Our benefits and services are designed to help you live your mission and provide a foundation that allows you to grow and become the best version of yourself. Benefits Open Enrollment is your once-a-year opportunity to make changes to your benefit elections that fuel your overall well-being.

Supporting your whole health
Our Annual Benefits and Well-Being Guide was mailed to your address on file. Please take the time to review this guide and understand our medical plans, services and offerings to support your whole health. Visit our benefits intranet site to learn more about our medical plans and watch videos to better understand the many options available to you.

Take action between May 3 and noon MT on May 21! Benefits Open Enrollment is coming soon! Be sure to take action if: You need to complete a spousal verification (annual election is required); You want to participate in a flexible spending account (annual election is required); You are enrolling for the first time; or You need to change your current elections (plan, level of coverage or covered dependents).

Need help selecting the right benefits?
Our benefit representatives are ready to help you make informed decisions. Click here to schedule a one-on-one benefit consultation to support you in selecting the benefit plans that best fit your needs. We recommend using Google Chrome to access this link.

Enrolling is easy!
Once you’ve decided on the right plans for you and your family, enrolling in benefits is easy! Using a Centura Health computer:

• Log in to My Virtual Workplace.
• Log in to Employee Self Service. Under the “Associates” tab, click on “Employee Self Service.” You may need to re-enter your user name and password.
• View current benefits. Click on the “Associates” tab on the screen. Under the “My Benefits” section, click on “Current Benefits.”
• Verify your plan details, dependents and coverage levels.

May 6 marks the beginning of National Nurses Week, culminating on May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday. As we prepare to celebrate this observance together, Centura Health would like to extend a special appreciation for you, our incredible nurses, as you continue to provide a high level of quality care to our patients. You deserve special recognition – today and always – for your remarkable contributions and the positive impact you make every day.

Professional nursing delivers compassionate and expert care for patients throughout Centura Health and our surrounding communities. Our nursing teams specialize in services including neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, women and children's services, and more! Over the past year, you have been tested in unprecedented ways during the COVID-19 pandemic, and your dedication and compassion have been humbling and awe-inspiring. Your light shines brightly through your unwavering commitment to supporting the whole health of our patients, their families and our communities.

Centura associates, please join us in thanking our nurses as we celebrate National Nurses Week! Leave a shout-out to a nurse in a comment below, and head over to our social media pages throughout the next week to #ThankaNurse!

In its February hospital quality ratings release, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recognized five Centura Health hospitals with 5-Star ratings for overall hospital quality:

• Centura Health – Avista Adventist Hospital (AAH)
• Centura Health – Mercy Regional Medical Center (MRMC),
• Centura Health – Parker Adventist Hospital (PKR)
• Centura Health – St. Anthony North Health Center (SANHC)
• Centura Health – St. Anthony Summit Medical Center (SASMC)

Safety First, People Always is at the forefront of everything we do as we strive to deliver health care that is compassionate, top-quality and safety-focused. One of the many ways we measure our commitment to safety and high-performing whole person care is through the Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grades.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an A through F grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harm to patients in their care.

Centura Health is pleased to announce the nine hospitals that received an A rating:

• Centura Health – Avista Adventist Hospital
• Centura Health – Castle Rock Adventist Hospital
• Centura Health – Longmont United Hospital
• Centura Health – Mercy Regional Medical Center
• Centura Health – Penrose Hospital
• Centura Health – St. Anthony North Health Campus
• Centura Health – St. Anthony Summit Medical Center
• Centura Health – St. Francis Medical Center
• Centura Health – St. Mary Corwin-Medical Center

Epic and Non-Epic Critical Application Downtimes

To ensure Microsoft Patches are deployed less than 30 days from receipt and to maximize our data security, the Epic Production and Non-Epic Critical Application monthly maintenance windows were moved to the third Sunday of each month.

Important information regarding maintenance window activities:

On Sunday, May 16, Information Technology (IT) will perform monthly maintenance on Epic, resulting in planned downtimes from Sunday, May 16 at 11:30 p.m. until Monday, May 17 at 1 a.m. (2330 until 0100 MT, 0030 until 0200 CT), lasting approximately one and a half hours. Epic will be down and unavailable during this planned downtime.

