Two HCA East Florida hospitals – St. Lucie Medical Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and JFK Medical Center in Atlantis, Florida, have recently received designations by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) as Blue Distinction Centers.

Spine Surgery and Knee and Hip Replacement are the areas for which St. Lucie has received Blue Distinction Center status, while JFK Medical Center was named a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement.

Innovative procedures, such as the Oxford ® Partial Knee, the most widely used and clinically proven partial knee system in the world, are available at St. Lucie. Surgeons may elect to perform a partial knee replacement for patients with only limited knee arthritis, known as medial compartment arthritis. Unlike total knee replacement that removes all the knee joint surfaces, a partial knee replacement replaces only one side of the knee joint, making it much smaller than a total knee implant. It removes 75% less bone and cartilage, is less painful, enables a more rapid recovery, and provides more natural motion when compared to a total knee replacement. By retaining all of the undamaged parts, the joint bends and functions more naturally.

St. Lucie Medical Center’s $18.2 million expansion completed its new Orthopedic and Spine Institute in July 2009, with 35 private patient rooms and two new surgical suites. Because many patients are active adults, the Orthopedic Institute was designed to provide an upscale, hotel-like environment, to give patients a feeling that they are relaxing, not recuperating.

In December 2008, JFK Medical Center unveiled a hospital expansion, building out the 5th floor tower of the south patient tower dedicated to its Orthopedic Institute. The $10.9 million expansion consisted of 36 private patient rooms, all 100% handicap accessible in 24,750 square feet of space. The unit includes a 3,400 square feet gymnasium and treatment space within its physical therapy department.

Specifically for patients in need of a hip or knee replacement, a revolutionary, new Anterior Approach is now available at JFK Medical Center, using the HANA™ Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Table. It is the only surgical table designed exclusively for hip and knee replacement. The Anterior Approach allows the surgeon to reach the hip joint from the front of the hip as opposed to the lateral (side), or the posterior (back) approach. Some of the many benefits of this procedure, in contrast to traditional hip and knee replacement surgery, include less muscle trauma for the patient, reduced hospital stay, a smaller incision (4-5 inches as opposed to 10-12 inches), and faster recovery (2-8 weeks as opposed to 2-4 months).

The selection criteria used to evaluate facilities were developed with input from a panel of expert physicians. To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement, the following types of criteria were evaluated. More information on selection criteria is available on www.bcbs.com:

• Established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care, emergency care, and a full range of patient support services with full accreditation by a CMS-deemed national accreditation organization
• Experience and training of program surgeons, including case volume
• Quality management programs, including surgical checklists as well as tracking and evaluation of clinical outcomes and process of care
• Multi-disciplinary clinical pathways and teams to coordinate and streamline care, including transitions of care
• Shared decision-making and preoperative patient education

Note: Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means these facilities’ overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians’ and leading professional organizations’ recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at any facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan.

BHVKUCWTPHGS

Each year at this time, HCA East Florida hospitals welcome the opportunity to report to our communities. Within our new Community Reports, we include statistics, information about the economic impact HCA East Florida hospitals have on the communities we serve, and ways we give back to them. We let you know about awards and recognitions received during the past year, areas of quality and patient safety we are continually developing, and areas of specialized care. The HCA East Florida division’s report includes spotlights on each of our 12 hospitals and a listing of our affiliates, including Ambulatory Care Centers and Imaging Centers.

Each hospital also has developed its own Community Report, which includes more in-depth information on programs, services, and new technology available at its facility. They will soon be available in PDF format for viewing and downloading from each of our hospital websites.

To give you a preview, here is our CEO’s message, which will appear in the Community Report for the HCA East Florida division. The Division’s Community Report will be available here: 2010 Community Report.

