Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center Receives The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Award Demonstrates Good Samaritan’s Commitment To Quality Care For Stroke Patients

Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The award recognizes Good Samaritan’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines.

This marks the 4th year that Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center has been recognized with a quality achievement award.

Get With The Guidelines–Stroke helps Good Samaritan’s staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes to improve patient care and outcomes. The program provides hospitals with a web-based patient management tool, best practice discharge protocols and standing orders, along with a robust registry and real-time benchmarking capabilities to track performance.

The quick and efficient use of guideline procedures can improve the quality of care for stroke patients and may reduce disability and save lives.

“Recent studies show that patients treated in hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program receive a higher quality of care and may experience better outcomes,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., chair of the Get With The Guidelines National Steering Committee and director of the TeleStroke and Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. “Good Samaritan’s team is to be commended for their commitment to improving the care of their patients.”

Following Get With The Guidelines-Stroke treatment guidelines, patients are started on aggressive risk-reduction therapies including the use of medications such as tPA, antithrombotics and anticoagulation therapy, along with cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation counseling. These are all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. Hospitals must adhere to these measures at a set level for a designated period of time to be eligible for the achievement awards.

“Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center is dedicated to making our care for stroke patients among the best in the country. The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program helps us to accomplish this goal,” said Gabbie Fried, RN BSN, Director of Cardiovascular Services at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. “This recognition was achieved through excellent team work and demonstrates that we are on the right track. I am very proud of our team.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Construction at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center (Maternity + Emergency Department)

Construction is in full swing at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. In February we launched Phase One of the renovation of our emergency department. Today, construction is underway to complete phase two of the project.  Phase two entails a demolition of the old emergency department and a complete new look with state of the art of equipment adding another ten plus beds to existing 19 freshly renovated rooms from Phase One.

Along with the construction of the Emergency Department at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center is the construction of our new maternity unit, to be located on “T5″ of the facility.  A new “mother-baby” and “labor-and-delivery” unit will be constructed that will accommodate the rise in the amount of births across the Rockland County area.  We are thrilled to be able to offer more private rooms, extraordinary care, and a more comfortable environment for all of our patients and families. Look for this new maternity unit in Suffern, NY to be opened up by the end of 2013!

Sometimes It’s Not a Matter of Saving Lives – Blood Donation Blog – Episode 1

A few months ago I was talking to a group of third-graders, trying to get them to remind their parents about the upcoming blood drive in the school. I gave it my usual “each donation saves three lives” spiel and thought I was doing a good job. Then a little girl raised her hand and asked “If blood saves lives then how come my daddy was sick and he died?” To this day I’m not sure exactly how I answered her question. What I do know is that I cried all the way home and began to wonder if this job was as good as I kept saying it was. I mean, what was it all for?

My mind wandered back to my Uncle Bobby. He came for a week’s vacation and stayed two years because he was diagnosed with cancer while at my house, and we didn’t have the heart to send him back to his little apartment where he would be all alone. Well, long story short – he was terminal, and got to the point where he wouldn’t eat. The day came for his chemotherapy and we almost had to carry him into the facility for his treatment. On this particular day his “numbers” were so low that they had to do a blood transfusion first.

You have to understand that we went in with a very sick, weak man. But while the blood was dripping into his arm for four hours, a miraculous change came over him – his pallor changed from dusky grey to rosy pink, the light came back in his eyes, and he even started gabbing with the nurses and staff taking care of him. When the transfusion and the chemo were over, he got himself up off the bed, patted his belly and said “can we stop at Burger King on the way home?”

From that moment on, whenever he was to go for chemo, my dad would rap on his door and say “Bobby, Burger King tomorrow!” He would smile and anticipate the feast that was to come the next day.

My point? Well, a blood transfusion doesn’t always save lives. But it can make those lives a little better. Taking a bad day for someone who has a lot of them lined up, and turning it into a good one is really a priceless gift. Not only to the “Uncle Bobby’s” of the world, but to their friends and family as well. Remember, for every patient who needs our help, there’s someone waiting by the phone for the daily “how’s he doing?” report.

