Speare-Hospital-2011-Annual-Report

“For us it was a huge decision to have a baby and we Choice Meet Jackson wanted to make sure that the experience overall was the best it could be,” says Michelle... “For us it was a hug

S p e a r e m e m o r i a l h o S p i t a l

More than

you expect

2011 Annual Report

“For us it was a huge decision to have a baby and we

Choice

Meet Jackson

wanted to make sure that the experience overall

was the best it could be,” says Michelle

“We didn’t want to be treated like a number.”

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Choice That is the

Speare experience.

For Ken Grey and Michelle Moren-Greyof Beth-lehem, the decision to start a family was a very conscious one Being first-time parents to son, Jackson, at almost 40 years old, they were well aware of the risks

“For us it was a huge decision to have a baby and we wanted to make sure that the experience overall was the best it could be,” says michelle

“We didn’t want to be treated like a number at some facilities that’s the experience we’ve had—it has nothing to do with patient care, but how many people they can push through in a day.” Not so at Speare memorial hospital and why they chose to come back

michelle explains, “I tend to be very demanding with my healthcare I expect someone to listen to my needs and hear what I have to say i know my body best i live with it every day i wanted someone who was going to pay attention to me and answer my questions even if they were questions they have heard a million times.”

That’s exactly what they got from Dr mark Banister, the plymouth oB/GYN staff and the Birthing Suite “Never once did i get the feeling

i was inconveniencing them We were just impressed with everybody.”

michelle says it was a little nerve racking to choose a male as her doctor, “But Dr Banister put me at ease with the whole process he was always very professional, but at the same time relaxed enough to make

me feel comfortable with what was going on, and the questions i was asking , like ‘Can i ride a motorcycle? Can i still ski ?’

“But as we got closer to Jackson’s due date, i got toxemia and i saw an-other side of him—now we have to get down to business, you need to

go on bed rest and this is what we are doing i never had any doubt in

my mind that we were doing the right thing for Jackson in making sure

he came out healthy i was comforted by the fact Dr

Banister was on top of his game and knew what

he was doing.”

She continues, “Our experience was more than we expected

it was excellent care it was personal i didn’t feel as though i was just another person coming in to have a baby The people involved, they had probably delivered 150 babies this year, but Jackson was number one It was as important to them as it was to us.”

amy tomasello, rN, in the Birthing Suite was one of the “people involved.” Ken and michelle first met amy when they were sent up to the Birthing Suite for a non-stress test after her toxemia (water reten-tion and high blood pressure) diagnosis michelle recalls, “i was very upset, this is not supposed to happen, what is going wrong? amy said we’re going to monitor Jackson and make sure everything is okay She just made us feel at ease with not knowing what was going to happen

She seemed to understand our family dynamics well and how impor-tant this was to us

amy was also there when michelle came in to deliver, and again when Jackson needed to come back for overnight observation “amy was just very good at keeping things calm and running as smoothly as possible

even answered questions we didn’t have, like how to bathe this child

and she was there when we had to come back in with Jackson he wasn’t feeding very well and had lost a pound since birth, so we came

in to be monitored amy said he was fine, just slow on the intake.”

For most that would be the end of the story

Not so for Ken and michelle.

Four weeks after Jackson was born, michelle had a day where she didn’t feel good, and was very uncomfortable by that evening She says, “We called our primary care provider at the time and they said it was prob-ably related to my c-section So i called Dr Banister and he asked if we called our primary care because it sounded like gall bladder i agreed with him because i’ve experienced gall bladder pain before he said if you can get through the night come in first thing in the morning and we’ll take care of you.”

Well, michelle didn’t make it through the night and at 10 p.m., arrived

in the emergency Department at Speare it wasn’t her c-section or her gall bladder She needed an emergency appendectomy While not Dr

Banister’s area of expertise, michelle says, “it was reassuring to know

he was going to get me the care i needed.”

Every story starts with a decision

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Cari ng

Creig’s story

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Cari ng

“I want everyone to know how appreciative

I was They were there to take care of you like you were the only

to feel like it’s a family.”

