September 19, 2023

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?

Click the map to find out.

In This Edition

• Aspirus Hosts St. Luke's Leaders for Site Visit
• Employee Vaccination Clinics
• Nurse Residency Graduation
• Nominate a Clinician
• Public Health Award for Dr. Jabbour
• Employee to Compete at Youth Olympics
• Employment Verifications
• Help Our Team Grow: Referral Bonuses!
• Notice of Creditable Coverage
• Oct. 11 Epic Upgrade: Training Available
• Women in Medicine Month
• Much Gratitude to YOU!
• The Rainbow Connection
• Wondr Health: Apply Now!
• PTO Buy-Back Deadline: Sept. 30
• Sepsis Awareness: Protecting Your Family's Health

Aspirus Hosts St. Luke’s Leaders for Site Visit

Members of St. Luke’s executive team and board of directors visited several Aspirus sites on September 14 and 15, building relationships and touring facilities.

After announcing in July that we had signed a Letter of Intent to affiliate with St. Luke’s, Aspirus has been performing due diligence and working toward a Definitive Agreement, which is the next step in the affiliation process.

St. Luke’s is a non-profit healthcare system based in Duluth, Minnesota, serving residents of northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The system includes two hospitals, more than 40 clinics, home health and hospice care, pharmacies, critical care, medical goods, and two ambulatory surgery centers. St. Luke’s employs over 3,000 employees, including nearly 300 physicians and advanced practice clinicians.

Photos from the visit are included above (click to view larger). For more information about the affiliation, please visit the Aspirus intranet (Key Initiatives > Affiliation with St. Luke’s Duluth). 

Employee Vaccination Clinics

Everyone’s participation in our 2023-2024 Influenza & COVID-19 Safety Programs is required by October 31. For both influenza and COVID-19, participation means either getting vaccinated or completing an electronic declination. Read the September 13 memo to learn more.

Employee vaccination clinics have started at locations throughout the system. Click the graphic or consult the events calendar on the intranet for available times and locations. Clinics are on a walk-in basis and do not require you to sign up in advance.

Note: Our earlier clinics will likely only feature the influenza vaccine until Aspirus receives our supply of the new COVID-19 vaccines in late September or early October. Vaccination clinic offerings may be adjusted accordingly based on supply and demand.

Achieving high vaccination rates demonstrates our commitment to each other and the communities we serve. Thank you for supporting a safe work environment and protecting our most vulnerable patients.

Nurse Residency Graduation

Aspirus Health celebrated Nurse Residency graduates at ceremonies across the system on September 13. The graduation was the culmination of six months of learning and professional development that included supportive debriefing, skill development, and expansion of critical-thinking skills. Nurses from across all regions were among those graduating from this systemwide residency program.

Congratulations to the following graduates:

Newly licensed nurses are enrolled in this program, which offers monthly eLearning and live classroom events. A Central Region cohort started in August and the next systemwide cohort of nurses will start the program in October.

Thank you to Alyson Soucy, Brenda Monnot and Janeen Rhyner for being the regional facilitators for this group of graduates. Jennilee Mann, Nursing Professional Development Coordinator, OL&D, leads the team to collaborate with leaders for enrollment and program coordination. 

Pictured above: Some of our Aspirus Nurse Residency graduates, facilitators and supportive team members from across the system.

Nominate a Clinician for Award of Excellence

The nomination period for the next quarterly Aspirus Award of Excellence runs through September 30. 

Submit your nominations to recognize the accomplishments of physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs) who demonstrate Aspirus values not only in their clinical practice, but their daily interaction with patients, staff and communities.

The nomination form is available via the Aspirus intranet: Life & Career > HR & TOTAL REWARDS > REWARDS & RECOGNITION. All recognition options, including the Aspirus Award of Excellence, can be found on the page. Here’s a direct link to the form on the MedStaff intranet.

Winners are selected quarterly based on the selection criteria indicated on the submission form.

Cardiologist Dr. Jabbour to Receive Public Health Award

Congratulations to Aspirus cardiologist Samer Jabbour, MD, MPH, who was recently announced as the recipient of one the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) annual awards for excellence in public health. Each year, the APHA honors excellence in public health leadership and innovation from state and local health officials to those speaking up for public health from the halls of Congress.

Dr. Jabbour will receive the 2023 Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace at the APHA’s annual meeting and expo on November 13 in Atlanta. He is receiving the award for alerting the international health care community about human rights violations in Arab countries devastated by war.

Dr. Jabbour is a professor of public health practice and faculty of health sciences at the American University of Beirut, and researcher with the Syrian Center for Policy Research, Beirut, Lebanon. He has tracked international humanitarian law violations as a founding chair of the Global Alliance on War, Conflict and Health, and was the co-chair of The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria: Health in Conflict. As co-chair, and one of the commission’s founders, Jabbour called on health care professionals worldwide to condemn the leveling of health care facilities in countries such as Syria and advocate for peace.

Aspirus Team Member to Compete at Youth Olympics

Congratulations to Teagan Thurston, Aspirus La Vita Fitness Center (pictured far right), whose four-person mixed curling team will represent the USA at the Youth Olympic Games in January 2024 in South Korea!

Read more about Teagan’s accomplishment in the South WI Division News.

Employment Verifications

Aspirus uses a third-party vendor to complete all income and employment verifications. The vendor, Work Number® from Equifax, securely and instantly provides automated income and employment verifications that are often required when you:

• Buy or refinance a home.
• Rent a property.
• Buy a vehicle.
• Apply for a loan or credit.
• Qualify for government benefits.

