Health Fair for Cover the Uninsured on April 4
For the seventh consecutive year during the week of March 22 through 28, the Greater Kansas City Cover the Uninsured Coalition is working to educate the Kansas City community about the problem of the uninsured. In Missouri, more than 669,000 people or 11.8 percent of the population do not have health insurance. 7.9 percent are Missouri children. In Kansas, more than 281,000 or 10.5 percent are without health insurance. 6.5 percent are uninsured children.

Saturday, April 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the students of UMKC?s Schools of Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, & Dental, along with their faculty and numerous community volunteers are opening the doors to the new Health Sciences Building for a Cover the Uninsured wellness fair, located at 25th and Holmes, south of Truman Medical Center. A variety of health screenings and informational booths will be offered free to the public, including:

In addition, the coalition is offering a free resource guide of health care providers for the uninsured and underinsured. The directory is available on-line at www.kchealthresource.org. Also, on April 1 from 5 to 7 p.m., KSHB-TV and the Cover the Uninsured Coalition are hosting are phon-a-thon where viewers can call in and request a printed guide.

Members of the Greater Kansas City Cover the Uninsured Coalition include Advocates for Family Health, AFH, Ascension Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carondelet Home Care Services, Carondelet Manor, Kansas City Health Department, Kansas City Wellness Network, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Providence Medical Center, Regional Health Care Initiative-MARC, St. Mary?s Medical Center, St. Mary?s Manor, Saint John Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, Saint Vincent Clinic, The Salvation Army, Seton Center, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Unicare Health Plan of Kansas, UMKC School of Pharmacy, West Central Missouri Area Health Education Center and Villa Saint Joseph.

If you are interested in participating or would like the latest information, please contact Bob Frazier at 816-943-4556 or check out the national website at www.covertheuninsuredweek.org. For further information about the health fair, call 816-235-5463.

Carondelet Heart Institute First in North America to Offer EP Cockpit
On February 19, 2008, the Carondelet Heart Institute at St. Joseph Medical Center became the first hospital in North America and the third in the world to install the Electrophysiology (EP) Cockpit.

The EP Cockpit is a new innovation which supports clinicians in the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders, including complex ablation therapies. This new concept in electrophysiology labs combines Philips proven Allura Xper interventional lab with a number of innovative instruments to help make EP labs more convenient and efficient. In other words, the cockpit helps shorten EP procedures and improve and streamline care by providing all the information the cardiologist needs from one centralized source.

Cardiac electrophysiology is the study of the heart?s electrical system and it is one of the fastest growing market segments in cardiology. This specialty within cardiology provides treatment for cardiac rhythm disorders through medication, pacemaker and defibrillator implantation, cardioversion and cardiac ablation. Today, many EP departments are challenged with the increasing demand for these procedures and the need to perform more complex patient treatments.

?EP procedures are very complex, requiring multiple pieces of equipment and data from numerous sources. All of these issues combined make the labs intimidating to our patients and procedure times quite lengthy,? says Jane Falk RN, BSN, administrative director of the Carondelet Heart Institute.

?By talking to our customers and observing them at work in the EP lab we realized that in many labs the working environment was far from optimal. The variety of technologies used in the EP lab can create a clutter of cables, keyboards and video screens that may take away attention from the procedure itself and from the patient,? said Jan Vermeulen, global marketing manager, electrophysiology, for Philips Medical Systems. ?Besides cleaning up the lab, EP cockpit also helps to manage data from the different sources in a more uniform way, thereby allowing electrophysiology professionals to work more efficiently and perform procedures with more confidence.?

The EP Cockpit provides EP specialists with a comfortable and efficient working environment. It provides a customizable lab setup including video switching, single keyboard and mouse control concept and moveable ceiling suspended equipment rack holding EP lab equipment. Additionally, the EP cockpit can archive and retrieve patient data from various sources enabling physician access via a single workspace. The EP Cockpit is also equipped with EP navigator, Philip?s innovative imaging tool that will support clinicians in the treatment of complex cardiac rhythm disorders.

St. Joseph Medical Center Announces Chief Executive Officer
Carondelet Health President and Chief Executive Officer, Fleury Yelvington announced that Scott J. Kashman, MHA, FACHE has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of St. Joseph Medical Center. He will begin his duties Tuesday, May 27.

Kashman currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Mercy Hospital Anderson (MHA) in Cincinnati, Ohio, a health ministry of Mercy Health Partners and a subsidiary of Catholic Healthcare Partners. MHA is a 226-bed, full-service acute care facility that has been named by Solucient as one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation for the past seven years and one of the Top 100 in patient safety in 2008.

In addition to his experience at MHA, Kashman has served in various health care roles throughout his career. Prior to his current position, he served as vice president of St. Mary?s of Michigan Medical Center. He has previous strategic and operational experience with outpatient services, inpatient services (including emphasis on critical care), therapy and rehabilitation services, psychiatric hospitals and surgery centers.

Kashman holds a Master of Health Administration degree from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow (FACHE) and Leadership Mentor in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

?I worked with Scott at St. Mary?s of Michigan and he has a solid background in operations, a focus on physician relationships and an energetic, inclusive leadership style,? shares Yelvington. ?He brings a great deal of talent to our healthcare team.?

?St. Joseph Medical Center has an illustrious history as a faith-based healthcare ministry in Kansas City and I am delighted to now be a part of that tradition. I plan to hit the ground running and becoming acquainted with the employees, physicians, volunteers and community St. Joseph serves,? says Kashman, ?My wife, Jenny, and I and our children look forward to settling into our new home in Kansas City.?

Carondelet Health Diabetes Education Program Merits ADA Recognition
The Carondelet Health diabetes self-management education program at St. Joseph Medical Center and St. Mary?s Medical Center has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association. This program offers high-quality education services to the patients it serves.

The ADA Education Recognition effort, begun in the fall of 1986, is a voluntary process which assures that approved education programs have met the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. Programs that achieve recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management for participants.

Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment. The participant in an ADA recognized program will be taught self-care skills that will promote better management of his or her diabetes treatment regimen. Through the support of the health care team and increased knowledge and awareness of diabetes, the patient can assume a major part of the responsibility for his/her diabetes management. Decreasing risks for developing complications of diabetes and decreasing hospitalizations related to poor diabetes management are two goals of self-management education.

?The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of the services they provide, and it helps consumers identify these quality programs,? commented Catherine Parkhurst, RN, MSN, CDE, and program coordinator.

For more information, contact Catherine Parkhurst, RN, MSN, CDE or Nancy Mack, RN, CDE at St. Joseph at 816-943-2489 or Diane Warren, RN, MSN, CDE at St. Mary?s at 816-655-5244.