Mercy Hospital becomes “port in the storm” during Snowvember weather emergency

During the epic Snowvember storm, Mercy Hospital took center stage in front of the nation and the world as it became a “port in the storm,” a place that stayed strong with its doors and welcoming arms open to those in need.

“Our associates and the Mercy medical staff rose to the occasion,” said Mercy Hospital President and CEO C. J. Urlaub, who praised the staff for their professionalism, dedication, and compassion they displayed during the weather event.

Many associates who were working when the storm hit during the night shift on November 17 and those who managed to get to the hospital, Mercy Nursing Facility (MNF) or the MACC on Tuesday, ended up

staying until Friday when relief staff could arrive. They took turns resting, gave it their all, and persevered to make sure the needs of the patients and residents were met.

“There are countless people to thank from the associates providing care at the bedside, to our ancillary and service personnel, to the staff at the MACC and MNF, to our Hospital Command Center and manage-ment teams,” said Urlaub. “We are also grateful to the Catholic Health Emergency Response Team who stood by our side and provided us with the support, resources and supplies we needed from across the Catholic Health System.”

“We came together as a team and and weathered the storm.”

News, announcements, and vital information for associates, their families, and friends of Mercy Hospital of Buffalo

Winter 2015

Mercy Hospital was in the spotlight throughout the Snowvember Storm. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown visited with staff on Friday, November 21 followinga news conference held outside the hospital. Many associates were just starting to get relieved that day after staying at the hospital since the storm hit onMonday. Pictured with the mayor above are Labor and Delivery staff, from left: Mary Schuta, RN; Kayla Lomas, RN; Gayle Broad, RN; Mayor Brown; ElaineClutterbuck, RN, CNM; Dr. Lynn Aronica; Linda Pollinger, RN; and Caryn Becker.

Submit news items to:Melanie Griffis, Public Relations Manager at mgriffis@chsbuffalo.org; 716-828-3747

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In This Issue

Snowvember Storm Stories & Photos

Mercy Hospital Welcomes First BabyWendt Family Center Opens

LOVE Award Winners Honored5 East Staff have a “Jerry” Christmas

Snowvember Comes to an End!

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Stacey Braymiller, left, and Denise Perry were interviewed byNBC Nightly news correspondent Rehema Ellis.

News of the Firehouse baby spread quickly and soon Mercy Hospital was in a national spotlight. Media outlets across the country and world wanted to talk to Bethany and Jarod Hojnicki whose baby Lucy Grace was born in a nearby firehouse with the aid of two Mercy Hospital nurses. In another special delivery, Anthony Marchioli set out Wednesday to rent a tractor to help his neighbors clear snow but when he returned with it, he discovered his wife Jillian had unexpectedly gone into labor. With no other way to get to the hospital, she hopped on the tractor and away they went. Their daughter Loxley Storm was born 11 hours later.

Channel 7 reporter Hannah Buehler interviewed Lisa Cudney, RN, Charge Nurse of 5 N/C and Jarrod Atkinson, RN, BSN, Director of Patient Care Services, about how staff were managing.

Staff and physicians at the hospital, MNF, and the MACC who were able to get to their jobs during the storm worked long hours and took turns resting in empty rooms, on cots set up in the conference rooms, or in waiting areas and lounges. Everybody worked as a team and stepped up to their commitment of providing uninterrupted care for our patients and residents.

The snow began falling on Monday evening, November 17. In 24 hours, this monster lake- effect snowstorm dumped nearly six feet of snow in South Buffalo and the Southtowns. Another lake-effect storm hit on Thursday adding another 2 feet of snow in some areas. The event became one of the most significant storms in Buffalo’s snowy history.

Roads became impassable to Mercy Hospital on Tuesday. Firefighters, in above photo, made their way on foot and snowmobiles to help stranded motorists and others trapped in their homes needing assistance.

Laboratory Services associate Maureen Menczynski took this photo from the 7th floor facing Abbott Road showing the sun-snow border in the sky.

John Seeley, Lead Security Officer at the Mercy Nursing Facility at OLV, took this photo showing the deep snow at the main entrance.