A Message From Our President

In times of need, caring and compassion are our greatest strengths.
These qualities are the essence of being a caregiver, and are at the core of what we do every day. Countless members of our community entrust their lives, safety and health to us, and all of us at the HCA East Florida Division are committed to uphold that trust. Whether it is the physician or nurse at the bedside, the administrator at the helm of the support systems to our caregivers, or the many support staff that encompass a healthcare experience, we are all here to serve our patients in their time of need with the compassion that is integral to our mission.
During 2009, almost 510,000 patients began their journey of care in our Emergency rooms, being served by our 13,260 employees, 4,333 physicians and 1,749 volunteers. Our emergency departments are proud of our quality of care and of the many improvements that have allowed us to produce low wait times and have given us the ability to share those wait times with our communities in multiple innovative formats: Online at www.hcaeastflorida.com, via text message on Text ER to 23000, on roadside Digital Billboards throughout our region, and on mobile media platforms such as iPhone apps and iTriage. HCA East Florida is committed to providing this vital information in the vehicle most accessible to our patients.

As communication technology evolves, we must communicate in these new and exciting formats to reach all of our patients. Social Media has become an important method of conversation for our communities. That is why HCA East Florida Division joined the social media revolution in 2009 by creating blogs and microblogs for the Division and all of our 12 Hospitals, which can be accessed through Facebook and Twitter. We value our patients and want to provide them with timely information about our services and establish a two-way conversation on health topics and concerns.

Our commitment to the community is unwavering. As you will read in this publication, the economic impact of our system approaches $ 1.6 billion. In 2009, our hospitals treated 36% of the uninsured patients who received care in our communities, and we provided 29% of the care rendered to patients covered through the Medicaid program. Our new trauma program at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center is delivering life-saving care to the residents of the Treasure Coast. At the date of this publication, they had treated and saved 797 trauma patients since opening in May of 2009.

We are proud of the many quality accomplishments, certifications and accreditations of our hospitals; among them are Blue Cross Blue Shield Distinction for Cardiac Care and Orthopedic Care, Joint Commission Certified Stroke Centers, Accredited Cancer Centers, Accredited Chest Pain Centers, Thompson Reuters Hospital Top 100 designation, and we achieved Nursing Magnet Status at St. Lucie Medical Center.

With the impact of the tragic earthquake in Haiti still unfolding, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti as they face this devastation to their lives and homeland. HCA East Florida Division has been strongly involved in the Haiti relief efforts by donating essential medical and relief supplies. In these times of need, HCA has committed $1 million in cash and in-kind donations for direct relief to the stricken areas.

Sincerely,
Michael G. Joseph
President, HCA East Florida Division

“It takes more than just teamwork; it takes highly skilled individuals dedicated to a common goal…whose passion and integrity allow them to achieve things most people would think impossible. Perfection doesn’t happen by accident. It’s only achieved through plenty of sweat and hard work.” – Coach Don Shula, Spokesperson for HCA East Florida hospitals’ Emergency Departments

Don Shula knows a lot about teamwork and the importance of putting together a quality team in order to see positive results. As the winningest pro football coach ever, Don served as Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995. He’s the only coach to have had teams in six Super Bowls, including two wins for the Miami Dolphins.

HCA East Florida hospitals are proud and pleased to have Coach Shula as a spokesperson for our emergency department services, appearing in television spots and on billboards for our ER Wait Times throughout the area. Because Coach Shula’s career has personified teamwork, there is no better person to talk about the quality efforts that have been made by our emergency department team members.

The steady improvements in intake processes in the ERs at all of HCA East Florida hospitals between 2007 and 2009 are a reflection of a huge team effort. Emergency Department Directors, Emergency Department staff, Radiology, Lab, Registration Staff and Physicians were all involved in dramatically cutting the time patients wait for a physician and total treatment time.

For example, the time to see a triage RN has been reduced by more than half – from 14.5 minutes in 2007 down to 6 minutes in December 2009. The time to be placed in a bed has been drastically reduced by over 75% – from 37 minutes down to 9 minutes. And, time to see a doctor, which was averaging 59 minutes in 2007 was averaging only 17 minutes in December 2009 – more than a 70% reduction.

