A Message from the President
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A Message from the President
At Advocate Illinois Masonic
Medical Center, our programs and
services extend well beyond the
walls of the hospital into the
neighborhoods we are privileged
to serve.
As part of Advocate Health Care,
we provided more than $296
million in charitable care and
services to benefit patients,
families and communities across
metropolitan Chicago in 2006.
You will learn more about these
important community
partnerships and programs in
this issue.
Also highlighted in our fall Pulse is
a unique and compelling program
with our Pediatric Development
Center, as well as an update on
health care legislation.
We are proud to serve you and
your community.
Susan Nordstrom Lopez
President
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Children With Autism Learn Tae Kwon Do
The Pediatric Developmental Center at Advocate Illinois Masonic
Medical Center is dedicated to helping children with developmental
challenges reach their fullest potential...
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Children With Autism Learn Tae Kwon Do
The Pediatric Developmental Center at Advocate Illinois Masonic
Medical Center is dedicated to helping children with developmental
challenges reach their fullest potential. Psychologists, physicians,
speech and occupational therapists and other experts work as a team
to address all aspects of the children’s physical and emotional health.
The developmental specialists of
the Pediatric Development Center
work to create strategies that meet
the needs of children with autism.
In addition to providing advanced
clinical services, they partner with
various community resources to
further expand the children’s skills.
The developmental specialists then
help these children get reinserted
as quickly as possible with their
typically developing peers, since
peers are their best models.
One such community resource to help children with autism is
participation in Tae Kwon Do classes. The Pediatric Development
Center partnered with martial arts instructor Chuck Wescott to offer
a unique opportunity for these children to participate with typically
developing children in learning a new, fun skill. Chuck first became
interested in special needs children through one of his students who
had a younger brother with autism.
Although Chuck begins working with special needs kids one-on-one,
they assimilate into regular classes after just a few sessions. Tae Kwan
Do classes are consistent with the philosophy that including children
with autism in normal day-to-day life experiences with their peers is
often the best way to help them develop social skills. Better attention
span, physical coordination, and improved self-esteem are just some
of the benefits children with autism gain from the practice of Tae
Kwon Do.
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Someone you should know
Janess Dulinski, RN, is a staff nurse in the OR. Sarah Schomer, MSN, RN,
is a staff nurse in the PACU at Illinois Masonic Medical Center...
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Someone you should know
Janess Dulinski, RN, is a staff nurse in the OR. Sarah Schomer, MSN, RN,
is a staff nurse in the PACU at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Together,
they represent the hospital as Nurse Advocacy Council members.
What motivates you to be an advocate for nursing issues?
J.D.: Being involved in the legislative process empowers me. I meet with nurses
throughout the Advocate system. We share values and concerns. We build on each
others’ strengths and empathize with our challenges. I am able to speak for nurses to
legislators seeking our opinion who can influence governmental regulations which
affect our profession and patient care.
S.S: I believe it is essential to be up to date on legislative issues as they directly and indirectly impact nursing practice and
patient care. Key issues such as staffing, educational funding, and hospital reimbursement are being debated on the state
and national level. Advocate nurses should be involved in these discussions and decisions.
What is one valuable experience you have had since joining the Nurse Advocacy Council?
J.D.: Our most recent visit to Springfield allowed me to speak with several legislators on important issues. We worked for
over a year to enact nursing acuity legislation and our efforts were rewarded with a victory for nurses throughout the state.
S.S: It has been an amazing experience to travel to Springfield, speak with our elected officials on nursing issues, and to
witness first hand the democratic process in action.
What do you hope to bring back to the nurses at your hospital by serving on the Nurse Advocacy Council?
J.D.: The most important thing I bring back from each meeting is the power of the individual. Recently I was able to
encourage six of my colleagues to e-mail their legislators on an issue. We celebrated when the legislation voted our view!
S.S: My goal is to provide access to current information and the tools to get involved. At each of our legislative forums
we instruct nurses on how to contact their representatives and where to find updates on legislative issues relevant to
nursing practice.
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Medical Mission
Making an impact for our patients
The videos are silent, but the messages are loud and
clear.
In one, a woman comforts a friend who just found
a lump in her breast and tells her that most lumps are not
cancerous. ...
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Medical Mission
Making an impact for our patients
The videos are silent, but the messages are loud and
clear.
In one, a woman comforts a friend who just found
a lump in her breast and tells her that most lumps are not
cancerous. In another, a woman eating dinner with
friends explains that she didn’t order dessert because she
has diabetes. Then the friends discuss how diabetes
affects the body.
The videos, in American Sign Language (ASL), are part of
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s commitment
to communicating with people in their own language.
"Sign language is a visual language," says Toby Perlman,
Ph.D., manager of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Program at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. "It is not
a word-for-gesture equivalent to English. In fact,
the average pre-lingually deaf adult achieves only a
fourth-grade reading level in English."
Illinois Masonic Medical Center recognized the need to
increase the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community’s access
to important, but sensitive, health information and that
written English text wouldn’t work. So the hospital used
streaming video technology to provide information in ASL.
Illinois Masonic Medical Center produced videos about
HIV/AIDS, breast health, sexually transmitted diseases
and diabetes and posted them on its website, so people
could view them privately and at their convenience.
The website also includes health screenings for anxiety,
depression and heart disease—all translated into ASL—
so deaf and heard of hearing people have access to
preventive health tools.
Providing health information in American Sign Language,
along with multiple other languages—that’s an impact
everyone can understand.
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Advocate Health Care’s 2006 Community Benefits Contribution
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Advocate Health Care’s 2006 Community Benefits Contribution
Charity care and other uncompensated
costs*: Care that is provided free,
subsidized or without full reimbursement
from Medicare, Medicaid or other
government-sponsored programs.
$224,121,000
Subsidized health services: Services that
respond to unique community needs,
such as neonatal intensive care and
behavioral health services; as well
as health screenings, immunization
programs, school-based health care and
other community outreach programs. $14,250,000
Hospital-based education: Education to
train physicians, nurses, radiology
technicians, physical therapists and
a host of other highly skilled health
care professionals. $44,471,000
• Volunteer services: Services provided by
hospital workers who volunteer in their
communities and community members
who volunteer at hospitals. $2,913,000
• Language-assistance services: Services,
such as translators, as well as signage,
forms, brochures, patient education
materials and other information in
languages other than English.$1,334,000
Donations: Contributions by hospitals
of meeting and clinic space, as well as
other assistance to community groups.
$8,944,000
Total Community Benefits Contribution**:
$296,033,000
* Includes unreimbursed costs of Medicare, Medicaid and other government-sponsored programs and bad debt.
** Includes unreimbursed costs of community benefits activities of Advocate’s eight hospitals, home health care operations, and other non-profit health care operations.
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For more information and a complete listing of local events, please call 1.800.3.ADVOCATE
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