Small Street Journal: May 17, 2019

On May 9 at HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals’ Colleague Service Awards banquet at the Florian Gardens, Andrew Bagnall, president and CEO, HSHS Western Wisconsin Division, announced the colleague and physician award recipients for the two hospitals. HSHS Western Wisconsin Division includes Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals.

Tom Vickery, facilities manager at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, has been named the 2019 recipient of the Father Klimek Healing Presence Award. Rolanda Rada, a registered nurse in ambulatory care at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, has been named the 2019 recipient of the Keeper of the Tradition Award. 
Vickery has worked at Sacred Heart Hospital for 30 years and Rada has worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital for 30 years, as well. Their awards are the highest honor a colleague can receive at the two hospitals. Each award recognizes a long-term colleague who has dedicated his or her life to being a humble servant of the sick.
 
“I have been fortunate to work for Sacred Heart for 30 years and I truly believe this is a wonderful place,” said Vickery.
 
“I am very grateful and so blessed to have worked here for 30 years,” said Rada. “There is so much hope and joy in our hospital family that was instilled in us from the Hospital Sisters. This Joyful Christian Hospitality is who we are.”
 
Bagnall also announced that Fadi Sabbagh, M.D., has been named Sacred Heart Hospital’s Physician of the Year for 2019, and James Iwakiri, M.D., has been named St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Physician of the Year for 2019. These awards are the highest clinical honor a physician can receive at the two hospitals.

Fadi Sabbagh, M.D., joined HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in 2006, and is affiliated with OakLeaf Clinics – Eau Claire Medical Clinic. He received his medical degree from Aleppo University School of Medicine in Aleppo, Syria. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency program at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and fellowship training in Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Disease at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Sabbagh is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Medicine.

James Iwakiri, M.D., joined HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1994, and is affiliated with Western Wisconsin Urology, S.C. He received his medical degree from Northwestern Medical School in Chicago. He completed residencies in surgery and in urology at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, CA. Dr. Iwakiri is certified by the American Board of Urology and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
 
One hundred and eighty one colleagues who have reached significant milestones  – with a combined total of 2,755 years of service – were honored at this year’s event. Recent retirees also were honored.

Charter Bank is proud to announce and welcome Amanda Rupnick as Technical Analyst. She is the primary resource to resolve employee and customer related technical issues while maintaining proper documentation and knowledge of applications and hardware used at Charter Bank.  In addition, Rupnick ensures support requests are handled efficiently, effectively and that proactive steps are taken to reduce the likelihood that the issue will occur again.

“Amanda comes to Charter Bank with a variety of valuable skills and experiences,” states Erik LeMay, Chief Information Officer of Charter Bank. “We are excited to have her join our team as we continue to design, implement and support innovative IT solutions for employees and our customers.”

Rupnick began her career at Ashley Furniture working first in the Support Department and then moved into the EDI Team, where she successfully implemented new translation software to process inbound and outbound order and shipping transactions.  Most recently, Rupnick worked at Jamf as a Technical Support Specialist and helped both educational and commercial organizations utilize the MDM software to manage their Macs and iOS devices.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to learn all about the applications used in the banking industry, and working to ensure that as our technology advances, we maintain the highest level of security for our customers,” states Rupnick.
An Independence, WI native, Rupnick and her husband Quinn, enjoy spending free time at local events with their daughter Briella. 

AKF Martial Arts Eau Claire will hold its grand reopening event at their location on 1606 South Hastings Way on Saturday, May 18th from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm.  They invite the public to come and check out their newly remodeled facility.  Events will be held throughout the day including:

DELTA team Demonstration - 11:00am
Anti Bullying Seminar - 11:45am-12:45pm
Try It Class ages 3-6  - 1:00 - 1:30pm
Try It Class ages 7 & up - 1:30-2:00pm

All events FREE and open to the public!

Scholarship recipients were named at the HSHS Sacred Heart Foundation annual Caritas Guild dinner, which took place May 7 in HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital’s Monsignor Klimek Auditorium. The annual donor event pays tribute to individuals and organizations that provide extraordinary philanthropic support for the health care ministry of HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital.
 
The scholarships are intended to promote the highest level of patient care by providing hospital colleagues with assistance to attend academic programs or conferences to advance their clinical education. 
 

•       Kristin Peters, BSN, a registered nurse in the critical care department, received a scholarship from the Brain and Spine Educational Enhancement Endowment. A recipient must work with patients in neurology or neurosurgery, which includes stroke, critical care, rehabilitation and emergency services, nursing, surgery, or technical support. 

 

•       Chris Zimmerman, RN, MSN, CNRN, clinical education manager, received a scholarship from the Michael D. Markin & Patricia J. Markin Children's Fund. A recipient must work in an area that enhances pediatric care and pediatric counseling programs for children at the hospital. Zimmerman also received a scholarship from the Annabel Bauer Surgical Nurse Education Endowment, which helps to fund academic programs, seminars and continuing education for surgical nurses.

 

•     Hannah Schroeder, MSN-Ed, RN, CNE, CHSE, PCCN, simulation program coordinator and nurse educator in the clinical education department, received a scholarship from the Annabel Bauer Surgical Nurse Education Endowment. This endowment helps to fund academic programs, seminars and continuing education for surgical nurses.

 

•       Jennifer Vaughan, NS, BSN, cardiac educator in the cardiac rehabilitation department, received a scholarship from the Annabel Bauer Cardiac Nursing Award Endowment, which benefits and supports further education and technical training for nurses who work with cardiac patients.

 

•       Cardiac Care Nurses also received a scholarship to participate in American Association of Critical Care Nurses two-day CCRN-PCCN review course from the Annabel Bauer Cardiac Nursing Award Endowment. This endowment benefits and supports further education and technical training for nurses who work with cardiac patients.

 

•      Jessica Gugel, oncology nurse navigator, received the Marten Transport, LTD. Education Endowment for Cancer Care, which is new this year. She will be attending the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigation Mid-Year Conference.

“The engagement of our donors with our frontline colleagues has been very rewarding, and this endowed scholarship program is an effective way to reward and retain the best and brightest who serve our patients and their loved ones every day with the very best care possible,” said Ann Kaiser, director, HSHS Sacred Heart Foundation.

HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals recently earned an “A” grade from The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade. This designation recognizes both hospitals’ efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S.
 
“We encourage patients to use all available tools at their disposal including family and friends and checking reliable professional resources such as the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade when making health care decisions,” said Andrew Bagnall, president and CEO, HSHS Western Wisconsin Division. HSHS Western Wisconsin Division includes both HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals. 

The Leapfrog Group is a national organization that assigns letter grades to hospitals nationwide based on performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. The grades are considered the gold standard when it comes to safety comparisons among hospitals.
 
“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.” 

Developed under the guidance of a National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice a year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.