When Creig Doyleof holderness woke up on the morning of November 11, 2010, he noticed his right arm felt stiff and that it was a little swollen Seeing two “red dot pin prick” marks he chalked it up to a spider bite

as he was shaving he recalls his arm feeling tighter, and that he couldn’t make a fist, but continued on with his morning routine

as the chief of plymouth State University police, he arrived at the office about 7:45 a.m By 8:30 a.m the swelling in his arm had inched up his bicep toward his shoulder, and the little voice inside his head was saying, “maybe i should get this checked out.” he proceeded to the emergency Department at Speare memorial hospital

Being Veterans Day it was fairly quiet after being triaged, Sharon hilger, rN, talked to him about what was going on, and she was followed a few minutes later by Dr Steve Danosi Creig notes, “he had a really good demeanor, per-sonal but professional, wanting more detail on symptoms and their onset he disagreed with my assessment saying, ‘i don’t think we have any spiders in New hampshire that would make this happen, so let’s see if we can figure out what is going on.’ That’s when he decided on blood work and ordered an ultrasound.”

it wasn’t long before Dr Danosi had an answer The ultrasound showed Creig had a wrist to clavicle blood clot that

Dr Danosi began addressing right away.“oh, you mean i’m staying,” Creig asked

For wife leonetta, it was a miracle he took himself to the emergency room to begin with She says, “he down plays everything When i arrived at Speare he

was still in the emergency Department, but moved upstairs shortly thereafter i was very concerned because it was a blood clot, and i realized the seriousness of

it even though he was playing like it’s nothing.”

had Creig waited any longer to come to the emergency Department, he would

be telling a different story his primary care physician/hospitalist Dr Kathleen pearson was clearly worried, which solidified leonetta’s concern

Creig says, “Dr pearson gave me a very somber over the top of the glasses look, ‘it is a good thing you came in when you did We got you in the nick of time.’ That’s when the light bulb went on that this is serious.”

in an effort to dissolve the blood clot, Creig was taking Coumadin and on

a heparin drip While not in traction, he had limited mobility with his arm propped up on two pillows at times he was allowed to sit in a chair, but other-wise no walking around Dr pearson was insistent, “You are not to move.”

Despite “just hanging out” in the hospital for eight days, leonetta remembers her husband to be in good spirits Creig insists, “i was in no pain, i didn’t feel sick and felt so guilty for taking up a bed.”

Leonetta says it was the teamwork of the staff—clinical and non clinical— that made a difference “i want everyone to know how appreciative i was They never made you feel rushed or imposed upon When they were there, they were there to take care of you like you were the only patient on the floor it just amazed me they gave you the time you needed and maybe a few minutes more You began to feel like it’s a family.”

Creig and leonetta made a particularly special connection with lNa amy enderson The emotion rises in leonetta’s voice as she reflects back: “amy

talk-ed to me at length a few different times once was just to ease my concerns and say whatever she could to encourage me Then we began to connect on a more personal level The day we found out something showed up on a follow-up x-ray and might be a spot on his liver, amy was there for me i had questions and she helped put me at ease.” an mri cleared up any lingering concerns

leonetta continues, “Amy was one of those people God puts in your life to help you through something. She is a woman of faith, and so are we i felt that i had the faith support i needed it was then i realized this is a community, and i felt

i belonged.”

Never, in any other hospital i’ve been anywhere, was the staff concerned about

my needs as a family member like they were here at Speare it was a good warm feeling That stood out most importantly for me.”

Creig went back to work the monday after Thanksgiving, but put himself on the “rubber gun squad” during the five months of physical therapy that followed he became an avid reader during his down time, but is back to being fully active, working around his yard, as well as trying something new— kayaking

leonetta Doyle

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Many Thanks !

Annual Volunteers

John adams

mary ann adams

Brenda akerman

Bethany atwood

David Bartholomew

mary Bartholomew

Kerry Beal

Joan Bergstrom

Nancy Bird

Karen Bissonette

ann Blair

irene Blake

Jean Bolstridge Dan Bowers Sue Brothers ann Burghardt michael Buttolph Kathryn Caldwell Jessica Carpenter Deborah Casale linda Cochran megan Cooper pat Corbin Julia Cote

Kaela Cote Sandy Crisp rachael DeSantis irene Deutsch ruth Doane Jules Doner Virginia Dunn helen ellsworth Chuck engborg lois estell mal estell Cheryl Fifield

richard Flanagan lee Fortier elaine Freedman Claudine Gall marie Gardner Christopher Gonzalez marilyn Gonzalez-rudis Judith Gooch

John Gray Dianna Green Bernice Grossman aditi Grover

mike Guy Gayle hannan David hiltz marguerite hoyesen tiffany Johnson Sarah Kilfoyle Susan Kipphut Joanne Koermer lucy lahey rachel lamphier Chantal laplante leo leBlanc

Brian letourneau emily lonergan Carol mabin Kathy macDonald Shirley marcroft Suzanne martin tara mcKenzie Darlene Nadeau tobias Nyatsambo Joan o’Connor robin orr Brittany phelps

Carolyn piantedosi elva piehn Joan poitras Janet rapp Katie roukes lauren Sargeant George Smith Jenna Stearns Sarah Steenbergen Susan Stepp Sarah Stewart marty Stokes

