Memo
Elevators 1 & 2 Are Being Replaced
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Providers, Cerner training sign-up deadline is March 15! Providers who will be taking care of patients in the hospital need the 4-hour training (except for those in the ED or Anesthesiology, which will have separate trainings). If you only need read-only and message-center access, there will be a handout provided for education; no formal training will be needed. Class length is generally 4 hours, but may vary by specialty. Classes will be held at 15 West. Our go-live date is May 17! Training for super-users will be held from March 18 to April 5. End-user training will be held between April 8 and May 16. Register here.
Cerner All-In: Speaking of Cerner, were you unable to attend one of the recent Cerner tailgates with Russ Myers? Catch one of the sessions here!
Gift Shop Valentine’s Day Sale: On Thursday, Feb. 14, and Friday, Feb. 15, all pink or red items in the Gift Shop will be 20 percent off, just in time to stock up for Valentine’s Day! Also, be sure to sign up for a gift bag drawing of fabulous chocolates! (Candy bars, greeting cards and flowers are exempt from the sale.)
Women’s and Children’s Grand Rounds: Did you know that Grand Rounds talks are open to anyone interested in attending? Join us Friday Feb. 22 in the hospital auditorium from 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to hear David Bauman, PsyD, speak about Adverse Childhood Experiences. Dr. Bauman is the Behavioral Health Education Director at Central Washington Family Medicine. He is also the Regional Training Director for the National Psychology Training Consortium and a Behavioral Health consultant with CWFM.
Read The Memorial Foundation’s latest newsletter, “Seeing need and meeting challenges . . .” here.
EVENTS, CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Free webinar for nurses:Nurses at Practice Greenhealth hospitals are using the Nurses Climate Challenge as an effective way to educate their colleagues on climate and health, and to build momentum for climate solutions. Join a free webinar at 1 p.m. Feb. 21 to learn how nurses can become climate champions at Virginia Mason Memorial. Register here!
Cooking For One: Living alone is no reason not to cook healthy meals and eat well. Learn how to do just that at Cooking for One, a cooking class with a focus on teaching students how to make delicious recipes in smaller portions. The next Cooking For One class will be Feb. 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Harman Center, 101 N. 65th Ave. Cost is $10 and covers food and cookbook. Can’t make it on the 22nd? More Cooking for One classes will be held on March 15, April 19, May 17, and June 21. Registration required. Please call Nick Valadez at 509-574-6746 or email nicholasvaladez@yvmh.org.
New dates to talk to Fidelity:Have questions about your retirement plan? Talk to a representative from Fidelity Investments. First-quarter appointments are now available!Click here to sign up and reserve your time. You can also call 877-895-5986 to reserve an appointment.
REMINDERS
The newest High 5 honoree is . . .: Dr. Tony Malhi! Dr. Mark Trump passed the VMM High 5 honor on to Dr. Malhi explaining, “Dr. Malhi has helped with a number of my more infirm patients. In our first meeting, he was particularly generous with his time and assistance in making me feel welcome at Virginia Mason Memorial hospital.” The High 5 award is given by one VMM provider to another for extra-special teamwork in caring for our patients. Read about it here!
More parking for patients and families: The valets will no longer be parking vehicles in the lot in front of the Emergency Department to free up more spaces for our patients and families. Valets will once again park vehicles in the east parking lot in the row in front of the Memorial Foundation. Also, a reminder to team members to leave the parking spots closest to the hospital free for our patients and families!
Federal Income Tax: Are you withholding enough income tax on your paycheck? Click ‘here’ for further information on the Tax Cut Law Impacts.
Print your W-2: Your 2018 W-2 form is now posted at My Memorial. Just log in, click on the W-2 tab at the top of the page and print yours today. Also, you have the option to import your W-2 directly to TurboTax. Please click here for more information.
New status for the Yakima Heart Center: The Yakima Heart Center is now an outpatient department of the hospital (HOPD). As a HOPD clinic, the Heart Center will follow many new regulatory requirements, which allows for additional compensation for services requiring a higher level of care coordination. This Medicare approved practice, known as provider-based billing, is sometimes referred to as charging a facility fee. The practice of converting to provider-based status is common in our community. VMM and YHC have been coordinating efforts to ensure that team members are ready for this transition. This conversion enables VMM to continue to fund transformational care (for example, having behaviorists, pharmacists and care coordinators embedded within our clinics) and reinvest wisely for our patients’ and community’s future health care needs.
