During the livestream we received a question about where to access our Centura Health 2025 Strategic Framework. You can click here to view this plan, which guides our priorities as an organization.

Last week, we celebrated our 25^th Anniversary with remarks from Peter D. Banko, our President & CEO. He shared his thoughts with us on our successes and challenges throughout the historic crisis as well as our priorities for the coming year – supporting our incredible people, growing our healing ministry, and finding our “next normal.” If you missed the live event on July 15, click here to view a recording! You will need to enter the following passcode: Centura25

You can also still complete a special wellbeing activity focused on caring for your whole health – mind, body and spirit – in honor of the milestone. Log in to your Inspire Wellbeing account and find Centura 25^th Anniversary Wellbeing Activities under your available programs. Complete one of the wellbeing options by Aug. 6 to earn 25 points toward your annual Inspire Wellbeing incentive!

Thank you for your unstoppable energy and ongoing commitment to amplifying our shared ministry!

Across our connected ecosystem, we each have a unique voice and story about why we received the COVID-19 vaccine. Click here to share your “why.”

Dr. Burkett’s husband, Steve, started experiencing symptoms during the last week of March 2020. After his symptoms worsened, Dr. Burkett took him to the emergency department on Good Friday. Due to visitor restrictions, she had to leave him at the door. The care team called her to say they thought Steve would be okay, and he was released and able to go home before eventually feeling worse again a few days later.

“When he got worse the Tuesday morning after Easter and I had to take him again, it was so hard because I knew what was going to happen,” Dr. Burkett said.

Steve was taken directly to the ICU from the emergency department and was intubated within two hours. He was on a ventilator for three weeks and spent the entire month of April in Littleton Adventist Hospital.

“It is terrifying when your husband is sick. I kept thinking, what would I do without him?”

Despite the challenges Dr. Burkett was facing at home, she continued providing the necessary leadership to our CHPG practices – determining what to do with our clinics, working to stand up testing sites, coordinating with leaders across the system to protect the health and safety of our caregivers.

Dr. Burkett was able to see Steve twice while he was in the hospital, thanks to an iPad. “It was hard because as a physician, I knew all the bad stuff. I kept thinking to myself, you can’t be so sad because you at least know what’s going on. A lot of people had family in there and they didn’t know what to ask or have a clue what was going on,” she explained.

Dr. Burkett used art as a way to process her emotions during Steve’s hospital stay.

After experiencing many complications throughout his hospital stay, Steve was released from the hospital on May 2, 2020. A year later on the same day, the family held a first birthday party for him. Today, Steve is healthy and the entire family is grateful for his recovery.

Across the country, nearly all COVID-19 hospitalizations are unvaccinated patients. “As a physician, I have always been an advocate for vaccines. I received my COVID-19 vaccine to save lives, to protect myself and others. It helps prevent this really terrible disease. People need to hear that it’s not only you that suffers when you get sick. It’s your family too.”

Steve celebrating his “first birthday” with his grandchildren.

For the best user experience, use Google Chrome to complete your survey.

The annual Culture of Safety Survey is an opportunity to provide insight into the culture of safety in your department, facility and our organization as a whole. Your input is critical as we build our culture of safety at Centura Health and we need to hear from you, whether you provide direct patient care or are in a supporting role.

The Culture of Safety Survey closes Wednesday, July 21. So far, we’ve heard from 31% of our incredible associates and physicians. If you haven’t participated yet, you can access the survey using the applicable link below and take less than 10 minutes to share your voice now!

• All associates and Centura-employed physicians: Click here
• Affiliated physicians: Click here

Preventing and treating substance use disorders is a vital part of the whole person care we deliver to our patients and communities. To more fully address the opioid crisis in our communities, we are committed to a multi-faceted approach to prevention, harm reduction and treatment across our connected ecosystem: decreasing opioid use, increasing alternatives to opioids (ALTO), reducing harm from opioid use, and providing effective treatment options for those battling substance use disorders.

• Decreasing opioids: Initiatives and education that began in Emergency Departments (EDs) across Centura Health in 2018 and were launched in inpatient settings in May 2021 have resulted in a 20% decrease in opioid usage in the EDs across our connected ecosystem.
  
