At the Hospitals: White River Junction VA Medical Center Tapped for Innovation Network

VA Medical Center Tapped For Innovators Network

White River Junction — White River Junction VA Medical Center was recently selected to join a national network that promotes employee-generated ideas for improving the VA’s service to veterans and their families.

Created in 2015, the VA Innovators Network now includes 22 VA sites across the country.

With the support of the network and innovation specialist Brynn Cole, medical center employees can more readily test new ideas and create partnerships with “external stakeholders” to “improve the way we serve veterans,” according to a news release from the medical center.

Recently, employees pitched to the medical center’s leadership team 21 ideas for solving problems that affect veterans, VA staff and the community, the release said. The following projects were chosen to receive funding from the network: Cash for Your Stash: An Opioid Buyback Program, Dr. Jean Liu; Teleguidance of Point of Care Cardiac Ultrasound: Establishing a Sustainable and Efficient Training Method, Drs. Daniel J. O’Rourke and Robert T. Palac; Women Veterans Comic Anthology, Carey Russ; Actigraphy for Veterans, Dr. Jessica Oehlke; 3D Printing as Recreational/Art Therapy, Brynn Cole and Brooke Robinson-Drew; Emergent Transfer Coordination and Communication, Teresa Stearns; Suicide Prevention for Rural Veterans, Dr. Robert Scott.

For more information, contact the medical center at 802-295-9363, ext. 5880, or vhawrjpao@va.gov.

APD Infection Preventionist Named to New England Board

Lebanon— Andrea Harper, an infection preventionist at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, has been elected to the board of directors of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, New England Chapter.

She will serve as president-elect for one year, and then assume the role of president, according to a news release from APD.

The New England chapter provides infection control education and professional services to more than 400 members.

Harper said she looks forward to “working with all the New England hospitals, focusing on patient and employee safety across the infection prevention and treatment continuum.”

Film Explores Childhood Obesity

New London Hospital — A free screening of The Kids Menu is set for April 5, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Kearsarge Regional High School.

The documentary by filmmaker Joe Cross explores the growing childhood obesity problem and how role models and food choices can influence children’s health.

After the film, participants can take part in a discussion with local experts, including Elke Melody, registered dietitian at New London Hospital; Monica Valovic, health teacher and registered dietitian at Kearsarge Regional School District; and Travis Beaton, food services director at Kearsarge Regional School District.

A light dinner and snacks will be served. To register, email wellness.connection@newlondonhospital.org, or call 603-526-5093.

Cottage Hospital Events Mark Patient Access Week

Woodsville — Cottage Hospital will offer activities to recognize its patient access registrars during Patient Access Week, April 2-8.

The registrars are the first people patients and visitors encounter at Cottage Hospital, according to a hospital news release.

The “dedicated staff members” include receptionists and others whose duties include registration, insurance verification, authorizations, financial counseling and scheduling.

The public activities will include Athletic Day, April 3; Carnival Day, April 4; Beach Hawaiian Day, April 5; Mardi Gras Day, April 6; and Patient Access Goes Hollywood, April 7.

Patient Access Week is sponsored by the National Association of Healthcare Access Management.

Nurse, Volunteer Honored in Newport

Newport — A Lake Sunapee VNA and Hospice registered nurse and volunteer were honored at the nonprofit’s annual meeting, held earlier this month at the Sugar River Bank Community Room.

Claudia Lewis, of New London, received the Joanne Hughes Volunteer Excellence award for her “incredible commitment” to the Renaissance Shoppe, the re-sale store at the VNA’s New London office.

For more than 10 years, Lewis has dedicated as many as 25 hours a week, doing everything from setting up displays to thanking donors, according to a news release from the VNA.

Beth Eldridge, a registered nurse and case manager from Bradford, N.H., received the Imagine the Possibilities staff award for “quietly, competently and compassionately” caring for community members and supporting her co-workers, the release said.

Eldridge has been a member of the agency’s caregiving team for more than eight years.

More than 80 people attended the meeting, which included a presentation by Dr. Alan Kono, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Heart and Vascular Center.

Kono discussed the role of palliative care in the treatment of advanced cardiac disease.

— Compiled by Aimee Caruso