TODAY news - May 9, 2002

Thursday, May 9, 2002 TODAY

Loma Linda University Medical Center news

LLUMC emergency department nurse honored by national magazine

Allen Francis, RN, CEN, MICN

The last thing on Allen Francis’ mind was work. With some hard-earned vacation time coming up, he was ready to get away from it all and spend some time with his wife during a week of relaxation. So it was quite a surprise when he returned to Loma Linda University Medical Center—where he works as a night charge nurse for the emergency department—and got a phone call from Nursing Spectrum Magazine. They wanted to interview him because they had chosen him as the nurse of the year for the western region (one of 10 regions) of the United States.

“It was a surprise since I didn’t know I had been nominated,” comments Mr. Francis, RN, CEN, MICN. The week before his vacation he remembers being mined for information by his partner Davey Ellison, RN, MICN, another night charge nurse in LLUMC’s emergency department. Mr. Francis thought nothing of it, as information exchange is a part of the busy workplace that is the ER. It wasn’t until his return from vacation he realized Mr. Ellison had a specific purpose for quizzing him.

In a letter written to Nursing Spectrum Magazine, Mr. Ellison wrote:

“I fully nominate Allen Francis with the pride of knowing him and the honor of working with him…[he] is one of the best nurses I have worked with.”

Mr. Francis’ humble disposition lends him a quiet air when it comes to his accomplishments. “That’s who I give all the credit to, the team I work with,” he says of the award. “I am very proud of our team. It is an honor to represent them,” Mr. Francis notes. He mentioned how the LLUMC emergency department provides a model for teamwork.

Mr. Ellison echoed this idea, but with the added detail that it was under Mr. Francis’ leadership that the night shift becomes a model of collaboration.

“They really care for each other, and it shows,” comments Mr. Francis. “Nobody has to call for help. Everyone is anticipating everyone else’s needs.” Which can be a difficult task at 3:00 a.m., the end of one of their 12-hour shifts. But Mr. Francis believes he’s found his place.

“I’ve worked in five other ERs, and this is the best teamwork,” says Mr. Francis. A graduate of the Loma Linda University School of Nursing in 1996, Mr. Francis joined the LLUMC emergency department full-time two years later.

However humble he may be, Mr. Francis’ accomplishments speak for themselves. As a member of the San Bernardino County Disaster Medical Assistance Team, he responded to the call to attend the rescue workers searching for survivors of the World Trade Center attack. Mr. Francis created a video presentation of his deployment and disaster nursing which has been shown across the country, including the American Medical Association meeting.

Besides his responsibilities as a charge nurse in the emergency department, Mr. Francis is also a San Bernardino County Sheriff Deputy assigned to the air rescue team. As such, he flies all across the county on rescue missions of all kinds. Mr. Francis has rappelled and hoisted patients from mountainous areas in the San Bernardino Mountains. These “rescuees” are pleasantly surprised to find the first responder is not only a sworn deputy, but also an experienced emergency department registered nurse.

That’s just his hobby. His work with the sheriff’s department is completely volunteer. He donates two to four days a month to the Sheriff’s Air Rescue Team, along with the other members of the team who come from other emergency departments, fire departments, as well as air and ground ambulance companies.

The Sheriff’s Air Rescue Team is assembled of the “best of the best,” both in their level of expertise and their dedication to helping others.

And while he does admit that it is a sacrifice both time wise and financially, it doesn’t stop him.

“The training, experience, and feeling that we are making a difference is our reward,” replied Mr. Francis.

But he also says that it is his wife’s support and understanding that is his “secret” to fitting all these things into his schedule.

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LLUMC marketing department holds open house

The marketing department staff gathers for a group photo during the open house event on April 18.

The marketing department for the Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital welcomed more than 150 guests to their open house event on April 18. The event was the official inauguration of the new building the department moved into at suite 165, 11215 Mountain View Avenue, in mid-December.

“We decided we wanted to have an open house when we moved,” comments Jemelle Ambrose, manager of operations for the marketing department. “We’ve done lots of open houses for other departments,” she says, but this was the first one for marketing.

Visitors were treated to a tour of the new facility to familiarize themselves with the office layout. The entire marketing staff was available for introductions. Door prizes were given away in a drawing of submitted business cards, free gifts were provided in different areas, promotional products were displayed, and most noticeably there was free food.

Najwa Medina, director of LLU catering services, presented a selection of delectable goodies for the incoming guests. Seasoned mushrooms, walnut vegeballs, sweet breads, cookies, bite-size pies, and punch were served during the open house.

Guests came from several different departments. “It is nice to put a face to a name and show them the operations of our department,” explains Tammy Veach, administrative director of marketing. The networking provided a large exposure that will ultimately contribute to better interfacing between marketing and other departments in future projects.

And with the size and number of projects the marketing department executes, smooth collaboration goes a long way. The open house had been in the works for more than a month, as the department looked for a spot on the calendar that would schedule well with the Children’s Hospital Gala and the Kids Care Fair.

The new building that houses the department offers several advantages over the previous location at the Cape Cod complex on the southwest corner of Barton and Mountain View avenues. Whereas the old place put marketing in three separate buildings on multiple floors, the new location affords enough space for the entire department to fit on one floor under a single roof.

