December 13, 2022

Regional & Divisional News

Click to see what's happening locally:

• Central WI Region
• UP Region
• North WI Division
• Northeast WI Division
• Northwest WI Division
• South WI Division
• Southeast & Southwest WI Division

Don't know your region or division?

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In This Edition

• Employee Pulse Survey: Final Week
• More Employee COVID-19 Testing Sites Added
• Bivalent Boosters OK'd for Kids as Young as 6 Months
• 32 Complete Emerging Leaders Program
• W-2 and 1095-C: Web delivery
• Annual Wellness Payment Through Voya
• Show Off Your Ugly Sweater
• Office of Medical Education (OME) Awards
• Help Stock the Aspirus Family House
• Festival of Trees Raises $200,000
• Serving Plain Communities
• Aspirus in the News: Woodruff Clinic
• Holiday De-Stress Sessions
• Diabetes Management: Tips for Holidays

Employee Pulse Survey: Final Week

Share your feedback by Dec. 19

If you haven’t already done so, please take a few minutes to complete the confidential survey.

Your voice is crucial to helping Aspirus understand how we are doing and how we can best meet your needs.

Check your Aspirus email for a message sent from NRC Health on Dec. 5 with the subject line Action Requested! Aspirus Employee Pulse Survey.

Don’t worry about the blue external sender banner. This email is legitimate and safe.

Thank you for your feedback. The more people who participate in the survey, the more reliable the results. 

More Employee COVID-19 Testing Sites Added

Employee COVID-19 testing and collection is now available at six additional sites across the Aspirus Health system. Employees who require COVID-19 testing as part of our attestation and return-to-work process can now do so at the following locations:

• Aspirus Eagle River Hospital
• Aspirus Merrill Hospital
• Aspirus Phillips Clinic
• Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital
• Aspirus Tomahawk Hospital
• Howard Young Medical Center

These locations are welcome additions to our employee testing program that will provide more convenience to our team members located near these facilities. Employees can select the most convenient testing location when self-scheduling in MyAspirus.

Please remember to provide your insurance information during registration for employee COVID-19 testing to help facilitate the necessary payments to payors. There is no cost to you, as the federal government currently requires insurers to support COVID-19 testing without cost to the individual. 

Bivalent Boosters OK'd for Kids as Young as 6 Months

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week authorized the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster doses for use in children down to 6 months of age. Aspirus Health is awaiting confirmation of the authorization from our state departments of health and will be working to order the appropriate booster doses and complete the necessary updates within our Epic medical record. An update will be provided once we expand our bivalent booster offerings. Please refer to the links above from the FDA and CDC for any additional considerations related to the boosters for this youngest age group. 

32 Complete Emerging Leaders Program

On December 7-9, Aspirus celebrated 32 team members from across the system who completed the fall session of the Aspirus Emerging Leaders program. This is the first Emerging Leaders group to graduate since COVID-19 put the program on hiatus.

Aspirus Emerging Leaders is a leadership development program designed to provide additional learning opportunities for employees who have a desire and the potential to become formal or informal leaders within Aspirus.

Tomorrow (December 14) is the last day to apply for the 2023 winter session of Aspirus Emerging Leaders. Learn more and apply.

Congratulations to the following team members who completed the fall session:

Molly Amelse

Aspirus Wausau

Physician Connect Triage

Caitlin Benbow

Aspirus, Inc.

Informational Technology

Kimberly Bethke

Aspirus, Inc.

Care Integration

Derek Bustos

Aspirus Keweenaw

OP Physical Therapy - Houghton

Sarah Carter

Aspirus, Inc.

Care Coordination

Tina Chevalier-Laube

Aspirus Stevens Point

Therapy Administration

Alayna Colombino

Aspirus Eagle River

Therapy - Peds

Nicole Ferge

Aspirus Medical Group

Business Health Administration

Aaron Fuls

Aspirus, Inc.

Talent Delivery

Theresa Gatz

Aspirus, Inc.

Information Technology

Kerry Kressel

Aspirus, Inc.

Information Technology

Alyssa Kufahl

Aspirus, Inc.