Storm StoriesKeri Zindle, a coder/analyst in HIM, recounted her trip into work on Tuesday. “Starting off at 6 am, I finally made it to the hospital at 11:30 am—a normal 25 minute ride that took 5 ½ hours. As I was slowly making my way down Sen-eca Street, I overheard a guy talk-ing to a policeman about getting to Mercy Hospital and jumped out of my car to listen. That guy then told me to follow him. I made it to Ca-zenovia Street, just blocks from the hospital when I had to swerve to avoid a truck and landed in a snow bank. Lucky for me that guy, who was Dr. Daniel Patterson, stopped to help. He and one of his passen-gers, Chris Beck of the OR, tried to pull my vehicle out but to no avail. They then gave me a ride to Mercy. I couldn’t be more thankful!”

Mercy Hospital nurses Denise Perry (Pediatrics; formerly L&D) and Stacey Braymiller

(Maternity) became stranded on Tuesday while trying to get to work. They soon turned out to be “angels” for Bethany and Jarod Hojnicki, pictured above.

Bethany went into labor at the height of the storm and Jarod had found a firefighter near his house to ask for help. The firefighter quickly thought of the nurse—Denise—who was stuck in her car just steps away. Denise sprang into action and stood by their side while the firefighters tried to get them to the hospital.

Instead, they only made it to the Engine 4 Firehouse on Abbott Road where Denise met up with Stacey. Together, they helped bring baby Lucy Grace into the world and all were later transported to the hospital.

On Tuesday of the storm only nine Food & Nutrition associates were able to make it to the hospital while normal staffing is typically 60 associates plus the management team. This crew of nine along with the guidance of Production Manager Don Archambault, and Clinical Nutrition Manager Kathy Adam managed to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner that day to all 360 patients plus staff and stranded visitors. Two sisters, Jaime Kaye and Cindy Moran, arrived later Tuesday after a harrowing trip into work. While they were pushing nurse Joy Kent’s vehicle out of a snow drift in front of the hospital, another man got out of his car to help—none other than former Buffalo Bills Head Coach Doug Marrone!

Mary Rajla of Food & Nutrition sets up a dessert station.

Snowvember to remember!

SNOWVEMBERNovember 17-19, 2014

Photo courtesy of Buffalo Firefighter Eugene Margerum.

Storm StoriesMarjory Jankowiak, a nurse at the MACC, shared her memories of the epic storm. “Many of us including myself put in crazy hours during this storm. We worked together as a team, took care of many sick patients and some who were just a bit lonely or scared. Many of our patients who were stuck with us all those days were such an amaz-ing group of people. I joked that by the time it was over, we needed to put some of them on our payroll. Heidi, our nurse manager stayed right there with us working along-side of us all the way through it...We were brought food daily. Dr. Brian D’Arcy even bought us pizza one day... we have an amazing staff at the MACC and an amazing com-munity of people here in Buffalo!”

Steve Moll, manager, Rehabilitation Services; Denise Bartosz, director, Catholic Health Quality & Patient Safety; and Arlene Krysiak of HR man the phones in the Mercy Command Center.

Emergency Command Centers were set up across Catholic Health on November 18. Ongoing system-wide conference calls led by the Catholic Health Emergency Response Team reviewed the status of staffing, facilities, and supplies across the system. At Mercy’s Command Center, Dr. Timothy Gabryel, VP of Medical Affairs, Mary Ann Murphy, director of Maternal Child Services, Jarrod Atkinson, director of Patient Care Services, and Joy Kent, nurse manager in Maternal Child Services addressed staffing, patient transportation, and other issues from Day One of the storm. The command center was manned 24 hours a day through Day Five.

A massive snow removal effort required front loaders and dump trucks to clear the roads as regular snow plows proved useless against the high mounds.

In above photo, Mercy Flight lands at the MACC to transport a patient. Four patients were transported via helicopter during the storm. (Photo courtesy of Heidi Kirsch, RN, BSN, nurse manager at the MACC)

When the storms finally ended, affected areas had been socked with more snow in 3 days than is typically recorded for the entire winter. Hamburg reached 79.5 inches of snow, while Cowlesville recorded the most at 88 inches. Pictured above, nurse assistant Kaitlin Coyle makes her way to work on Friday.

Internal Medicine residents, from left, Dr. Sujit Vakkalanka, Dr. Ambreen Raza, Dr. Erlin Marte, and Andrew Creighton arrive Friday to relieve staff who had been working for 48 hours.

