignment for Michael because of his extensive hospice experience and expertise in palliative care.

After Michael and Sookie conducted initial focus groups with colleagues, patients and bereaved survivors, Michael and Jane Heaton, MD co-chaired the newly created CHN Palliative Care Initiative. The outcomes of that initiative and their hard work was recognized nationally and became a model for the other 12 members of the national Supportive Care of the Dying: Coalition for Compassionate Care.

As a result, Michael received a 2003 Carondelet Foundation Mission Award and he was invited to serve as one of only two Ascension Health representatives on the Board of Directors for the national coalition, along with Ascension Health’s Vice President of Ethics Dan O’Brien. (Carondelet joined Ascension in December 2002.) Ascension is comprised of more than 70 hospitals and 100,000 employees, so the appointment was quite a surprise and an honor for Michael.

“We just did something,” he says. “We developed a program and put it into action. We had great results and amazing support from Carondelet Administration.”

The nationally recognized program that Michael and his colleagues put into place at Carondelet used existing hospital resources and as a result, was very cost effective. The key program component was making the “knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to perform appropriate pain management and palliative care” part of the job description for Carondelet nurses. Newly-developed classes brought nurses up to date. Nurses and health professionals from other disciplines are now evaluated on their competency in palliative care on an annual basis.

An in-house Palliative Care Response team formed and is now available to all staff and physicians for consultations. Additionally, palliative care information is available on Carondelet’s intranet and the training concepts have been added as additional resources for social workers and chaplains. Continuing medical education for physicians is available.

Michael, who has his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, will continue to lead CHN’s palliative care program in addition to his new Hospice duties that include clinical education and performance improvement. He sees himself doing this work for a long time. “Hospice work and palliative care are holistic and there is always so much to learn on all levels: emotional, spiritual, physical, psycho-social and the management of pain and symptoms. This work continues to have a profound effect on me,” he says.
 

BENEFITING CARONDELET HEALTH NETWORK

Carondelet Foundation raises, manages and allocates charitable funds for St. Mary’s, St. Joseph’s and Holy Cross hospitals, which comprise Carondelet Health Network (CHN). CHN is an affiliate of Ascension Health, the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in the country. As a not-for-profit organization, Carondelet relies on community support to sustain and enhance our mission in Southern Arizona.

In Fiscal Year (FY) ending June 30, 2003, Carondelet Foundation received nearly $3 million in charitable dollars and secured a federal appropriation of $591,000. Gifts to Carondelet are used to fund hospital renovations and improvements, up-to-date medical equipment, inpatient and outpatient services, community based programs and services that make up our network, continuing education for staff, and other hospital needs.
Carondelet Foundation allocated $2,032,503 to CHN in the past fiscal year.

Total Gifts Received in FY2003
$2,981,267

 53% Planned Gifts
 30% Emergency Department
        Capital Campaign
 13% Restricted Gifts
 03% Tribute Gifts
 01% Unrestricted Gifts

RETURN

Foundation Allocations to CHN in FY2003
$2,032,503

49% St. Joseph's Hospital Cath Lab
34% Capital Improvements
05% Crisis Intervention
03% Programs & Services
03% Medical Equipment
02% Patient & Community Education
02% Staff Education
01% Technology
01% Other
RETURN