We will also perform maintenance on the following non-Epic critical applications and services, which will be unavailable from Sunday, May 16 from 11:30 p.m. until Monday, May 17 at 2 a.m. (2330 until 0200 MT, 0030 until 0300 CT), lasting approximately two and a half hours.  Please view the list of impacted applications or services and their related workarounds.

Non-Epic Critical Applications or Services impacted and their Workaround:

Non-Epic Critical Applications
Application	Workaround
3M 360 Encompass	There is no workaround for this application.
Alaris Interoperability	Use the Alaris IV Pump Integration Downtime Recovery Checklist.
Ascom Vital Sign Alerts (St. Francis NICU)	Ascom will not provide vital sign alerts to Cisco phones and requires the downtime procedures to be initiated. Additional staffing may be needed.
Avasure Virtual Telesitters	Avasure Virtual Telesitters will be unavailable. Initiate downtime procedures including in-person sitting coverage.
Myla Software/Virtuo Blood Culture Instruments	Culture orders will not interface from Epic to Myla during this time. Please follow downtime and manual procedures, as necessary.
Natus Neuroworks	Please initiate downtime procedures.
Nurse Call Systems (All)	Nurse Call systems will not send alerts to phones. Nurse Call alerts will alarm at the main console. Downtime procedures should be in place and the nurse call console should be monitored while the system is down.
OBIX	OBIX will be unavailable. Downtime procedures including in-person monitoring should be initiated which may require increased staff.
Point of Care lab tests uploading to Epic	Point of Care lab results will not upload to Epic during the full maintenance window. POC tests completed during the downtime will upload to Epic once the downtime is complete.
Pyxis	Pyxis stations will automatically be placed on critical override in order to pull medications.
WellSky Transfusion – Blood Bank	WellSky Transfusion (Blood Bank) will not be available.  The labs should initiate downtime procedures if the application is needed during the downtime.
Computer workstation security updates	Following the installation of workstation updates, you will see a 15-minute countdown and then the workstation will automatically restart.

When this will occur:

• Epic: Sunday, May 16 at 11:30 p.m. until Monday, May 17 at 1 a.m. (2330 until 0100 MT, 0030 until 0200 CT).
• Non-Epic Critical Applications: Sunday, May 16 at 11:30 p.m. until Monday, May 17 at 2 a.m. (2330 until 0200 MT, 0030 until 0300 CT).

• Ascom Vital Sign Alerts (St. Francis NICU): Additional staffing may be needed.
• Avasure Virtual Telesitters: Initiate downtime procedures including in-person sitting coverage.
• Nurse Call Systems (all): Downtime procedures should be in place and the nurse call console should be monitored while the system is down.
• OBIX: Downtime procedures including in-person monitoring should be initiated which may require increased staff.

• Use the Epic SRO icon during the planned Epic downtimes.
• For Alaris Interoperability recovery, use the Alaris IV Pump Integration Downtime Recovery Checklist.
• If Epic SRO becomes unavailable during the downtime windows, use the Epic Down 2 BCA Web option (for Middle Park and Craig Hospital end-users, use the Epic Downtime 3 BCA web option).

PolicyTech will be pushing out their latest software updates; therefore, starting Monday, May 17 at 7 a.m. MST through Tuesday, May 18 at 8 a.m. MST, no changes can be made to documents within PolicyTech. This includes any updates to documents, approvals and sign-offs. It is important for document owners, reviewers and approvers to plan accordingly as any changes made in the system during this time period will be lost. There will also be a 30-minute period between 6-7 a.m. MST on Tuesday, May 18 when Policy Tech will be unavailable as we complete the updates.

For most PolicyTech users, the update will be transparent with only minimal changes. For an optimal user experience, you should utilize Chrome as your web browser to access PolicyTech rather than Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge after the update.  

Document owners, reviewers and approvers will also see some additional changes and enhancements with the update. Training guides for these users have been revised to reflect these changes and can be found here (please refer to version 12.4).

Questions?
Please contact Joe Rosario, Enterprise Policy Administrator, at josephrosario@centura.org with questions. Please contact the IT Help Desk at 303.643.4200 if you encounter any technical issues.

Centura Health recognizes that improving medication safety is one of the most challenging aspects of health care. It involves ensuring accurate information about our patient’s home medications, including clinic visits, emergency room visits, admissions and discharges.

