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MGHHOTLINEA PUBLICATION FOR EMPLOYEES AND STAFF OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL1

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One decade agO, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino called upon the city’s teaching hospitals to join him and the Boston Public Health Commission to eliminate inequities in health and health care. The MGH joined in that citywide effort and created the MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities to identify and address disparities at the hospital. On Dec. 5, the committee marked its 10-year anniversary with a special event in the O’Keeffe Auditorium, which also honored Menino for his service and support.

“Mayor Menino believes in taking care of people before they are in distress and has taught that lesson to all of us,” said Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president, in his welcoming address.

Menino’s groundbreaking efforts to analyze and address the problem of racial and ethnic disparities in the city have constituted a major initiative of his administration. As a result, Boston was the first city in the nation to produce a report detailing the problem locally and to develop a comprehensive blueprint to outline potential solutions. The mayor helped harness the energy of all of Boston’s teaching hospitals

including the MGH – now at the forefront of best practices health care facilities can use to improve care to minority communities.

“It’s not about me, folks. It’s about you folks,” said Menino. “I just want to say thank you for what you’ve done. Because of you, a lot of people now have the health care they need.”

The event included a retrospective of Disparities Committee initiatives and accomplishments. Featured speakers were Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, director of the MGH Disparities Solutions Center and co-chair of the MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities; Elizabeth Mort, MD, MPH, senior vice president of Quality and Safety and chief quality officer; Joan Quinlan, MPA, executive director of the MGH Center for Community Health Improvement; Arlene Kelleher, RN, Pediatric ICU nursing director; Shannon Lundin, community outreach coordinator from the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition; and Lee Jeanty, an MGH Bicentennial Scholar.

“Boston is the envy of nearly every city,” said Betancourt. “We are grateful to the mayor for being a catalyst for change.” n

Disparities forum celebrates successes, honors mayor

COLLABORATION: From left, Betancourt, Menino, Quinlan and Slavin

Healing HaitiIt wOuld be one of the first steps toward healing, Ernst Montoban says, if a security officer posted at the entrance of Haiti’s newest hospital greeted patients with a smile and patient, reassuring words.

“We need to start transitioning people’s minds and introduce a new culture to the area,” says Montoban, head of security for Zanmi Lasante, a sister organization of Partners In Health, the Boston-based organization committed to improving the health of those in need. “It may be a slow transition as we get everybody on the same page – but people have a willingness and a desire to learn. We want eventually to get to a place where there is respect, and we are looked upon like the security team here at the MGH is.”(Continued on page 2)

ON The sAme pAge: From left, Michelman, Montoban, Roy and John Driscoll, assistant director of Police and Security

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— Healing Haiti(Continued from page 1)

In November, Montoban spent 10 days shadowing MGH Police, Security and Outside Services staff members to learn how he can implement similar policies and procedures in the newly constructed L’hopital Universitaire de Mirebalais, a 205,000-square-foot, 300-bed teaching hospital that currently employs 125 officers at the main site and its satellite clinics. Upon his return to Haiti, Montoban plans to begin the first of many training sessions to help educate and advance his staff. “The culture now is one that is very aggressive and we are trying to show people that they can speak through non-verbal confrontations and without weapons. It’s been so very helpful to come to the MGH. This information will help us to build a foundation in Haiti. Here at the MGH, when someone sees an officer, they feel safe. And the officers speak to patients like human beings, with full respect.”

Harold Roy, of MGH Police and Security, whose extended family lives in Haiti, helped spearhead the project, with the support of department officials. “This really has been the MGH’s vision from the very beginning – to serve the poor here and in other communities,” Roy says. “This is a wonderful experience and opportunity for us to help Ernst and share our knowledge.”

Montoban says that, along with the technical training aspect, he hopes to be able to instill the sense of respect he has seen between the MGH medical staff, security officers, patients and their families. “It is my goal and vision that – 5, 10, 25 years down the road – the reason we are successful is because of the model we are following, the one I learned at the MGH. There is real leadership here, and I am so thankful to have gained this experience.”

