Ourcommitment

to you PERSONALIZED ATTENTION & CARE

Charlotte will providepersonalized attention tothe individuals it servesthrough a professional andcompassionate healthcareteam who know you, thearea, and want to give yougreat care at a time of needand promote healthy livingat all times.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS & OUTREACH

Charlotte will assureconnectedness to thecommunities it serves,provide ready access tohighly specialized servicesand well-coordinatedprogramming and be thehospital first thought of forquality care and healthleadership.

DEDICATED PHYSICIANS & STAFF

Charlotte will havephysicians and staff thatare well-trained, well-respected, compassionate,have extensive experienceand are invested in thecommunities and individualsit serves.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY & PARTNERSHIPS

Charlotte will provide many equivalent procedures,technology and expertisethat large health centers do,but at a convenient, safe andcomfortable location, or havethe specialized partnershipsthat assure rapid transfersand seamless treatment ifcare needs to be providedelsewhere.

Copper casts a renewed light on patient care, safety at CHH

Copper, the chemical element thatafforded Uri Hungerford thefinancial resources to giveCharlotte Hungerford

Hospital to the people ofTorrington in 1917, willonce again be a resource toprovide “hope and comfortto the ill and injuredin NorthwesternConnecticut.”

Nearly a century afterthe Torrington native andfounder of U. T. HungerfordBrass & Copper Companygave the hospital in memoryof his mother, CharlotteHungerford Hospital (CHH) hasreceived a $20,000 grant for thepurchase of naturally antibacterialcopper products to promote patient, visitorand employee safety.

Part of the AntimicrobialCopper Patient Safety Challenge,grant funds from the CopperDevelopment Association willaugment the hospital’s existing infection control andprevention measures. Because copper and copper alloysnaturally kill bacteria and viruses, including MRSA andE. coli, copper-based products will help reduce the riskof infections spreading through frequently touched areas.

“We are excited about this opportunity to furtherour infection prevention and control efforts and keep ourpatients, visitors and staff safe,” said John Capobianco,R.N., Vice President of Operations at CHH.

Copper compounds have been used throughout

HealthHealthMatters

NON PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 28TORRINGTON, CT

SPRING 2014

CHH elects John Janco as chairman of the board

John E. Janco, President and COO of TorringtonSavings Bank, has been elected the newChairman of the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital

Board of Governors for a two-year term. He succeedsJohn Lavieri, President of Sterling Engineering, whocompleted his second two year-term serving asChairman in December.

“I am extremely grateful to John Lavieri forhis continuous and unwavering dedication andcommitment to our hospital and its employees,”said Dan McIntyre, CHH President and ExecutiveDirector. “I look forward to continuing our excitingprogress under John Janco’s leadership whoseknowledge and expertise will be an incredible assetto myself and the board.”

Janco has worked at Torrington Savings Banksince 1973, when he started as a teller. A life-long

history for their medicinal purposes. The firstrecorded medical use of copper is found in

the Smith Papyrus, one of the oldestbooks known, circa 2600 to 2200BC, which tells of the use of copperto sterilize chest wounds by sharp-ening copper alloy swords abovea wound and allowing thefilings to fall into it. AncientEgyptians used coppercompounds to treat headaches,burns and itching. The Aztecsused copper compounds to treatsore throats and skin wounds. Inmore modern times, copper

workers were found to be immunefrom the cholera epidemics of the

mid 1800s in Paris, and Finnish cop-per miners were unaffected by arthritis

as long as they worked in the mines.Most recently, randomized clinical

trials at the Medical University ofSouth Carolina, the VeteransAdministration Medical Center inCharleston, S.C., and MemorialSloan Kettering Cancer Center in

New York City showed a 58 percent reduction ininfections in the rooms of intensive care units outfittedwith copper touch surfaces.

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital was awarded thelargest of the three grants given nationwide because ofits commitment to using innovative technologies toimprove patient safety, its own surface testing experi-ments and confirmation of previous antimicrobial copper

Continued on page 2

Torrington resident, he holds abachelor’s degree from PostCollege and master’s of businessadministration degree from theUniversity of New Haven.

