Vidant Health continually reinvests dollars back into the health system to fulfill our mission of improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. With a focus on team member and patient experience, we reinvest in our care environments, including technology and unit aesthetics throughout the health system every year.
The Renal Dialysis Unit (RDU) at ECU Health Medical Center (VMC) moved to a new, reconstructed space on 1 East with upgraded amenities, more space and increased privacy for patients.
The RDU provides numerous treatments for patients including hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and apheresis. Laura Respess, manager of Patient Care Services, said hemodialysis (or the removal of waste from the blood) involves two venipunctures if the patient has a graft or fistula, or by accessing the central line, and then hooking the patient to a dialysis machine. Blood is pulled out a little at a time, goes through the dialyzer to remove toxins and/or fluid and is then returned to the patient. Intensive treatments such as hemodialysis mean that patients spend a lot of time in the hospital, and the new RDU offers a more peaceful and private experience for patients while receiving treatment.
The new space on the first floor offers easier accessibility for patients due to location, and improved patient flow with an increased bay count from 12 to 20. Additional amenities such as TVs in each bay offer patients a welcome distraction from treatment.
This upgraded unit has received glowing reviews from patients, providers and the RDU care team in the short time it has been open. Patients have praised the larger bays with TVs and privacy, while providers have been excited about new machines and the presence of windows that provide brightness in the space.
“The team experience is enhanced because we are all on one floor (previously it was split on two floors). There is plenty of storage space, and everything is new, clean and inviting,” Respess said.
By reinvesting back into the system, we are improving the quality of care for patients, and enhancing experiences for patients and team members. As we look toward our future as Vidant Health, the care and services provided, such as renal dialysis treatments, will have even greater impact for those we proudly serve.
Vidant Chief Experience Officer Julie Oehlert talks about nursing innovations on SEE YOU NOW podcast
Vidant Health Chief Experience Officer Dr. Julie Oehlert took time recently to discuss the Vidant system, nursing and innovation on the podcast series SEE YOU NOW.
Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association launched SEE YOU NOW, a storytelling podcast that highlights innovative and human-centered solutions driven by nurses. The podcast addresses today’s most challenging health care problems.
Changing a culture
During her time on the podcast, Dr. Oehlert reflected on the importance of a positive culture in health care and how a strong culture can lead to improved patient and team member experience. When she first arrived at Vidant, she noticed the organization’s culture had room for improvement—including a shift from a “power-over” to a “power-with.” Dr. Oehlert said she focused most of the work in her first two or three years in the system on team members, love, empathy and bringing those elements into relationships so that a new, loving culture could emerge.
“It’s very clear in the science that one type of culture begets certain things and another type of culture doesn’t,” Dr. Oehlert said. “So in a power-with culture, you get a lot of innovation, empathy and compassion. You usually have good mentorship, good talent management, you have shared decision making, great patient experiences, good quality outcomes and people aren’t afraid to report near misses. That culture will deliver results that everyone in health care wants.”
As this desired culture became a reality at Vidant, it built a foundation for resilience in the eight-hospital health system and the more than 13,000 team members. Resilience is necessary at all times in health care to face the various daily challenges, especially in rural health care. But as a pandemic closed in, its importance was magnified.
Delivering health care in rural areas
Dr. Oehlert said delivering health care in rural areas is a challenge Vidant faces every day. The communities Vidant serves face many of the same problems other rural health systems see, along with its own unique challenges.
“People can’t get places, people don’t have access to things that they need or want. Anywhere where there are rural environments, in those kind of forgotten places anywhere in the world, these challenges would be the same,” Dr. Oehlert said. “When you’re in an urban environment, you’re 10 minutes from a resource. Here, you could be an hour and a half from a resource. That brings with it a lot of really interesting possible solutions.”
One of those solutions for Vidant is keeping resources out in the communities that need them. With regional hospital and clinic locations, she said Vidant can keep care and resources as close to home as possible for patients and families throughout a 29-county service area.
Adapting in a crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for care and resources close to home much more important. Dr. Oehlert said a key innovation since the onset of the pandemic has been clinic pop-ups throughout eastern North Carolina.