Bonnie Michelman, director of MGH Police and Security, adds, “This was set up with us as the teachers, but we enjoyed being students as well. The mission of our department is to deliver protective and supportive services to the MGH community in order to provide a welcoming, accessible and safe environment. I am thrilled our staff was able to share their insights on how Ernst can help make this same mission possible in Haiti through his own security staff.”

Rose Claire Cornely ROse claIRe cORnely, who worked for MGH Environmental Services for 34 years, died Nov. 30 at the age of 86. Though slight in stature, Cornely will be remembered for her larger-than-life smile and for the kind words she offered to everyone she encountered.

“She was a sweetheart, and she was a great employee,” says Bill Banchiere, director of Environmental Services. “She always had a smile on her face, and everybody just adored her. She was like everybody’s grandmother. Every year she worked in our department, she would receive either a perfect attendance award or ‘near’ perfect attendance recognition.”

Cornely, who retired from the MGH in 1993, returned to work part time in 1996. In 2001, when the MGH was named to the AARP’s list of top employers for workers over the age of 50, Cornely shared her thoughts about the honor and her long-time commitment to the hospital. “I’ve been working at the MGH since 1979. I left for two years, but came back part time because I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. At 80 years old, I like to do everything for myself. I still cook and clean and do my own shopping, and I like coming to the hospital because of all of the nice people I work with.”

Jane Marshall, technical director of the MGH Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, says the hospital was like Cornely’s second home. “The MGH and her church were very important places to her. She was always so pleasant and positive and always asked about you and your family.”

Several other members of the lab shared their thoughts, remembering her as “having a positive spirit and an inspirational work ethic, as a wonderful person and a responsive employee who would do anything to improve service.” Marshall says a fond, lasting image of Cornely will be the way she tilted her head and smiled during conversation.

Cornely is survived by her brother, George Vernicier Cornely, and sister, Marie-Marthe Bouchard, both of Haiti, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services have been held.

In memORIam Jay Austen named inaugural MGH Trustees Chair in Plastic SurgerycOlleagues, fRIends and famIly gathered Nov. 5 in the Sweet Room to celebrate the designation of W.G. (Jay) Austen Jr., MD, chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, as the first MGH Trustees Chair in Plastic Surgery.

“Jay is so deserving of this honor,” says Keith D. Lillemoe, MD, chief of the Department of Surgery. “He has been a great teacher and mentor to many residents and is an innovative researcher, clinician and surgeon.”

An endowed chair is a mark of distinction recognizing the hospital’s most accomplished physicians. The honor is given to those who have exceptional records in research or hospital-based education, and it provides the hospital with the opportunity to recognize and provide support to outstanding physicians. Funding for the inaugural chair was provided by several gifts and through endowment funds.

Austen has pioneered of a number of leading-edge techniques at the MGH, including nerve decompression to treat patients with migraines, novel methods in breast reconstruction and innovation in fat grafting. He also has numerous inventions in development that hold promise for patients in need of reconstruction or rejuvenation.

“I am very grateful to receive this honor,” Austen says. “I am particularly proud that this chair specifically recognizes plastic surgery at the MGH – which I believe is the greatest division anywhere. It truly acknowledges and supports the significant need for teaching and research in plastic surgery to which our entire division is completely devoted.”

mARK OF DIsTINCTION: From left, David F. Torchiana, MD, chairman and CEO of the MGPO, Austen and Lillemoe

MGHHOTLINE

Reducing slips, trips and falls alaRmed by the number of reported falls by employees during 2011 and 2012, a committee of MGH managers and employees was formed last summer to discuss ways to make the hospital safer and eliminate preventable slips, trips and falls.