Patient Access - Registration

Mara Kukainis

Aspirus Riverview

Quality Services

Toby Mallman

Aspirus Medical Group

Cardiology Clinic - Wausau

Volodymyr Manko

Aspirus Medical Group

Hospitalist-Physician - Wausau

Courtney Mattek

Aspirus Langlade

Palliative Care

Kelsey McGee

Aspirus Rhinelander

Behavioral Health

Michael McPherson

Aspirus Ironwood

Physical Therapy

Mariah Mork

Aspirus Stevens Point

Waupaca Clinic

James Parilek

Aspirus Wausau

Facilities & Construction Mgmt

Lori Picotte

Aspirus Ontonagon

Patient Access - Registration

Kari Rickert

Aspirus Medford

Emergency Room

Rebecca Schnepf

Aspirus Medford

Care Coordination

Jana Schultz

Aspirus Wausau

Physical Therapy Outpatient

Suzanna Severson

Aspirus Iron River

Food Service - Clinical Dietitian

Bonnie Soik

Aspirus Medical Group

Stevens Point Clinic

Craig Stahl

Aspirus Wausau

Business Intelligence

Joseph Strigel

Aspirus Riverview

Fiscal Services

Jasmine Suarez

Aspirus Wausau

Surgery

Karynna Swatzina

Aspirus Medical Group

Weston Clinic

Karissa Youra

Aspirus Divine Savior

Occupational Therapy

Alex Zajichek

Aspirus, Inc.

Care Integration

W-2 and 1095-C

Sign up for faster, more efficient web delivery

Employees are reminded you can log into GHR and sign up to receive your W-2 and/or 1095-C via the web. When these documents are available to view/print, you’ll receive an email notification to your primary work email. You can also add a secondary email for receiving notification.

This option offers a faster, more efficient method of receiving the annual documents for your individual tax filings. No need to wait and watch for it in the mail!

Directions

Log into GHR and click on the Pay button or View Compensation link. Select Additional Pay Resources and then Web Checks. You will be prompted to log in a second time. Then set your

delivery preferences by clicking on the ElecW2 and 1095-C links under “My Delivery Settings” in the column on the left.

Don’t forget to also verify your address and Social Security number in GHR to ensure Aspirus has accurate information for the generation of the W-2 and 1095-C.

Annual Wellness Payment Through Voya

Don’t forget to submit your Wellness claim if you carry any of the voluntary benefits through Voya, which include Hospital Confinement, Critical Illness, and Accident insurance. If you are enrolled in any of these benefits and have completed a qualified health screening test, you are eligible for an annual Wellness Benefit payment.

Examples of the types of tests or screenings eligible for a wellness benefit include: 

• HDL & LDL serum cholesterol test
• Mammogram
• Immunizations
• Colonoscopy
• And many more!

The annual benefit amount is $100 for you, $100 for your spouse, and $50 per child (maximum of $200 for all children).

Submit your claim electronically – no paperwork required – and the benefit can be combined to double or triple your annual benefit payment amount when all three Voluntary Benefits are elected.

Show Off Your Ugly Sweater

Show the world your questionable style on National Ugly Sweater Day – Friday, December 16.

Submit a photo of yourself/your team in your ugly sweater(s) to [email protected] by noon (CST) on December 16, and you may see yourself on one of the Aspirus social media pages.

Office of Medical Education (OME) Awards

The Aspirus Office of Medical Education (OME) is recognizing collaboration and contributions made by Aspirus Physicians and Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs) as clinical teachers for medical students and advance practice clinician students. This is the fourth year OME has recognized these efforts throughout the Aspirus system.

This year’s Collaboration Award goes to Amy Arnold, APNP from the Aspirus Portage Clinic.

Amy uses student, academic or clinical partnership to advance Aspirus academic clinical medicine.

Below is a submission by a student of Amy.

“Amy is not only an incredibly knowledgeable and thorough provider with amazing bedside manner, but she is also an excellent preceptor. I am learning more than I ever have before and I wish she could be my preceptor for the entirety of my program. She is very informative, patient, and I can tell she really cares about helping me reach my goals. If I had kids, I would be lucky to have someone like Amy be their provider. I am so glad I had the pleasure of learning from Amy. I am really enjoying my time with her in clinic and I hope one day I can provide excellent care like her!” - NP Student

Help Stock the Aspirus Family House

The Aspirus Family House helps patients and families system-wide and beyond. It offers lodging to patients and families who must travel to Wausau for specialty care or have a loved one in medical crisis and need help with a safe, affordable, healing place to stay. Generous donations help keep the lights on and the doors open.

