Celebrating National Nurses & Hospital Week 2013

A special message from our Mission and Spiritual Care Team:

May 6-12, 2013 is National Nurses Week. No other profession touches people the same way a nurse does. Our nurses touch the heart, soul, mind and body of each patient.

A patient commented, "I am 82 years old and the nurse saw that I was frightened and she asked if I wanted her to stay with me…. She stayed and comforted me…. I loved the concern and I felt safe!!!" Another patient commented, "Nurses may not be angels, but they are the next best things…."

Although each day is a challenge, and the work is often physically and emotionally demanding, what a privilege the nursing profession must be. Florence Nightingale – the Founder of Nursing – put it well: nursing is a "higher calling" for the special few who can combined art and science into a thing of beauty, compassion and caring at the bedside. It is not just a job, it is a mission.

Following Nurses Week, we celebrate National Hospital Week, May 12-18, 2013. For years, Franciscan Alliance hospitals have touched the hearts, souls, minds and bodies of thousands in Nortwest Indiana and South Chicago land. It is a continuing mission that begun 150 years ago by Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel – the Founder of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration. Little did Florence Nightingale and Mother Theresia realize that over a century later their visions would converge across the Atlantic as Franciscan Alliance.

Let us honor and celebrate our nurses and staff for continuing to answer the call to bring Christ’s compassion and caring to others. WE ARE PROUD OF OUR NURSES! WE ARE PROUD OF OUR STAFF!

Volunteers receive Most Valuable Team award

Franciscan Physicians Hospital congratulates its volunteers as the winners of this quarter’s MVT (Most Valuable Team) award.

This award is a Service Excellence initiative to honor those who demonstrate outstanding team services. The award is determined by previous winners; last quarter, the Outpatient Surgery Team won the award and nominated the volunteers this quarter. The winners have their picture taken and are on display in a large award board in the main lobby.

From assisting patients in the hallways to answering phones, guiding family members to their loved ones in pre-op and recovery, and helping with hospitality, there is nothing that the FPH volunteers cannot do to brighten someone’s day and add a valuable piece to our health care puzzle. Their generous dedication to helping others Makes a Difference!

THANK YOU, Volunteers, for your outstanding service here at Franciscan Physicians Hospital and for winning the MVT Award.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities with Franciscan Physicians Hospital and Franciscan Alliance, visit FranciscanAlliance.org/volunteer.

World Day of the Sick 2013: Prayers for the sick and our caregivers

If easily accessible over-the-counter pain medication is a hint, most of us perhaps would rather avoid pain and suffering. Not Aline. Aline was only twenty years old when she discovered that she had a heart ailment. Confronted with the fragility and limitation of life, Aline took an unusual path. She faced her infirmity unconditionally to the point that she would even pray for suffering. Apparently she saw something essential that can only be known after having passed through the dark night of suffering and pain. She saw her infirmity as a gift and a confirmation that God took her seriously. And that recognition enabled her to compassionately (com-passion: to suffer with) relate and help others in their suffering. Nine years later, Aline founded a religious community in Olpe, Germany, dedicated to the care of the sick and the poor. Today, 150 years later, Aline is known as the Venerable Sister Maria Theresia Bonzel, the founder of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration.

Monday, February 11, 2013 will mark the 21st World Day of the Sick. Established in 1992 by Pope John Paul II, this day has three consistent themes. First, it offers us an opportunity to reflect and recommit ourselves to be compassionate in our care for the sick. When we have known suffering ourselves, we can relate well with another’s suffering. And when we can trust and see God in suffering, He will also show us the gift therein. Second, it reminds us to pray intensely and sincerely for the sick. And third, this day recognizes and honors YOU and all persons who work in health care as caregivers. Thanking YOU and all those who care for the sick and elderly.

Mission/Spiritual Care Team

Join us now on Pinterest!

First Facebook, then Twitter...and now Franciscan Alliance - Northern Indiana has joined the social world known as Pinterest => http://www.pinterest.com/FranciscanNWI.

Join us as we share a collection of health tips and tools, infographics, videos and more. It's just another fun, engaging way to showcase our mission! Happy Pinning!

