Crews will begin removing excess materials to free up work space.

Eight bathrooms on the south side have been tiled. Grout will be applied this week.

Nine headwalls have been cut and the one in the bariatric room has been set in place. Mounting will begin on March 24.

Can lights are mounted. Outlets are being installed where possible.

There are one set of cabinets and two countertops left to install. The crew will go back and level all the doors when installation is complete.

Legs were added to the nurse’s station counter for more support.

Piping is complete in the mechanical room. There will be a few things to finish when the tie-in is done.

On Monday, March 29, crews will begin installing the flooring. Hallway carpeting will be done last.

In radiology, the machines will be set up and calibrated on Monday.

Sixth floor plumbing that is installed has been inspected. Ceiling grids will be done next week. The crew will be sheetrocking on Monday or Tuesday.

Construction area access is restricted. Please refrain from entering the 3rd floor clinic side.

Construction Update 3-23-10

After reviewing the final health reform proposal before Congress, Innovis Health is calling on Senator Byron Dorgan, Senator Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy to do what’s right for North Dakota and support the final legislation, by voting “Yes”.

Innovis President, Dr. Greg Glasner, said that while the proposed bill is not perfect, it makes significant strides toward controlling health care costs and ensuring North Dakota’s doctors, hospitals and health systems are paid fairly by Medicare.

“The health reform bill that is before Congress right now is the single most important piece of legislation for North Dakota health care in decades,” Dr. Glasner said. “It makes important strides to help reduce cost increases and will make sure our children and families can get care when they need it, now and in the future.”

“But from the perspective of the head of one of our state’s leading health systems, this is what health reform means to me:

For decades, our hospital has received inadequate reimbursement from Medicare – payments that are well below those paid to hospitals in other states for the exact same services, even though our costs to provide these services are very comparable.  This has put a strain on our budgets and led to cost-shifting to our commercially-insured patients which in turn has likely led to higher health care premiums for North Dakota residents.”

“Provisions in the health reform bill make significant progress to correct this inequity.  It means our hospital will be able to invest in expanding services and community-based programs, recruit and retain highly-skilled health care professionals and also insures we will have the resources to continue to provide the highest in quality care to our patients.”

“Our senators and congressman have a chance – and a responsibility – to dramatically improve health care for all North Dakotans.  I hope they seize this opportunity and vote “Yes”.

Today, we found this video at CNN iReport, which also confirms what our ER team reported earlier this week. Innovis Health would like to commend the Cobbers on a job well done, as well as all of the young and older individuals who joined forces to keep our cities safe. Thank you for making life better here!

In addition to this fine production, there are other videos and photos you’ll want to check out.

Here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-421526

Here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-421376

Here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-421267

Here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-421265

TNT is hosting its First Annual “In Their Shoes Silent Auction” at the Oxbow Country Club on Thursday, March 25 from 6:00-11:00 p.m.  This event promises to be full of fun with great music, food, dance lessons, and a chance to bid on some wonderful and fashionable shoes from Scheels, the Red Shoe, Straus, and the Dick Beardsley Running store.

The event will have an emphasis on walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.  Many of our youth today struggle with childhood obesity, physical limitations, as well as self-esteem.  This event will help TNT continue offering their distinctive programs from the skilled athlete to the less skilled athlete all working side by side in a facility that focuses on health and wellness for our youth.

Tickets are on sale now at the TNT Customer Service Desk for $30 or (4) for $100.  Proceeds will go towards growing and further developing the wonderful programs children participates in at TNT

A special surprise!  This home was donated for one-week to auction off after the silent auction!  http://www.cieloentierra.com/

TNT is hosting its First Annual “In Their Shoes Silent Auction” at the Oxbow Country Club on Thursday, March 25 from 6:00-11:00 p.m.  This event promises to be full of fun with great music, food, dance lessons, and a chance to bid on some wonderful and fashionable shoes from Scheels, the Red Shoe, Straus, and the Dick Beardsley Running store.