As Coach Shula says, achieving these things doesn’t happen by accident: “It’s only achieved through plenty of sweat and hard work.” In the initiative to reduce ER Wait Times, it took analyzing processes and making changes at every step of the Emergency Room stay, including:

• Triage processes and documentation

• Bedding processes

• Ancillary support response (i.e. Lab & Radiology)

• Staffing needs

• Review of performance, daily and monthly

• ER physician involvement in performance improvement

ER Wait Times can be accessed in one of several ways:

Text “ER” to 23000 for Live ER Wait Times

Free iPhone app – Go to er.hcaeastflorida.com

iTriage – Access at www.ITriageHealth.com

Check the home page of any of our hospital websites.

(Times are updated every 30 minutes.)

St. Lucie Medical Center’s Emergency Department nursing team received the 2009 Best Nursing Team award by ADVANCE for Nurses magazine, and received the Genesis Cup from EmCare’s National Meeting in Dallas Texas after competing against 375 emergency departments from throughout the country.

HCA East Florida Hospitals:

St. Lucie Medical Center:

Raulerson Hospital:

JFK Medical Center:

Aventura Hospital & Medical Center:

Northwest Medical Center:

Kendall Regional Medical Center:

Plantation General Hospital:

Westside Regional Medical Center:

University Hospital & Medical Center

Palms West Hospital

Columbia Hospital

• Every 30 seconds an American has a heart attack
• Every 45 seconds an American has a stroke
• Every hour there are 100 deaths from vascular disease
• Vascular disease it the leading cause of death worldwide

You do not have to be a statistic! Is your heart’s health worth 10 minutes of your time?

AngioScreen^®, presented exclusively in South Florida by HCA East Florida Division of hospitals, is a simple, non-invasive vascular screening designed to provide information about heart rhythm, neck and leg arteries, blood pressure, abdominal aorta size and fitness. It also measures Ankle Brachial Index, a screening for blockages in the leg arteries that is normally not performed by doctors, unless patients are symptomatic.  It is the number one indication for vascular disease.

No needles are involved with the screening. No blood work is taken. It is completely painless, non-invasive, and involves no radiation.

AngioScreen® uses state-of-the-art Doppler color flow ultrasound technology, the same ultrasound technology found in most hospitals or emergency rooms. Ultrasound is the most accurate technology we have that is safe, non-invasive, and allows us to look directly into the carotid arteries to visualize plaque build up. 

Immediately after the screening, you will receive a double-sided, color ultrasound picture printout and digital record showing your risk of heart disease and stroke. Your results will be reviewed in a two to three minute non-diagnostic consultation.  Any abnormal findings are highlighted in red. You will also receive a color and black and white image of your left and right carotid arteries, compared to arteries with varying degrees of disease.
  

The basic screening is only $50 and includes the following tests: 

• Carotid artery ultrasound

• Blood pressure (both arms)

• Ankle brachial index (both legs)

• Body mass index (BMI)

• Peak systolic velocity

• Heart rate

• Heart rhythm EKG 

An abdominal aorta aneurysm screening may be added for an additional $30. You should share the results of the screening with your doctor.

The carotid arteries (the main arteries in the neck) carry blood to the brain.  Narrowing of the carotid arteries increases your risk of stroke. Thickening of the inner lining of the carotid arteries, which is how plaque begins, is correlated with blockages of the heart’s arteries.  Plaque in the carotid arteries is associated with the presence of plaque in the heart’s arteries.  So studying the carotid arteries gives you information about your heart’s circulation.  15% of all strokes occur because of plaque in the carotid artery.

AngioScreen® is only a screening, your first step in learning about your vascular health.  It is not meant to be a diagnostic study.  Sonographers look for the area of greatest plaque and capture only four images.  If your physician is concerned about the nature and degree of plaque, he or she may order a full diagnostic study.

Medicare and most insurance companies do not cover preventive screenings. The screening is covered, however, under most flexible spending accounts.
Space is limited, so please call 1-866-4-HCA-DOCs (1-866-442-2362) and schedule your appointment today.

To view a video on the AngioScreen® procedure, click here.

Click this link to view a Calendar listing where and when community screenings will be held.