Be in the know: After each month’s Leadership meeting, watch Notepad for a blog from CEO Russ Myers summarizing what happened at Leadership. Many topics are discussed each month, in addition to the sharing of progress on work to strengthen and enhance the Mission, Vision and Values of our organization. Read about January’s meeting here!
Patients first: If one of our team members is transporting a patient and needs to use the elevator, please help by making way for them and holding the elevator open. When our elevators are down for repair access is at a premium. If staff cannot transport patients in a timely manner, medical procedures, and care, are delayed. We put patients and families first at Virginia Mason Memorial!
2019 CALENDAR:The calendar for 2019 with VMM paid holidays is now available here! You can also find it on the intranet under Employee Resources / YVMH Human Resources / Benefits.
Language skills pay: Did you know that you can now receive $50 per pay period for your language skills? Learn more about the ALTA Medical Interpreter test today! To find out more, contact Language Access Program Supervisor Angelina Garcia (angelinagarcia@yvmh.org) or Craig Wilson (craigwilson@yvmh.org) director of Patient and Family Experience. NOTE: Any employee who has not passed the ALTA Medical Interpreter assessment or the Listening and Speaking assessment by March 20, 2019 will no longer be eligible to receive Medical Interpreting or General Listening and Speaking premium pay until they have successfully met the qualifying criteria.
Calling a Code: If you need to call a code, please dial 8123 and not the operator. Your call will be answered and the code implemented immediately by calling 8123.
Parking Lot Electric Charging Stations: Please do not park in electric charging station spaces in the North parking lot. We have several employees who depend on those spaces for commuting to work. Security will be monitoring the spaces and action will be taken.
More on the Parking Front: Security has received complaints about the lack of parking in the West Pavilion I lot. They have also seen a number of team members parking in that lot. This lot is for patients and visitors only! Patients and Families are No. 1 in our Quadruple Aim. Care begins as soon as they arrive on our campus!
Do you really need to print that? Let’s reduce our use of paper! In 2017 alone, VMM purchased over 13,863 cases of copy paper -- that is 68,315,000 sheets of paper! The 136.63 tons of paper cost over $45,000 a year! Also, the cost of paper went up 6% in fall 2018 and is expected to rise 6% again in 2019. Help us reduce costs, improve health outcomes and our environmental impact by considering the following before printing: default printing double sided, reduce margins, grayscale, single spacing and use a 9 point font.
Need printer supplies? Please remember that any printer supplies (other than paper) need to be ordered through QBSI. Please contact IS to get those supplies. Do not order toner or other supplies from any company that contacts you by phone or fax.
Name & department on interoffice envelopes, please! To get your interoffice envelope delivered properly and promptly they need to be addressed with both the recipient’s name and department (not program or job!). Also, if you have extra interoffice envelopes in your department, please help keep those in circulation by returning the envelopes. Just place them in your outbox and the volunteers will pick them up. Our volunteers thank you!
Looking into home solar options? Here is a new list of options near us: https://www.energysage.com/supplier/search?q=&selected_facets=technology_types:Solar%20PV&zip_code=98901&distance=150&page=1 Learn how you can save money on your electricity bill, boost your home’s property value, generate clean electricity that protects human health and the environment.
Car pooling/transportation: Looking to carpool to work with fellow employees? Look for opportunities here. More opportunities to find a ride can be found on the Waze Carpool Finder app. Find it here! Also, check out the new transportation guide here. Have questions, need help? Kategottlieb@yvmh.org
Waste Reduction and Recycling: Please read the NEW waste reduction and recycling guidelines for VMM. If you have any questions or would like to become a champion, please email kategottlieb@yvmh.org.
The 5 S Closet: Decluttering and want to get rid of excess items? Bring them to the 5 S closet in the basement of the hospital! Also, shop here first before ordering supplies from purchasing. You can also recycle toner cartridges and batteries here. NEW to the 5 S Closet is a nonperishable food box. Please bring your unwanted nonperishable food to share with fellow employees who might be experiencing food insecurities. A special thank you to our volunteer who is helping us keep the closet organized! Learn more here.
Use BCC, please: Help us keep our email system running smoothly! If emailing to a large group, please use the ‘bcc’ line for email addresses. When you don’t, it clogs up the email system.
Don’t forget!You can view MEMO when you’re offsite here >>Keep up to date even when you’re not at your computer! You can view MEMO on all of your mobile devices!
If you would like your news or events to be included in MEMO, or if you have questions, please contact rebeccateagarden@yvmh.org. The deadline is Tuesday at noon and the email typically goes out mid-week. Just Be sure to include “FOR MEMO” in the subject line.