He is active in the Torringtoncommunity, and serves as a boardmember and Treasurer of theTorrington Historical Society,board member and Treasurer forthe Community Foundation ofNorthwest Connecticut and

President of the Torrington Club. He received the Northwest Connecticut Chamber

of Commerce 2012 Community Leader of the YearAward and was awarded the Boy Scouts of AmericaGood Scout award in 2012.

2013 COMMUNITY REPORTINSIDE

John E. Janco

Uri HungerfordBenefactor, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital

Founder, U. T. Hungerford Brass & Copper Company

2

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Multi-SpecialtyGroup has opened “CHH Primary Care” in thecenter of Thomaston, CT, offering comprehensive

primary care services for adults young and old. Heading up the practice is Roberta Meltzer, M.D.,

former 12-year director at the hospital’s Medical Walk-In Center in Torrington. She is committed to personaland compassionate care through the diagnosis andtreatment of both acute and long-term health condi-tions with a focus on wellness and lifestyle medicine.In addition to traditional medical care, Dr. Meltzerincorporates diet and nutrition, physical activity,stress management and smoking cessation toprovide healthier outcomes for patients.

CHH Primary Care is located in downtownThomaston at 131 Main Street, Suite 101A.Office hours are Monday, Wednesday andThursday from 8:45 a..m. to 5:15 p.m., Tuesdayfrom 1 to 6 p.m., and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to1 p.m. The practice accepts most majorinsurances. For questions and to schedule anappointment, call (860) 880-8091.

Continued from page 1

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital EarlyDetection Program Coordinator MarieMcFadden, left, and Leslie Handelman, R.N.,right, CHH Breast Health Nurse Navigator,accept $9,000 from Big Y Store DirectorTracy Lambertson to assist local womenobtain breast cancer screenings.

CHH Multi-Specialty Group

The CHH Multi-Specialty Group is alocal network of outpatient physicianpractices that are owned andmanaged by Charlotte HungerfordHospital. They offer coordinatedcare among a multitude of thehospital’s specialty healthcareproviders and medical specialistsand easier access to advancedtechnologies and services forpatients and their families.

Specialty Outpatient Services

CHH Adult & Pediatric Urology(860) 496-8990

CHH Cardiovascular Medicine(860) 489-1132

CHH Infectious Disease (860) 489-7017

CHH Joint Replacement &Orthopedics (860) 496-6265

CHH Medical Walk-In Center(860) 489-8444

CHH Neurology (860) 626-8232

CHH Primary Care - Torrington (860) 496-6884

CHH Primary Care - Thomaston (860) 880-8091

CHH Surgical Associates (860) 489-7017

CHH Wound Care & HyperbaricMedicine (860) 489-0418

CHH opens new Thomaston primary care practice

BIG Y $9,000 GRANT

Dr. Roberta Meltzer joined theCharlotte Hungerford Hospital

medical staff in 1995, whereshe served as the chief

physician at the CHH MedicalWalk-In in Torrington. She is

pleased to offer primary carein Thomaston, just under

10 miles down Route 8 fromTorrington. Dr. Meltzer

attended Medical Schoolat SUNY at Buffalo andserved her internship

and residency atHartford Hospital.She is certified by

the AmericanBoard of Internal

Medicine.

CHH Wound Care Center a “Center For Excellence”

Copper casts renewed light on patient care, safety

The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Wound Care& Hyperbaric Medicine Center has againreceived recognition as a “Center for Excellence”

for 2013. The center has achieved outstanding patientoutcomes for the last 12 consecutive months, includ-ing a patient satisfaction score of over 92 percent anda minimum 91 percent wound healing rate within amedian of 30 days.

“I am very proud of my team; this award highlightsthe mission we all share here,” said William Polito, M.D.,Medical Director. “We strive not only for great clinicaloutcomes, but we try to get to know each patient tomake his or her experience special.”

Charlotte is one of the few centers in Connecticut toreceive this award through Healogics™, the largestprovider of wound care and related disease management

in the country. Its network of more than 550 wound carecenters nationwide provides access to benchmarking dataand proven experience treating more than million chronicwounds. In Torrington, more than 500 patients in thecommunity were provided specialized treatment forchronic and non-healing wounds this past year.