A guide to the Work Number that includes Aspirus Employer Code 19521 can be found on the intranet: Life & Career > HR & Total Rewards > Employment Verifications.

Please note that employees who joined Aspirus as part of our most recent integrations have unique employer codes:



• Ascension Employer Code: 15502 – For use if you are verifying employment with Aspirus prior to August 1, 2021.
• Divine Savior Employer Code: 15502 – For use if you are verifying employment with Aspirus prior to December 27, 2020.

If you have any questions, or if the Work Number is not meeting your needs, please contact the HR Solution Center at 715-843-1282 or via email.

Help Our Team Grow

You could earn a $500 or $2500 referral bonus!

You can help our team grow by reviewing your personal and professional networks for prospective team members and refer candidates to our organization.

You could earn a referral bonus of $500 for any new employee you refer who is hired.

You can earn a referral bonus of $2500 for any new employee hired into one of the following positions: RNs, EMTs/Paramedics, Med Techs/MLTs, Phlebotomists, CNAs & CMAs, Respiratory Therapists and Surg Techs.

See the Employee Referral Bonus Program Policy in PolicyStat for full details and the referral form.

Visit careers.aspirus.org to view current career opportunities at Aspirus. If you know someone right for a position, let them know we'd love for them to join our team.

Notice of Creditable Coverage for 2023

Important notice from Aspirus, Inc. about your prescription drug coverage & Medicare

Each year Aspirus is required to notify employees/dependents who are covered under (eligible) – or will be becoming eligible for – Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, whether your drug coverage through the Aspirus employee health plan is creditable. Click here to view the notice now available on the intranet.

If any of your dependents are, or will be, enrolled in Medicare as well as the employee health plan, you are responsible for providing this notice to your Medicare-eligible dependent(s).

Report Suspicious Emails

Aspirus email security tools intercept millions of malicious emails each month. While these tools provide vital protection for our network, no email security tool provides 100 percent protection. You provide the last layer of defense against malicious emails making their way into your inbox.

Reporting suspicious emails is the best way to keep our network safe.

A blue banner appears at the top of emails from external senders. Click the “Report Suspicious” button in this blue banner to report suspicious emails. Doing so automatically sends the message to our email security tools for analysis, initiates automated action if appropriate, and deletes the suspicious email from your inbox.

Please do not forward suspicious emails to phishtank@aspirus.org.

A screen will open after you click "Report Suspicious." Click the blue Phish Tank button.

If the message is not an Aspirus Phishing Simulation, you will receive this message:

Thank you for reporting this email and keeping Aspirus safe. It has been sent to our email security tools for automated threat analysis. If additional information or action is required Aspirus IT Cybersecurity will contact, you. If you took any action on this email (clicked on a link or opened an attachment) or have additional questions, please call the Aspirus Service Desk at 715-847-2300 or 800-297-8780.

If the email was a part of the phishing simulation, you will receive a notice that it was a part of the Aspirus phishing campaign and thanking you for keeping Aspirus safe.

Oct. 11 Epic Upgrade

Training dashboards now available

Training dashboards are now updated to reflect the changes occurring during this Oct. 11 Epic upgrade that will directly impact Epic user roles.

How to access training:

• Press F1 from within Epic.
• The Learning Library homepage.
• Look for the banner on the intranet.

Look for these hospital highlights coming with the upgrade…

• Save Time with Flowsheet Macros! Document common sets of data in flowsheets with just a click or two instead of documenting each flowsheet row individually.

• Lab Overview - The Lab Overview will be your “one-stop shop” to change the blood specimen collection status for all, or individual, labs, and see everything you need to know about a patient’s recent, current, and upcoming specimen collections. 

Women in Medicine Month

September is the American Medical Association’s Women in Medicine Month. Click below to hear the stories of two incredible women and Aspirus team members who embody the true spirit of health care.

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

Much Gratitude to YOU!

September 21 is World Gratitude Day.

At Aspirus Health, we’re grateful for you and the incredible contributions you and all your teammates make for the good of our patients and the communities we serve. Thank you for everything you do. It is through your efforts we're able to fulfill our mission of healing people, promoting health and strengthening communities.

Is there someone you’re grateful for?

Tell them. Log into the Aspirus Rewards & Recognition site and thank them with a recognition award or e-card. You can find both under the “Programs” menu.

The Rainbow Connection

Below are some beautiful photos of Aspirus facilities taken by Aspirus team members after recent rain showers.

Don't Miss Out: Enrollment Closes September 24!

No points, plans, or counting calories. Wondr Health is a skills-based digital weight loss program that teaches you how to enjoy the foods you love to improve your overall health. This behavioral science-based program was created by a team of doctors and clinicians and is clinically proven for lasting results. When you apply the skills you learn, you won't just lose weight. You will sleep better, stress less, and so much more!

All employees are eligible to apply for the program. Spouses and covered dependents over age 18 who are enrolled in the medical insurance are also eligible to apply.

PTO Buy-Back Election Deadline is Sept. 30

Employees interested in participating in the October 2023 PTO buy-back program have until September 30 to submit their request in GHR using the PTO Buy-Back Submission Form under Benefits > Information.

Sepsis Awareness: Protecting Your Family's Health

Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection, affecting millions each year.

To mark Sepsis Awareness Month, Aspirus Clinical Outcomes Nurse Alice Kristek talked about the risks, signs, and prevention methods to stay safe.

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 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.