As you are aware through your H3W workgroups, RXtra and other sources, Hartford Hospital – and all of Hartford HealthCare – are join-ing other elite health care provid-ers this year by requiring all staff members and everyone who works and volunteers in our facilities to receive the flu vaccine by Dec. 1.

The vaccine is safe and effective in preventing the flu, which can be a very serious illness, especially for the young, elderly and those who are sick or have compromised im-mune systems.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, as many as 49,000 people die every year from the flu or its complica-tions, and more than 200,000 peo-ple are hospitalized every year with flu-related issues.

If we can prevent some of this by getting flu shots, we should. We are the providers of care, the people our community trusts to reach out to them with healing hands.

Over the years, we’ve always en-couraged staff members to get flu shots, which are free, and we’ve made it as easy as possible for you to do so. However, typically, only about 50 percent of our staff get the shot. This means we’re not pro-viding our patients, visitors or one another with the protection we all need and deserve.

Unless you have a medical or re-ligious reason for not getting the shot, it’s the right thing for us, as health care providers, to do.

Doing the right, best, most com-passionate and safest thing for our

patients, their families, our com-munity members, and one another is what Hartford Hospital stands for as an institution. This is what living our core values of integrity, excel-lence, caring and safety is all about.

Schedule of Flu Shot Clinics

Hartford Hospital is providing free flu shots to all employees, contrac-tors and volunteers starting tomor-row. Make sure you have your ID badge with you when you get your shot.

Tuesday, Oct. 23: Cafeteria, 6 a.m.-8 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 24: Cafeteria, 6 a.m.-5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 25: Occupational Health, 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 30: Heublein Hall, 2:30-4 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 1: IOL - • Donnelly Conference Room 2 7-9 a.m. and 2:30-4 p.m. • Terry Building Conference Room 1 9:30-11 a.m. • Commons Building Cafeteria 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 6: Women’s Ambulatory Health Ser-vices on Park Street, 8-9 a.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 7: Jefferson House, 7-9 a.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 7: Curtis Building, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 13:CLP, CORE Building, 2-4 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 14: CLP, CORE Building, 6-8 a.m.

Thursday, Nov. 15: Jefferson House, 2-4:30 p.m.

There will be “roving” flu clinics on the inpatient nursing units on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, 6, 8, 13 and 15 at dif-ferent times.

There will also be off-site flu clinics at Hartford Specialists, Sleep Lab, and multiple ERN locations.

All the times and locations for flu shots will be listed on the Flu Pre-vention internet page at http://in-tranet.harthosp.org/flu.htm.

For more information, please e-mail fluguru@harthosp.org.

RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital October 22, 2012 Vol. 68 No. 40

Flu Shots Available Starting Tuesday

Please join us for a ribbon cutting and open house on Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the first Hartford HealthCare Employee Health & Wellness Center on the campus of Hartford Hospital.

The center, which is located in the Medi-cal Office Building in the former Bank of America location, opened on Oct. 8.

The primary care practice will be operat-ed by Hartford Medical Group and staffed by a full-time physician, as well as a nurse and other clinical professionals.

Staggered hours of operation are de-signed to accommodate several shifts. Walk-in service and same-day appoint-ments are available for treatment of mi-nor injuries or illnesses.

Employees who do not have a primary care doctor are encouraged to make an ap-pointment to establish a primary care provider re-lationship at the new cen-ter and arrange for routine physicals.

While the center is available to treat everything from poi-son ivy to heartburn, hospital leaders say they hope staff members will take ad-vantage of routine screenings and ongo-ing disease management that can make a huge difference in preventing or con-trolling complications from chronic dis-eases such as diabetes, high blood pres-sure and high cholesterol.

Care is available to any Hartford Health-Care employee regardless of insurance coverage, and to adult family members who are covered under an HHC plan.

The center will not treat work-related in-juries, and staff members with work-re-lated issues are asked to continue to re-port to Occupational Health Services.

For appointments, please call 860-696-0090.

The Hartford HealthCare Commu-nications Council committee who creates and distributes Network News – our monthly HHC e-news-letter - would like your honest feed-back about the publication.

