Please join us in welcoming board-certified family medicine physician, Christine Koch, M.D., to Mercy Family Medicine’s Three Springs location. She began seeing patients on Oct. 7.

Dr. Koch received her undergraduate degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and Canadian University College in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California. Dr. Koch then completed her residency at Valley Baptist Family Practice Residency Program in Harlingen, Texas.
 
Prior to joining Mercy, Dr. Koch served as a primary care physician in Cortez, Colorado.
 
She is a member of the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
 
Dr. Koch has taken part in several medical mission trips including to the countries of Peru and Nepal.
 
In her free time, Dr. Koch enjoys international medical care, the outdoors, athletics and spending time with her husband and their dog and cats. 

Please join us in welcoming Christine Koch, M.D., to the Mercy Family.
 

Need a little inspiration to tackle a difficult task? Read the following poem written by Edgar Albert Guest, American poet:

It Couldn't Be Done

Poet Edgar Albert Guest

Somebody said that it couldn't be done
But he with a chuckle replied
That 'maybe it couldn't,' but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: 'Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it;'
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat
And the first thing he knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure,
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That 'cannot be done,' and you'll do it.

Please read this positive review of Mercy:

"The hospital is filled with love and faith in God. With that in mind I have confidence in their abilities to heal."

Mercy is pleased to welcome the following new associates:

Dora Benally - CNA/Nursing Unit Secretary, Mercy Hospice House
Angela Flanders - Nursing Unit Secretary, Mercy Urgent Care at Purgatory
Rebecca Goranson - Physician Assistant, Mercy Orthopedic Associates' Foot & Ankle Center
Douglas Kelly - Physician, Durango Cancer Center
Bismarck Kipkilach - Food Service Specialist, Nutrition & Environmental Services
Christine Koch - Physician, Mercy Family Medicine - Three Springs
Melissa Lescallette - RN, Nursing Services Office
Kristin McGrath - RN, ICU
Shaylin Ross - Teacher, Mercy Employee Child Care Center
Heather Sharp - RN, IMC Step Down
Brittany Thornton - RN Float Pool, Nursing Services Office
Emilie Tomlinson - Patient Service Representative, Mercy Family Medicine - Horse Gulch
Jeffrey Yaskin - Physical Therapist, Mercy Integrated Physical Therapy

Welcome to Mercy and Centura Health!


 

Nutrition Services is pleased to announce the October 2019 Breakfast and Coffee Club winners:

Breakfast Club winners:
• Robert Culver, Physical Therapist, Inpatient Physical Therapy
• Christie Schler, Social Worker
*Meal cards ($5) can be picked up by contacting Kate Johnson at ext. 791328.

Coffee Club winners:
• Jennifer Gersbach, RN, OB Post Partum
• Janet Fox, RN, OB Post Partum
* Free espresso drink card can be picked up at the Merciful Mug.

Associates are entered into the monthly drawing upon receiving 10 punches on a Breakfast or Coffee Club card. Announcements will be made at the beginning of each month.

Reminder: Make sure to clearly record your first and last name on all redeemed Breakfast and Coffee Club cards in order to be eligible for the monthly drawing. Only 39 percent of Breakfast Club cards are labeled with a customer name and are therefore eligible for the monthly drawing. You can only win if we know who you are!

Did you know?
There are two different frequent buyer programs at Mercy! The Breakfast Card Club program is designed for patrons of the Garden Terrace Café who purchase any items during breakfast hours (7:00 to 9:30 a.m.). Patrons may get their card punched once daily per applicable breakfast purchase. The Coffee Card Club is designed for patrons of the Merciful Mug who purchase any prepared drink (bottled drinks do not qualify). Patrons may have their card punched once per applicable drink purchase.

As these are two separate programs, the breakfast card may not be punched at the Mug for a breakfast item, nor can the Merciful Mug drink card be punched at the café for a coffee. We are happy to continue to offer these programs as a fun benefit for frequent buyers! For questions or concerns, please call Jeff Hofferber at ext. 791321.

Congratulations to our October Breakfast and Coffee Club winners!                                

A special blessing of the Mercy Super Dogs (therapy dogs) took place on Friday, October 4. Both the dogs’ service and their owners were honored on this day, set aside by the Catholic church as the “feast day” of St. Francis of Assisi.

	We are all creatures of one family.
	- St. Francis of Assisi

Thank you to all the associates who attended the Wellness Fair on Oct. 4. A big thank you to Mercy's Nutrition Services for providing healthy drinks and snacks for the event!

At the fair, associates learned about the new well-being program (aka Code You), resources and rewards that are available to help them to grow, inspire and be the best version of themselves.

Our evolved well-being program, Code You, has been redesigned to be more flexible and customizable for you.

Missed the event and have questions?
Email codeyou@centura.org or call 303-673-8080. 

Mercy associates Vanessa Hamer and Jill Nelson will be available to weave silk shimmers into your hair from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Mercy's front lobby on the following dates:

• Oct. 17
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 28
• Oct. 31

Last week, our year-long marketing campaign kicked off featuring some of our caregivers across Centura Health sharing their personal stories about the moment when they first realized they were called to compassionate careers in health care.