These community health events bring crucial services, screenings and resources to areas that need them. Talent recruitment is another important service provided during these community events.
“We always bring a recruitment person. So we actually give people jobs, which is what our communities’ want, so we hire right out of these community events,” Dr. Oehlert said. “Then as soon as our entry-level workers get here, we say, ‘What else would you like to be? What else would you dream of doing?’ We do a lot of really relational recruitment right from our low-trust communities.”
Giving team members the room and resources to grow through various programs, like the HomeGrown program, is one way Vidant makes an effort to invest in its team members.
Innovating together
COVID-19 has changed the typical way of doing business across all industries, and health care is no different. Innovation often is born during crisis and desperation and Dr. Oehlert said that while health care is changing and innovating rapidly, advice from a mentor gives her comfort.
“Teddie Potter used to say very kindly to me when things were very chaotic, ‘Julie, sometimes things have to disassemble before they reassemble.’ That gives me some peace because health care is disassembling, but it’s only disassembling so we can reassemble it in a much better, more loving, more caring way that is exactly where we need to head for health care to be what we need it to be for our future,” Dr. Oehlert said.
Dr. Oehlert said while health care moves forward, it will be crucial to keep nurses involved in discussions around innovation because of their unique perspective and connection to the patients they serve.
“They can do it with love and empathy and joy and hope as well as having the technical and scientific expertise,” Dr. Oehlert said. “That’s the beauty of nursing, it’s a heart job but it’s a science job.”
Looking for more?
Find and listen to the SEE YOU NOW podcast, Episode 61. Reporting Powers: Insights in Action wherever you get your podcasts.
Greenville, N.C. – Dec. 3, 2021 – Vidant Health has implemented a new screening process for visitors at Vidant Health hospitals to ensure enhanced safety for all patients, visitors and team members. In partnership with care.ai, a health care Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovator, the new technology allows visitors to complete a convenient contact-free visitor safety screenings before visiting loved ones.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety of patients, visitors and team members has remained a top priority,” said Lou Montana-Rhodes, Vice President, Office of Experience, Vidant Health. “This unprecedented time requires thoughtful innovations that help protect those we love and serve. The new Smart Entry™ screening solution developed by care.ai will allow us to work more efficiently and effectively at creating the safest environment possible at all Vidant hospitals.”
Visitors will complete their symptom screenings at VidantHealth.com/checkin, which will provide a QR code on their smart phone device. care.ai’s Smart Entry™ sensors will scan the QR code upon arrival and capture temperature readings in real-time. care.ai’s command center alerts team members to abnormal events as they occur to prevent visitors that may be positive for potential infection from entering.
Once the visitor is cleared for entry, a single day visitor pass is generated. Visitors must complete this process each day they visit. This provides a safe and efficient way to support visitor and patient access, while ensuring everyone entering the facility has been properly screened.
Team members will be on-site to assist visitors with the new screening process. Any visitors that may not have a smartphone to complete the screening process before entering will be able to with the support of team members upon arrival.
“We’re committed to making sure the patients and clients we serve have the information they need to keep them as safe as possible,” said Chakri Toleti, founder and CEO of care.ai. “We’re grateful of our partnership with Vidant Health and have such admiration for the role they play in triaging and controlling this pandemic and are proud to team up with them in this shared fight against COVID-19.”
GREENVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 12, 2021) – Today, East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and Vidant Health took the first step in the final approval process in creating ECU Health with a goal of becoming a national academic model for providing rural health care.
ECU’s Board of Trustees approved a joint operating agreement between the Brody School of Medicine and Vidant Health that will enable the two organizations to more effectively and efficiently address current issues facing the region — such as health disparities and care delivery obstacles — while also better anticipating future health care and educational needs.
Under the joint operating agreement, the Brody School of Medicine and Vidant Health will retain their separate legal entities, but will function collaboratively under a new, shared brand launching in 2022, known as ECU Health. Most Vidant entities and ECU Physicians will operate under the new brand while the Brody School of Medicine’s name will not change.