Your lifesaving gift is just that – a precious gift that can give life, or like ripples in a pond, it can improve the life of patients and families alike. Thank you for supporting us with your donation!

For more information on the blood donor services run through Bon Secours Charity Health System, please visit our website at http://bschs.bonsecours.com/our-services-a-z-medical-services-blood-bank.html

Tuxedo School District visits the Garden of Hope at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center

Today at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center (a member of the Bon Secours Charity Health System), we had the privilege of hosting a group of “kinderGARDEN” students to assist in preparing and maintaining our Garden of Hope.

The students learned various skills such as planting seeds that included chard and sow pea.  Other accomplishments include tilling of the soil, watering seeds and overall care of a small garden.  Lessons learned today may help shape the interests of students for their future hobbies and possibly even careers!

We would like to take this time to thank the Tuxedo School District for visiting and helping maintain the garden, as well as acknowledge our garden coordinator Anne Meore for all of the hard work and dedication she shows on a daily basis.

Blessing of the Soil Scheduled for the “Garden of Hope” at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center

Therapeutic Garden Inspires Hope and Improves Quality of Life

SUFFERN, N.Y. (April 18, 2013) – On Tuesday, April 23 at 1:00 p.m., one day after Earth Day, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center will hold a Blessing of the Soil Ceremony for the “Garden of Hope” to mark the beginning of the 2013 growing season.  Located on the campus of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, adjacent to the “Spirit of Rockland” special victims unit, this special gathering is open to the public and will take place rain or shine.

Guests will include hospital and community leaders as well as horticultural therapists and interns from the New York Botanical Gardens. Members of the clergy will also be on hand to officially “bless” the soil. Additional special guests include representatives and consumers from Jawonio. As part of the horticultural therapy programming planned for 2013, consumers from Jawonio ‘Day Hab.’ services of New City will help the community by planting crops and caring for the Garden of Hope throughout the growing season.

“The Garden Ministry at Bon Secours Charity Health System is so grateful for the wonderful and talented group from Jawonio ‘Day Hab,’ their dedicated staff members, and all the other wonderful volunteers and supporters of the Garden of Hope,” stated Anne Meore, Horticultural Therapist and Garden Project Coordinator at Bon Secours Charity Health System. “The hard work and generous spirit of our dedicated community members is priceless and we look forward to working with everyone this season to reap a bountiful harvest in 2013.” added Meore.

The Garden of Hope at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center is a 32’ x 40’ growing space, which is tended to and maintained through the generous donation of time and effort of volunteers. The garden features a fully-irrigated planting system, as well as a wheelchair-accessible planting bed and vertical growing walls. In addition to providing fresh produce to our local food pantries, the space is host to ongoing horticultural therapy, wellness and educational programming.

Total Joint Replacement Center at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center

Thank you for choosing Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. You are now in the hands of physicians and staff with specific expertise in taking care of patients having joint replacement surgery.  We want to be sure you know what to expect, have the information you need and have your questions answered before and after your surgery.

Please utilize our website as a reference for any questions you may have in regards to The Total Joint Replacement Center.

Dr. Amala Chirumamilla, featured in this month’s MD News

At Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Suffern, NY, patients benefit from immediate access to specialized cardiovascular care delivered by experienced physicians and medical staff.  With the addition of board-certified cardiologist Amala Chirumamilla, M.D., the facility’s nationally ranked cardiovascular program is poised to exceed its already exceptional diagnostic and treatment capabilities — from the full gamut of echocardiogram services to cardioversion for arrythmia.

Please take a moment to review the attached article featuring Dr. Chirumamilla.

A Jewish Prayer (Passover)

O Source of light and truth,
Creator of the eternal law of goodness,
Well-spring of justice and mercy,
Help us to find knowledge by which to live.
Lead us to take the words we shall speak
into our hearts and our lives.

