Centura’s Human Resources function has always been dedicated to serving the business needs of our organization and creating consistent practices and best-in-class experiences for our people. We support all our physicians, caregivers and leaders as they pursue their individual missions in alignment with our ministry of whole person care and healing.

Amid the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colorado, Human Resources launched a new People Resource Center on March 23 to better support our people in a more responsive and standardized way. This new People Resource Center expands Centura’s Human Resources reach and is the point of contact for all your human resource-related inquiries, including questions related to the following areas:

• Leave Management (new!)
• Associate Relations (new!)
• People and Culture Development
• Talent Acquisition
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement
• HR Data Operations and information systems

As our new fiscal year begins, it's time to enter goals in PERFORM and have Q1 conversations with your leaders about your strengths, development interests and goals.

You are invited to prepare for fiscal year 2021 Q1 conversations. PERFORM conversations guide you through preparing for and having quarterly development and goal setting conversations that create engagement, connection, enable goal alignment and increase performance. 

Be a role model 
Associates and leaders should now “start a conversation” within PERFORM. You can access the system from My Virtual Workplace (through single sign on) from the “Work Tools” tab selecting “Non-clinical Tools” then selecting “Glint Perform.”

Start a conversation
The quick reference guide will help you begin the process. First, everyone completes the Self Reflection tab. For goal-setting, associates will be prompted to enter one or two development goals for the quarter. Associates have the option to add one business (organizational) quarterly goal focused on and aligned with our 2025 strategy and your department or facility’s FY21 goals. Leaders are encouraged to have two business goals and one or two personal development goals for each quarter.

Questions?
A toolkit is available on LeaderResource. eLearning modules on continuous development conversations using the PERFORM platform are available in the LEARN course catalog. You may also reach out to your Human Resources Director, or email perform@centura.org for additional support.

Centura Health is dedicated to becoming the system of choice in Colorado and western Kansas, and we want to support our caregivers on their growth and development journey. As part of our HR Transformation, a new process for tuition reimbursement is now effective (as of July 1). 

Here’s what you need to know:  

• All tuition reimbursement requests, pre-approvals and inquiries must be submitted through the Self Service Hub. (Located in My Virtual Workplace under “Non-Clinical Tools”)
  • Associates must submit pre-approval requests prior to the start of their class. Leaders need to review and approve reimbursement requests within 30 days. We encourage all associates seeking pre-approval for tuition reimbursement to have a conversation with their leader prior to submittal.
  • Reimbursement requests must be submitted within 60 days of course completion and accompanied by an itemized receipt (obtainable from bursar’s office) along with a copy of your class grade(s).
    • Covered expenses include course tuition, test fees, books and lab fees
    • Expenses not covered include transportation, parking fees, membership fees, lodging, tools and supplies
    • Reminder: The tuition reimbursement request deadline for calendar year 2020 is Dec. 1, 2020. Requests for reimbursement received after Dec. 1 will be applied to the following calendar year. 

• Pre-Approval
• Reimbursement

Beginning Tuesday, July 21, COVID-19 PCR test results will no longer be marked “sensitive” and will be immediately released into the patient portal. This change includes tests run by CDPHE, LabCorp and Biodesix.

COVID-19 PCR testing has been marked as “sensitive” since the beginning of the pandemic, which means to date, results have only been released to the portal after a four-day delay. Enterprise Incident Command initially made the decision to make these results sensitive because results were initially being centrally managed at the system level, and the delay in releasing results to the portal made it possible for our patients to receive clinical guidance alongside their results.
 
However, now that we are several months into the pandemic, the decision has been made to remove the “sensitive” designation for COVID-19 PCR results. Releasing these results immediately to the portal will allow ease of access to information and more rapid isolation of COVID-19 positive patients.
 
Procedures for calling patients with positive and negative results should not change. 

Questions?
Please contact Jill Goldenberg, MD, FHM, Director Provider Informatics – Clinic Based, at JillGoldenberg@Centura.org.

Penrose-St. Francis Health Services and University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) are excited to report that clinic operations have started at the William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center. 

Centura Sports Medicine, Sports Performance, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation clinics are accepting new patients. In this amazing place, we will relentlessly pursue our commitment to use exercise, health and wellness as medicines for our nation’s most pressing health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and even cancer.

The Hybl Center is a collaborative partnership between UCCS and Centura Health, bringing together world-class clinical practice, education and research. The Hybl Center is a perfect example of what is possible when we all work together on a shared vision.

Visit https://buff.ly/2D1u77w to learn how our sports performance and sports medicine experts can help anyone reach and crush their health and fitness goals!

Plenty of time remains to provide your vital feedback by taking the Associate Engagement Pulse Survey. Check your inbox for an email from survey@glintinc.com inviting you to share your story by participating in our brief online survey.

