Ann Lewis' Blog

Tornado destroys CEO Blog!

2010-05-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

OK.... so I'm fixated on tornadoes (read my blog history and see why!), but even I can't seriously be using a tornado as the reason for my not having done any recent blog updates! That's as bad a "the dog ate my homework". I suppose I am just not "in the habit" of blogging. I will (really!) try to do better!

So, here's a quick update!

2010: It's only May and with everything that has been packed into the past few months, it feels like it should already be September. 2010 is proving to be incredible. It is the year of our 30th Anniversary of providing services! And, yes, I have been with the organization as CEO for the entire thirty years. Considering that we began services in 1980 with one office, one doctor and only four staff members, we have indeed come al long way! We will be having several 30th Year Anniversary celebrations during the year. Stay tuned!

At the end of March 2010 we received our fourth Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO) accreditation survey! We passed with flying colors! We are extremely proud of our JCAHO accreditation. We feel this accreditation represents the "gold seal" of quality. There are only eighteen JCAHO accredited ambulatory centers in SC, including surgery centers. CareSouth Carolina is proud to offer to the communities we serve, quality care and services that meet the highest standards of ambulatory care: those of the Joint Commission.

Recently CareSouth Carolina has also received international accolades for our work in improvement. The Institute of Healthcare Improvement 2009 Progress Report (www.ihi.org) cites CareSouth Carolina for our work in managing diabetes. IHI is a leading international organization working toward healthcare improvement. And, by the way, congratulations to the IHI President, Dr. Don Berwick, for the recent nomination by President Obama for the position of Administrator of CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services). We can't wait to see what this extraordinary leader of IHI will bring to the reimbursement policies of Medicare and Medicaid.

With Dr. Berwick at the helm of CMS and the new Health Care Reform legislation, we believe the future will offer significant opportunities. Just recently, we have seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of un and under insured. Folks have lost their jobs and small businesses have been unable to continue to provide employee health insurance. Our services are designed to provide a health care home. We call it a health care home because our services go beyond primary medical care - providing integrated behavioral health services, care management and education, pharmacy, patient advocacy and outreach services.

CareSouth is also about to pass a major milestone in our journey of transformation and improvement: we will be implementing an Electronic Health Record. We have made our vendor software choice, insuring that CareSouth will continue to be a leader in quality. The decision about our choice has taken almost one year! Our selection decision was made based on embracing the full scope of meaningful use of the EHR including assisting with quality and safety, engaging patients and families, providing care coordination among other providers (hospitals, specialists, etc.), providing data for patient and population management, and insuring privacy and security. We are excited about this next phase in the evolution of transformation and improvement.

So, so long for now! By the way, if you have perused my prior blogs and see my past pictures of tornado destruction of my house, here's a picture update of the new house! Finally, I have moved in!

Whew! Lot's of Trips

2008-10-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

October has been full of lots of trips. But they are finally over. They have been excellent and very rewarding. The last trip was to a Learning Session for our new IHI IMPACT Team: the Cheraw office team. I think they did an extraordinary amount of work and found the Learning Session to be quite interesting. I think they also realized that CareSouth is a leader in many ways and they had a lot about which to be proud! No matter how many times I participate in a Learning Session, I always learn something new and stimulating. This time I learned some very interesting things about Teamwork and Change. I will be sharing this at the November 18th Staff meeting! See you there!

CareSouth Carolina News

2008-10-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Holidays are just around the corner!!! Don't forget Halloween! I (along with my trusty team mates) will be doing site visits, costume and site awards, and of, course, candy!! Have fun! See you all soon!

An Update (finally!)

2008-10-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

It sure has been a long hot summer! And a long, discouraging one for me. It became to hot and dismal that I had to stop all of my work with debris removal and fence repair. And I have made no progress in negotiations with my insurance company. So things have been pretty depressing. But, now, there's good news to share!! I have been approved for a government Disaster Assistance Loan! This will allow me to get started on a house, continue with debris removal, and keep working on the insurance company! Yippee!!! This has sure been a horrible experience. I can't tell you all how much I have appreciated your help, your caring, and just being there as all of this progressed. I'm hoping that when the one year anniversary rolls around (March 15th), there will be considerable progress and improvement!! That's not that far away! Thank you all again!

Where does time go?

2008-06-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

May and June are gone! I wish I could say that things have really improved for me, the house and all.... but no can do. I am having a huge battle with my insurance company. They only want to pay about a quarter of what the costs have been and will be. This is just financially impossible for me. It has been so discouraging. After putting in almost 20 years of work in my house and farm and to see it just gone. Oh well, enough of the pity party! I just got back from a big federal meeting in Washington and met up with some friends from Iowa and was hearing about the terrible floods they have had. What is this all coming to? Floods, fires, storms, tornados.

So.. we must press on. I am still continually amazed by the caring from my CareSouth family. The Hartsville Medical Office really gave me a treat the other day! And Ms. Clara Montague.... I have been loving the glass horse so much!