Most staff who made it to work during the storm braved treacherous road conditions. Most of them had to abandon their vehicles and trudge blocks or miles in deep snow and white-out conditions. Others were trapped in their homes from the snow and others tried to get to their jobs but were turned back. One thing for certain is the storm made it clear how every staff member is essential to the smooth operations of the hospital. 3

On November 18, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency

and deployed the National Guard to help residents dig out in the Buffalo communities struck hard by the Snowvember storm.

On Friday, November 21 after the storms had ended, Governor Cuomo, Erie County Executive Mark Polencarz, and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown held a news conference outside the hospital to provide an update on the snow cleanup efforts and to thank the National Guard soldiers for their assistance. Following the news conference, Mayor Brown took the time to visit staff at the hospital to praise and recognize them for their service.

Also to be commended are the Facilities staff and the crew from the hospital’s contracted plowing company, Paul McNamara Enterprises, who worked around-the-clock to keep access open to the hospital.

Snowvember to remember!

SNOWVEMBERNovember 20-21, 2014

Mayor Brown thanks Molly Golomka, RN; Adele Corbett, PA; and Carrie Dilbert, RN, of 5 North/Central for their hard work and dedication as Mercy President & CEO C.J. Urlaub looks on.

There are countless Mercy heroes to acknowledge from Snowvember. There were even neighbors who pitched in like the group of ladies who live in the Victory Ridge Apartments at the OLV Senior Neighborhood who helped cook, clean and entertain the residents of the MNF during the storm.

Snowvember Continued on pg 8

Pictured above, Dr. Timothy Gabryel, VP of Medical Affairs, thanks the National Guard soldiers.

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New Margaret L. Wendt Family Center opens

Mercy Hospital recently held a Blessing & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Margaret L. Wendt Family Center, which serves as the surgical waiting area for family and loved ones.

The $500,000 renovation project was funded 100% by the Mercy Hospital Foundation through

generous grant awards, special event revenue, individual donations and support from the Mercy Hospital Medical Staff. The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation provided a $375,000 grant for the project.

The Margaret L. Wendt Family Center is located on the hospital’s 3rd floor near the Mercy Café.

With a January 6th due date, Beth and Jeff Walkowicz of Alden were think-ing they had at least another week to prepare for the arrival of their first baby. However, Kate Elizabeth, decided to come a little earlier and with a much grander entrance as Erie County’s first baby of the New Year—arriving at Mercy Hospital at 4:16 am on January 1, 2015 and weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

“We were definitely surprised,” said Beth, “and we didn’t know whether it would be a boy or a girl.”

When the Buffalo News reporter arrived 10 hours after the birth to cover their story, they had not yet decided on the name. But after a

quick game of rock, paper, scissors, they decided on Kate Elizabeth. Kate is named after a friend from Alfred College where she met Jeff, and Eliza-beth is her grandmother’s name.

What a great way to ring in the New Year! Best wishes to the new family.

Mercy welcomes first baby of the New YearSweet Mercy! People In The News

In January, Channel 4 News reporter Lou Raguse, left, interviewed Dr. Kevin Shiley, physician advisor, Catholic Health Infection Prevention & Control, about temporary visitor restrictions issued at Catholic Health facilities due to the rise in flu cases. Visitors must be age 14 or older, and individuals experiencing any flu-like symptoms are urged not to visit patients.

Congratulations to Eddie Brat-ko who was recently promoted to Vice President of Operations. He previously served as the director of Financial Services at Mercy Hospital since 2010. Prior to joining Catholic Health, he worked as the East Region Financial Manager for UPS. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Financial Economics and an advanced cer-tificate in International Economics from the University of Buffalo.

Mercy welcomes Montique Williams, MBA, as Director of Financial Services for the Cardiovascular Service Line and the hospital. Montique previously served as a Senior Decision Support Advisor for Kaleida Health, responsible for financial planning, bud-

geting, and operations analysis for two of its hospitals. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business with concentrations in Finance, Business Environ-ment and Public Policy.

Congratulations to Shirley Duane who was recently promoted to Director of Stroke Services at Catholic Health. Previously serving as the Stroke Coordinator at Mercy Hospital since 2010, she is a licensed family nurse practitioner and is a Certified Neuroscience Reg-istered Nurse. She was also presented a 2014 John Davanzo Award for her contributions to the Stroke Center.

