TODAY news - July 24, 2003

Thursday, July 24, 2003 TODAY

Loma Linda University news

Patrick Yhip retires after 22 years at LLU

A retirement reception was held Thursday, June 26, for Patrick Yhip, CPA, director of grants management, to celebrate his 22 years of service at Loma Linda University. Friends and coworkers were invited to celebrate with Mr. Yhip in Wong Kerlee International Conference Center, where refreshments were served. Donald G. Pursley, DBA, chief financial officer/treasurer, LLU; Verlon Strauss, CPA, vice chancellor for financial affairs/compliance officer, LLU; and Barry L. Taylor, PhD, vice chancellor for research affairs, addressed the reception attendees. In the photo above, Mr. Yhip (left) receives a crystal award on behalf of his 22 years of service to LLU from Dr. Pursley.

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LLU purchasing goes online using eProcurement

What do the following have in common: parts to fix an air conditioner, gold, photocopy paper, and beakers?

These are just some of the many items purchased by Loma Linda University.

In order to keep track of the tens of thousands of items ordered by LLU each year, the accounting systems that are in use were developed throughout the past 20 years.

This is beginning to change as the purchasing process used by more and more areas of the University is brought online.

According to Verlon Strauss, CPA, vice chancellor for financial affairs, the University began steps to bring the purchasing process online about 10 years ago.

"We explored using computer programs developed by third-party vendors," he says, "but the systems were costly and contained many more ‘bells and whistles' than we needed. We eventually began to develop a purchasing program tailored to our unique needs."

The current eProcurement system enables department managers and grant principal investigators to purchase goods or services online from external vendors or internal vendors (for example the animal care department, purchasing department, campus engineering, campus store, and others).

Besides offering a paperless and timely approval process, eProcurement offers many other benefits: charging items to the correct account number, avoiding calculation errors, saving computation and typing time, assisting controllers in managing overspending, preventing duplicate payments or overpayments, and instantaneous retrieval of information.

Functionality:

The LLU eProcurement system was initially developed for the grants research area and is tightly integrated with LLU financial systems. It covers the following important functions:

1. End-users submit purchase orders online, which trigger e-mails to approval entities.

2. Depending on the purchase amount, source of funding, and types of material, the eProcurement system notifies the appropriate approval entities (e.g. financial officers in each school, grant controller, University controller, vice chancellor of finance, radioactive safety officer, purchasing officer, and internal vendors), with e-mail.

Each approval entity will then go online to either approve or reject the purchase order.

3. For all external purchase orders, the purchasing officer either faxes or mails the purchase orders to the external vendors.

For all internal purchases the internal vendors (for example animal care department, purchasing department, and others) will receive the purchase orders on their own printers. They will then deliver the merchandise to the end-users.

4. When the receiving department obtains the merchandise, the receiving officer goes online to update the receiving quantity for each shipment and delivers the merchandise.

5. After the accounting department receives the invoices, the account analyst goes online to verify the shipment status, updates the invoice amounts, and processes the payment.

6. When the checks are printed, the accounting system automatically triggers charges to appropriate accounts. Related detail information (for example invoice images, check images, travel expense images, purchase order images, and account balances) is made available on the website for end-users to view.

Development history:

Linda Chin, a software developer and director of LLU computing-finance, led her programming team to develop the current eProcurement system ten years ago.

Patrick Yhip (former director of grants management); Don Pursley, DBA, executive vice president for finance & administration/chief financial officer; William Dean, DBA, University controller; and Tim Hickman, director for purchasing and receiving, envisioned the great need for a procurement system for LLU and provided financial support and motivation toward the development of this system.

The development of the new system was completed in many phases, and new features were added during the past 10 years to meet additional needs.

Technology background:

LLU is often innovative and stays abreast of new technology. About 20 years ago, while most companies were still using COBOL language, LLU started using NOMAD language for developing our financial accounting system.

At that time the NOMAD language was one of the top-rated, fourth-generation software languages used by big companies (e.g. Bank of America, Motorola, Exxon, and others). As Microsoft Corporation advanced its web technology, Loma Linda University started using Microsoft Visual Studio technology for the eProcurement system a few years ago.

Recent enhancement:

The eProcurement system was initially designed to accept orders from end-users using IBM 3270 traditional online screen. In the year 2000, the modern web front-end was added, which attracted many new users because the system became more user friendly.

LLU plans to expand the usage of eProcurement to the entire University in the future. Due to current hardware limitations, the University currently offers the usage of eProcurement only to the grants research area and to those areas which issue a high volume of purchase orders.

Early this year, an interface between the School of Dentistry dental supply ordering and inventory system and the eProcurement System was built. This enables the School of Dentistry to use eProcurement for all purchases.