The center also has added Darren Winkler, DPM,and Dennis D’Onofrio, DPM, from podiatric surgery toits physician panel. They join Medical Director WilliamPolito, M.D., and Asma Qamar, M.D., infectiousdisease. In addition to the award, four center staffmembers also have received their national certificationin hyperbaric medicine. They are Marcy Barnett, LeadC.H.T.; Donna McMannus, R.N., C.H.T., ClinicalCoordinator; Jennifer Hodgkin, R.N., C.H.T.; andMichael Wildman, P.D.

research, said Wilton Moran, Project Engineer withthe Copper Development Association.

“We found zero bacterial growth on the copperpush plate located next to a nickel push plate thatdespite regular cleaning did show some bacterialgrowth,” said Jennifer Allis Vazquez, R.N., M.S.N.,C.P.T.C., Infection Prevention and ControlCoordinator at CHH. “We are now performingsurface testing of bed rails, bedside tables, elevatorbuttons, chairs, door and toilet handles in a numberof places in the hospital to determine the sites of thegreatest bacterial burden. This information will helpthe hospital’s infection control committee recommendsurfaces for replacement.”

Teresa Fuller, R.N., M.S.N., Patient SafetyOfficer at CHH, said, “We will begin by usingcopper on as many surfaces as the grant allows,replacing surfaces that retain bacteria despite hospitalcleaning.”

All of the cabinet pulls in the hospital’s intensivecare unit already have been replaced, thanks to agenerous donation of over 100 copper pulls by Jamieand Joanne Gregg of Colonial Bronze Company in

Torrington.CHH will con-tinue to installcopper touchsurfaces beyondthe grant, Fullersaid.

Moran notedthat copper alloys (which have copper as their principalcomponent) with more than 60 percent copper are alleffective in fighting and killing bacteria.

“With over 400 copper alloys registered as anti-microbial public health products by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, including brass, bronze, nickel silverand aluminum bronze, there is a full spectrum of colorsfrom which to choose surfaces to protect patients andsave lives,” he said.

“The Copper Development Association was unawareof Uri Hungerford’s role in the copper and brass industrybefore awarding the grant to the hospital,” Moran added.“But we are thrilled to know that the role of copper hascome full circle – that it will continue to help save livesin Torrington.”

Items such as copper grab bars kill bacteria.

1598 East Main StreetTorrington, CT

Urgent Care when you need it!

Monday to Friday – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NEW CHH WALK-IN HOURS

3

Center for Youth and Families on the move

Committed to providing the most comprehensive and experiencedmental health services in northwest Connecticut, the CharlotteHungerford Center for Youth and Families is preparing to

consolidate all of its services under one roof in downtown Torrington.The center will relocate in August to 50 Litchfield Street, the former

Webster Bank building, next to the Torrington Library and across fromCoe Park.

“We’re excited to bring all of our resources to a central location, rightdowntown, which will be more convenient for our families,” said Joan M.Neveski, L.C.S.W., Clinical Manager of the center. “Our new building willrepresent on the outside all of the good things that are taking place on theinside.”

The Center for Youth and Families is a professional mental health servicethat assists children, adolescents and their families with emotional, behav-ioral, developmental and family difficulties. The center’s interdisciplinaryteam of licensed therapists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychiatricnurses and master-level prepared interns offers diagnostic evaluations,community services and education and psychotherapy treatment.

The center’s 27 staff members, seven interns and continually growingnumber of programs are currently divided between two locations, one at1061 East Main Street and the other at 28 St. John Place. The center and

its numerous programs last year served morethan 900 children and families in the

community.“Our new location will mean we

can continue to expand our services,all in one convenient location,” saidNeveski, noting that the downtown

center will be the culmination of adream she and Tom Narducci, L.C.S.W.,

Administrative Director of Behavioral HealthServices at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital,have held since the child advocacy center

opened in a small space on Peck Road in 2001.“We always have wanted a place where children and families

could come and feel safe,” she said. “The bright and cheerful family-

oriented center will offer a warm and inviting atmosphere where childrenand families can receive the help they need.”