These links take you to local TV coverage on AngioScreen:

ABC Local 10 Story

CBS 4 Local Story, Part I

CBS 4 Local Story, Part II

How many times have you heard someone complain about an aching back? You have probably experienced back pain firsthand, as it affects 80% of Americans at some time in their lives. What about a pain in your neck, a shoulder that has been injured, or a hip or knee that has become painful when walking?

Orthopedic surgeons are trained to deal with problems that develop in the bones, joints, and ligaments of the body. Whether you are having pain or have received an injury involving the spine, neck, back, shoulder, hip, knee, or wrist, patients needing advanced treatments for orthopedic and spine issues can find high quality care at our HCA East Florida hospitals.

Our team of experts is ready to assess and treat musculoskeletal disorders that lead to pain and immobility. Our surgeons are committed to performing the latest innovations in their field, and patients benefit from the experience of a panel of orthopedic experts, individualized treatment plans and a high caliber of care.

Advanced procedures including minimally invasive knee and hip resurfacing, as well as partial hip resurfacing and partial knee replacements, are available to relieve pain and help patients return to normal activities.

Several HCA East Florida hospitals have renovated and opened new Orthopedic and Spine Institutes within the past two years and others are in the process of being completed. Each hospital’s team of experts works to guide patients through every aspect of care, from surgery to discharge and follow-up care.

St. Lucie Medical Center, Port St. Lucie, FL – St. Lucie Medical Center’s $24.4 million expansion completed its new Orthopedic and Spine Institute in July 2009, with 35 private patient rooms and two new surgical suites. (Click on the link above to view a video of the new unit.) Because many patients are active adults, the Orthopedic Institute was designed to provide an upscale, hotel-like environment, to give patients a feeling that they are relaxing, not recuperating.

University Hospital and Medical Center, Tamarac, FL – In October 2008, University Hospital and Medical Center celebrated the opening of their newly renovated Orthopedic and Spine Institute. The 8-bed oversized private suites have also been designed to have the look and feel of a fine hotel.

Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, Aventura, FL – Aventura Hospital and Medical Center celebrated its newly renovated Orthopedic & Spine Institute grand opening in October 2009.  With private patient rooms and a new inpatient rehabilitation gymnasium, Aventura’s Orthopedic & Spine Institute provides a comprehensive approach to your care in a comfortable environment.

JFK Medical Center, Atlantis, FL – In December 2008, JFK Medical Center unveiled a 36-bed $10.9 million expansion to provide a dedicated Orthopedic Institute. All rooms are private and 100% handicap accessible. A physical therapy department, large gym and treatment space give patients access to a state-of-the-art rehabilitative environment.

Columbia Hospital, West Palm Beach, FL – The Orthopedic and Spine Institute of the Palm Beaches offers a 9-bed unit featuring dedicated nursing staff and all private rooms.

Recently Opened or Opening Soon:

Kendall, Lawnwood, and Westside are the most recent among HCA East Florida hospitals to undergo renovation and construction of Orthopedic and Spine Institutes: 

Kendall Regional Medical Center, Miami, FL –A 24-bed Orthopedic and Spine Institute was opened in January 2010, with dedicated operating rooms and nursing staff.

Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Fort Pierce, FL – A 15-bed Orthopedic and Spine Institute is currently undergoing renovation and construction. A March 2010 opening date is tentatively planned.

Westside Regional Medical Center, Plantation, FL –A 10-bed Orthopedic and Spine Institute is currently undergoing construction. A May 2010 opening date is tentatively planned.

For more information on any of HCA East Florida’s orthopedic and spine services, click on the hospital links above, or call 1-866-4HCA-DOCS (442-4362).

There are many myths surrounding women and heart disease. Perhaps the biggest one is that heart disease is a man’s problem. However, according to WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, more women than men have died of heart disease each year since 1984. Women also have a 25% increased risk of dying as compared to men to die within the first year after a heart attack.

While many think that most women in America die from cancer, heart disease is the leading cause of death of women in the U.S. Almost every minute, a woman in the United States dies from heart disease.  Despite these statistics, women comprise only 27% of participants in all heart-related research studies.

