Reminder for Back-to-School Immunizations

Toward the end of August and the beginning of September children are returning to school, older students are entering college and adults and the health care community are preparing for the upcoming flu season. This is a particularly good time to focus community attention on the value of immunization.

Vaccines are responsible for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common in this country. Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that once routinely killed or harmed tens of thousands of infants, children and adults.

The idea behind vaccination is to give you immunity to a disease before it has a chance to make you sick. Vaccines are made from the same germs (or parts of them) that cause disease, measles is made from measles virus, for instance, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccines is made from parts of the Hib bacteria. But, the germs in vaccines are either killed or weakened so they won't make you sick.

Then the vaccines containing these weakened or killed germs are introduced into your body, usually by injection. Your immune system reacts to the vaccine the same as it would if it were being invaded by the disease, by making antibodies. The antibodies destroy the vaccine germs just as they would the disease germs. Then they stay in your body, giving you immunity. If you are ever exposed to the real disease, the antibodies will be there to protect you.

Immunizations help your child's immune system do its work. The child develops protection against future infections, the same as if he or she had been exposed to the natural disease. The good news is, with vaccines you child does not have to get sick first to get that protection.

There are 12 potentially serious diseases that vaccines protect against: Measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenza type b, Hepatitis B, Varicella (chicken pox) hepatitis A, and Pneumococcal disease. At least one shot is needed for each of these diseases, and for some of them several doses are required for the best protection.

For more information on immunizations and where to receive them in your community, please call 830-393-1315.

CMMC Welcomes Dr. Gina A. Gray, General Surgeon

CMMC is proud to welcome Dr. Gina A. Gray, MD to the Connally family and Wilson County. Dr. Gray, a general surgeon, is now seeing new patients in the CMMC Multi-specialty clinic on Mondays and Thursdays. She is also scheduling cases with the CMMC Perioperative Department.

Dr. Gray completed her residency in general surgery at Tulane University and has worked as a staff surgeon at both San Antonio’s University Hospital and at Audie Murphy VA Hospital. She currently operates her practice in San Antonio. Her current areas of interest and research are focused on women’s health issues focusing on surgeries of the breast.

While Dr. Gray is focused on the physical care of her patients, she realizes the importance of treating patient’s emotional needs as well.

“I certainly want my patients to receive the physical care they need, but it is also my top concern to make them as comfortable as possible, on a personal level,” explains Gray.

Dr. Gray is looking forward to building strong patient and community relationships in Wilson County and will be presenting a special Breast Cancer Education seminar for the Connally Partners in Your Health Program in October.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Gray please call (210) 798-3751. For more information on surgeons at Connally Memorial Medical Center, please call (830) 393-1315.

How was your stay?

Chances are, you've talked with friends and family about the quality of care they've received from the hospitals they've used. And those discussions may have helped with your health care decisions.

But that information most likely came from a handful of people at most. There's never been a compilation of patients' opinions about hospitals.

That's about to change, however, with an important survey known by its initials, HCAHPS. This survey asks hospital patients nationwide about their experiences, and the findings are made public.

"Getting that important feedback from the patients we serve will really help us build a stronger health care system," says Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and patient safety policy at the American Hospital Association (AHA).

In addition, survey results will help people make intelligent decisions about which hospitals they want to use.

"It's essentially like leaning over your backyard fence and asking 100,000 of your neighbors, How did you feel about the hospital? How well did they do?" adds Foster.

If you're hospitalized, you may be asked to participate in HCAHPS. The following questions and answers will help you understand it.

Q: What does HCAHPS stand for?

A: HCAHPS stands for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems."

Q: What agencies or organizations created HCAHPS?

A: The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, both agencies of the federal government, jointly developed HCAHPS. Other organizations collaborated on the project. Among them: the AHA, the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the Joint Commission and AARP.

Q: What are the goals of HCAHPS?

A: There are essentially two goals, says Foster: (1) To assist hospitals in their ongoing efforts to improve quality by helping them identify what they're doing well and where they can improve, and (2) To inform people about the type of care they might receive at a particular hospital.

Q: Are hospitals required to administer the HCAHPS survey?

A: Participation is voluntary. However, hospitals that receive payment through Medicare will have their payments reduced by about 2 percent if they don't participate.

Q: How are the surveys conducted?

A: Surveys may be conducted by mail, telephone, mail with telephone follow-up or interactive voice recognition.

Q: What types of questions are included in the survey?

A: The survey consists of 27 questions, 18 of which ask about your specific experiences in the hospital. Areas covered include:

* Communication with and care received from nurses.

* Communication with doctors.

* Hospital cleanliness and quietness.

* Pain control.

* Communication about medicines.

* Discharge information.

* Overall hospital rating.

Q: Who is surveyed?

A: The surveys target patients 18 or older who are discharged from the hospital after at least a one-night stay. Surveys are intended to be completed by patients themselves--not family members.

To avoid bias in the results, patients are randomly selected to get the survey. Occasionally, this may result in unfortunate situations, such as a survey being sent to a patient who died a short time after discharge.

Q: When and where will results appear?

A: Results will be posted on the Internet and available to anyone at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, beginning in the spring of 2008. According to Foster, results will be updated quarterly.

Consolata Healthcare Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

The Consolata Healthcare Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of eight new board members to the foundation board of directors.

The new directors were added at the May 22 foundation board meeting, held at the medical center. These nominations and approvals now complete the board at 15 members.

The new directors include: Daniel Tejada, Pam Bonney, Dawn Fleming, Ron Urbanczyk, Alton Moczygemba, Andy Joslin, Janice Joslin, and Pam Varnon Lothringer. They are joining the current directors, President Lester Moczygemba, Vice President Jason Smith, Treasurer Paul Sack, Nick FitzSimon, Rachel Pena, Melissa Popham and Fran Chilek.

"We are pleased to have such a diverse and committed group of new directors joining us," said Lester Moczygemba, president of the board of directors. "This new team will no doubt bring us closer to our goals and endeavors of supporting Connally and the hospital district."

The Consolata Healthcare Foundation's sole purpose is to raise funds to benefit and enhance the services of Wilson Memorial Hospital District. CHF is a 501 3 organization.