If you have not yet submitted your feedback, please do so by Sunday, August 2. The survey requires less than 5 minutes of your valuable time! You are the heartbeat of our organization and your feedback will help us better provide experiences that nurture, inspire and motivate you and your colleagues.

If you haven’t seen the email from Glint:

• Look for an email from GLINT sent to you between 10:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. MT on July 7. 
• Look in your spam or junk folder to make sure it didn't end up there;
• Check your deleted items folder;
• Watch for periodic reminder emails from survey@glintinc.com;
• Scan a QR code on one of the posters, or access via the following links*:
  • Associate
    • Enter the following attributes to log in to the survey:
    • Your Centura email
    • your date of birth in this format:  YYYY/MM/DD

In partnership with the Centura Health Foundations, Walden University has generously donated 30, $15,000 scholarships to Centura Health associates who enroll in a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral program and begin classes on or before Dec. 31, 2020 at Walden University. For scholars whose degree program exceeds $15,000, your local Centura Health hospital foundation will provide a 50% matching gift to each scholarship winner (not to exceed $7,500). Matches are funded by donations from community members, associates and corporate donors.

With the heavy burden of finances taken out of the equation, we hope this generous gift will help you achieve your goals and improve health outcomes in our communities.

In 2017, the foundations at St. Anthony Hospital, St. Anthony North Health Campus and St. Anthony Summit Medical Center piloted a program that grew from nursing scholarships to a comprehensive clinical scholarship program. By 2019, the scholarship program grew to include five hospitals.

The ultimate goal of the pilot was to create an enterprise-wide scholarship program available to all Centura Health associates. With more than $794,000 awarded to 70 clinical associates, and continued interest from our associates expressing a desire to grow their careers at Centura, now is the time. We are excited to announce that the first phase of a Centura Health Scholarship program will include 30 scholarships generously donated by Walden University for clinical and nonclinical degrees.

With more than 80 degree programs and more than 385 specializations and concentrations, Walden University can offer Centura Health associates a way to build highly transferable skills that can be immediately applied, as well as a pathway for greater career success. To qualify for a scholarship, the degree program in which you enroll must meet the hiring needs of Centura Health. With only 30 scholarships available across the enterprise, this will be a highly competitive application process.

This unique opportunity is powered by philanthropy and would not be possible without the generosity of Walden University and our community of donors, including many associate donors.

To learn more about this incredible opportunity, please join us for a virtual Q & A on Tuesday, July 21 at 12 p.m. You can register for it by clicking here.

You can also visit WaldenU.edu/CenturaHealth-Scholars to learn how to apply, plus get information about eligibility, requirements and important deadlines.

Information Technology (IT) will perform monthly maintenance on Tuesday, July 21 from 12 p.m. (1200) until Wednesday, July 22 at 2 a.m. (0200) MT. This will involve planned downtime for the following applications (please reference the workaround for each application):

Tuesday, 7/21/2020 12 p.m. (1200) until 4 p.m. (1600) MT
 

Application	Workaround
DI/Data Innovations (Lab Instrument Interface Manager)	Laboratory test results in Epic may be delayed. Lab – Follow downtime procedures.
Epiphany	The system is unavailable.  Please initiate downtime procedures.
Lenel	The Lenel video security system will be unavailable; plan accordingly. Lenel facility badging will be available.
TempTrak	Maintain a manual process for each device during the planned downtime to maintain quality compliance.

Tuesday, 7/21/2020 6 p.m. (1800) until 10 p.m. (2200) MT
 

Application	Workaround
Medication Order Management (MOM)	Use Faxing or Tube Stations to send orders to pharmacy if MOM is needed during downtime.
MM Hayes / Quick Charge	The system will be unavailable to accept credit card payments.  Users can open the drawer to accept cash.
Patient monitoring integration for Epic	Vital Signs and Patient data will NOT be sent to Epic during this planned downtime.  Data will require manual entry into Epic.
Stanley MobileView	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Zoll RescueNet	The application will be unavailable.  Zoll devices will not be impacted.

Tuesday, 7/21/2020 10 p.m. (2200) until Wednesday, 7/22/2020 at 2 a.m. (0200) MT
 

Application	Workaround
Clairvia	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Computrition	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
CPACS	CPACS will experience multiple brief interruptions from 23:30 until 02:00 MT (00:30 until 03:00 CT).
Dragon	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Epic Faxing	Faxing within Epic are unavailable.  Pending faxes will automatically send once the system is available.
Flight Vector	The system is unavailable.  Please initiate downtime procedures.
Kronos	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Lawson	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Midas+	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
PACS	Fuji will experience multiple brief interruptions from 00:00 until 02:00 MT (01:00 until 03:00 CT).
Policy Tech	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
Powerscribe	PowerScribe will be available, however, users may get logged out as the servers are restarted. You may simply log back in if this occurs.
Self Service Hub	The system is unavailable with no workaround.
TeraRecon	The system is unavailable.  Please initiate downtime procedures.
TraumaOne	The system is unavailable with no workaround.