“This agreement represents an important milestone in the long-standing affiliation between two entities bound by the same mission as we work toward the creation of ECU Health,” Chancellor Philip Rogers said. “It signals the point where we can begin to move forward together on our journey to launch a clinically integrated academic health system and deliver on the commitment to provide quality health care for all eastern North Carolinians.”
The agreement also requires approvals from the Vidant Health Board of Directors, ECU Health Medical Center Board of Trustees, the Pitt County Board of Commissioners, and the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The UNC Board of Governors is expected to consider the agreement for final approval during its Nov. 17-18 meeting.
The majority of Vidant Health’s locations, ECU Health Physicians and ECU Physicians will rebrand to ECU Health. However, there are no changes to the employment status or benefits of current employees – and no assets are exchanged – as a result of the approval of the joint operating agreement.
ECU and Vidant Health announced their intentions to clinically integrate in June when Dr. Michael Waldrum, chief executive officer of Vidant Health and distinguished professor at the Brody School of Medicine, was appointed dean of the Brody School of Medicine. Waldrum continues to serve as CEO of Vidant Health in a dual role that is further outlined by the joint operating agreement.
“Today’s announcement is about the residents of eastern North Carolina and brings into reality the collective vision our two institutions have shared for nearly 50 years,” Waldrum said. “Rebranding Vidant to ECU Health in 2022 further signals and strengthens our commitment to bring the best research, doctors and care to the East. We have proven in recent years, and particularly during the pandemic, what can be accomplished when we focus our energies on the mission to improve the health of eastern North Carolina.”
The joint operating agreement is a legal framework that will allow the work of clinical integration and rebranding to begin in earnest with the purpose of:
- Improving the value of and the access to quality care and providing patients with a more streamlined health care experience.
- More efficiently using clinical staff across the combined operations, regardless of which organization employs them.
- Helping to facilitate new strategies and interventions for the most prevalent health needs of eastern North Carolina.
- Creating operational efficiencies and reducing costs.
- Establishing a shared leadership and governance structure for ECU Health.
Under the terms of the agreement, which will be effective Jan. 1, 2022, the two organizations will work together to:
- Evaluate and modify existing practices to improve quality and coordination of care.
- Integrate certain management structures and strategic planning efforts.
- Develop a plan for shared services to support the integrated entity.
- Leverage the capabilities of each organization to advance the collective research and education infrastructure.
- Coordinate philanthropic initiatives.
“Our mission has not and will not change. How we execute the mission is what is at issue,” said Dr. Jason Higginson, executive dean of the Brody School of Medicine. “We are going to be looking at areas where efficiencies can be built into our process and where value can be added to what we’re doing to improve the final outcome. So rest assured, what Brody is here for and what it stands for is not changing.”
Waldrum noted that the Brody School of Medicine has a rich history of training physicians for North Carolina and that mission will continue as ECU Health serves the 1.4 million residents of eastern North Carolina.
“Through harmonizing our operations wherever possible and building on our unique expertise in caring for rural and underserved communities, ECU Health will set the standard and be a national model for rural health care delivery,” Waldrum said.
About Vidant Health
Vidant Health is a mission-driven, 1,708-bed academic health system serving a region of more than 1.4 million people in 29 eastern North Carolina counties. The not-for-profit system is made up of more than 13,000 team members, nine hospitals including an academic medical center, home health, hospice, wellness centers, and ECU Health Physicians, a multi-specialty physician and provider group with more than 500 providers in more than 100 practice sites in eastern North Carolina. Vidant is affiliated with The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. As the largest employer in the East and a major resource for health services and education, Vidant’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. For more information, visit VidantHealth.com.
About East Carolina University
East Carolina University, or ECU as it’s best known, offers 87 bachelor’s, 68 master’s and 18 doctoral degrees to 28,000 students on its Greenville, North Carolina, campus and through an acclaimed online learning program. ECU also boasts the largest business school enrollment and largest number of new nurses and education professionals produced by a four-year North Carolina university, in addition to the largest studio art program in the state. Located near Atlantic coast harbors where pirates once roamed, ECU adopted the “Pirates” mascot in 1934 for its athletics program and competes in NCAA Division 1. Visit: www.ecu.edu.