Do you read N e t w o r k News? Is the infor mat ion included help-ful and rele-vant to you? What do you like and not like?

Please tell us what you think by completing a brief, 9-question sur-vey. You can remain anonymous. We’ll use the information we gath-er to change and improve this im-portant publication.

Please visit https://www.survey-monkey.com/s/hhcnetworknews before Oct. 31.

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What do you think of Network News?

Beyond our Borders: Developing International TiesTwo paramedics with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency med-ical disaster service, came to Hartford Hospital last week to train with our LIFE STAR team and Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation.

This will become an annual event with future collaborative exchanges.

To recognize the beginning of this part-nership, we held a celebratory event Oct. 18. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gil Lainer, consul for public affairs from the

Consulate General of Israel in New York, were among the dignitaries to attend.

Our partnership with Israel is a contin-uation of our going beyond our borders to bring to others state-of-the-art tech-

nology and the out-standing expertise of our staff. We have been steadily building Hart-ford Hospital’s reputa-tion both nationally and internationally.

For more than 20 years, we have had a strong relationship with QiLu Hospital in China. More than 40 scholars have come from QiLu to study at Hartford Hos-pital and several mem-bers of our staff have visited QiLu and made contributions there. We also recently were vis-ited by physicians rep-

resenting large hospitals in China who came here to study Centers of Blood Management Excellence.

On Nov. 5 and 6, officials from Estonia will visit to view our CESI to use it as a model for developing their own sim center.

Ribbon Cutting at New Employee Health & Wellness Center

National Hospital Pharmacy Week

Pharmacists and technicians are valuable and integral members of the health care team. They play a critical role in preventing medica-tion errors, providing recommenda-tions to physicians and counseling patients to ensure they understand safe and effective use of their medications.

The pharmacy staff will have a display in the main lobby on Wednesday, Oct. 24 from 7 a.m. -3 p.m. to answer ques-tions about your medications. They will also provide medication cards, pill boxes, and general printed information on the proper use and disposal of your medications. This is a great opportu-nity to learn more about your medica-tions and meet the Pharmacy staff.

Thank you to the entire Pharmacy staff.

National Respiratory Care Week

As we celebrate Respiratory Care Week, we recognize the invaluable contributions to patient care made by our respiratory care profession-als. As core members of our health care team, they deliver expert care to our patients across the continu-um from the emergency and acute care treatment phase through the chronic pulmonary management stage in the outpatient setting.

Here at Hartford Hospital our re-spiratory care practitioners are in-tegral members of the care team in critical care, on all general care units, in the Emergency Depart-ment, aboard LIFE STAR, and with-in the Pulmonary Lab and Pulmo-nary Rehabilitation department.

Thank you to the entire Respiratory Care staff.

National Healthcare Facilities And Engineering Week

The Facilities and Engineering staff work to optimize the health care physical environment.

They are an important part of the health care team. Because of all they do, there is power, running water, and a clean, comfortable, and safe envi-ronment for all who walk through our doors. Without them, the doors of Hartford Hospital would not open.

Thank you to the entire Facilities and Engineering staff.

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A Week of Recognition Weeks - Oct. 21-27

Compliance Questions

or Concerns?

If you need to obtain information about

compliance issues or raise concerns re-

garding internal and regulatory practices

or policies, please contact your supervisor

or call the ComplianceLine, a confidential

and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAP or online at

HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

Dr. Gaudio Practicing Full-Time

Dr. Alexander R. Gaudio is practicing full-time with Eye Disease Consultants LLC. Their offices are at 85 Seymour Street (Medical Office Building), Suite 522, Hartford and at 1043 Farmington Ave., West Hartford.

His practice status was given incorrectly in the 2011 Hartford Hospital Community Benefit Report.

HSO Free Concert in Main Lobby Tuesday

The Hart-ford Sym-phony Or-chestra will play a free luncht ime concert, fea-turing a Pia-

cere String Quartet, on Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. in the main lobby. Everyone is invited to attend.