We appreciate your patience as we conduct these maintenance activities to keep our incredible people equipped with the latest tools and to ensure you can provide the highest quality, whole-person care.

Questions?
If you have any questions regarding this Monthly Maintenance Window, please contact your Clinical Informaticists by Facility.

As home gardening and seasonal produce shopping are becoming increasingly popular, home food canning and preservation also appear to be on the rise. Canning is a tradition that has been around for more than 200 years. It’s easy to see why many are turning to this age-old food storage tradition when you look at all the benefits it offers.

When you can your own food, you know what you’re eating and are able to exclude anything you don’t want. You control the sodium, sugar and any additives. By canning at the peak of freshness, you preserve the vitamin and mineral content of the food. It’s also possible to stock up on food for canning while it’s in season or on sale, thereby saving money.

Many are trying to grow their own produce and can it, making good use of surplus garden harvests. Making your own food, with known ingredients, ensures the highest quality product. Most canned foods may be saved up to a year when stored between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Home canning does require an initial investment of supplies before you begin. Many items can be found online and in retail stores, and some grocery stores also carry supplies. Once you’ve obtained the basics, you’ll have them to use immediately and well into the future. It’s important to know that different types of foods require different ingredients and equipment, so it’s wise to do your research on how to can your desired foods before investing in items you may not need. At a minimum, you will need a large pot with a lid and/or pressure-canning pot or device, a rack for the inside bottom of the pot, and jars and lids. Other items that are not necessary but recommended for ease of use and safety are a jar lifter, pH strips and a funnel.

The simplest canning method is using a water bath. This method is recommended for acidic foods like fruits and for pickling foods. When using the water bath method of canning, you’ll want to make sure that the jars you plan to use, along with the rack, fit inside the pot, allowing for approximately three inches of space on the top of the jar (one inch of water to cover the jar lid and two inches to allow water to boil).

A more advanced method is pressure canning. This method should be used for low-acid foods like red meats, seafood, poultry, milk and almost all fresh vegetables that are neither pickled or have other acids added to the recipe. If low-acid foods (pH of 4.6 or higher) are not canned properly they can cause botulism — a deadly form of food poisoning — from Clostridium botulinum bacteria. This type of bacteria can survive boiling temperatures, so it’s important to use pressure canning for low-acid foods because pressure canning uses even higher temperatures. It’s also important to note that pressure canning is not safe in all pressure cookers; you should use equipment that is specifically designed for pressure canning.

Each canning method has different processes for sterilizing the specific jars and lids, so always be sure to check the manufacturer recommendations before you begin.  

Home canning is a great way to save money and make great-tasting, high-quality, healthy foods for you and your family or friends. To help you get started, here are a few resources available:

• Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine.
• The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning: Everything You Need to Know to Can Meats, Vegetables, Meals in a Jar, and More, by Diane Devereaux.
• Putting Food By: Fifth Edition, by Ruth Hertzberg, Janet Greene, and Beatrice Vaughan.
• The National Center for Home Food Preservation at https://nchfp.uga.edu/.

1. National Center for Home Food Preservation, https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general.html.
2. Home Canning Guide: Learn How to Can Your Own Food, https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/canning/home-canning.
3. Everything You Need to Know About Canning and Preserving Food, https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/canning-basics.

“The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

When he encourages us to “try as much as possible to be wholly alive,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author and playwright William Saroyan offers good advice not only for writers, but for all of us. It seems so simple, so obvious, such a no-brainer to experience what we’re doing and how we’re feeling. Why would we need encouragement, why would we need to be reminded to live?

The obvious answer to this question is that we need reminders because we forget. We need wake-up calls because we fall asleep to the wonder at the heart of life’s most basic functions, which in health care are known as ADLs (activities of daily living). When asked by a disciple about the method of Buddhism, the teacher responded, “We stand, we sit, we bathe, we walk.” The student then stated, “I do those things, too.” Said the teacher in reply, “When we stand, we know we are standing … .” This depth of awareness can turn our activities of daily living into spiritual practices, for knowing is not merely a matter of the mind, but of experiencing a sensual sensitivity to the incarnate sacredness of life.

The method of Buddhism is also the heart of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and all the world’s great religions. There is often an other-worldly focus to traditional religious teachings, an emphasis on the afterlife and on what we must do to earn a soft landing there. But the mystical dimension of all traditions shifts the focus of the spiritual life to the here and now, and to the importance of being as present as possible to the often-mundane activities required to maneuver through the day.

We may not think of them in this way, but breathing, tasting our food, sleeping, laughing like hell, and getting good and angry are all aspects of life that are as holy as they are human. For while we are alive, it is here, not there; it is now, not later; it is in our bodies, not out of them, that we have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be spiritually and wholly alive.

Tom Stella, NCC
Corporate Chaplain
tomstella37@gmail.com