Everyday Heroes
UPMC Passavant staff go above and beyond in providing compassionate care
 When Bill Committee, an Ecolab account executive, stepped into UPMC
Passavant’s Central Supply one morning, he was white and pasty,
and his breathing was labored. Janis Catone, distribution clerk for
Central Supply, gave him her chair and asked if he needed help. “He
said he’d be fine,” she recalls, but he wasn’t, and she knew it.
The operations manager, John Hatfield, acted quickly. He dialed 1-1-1,
the hospital-wide emergency number, to summon UPMC Passavant’s cardiac
arrest team. Meanwhile, Mr. Committee had passed out. “I put my face
to his mouth and he wasn’t breathing,” says Ms. Catone. They laid him
flat. Another distribution clerk, Sharon VanTine, felt for a pulse on
his wrist while Ms. Catone felt for a pulse in his neck. The two women
began doing chest compressions and administering CPR. “When the
emergency crew arrived, we stepped back,” says Ms. VanTine. She
started wondering, “Did we do everything right?” They did. Those first
few moments of action paved the way for the emergency response team.
“We gave him time, and that was the most important thing.”
Mr. Committee underwent surgery and had two stents inserted to open
arteries that were more than 90 percent blocked. “When I woke up in
the hospital,” he
recalls, “I looked down at the end of the bed, and everyone who saved
my life was there to greet me. I can’t thank them enough for being my
guardian angels. They made it possible for me to see my wife and kids
again, and for that alone, I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”
At UPMC Passavant, it is expected that doctors, nurses, and other
clinical professionals will save lives. They are heroes every day.
However it isn’t expected that operations staff or other non-clinical
staff will save lives — these are UPMC Passavant’s “everyday heroes.”
Out of the Ordinary
Another everyday hero whose fast action saved a life is kindergarten
teacher Julie Macri of UPMC Passavant’s Children’s House, a child care
facility for children ages six weeks through kindergarten. Told by one
of her students that classmate Matthew Degnan was choking, Ms. Macri
rushed to his aid. “Matthew couldn’t breathe or cough,” recalls Ms.
Macri. “I gave him the Heimlich maneuver and a piece of chicken popped
out.”She’d never used the lifesaving maneuver before, but her
reactions were fast. “I didn’t think about it, I just did it. It was
pretty scary, more so afterwards when it was all over and I had time
to think about it.” AnnMarie Sabovik, Matthew’s mother, is grateful
for her everyday hero. “This could have been a horribly life-changing
experience for all of us. We are so thankful that Julie knew what to
do to save our son. There aren’t enough words or ways to say, ‘Thank
you for saving our child.’”
Where Clinical Care Meets Compassionate Care
The professionals who take care of patients at UPMC Passavant have
more than clinical expertise — they have compassion for the
individuals and families they help. This compassion extends throughout
the hospital, where employees also care for one another.
When Nuclear Medicine team leader Karen Geibel was diagnosed with
breast cancer, her friends and co-workers at the hospital rallied
around her. Knowing that her hair would fall out as a result of
chemotherapy treatments, she invited a group of five women to join her
when she got her hair shaved in preparation for a wig.
“Karen is a wonderful, caring person, and we wanted to be there for
her,” explains retired x-ray technician Linda Bergman, who attended
the “hair party” with
outpatient imaging liaison Julie Decker, ultrasound technologist
Michele O’Brien, CT technician Nancy Snow, and former UPMC employee
Bev Feragotti. “We made it a little party, which I think made it
easier for Karen. She was relaxed — as relaxed as you can be when
someone is shaving your head.”
“We were all getting teary eyed, but we remained well-composed and
tried to keep the conversation light,” says Ms. Decker. “We kidded
around with Karen about her looking like Demi Moore in “G.I. Jane.” We
said we were going to sign her up for the Marines. “When we realized
that she was getting upset looking in the mirror, we had her turn the
chair around and look at us. It was much better for her—and for us—to
focus on each other as her hair fell to the floor.”
Ms. Geibel’s can-do attitude was an inspiration to all of her friends.
“She’s such a positive person,” says Ms. O’Brien.
“I was in her office the other day and she said, ‘I get so mad
sometimes, I feel like pulling my hair out.’ I didn’t know what to
say—it took us both a minute, and then we started laughing. I’m so
blessed to know her. She just keeps on going.” Ms. Bergman and Ms.
O’Brien also took Ms. Geibel to her chemo treatments and stayed at her
house while she recovered from the treatments and sentinel node
surgery. “After learning I had breast cancer, Bev Feragotti went with
me to have my first MRI,” says Ms. Geibel. “She was off that day and
could have spent it having a lot more fun. It meant a lot to me. She
even got up on Christmas morning and baked me cookies. I don’t think I
could do this without them. Having the love and support of my
co-workers and friends means so much to me. It makes me realize how
very lucky I am.”
“We’re with her the whole way,” says Ms. O’Brien. “We’ve been through
a lot together, and we’ll get through this, too.”