And remember...you can always:

• Find Us on Facebook: facebook.com/FranciscanNWI
• Follow Us on Twitter: twitter.com/FranciscanNWI
• Watch Us on YouTube: youtube.com/FranciscanNWI

A Vote for Women's Health this holiday season

The Festival of Trees at Westfield Southlake Mall is in full swing, and among the entries is Franciscan Alliance’s “Spirit of Women” tree. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite tree, and the winning nonprofit group will receive a $1,500 donation to the cause of its choice.

If awarded a donation from Westfield Mall, the Franciscan Alliance Foundation will divide the funds equally between St. Clare Health Clinic in Crown Point and Catherine McAuley Clinic in Hammond. Both of these clinics are mission programs of Franciscan Alliance and operate as free primary care clinics to the working uninsured and underinsured throughout Lake County. The money will be used to provide free digital mammograms to women who are deemed financially unable and ineligible for federally funded breast programs, as well as those who are uninsured.

The trees are located in the center court area on the main level. To vote, shoppers can take the escalator up to the Westfield Concierge Desk, located on the upper level by Macy’s, where they’ll find a voting box and ballots. Only one vote per person will be accepted, and the deadline to vote for the tree is Dec. 24.

Blessing program celebrates merger of Medical Specialists, Franciscan Alliance

Check out video highlights from the blessing and commitment ceremony for Franciscan Medical Specialists in Munster, Indiana.



Medical Specialists, a longtime Northwest Indiana health care organization of 69 health care providers who offer a wide variety of primary and specialty care services, has joined Franciscan Alliance, which has four hospitals in Lake County and nine others in Indiana and in south suburban Chicago, as well as numerous offsite specialty centers and clinics.

Wishing you and your family a Holy Advent and a Blessed Christmas

“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
(St. Augustine)

Dear Friends,

In every cell of our body and in the DNA of our souls there is always an ache and longing for something yet to come. We long for becoming a better person, having better health and being in better shape, a better home, a better community, better financial performance. Entertainment industry thrives on our longing for becoming leaner or more beautiful, winning The Voice, X-Factor, American Idol, Next Top Model or the Super Bowl…  We ache in a way that often leaves us dissatisfied and restless inside.

The Season of Advent, which begins this coming Sunday, celebrates that human longing and restlessness. It asks us not to deny them, but to enter them, deepen them, widen them. Longing shapes our souls in many ways. Longing carves out a trough, creates a space within us where something new can be born, where God can be born.

And Christmas is God’s answer to that human longing and restlessness. But God’s answer didn’t exactly meet our expectation. What our world expects is a superstar, someone charismatic, someone rich and famous, a superhero, someone with extraordinary talent, sharpness and muscle-power to out-gun everyone. God’s answer to that: a baby lying helpless in the straw – Jesus, our Savior! Like a baby, God does not out-muscle anyone, outgun anyone, threaten anyone, or overpower anyone. Instead, the power of God revealed in Christmas is the power of a baby, nothing more, nothing less – innocence, gentleness, helplessness, a vulnerability that softens hearts, invites us in, has us hush our noise, teaches us patience, brings us love, joy and peace, and calls forth what’s best in us. Such is the way of God in re-birthing a New You, re-creating a Precious You in His image and likeness. This is the message of Christmas.

As we continue Baby Jesus’ healing ministry in our Franciscan tradition, may we serve each other and our patients with a renewed vigor of gentleness, love, compassion, patience, peace and joy. Wishing you and your family a Holy Advent and a Blessed Christmas.

MISSION AND SPIRITUAL CARE TEAM

Pastoral Care Week: October 21-27

Dear Friends,

If the season is a hint of the work of chaplains and pastoral caregivers, it provides a perfect metaphor. When the mercury of our lives drop, we often find ourselves walking through cold and dark valleys of visible and invisible pain and suffering. Faith can then be tested and many questions arise about the meaning of our lives, the meaning of suffering and the meaning of death. We struggle. Yet, the season also teaches us, when the mercury drops, there is a grand transformation and glorious display of beautiful autumn leaves, as if to tell us that the autumn days of our lives are not without their own gifts….as if to tell us that there’s beauty in the dark valley of life. We too will emerge transformed if we are willing to persevere in our struggles.