This holiday season, departments and individuals are invited to help stock the Aspirus Family House with basic necessities by donating items from its wish list.

Thank you for your support of the Aspirus Family House!

Aspirus 'Festival of Trees' Raises $200,000

The 25th anniversary of the Aspirus Health Foundation Festival of Trees raised $200,000 to support health care services in the community.

Thousands of guests attended the festival held Thanksgiving week in Rothschild, Wis. On display were more than 125 holiday trees, wreaths, mantels and specialty items donated by talented community members to be raffled or auctioned off.

“With support from the community and festival committee, the Festival of Trees was a tremendous success,” said Kim Smerda, Fund Development Specialist for Aspirus Health Foundation. “It was wonderful to be back in person, and we are grateful for the dedicated participation of businesses, individuals and volunteers. We could not do it without them.”

Proceeds from the Festival of Trees will support programs and services provided by Aspirus Comfort Care & Hospice Services and the Aspirus Family House. Aspirus Comfort Care & Hospice Services provides compassionate care for patients and families during their end-of-life journey, which can be a difficult and emotional time. Aspirus Family House offers a safe, affordable place for patients to stay when traveling to Wausau for medical care.

“It is with the help of philanthropy that we are able to provide these services and programs that mean so much to patients and families,” said Lanna Scannell, Vice President of System Philanthropy for Aspirus Health Foundation. “It is truly humbling to see such a level of community support.”

For information about the Aspirus Health Foundation and opportunities to support local health care, visit aspirus.org/foundation. 

Serving Plain Communities

Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics, in partnership with the Taylor County Health Department and UW-Extension, hosted an information program on Serving Plain Communities.

Recordings of the following presentations are available via the Taylor County Health Department YouTube channel.

• General Session – An overview of the faith and culture of Plain groups in Wisconsin, which has the fourth largest Amish population among US states. Clarifies misunderstandings and stereotypes about these groups.

• Health Care Session – Addresses the health culture of Plain groups, such as how they view health and well-being as well as health maintenance and restoration. Also explores how Plain people access health care within and outside their communities and considers common challenges for Plain patients and the providers who care for them.

• Service Provider Session – Focuses on interactions between Plain people and a range of service providers (including social and CPS workers, law enforcement and the legal system), dealing with issues such as mental health, abuse and road safety. 

Aspirus in the News

Aspirus Woodruff Clinic Locations Consolidated

Aspirus Health renovated its Aspirus Woodruff Clinic - Maple Street as part of a multi-phase plan to consolidate its two primary care clinics in Woodruff and enhance overall patient experience.

Construction on the clinic, located on the Howard Young Medical Center campus, started in September and was completed in December.

“Providing an outstanding patient experience is our top priority,” said Teri Theiler, Aspirus North Division President. “We look forward to showcasing the newly renovated spaces with our patients and the community.”

Holiday De-Stress Sessions

Yoga and breath techniques to relieve stress

We are offering four Holiday De-Stress Sessions via Webex to help you learn mindfulness techniques to calm your nervous system.

Each 20-minute session will include some basic yoga postures along with breath techniques to help you relieve stress, no matter where you are this holiday season! 

All sessions are live via Webex. Feel free to attend one or all sessions.

Register in HealthStream.

• Search Catalog for “Holiday De-Stress Sessions”
• Once enrolled, click on “View Class” to add to your calendar
• Join live classes directly from HealthStream once enrolled

Diabetes Management

Tips for enjoying a safe and healthy holiday season

The holidays are often filled with an excess of eating, an abundance of stress and a lack of rest. 

If you are one of the 38 million people in the United States with diabetes, you're right to be concerned about managing the disease in the face of all the temptations. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to make sure you enjoy all the season has to offer while keeping your diabetes in check.

“Planning ahead is an important part to enjoying the holidays and staying healthy with diabetes,” says Jessika Jamgochian, an Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner specializing in endocrinology at Aspirus. “Once you know what your schedule looks like, you can create a plan for keeping your diabetes in check.”

Visit the Aspirus Media Center for other recent stories featuring Aspirus experts.

Remember to Check Out Your Local News

Click the links below for your region/division below to see what's happening locally.

Regional & Divisional News

• Central WI Region
• UP Region
• North WI Division
• Northeast WI Division
• Northwest WI Division
• South WI Division
• Southeast & Southwest WI Division

Don't know your region or division?

Click the map to find out.