Case study—

School of Dentistry:

The School of Dentistry is one of the largest buyers on campus. According to Floyd Ferguson, dental supply manager, a study showed that 50 percent of all purchase orders (POs) requested by the University's Schools originate from the dental school—the other 50 percent are divided among the other schools.

The School of Dentistry has unique needs as an inventory of many items used in the School's clinics is kept on hand.

Several years ago the School worked with Craig Martin, DDS, a computer programmer in Chicago, to develop a program that could be used for ordering and keeping track of student purchases and issues, departmental purchases and billing, and inventory and sales.

The School began using the LLU eProcurement in March, 2003, and in its first few weeks of using the system, not only was paperwork eliminated, but many trips up and down the School's five flights of stairs.

Until two months ago, when one of the departments in the School of Dentistry needed radiographic supplies for example, a department secretary would fill out a dental supply requisition order form and a department director would sign it.

The form would then be sent to Ron Secor, MBA, the School's associate dean for financial administration, for his approval.

Then it would be sent back down to the dental supply department to be assigned a number—and then forwarded to University purchasing to be given a LLU purchase order (PO) number.

This was a time-consuming process, and urgent orders would be "walked through" the system, covered with handwritten notes, and aided by numerous interdepartmental phone calls.

Future features:

In response to many end-users' requests, Ms. Chin and her staff are currently working on adding these new features: travel applications, locksmith requests, and check requests. These new features could be made available some time this year.

"In order to use the LDAP server for authentication of users' access-passwords," says Ms. Chin, "we plan to use the Microsoft ASP.Net Technology for creating the web front-end."

The long-term strategy plan for LLU is to acquire a third-party software package for all financial accounting functions. However, LLU currently does not have sufficient funding for purchasing a third-party software package.

Thus, the short-term plan for eProcurement is using Microsoft ASP.Net web technology, IBM DB2 database, and NOMAD2 language for some interim enhancements.

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Students for International Mission Service treat children in Honduras

Cesar, like many of the kids at PAHS, giggles with joy as he plays doctor.

Every minute, 23 children die from hunger. That's why Students for International Mission Service (SIMS) went to Pan American Health Service (PAHS), a nutritional rehabilitation hospital, in Peña Blanca, Honduras.

Honduras is a beautiful country with its lush tropical environment, but it's also one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. About 60 percent of it's six million residents live below the poverty line. Only half the population has access to modern health care or safe drinking water.

From June 24 to July 2, a team of 13 from Loma Linda University provided health care to the children at PAHS as well as to those in the surrounding communities.

"In a country where malnutrition affects most of the indigenous population under the age of 14," says Martine Polycarpe, MPH, program director, SIMS, "PAHS is a ray of hope, another chance at life, and a haven for so many children."

A little more than 20 children live at PAHS. They all have a serious protein deficiency disorder, either kwashiorkor or marasmus, and because of that many have swollen and severely bloated abdomens. Everyday they eat rice and beans—for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, a few can't help but eat dirt in addition to their meals, a sign of iron deficiency.

"The children were really sweet," says Joy Flores, fourth year nursing student. "My impression was that they were love-starved. The kids were really huggable and loveable."

Daniel Son (left), medical student, and Aida Gemechu, public health student, treat a little girl at PAHS.

The SIMS team helped treat the children's malnutrition as well as those who had parasites, lice, and other health problems. They also held Vacation Bible School for the children.

"We let one child listen to his heart with the stethoscope," says Terence Gan, MPH, 2003 international health graduate. "After that, all the kids wanted to do it. They had a lot of fun with that."

One day, the SIMS team held a rural clinic where they traveled to a remote village by basically trailblazing on a pick-up truck, moving big rocks out of the way. Hondurans from four different villages came to the clinic, making a total of about 100 patients.

The SIMS program is made possible through the philanthropic gifts of alumni and friends. To find out how you can help support SIMS or for information on future trips, please reach SIMS by phone at (909) 558-8089. You may also contact SIMS by e-mail at <sims@sph.llu.edu>.

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Mission Albania: LLU gives hope to destitute Romas of the country

A team of 16 from LLU partnered with Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) International and ADRA Albania to provide medical and dental aid in Tirana, Albania.

In a land where green hills peak to the sky and waves from the Adriatic Sea roll gently along the coast, Albania is covered with natural beauty. But the effects of being the poorest country in Europe show. Especially in the capital city, Tirana, where one has to search for the beauty that's hidden in the chaos of a busy city.

Sitting at the foot of the Dajti Mountains, Tirana has a population of about 700,000. People are seen walking on the crowded sidewalks, driving through the horrendous traffic, and standing skin-to-skin in city buses.

The vast majority of the people in the country are Albanians. A mere 2 percent of the population is in the "other" category, which includes Romas. Romas, or gypsies, are an underprivileged group of minorities living in poverty.

