Four nurses from St. Charles Health System recently earned DAISY Awards for Extraordinary Nurses, recognizing the outstanding, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.

The nurses, who represent all four St. Charles hospitals in Bend, Redmond, Madras and Prineville, were recognized with a ceremony on their respective units and presented with a certificate, a pin and a "healer's touch" sculpture by their hospital’s chief nursing officer. The honorees are:

• Michelle Crawford, a float nurse at St. Charles Prineville, was recognized for her good humor, professionalism, compassion and kindness.

• Tim Ebersole, an Intensive Care Unit nurse at St. Charles Redmond, was recognized for going above and beyond every day, but in particular by taking care of the dog of a sick patient for several days, allowing the patient to concentrate on healing knowing that his beloved pet was being cared for.

• Dalania Gastineau, an Intensive Care Unit nurse at St. Charles Bend, was recognized for her outstanding care and willingness to help those in need, specifically coming to the aid of a man who lost consciousness on a plane, whose family shared that Dalania’s service “restored my belief that there are loving, caring human beings in our world.”

• Eric Harding, a medical services nurse at St. Charles Madras, was recognized for his compassionate care, specifically helping with the care of a terminally ill patient in great pain, whose family shared that Eric “should be considered a model for what exceptional compassionate care looks like; he can’t ever comprehend how much his actions helped my family during a very rough time.”

About the DAISY Awards:

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation to express gratitude to the nursing profession. Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, The DAISY Faculty Award to honor inspiring faculty members in schools and colleges of nursing and The DAISY in Training Award for nursing students. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, Madras, Prineville, Redmond, La Pine and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, nonprofit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

Grand Rounds - January 12, 2024  
"Bare Bones on Osteoporosis"

Speaker: Peng Thim Fan, MD. Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Objectives

1. Define the bone remodeling cycle, and factors affecting the resorption/ osteoformation balance.
2. Estimate the fragility fracture risk.
3. Identify different interventions to manage osteoporosis.
4. Discuss discontinuation and switching anti‐ osteoporotic therapies‐ Combination and sequential therapies to maintain bone density gains.

Accreditation: St. Charles Health System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. St. Charles Health System designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM.

The period to claim credit for this activity expires one year after its original publication. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Claim Credit

Target Audience: Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals

Accessibility/Program Questions: St. Charles Health System encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].

Oher CME or Clerkship questions: also contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].

The St. Charles CME department can assist you in your department's education goals! From a small in-service or new equipment training to a large-scale conference or quality improvement exercise, we are here to help. 

Some of the services we offer are:
Accreditation for AMA PRA category 1 credits and MOC (if applicable)
Event admin assistance
Hotel/travel/venue deals
Peer review
AV and recording assistance 
Data collection and report creation
Marketing assistance

Contact us at [email protected] to set up a consultation 

Resources for No-Cost Online CME

• SCHS: Enduring Materials
• OHSU:
  • COVID-19 Response Echo for Oregon Clinicians, Part II (6/11-9/24) 
  • Travel-free CME
• CME from CDC:
  • What You Need to Know About Infection Control
  • Fundamentals of Working Safely in a Biological Safety Cabinet
  • Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication Webinars
  • Training related to COVID-19
• PHF: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Training
• NCHPH: Housing is Health Care: Prevalence and Considerations Across the Housing Spectrum
• CME from CDC Train:
  • Immunization: You Call the Shots-Module Fifteen-Pneumococcal Disease and Vaccine - 2020
  • Preventive Medicine Grand Rounds--Cross-Sector Impacts of Providing Permanent Supportive Housing for High-Utilizers of Health Care Services
  • Public Health Grand Rounds, “Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition — The Thousand Day Window of Opportunity”
• Medscape CME

St. Charles Health System’s Trauma Program will host four upcoming Stop the Bleed classes in Bend to instruct community members in potentially life-saving techniques to help stop bleeding. The free 2-hour courses will take place Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. and noon, Saturday, Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. and Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m. at St. Charles Bend. 

In the class, individuals will learn three quick techniques to help save a life if someone is bleeding, including how to use hands to apply pressure to a wound, how to pack a wound to control bleeding and how to correctly apply a tourniquet. 

“We invite community members to learn these critical techniques, just like they might learn the basics of CPR or first aid,” said Jeremy Buller, trauma program coordinator. “We hope that individuals never need to use these techniques, but understanding how to Stop the Bleed can truly save lives in a traumatic situation.” 

Classes are limited to 20 people and online registration is required.