Another myth is that heart disease threatens older women only. Sadly, the rate of sudden cardiac death of women in their 30s and 40s is increasing much faster than in men their same age—rising 21 percent in the 1990s.

Yet another myth is that women’s and men’s heart disease is the same and should be treated the same. Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates, however, that women often experience new or different physical symptoms as long as a month or more before experiencing heart attacks. Symptoms most commonly reported were unusual fatigue, sleep disturbance, and shortness of breath. Many women never had chest pains! Symptoms such as indigestion, sleep disturbances, or weakness in the arms, were also recognized by many women in the NIH study as warning signals for heart attack. Overall, women’s symptoms are not as predictable as men’s.

Women’s major symptoms prior to their heart attack included:

·  Unusual fatigue – 70%

·  Sleep disturbance – 48%

·  Shortness of breath – 42%

·  Indigestion – 39%

·  Anxiety – 35%

Major symptoms during the heart attack included:

·  Shortness of breath – 58%

·  Weakness – 55%

·  Unusual fatigue – 43%

·  Cold sweat – 39%

·  Dizziness – 39%

The traditional symptoms of pain or discomfort in the center of the chest, and pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach, should not, however, be ignored.

There are also differences in how women and men respond to a heart attack. Women are less likely than men to believe they’re having a heart attack and more likely to delay in seeking emergency treatment. If you feel heart attack symptoms, do not delay. Minutes count. Do not wait for more than a few minutes (five minutes at most) to call 9-1-1.

Sources:

WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Study: Women’s Early Warning Symptoms of Acute Myocardial Infarction 

For more info: Healthy Heart Handbook for Women 

National Wear Red Day

Friday, February 5, 2010, is National Wear Red Day^®—a day when Americans nationwide will take women’s health to heart by wearing red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness. The Red Dress^®, the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, was created by The Heart Truth^® in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women.

Join The Heart Truth on National Wear Red Day to help spread the critical message that “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear—It’s the #1 Killer of Women.^®” Everyone can participate in the national movement by wearing their favorite red dress, shirt, tie, or Red Dress Pin on Friday, February 5, 2010. Read more about The Heart Truth^® here.

™The Heart Truth logo is a trademark of HHS.

Lawnwood

Aventura

JFK

Westside

Kendall

Aventura Hospital & Medical Center and Dr. Robert J. Cubeddu, Interventional Cardiologist, are teaming up to bring advanced procedures for the treatment of cardiac diseases to patients in Miami-Dade County and beyond. These new procedures, called “structural heart disease interventions,” allow for the less invasive treatment of heart valve disorders, stroke-related cardiac problems, and congenital heart defects, previously requiring open heart surgery.

Dr. Cubeddu explains, “For many years, we have been using catheters to treat coronary artery disease and obtain information about the heart’s function. We have perfected the use of balloon angioplasty to open clogged arteries, and placed wire mesh stents to keep the arteries open.”

“Over the past five to 10 years, we have learned to master these catheter techniques to treat other structural problems within the heart, thus allowing many patients to avoid the need for open heart surgery.”

Below are some of the current heart problems that may be addressed with this innovative catheter-based technology:

A • Repair and replacement of significantly diseased heart valves:

Examples: Aortic stenosis, mitral stenosis, mitral insufficiency, among others.  

B • Repair of congenital heart defects:

Examples: closure of Atrial Septal Defects (ASD), Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD), among other more complex congenital heart disorders.

C • Repair of structural heart problems associated with stroke:

Examples:

a)      Closure of the heart’s “left atrial appendage” as a remedy for patients with atrial fibrillation  or irregular heart rates who can no longer take Coumadin (anticoagulation) for stroke prevention.

b)      Closure of the “patent foramen ovale” in patients who have had prior strokes. A patent foramen ovale is a small hole in the heart seen that may be seen with an echocardiogram, and that may put many patients at increased risk for recurrent strokes.

Dr. Cubeddu explains that in most instances these procedures are done under local anesthesia and patients are usually kept in the hospital overnight for observation. This represents a major advantage of this technology, more so when compared to traditional open heart surgery, where patients typically require general anesthesia, followed by a longer hospital stay and a longer period of healing of the chest wall.