Bless all who enter this sanctuary in search and in need,
All who bring to this place the offering of their hearts.
May our worship here lead us to fulfill our words and our hopes
with acts of kindness, peace and love. 

- A Jewish Prayer

Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center Emergency Department Informational Video

Our Emergency Departments are here for you! Have you heard about the new Phase 1 opening of our emergency department at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center? 19 new bays equipped with state-of-the-art monitoring, nursing call systems and much more! Visit http://bschs.bonsecours.com/our-services-emergency-department.html for more information about the emergency departments across our Bon Secours Charity Health System!

Take a moment to view our “Emergency Department Informational Video”

Cholesterol 101—what you need to know

You hear it all the time… “I have high cholesterol, and my doctor says we have to keep an eye on it.” (You may even be the person who said it!)

High cholesterol is a common problem. In fact, cholesterol medications—called statins—consistently rank in the top 10 for the most prescribed drugs in the world. They’re also top earners for their pharmaceutical manufacturers—one highly prescribed statin generates over $7 billion (with a “b”) in sales every year. That’s a lot of cholesterol!

Yet, for many of us, cholesterol is something of a mystery. After all, there’s both “good” cholesterol and “bad.” And we’ve heard that the good and bad have to be in a certain proportion to each other to help ensure a healthy heart. Some can rattle off their cholesterol numbers like the stats for their favorite team; while others have no clue what’s lurking in their arteries.

Confusing? It can be. So today, we’ve prepared a quick primer on all things cholesterol to help you get a better understanding.

Let’s start with the basics… what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fat-like, waxy substance. It’s found in all the cells of your body, which uses it to make Vitamin D, hormones and to help digest food.

Cholesterol travels in your bloodstream in small bundles called lipoproteins (with fat on the outside, protein on the inside). There are two kinds of lipoproteins: Low-density lipoproteins (LDL, or the “bad” cholesterol), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL, which is the “good” cholesterol).

To be heart healthy, you need the right amount of LDLs and HDLs. If you have too many LDLs, they can lead to a build up of cholesterol (or plaque) in your arteries. That can lead to a condition called arteriosclerosis, or, in every day terms, blocked arteries. And it’s blocked arteries that cause things like strokes and heart attacks.

What about cholesterol numbers? What do they mean?

When your doctor does a blood test to check for cholesterol, he or she looks carefully at the number of LDLs and HDLs in your blood. The numbers tell an important story. Basically, the higher your LDLs, the more likely you are to develop heart disease. Here’s what the numbers reveal…

Less than 200 – This is a desirable level

200 to 239 – Borderline high cholesterol

240 and up – High cholesterol

Your blood test will reveal, too, specifically how much LDL and HDL you have. Here are how those numbers should break down…

LDL (bad cholesterol, where lower numbers are better)

Less than 100 – This is best

100 to 129 – Near best

130 to 159 – Borderline high

160 to 189 – High

190 or higher – Very high

HDL (good cholesterol, where higher numbers are better)

Less than 40 (men) or 50 (women) – You’re at high risk for heart disease

60 or higher – Helps protect you against heart disease

Triglycerides play a key role in heart health, too.

Triglycerides are fats in the body. Many people who suffer from heart disease have triglycerides that are too high. And when you combine high triglycerides with either high LDL or HDL cholesterol, it can speed up the development of arteriosclerosis (plaque in the arteries). So, when you doctor checks for cholesterol, he or she will include a triglyceride reading, too.

What if I have high cholesterol and/or high triglycerides? Then what?

Your doctor will put a treatment plan in place for you. It may be as simple as making lifestyle changes (eating better and exercising more), or he or she may elect to put you on medication. Your overall health, your numbers, and your family history all play a role in your treatment decisions.

Should you have your cholesterol checked?

Yes. The American Heart Association recommends that all adults age 20 and up get their cholesterol checked every five years. They’re good numbers to know.

For more information on heart health, please visit the website of the Active International Cardiovascular Center at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Suffern, NY http://bschs.bonsecours.com/cardiac