Romas are often stigmatized by society, have high unemployment rates, low economic status and education level, and receive little or no support from government. The origin of the word "Rom" has a phonetic correspondence to the Sanskrit word "domba," which means "man of low cast, living by singing and music."

To help this impoverished class with free dental and medical care, a team of 16 individuals from Loma Linda University journeyed on a mission trip to Albania from June 13 to 29, 2003. LLU partnered with Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) International and ADRA Albania for this project. They provided health care at a clinic stationed in Kinostudio neighborhood, the largest Roma district in Tirana, at the "Time for different colors" Roma Community Social Center.

"This was a global outreach," says Ralph Perrin, DrPH, dean of students, LLU, "to further the healing and teaching ministry of Jesus Christ from Loma Linda University to the surrounding world."

Every morning between 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning, the mission team left their home away from home, the ADRA warehouse, and loaded the vans for the 30-minute drive.

Jorge Larrondo, fourth-year dental student, checks a little boy's teeth. Many kids had poor dental hygiene and needed extractions or fillings.

Stop-and-go traffic, smog saturating the air, and honking horns are common sights and smells on the way to the clinic. Streams of sewage water constantly leak down the middle of the many dirt roads, emitting a rampant odor in some places. But once past the large black doors of the clinic, the sight is much different. Succulent grape vines cover the patio of the clinic. Vibrant colored walls give the area a vivacious ambience. And herds of patients make the place very much alive.

Every morning, crowds of Romas swarmed the sign-in table, hoping to get their name on the list before everyone else. Their health needs extended from body ache and scabies to rotting teeth and ear infections.

Why were these people so desperate to be seen at the clinic when health care in Albania is already free? Because even though the government says it's free, the doctors don't.

"The salary for health-care professionals is very low," says Evelina Azizaj, social worker, ADRA. She continues to explain that patients have to give doctors a bribe in order to receive care.

For Romas who can't afford to pay a bribe, many don't go to the doctor unless their sickness gets worse and becomes unbearable. In addition to that, this poverty stricken group has poor hygiene and diet. So they are more prone to illness. One example is a thirteen-year-old Roma girl. Every single one of her teeth was completely rotten. She already needed false teeth at such a young age.

Because LLU's health services were completely free, the Romas didn't hesitate to come to the clinic.

One morning when Linda Valleni, a fourth year dental student, was working on a Roma man's teeth, he asked, "Why are you doing this for free?"

Jack Bennett, MD, clinical instructor, LLU, listens to an elderly woman's heartbeat as Audrey Pulido, second-year nursing student, observes.

Ms. Valleni replied, "Because this is what God would want us to do."

"It's wonderful to work with these Roma people who are considered to be an outcast group of Albania," says Jack Bennett, MD, clinical instructor, LLU. "They really need to have the principles of Loma Linda University brought to them of ‘making man whole.'"

Many patients were children. While waiting for their turn to see the doctor, some would color pictures with crayons donated by the restaurant Claim Jumper and pictures provided by LLU office of student affairs. Some kids played hand-clapping games with each other and even taught a few of the LLU missionaries. Others blew bubbles or bonked balloons around. And some hung out at the clinic just for fun.

Either way, the Roma children brought many smiles. "These kids are unbelievably brave with no fear it all. It's awesome," says Mike Clark, a fourth year dental student. He explains that in dental school they're taught to hide the injection needle behind their backs. But in Albania, most dentists don't use anesthesia, so most if not all patients are relieved to have a shot, knowing they won't feel any pain.

"People tear up," Mr. Clark says. "They're just so happy that they got their dental work done here with no pain."

While most patients were seen for medical and dental care, a couple people benefited from the physical therapist on the team. One woman had been bed ridden for two years. Because of that, she developed contractors at her knees and feet and couldn't walk anymore.

"We gave her home exercise programs," says Janelle Stewart, MPT, physical therapist, LLUMC, "so the family can help with stretching and strengthening exercises." A couple days later, things changed for the better. "We found a walker and got her walking by the fourth visit," explains Ms. Stewart.

During the mission trip, hundreds of patients were seen. The dental team extracted 233 teeth and filled 138. To promote good dental hygiene, each patient received a Crest toothbrush and tube of toothpaste donated by Western Dental Services, Inc. Boxes full of various medicines were donated by King Benevolent Fund, Inc., a non-profit Christian organization committed to sharing God's love and compassion around the world.

"I'm so thankful for you," stated Haxhire Axakaj, nurse, Roma Community Social Center, about the mission team. "You're all doing a great job. God sent you to this community because there is a big need."

Xheladin Taco, director, Roma Community Social Center, shared that quality health care is in great demand.

"It's estimated that about 50 percent of the health problems were taken care of," Mr. Taco said. "Everyone wishes the American doctors could stay longer. Thank you very much from me, my family, and the community. We are all grateful."

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Thursday, July 24, 2003 TODAY