“This becomes a particularly important issue for high risk surgical patients or those patients who are often considered inoperable. Patients may have now an alternative, less invasive means to solve their cardiac problem,” Dr. Cubeddu says. “We are excited to offer these minimally invasive remedies to our patients. It is very rewarding to see patients recover quickly and successfully from these new catheter-based procedures.”

Dr. Cubeddu is board-certified in interventional cardiology and completed his Fellowship training in Structural Heart Disease Interventions and Congenital Heart Disease at the Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston. He is one of the very first officially trained U.S. physicians in this discipline and cutting edge technology. He has also completed Fellowships in Cardiology (Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami) and Interventional Cardiology (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard U., Boston).

For further information or to arrange a consultation appointment, please call 786-428-1059.

Imagine… Major surgery can now be performed through the smallest of incisions. It is now possible, thanks to a breakthrough surgical technology called the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System. It is an effective, minimally invasive alternative to both open surgery and laparoscopy.

Complex surgical procedures can be performed with the da Vinci Surgical System, including cardiac, gynecologic, and urologic surgeries. Examples of urologic surgeries that have been successfully performed using the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System include:

• Prostatectomy —to remove part or all of prostate gland found to contain prostate cancer
• Pyeloplasty —to repair an abnormality of the kidney and nearby ureter  (the tube that leads from the kidney to the bladder)
• Cystectomy —to remove all or part of the bladder to treat cancer of the bladder
• Nephrectomy —to remove all or part of the kidney because of kidney cancer, kidney stones, or kidney disease
• Ureteral reimplantation—to disconnect and reinsert the ureter from the bladder to keep urine from flowing backwards from the bladder into the kidneys
• Procedures requiring fine dissection and suturing—(eg, reconnection of the ureter)

Compared to more traditional procedures, robotic-assisted surgery may result in:

    * Less scarring

    * Reduced recovery times

    * Less risk of infection

    * Less blood loss

    * Reduced trauma to the body

    * Shorter hospital stay

    * Faster recovery

As in traditional surgery, general anesthesia is used to block pain and keep the patient asleep through the surgery.

How does the surgeon perform robotic surgery?

Several small keyhole incisions are made in the abdomen. Carbon dioxide gas is passed into the area to make it easier for the doctor to see the internal structures. The doctor then passes a small camera called an endoscope through one of the incisions. The camera, attached to one of the robotic arms. will light, magnify, and project the structures onto a video screen. The other arms hold instruments for grasping, cutting, dissecting, and suturing.

While sitting at a console near the operating table, the doctor looks through lenses at magnified 3D images of the inside of the body. Another doctor stays by the table to adjust the camera and tools. With joystick-like controls and foot pedals, the doctor performs the surgery by guiding the robotic arms and tools. After the tools are removed, the doctor uses sutures or staples to close the surgical area.

The surgery usually takes from two to four hours, depending on the procedure. The average hospital stay is 1-2 days and total recovery time ranges from 3-6 weeks.

How was the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System named?

According to the manufacturer, the da Vinci® System is called “da Vinci” in part because Leonardo da Vinci invented the first robot. The artist Leonardo also used anatomical accuracy and three-dimensional details to bring his works to life.

The da Vinci® System is being used to perform surgeries at the following HCA East Florida hospitals:

Aventura Hospital & Medical Center

JFK Medical Center

Kendall Regional Medical Center

St. Lucie Medical Center

Westside Regional Medical Center

To learn more, go to this page on our website: Robotic Surgery of Florida

Aventura

JFK

Kendall

St. Lucie

Westside

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HCA DONATES MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO FOOD FOR THE POOR FOR HAITI RELIEF EFFORT

Fort Lauderdale, FL  Jan. 20, 2010 – Through its East Florida Division based in Fort Lauderdale, HCA has begun coordinating medical supply donations from its facilities across the country for Haiti Relief efforts.  Working with Food for the Poor, the largest international relief organization in the United States, local facility supply officers are identifying available supplies most appropriate to meet current needs and arranging for collection and delivery.