“In each of the last two years, we recorded more than 300 employee falls,” says Andrew Gottlieb, NP, director of MGH Occupational Health. “A majority of these falls were preventable and may not have occurred if it weren’t for wet floors or misplaced electrical cords. We need to work together as a hospital community to help reduce these hazards.”

The committee’s work has resulted in several precautionary measures. Umbrella bags are now located inside entrances of the main campus buildings. These bags are meant to prevent wet umbrella water from creating a hazard on hallway floors. In addition, cord covers have been placed in operating rooms to prevent staff from tangling with or tripping on cords as they move around their patients.

The committee has a number of other efforts in the works but preventing slips, trips and falls is everyone’s responsibility, says Gottlieb. For that reason, the committee is seeking input from employees to pinpoint ways to further reduce falls in 2014.

Has your team or department taken action to reduce preventable slips, trips and falls? If so, email MGHStopsFalls@partners.org and explain what problem was addressed, what action was taken and any evidence that the idea is working. The committee will select the top three submissions and award these individuals and/or teams for their efforts.

massgeneRal HOspItal fOR cHIldRen (MGHfC) has partnered with the city of Salerno, Italy to establish an international research and education center under the direction of Alessio Fasano, MD, of the Center for Celiac Research and the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center, and Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at MGHfC.

Researchers and staff from MGHfC will work with members of the European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS) – a newly opened research and education center built on the ancient site of Salerno’s first medical school – to focus on celiac disease, gluten-related disorders and other autoimmune inflammatory disorders. Research projects include the timing of gluten introduction to infants and the role of inflammation in subgroups of patients with schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.

“MGHfC now has a physical presence in Europe at the institute,” says Fasano. “We also are working closely with two world experts in pediatric nutrition: Ron Kleinman, MD, MGHfC physician-in-chief, and Allan Walker, MD, the Conrad Taff Professor of Nutrition and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. With the world’s spotlight on nutrition and food sustainability, we will be able to contribute to the broad international discussion on nutrition.”

The two groups came together – along with other physicians and health care professionals from the U.S., Italy and other European countries – during a symposium in late October. During “Understanding and Treating Inflammation: A Transcultural Approach,” these international researchers and clinicians discussed both conventional and integrative

approaches to health care, with a major focus on celiac disease and other autoimmune disorders.

“Our partnership with the city of Salerno in this pioneering European research and education initiative aligns perfectly with the mission of the MGHfC,” says Kleinman. “The translational research and education initiatives we are undertaking at EBRIS allow us to expand our interdisciplinary efforts to a new and very promising arena that will ultimately result in benefits for patients.” n

MGHfC expands research efforts with new enterprise in Italy

Leffert lecture explores palliative care options tHe mgH dIvIsIOn Of pallIatIve caRe hosted the third annual Robert Leffert, MD, Palliative Care Memorial Lecture Nov. 19. The keynote speaker was Timothy Quill, MD, professor of Medicine and director of the Palliative Care Division at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The lecture, “Palliative Care Options of Last Resort: Potential Responses to Intractable Suffering,” explored the complicated decision-making process that patients, families and providers undergo in the face of a serious illness. A panel – featuring Katrina Armstrong, MD, chief of the Department of Medicine, Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, FAAN, senior vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nurse, Jonathan Rosand, MD, director of the Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology, and Taylor Thompson, MD, director of Critical Care Translational Research – led a forum exploring the vital role palliative care serves in helping providers and patients navigate these complex decisions.