Toastmasters WednesdayToastmasters, a world leader in leader-ship development, will meet on Wednes-day, Oct. 24 from 4-5 p.m. in the Jefferson Building, room JB-118. Call Doug Shomo at 860-545-4202 for more information, or visit http://www.toastmasters.org.

Diversity Fair ThursdayThere will be a diversity fair to help you serve our most vulnerable patients on Thursday, Oct. 25 in the IOL Donnelly Lobby from 10:15 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. Patient populations represented will be bariatric patients, frail elderly, deaf and hearing impaired, patients with psy-chosis, homeless, blind and visually im-paired, GLBT, non English speaking, and the financially disadvantaged. For staff, there will be a presentation based on the program Compassion Fatigue Prevention & Resiliency: Fitness For The Frontline. For more information, contact C. Belonick, Nursing Education, at ext. 5-7108.

Classey Accessories in Cafeteria FridayClassey Accessories & More will be in Cafeteria on Friday, Oct. 26 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. You’ll find women’s Magic Shirts, sweaters, mock cardigans, ponchos, capes, wrap arounds, hats, fleece-lined wool mittens with finger holes, Pashmi-nas, scarves and much more, all at phe-nomenal prices. A portion of each sale goes to the good works of The Auxiliary Store.

Black Men’s Health DayJoin us for informa-tion sessions, health screenings, network-ing, healthy cooking demonstrations, and more on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the ERC. Attendance is free but registration is required. Call 860-545-1888 or visit us at harthosp.org/health_day.

Fitness Center Fall Classes Start Oct. 29The Barney Fitness Center will of-fer morning, noon and evening classes for six weeks, starting Oct. 29 and run-ning through Dec. 10. Classes offered are Morning YOGA; Circuit Insanity; Pilates; and Insanity Boot Camp. Fee: 12 class ses-sion = $72; Any-class, Any-time = $100. Advance registration is recommended. For more information, visit the Employ-ee Fitness Center Intranet page, or e-mail fitness@harthosp.org or call 5-3077.

Life After Breast Cancer Oct. 30 in West Hartford

The Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Cen-ter is presenting a free educational program called Life After Breast Cancer: Challenge and Trans-

formation, on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Pond House Café at Eliz-abeth Park in West Hartford. Speaker is Hester Hill Schnipper, chief of Oncology Social Work at Boston’s Beth Israel Dea-coness Medical Center, social worker, breast cancer survivor, and author of Af-ter Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment. Registration is re-quired by Oct. 26: go to www.hartford-hospital.org/communityeducation or call 860-545-1888. For more information, con-tact Karen Weingrod at 860-545-1018.

Car Seat Clinic Oct. 31The CCMC Injury Prevention Center will hold a car seat clinic Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m.–12 noon at the Injury Preven-tion Center, 12 Charter Oak Place. By ap-pointment only; have the age, height and weight of your child available when you call. Contact Olga Früster, 860-545-8815 or ofruster@connecticutchildrens.org.

Brain Tumor Symposium For PatientsThe 6th Annual Fred Cohen Symposium for brain tumor pa-tients and their fam-ilies will be Friday,

Nov. 2, from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Heublein Hall. Dr. Susan Pannullo, neuro-oncolo-gist from New York Presbyterian Hospital, will present updates. Hartford Hospital staff will discuss nutrition, coping, com-munication, and fitness. Patients and family members encouraged to attend. Lunch is provided. Registration required by Oct 25; call Health Referral Services at 860-545-1888 or go to hartfordhospital.org, and click on News/Events/Classes.

Foxwoods Bus TripThere will be a bus trip Friday, Nov. 2 to Foxwoods Resort and Casino to benefit the United Way. Bus will leave the Newington Campus at 6 p.m., and depart Foxwoods at 12 p.m. Cost is $25, which includes bus, a $15 food voucher and a $10 Keno play. Tickets Are First Come-First Serve! Go to http://intranet.harthosp.org/hh/content/739/doc80414.pdf or contact:

Wendy Benjamin - 860-696-3106 Stasia Gray - 860-696-6046 MaryAnn Majewski - 860-696-6083 Gwen Freeman - 860-696-6043 Lucy Rignrose - 860-696-3114 Rosa Rosa - 860-696-6048

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-545-2199