Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1047089
62 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Summa Health denied bid to restart ER residency program By Alyssa Rege A kron, Ohio-based Summa Health revealed its request to restart its emergency medi- cine residency program was denied by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Educa- tion, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Here are four things to know: 1. Cindy Kelley, DO, vice president of medical edu- cation at Summa Health, informed staff of the AC- GME's decision in a short memo Sept. 18. She said in the memo, obtained by the Akron Beacon Journal, that a full letter detailing the organization's reasons for the denial will be sent within 60 days. 2. e ACGME placed the health system's emer- gency medicine residency program on probation in February 2017 and stripped it of its national accred- itation in July of the same year. e program was initially suspended for several reasons, including an abrupt ER staffing group change that took place Jan. 1, 2017, and residents allegedly seeing patients without supervision. e program's suspension was lied in October 2017. 3. e program's suspension le 21 residents scram- bling to find other programs to enroll in to complete their training, with the majority of residents leaving the Akron area entirely. Cliff Deveny, MD, interim CEO of Summa Health, told the publication the health system has made great strides in improving its emergency departments. "While we would have liked a different outcome from the residency application process, we remain fully committed to working with our colleagues at [U.S. Acute Care Solutions] to start a new emergen- cy medicine residency program at Summa. To that end, we look forward to receiving additional feed- back from the ACGME so we can understand why the decision was made and how to best incorporate that feedback as we move forward," he said. 4. Summa Health submitted a 326-page applica- tion to ACGME to restart the residency program in April. However, there is no process to appeal the denial, meaning Summa Health must wait a full year before reapplying. If the process is successful, the earliest the health system could welcome back residents to its emergency medicine program would be July 2020. n Texas hospital to offer free drive-thru flu shots By Megan Knowles C uero (Texas) Regional Hospital offered free drive-thru flu shots in its parking lot Oct. 10, the Victoria Advocate reported. The drive-thru provided flu shots while supplies lasted from 5 to 7 p.m. Staff will administer the shots in the hospital's front parking lot for pa- tients 9 years and older in their vehicles. "We are seeing cases of the flu very early this season and encourage those in the area to take action immediately to get the flu vaccine," said Keisha Whitman, infection prevention and employee health staff mem- ber for Cuero Regional Hospital. n Maine health system looks to the Philippines to recruit nurses: 5 notes By Kelly Gooch L ewiston, Maine-based St. Mary's Health System has taken an in- ternational approach to nurse recruitment, according to a Sun Journal report. Here are five things to know: 1. St. Mary's, which is owned by Tewksbury, Mass.-based Covenant Health, tried various nurse recruitment methods. For example, it of- fered signing bonuses of up to $10,000 and showed up at local college coffee-and-doughnut hours. 2. The recruitment left St. Mary's with 70 to 75 openings, including 20 at its 200-bed d'Youville Pavilion nursing home in Lewiston. Meanwhile, nurses in the Philippines were searching for better job opportunities overseas, and longtime staff members at d'Youville Pavilion, who were originally from the Philippines, suggested St. Mary's look internationally. 3. St. Mary's eventually teamed up with an international healthcare staffing agency, PassportUSA. The agency presented 30 initial candi- dates, and St. Mary's ended up hiring 13 experienced Filipino nurses for d'Youville Pavilion. 4. Nursing Director Marissa Varney told the Sun Journal: "It will be good for our patients, first and foremost. We've used travelers [short-term contract nurses], but they're only here for 13 weeks. Sometimes they ex- tend it for another 13 weeks, but it's not the same. Having the continuity with staff, having the patient know who's taking care of them, it's big. It's huge." 5. The new hires come as Maine faces a nursing shortage. A state- wide study estimates Maine will have a shortage of 3,200 RNs by 2025. n