The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University was founded more than 40 years ago to increase the supply of primary care physicians serving North Carolina, improve the health status of eastern North Carolina and enhance access of minority and disadvantaged students to a medical education. Each year, the school graduates close to 86 medical students and welcomes about 125 residents and fellows. Brody consistently ranks No. 1 in North Carolina – and in the top 10% nationally – for graduating physicians who practice in-state, practice primary care and practice in rural and underserved areas. It also ranks in the top 10% nationally for graduating Black and Native American physicians.
Each year on Veterans Day, Vidant Health honors and thanks the nation’s military veterans for their bravery and service for our country.
This year, ECU Health Medical Center (VMC) hosted a Veterans Day celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 10, to honor the nearly 500 veterans, in addition to the hundreds of military and veteran family members and those currently serving in a Reserve or Guard capacity, who are Vidant team members. Team members who have served in all branches of the military attended the event at VMC, which began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Reverend Raynard Griffin of Vidant’s pastoral team led attendees in prayer to reflect on their service. Van Smith, executive vice president at VMC, thanked team members for their service and for their hard work and dedication to caring for the community.
“Military service requires a commitment that is beyond the ability and comprehension of many,” said Smith. “In times of peace, and especially in times of war, it necessitates an allegiance to something greater than oneself. Here at ECU Health Medical Center, we’re also called to a common purpose as stated in our mission statement: to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. In our veteran colleagues that we have here and that are serving right now throughout ECU Health Medical Center and all across Vidant Health, we are fortunate to have people who know what it means to make a commitment like that. They’ve done it.”
Proud Air Force veteran now CVIU Staff Nurse at VMC
Among the 500 military veterans who now serve as Vidant team members is Audrey “Lee” Webb.
Born and raised in Windsor, North Carolina, Webb comes from a long line of family members who served in the military. Both her father and brother retired from the United States Army, while she was the first in her family to enlist and serve in the United States Air Force.
During her eight years in the Air Force, Lee traveled the world. She was stationed in Virginia, South Korea, Germany and Oklahoma. It was during her time in South Korea, that she picked up the nickname “Lee,” and it stuck with her ever since. Lee also served during Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia, and when her unit first arrived in the country, she was one of two women in a group of 67 men.
While enlisted, Lee worked in Non-Destructive Inspections (NDI). NDI personnel identify possible defects in systems and equipment. Wear, tear and fatigue occur in metals without visible signs. Similar to employing x-rays to visualize internal body parts, NDI personnel use non-invasive methods to inspect the insides of metal objects.
One of her most memorable times was being awarded the “Below the Zone.” Below the Zone is a competitive early promotion program that offers exceptional Air Force members the opportunity to earn their next rank six months early. Members are nominated by their chain of command and undergo a rigorous interview process to go over their major accomplishments and attributes. Lee was one of two Air Force members who earned Below the Zone in her unit.
After being honorably discharged from the Air Force as a Sergeant (E-4) in 1995, Lee came back to eastern North Carolina to use her GI bill to attend nursing school at Pitt Community College. Right out of college, she was hired at Vidant (previously Pitt Memorial Hospital). She has worked as a nurse at VMC for over 20 years now, currently serving as a Staff Nurse III on CVIU.
When asked how her military training has helped with her current career, she replied, “I am used to team building and teamwork. In the Air Force, we were mission-focused, and we are mission-focused in health care, as well.”
Lee said, “Traveling and serving in third-world countries and seeing the conditions there, really makes you appreciate what we have here. I am proud to have served our country. I love America!”
This Veterans Day – and every day – we are grateful to Vidant team members who served our nation and now serve eastern North Carolina. We are Vidant Proud of their commitment and dedication to improving the health and well-being of those around them. Please join us in thanking these heroes for all they do, for all of us. Watch a recap of the celebration at VMC below.
Greenville, N.C. – Nov. 2, 2021– Vidant Orthopedics has a new way to keep community members moving thanks to a new robotic knee surgery technology called the ROSA® Knee System offered at Vidant Beaufort Hospital, a campus of ECU Health Medical Center, and ECU Health SurgiCenter in Greenville.