If you haven’t already had the chance to see some of these vignettes, which are currently playing on local television and radio outlets, please take a moment to watch two of the television stories now airing. Then, if you would share your thoughts in the comments below, we will be sure to send your feedback to our Marketing team for review.

FYI: Mercy's very own Tamra Lavengood, RN, BSN, MSN, CPC+/SIM Coordinator Mercy Primary Care, and Linda Young, MSN, RN, CCRN, Clinical Director, Inpatient Services/Trauma, will be featured in this campaign. Watch and listen for their stories over the coming months!

Need more information on PERFORM? Plenty of resources are available to help you! Continuous Development Conversations eLearning To find the eLearning, visit LEARN and search for “Development Conversations.” Quick Reference Guide Walks you through the steps of completing a conversation Individual Development Plan site on MyHR On your mark, reflect, set goals! How to set effective goals and info on the 90 day goal cycle

On Monday, Oct. 14, we will launch second quarter conversations and goals in PERFORM. As we build a new habit around the 90 day goal cycle, we encourage everyone to start a conversation and enter Q2 goals by Thursday, Oct. 31.

We recommend taking a moment to review last quarter’s goals, celebrate your achievements and make adjustments where necessary. Don’t worry if you didn’t accomplish (or even set) a goal. Think about what you’ve learned and decide if you want to keep working on your goal or set a new one. It’s all part of your development journey!

New system notifications coming this quarter
To help you stay on track and build the habit of checking in on your conversations and goals regularly, email notifications will be sent from PERFORM. All associates will receive a notification on Monday, Oct. 14 when conversations launch, and those still needing to start a conversation will receive a reminder on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Your leader will also receive a reminder on Oct. 30 if you two have not had a conversation yet.

Try to wrap up your Q2 goals by the time the quarter ends on Dec. 31 – and be sure to ask for help if you need it. Check in with your leader to share your progress and ask for support along the way.

If you’re new to PERFORM, we encourage you to try it this quarter. This tool is designed to put you in the driver’s seat of your own development. The platform offers several features that help set more meaningful goals, facilitate frequent and fulfilling conversations between you and your leader and builds avenues that strengthen your connection to our organization.

Questions?
Please contact your leader, your local Human Resources team or email PERFORM@Centura.org.

To meet standards required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST), Information Technology (IT) will conduct a failover (procedure to protect data against system failure) on the Lawson production system.

This will result in a downtime of all Lawson applications, including employee and manager self-services, as we ensure the ability of the Lawson production system to function between the ASC Data Center and the Colocation Data Center. The downtime will be on Thursday, Oct. 10, from 3 p.m. (15:00) until midnight (24:00) MT.

We appreciate your patience as we work to ensure optimal data security for our organization.

Questions?
Please contact Jon Heberlin, Data Risk Management Lead for Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery, at JonHeberlin@Centura.org.

On Saturday, Oct. 12, Information Technology (IT) will upgrade Epic to the February/May 2019 version to ensure our users have up-to-date, optimized Epic functionality. The upgrade will begin at 11:30 p.m. (2330) MT and will require two hours of downtime before completion on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 1:30 a.m. (0130) MT.

To prepare Epic for the upgrade, IT will place the production environment into Transparent Lockdown beginning Thursday, Oct. 10, at 5 p.m. (1700) MT. This means that certain customization tools, such as the ability to apply filters to Chart Review or modify macros in NoteWriter and SmartPhrases, will not be available until the upgrade is completed.

Immediately following the downtime, an Epic Command Center will open in the Havana office Training Room. Please submit troubleshooting tickets to the Epic Command Center for timely assistance by calling the Help Desk at 64000 through Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. (1700) MT.

We appreciate your cooperation during this critical process to equip our incredible people with the latest health care tools and resources.  

Questions?
Please contact Nicole Furlong, Epic Application Analyst Lead, at NicoleFurlong@Centura.org.

There is still time to donate! Mercy's MOX Auction (Mercy Online AuXion for Tanzania) donation deadline has been extended to Thursday, Oct. 10.

What is the MOX Auction?
It is an online auction that is held Oct. 16-25. Mercy employees donate creative items to Mercy Health Foundation and Mercy employees can bid online for the item they really want. All funds raised will go to Mercy Health Foundation in support of Mercy’s Tanzania Mission.
 
How can you get involved?
Donate handmade goods, services, gift baskets and more to be auctioned off to other Mercy staff members.  
 
Some examples of past donated items include:

• A voucher for a dozen homemade cookies once a month for a whole year.
• Dinner with a member of our leadership team.
• Hand-knitted hats and scarves.
• Theme gift baskets filled with local goods collected by a specific clinic or floor.

As you age, you naturally lose muscle strength and balance. If you are beginning to feel a loss in your sense of balance, Mercy Sports Medicine’s balance program is for you.

Six Weeks to Better Balance and a Stronger Self is designed for anyone who wants to improve their balance and is geared toward those who are starting to decondition as a result of aging. A new session will take place from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays beginning Nov. 4. 