Wallace Stuart June tackett ann Thibodeau Joan Thomas larry tingley eileen torrey patricia von Klock alexandre Wagner Bethany Ward

ed Weber Joy Webster Christopher Wilk

Spirit Team Volunteers

Cathleen anderson

Brooke Banister

Seth Beyer

Jordan Browne

amy Cirrone

Katie Darragh

Sydney henderson heather Johnston alejandra manheimer alisha mcGlone Connor mersch erin moore

amanda morse Brett pestana ryann Sargent Sarah Solomon eric trott

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Many Thanks !

hillary moore has always been interested in nursing, but after high school she chose

a different path and became a travel agent after 19 years, due to changes to the travel industry over time and the economic downturn, she was laid off it was then she decided to turn her focus back to the medical field

after several applications, but no bites on her resume from area physician offices, hillary became a volunteer at Speare memorial hospital her assignment placed her at plymouth orthopedics & Sports medicine Clinic (poSm) putting her customer service background to work greeting patients, filing and other patient care support activities Shortly thereafter, poSm was in need of a medical secretary on a per diem (as needed) basis and hired hillary

“my time as a volunteer was great on the job training,” notes hillary “i was a good fit for their needs, and they were able to see my initiative and ability to work well with patients.” Soon, one thing led to another and hillary now works per diem in eight different medical

secretary/health unit coordinator positions around Speare

She says, “it just snowballed and has become so much more than i expected at poSm i get to work with the doctors and in the emergency room watch the nurses and the role they have

in saving someone’s life it is not your typical everyday job.”

While hillary’s passion for nursing may have been sparked long ago, it was through her volun-teer experience at Speare that the flame was ignited hillary has been accepted, and will enter the nursing program at plymouth State University this fall, where her journey will begin anew

“My time as a volunteer was so much more than

While Hillary’s passion for nursing may have been sparked long ago, it was through her volunteer experience at Speare that the flame was ignited.

I expected,” notes Hillary

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Family Community Dr ebner

and his family enjoying all that New hampshire has to offer

Lifestyle.

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The doctors at Speare memorial hospital have studied

at Dartmouth, Yale, tufts, The ohio State University, and

other nationally-recognized top medical schools We have completed

rigorous residency training programs in large metropolitan areas such

as New York City, philadelphia, Boston, Denver and Detroit, and remain

board certified in our areas of expertise For some this comes as a

sur-prise and more than you expect from a small, rural, community hospital

So why do qualified, well-trained physician elect to live in central New

hampshire and work at Speare? For the same reasons YoU do our

doctors enjoy the hiking, biking, boating, and skiing that the lakes and

White mountains regions have to offer The greater plymouth

commu-nity also enables physicians —as local residents—to become involved in

theatre, non-profit organizations, and town politics

Dr Bentwood volunteers for the pemi Youth Center, Dr White sits

on the CaDY board of directors, Dr Cunis has been very involved

with First Star tonight, and Dr Casey serves on the holderness School

Board additionally, many of us have seen Drs Casey and Gennaro

perform on stage as part of the educational Theater Collaborative in

plymouth, or Dr Medlicott performing with revels North in hanover

We physicians recognize what a blessing it is to find a practice opportu-nity that allows us to work and live where we like to play

Dr Stack recently joined plymouth oB/GYN seeking a better life

bal-ance She has previously practiced in the Boston area and Detroit and is excited to explore the White mountains and better integrate her profes-sional life with her other interests like hiking and kayaking She hopes to plant a garden next spring, and invest in some livestock

Dr Koren, who has advanced professional training in minimally

invasive surgery, leaves the operating room at Speare each day to tend to the animals on his farm he and his wife enjoy the challenges of “living off the land”, milking the goats, and experimenting with goat cheese production

Dr Danosi joined the emergency room last fall from Columbus, ohio

to be closer to the mountains and his daughter, currently a student at Dartmouth College

Dr Russo brings new ophthalmologic procedures to our community

at White mountain eye Care Being closer to family, and a great place

to start their own family, were key decision points for he and his wife, Nicole, in choosing Speare and the greater plymouth area

The value of this work/life balance is reflected in the care the medical staff provides our patients Speare memorial hospital continues to rank best in class among New hampshire critical access hospitals with regard

to national healthcare quality measures including patient satisfaction

This is in part due to the fact that our physicians can restore their sense

of well-being outside of the hospital This “rejuvenation” energizes us

to stay current in our specialties by attending courses, learning new procedures and introducing new technologies

at the same time we are part of this community, and YoU— our family, friends and neighbors—are our patients as always our care is centered around you, and reflects our commitment to your health and well being

Dr Koren

Dr Danosi

Dr Stack

Joseph ebner, mD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr russo

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Patient Satisfaction

Safety

Quality

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