Though recovery times will vary, most patients should be able to drive after two weeks, garden after three to four weeks and golf after six to eight weeks. The ROSA® Knee System is a robotic surgical assistant for total knee replacement. This new technology allows the surgeon to create a plan for the procedure using a 3D model of the patient’s knee, establishing a more precise view and a more customized approach for the patient’s joint anatomy.
“It is important to provide the latest in technologies to our patients and provide them with more options for their care,” said Dr. Deanna Boyette, chief of orthopedics, Vidant Orthopedics. “Along with this new knee replacement technology for in-patient needs, there is also the option to perform ROSA surgery on an outpatient basis, depending upon the individual needs of the patient.”
There have been seven ROSA surgeries performed at ECU Health SurgiCenter in its first week with six more scheduled in the near future.
“The orthopedic surgeons are still performing the knee replacement surgeries, and with the ROSA® Knee System, we can dial in the precision of our knee replacements to levels that meet the individual needs of the patient,” said Dr. Christopher Hasty, orthopedic surgeon at ECU Health SurgiCenter. “This technology allows us to provide the patient with the best knee replacement with maximum results with quick recovery time. Most patients are back to their regular activities within a couple of weeks.”
This total knee replacement technology supports patient care and offers advanced technology in the community so patients do not have to travel long distances to receive this procedure. The team of highly-trained orthopedic surgeons at Vidant Orthopedics is equipped with latest technologies, treatments and surgical techniques and can now perform these surgeries for patients who want to stay close to home.
The need for total knee replacement surgery results when other treatment options no longer provide relief. Unlike traditional total knee replacement methods, prior to surgery, the ROSA Knee takes a series of X-rays that can be used to create a 3D model of a patient’s knee anatomy. This 3D model enables the surgeon to plan the procedure according to the patient’s unique anatomy.
During surgery, ROSA Knee utilizes a camera and optical trackers attached to a patient’s leg to know exactly where the knee is in space. This helps ensure the plan the surgeon put into place is performed as intended. The ROSA Knee functions as an assistant to the surgeon providing the surgeon with data about the knee and helping in the precise positioning of the implant.
October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Vidant Health took the opportunity to promote the importance of early detection, recognize all the fighters and survivors, and honor those lost who lost their lives to the disease.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, and it is estimated that in 2021, approximately 30 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in women will be breast cancer.
Early detection
Early detection is crucial and Vidant provides access to advanced screening tools like 3D mammography – the most advanced imaging tool available to detect breast cancer.
Dr. Mahvish Muzaffar, a medical oncologist at ECU Health Medical Center (VMC), sat down with WITN to discuss the importance of these screenings. According to the American Cancer Society, screenings have dropped significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Muzaffar said according to one study, there was a nearly 90 percent drop in breast and cervical cancer screenings. She said the drop was substantial in rural America and among ethnic minorities.
“We know that this may translate into an additional 10,000 lives lost, by conservative estimates, just because of that delay (in screenings),” Dr. Muzaffar said.
She said there are many safety measures in place to protect against COVID-19 when visiting doctors and getting regular cancer screenings.
Women between age 40 and 44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year. Women age 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year or they can choose to continue yearly screenings.
Visit Vidant’s Events page to see upcoming screening events throughout eastern North Carolina.
Know the risk factors
Knowing your risk factors for any illness or disease is crucial. Understanding what to look for if you are high risk can help save lives. Jennifer Lewis, outreach coordinator with ECU Health Cancer Care, said breast cancer is no different as she joined WITN to discuss risk factors.
“When you do have a first-degree relative which is a sister, mother or daughter, that does double your risk of developing breast cancer,” Lewis said.
Other risk factors include age, as the likelihood of developing breast cancers increases as you get older, alcohol consumption, smoking, weight and lifestyle, and hormone therapies after menopause.
While these steps are important in limiting your chances, the most important thing you can do is contact your primary care provider if you notice any changes.
Wear Pink Day
Each year, Vidant team members across the health system participate in Wear Pink Day to celebrate all breast cancer survivors and to show support and solidarity to those who are still in the fight.
