Deb Fournier joined St. Mary’s Health System in 2001 as Director of Operations for St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion and later accepted the role of Administrator for the nursing home. She has been an outstanding leader and has made major contributions to the success of not only the elder care division but also of the entire St. Mary’s Health System. Her connection to our organization goes all the way back to her time here as a student nurse at St. Mary’s School of Nursing and she will be missed by all who have had the pleasure of working with her. Deb has accepted the challenge of becoming the next Chief Operating Officer of the Maine Veterans’ Homes. We wish you the best, Deb!
Archive for November, 2010
Co-workers, friends, and residents say farewell to Deb Fournier, St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion Administrator
Monday, November 29th, 2010
Cheese making at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center of Maine
Monday, November 29th, 2010Watch the videos, presented by the Sun Journal, of Denise Dill making Farmers Cheese and Yogurt Cheese at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center of Maine in Lewiston.
St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion Rehab Center Awarded
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Front Row: L to R: Ed Lathem, Lorrayne Mastrangelo, Michelle Welch, Raquel Beaudry, Cheryl Dobbelsteyn, Debra Fournier, Sr. Irene Platt, and Judi Rousseau-Gagnon. Back Row: L to R: Kathleen Murphy, Stacy Paradis, Gail Belanger, Christine Lachance, John Twomey, Lori Fortier, Janice Gagnon, Candy St. Hilaire, Rebecca Leclair, Nancy Boilard, Helen Feldman, Suzanne Godbout, Debbie Buckmore, and Christine Caron.
CARF International announced that St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion Rehab Center has been accredited for a period of 3 years for its Inpatient Rehabilitation Programs- Skilled Nursing (Adults) program. This is the first accreditation that the international accrediting body has awarded to St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion Rehab Center.
This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable.
Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services
St. Mary’s Health System Welcomes New Members to Its Board
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Mary’s Health System is proud to welcome new members to its Board of Directors. Judith Andrucki and Anne Schuettinger are new to the Health System’s board, Carolyn Lepage is a returning member.
Andrucki is a partner at Andrucki & Mitchell Attorneys at Law, Schuettinger is Chairperson of Nursing at Central Maine Community College, and Lepage is the President of Lepage Environmental Services, Inc.
“These new members bring diverse backgrounds and a wide-range of skill sets that will greatly complement our Board,” said Lee Myles, CEO of St. Mary’s Health System. “We are very fortunate to have individuals of this caliber devote their time and talent to our organization. It’s the willingness of community members like these that have been integral in the success of St. Mary’s.”
Board appointments are for three year terms.
Busy day at St. Mary’s Food Pantry!
Friday, November 19th, 2010-
- Turkey giveaway at the St. Mary’s Food Pantry located at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center of Maine in Lewiston.
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- Unpacking the truckload of turkeys!
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- Diane Dilllon, cooking instructor, stressed the importance of hand washing when handling raw meats.
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- Diane rinsing the turkey.
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- Diane mentioned that if you oil the turkey pan with olive oil it makes clean up easier!
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- Diane preaparing the turkey
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- Diane Dillon sharing tips with the group during the turkey cooking class at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center of Maine in Lewiston.
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- James (far right) picks up a turkey for his neighbor.
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- Fifth graders from St. Dominic Academy collected food for St. Mary’s food pantry. When they were done unloading their items, they helped the folks from BIW unload 308 pounds of food donated by employees!
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- Fifth graders from St. Dominic Academy helping the folks from BIW unload 308 pounds of food donated by employees!
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- Pauline Henule. St. Mary’s Food Pantry Volunteer, assisting a community member.
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- Paul Rossignol and Derek Dumont from BIW handing a check for the Food Pantry to Joyce Gagnon, St. Mary’s Food Pantry Manager.
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- Paul Rossignol and Derek Dumont of BIW, and Joyce Gagnon of the Food Pantry.
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- Helping hands.
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- A box full of food ready to go!
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- truckload of food.
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- St. Dominic Academy 5th graders unloading a truckload of food.
Recent graduates of St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion’s Matter of Balance class
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
- L to R:Robert Berube, Joanne Berube, Jackie Letendre, Claudette Jalbert, Connie Lavoie, Eugene Lavoie
A Matter of Balance is designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. Participants learned to set realistic goals to increase activity, change their environment to reduce fall risk factors, and learn simple exercises to increase strength and balance.
Have you turned down a chance to go out with family or friends because you were concerned about falling? Have you cut down on a favorite activity because you might fall? If so, A Matter of Balance: Managing Concersn About Fallscould be a program for you or a family member. For more information call Tami Girardin, St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion, at 207-777-4203.
St. Mary’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders Earns a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Staff at St. Mary's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders Front Row: L to R, Mahesh Pandey, MD, Yelena Patsiornik, MD, Evie Taylor, RN OCN, Oncology Supervisor, Joline Betsch, Director, St. Mary's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Standing: Lori Wilbur-Dunham, CTR, Melanie Whited, RN , Jen Hazen, RN OCN , Kim Thistlewaite, RN, Maura Clark, LCSW, Lori Dyer, RN, Linda Merchant, RN OCN, Chris Gervais, RN OCN, Melissa Dube, Shannon Lessard.
Staff at St. Mary's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders Front Row: L to R, Mahesh Pandey, MD, Yelena Patsiornik, MD, Evie Taylor, RN OCN, Oncology Supervisor, Joline Betsch, Director, St. Mary's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Standing: Lori Wilbur-Dunham, CTR, Melanie Whited, RN , Jen Hazen, RN OCN , Kim Thistlewaite, RN, Maura Clark, LCSW, Lori Dyer, RN, Linda Merchant, RN OCN, Chris Gervais, RN OCN, Melissa Dube, Shannon Lessard.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11.12.10
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) has granted Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation to St. Mary’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
A facility receives a Three-Year Accreditation with Commendation following the on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor during which the facility demonstrates a Commendation level of compliance with one or more standards that represent the full scope of the cancer programs (cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, research, community outreach, and quality improvement). In addition, a facility receives a compliance rating for all other standards.