As a care provider, you are essential to the medication reconciliation process. To best equip our clinical stakeholders with updated information on workflows and Epic build, Information Technology (IT) is excited to launch annual Med Rec May which will include required refresher training (developed based on feedback from key clinical stakeholders across all areas of the care continuum).

On May 3, you will be assigned refreshed Med Rec training in LEARN. This week we are looking at the updated list of discontinue reasons. As you complete training, take note of this important topic:

Discontinue Reasons are cleaned up and changing. Centura’s pharmacy leadership has worked in collaboration with nursing, and provider (inpatient and outpatient) leadership to refine the options for discontinuing a home medication. The new options will be in PRD on June 1. See the list of the discontinue reasons below:

Patient can’t afford medication	Patient not on protocol
Dose/agent changed	Reorder
Duplicate	No longer indicated
Error	Formulary change
Therapy completed	Unable to determine reason
Patient reports not effective	Anesthesia stop
Discontinued by another provider	Contact move-error
Unwanted reaction	Patient transfer
Has not taken in over 30 days	Reorder
Not available	Returned to ADS
Stop taking at discharge

A Discontinue Reason will be required for all users, except providers. To help provide clarity and context around the actions taken on home medications, a discontinue reason will be required. Based on end-user feedback the Help Buttons have been updated to be those that are commonly used. You can customize these buttons via the Wrench icon.

May is Stroke Awareness Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of stroke prevention. This week, let’s explore the types of stroke and how to reduce your risk of having a stroke.

What is a stroke or “brain attack”?
Stroke occurs when blood supply to the brain is blocked or decreased. Without blood flow, up to 2 million neurons may die every minute. Every minute lost increases the chance of a person experiencing permanent neurological damage, stroke-related disability, or death. Stroke is a medical emergency that requires rapid treatment.  

• Ischemic (blockage): An ischemic stroke occurs when there is blockage of blood flow to the brain. This blockage causes brain tissue to die from lack of oxygen. About 87% of all strokes are ischemic.
• Hemorrhagic (bleeding): A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel bursts and causes bleeding into or around the brain. Bleeding in the brain can damage brain cells and cause them to die. About 13% of strokes are hemorrhagic.
• Transient Ischemic Attack: A Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is when blood supply to the brain is temporarily blocked. When this happens, the brain does not function properly. The person has stroke-like symptoms. Once blood flow is restored to the brain, the symptoms resolve.

• Uncontrollable risk factors: Some risk factors for stroke are not controllable. Even if you cannot control them, knowing what they are is important in determining your risk for stroke. These factors include:
  • Risk of stroke increases with age
  • More common in men than women
  • African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to have strokes than Caucasians
  • Your risk is greater if someone in your family has had a stroke
  • Prior stroke or heart attack puts you at a much higher risk
• Controllable risk factors: If lifestyle changes are made, a person’s risk of stroke can be reduced.
  • High blood pressure
  • Cigarette smoking
  • Diabetes
  • Carotid or other artery disease
  • Other heart disease
  • Sickle cell disease (also called sickle cell anemia)
  • High cholesterol
  • Peripheral artery disease
  • Atrial fibrillation
  • Poor diet
  • Physical inactivity and obesity

This past year presented many challenges and obstacles that tested our strength and resiliency. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many people who had never experienced mental health challenges found themselves struggling for the first time. During the month of May, Mental Health Awareness Month, we will focus on different topics that can help you build skills and supports that extend beyond COVID-19.

A great resource for Centura Health associates and family members who are ready to prioritize their mental health is to take advantage of the free, confidential Profile Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP offers confidential counseling, work-life services, legal or financial assistance to our associates and their family members. With the recent launch of EAP’s online registration, accessing support is even easier! Simply click here to complete the online registration form. Once the form is completed, click submit and your information will be uploaded to Profile EAP. EAP’s administrative support staff will contact you the following business day to schedule your appointment. By going to www.profileeap.org you can also sign up for one of our weekly webinars during the month of May.

For more information about your EAP benefits, please visit www.ProfileEAP.org and enter company code CENTURA or call 800.645.6571.

Questions?
Call the number above or email ProfileEAP@Centura.org.