The event will have an emphasis on walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.  Many of our youth today struggle with childhood obesity, physical limitations, as well as self-esteem.  This event will help TNT continue offering their distinctive programs from the skilled athlete to the less skilled athlete all working side by side in a facility that focuses on health and wellness for our youth.

Tickets are on sale now at the TNT Customer Service Desk for $30 or (4) for $100.  Proceeds will go towards growing and further developing the wonderful programs children participates in at TNT.

A special surprise!  This home was donated for one-week to auction off after the silent auction!  http://www.cieloentierra.com/

To help our readers stay informed during the 2010 flood season, we’ve added several links to the Resources section in the right hand margin of the Innovis Health Blog. Included in the list are media, social service and government websites, all with valuable information to keep you up to date with the most current news. We will continue to add to the list and welcome your suggestion, as well.

These are difficult times and Innovis Health is doing all we can to make the road easier to travel. When we pull together as a community, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

The Gift of Sight through eye donation is precious and life-changing.

Innovis Health will be partnering with the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank by having a table display set up at the following:

32nd Ave Campus – March 15 – 21
South University Campus – March 22 – 26

Each table display will have a collection box for old eyeglasses to be distributed through the Lions Eye Bank to those in need.

Over the past 50 years, the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank has helped restore sight by providing more than 22,000 corneas for transplant.  Countless others have had better lives because the eye bank provided eyes and corneas for education and research and supported professionals in their mission to develop treatments and cures for eye conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.

As a part of National Eye Donor Month, please consider registering to be an eye, tissue, and organ donor.

1.  Learn about donation.

2.  Make your decision about being a donor.

3.  If you choose to be a donor, document your decision by registering on your driver’s license, state ID card, or state online donation registry or by completing a health care directive.

4.  Tell your family and friends about your decision.  Next-of-kin are an important part of donation when the time comes.

For more information about donation or to register to be an eye donor, please visit  www.agiftofsight.org

During the flood season the Innovis emergency room experiences a dramatic increase in the number of injuries we treat every day. Many of the injuries are avoidable by following basic safety practices. On behalf of our emergency room personnel, Innovis Health offers these tips as a service to the hundreds of volunteers who are working day and night to keep our community safe.

Sandbagging Safety Tips

The Flood of 2010 is quickly becoming a reality for our families, communities and Innovis Health.  I wanted to provide you an update on the planning Innovis leadership has been doing in preparation for this event.  We are very proud of the support Innovis staff provided to their co-workers, friends and neighbors last year – and we know that same spirit of support and teamwork will carry us all through these next few weeks.

To start, please know that short of a cascade of catastrophic events occurring in the Fargo/Moorhead area, our commitment to the community and region is to operate a full-service hospital and emergency/trauma center throughout the duration of the flood emergency.   We are also committed to continue to operate our F/M clinics – as permitted by flood conditions and emergency restrictions on non-essential travel.  Operations decisions during the flood emergency will be made based on the best information available to us at the time, with a realization that we will be in an environment that can rapidly change.

Over the past 4 weeks, Innovis has been meeting frequently with representatives from Cass County/City of Fargo Public Health, Meritcare, FM Ambulance, Prairie St. Johns and the Fargo VA, to solidify our flood emergency operating plans.  Our planning group, with the assistance of the ND Dept of Health and FEMA, are completing evacuation planning triggers and population transfer priorities; temporary housing locations have been identified, and transportation is being finalized.

Similar planning is also being done by the local health systems.  Innovis and Meritcare are both committed to maintaining inpatient and emergency/trauma services during the flood emergency.  At Innovis, we have the benefit of relatively “high ground” and good access to the interstates and major streets.  Innovis’ internal emergency planning team has been meeting for several weeks to insure we are prepared for a variety of potential emergency scenarios – including the remote potential that catastrophic events occur elsewhere in the F/M area and we must operate as an “island” for up to 6-10 days relying on our own power generation; water, food and medical supplies; and waste management.