Established in 1922 buy the American College of Surgeons, the CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival rates and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care. Its membership includes Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and 42 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of cancer care.
The core functions of the CoC include setting standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer patient care; surveying facilities to evaluate compliance with the 36 CoC standards; collecting standardized and quality data from accredited facilities; and using the data to develop effective educational interventions to improve cancer care outcomes at the national, state, and local level.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that more than 1.5 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2010. There are currently more than 1,400 CoC-accredited cancer programs in the US and Puerto Rico, representing close to 25 percent of all hospitals. This 25 percent of hospitals diagnose and/or treat 71 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients each year. In addition, a national network of more than 1,600 volunteer Cancer Liason Physicians provides leadership and support for the CoC Accreditation Program and other CoC activities at these local facilities.
The Accreditation Program, a component of the CoC, sets quality-of-care standards
for cancer programs and reviews the programs to ensure they perform to those standards. Accreditation by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily commotted to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and that undergo a rigorous process and review of their performance. To maintain accreditation, facilities with CoC-accredited cancer programs must undergo an on-site review every three years.
Receiving care at a CoC-accredited cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to:
- Comprehensive care, including a range of state-of-the-art services and equipment
- A multispecialty, team approach to coordinate the best treatment options
- Information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options
- Access to cancer-related information, education, and support
- A cancer registry that collects data on type and stage of cancers and treatment results and offers lifelong patient follow-up
- Ongoing monitoring and improvement of care
- Most importantly, quality care, close to home
Cancer patient data are reported by each CoC-accredited cancer program to the CoC’s National Cancer data Base (NCDB), a joint CoC/American Cancer Society program. The NCDB currently contains patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment outcomes information for more than 18 million cancer patients diagnosed and treated at hospital cancer programs in the US between 1985 and 2004. These data account for approximately two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancer cases in the US each year.
NCDB data is regularly used to monitor and improve the quality of patient care delivered in CoC-accredited cancer programs. The CoC requires programs to implement quality improvement initiatives that promote the delivery of quality, multidisciplinary cancer care and lead to ongoing educational interventions with local providers in the CoC-accredited cancer programs.
Through an exclusive partnership with the American Cancer Society, the CoC provides the public with information on the resources, services, and cancer treatment experience for each CoC-accredited cancer program. This information is shared with the public on the American Cancer Society’s web site at www.cancer.org and through the American Cancer Society’s National Cancer Information Center at 1-800-ACS-2345.
For more information about the Commission on Cancer, visit www.facs.org/cancer/index.html. For more information about St. Mary’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders visit www.stmarysmaine.com.
The Fifth Annual Chefs Soirée –
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010Proceeds benefit the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center of Maine.
Thank you to our guests and generous sponsors:
Anthoine Financial Group
Central Maine Credit Union
Community Credit Union
Grey Nuns Charities, Inc.
Hebert Construction
Lauren & Wayne Moody
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
Maine Family Credit Union
Neokraft
Norman, Hanson & DeTroy
Surgical Systems
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- The Fifth Annual Chefs Soirée – November 5, 2010
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- Auburn’s own Chef Scott Johnson – In 2004, voted one of the nation’s top-five “rising chefs” by Esquire Magazine
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- Jim Armaral – Founder of Borealis Breads
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- Proctor Wells – 35 years experience in the fishing industry in Maine
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- Mike Thompson – Owner and Operator of the Thompson Orchards
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- Elizabeth Keene, VP of Mission Effectiveness, offering a blessing
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- L to R: Patrick Williams, Doug Spalding of Bartlett Maine Estate Winery, and Joline Betsch
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- Guests in the demonstration kitchen enjoying sipping on Maine wines and enjoying a wonderful meal!!
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- Deb Perkins serving appertizers
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- Thanks to Chris Laliberte for his musical talent and Brian Johnson for the audio/visuals.
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- L to R: Deb Burd, Mary Ellingwood, and Deb Perkins
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- Silent Auction
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- L to R: Darlene Vallee, Kelly Shaw, and Deb Anthoine
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- Bartlett Wines
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- Dr. Umesh Sarma, Michelle Rice, Cindy Place and Dr. Jim Place
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- Presentors L to R: Jim Armaral, Founder of Borealis Breads, Proctor Wells, fishing industry, Chef Scott Johnson, and Mike Thompson owner and operator of Thompson Orchards
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- Sharon and Bill Lagasse of Twin City Times
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- L to R: Lee Myles., CEO/President and Kirsten Walters, Nutrition Center Director
Tobacco Support Group
Friday, November 5th, 2010Healthy Androscoggin’s Tobacco Support Group takes place every Thursday evening from 6 pm to 7 pm, and is open to anyone from the surrounding communities. Participants can come every week or as often as needed. The group is facilitated by Keith Pray, a former smoker who has lost a family member to tobacco-related disease and feels this is a way to help save others’ lives.
The discussion is free and no pre-registration is required. For more information about the Tobacco Support Group or quitting smoking, please call Healthy Androscoggin at 795-5990 or visit www.healthyandroscoggin.org.
Please Note: Beginning January 6, 2011, the Tobacco Support Group will be meeting in the Diabetes Education Room on the Auburn Campus, 15 Gracelawn Road.
