Grateful Patient Provides $500,000 Gift

Like many patients who receive treatment at the Martin Memorial Wound Medicine Center, David Smythe was impressed with the care he received.

But Smythe, who splits time between Stuart and Summit, N.J., was so impressed he wanted to give something back to the wound medicine center. So he made a gift of $500,000 as a gesture of gratitude to the staff who helped him through the healing process.

“The people over there, I don’t know if you’ll find people like them anywhere,” Smythe said. “You could see that they just wanted to help people. They wanted to take care of you and they did.”

Smythe has long understood the value of customer service. In 1958 he purchased an American Motor Corp. franchise in Summit and eight years later opened Smythe Volvo there. Today, the Smythe Volvo Organization is celebrating 50 years in the automobile sales industry and is one of the largest Volvo dealerships in the United States.

Smythe began receiving treatment at the wound medicine center in October 2007, going three times a week. The center – which has been named a national award winner as a wound medicine center of excellence – provides a multidisciplinary program of treatment and support for the management of acute and chronic wounds. Since problem wounds are often associated with underlying medical conditions, the program is designed to integrate wound care with ongoing health care.

This fall the center will move from its current location to a larger office at 314 Hospital Ave. It will also come with a new name – the David L. Smythe Wound Medicine Center at Martin Memorial.

“We are extremely grateful to David for this generous gift,” said Arthur M. “Rusty” Brink Jr., vice president and chief philanthropic officer of Martin Memorial. “He has recognized the value of quality health care in our community and the importance of philanthropy in ensuring that those resources are available to our residents.”

--Scott Samples

Public Information Coordinator

Tips to Beat Back-to-School Blues

I remember when I was in middle school we used to sprint from the school grounds singing Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” at the end of each school year, happily awaiting the adventures of summer. Those were the days.

Then we grew up and most of us became parents. Now, this past summer, our kids were singing their version of “School’s Out.” We spend a glorious and laborious summer with the kids at home and then anticipate the fall and the newness of the school year.

For working parents, along with the newness is the added stress of re-entry shock: alarm clocks, schedules, homework, packing lunches, after-school activities, pick-ups and drop-offs, work deadlines and more.

Coping with the stress of the back-to-school adjustment can be overwhelming. How can a working parent survive this time and stay resilient? The trick is to manage your time by practicing behaviors and finding activities that blend your life roles. In other words, keep the things that are important in the forefront and keep your work/life balance in check.
If you and your children are feeling the shock of back-to-school and you have to split your time with your work and family, try some of these ideas and see if your re-entry shock is minimized.

Blending Your Life Roles:

1. Invite family to help with work projects: not just kids;, but parents and other elders
2. Take family members to conferences with you
3. Videotape your workplace, include greetings from co-workers, and watch the video with your family
4. Display your family pictures and family artwork in your work space
5. Hold family meetings when everyone shares what they did that was good at their “work” that day
6. Help your children develop and maintain a positive attitude about work
7. Explain what you do in language they can understand
8. Point out benefits that come to them from your working
9. Resist the temptation to always blame your crankiness or tiredness on work
10. Let them know that work can be stimulating, uplifting, and satisfying

When work takes you away from home:

1. Leave surprise notes for your loved ones under pillows, in sock drawers, in briefcases
2. Communicate in creative ways from work or on the road
3. Leave voice mail and email messages
4. Buy two identical books written at your child’s age level; schedule reading time by phone each night
5. Remember special events and phone immediately to hear the details
6. Send postcards from every place you travel

--Lani Kee
Manager, Center for Health and Healing

Cancer Claims Life of “My Cancer” Blogger

I don’t cry. I firmly believe in the man credo of keeping those tears deep in the ducts where they belong, except of course when something truly miraculous happens – like the birth of your child or the Chicago Cubs finally winning a World Series (it will happen).

But on Saturday I happened by npr.org and found devastating news. Leroy Sievers, a former journalist and producer of ABC News’ “Nightline,” had died after battling cancer for several years.

Sievers, whose blog “My Cancer” on npr.org chronicled his battle against the disease five days a week, had created a tight-knit community of people living with the disease, their friends and family, and anyone who’s ever known someone with cancer.

As I scrolled through the hundreds of comments offering condolences to Sievers’ wife – and to each other – I felt the tears well up. I’d never met Sievers but felt as if I’d known him for years. His honest, forthright discussion about what it was like to have cancer were often touching, always insightful and full of hope – not just for himself but for everyone who read the blog. It was a must-read for anyone affected by the disease.

I was surprised by the emotional reaction his death inflicted on me. But it was his ability to connect with readers, to use his words to relate to the experience of living with cancer that made him so unique.

His voice will be missed. But for those of us fortunate enough to have followed him on his journey through “Cancer World,” he will certainly not be forgotten.

--Scott Samples
Public Information Coordinator

Learning New Ways to Satisfy Customers

One of the most pressing issues healthcare organizations face today is improving customer satisfaction. Exceptional customer service used to be a “nice to have,” but has rapidly become a “must have” for providers striving to remain competitive. To achieve success, organizations must link together the many facets of customer satisfaction. For healthcare providers like Martin Memorial, our “customers” are our patients, their families, visitors, volunteers, physicians, Associates and other departments within our hospital.