  
• Increasing ALTOs: As we worked to decrease opioid usage, an Alternatives to Opioids program launched in EDs in 2018 to offer safe and effective pain management strategies. To date, ALTO usage has increased by 18% in our EDs. This program expanded to include inpatient settings in May 2021; data on this recent launch is forthcoming as our incredible people continue doing great work to increase ALTO usage.
  
  
• Reducing harm: In September 2020, Centura Health helped launch a statewide initiative to provide our communities with effective access to naloxone, a proven antidote for opioid overdoses, in an effort to save lives. Through this initiative, we identify patients in emergency settings who are at high risk for opioid misuse and provide them or their families with naloxone take-home kits to be used in the event of an overdose. Due in large part to Centura’s efforts, 50% of Colorado hospitals/ERs now have a take-home naloxone program.
  
  
• Increasing treatment options: The Emergency Department Medication Assisted Treatment/Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (ED MAT/MOUD) model, piloted at St. Anthony North Health Campus in 2018 and now available at all Centura hospitals and freestanding EDs, provides Suboxone/Bupanorphine to treat acute withdrawal symptoms, manage cravings and reduce relapse, providing a seamless bridge to ongoing treatment for people with opioid use disorder.

Let’s face it, life can be stressful. meQuilibrium can help! As part of our Inspire Wellbeing program you have access to this digital solution offering convenient, easily digestible, clinically-proven information to help manage life’s stresses and improve your emotional wellbeing.  

Manage stress and earn rewards! Did you know by enrolling in meQuilibrium you can earn 200 points toward your Inspire Wellbeing reward?   meQuilibrium is designed to help you discover simple techniques to shift your response to stressful thoughts and situations through a confidential, HIPAA compliant app. Associates and covered spouses may enroll at getmeq.com/Centura to get started today.  Complete the stress assessment and immediately gain insights and tools to help you manage the stresses in your life.

We are excited to announce that recently, Centura Health was recognized at meQuilibrium’s annual conference as part of the meQuilibrium Resilience Awards! The awards honored one extraordinary HR leader and five exceptional organizations, including Centura Health, for their achievements in organizational resilience.

Centura Health was named “Best Grassroots Success” for our strategic boots-on-the-ground efforts to drive participation in meQuilibrium’s skill-building program among our 21,000 incredible caregivers.      

Recognizing the stress our caregivers were experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic response, Christy Ewing, Wellness Program Lead, visited 17 hospitals as well as many clinic and office sites across our connected ecosystem in-person to remind our caregivers about the availability of the meQuilibrium platform, share how the program could help improve emotional wellbeing and answer questions.    

Other organizations recognized for their work in driving positive impacts on workforce emotional wellbeing included:

• IBM Corporation’s Jonathan Gelfand, MPH, MBA, Global Well-being and Health Promotion Manager, was named “Resilience Champion of the Year”.
• SAIF received “Best Launch - Mid-Market Company”.
• General Electric was awarded “Best Launch - Enterprise Company”.
• Ford Motor Company received “Best Use of meQuilibrium Data”.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. was awarded “Best Enterprise Strategy”.

This year we’re proud to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Centura and to continue to amplify our centuries of care across our connected ecosystem. Planning is underway now for our next marketing campaign that highlights the care our remarkable people provide each day and the personal connections we have to our communities. Our goal is to showcase our healing ministry through the stories and the passion that our caregivers bring to work and to life. We’ll highlight the kind and compassionate faces, caring actions, and commitment to whole person care.

That’s where you come in! We’re looking to you to partner in helping us launch this campaign and help us amplify the Centura story!

If you’re interested in representing Centura by being featured in upcoming photography, TV commercials, and radio spots, please share your information in this form. We will regularly review submissions and reach out with more details to those who have expressed interest. A couple of notes to support your decision: The time commitment required may vary depending on the need (up to one day for filming, a couple of hours for photography or a shorter time to share your passion for the work you do). We expect to start producing the campaign in August.

Questions?
Please reach out to Maggie McMonigle, director of Brand and Creative Services, maggiemcmonigle@centura.org.