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, nonprofit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

Grand Rounds - January 5, 2024  
"Assessment & Treatment of Children with PANDAS PANS Symptoms"

Speaker: John Patrick Whelan, MD, PhD. Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Rheumatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Objectives

1. Identify neuropsychiatric symptoms requiring further medical evaluation.
2. Identify medical disorders that can present with neuropsychiatric symptoms.
3. Evaluate patients for PANDAS/PANS and other neuroimmune disorders.
4. Initiate treatment for patients diagnosed with PANDAS/PANS.

Accreditation: St. Charles Health System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. St. Charles Health System designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM.

The period to claim credit for this activity expires one year after its original publication. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Claim Credit

Target Audience: Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals

Accessibility/Program Questions: St. Charles Health System encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].

Oher CME or Clerkship questions: also contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].

St. Charles Health System’s grant cycle for 2024 is now open and accepting applications from local community organizations throughout Central Oregon. Groups can apply for three different grants: 

• Priority grant Celebrate, Together; Celebrando Juntos: This grant is aimed at reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of belonging for Central Oregonians.

• Basic needs grants: Organizations should focus on unmet basic needs in vulnerable populations.

• IDEA grant: The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) grant aims to support community partners who aspire to integrate IDEA best practices within their organization.

Visit the Community Benefit grant webpage to learn more about all of the grants, including deadlines and criteria for consideration. Along with the release of the 2024 grant applications individuals can also view the latest Community Health Needs Assessments and Regional Health Implementation Strategy.

Every year, the St. Charles Community Benefit program provides tens of thousands of dollars to local organizations as part of the health system’s vision – Creating America’s healthiest community, together.

“At St. Charles, we are proud to partner with numerous organizations in the community to help provide basic needs, support for inclusion work and to reduce social isolation and increase belonging,” said Carlos Salcedo, manager of community partnerships at St. Charles.

About St. Charles Health System
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, nonprofit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

The first request of 2024 came to the Medical Library on Jan. 1 at 7:57 pm. It was an ask for the article Enhancing recovery after cesarean delivery - A narrative review, whose parents are O'Carroll, Carvalho, and Sultan. Congratulations!

The paper was born 16 pages long and weighed 8 months. Here is a picture of the newborn abstract:

Note: Take a look at last year's first request, which weighed 35 years!

An ICU nurse is never really off duty, even at 35,000 feet.

Dalania Gastineau was on a flight from Chicago to Seattle last fall when the St. Charles ICU nurse heard an announcement asking for doctors or nurses to assist with a medical emergency. Gastineau and Lana Charles, a Seattle trauma nurse who was also on the flight, leapt into action to treat a passenger who had briefly lost consciousness.

In a letter written by the patient’s wife, Dalania and Lana were praised for their swift response and cool heads.

“They both assessed the situation quickly and maintained complete control,” she wrote. “They shared several smiles and even managed to crack some jokes to alleviate some anxiety and ease our fears. Despite not having all the necessary supplies, they improvised and found a way to provide the care they wanted to give. My husband was able to rest comfortably for the remainder of the flight.”

For Gastineau, it was just another day of caring for those who need it - no matter the altitude.

“This family was gracious, kind, and wonderful, and I am so appreciative of the kindness and recognition they have shown me,” Gastineau said. “I truly love what I do. Helping others is in my heart and soul. I am just glad I was there and able to assist in their time of need.”

St. Charles, like most health systems across the country, started 2023 facing significant challenges. But as the year comes to a close, I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come and am genuinely enthusiastic about the future of your local, Central Oregon health care provider.

At the beginning of this year our recovery efforts were taking hold but we still didn’t have enough people. And health care simply doesn’t work without people to provide the services. So we focused even harder on rebuilding our workforce by putting more resources into retaining our caregivers and physicians and recruiting more good people into the organization. As I told you last month, we’ve seen remarkable improvement with more than 1,100 new people joining the St. Charles family in the past year.

We’ve always cared about the wellness of our caregivers, but we really wanted to reaffirm that commitment after everything we’ve been through. So we took a fresh look at all of the programs we offer to support our people and we found ways to expand behavioral health services, earned time off, wages and many other benefits.

A year ago our finances were poor, and we needed to improve them quickly to ensure this local, nonprofit organization is here for the next 100 years, just as we’ve been here for the past 100 years. So we also had to maintain laser focus on our financial recovery efforts and recruit everyone across the organization to help out by doing their part – no matter how big or small.

Even with all of these efforts going on, every day our focus remained on our patients. Together, we surpassed our people and our financial goals and provided amazing care throughout the year.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every person across our health system for their commitment to our patients and our communities. Because of them, I can tell you with confidence that our ability to provide essential services to Central Oregon is as strong as ever.

Thanks so much for reading this year. See you in 2024.

Sincerely,
Steve