Neveski is looking ahead to once more growing the center’sprograms, the first being the expansion of its Connections program thathelps children on the autism spectrum and their families learn skills tohelp them cope in their everyday lives. A new intensive outpatienttreatment program will mean children with autism spectrum disorderwill receive a higher level of care.

“A more intensive program will mean children and parents can practicetheir skills at the center three times a week (10 hours) versus one hour,which means new behaviors can be integrated into the home more quickly,”said Neveski, who is developing the intensive outpatient treatment programwith staff member Alison Milano, L.C.S.W. Neveski expects to adda clinician and two part-time psychiatric technicians to facilitatethe new program, which will begin in thefall of this year.

Neveski noted that additionalsupport groups and services will beadded once the center moves to itsnew location.

For more information about theCharlotte Hungerford Center for Youthand Families or to make a referral,call (860) 489-3391 or visitwww.charlottehungerford.org.

CHH debuts securepatient information portal

Beginning in April, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH) willintroduce “My Health,” a secure, web-based tool that gives patientsthe flexibility to access their health information and other resources

online anytime and anywhere between hospital visits. CHH hopes this new,password protected information portal will provide patients with increasedopportunities to more actively participate in their care and make moreinformed healthcare decisions. My Health gives patients instant access to:

� Review test and screening results - Patients will be able to viewtheir hospital laboratory and radiology results, medications, aller-gies, demographic information, visit history, discharge/ aftercareinformation and more.

� Visit history and discharge information - In addition tohandling their own care, parents and healthcare proxies withauthorized consent will appreciate the ability to access the recordsof those individuals for whom they manage care.

� Update demographic information – Patients can easily update theircurrent contact information to ensure important communication.

� Transmit health information – Patients will be able to transmithealth information to participating providers outside the geographicarea to assure continuity regardless of location.

� View scheduled appointments - Patients will be able to verifyupcoming appointment times.

“Charlotte Hungerford Hospital encourages enrollment and participationin My Health because it presents a valuable opportunity for patients andtheir families to actively participate in their care, which contributes to betterhealth,” said Dan McIntyre, CHH President and Executive Director. “Ourgoal is to spread the word far and wide about the availability and benefits ofthis exciting new online offering.”

Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to use the My Health medicalinformation portal. Utilizing a secure online username and password, MyHealth is completely secure, so patients can be confident that their privateinformation is always protected. Only the patient – or an authorized proxy –can access patient medical information in an account

Enrolling in My Health can be easily done by visiting the hospital’swebsite, www.charlottehungerford.org, and applying for a secure usernameand password using the participants’ personal contact information, medicalrecord number and e-mail.

Join My Health!You will need the following required information ready when you enroll:

� Name� Date of birth� e-mail address on file at CHH� Personal home e-mail address

Log in today!

VISIT CHARLOTTEHUNGERFORD.ORG

HealthMatters

5 4 0 L I T C H F I E L D S T R E E T • T O R R I N G T O N , C T 0 6 7 9 0

is published by Charlotte Hungerford Hospital

Daniel J. McIntyrePresident and Executive Director

John E. JancoChairman, CHH Board of Governors

For a listing of support groups, specials events, screenings,and CHH latest news, visit

www.charlottehungerford.org

CHH upgrades patient rooms in Emergency Department

CHH, Quest Labs form unique partnership

CHH debuts newly designed fourth floor nurses’ station

Health

Private patient rooms in the CHH EmergencyDepartment are being renovated from floor toceiling and side to side.

Recently improved 4th floor nurses’ work stationfacilitates quality patient care.

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH) andQuest Diagnostic Laboratories have cometogether to create a new, innovative labo-

ratory affiliation that will take effect in spring of2014. The first of its kind in Connecticut andone of only a handful in the country, the partner-ship allows for the hospital’s main campus labo-ratory to be managed by Quest, giving CHHaccess to the industry leader’s clinical resourcesand management expertise. CHH Processes over700,000 specimen tests at its hospital-basedlaboratory every year.