As Ms. Veach testifies, that is a very good thing. “Carrying boxes up stairs on a daily basis is very tiring.” The new layout also affords a more efficient transfer of ideas.

“It’s more accessible to other departments and clients,” Ms. Ambrose adds.

But perhaps the most tangible asset of the new location is monetary. LLUMC owns the new building recently moved into, cutting rent considerably for the department over the Cape Cod facilities. “We are saving the Medical Center money,” Ms. Veach emphasizes.

“We feel that it is a new beginning for us,” she adds.

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Loma Linda Valley Kiwanis Club plants citrus trees at LLUMC

The patient and visitor parking lot in front of Loma Linda University Medical Center received a few welcome additions on April 25. The Loma Linda Valley Kiwanis Club and Medical Center administration officially completed the orange tree-planting project between the upper and lower levels of the parking lot.

“It’s these little special touches that make the difference,” said B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS, president and CEO of Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center, at a dedication ceremony that afternoon. This joint project of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and the Loma Linda Valley Kiwanis Club has been in planning for more than a year.

Local Kiwanis club members hope that it will provide aesthetic, as well as medical benefits to the hospital and the children it serves. This particular planting is intended not only to enhance the grounds at the hospital, but also to provide a source of citrus fruit for children in the transplantation program.

In a region historically renowned for its citrus products, this gesture ties local history together with Loma Linda University’s reputation for medical service and Kiwanis International’s motto, “Serving the Children of the World.”

“It was born as a place for reflection, so the patients could watch the trees grow as their lives do as well,” says Kurt Meyer, president of the local Kiwanis club. Greg Mason, governor of the California-Nevada-Hawaii Kiwanis district with nearly 20,000 members, helped place the last few shovel-fulls of dirt onto the final tree.

“The Loma Linda Valley Kiwanis Club jumped right into the community to plant these trees,” Mr. Mason beams. He is also proud to announce the new project for the Kiwanis club, pediatric trauma prevention.

The dignitaries, including Lorenzo Mills, liuetenant governor of the Kiwanis club; Donald Williamson, San Bernardino County assessor; Tammie Mason, first-lady of the California–Nevada–Hawaii Kiwanis district; as well as local Kiwanis club members, filled in the hole around the last tree in the planter. A plaque was revealed and is placed next to the trees on the north side, dedicating the trees to the patients of the hospital.

“Thank you for choosing a symbol of hope that represents the cycle of growing and life for parents and kids,” Dr. Behrens remarked. She told of how she found in her own experience as a pediatrician the importance of hope.

Not only will the trees continue to offer hope as they grow for decades, offering shade and oranges for generations of kids who visit the Children’s Hospital, but more immediately, three of the shovels used to plant the last tree were auctioned off that evening to benefit Children’s Hospital.

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LLUMC holds donor appreciation reception

J. Lynn Martell, DMin, vice president for advancement of Loma Linda University Medical Center, welcomes guests to the donor reception.

Loma Linda University Medical Center held a donor reception on Sunday, April 28, in appreciation of the generous support donors give the hospital and its many facets of mission. Light refreshments were served in the Peterson/Slate room of Wong Kerlee International Conference Center while administrators and previous patients shared about the hospital.

Patti Cotton Pettis, executive director of the Children’s Hospital Foundation, gave a brief overview of the hospital’s current happenings. The Children’s Hospital serves four counties—Inyo, Mono, Riverside, and San Bernardino—which is approximately 26 percent of California’s geographical state. And even with nearly 1.2 million kids in the service area, “No child is turned away,” Ms. Pettis emphasized.

It was then that the Hartwig family was introduced. Samantha and Noelle, twin daughters of Mark and Holly Hartwig, rested easily in their parents’ arms as Mr. Hartwig, a firefighter from the High Desert, told of their fight against respiratory synctial virus.

“We bypassed four hospitals to get here,” Mr. Hartwig said. He was adamant that his daughters were going to receive the best care possible, and for him that meant bringing them to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

Mark and Holly Hartwig shared the story of their twin little girls’, Samantha and Noelle, bout against respiratory synctial virus at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. Pictured are (from left) Tucker, Samantha, Noelle, Mark, and Holly.

Mrs. Hartwig recalled the faith it took for her to handle the situation. Without her husband’s medical knowledge, she often found herself in the dark about what was happening. But she took solace in the Children’s Hospital’s reputation. “It was comforting knowing where we were and wh

o’s hands we were in,” added Mrs. Hartwig.

Margie Imthurn, RN, MA, director of the Transplantation Institute, then reported on the latest happenings and the future of transplantation. Stem cells and islet cells promise to be on the horizon at the Medical Center according to Ms. Imthurn’s presentation, which showed the audience that the Institute has performed 1,893 total transplants. After her slide show, Ms. Imthurn introduced Lois Elsensohn, a transplant recipient.

Ms. Elsensohn received stem cell transplantation for her cancer. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease in the fourth stage, she felt sick all the time.

“Twelve months ago I couldn’t walk into the hospital,” Ms. Elsensohn said. “Now I’m growing stronger every day.” Which she said was very important for her so she could help raise her two special needs twin daughters.

Her touching testimony gave proof of how Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital’s motto “to make man whole” makes a real difference in the lives of patients.

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