Chamber Dinner & Ignite Expo

Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is proud to support our local Chamber of Commerce. On October 27, we attended the Chamber Annual Meeting banquet at the sold-out event with over 1,000 individuals representing Reno County. From the people to the food and the incredible speaker, it was such a motivating night!

The following day, the marketing team represented HRHS at Ignite! Business Expo. Our coffee cups were a big hit and we enjoyed networking with community members and providing information on the services available through the healthcare system.

Healthcare Quality Week

Healthcare Quality Week was dedicated to the acknowledgment and awareness of the quality care and patient safety that HRHS professionals commit to.

The Quality Management and Patient Experience team hosted several events throughout the week in October celebrating the awards, accreditations, certifications, and registries departments’ and entities within HRHS work to accomplish and achieve. Additionally, staff voted on submitted Quality Improvement projects submitted by various teams throughout the system. The projects will be presented to an external group of judges in the next week or two. Winners are in line for prizes associated with their projects and presentations.

The dedication of every staff member to patient safety and high-quality care is the reason Hutchinson Regional Health System continues to elevate its quality of care for our patients. Thank you to all for your participation in the Quality events and contests. We appreciate you committing to doing the right thing at the right time in the right way. Our success is a result of teamwork at all levels!

Kindness Project

During our annual Nature Therapy Day, Julia Johnson, an art teacher at Hutchinson High School and yoga instructor from Sunflower Yoga, shared her kindness project vision with attendees. We knew instantly we wanted to participate!

Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras printed on the flags will be blown by the wind to spread the goodwill and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.

Horizons staff and clients created our own positivity flags that are displayed in our lobby with the hopes of sharing the positive vibrations with even more people.

Lights of Love

Employee Discount

Health-E-Quip would like to remind all employees that you can receive a 25% discount on items not covered by insurance. Plus you can use the convenience of payroll deduct for your purchase.

 If you're in the need of any medical supplies, make sure you check out HEQ's great selection. Save time and save money, plus support our very own entity. The friendly staff at Health-E-Quip will take care of all your medical equipment needs.   

Fall Clean-up

If you've walked around the HRMC campus lately, you've might have noticed a lot of trash roaming the grounds, and Kansas winds any make it worse.

Tim Heisler, HRHS EVS & Food Service Director, took his team out on a sunny day in late October for a Fall cleanup. "First appearances are very important", Heisler stated as he directed his team to scour the grounds in an effort to pick up as much trash as possible to make the campus presentable again. 

It takes all of us to keep our campus looking clean and beautiful. If you see some trash, please take a moment to discard of it. Every little bit helps.

Auxiliary Fall Lunch

The annual HRHS Auxiliary Fall Luncheon was held in October to thank Auxiliary Volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the system. 

Penny Stoss, director of the anticipated Hutchinson Regional Learning Academy, provided an overview of the project anticipated to open in 2023, creating a valuable resource for child care to all HRHS employees.

Rehab Services Open House

October was National Physical Therapy month and the Physical Therapy team at HRMC hosted an open house for hospital staff to come learn about PT and have fun!

The PT team highlighted specialty service lines such as LSVT Big for Parkinson's Disease, Pediatric therapy, and Pelvic Floor therapy. Staff that attended the open house were able to practice exercises that patients often do, from exercises seated in a chair to an obstacle course for balance and agility. There were assistive device races, games, and trivia to add a little fun to learning about Physical Therapy.

The PT department provides services for patients in our hospital as well as outpatient services for all ages. For more information, call Rehab Services at 620-665-2104.

Fall Craft Fair

The annual HRHS Fall Craft Fair was held at the end of October and featured over 20 booths from Hutch Regional employees.   Attendees discovered a large selection of arts, crafts, jewelry and food, all just in time for holiday shopping.  

Pretty in Pink

The entire staff of Hutchinson Primary Care Associates celebrated National Breast Cancer Awareness month by decking themselves out in pink hair and outfits.

October became nationally recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness month in 1985, and initially, the aim was to increase the early detection of the disease by encouraging women to have mammograms.

Flu Shot Reminder

Linessa Rexford, APRN

Employee Health Manager

Reminder that by November 1st, 2022, every employee should have received a flu shot or completed an exemption request. If you forgot or are putting it off, please make arrangements to get your flu shot.



Employee Health is available to give shots Monday to Friday from 7 am to 11:30 am and 12:30 to 3 pm in the Employee Health Office, located on the 1st floor between the pharmacy and outpatient therapy services. You do not need an appointment. Please come get this taken care of immediately, as it is a requirement of your employment. 

Furnace Safety

Submitted by Cory Griffith's

Director of Safety

Every winter when the temperature drops, your furnace can become a silent killer. Gas- and oil-burning furnaces produce carbon monoxide (CO). CO is an invisible, odorless, poison gas that kills hundreds every year and makes thousands more, sick. Any furnace that burns fuel produces carbon monoxide as a byproduct. This is the same for any appliance in your home that burns fuel, such as a gas range. Therefore, if your furnace uses natural gas, propane, or oil to make heat, your furnace creates carbon monoxide.

