Celebrating Our Nurses…

Saint Francis is proud of its Nursing Staff and to show their appreciation during National Nurses Week, the Hospital along with the Saint Francis Foundation hosted the Annual Cheryl Fama Distinguished Nurse Lecture with guest speaker Rosemary Bergin, RN, MSN. Ms. Bergin is a nurse Instructor at City College of San Francisco. Her talk was entitled “46 Years of Nursing in San Francisco.”  She took the audience on a journey down memory lane beginning with the Summer of Love back in late 60′s.  Bergin has had a very distinguished career, including helping UCSF start their first Critical Care Unit in 1969, her involvement in the first liver transplant surgery in the early 70s and the treatment and diagnosis of AIDS beginning in 1980.  After all her years in the profession she is as passionate about nursing and nurses as she was 46 years ago.  She ended her presentation with “At the end of the day we know we have made a difference. Nurses Rock!”

Pictured here l to r: Moira O’Brien, Nursing student at CCSF, Tom Shieh, RN in the Saint Francis ER, Rosemary Bergin, RN, MSN and Susan Arevado, RN in Telemetry.  Both Susan and Tom are graduates of the CCSF Nursing School. Kudos to the Staff Nurse III/IV Committee for their work in coordinating today’s event.

Congratulations to all our Saint Francis Nurses — You do ROCK!

Thank You to Our Wonderful Volunteers

In honor of National Volunteer Recognition Week Saint Francis extends a heartfelt thank you to all our wonderful volunteers.  On an annual basis we have over 330 volunteers working in practically every department. The work they do is invaluable.  They provide support of patient safety and satisfaction initiatives. Last year they handled 92,225 pieces of correspondence.  Summer of 2011 we had 134 student volunteers.  Their  commitment and dedication is appreciated by all the staff, patients and visitors.  Thank you Volunteers!

When Minutes Matter…

Dennis Kneeppel, Vice President Patient Care Servioces/Chief Nursing Officer announced today that Saint Francis Memorial Hospital was recertified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. “The surveyors were very complementary, siting the skill, knowledge and dedication of the nursing and therapy staff. They were very impressed with our many processes that ensure timely and expert care of our stroke patients,” said Kneeppel.  Special recognition goes to the Stroke Leadership Team: Dr. Carlos Quintana, Stroke Medical Director, Theresa Huddleston, Stroke Coordinator, and Clinical Directors Dusty Gilleland, Gloria Lau and Theresa Edison.   A special “shout-out” to Agnes Lau, Carla Helmbrecht, Beth Willy, Jill Foxe and Kevin Miller.

Job WELL DONE Team Saint Francis!

Saint Francis Staff Tackles Stair Climb

Under the leadership of Team Captain Deirdre Heisinger Saint Francis staff will join in the American Lung Association’s stair climb on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 555 California Street, The Bank of America Building.  Our team of seven include Deirdre, Jeannie Panaligan, Rachel Miller, Tim Bohan, Kathleen Villanueva, Joy Knox and Joni Terada.  The Saint Francis team will climb along side Firefighters from around the Bay Area.  Kudos to everyone for making a difference and supporting such a great cause. “We climb because no one deserves to die of lung cancer.”

And The Awards Go To…

Dr. James G. Garrick and the Center for Sports Medicine for their Dance Medicine practice created to meet the unique needs of stage performers. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, known locally as the Izzies, are awarded annually to acknowledge exceptional creative achievements the performance and presentation of Dance.  The awards were presented this evening at the ODC Theater on 17th Street. Dr. Garrick and the Sports Team have been dedicated to caring for the dance community for decades. Kudos to everyone — well deserved!

Forty-One Years, But Who’s Counting…

Ada Bandoni-Kirchgessner is counting everyone of her 41 years as a member of the Saint Francis Radiology Team.  Ada, an ultrasound technologist, has had a very exciting career and has enjoyed the hectic pace in Radiology, not to mention learning all the new technologies over the past 40+ years.  Ada (pictured here on the right with her husband Melvin and daughter Kristina) is looking forward to lots of travel — she and Melvin leave for Spain this week.  CONGRATULATIONS Ada!

Congratulations Laboratory Team!

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital’s Laboratory has been awarded accreditation by the Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) based on the recent results of an on-site inspection. The Laboratory’s director Harris Goodman, MD was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services provided. Saint Francis’ Laboratory is one of more than 7,000 CAP-accredited laboratories worldwide.

This inspection examines laboratory staff qualifications, as well as laboratory equipment, facilities, safety program and record keeping. Hats off to Dr. Goodman, Dr. Marilda Chung, Director Laura Gutierrez, Manager Laura Pacini and the entire Laboratory team!

DIGNITY is Teaching…

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, A Dignity Health Member, welcomed a group of over 50 visitors from Seitoku University in Japan. Our guests were hosted by Nutrition Services Director Deirdre Heisinger, MS, RD, CNSC, Yenyy Sihapanya and Kimberly Miyamoto, RD.  This professional group toured our facility to see how a hospital nutrition department runs in the United States. The Saint Francis staff gave a brief historical view of the hospital, provided information on dietary clinical practice and a tour of our kitchen.  Pictured here is Deirdre Heisinger addressing the group.

Hats off to the Nutritional Services Team! 

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are posting his famous speech “I have  a dream.”  Saint Francis Memorial Hospital will be observing the celebration of his day along with many other organizations.  But it will be business as usual in the care of our patients, 24/7.

 It is a day of service, so think about ways to donate time to your community and take  a moment to reflect on his words.  http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Hats Off to Our Holiday Party TEAM!

 

What a wonderful Holiday Party Spread! Thanks to all our hard-workers in Nutritional Services (pictured here): Director Deirdre Heisinger, Chef Tony and team.  The Toy Story goodies were scrumptious.    Connie Tharin lead the charge early this morning with a crew of helpers (you know who you are) who slaved over the Toy Story decorations, thank you one and all.  The Cafe looked wonderful and the party was a huge success.  Happy Holidays!