The East Carolina University women’s basketball team showed their support by stopping by VMC to hand out pink ribbons to team members, patients and families at the Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Tower.
View photos from the event below.
To learn more about Vidant’s breast cancer services and connect with care teams, visit ECU Health Cancer Care’s web page.
Vidant Health team members and other community organizations came together to give patients at the James & Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital a Halloween experience to remember.
More than 20 cars drove by the Maynard Children’s Hospital with decorations on their cars and decked out in Halloween costumes. From the Mystery Machine to Star Wars and unicorns to super-dogs, everyone came out to put a smile on the face of Vidant’s smallest patients.
Alix Larrazabal is a Child Life student at the children’s hospital and helped organize the parade. She said the event was a success and seeing the reactions from the children was a highlight.
“It was honestly the most fun thing to see this come to life from the very beginning, months ago when we first started talking about it to seeing it now, how it turned out and how excited the kids were, it was amazing,” Larrazabal said. “I’m really happy with how it turned out.”
The ground outside the front entrance to the children’s hospital was decorated with Halloween-themed chalk as some East Carolina University students and children’s hospital patients brought out the spirit of the season. Many children showed off their Halloween costumes during the parade as well.
In years past, team members would dress up in their costumes and visit patients but COVID-19 brought about changes to the event. Last year was the first year of the parade-style Halloween celebration and it was a hit. Larrazabal said it’s important for the patients to have a safe and memorable holiday.
“This allows all the kids to safely come outside despite why they’re here at the hospital,” Larrazabal said. “It gives them a normal Halloween when they might not have gotten that inside the hospital.”
Larrazabal said the patients in the Maynard Children’s Hospital received a goodie bag with toys and art supplies as part of the event, whether or not they could make it outside to the parade.
Over the last seven years, Vidant Medical Center (VMC) has partnered with organizations across eastern North Carolina to host Project SEARCH for exceptional Pitt County students.
Project SEARCH is an international transition program that provides real life work experiences to high school graduates with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The one-year program helps students learn various marketable skills that can help them gain employment after graduation from the program.
Lisa Lassiter, director of workforce development at Vidant Health, said Pitt County Schools approached Vidant about the possibility of partnering in the program. She took the lead on the Vidant side and attended meetings, worked with community partners and, with support and approval from senior leaders at the hospital, had a classroom for these students created at VMC.
Lassiter said she is grateful for the program, the students, community partners and everyone involved.
“I think this program and these kids have taught me more than I have ever been able to expose to each of them,” Lassiter said. “I was very limited in what I knew about exceptional children when the program began and they have opened my eyes and amazed me many times.”
Seven years in, the 2021-22 Project SEARCH class is the largest to date with nine students. These students spend time in the classroom learning employable skills and go out to internship sites throughout different departments at VMC to practice and refine these skills.
A Shining Example
For students that have an internship experience at the VMC cafeteria, they get a chance to work with a program graduate.
David Jenkins is a utility worker and is a direct supervisor for the Project SEARCH interns placed in the main cafeteria. Jenkins graduated from the program in 2019 and said he loves helping those going through their internships.
“I enjoy that a lot. I get to teach them about stuff that I know and I can sit back and watch them grow because of things that they learn from me,” Jenkins said. “Hopefully that will help them be a better citizen in this community.”
Jenkins had opportunities to intern in different areas throughout VMC during his year with Project SEARCH but enjoyed working in the cafeteria most. He said he felt a breakthrough when he asked to join team meetings during his internship and learned a lot about team goals.
He said it was important for him to go through the program and learn the important skills that have set him up for success today.
“My favorite part of going through the program was pretty much experiencing stuff that would be like the real world, such as advocating for myself, learning how to manage money, working with other people and how to interact with other people,” Jenkins said.
Katie Nagler Houmard, Project SEARCH instructor, said she was proud to see Jenkins’ growth from his time as a shy student to the leader he is today. She also said it’s important for current students to see what they can accomplish with Jenkins setting the example.
“We’ve seen that when they hear it from someone who has been where they are, they’re much more likely to really grasp it and take the advice,” Houmard said. “Sometimes when we tell them something, they could think, ‘What do you know? You’ve never been in my shoes.’ I think it’s inspiring for our current students to see him now in his role and working as part of the team at Vidant. It definitely gives them a good goal to work toward.”