Follow these steps to keep your family safe this winter:

·        Get annual maintenance on your furnace….

·        Ensure your furnace was installed properly. ...

·        Change your air filter regularly....

·        Check for any blockage (bird nests, soot, etc.) ...

·        Inspect your fire place and chimney….

·        Install carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of your home and within 10 ft of

        each bedroom (Detectors should be replaced every 5-6 yrs.)

Equipment Failure Assistance

When your equipment fails or your needing assistance to verify the operation of the equipment, such as a bed, wheelchair or nurse call, you can always contact the Biomed team. They will make sure your equipment is up and running as soon as possible.

The easiest way to know who to contact if the equipment fails, determine if the equipment is used/hooked to the patient directly? If so, you will need to contact Biomed, also known as Clinical Engineering. If the equipment is attached to the wall, floor or ceiling and isn’t used directly on the patient, you will contact Facilities, also known as Plant Operations.

You can find the work request on the top of the Intranet in the tabs as marked. You can also scroll down on the Intranet and find the symbols for Clinical Engineering with the symbol marked with “CE” in the middle.

Please don’t hesitate to put in a work order if the equipment or device is broken as this can speed up the process with turn around time and keeping patients safe.

HRMC Birthing Center Recognized

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in partnership with the Kansas Hospital Association and the Kansas Midwives Alliance, presented the third annual recognition program for hospitals, facilities and midwives who provide newborn screening services.

The third annual awards were released by KDHE’s Kansas Newborn Screening Program (KS-NBS), honoring 136 birthing facilities and midwives for their dedication to higher newborn screening standards in 2021.

Top recognitions went to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, Nemaha Valley Community Hospital, and Neosho Memorial Hospital, who were awarded recognition as the “All Around Best of the Best.”

Hutchinson Regional Medical Center received the award for its proficiency in CCHD Screening | Hearing Screening | Metabolic & Genetic Screening and Honorable Mention for Collection Age, Transit Time, and Unsatisfactory Rate.



Fouteen additional facilities earned a “Best of the Best” designation for either point-of-care screenings (hearing and critical congenital heart defects) or metabolic and genetic screenings. 

Get With The Guidelines

Mission:Lifeline:

STEMI Receiving Center - Gold Plus

Get with the guidelines:Coronary Artery Disease is a registry that HRMC uses to input data from our STEMI (ST elevated myocardial infarctions, aka heart attacks) patients. This takes effort from EMS, ED, ED physicians, Cath lab and the Cardiologists, not to mention admissions, one call, ICU and all the others that help with the information and patient care in between. HRMC received the award for our outstanding performance by meeting or exceeding the guideline therapy recommendations. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Get With The Guidelines for Coronary Artery Disease

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recently recognized Hutchinson Regional Medical Center with the "Get with the guidelines - Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Type Two Diabetes Honor Roll" for it's continued success in using the Get With The Guidelines program and for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability. 

The October edition of First Course featured Dr. Thomas Frimpong, board certified Neurological Surgeon and Interventional Pain Management Specialist.  Dr. Frimpong discussed surgical management of back and neck pain.

If you missed the program, you can view it by clicking on the link below.

The November edition of First Course will feature Barbara Youmans on Tuesday, November 15th at the Pavilion. Barbara will discuss strategies to effectively decrease fall risk. Hope to see you there.

Fred Cole, Radiation Therapist at Chalmers Cancer Center, retired at the end of September after twenty-four and a half years.

Fred started his tenure at Chalmers in 1998.  In his time there, he says there have been many changes in the treatment of cancer including the ever changing technology upgrades and treatment options.  He said that he's seen thousands of patients during his career and will miss the interaction with them and also will miss working with the Chalmers team.

He looks forward to retirement, keeping busy with woodworking and gardening projects, along with spending time with family that includes five grandkids.  Thanks Fred for your service to Chalmers and Hutch Regional.  You'll be missed! 

Sheila England retired in mid October from Hutch Regional.  Shelia worked for the Food and Nutrition Department for a little over 30 years. During her time at HRHS, she worked in many different areas in the department. Most employees will remember her working 3rd shift in the cafeteria. 

Thank you Shelia for your years of service to the healthcare system.

November 6th - Daylight Saving Time Ends

November 8th - Election Day

November 11th - Veterans Day

November 15th - First Course

November 24th - Thanksgiving

Security

The HRHS Security Staff includes one manager, one coordinator, one specialist, 14 fulltime, one part time and three PRN positions.

From January through September 2022, there were a total of 1233 reports to security, 4566 calls and 59 work place violence incidents handled.

Security has produced over 1,000 badges for the Healthcare System so far this year.

So far in 2022 there have been four Code Pink drills, 27 fire alarm drills, five weapons seized and 15 narcotics seized.

Services provided by security include: door lock outs, airing up tires, vehicle jump starts, unfreezing door locks and providing escorts for staff and patients upon request.

*The aorta, the largest artery in the body, is almost the diameter of a garden hose.

*The average human brain weighs about 3 pounds.

*The heart muscles will stop working only when we die.

*The most common blood type in the world is Type O.

*The muscles of our body constitute 40% of our body weight.