The lecture is held annually in memory of Leffert, who served as chief of the MGH Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and the MGH Surgical Upper Extremity Rehabilitation Unit. It was created through a generous donation from Leffert’s daughter, Lisa Leffert, MD, chief of Obstetric Anesthesia Division, and her husband, Lee Schwamm, MD, vice chair of Neurology. n

INTeRNATIONAL ReseARCh: Kleinman, left, greets Salerno Mayor Vincenzo De Luca

editorColleen Marshall

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AssistAnt editorEmily Williams617-724-2753

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pROmOTINg DIVeRsITY: On Nov. 21, The MGH Department of Psychiatry Diversity Center presented the Frances J. Bonner, MD, Award to Joseph E. Trimble, PhD, professor of Psychology at Western Washington University, a psychologist who has focused his efforts on promoting psychological and sociocultural research with indigenous populations, especially American Indians and Alaska Natives. Pictured from left, Dennis Norman, EdD, MGH chief of Psychology; Trimble; Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, chief of the Department of Psychiatry; and Ranna Parekh, MD, MGH psychiatrist.

gUIDINg FUTURe ReseARCh: Some 80 people attended the MGH Transplant Research Symposium on Nov. 18 and 19 at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard in Cambridge to review current transplant research and to generate a comprehensive, strategic plan to help guide future research efforts. During the event, senior investigators from the Transplantation Biology Research Center and the Transplant Unit presented an overview of their basic and translational work, with a major focus on the mechanism and application of transplantation tolerance. Participants included, back row from left, Laurence Turka, MD, co-director of the MGH Transplantation Biology Research Center; Joren Madsen, MD, DPhil, director of the MGH Transplant Center and co-director of the MGH Transplantation Biology Research Center; front row, Hugh Auchincloss, MD, principal deputy director of the Immune Tolerance Network for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Sir Robert Lechler, executive director of King’s Health Partners at King’s College London; and Kathryn Wood, DPhil, professor of Immunology at the University of Oxford in England.

Gaurdia Banister, rn, Phd, FAAn, executive director in the Institute for Patient Care, was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing’s 2013 Class of Fellows. Banister was among 172 esteemed nurse leaders nationwide selected for this honor – one of the most prestigious recognitions in the nursing field. The academy is composed of more than 2,000 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. Selection criteria included evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care and sponsorship by two current academy fellows. Applicants are reviewed by a panel of elected and appointed fellows, and selection is based, in part, on the extent to which nominees’ nursing careers influence the health care delivery system and health policy.

Alasdair Conn, md, chief emeritus of MGH Emergency Services, received the “Dr. Mark E. Weinstein Award” from the Metropolitan Boston Emergency Medical Services Council (MBEMSC). The award for outstanding service and dedication to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is given in memory and honor of Weinstein, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center surgeon who served on the MBEMSC Executive Committee and chaired the Medical Services Committee. The award was presented to Conn at the 13th annual Region IV EMS Awards Ceremony Nov. 7.

Andrew l. Warshaw, md, FACs, MGH surgeon-in-chief emeritus, received the Nobility in Science Award at the National Pancreas Foundation “Bonding for a Cure” event on Nov. 20. Warshaw was recognized and celebrated for his contributions to clinical care and scientific investigations. Several of Warshaw’s grateful patients – long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer – attended the event in his honor.

david m. shahian, md, vice president of the MGH Center for Quality and Safety, and associate director of the MGH Codman Center for Clinical Effectiveness in Surgery, was elected to The National Quality Forum (NQF) Board of Directors. The board guides NQF on strategic and policy issues and is composed of 31 voting members who represent major stakeholders in America’s health care system. Shahian will begin his term Dec. 6 and will serve three years.

John Parrish, md, executive director of the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), was honored by the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research for his outstanding contributions to biomedical research. Parrish was recognized for his “groundbreaking medical research, his vision of medicine and technology, and his dedication to curing the hidden wounds of war.”

Keith Baker, md, Phd, program director for the Anesthesia Residency program, was awarded the 2014 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education program. The award honors directors who foster innovation and improvement in their residency programs and serve as exemplary role models.

leonard Bruce Kaban, dmd, md, chief of MGH Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, was recently inducted as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Kaban was recognized for his clinical and research contributions to pediatric oral and maxillofacial surgery and craniofacial surgery. His research includes the development of distraction osteogenesis for mandibular advancement, bone wound healing, and tissue engineering. He is the third MGH-trained surgeon to be inducted into the college.