The work of chaplains is just that. Chaplains - through the eyes of faith - help individuals in their struggles to move toward transformation. Chaplains empower individuals to draw on their own faith traditions and teachings for comfort and guidance as they walk through the dark valley. Chaplains believe that “FAITH OPENS OUR EYES TO HUMAN LIFE IN ALL ITS GRANDEUR AND BEAUTY,” even when we are facing the dead winter days. Following the Divine Master Himself, Chaplains empower individuals to see hope in a confusion, joy in sadness, light in darkness, faith in doubt, and life in death.

October 21-27 is Pastoral Care Week. Please join me in honoring and celebrating the dedication of our Franciscan Alliance Chaplains and Spiritual Care Staff. To quote the late Sister Corita Last, OSF, “Spiritual Care is the heart of who we are.”

In prayerful appreciation,

Mission & Spiritual Care Services

Celebrating the Feast of St. Francis

“FAITH OPENS OUR EYES TO HUMAN LIFE IN ALL ITS GRANDEUR AND BEAUTY.”

Dear Friends,

October 4th is the feast day of the world’s best known and most recognized saint, Francis of Assisi. G. K. Chesterton called him the “first hero of humanism,” and Sir Kenneth Clark called him Europe’s greatest religious genius. According to the Smithsonian bibliography, more lives have been written about him than any other person in history. Even in his lifetime, Francis exerted a magnetic attractiveness, not because of money, good looks and success, but because of his willingness to fully accept the gift we often hesitate to take.

Imprinted in the core of our being is the sense that we are not just accidental, anonymous chips of dust in the universe, destined to flicker for an instant and then disappear forever. We know we are more. We literally feel timelessness, eternity and immortal meaning inside of ourselves. We are special. Faith tells us: We are, all of us, made in God’s image and likeness, blessed. That’s the gift. Our private secret that we are special is in fact the deepest truth.

That isn’t always easy to believe especially in a world in which billions of others are also trying to do the same. Can billions be infinitely precious and utterly unique? Life and circumstances often tire us in ways that tempt us to believe its opposite. American Idols, NFL, Miss Universe, and White Sox tell us that there will be only one special winner. In the end mediocrity, anonymity and mortality overwhelm us.

Saint Francis also faced these challenges. He stepped out into a world being recast by the emerging market economy. His father – thanks to competition – was moving quickly into the new entrepreneurial class with all its positive and negative influences. Francis, however, trusted a deeper voice and a bigger truth. Not only did he see himself as made in God’s image and likeness, but he also saw God’s fingerprints in everything. He saw God in creation, Jesus in the leper, a new church in the ruin, hope in a confusing time, perfect joy in sadness, light in darkness, faith in doubt and peace in the most unexpected places.

Please join us in celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Following our Franciscan Values

Franciscan Physicians Hospital and the Franciscan Alliance center their everyday efforts around the Mission and Values of the organization. It's those items that help drive us to provide the superior care given every minute of the day, every day of the year.

To the internal employee or physician, the mission and values are clear and well-known. But, to an individual outside of our organization, these things might not be so clear. With that in mind, here's is a brief overview of what the Mission and Values of the Franciscan Alliance are:

Our Mission
At Franciscan Alliance, we carry on a mission that began more than eight centuries ago when St. Francis of Assisi left behind all his worldly goods and ventured out to care for those in need. His legacy of service has guided us for more than 135 years, and it continues to inspire us today.

Our mission is Continuing Christ's Ministry in our Franciscan Tradition. This means that it is up to each of us as Franciscan Alliance employees to maintain the values, traditions and good works of all those who have gone before us and who are currently working within the Franciscan Alliance.

Through living out this Mission, we are tasked with assisting in the healing process of our patients according to our own skills, expertise and profession.

Our Values
Five core values are predominantly exemplified throughout our organization. The five values represent a full spectrum of caring and compassion for our patients.

Father Henry blesses the Christmas crib in the lobby
of Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Dyer.

Respect for Life: The gift of life is so valued that each person is cared for with such joy, respect, dignity, fairness and compassion that he or she is consciously aware of being loved.