Tornado Update (April 29th) and Other Stuff

2008-04-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

I think I'm almost getting the hang of this blogging! Many thanks to Pat Nelson and her husband Rich and Phyllis Lott and her husband Jack. They were all out Saturday, April 19th,pitching in with cleanup. I must say that keeping my energy and optimism up has been a lot better with help from folks like Pat, Phyllis and their husbands. We got a lot done! What's left of the fron porch (photo #1) has been cleaned up. And the mess on the now non-existent sun porch is all gone, although I'll be picking glass up for years! We have made great progress on the yard also! The next focus will be on the back pasture: huge pine tress are down, debris scattered all over the place. We will probably have to rent the track hoe and dumpster again in order to do this work. If you're interested in helping, stay tuned!!!!!

OTHER STUFF

The pharmacy is going great! This has been a great start, but remember, if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call the pharmacy, 843-339-5533. We are still a new pharmacy and working out the bugs!!

STAFF MEETING COMING UP

Don't forget the staff meeting coming up on Thursday, May 29th. Jammed packed agenda not to mention the Wellness Drawing for the Orlando Vacation!

I Knew I'd forget Someone!!

2008-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

I knew I'd forget someone in all my thank you list. And I forgot Miss Willa. Her gift and her energy in moving me into my mobile home were wonderful. How COULD I forget!!!!! She's so special!

A Tornado update.

2008-04-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

As many of ya'll know, on March 15th a tornado went through my area on the outskirts of Timmonsville. Unfortunately, I took a big hit. My home was destroyed, one of my stables was totally destroyed, all other barns and stables received considerable damage in addition to every fence was damaged. Sadly one of my horses did not survive. I lost every tree in my yard which included three 200 year old pecans trees, old beautiful crepe myrtles and others. In my pastures I have another twenty plus trees uprooted and damaged, including some wonderful old black walnuts. I was in the house, in the center closet (just like the Weather Channel told me to do!) with two of my dogs. I cannot even describe it.

But now comes the time of re-building. I have purchased a mobile home. It is located right next to the house. I have a place to live!!! Maybe I can get organized now!

Most importantly, I want to thank and acknowledge all of the considerable help, support and care that the CareSouth Carolina staff have given. There are so many folks that have offered their prayers and encouragement. I so appreciate it. But, there are some folks to whom I want to give special acknowledgment and thanks:

Neal, Elaine, Ryan and Dylan Anderson: Thank you is not enough for this family. Not only did I move in with them for three weeks, but Neal has worked harder than anyone I can imagine dealing with all the damage, getting my horses and other animals safe, stabilizing the chaos and keeping a level head in the midst of such trauma. His work can never be re-paid. There aren't many people in the world who have such a good friends as Neal, his wife Elaine and their boys (who are hard workers!) Ryan and Dylan. I am blessed!

Rose Brown: what would I have done without her hard work: packing and organizing for the move out and the move in. Not to mention, keeping me in touch with work in the office. Rose is very, very special!

Marie Stephens: her help with packing, moving out and in and even washing some laudry ofr me (you would not believe how much laundry there has been!) was a godsend.

Joy Gandy: Joy really does a mean packing job! She just "gets it done"!!!!

Thomas Graham and Jason Sellers: added their muscle to cleanup and debis removal!

Randy Yarborough and Kevin Yarborough: pitched in for my last minute moving!

Liz Kershner and her husband Rich: their help on Easter weekend (which was hot and brutal) picking up the huge amount of debris and trash was sooo appreciated. Not to mention the doughnuts!

Mark Sobiski: for his wonderful help during the time he was dealing with his own grief. Mark has always been the for me. He thinks about things and needs before they even cross my mind!

Kathy Spann-Hampton: Thanks! I really needed that!

Tim Walters: Thanks, much appreciated!

The McColl site: I am so looking forward to using your gift certificate for the Spa Day!! I really, really need it!

The Society Hill RLG site: I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

If I forgot someone, please forgive me. My mind has been too full with "stuff" lately and I'm finding that my memory is not too good without my trusty notebook!

So what now? People ask. All I can tell everyone is that there is, and will be for a long, long time, an enormous amount of work to be done. Clearing the huge amount of debris in the yard and in the pastures, rebuilding fences, rebuilding and repairing the barns, sheds and stables. I can honestly say that most every weekend for the foreseeable future will be spent doing this work. Any and all volunteers welcome!!!

So, remember, when the Weather Channel issues a tornado watch and then a tornado warning, take action. If I had not been in the center of my house, in a closet with no windows, I am sure things would have been different. But I paid close attention to the weather alerts and was ready. When the windows blew out, the roof came off, the sun room and porch blew off.... if I had not been in the closet, I truly would have been Dorothy! Take care, Ann Lewis

Staff Meeting Tuesday, February 27, 2008

2008-02-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for a great staff meeting! It is always so nice to see people who I don't get to see very often! There was a lot of information to cover. And I got some really great feedback. Remember, if you have any questions or any ideas about any of my presentation, just email!! Congratualations to the Medallion prize raffle winners! The prizes were great!

Great work on the System Level Performance Measures! What a difference you are making for our patients and community!

Good news on the Pharmacy

2008-02-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

We got our SC Board of Pharmacy license! Hopefully we are less than a couple of weeks away from opening. I am really excited and know that this can bring such benefit to staff and patients!!

Just gettin' started....

2008-01-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

Howdy everyone. Welcome to my new blog!! I will use this blog to post news, updates, and information that I want to share with everyone and give the opportunity to folks for feedback. I am looking forward to having this new tool for communication. It will be fun, and I hope informative!

Ann