Every day, UPMC Passavant staff members strive to make patients,
families, and co-workers feel the assurance of high standards of
clinical care and the most compassionate care. “Our goal is to provide
a nurturing environment conducive to healing,” says Teresa Petrick,
president, UPMC Passavant. “We understand that first-class customer
service is not a program or a slogan. It is the way we treat our
patients, families, visitors, and employees.”
Patient- and Family-Centered Care
As communities north of Pittsburgh have continued their rapid growth,
UPMC Passavant has grown along with them. Major investments have been
made in new facilities, technologies, and staffing at both the
McCandless and Cranberry campuses to ensure patients’ needs are met
today and in the future. As the hospital evolves into a tertiary care
center offering northern residents the most advanced care in the area,
UPMC Passavant continues its mission of personal, patient- and
family-centered care.
“From our roots as a community hospital, UPMC Passavant has grown to
become a leader in health care, offering advanced technologies
complemented by the
expertise of world-class physicians and nurses,” says Ms. Petrick.
“Our focus on patient- and family-centered care means going the extra
mile to make each patient’s stay more comfortable. We strive every day
to ensure that our guests receive the best hospital experience they’ve
ever had.”
“Matthew couldn’t breathe or cough. I gave him the Heimlich
maneuver and a piece of chicken popped out.” — Julie Macri
Kindergarten Teacher UPMC Passavant’s Children’s House
Going the Extra Mile
Naturally, patients who stay at the hospital miss the comforts of
home. To make patient stays more comfortable, UPMC Passavant staff go
out of their way to provide the things that patients miss most, from a
special flavor of tea to a “Steelers celebration.”
“We had one patient who was a huge Steelers fan, and she was upset
because if she hadn’t been in the hospital, she would have been at
home decorating her house for the Super Bowl,” says Trudi Stafford,
chief nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services.
“The director of the Cardiac Cath Lab wanted to do something about it.
She went down to the gift shop and bought the patient a Terrible
Towel. This patient was so moved, it brought tears to her eyes.”
Making sure that the small things and the big things are taken care of
is just one way that UPMC Passavant goes the extra mile for patients.
Even before a patient is admitted to the hospital, UPMC’s At Your
Request Concierge Service is on the job providing patients with
directions to the hospital, hotel recommendations for family, and a
host of other details to make the hospital stay more comfortable and
reassuring.
“We want our patients to know that we’re looking out for them, not
just clinically, but as individuals,” says Lori Walker, director,
Food, Concierge and Transportation Services. “It’s better for a
patient when he or she knows their family is being looked after.
A man who is having open-heart surgery doesn’t need to be worried
about taking care of his wife.”
Families waiting for loved ones during surgery or treatments have
access to a coffee shop and new flat panel TVs.
Coffee and snacks are available close to surgical areas and the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A cafeteria is on the ground floor, and
family members can take advantage of restaurant-style pagers that
alert them when they need to return to a specific area. For family
members looking for some quiet time, there is a chapel on the ground
floor, a Meditation Room in the ICU waiting area, and a Healing Garden
located in an outdoor alcove across from the chapel.
It takes special people to work in health care. At UPMC Passavant,
staff members are selected for their unique skills and depth of
caring. They are passionate about their work and motivated by a deep
desire to provide healing and comfort.
UPMC Passavant–McCandless
9100 Babcock Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
412-367-6700
UPMC Passavant–Cranberry
One St. Francis Way
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
724-772-5300
For more information
or a referral from a physician,
call 1-800-533-UPMC.
upmc.com/passavant
Every patient, every day
UPMC Passavant’s new Every Patient, Every Day Initiative is ensuring
that patients and visitors are heard. “We’ve made a commitment to seek
out the voice of the customer in real time, while they are in the
hospital,” says Trudi Stafford, chief nursing officer and vice
president, Patient Care Services.
“Everyone on our leadership team has set aside time to get out on the
floor and talk with patients and their families about their
experiences. While rounding, we have the opportunity to fix some
things on the spot and improve a patient’s or visitor’s experience,”
she says.
The initiative, which began in November, is already producing results.
“It’s rewarding to be able to take a patient’s positive comments about
a staff member right to that person and let them know what a great job
they’re doing,” says Ms. Stafford. Visitor comments are entered into a
database for the hospital to see what is being done well and to
identify areas in need of improvement. “The database enables us to
create definitive action plans in order to address customers’ concerns
that can’t be dealt with on the spot.”
Hospital leaders are currently visiting with patients one day a week,
but are expected to be talking to every patient, every day, by July.
Visits take place in patients’ rooms, in waiting areas, and in lobbies
throughout the hospital. “People are really surprised when they find
out that the
hospital’s president and vice presidents want to talk to them,” says
Ms. Stafford. “But it’s our goal to touch as many people on our
campuses as possible, and to let them know just how much we care.”
“People are really surprised when they find out that the hospital’s
president and vice presidents want to talk to them.” — Trudi
Stafford Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President, Patient Care
Services
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