Fidelity to our Mission: Loyalty to and pride in the healthcare facility are exemplified by members of the health care family through their joy and respect in empathetically ministering to patients, visitors, and co-workers.

Compassionate Concern: In openness and concern for the welfare of the patients, especially the aged, the poor and the disabled, the staff works with select associations and organizations to provide a continuum of care commensurate with the individual's needs.

Joyful Service: The witness of Franciscan presence througout the institution encompasses, but is not limited to, joyful availability, compassionate, respectful care and dynamic stewardship in the service of the Church.

Christian Stewardship: Christian stewardship is evidenced by just and fair allocation of human, spiritual, physical and financial resources in a manner respectful of the individual, responsive to the needs of society, and consistent with Church teachings.

The Franciscan Alliance, in living out each of the above items, is striving to provide all with the best care possible. Our organization of over 18,000 doctors, nurses and employees is focused on healing you.

For more information on our mission, values, and organization, visit http://www.14hospitals.org/.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital wishes you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's Pastoral/Spiritual Care Week

This week, October 23-29, is Pastoral/Spiritual Care Week.

Every day throughout our nation's hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, and hospice homes, chaplains seek to bring hope, healing, comfort and peace to those they encounter. They listen and affirm the faith values of their patients and calm anxious patients. They empower and help persons tap into their own spiritual resources as they search for meaning of their suffering and pain. They advocate for people regarding cultural and religious tradition, connect individuals with loved ones, support people as they make end of life decisions, lend an objective ear to others, pray if prayer is desired - they bring God's healing and presence to all.

Please join us in congratulating our Spiritual Care Staff - especially your Unit Chaplains - who every day brings God's healing and comfort to all our patients, their families and our staff here at Franciscan Physicians Hospital.

An Economic Anchor to our Community

As we inch past the half-way mark of 2011, it's important that we pause and reflect on the impact our organization has had on the local economy and our community.

First, we are proud of the high quality, efficient health care we provide to our community. Our hospital stands ready to care for you with open doors 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Every year, we serve thousands of individuals and endeavor to keep our community healthy, strong, and vibrant. This record of service is, and will always be, our most valuable contribution to the community.

Less often recognized is the hospital's contribution to the local economy, such as the people it employs and the impact of it's spending. Franciscan Physicians Hosiptal plays a vital role in the economic vitality of the community. It is a major source of employment and purchaser of goods and services, while providing health care that allows people to be productive citizens.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital:

• Provides well-paying consistent employment
• Stimulates the local economy with the purchases of goods and services
• Improves infrastructure with capital expenditures and physical improvements
• Pays real estate taxes
• Makes donations to local charities
• Contributes over $6 million annually in Social Accountability and Outreach Programs
• Works with neighborhood civic and cultural groups
• Ensures safety during an emergency or disaster
• Attracts visitors to the area, including vendors, patients, physicians, and students who utilize services in the community

We think it is important to recognize the role our hospital plays in supporting the local and state economies. Our resolution for the approaching year is to continue growing, keep families healthy, improve quality of life, and continue to be a stable economic anchor working hand in hand with our community.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital's Economic Benefits (2009) are determined by the Indiana Hospital Association. They are:
Jobs provided: 240
Economic Impact:
Supply Purchases: $23,975,000
Capital Spending: $2,456.000
Total Impact: $44,860,000
Employment: 169
Total Payroll: $11,048,000
Money spent by employees on groceries, clothing, mortgage, rent, and other expenses: $18,429,000
FPH annual spending: $14,373,000
In 2009, FPH spent $1,472,000 on buildings and equipment
Capital spending at FPH generates approximately $2,456,000 for the local economy.
In 2009, FPH spent $241,971 on renovation and landscaping, all contracted locally.
2009 Hospital Stats:
Inpatients: 895
Outpatients: 7,276
(All numbers based on 2009 estimates by the Indiana Hospital Association).

As you can see, hospitals provide much more economic vitality to the local community than meets the eye. Franciscan Physicians Hospital offers these figures to provide awareness of how much they influence the community and surrounding areas. For more information and our complete online health library, visit: http://www.franciscanphysicians.org/Index.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=1.