Quintequa Weaver, Project SEARCH job coach, agrees. “I think just seeing him be a role model to the kids now is such a great thing to see,” she said.
It Takes a Village
Lassiter said community partnerships are an important part of what makes the program so special. While VMC hosts the classroom and offers the locations for internships, other community organizations contribute so much.
Pitt County Schools provide a teacher and identify students who make great candidates. RHA Health Services offers up a job coach to help students learn skills and work with them to find positions after graduation. On a state level, the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities and North Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation provide support as well.
Internally to Vidant, team members who support the program are invaluable. Bernard Dixon, assistant manager for Central Services at VMC, is one of many team members who supports Project SEARCH and students going through the program. He said he appreciates the opportunity to work with these exceptional students and help them grow as team members.
When a student is preparing for an internship, they go through the typical steps that any team member would take before joining a department.
“They come down and they interview for the position as a typical employee would and we sit down and talk with them,” Dixon said. “Once we sit down and talk, we find out what exactly they can do and what their skill level is. Once we determine what their skill level is, we treat them just like we would any other employee.”
He has found that as he works with the students in Project SEARCH, once they are comfortable in their role, they often exceed expectations. He said supporting the students—and not putting labels or limitations on them while also helping them learn employable skills—is the most important thing his team can do.
“We don’t want them to be labeled or anything like that,” Dixon said. “It’s not about saying they can’t do this or they can’t do that – no. Let them do what they do. We find out that a lot of them can do more than we think they can.”
Learn more
- For more information on Project SEARCH, contact Lisa Lassiter via email at [email protected]
- Vidant Health News: Project SEARCH
- Project Search at ECU Health Medical Center 2021 Graduates
Greenville, N.C. – October 27, 2021 – ECU Health Medical Center (VMC) is proud to announce it has received re-certification for its cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR). This is the fourth recertification for VMC by the AACVPR since 2012, and it recognizes VMC’s commitment to improving the quality of life of patients by enhancing standards of care.
To earn this certification, VMC’s cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation program participated in an application process that required extensive documentation of the program’s practices. Each program’s application is reviewed by the AACVPR Program Certification Committee, and certification is awarded by the AACVPR Board of Directors.
For VMC, part of the application process included the submission of individual treatment plans that were evaluated for personalizing the care of patients and documenting patients’ rehabilitation for improvements in health.
“This outcome-based process with performance measurements shows more meaningful results in how we are making a positive impact on the lives of our patients,” said Stacey Greenway, director of cardiovascular disease management programs at VMC.
For patients in the cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program, it is the compassion of the staff that is a big part of their success. During rehabilitation, cardiac and pulmonary team members focus on the things the patients can control in order to improve their health and get them back to their daily activities. When patients take part in these rehabilitation programs, there is a 58 percent risk reduction of having a future cardiac or pulmonary episode.
“One of the most important benefits to patients participating in our cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program is learning how to become more engaged partners with their health care team,” Dr. Noel Peterson, cardiologist at Vidant Health, said. “We are pleased to once again receive this recognition of continued excellence in comprehensive care for our patients receiving cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.”
Cardiac rehabilitation is a combination of medical care and counseling to improve cardiovascular health after a heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty or heart surgery has taken place. It may include exercise counseling and training, lifestyle education (e.g., nutrition and reducing risk factors) and efforts to manage stress. Cardiac rehabilitation eases patients into heart-healthy exercises, nutrition education and education on how to manage risk factors such as stress.
Pulmonary rehabilitation can help reduce and control breathing difficulties and other symptoms of lung disease and benefit conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, pulmonary hypertension and sarcoidosis. Pulmonary rehabilitation includes education and exercise to manage chronic lung disease with less shortness of breath.
“Factors like learning how to be more proactive about health and providing programs that demonstrate the highest standards of best practices makes a significant impact on the lives of our patients,” said Greenway. “The diligent work of our VMC cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation team members recognized by the AACVPR is another example of how we are providing quality health care to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.”