“This is a pioneering initiative that will allowour hospital to continue to provide and enhance

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH)has recently unveiled an improved 4thfloor nurses’ work station in order to

facilitate patient care and provide additionalspace and resources to assist staff implementnew health information technology. Thesame design will be completed on the hospi-tal’s 5th floor by the middle of this year.

The project features 17 new computerwork stations. CHH nurses, physicians, casemanagers, technicians, clinical unit secretariesand other medical professionals will now havebetter access to the hospital’s data manage-ment systems. Thirty-two work stations arelocated in five different locations throughoutthe floor instead of just one area. By decen-

quality laboratory services to the community foryears to come,” said Dan McIntyre, CHH Presidentand Executive Director. “More than ever before, weare committed to maintaining our new “nextgeneration” laboratory here in Torrington. “

CHH will continue to bill and collect revenuefor patients having laboratory tests and servicescompleted at the hospital and provide and maintainlaboratory services under its state license. Forinsurance purposes, this continues to be a CHHlaboratory and all applicable copays and deductibleswill apply. In addition, the partnership willestablish the CHH laboratory as a new regionaltesting laboratory for Quest in the near future, as

Volunteer at CHH!

A re you looking for a very specialvolunteer experience and enjoy one-on-one contact with people? CHH is

currently seeking Information Desk, Gift Shopand Lifeline Response volunteers. Participantsin its volunteer program must commit to aonce-a-week shift and receive comprehensivetraining after completing a general hospitalorientation, physical and background check.

“Volunteers make wonderful patientpartners because patients respond well tovolunteers. They provide a welcome bridge andenhance the appreciation of the hospital and itscommunity.” said CHH Volunteer CoordinatorShelli Rhoads.

For close to 100 years, the CharlotteHungerford Hospital Volunteer Program has

provided essential, supple-mentary and complemen-tary services to patients,families, visitors and staff.The current volunteerprogram at CHH has 130traditional volunteers andover 30 junior volunteersin more than 30 non-clinical and clinical areasthat make a profound andpositive difference in thehospital’s daily operations.

If you would like to become part of our volunteerteam, contact Volunteer Services at (860) 496-6470 ore-mail srhoads@hungerford.org for more information.

Rita Spiro One Of CHH’s Longtime Gift Shop Volunteers

tralizing these stations, CHH caregivers will becloser to patients, thereby improving responsetime and supporting workflow that provides a

more efficient delivery of care. “This project will greatly improve our foot-

print on the patient floors and allow our staff towork more efficiently and comfortably to provideand improve patient care,” said Bill Bednarz,Director of CHH Construction Services.

The new work stations also will assistwith CHH’s current information technologyprojects, including a Computerized PhysicianOrder Entry (CPOE) system. This computer-ized electronic process will enable medicalpractitioners to input, communicate and trackinstructions for the treatment of patients to themedical staff and departments responsible forpatient care.

A s part of its continuing efforts toimprove patient care, CharlotteHungerford Hospital is renovating its

Emergency Department on its Torringtoncampus, upgrading its four private patientrooms with state-of-the art finishes and furniturethat supports patient safety and staff comfort.

“Our goal is to assess and treat patientsexpeditiously and move them to the appropriatecare settings, whether that be inpatient or areturn to their homes,” said Donna Feinstein,R.N., B.S.N, MM/MS.

The floor-to-ceiling renovations range fromrubberized floors designed to decrease noise,enhance comfort and prevent falls to lighting

specific to patient needs, whether that be examina-tion or rest. All finishes and colors have beenselected to support rest and quiet, and new stretch-ers feature mattresses tailored to patient comfort.

The renovations are scheduled to be completein March. A second phase to the renovationproject is in the design phase. The EmergencyDepartment has undergone significant renova-tions and upgrades in the last several years toimprove patient care, shorten the registrationprocess and create a more accessible andfunctional environment.

Renovations are also under way atHungerford Emergency and Medical Care at theWinsted Health Center.

they plan to send all of their patient specimens fortesting from northwest CT to CHH for processing.

Quest Diagnostics is the world’s leadingprovider of diagnostic information servicesthrough their network of laboratories andpatient service centers.