While we remain optimistic there is low probability this worse-case scenario will occur, clearly the community and Innovis is facing a major flooding emergency.  Therefore, we will be activating our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the next several days and the EOC will continue to be operational through the crest and the river’s early receding. The EOC will again be located in the Innovation Room at Innovis Hospital – and its hours of operation will be dependent upon the emergency status, up to 24/7.  The multi-disciplinary team staffing the EOC will be responsible for continual monitoring of the community flood efforts, risk assessment and overall health system operations.  If, or when, the community’s emergency status worsens – the EOC team will be assessing the status of our internal “trigger events”.

We all are facing a challenging few weeks – both in Fargo/Moorhead and in a number of our divisional clinic communities.  I want to insure our first priority is and remains the safety of our patients and staff. I also want to again thank you for your tremendous efforts during last year’s flood; what you all do every day in service to our patients and each other; and what I know you will be doing to support your co-workers, friends, neighbors, Innovis Health and our communities over the next few weeks.   Lastly, I ask for your continued commitment to each other – as that is our strength, what defines us, and what insures we can be our best during times of stress and crisis.

All the Best, Kevin

Kevin Pitzer, CAO

Innovis Health

Innovis Health was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Dakota Medical Foundation, which will be used towards the establishment of the Innovis Health Foundation Fundraising Plan Development and Implementation.

Innovis Health is a not-for-profit organization that provides both primary and specialty healthcare services to eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. It is based in Fargo, N.D., and operates an 86-bed hospital with an adjoining clinic and 19 clinics throughout the region, providing personalized healthcare backed by the resources and expertise of the Essentia Health System. With the establishment of the Foundation and it’s a partnership with Innovis Health, Foundation donors will be able to directly support and positively impact our patients and communities through their financial support of our patient care programs, community health initiatives, medical education, facility development and technology updates.

Dakota Medical Foundation, Fargo, ND focuses its efforts on improving health and access to medical and dental care in the region with a special emphasis on children. Since 1996, the Foundation has invested over $37 million to 338 non-profit organizations in the region. For more information, see www.dakmed.org.

March is national colorectal cancer awareness month.

In my practice as a gastroenterologist, I perform colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy on a regular basis.  The saddest and most difficult part of my work is that sometimes, I have to share bad news with patients.   Unfortunately, they did not get screened in time, whether because of issues with insurance coverage, or the dread of the procedure itself.

Telling patients that they have colon cancer is devastating to me as a specialist in digestive health because the fact of the matter is that colon cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent.

It starts with a small growth called polyp that can be detected by colonoscopy and removed at the same time within minutes, preventing the development of cancer.  Colonoscopy is one of the only cancer screening tests that can prevent cancer at the same time.

It’s so important to patients because colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It’s estimated that around 50,000 people will die of colon cancer this year of which around 150 are in North Dakota.

Despite all the efforts to increase awareness and the effectiveness of the current screening tools, only 57% of the patients at risk for colorectal cancer are getting the appropriate screening test in North Dakota. Unfortunately, there is still no state requirement for coverage of these services.

The American college of Gastroenterology considers colonoscopy as the preferred method for screening. With the sedation used today, the procedure is relatively painless, and the small risk of any complications far outweighs the risk of developing colon cancer.

All people age 50 and above are at risk for colorectal cancer and this risk increases with: Family history of colorectal cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis), Obesity, Diabetes, Smoking, Alcohol and red meat consumption.

For caucasian people with no family history, we recommend a colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 50, and for African American starting at age 45. Other alternatives include an annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT) that detects traces of blood in stool, and flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.

Talk to your doctor about colorectal cancer screening.  Don’t hesitate! Get screened! Your life depends on it!

Fadel Nammour, M.D.

ACG Governor of North Dakota