Participants can expect different stations to challenge their balance in a safe environment. Examples include: Holding a single-leg stance while practicing on a weight shift station which allows participants to improve their balance when navigating every day areas of challenge such as curbs. The program is great training to successfully handle simple tasks such as walking across an uneven lawn.

Each session will include education and three to four exercises you can to do safely at home. Most importantly, you will leave each session with the confidence to stay active.

The cost of the series is $150. Call to reserve your spot today: 970-259-9530.

Join Mercy Sports Medicine (MSM) for the "Mobilize and Recover" class at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 21 at MSM, 327 S. Camino del Rio.

What to expect? Massage. Mobility. Recovery. Release. Relief. 

Using RAD myofascial release tools to provide controlled, acute point release, move waste materials out of soft tissues and encourage proper spinal alignment. Learn how to unlock your body’s true movement potential. 

• Release restrictions
• Flush out built-up toxins
• May relieve muscular pain
• Benefit blood and lymph flow

•  Promote relaxation
• Create a healing response
• Relieve trigger points
• Help mobilize joints

Please join us for Mercy Regional Medical Center Trauma Services' Annual Trauma and Critical Care Conference.

WHAT: Trauma and Critical Care Conference
WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 17
             11:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.
             AND
             Friday, Oct. 18
             8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Lewis College's Student Union Ballroom

This program offers comprehensive knowledge and skills in the treatment of critically ill and injured patients, offering an ideal mix of the current standard-of-care principles and cutting edge information and technology for evaluation, diagnosis and management. To view a schedule, click here.

Objectives

• Describe methods to properly assess diverse trauma, critical care and emergency medicine patients.
• Discuss care priorities related to non-accidental trauma with consideration for management of victim, perpetrator, scene safety and provider wellbeing.
• Identify considerations for end-of-life trauma care.
• Incorporate best practice clinical guidelines to stabilize patients with various types of traumatic injuries.

• Physicians
  • Centura Health CME is accredited by the Colorado Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Centura Health CME designates this live activity for a maximum of 12.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
• Nursing
  • Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing
  • Provider #CEP16170 for 12 contact hours
• Pre-Hospital
  • 12 EMS continuing education hours approved

• Centura Associate
  • $150 after October 3, 2019
• Non-Centura Associate
  • $175 after Oct. 3, 2019

An annual influenza vaccine is the best defense against seasonal flu, keeping you healthy and making meaningful impacts in the lives of those around us. It is our responsibility to the people we serve to help protect the whole health of our communities by preventing the spread of illness.
 
Make sure to get your flu shot by Nov. 15. 

All associates must submit proof of flu vaccination or an approved religious or medical exemption by Friday, Nov. 15. Receiving a flu shot or submitting an approved exemption is a condition of employment. View Centura Health's Influenza Vaccination policy here.

Vaccination clinics have begun and will continue across the system through the end of October. Associates and providers may attend any Centura Health-sponsored clinic to receive your annual vaccination.

Mercy flu clinics will take place on the following dates:

• 4:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in Conference Room D
• 6:00-10:00 a.m. Oct. 17 in Conference Room C
• 6:00-10:00 a.m. Oct. 29 in Conference Room C

Keri McCune, Mercy's infection prevention manager, recently received her flu vaccination. Have you?

The 21-Day Sugar Detox is not about implementing a fad diet, counting calories or making complicated meals. We know you don't want to try another eating program that doesn't work.

Our group coaching shows you how to establish an eating plan in an easy way so you can stop dieting without feeling deprived and you can start feeling your best. Let us help you break FREE of sugar addiction and carb cravings!

As Certified 21-Day Sugar Detox Coaches, we’re committed to empower YOU with extra guidance, accountability, and additional coaching expertise to make this powerful program smooth and effective for you! We really understand how challenging and confusing changing your diet can be, but with our expertise, we will teach you how to make this a sustainable lifestyle of healthy eating rather than following a diet.

WHAT IS THE 21-DAY SUGAR DETOX (21DSD)?
Created by Diane Sanfilippo, Certified Nutrition Consultant and author of The 21-Day Sugar Detox books, as well as the New York Times Best-Selling author of Practical Paleo, the 21DSD is a nutritional reset that helps curb your sugar cravings and put a stop to the blood sugar roller coaster.
 
THE 21DSD IS A HEALTHY, WHOLE FOOD-BASED 5-WEEK PROGRAM THAT HAS A TRACK RECORD OF:

• Reducing insulin needs for diabetics
• Improving skin
• Improving digestion and gut health
• Improving sleep
• Reducing and even eliminating joint and back pain
• Lowering high blood pressure
• Lifting brain fog
• Improving moods
• Improving body composition
• Improving hormone regulation and so much more!

• How to plan and prep easy healthy recipes
• How to read food labels
• How sugar affects your body
• How to create healthier habits
• How to be your own food detective and develop an awareness about how sugar and certain carbohydrates effect your body
• How to transition off the detox
• Most importantly, how to make this a lifestyle and not a diet!