Remembering our STAR values (Service, Trust, Accountability and Respect) as part of what we do each and every day will ensure that we are striving for a “patient’s first” philosophy. Our Customer STAR Training Initiative at Martin Memorial is working to do just that. This program is providing our Associates with the tools, knowledge and motivation to exceed the needs of our customers to continuously improve our patient satisfaction. This takes sustained effort, hard work and extraordinary organizational energy. But for those organizations that achieve improved customer satisfaction scores, improved Associate satisfaction and a better reputation in the community, the journey is well worth the effort.

This training consists of a half-day session and five follow-up sessions that Associates attend. One of the components of this training is a service model called GVALHI, which stands for Greet, Value, Ask, Listen, Help and Invite. Associates will have the opportunity to learn more about each of these important steps to service. Exceptional service comes from the head and the heart and we will continue to provide this service with compassion, pride and a caring spirit.

To date, 1,064 of our associates have been through this training with 100 more currently in attendance. As we have grown through these sessions, we’ve learned that it’s not just about customer service, but about human relationships and how each of us truly makes a difference with each choice we make. What makes each session so unique, is the shared experiences brought by each participant. No matter the level of customer service experience, everyone can contribute and take away something positive with them.

--Barbara Hilton
Office Coordinator, Learning and Organizational Development

Exercising Gets to the Core of the Matter

If you have heard any advice when it comes to exercise, this line may sound familiar: “You have to strengthen your core.”

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), defines the core as the trunk or link between the upper and lower extremities. The trunk is made up of the spine, the pelvic girdle, and the rib cage.

Many of the exercises that we teach at the Martin Memorial Health and Fitness Centers originated from rehabilitation. Many of these core exercises were intended for treatment of low back pain and injury.

“Pull in your belly button!” Fitness trainers are constantly reminding people to do this while exercising and throughout the day to support the lower back. If you keep your core drawn in (your belly button tucked), it will put your body in proper alignment.

Some of the best core exercises are known as planks, bridges, and side bridges. These exercises can be very challenging. For example, a plank is a held or starting push-up position. Try holding that pose for 30 seconds. Do you feel your abdominals and “glute” muscles tighten to keep your back from arching? That’s a core exercise! This type of training is a sure-fire way to “fire up” your abdominals much more than the traditional “crunch.”

Once you conquer the plank for 60 seconds, try placing your hands on a stability ball. There are many options to continually challenge the core. BOSU balance training, stability balls, pilates and yoga all focus on core training.

Here’s something to think about. I was just cutting up a pineapple from my neighbor’s garden and we had a “light bulb” moment. The pineapple core is the strongest part of the fruit. Now it makes sense that our own bodies need to be their strongest at the core.

But here is something else to think about: Do not eat the core of the pineapple. It’s really “hard core.”

--Jane Reynolds, ACSM HFI
Health and Fitness Technician, Group Exercise Instructor

New Cancer Clincal Trials Available

A new clinical trial for patients with non-resectable stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer is set to accrue patients at the Robert and Carol Weissman Cancer Center. The trial is provided by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG).

Currently, standard radiation for this diagnosis is given five times a week for six weeks. The experimental portion of radiation therapy will be carried out over seven and a half weeks at a higher dose. Patients will receive chemotherapy at the same time as radiation, followed by two more cycles of chemotherapy when radiation is completed. Since these stages of lung cancer are likely to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy rather than surgery, better control of lung cancer tumors is needed.

To qualify for the trial, patients must be diagnosed with stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer that has not been surgically resected. Patients must not have had chemotherapy or prior chest/neck radiotherapy for their present cancer. Also, patients must not have had an invasive cancer, unless they are disease free for three years prior to this diagnosis.

There are many other inclusion/exclusion criteria for this study. To find out if you or a patient qualifies for this trial, or for information on other clinical trials, please contact the research department at the Robert and Carol Weissman Cancer Center at (772) 223-5945, ext. 1669.

Along with this new trial, there are additional trials available for lung cancer including a vaccine trial for stage IB-IIIA, surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer patients.

--Lindsay Mattino, RN
Clinical Research Coordinator, Genetics Nurse Educator

Slacker Salvation: Exercise in a Pill

Planning to lose some weight? Forget about going to the gym. Don’t worry about going for a jog. Settle into that couch and get comfortable, because science is coming to the rescue.

The good news came out on Thursday. Finally, scientists claimed, there is a drug that could replicate the benefits of exercise without actually having to do the work. Not only did test subjects burn more calories and have less fat, they could exercise longer (but why would they need to?)

“We have exercise in a pill,” one of the study authors said in an Associated Press story.

That sound you hear is the chorus of millions of weary exercisers swan-diving into their easy chairs, a bucket of the Colonel’s fried chicken tucked under one arm.

But of course, nothing’s that simple – the tests had only been performed on mice and scientists warn that the results may not be replicated in humans. Still, the notion that exercise could become an afterthought is encouraging to people who spend hours on treadmills or lifting weights to stay in shape.

For now, exercise and a good diet are the best way to maintain your weight. But for all of us slackers who’d rather pop a pill than do a push up to get in shape, here’s hoping those researchers keep up the good work.

--Scott Samples
Public Information Coordinator