“On behalf of the entire HCA East Florida Division Family, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti as they face this devastation to their lives and homeland.  We especially would like to express our concern and support for our staff members with family in Haiti that have experienced a loss, injuries or have not been able to reach their families”  said Michael G. Joseph, President, HCA East Florida Division.

On Wednesday, HCA delivered truckloads of much needed medical supplies and food to the Food For The Poor headquarters in Coconut Creek, Fl.

“This donation goes directly to the heart of what we are being told by our assessment teams in Haiti,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “They are in dire need of simple medical supplies that we take for granted, and they have no food. This will allow us to continue to move with urgency to get needed items into the hands of the people who need it most.”

HCA announced last week that it has committed to match employee contributions and provide in-kind donations for a $1 million total contribution. HCA has established the ability for employees, physicians, facility volunteers or others affiliated with the company to give directly to a special relief fund, “The HCA Haiti Relief Fund,” administered through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.  The company will match employee gifts to this fund. Tax-deductible donations to this fund may be made by either check or credit card at www.cfmt.org/HCAHaitiReliefFund.

“The devastation in Haiti is almost incomprehensible,” said HCA Chairman and CEO, Richard M. Bracken, “and some members of the HCA family have been personally affected. We wanted to act quickly to provide assistance from the company and to establish an effective mechanism by which our people could fulfill their desire to help.”

About HCA

HCA is a leading provider of healthcare services, composed of locally managed facilities that include 163 hospitals and 105 freestanding surgery centers in 20 states and England.  HCA’s employee assistance program, “The Hope Fund,” is reaching out to provide help to employees who have family members who may have been directly affected by the tragedy.  www.hcahealthcare.com

www.hcaeastflorida.com

Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the United States, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information please visit, http://www.foodforthepoor.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                            

Lourdes Garrido – HCA East Florida Division

954-767-5748

Kathy Skipper – Food for the Poor

954-427-2222

###

All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Inc. and its affiliates.

The amount of time patients waited before seeing a physician in an ER has risen steadily in the U.S., from 38 minutes in 1997, to 47 minutes in 2004, to 56 minutes in 2006, according to a report by the CDCP (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).

“It’s a trend HCA East Florida hospitals did not want to see continue,” says Gila Kimmelman, FACHE, Management Engineer, HCA East Florida, “so our ER care team  took on the challenge of reducing our own statistics and, over the past two years or so, have dramatically cut the time patients wait for a physician and total treatment time.” This team effort included Emergency Department Directors, Emergency Department staff, Radiology, Lab, Registration Staff and Physicians.

The statistics below reflect the steady improvements in intake processes in the Emergency Departments at HCA East Florida hospitals between 2007 and 2009. (Figures shown below are an average of all HCA East Florida hospitals.)

Time to:          2007                2008                2009                Dec ‘09 (only)

Triage RN       14.5                 12                   8                      6

Bed                 37                    18                    12                    9

Doctor             59                    32                    22                    17

The initiatives undertaken by the E.R. staff members to accomplish this amazing reduction in wait times included analyzing processes and making changes at virtually every step of the Emergency Room stay. This included the triage process and documentation, whereby a nurse prioritizes the patient’s need to be seen; the bedding process, which moves the patient from the waiting area to an ER treatment room; response of ancillary support (Lab/Radiology) and staffing needs, according to arrival patterns and emergency department census.

ER staff also began reviewing their performance daily and monthly, from which reports were generated. A key component is that Emergency physicians also became involved in performance improvement processes, with oversight by each hospital’s Chief Executive Office and Chief Nursing Officer.

The next step was getting the word out to the public – by posting current E.R. Wait Times on each hospital’s website, as well as making wait times readily available through texting, free iPhone apps, and incorporated into selected billboards.

You might see Helio Casteneves, three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 race, on a billboard or see him on your local TV station talking about the precision and speed of our emergency room services. Watch as he gives the checkered flag to our ER services and lets everyone know you can Text 23000 for Live ER Wait Times. Click on the video below to watch the TV spot by Helio.