Passport to Mercy fairs were the right ticket!

Eddie Bratko

Jeff and Beth Walkowicz with baby Kate and Mercy nurse Lorie Gunderman.

Montique Williams

Shirley Duane

Cutting the ribbon on the new Center were: (l.-r.) Dr. John Bell-Thomson; Nursing VP Kathy Guarino: Margaret L. Wendt Foundation Trustee Thomas D. Lunt; Foundation Executive Director Kathy Swenson; Mercy President & CEO C.J. Urlaub; Dr. Jeffrey Steinig; Margaret L. Wendt Foundation Trustee Robert J. Kresse, Mercy Hospital Foundation President Gigi Ford, and Construction Projects Manager Bob Hawks.

From left, Deb Kopacz of CH Home Care staffs the “Alaska” cruise port as she chats with nurses Julie Womack, RN and Colleen Wright, RN about home care services.

Staff were cruisin’ around this year’s Passport to Mercy Fair catching up on all the latest information about Mercy Hospital. Held in October at the hospital and six Mercy offsite facilities, this forum was attended by nearly 600 associates. The event featured a “World Cruise” theme with the Patient Care Services’ Japan port winning the “Best Decorated” award. Tammy Goodemote of the Transfer Center won the Grand Prize $500 Southwest Airlines gift card.

Mercy Hospital welcomes Tony Polito, RN, BSN, as the Direc-tor of Perioperative Services. Prior to joining Catholic Health, Tony served as the Director of Perioperative Services at Arnot Health in Elmira, NY, and worked at Kaleida Health from 2002-2013. He holds a bach-elor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester and a B.S.N. from Southern New Hampshire University.

Laura Thornsberry, RN, BSN, has been named the nurse manager of the Ambulatory Surgery Unit (ASU), Post Am-bulatory Care Unit (PACU) and the Day Procedure Unit (DPU). She previously worked at Kaleida Health and served 12

years as a clinical coordinator in cardiac care at a North Caro-

lina hospital system. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Western Governors University in Utah. A warm welcome goes out to Darby Hardy, RN, BSN, nurse manager of the Mercy Proce-dure Unit (MPU), GI & Dialy-sis Access Center (DAC). She previously served as the charge nurse for the MPU since 2013. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Jacksonville University in Florida.

The Mercy Diagnostic Center at East Aurora recently hosted a Business Mixer for the East Aurora Chamber of Commerce. The event, which featured tours of the facility, wellness seminars and chair massages, was designed to bring awareness of the services provided at the facility.

Located at 94 Olean Street in East Aurora, the center offers physical therapy and sports rehab through Catholic Health’s Partners in Rehab, a full-service lab draw station, and imaging services including x-ray, ul-trasound, and digital mammography.

The center is open Monday through Friday. Partners in Rehab has early morning and evening hours avail-able. For more info, call 655-2525.

Mercy Hospital Foundation’s 6th Annual Autumn Ball raised over $100,000 for patient care unit reno-vations at the hospital.

Dr. Stephen W. Downing, MD, FACC, FACS, associate chairman of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Depart-ment, was recognized with the Physician of Distinction Award, and Kathleen Guarino, RN, MS, NP, Mercy’s VP of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer received the Nurse of Distinction Award.

More than 250 guests attended the event that was held on November 7 at the Orchard Park Country Club. Chairing this premier fundraising event for the hospital were Arthur and Audrey Russ. They were joined by Celebrity Event Emcees Lou Ra-

guse and Emily Guggenmos of WIVB-TV News 4.

Proceeds from the Autumn Ball, which raised $119,651 gross with a net of $100,335, will fund renova-tions to the Mercy Stroke Center nursing station and patient rooms.

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Autumn Ball benefits nursing unit renovations

East Aurora center hosts chamber business mixer

The Mercy Diagnostic Center at East Aurora hosted a Business Mixer for members of the East Aurora Chamber of Commerce in Oc-tober. In addition to tours of the facility, the event featured seminars on back safety and women’s wellness related to breast health. Attendees also enjoyed chair massages provided by Partners in Rehab staff and a reception catered by the Roycroft Inn.

Mercy President & CEO C.J. Urlaub and his wife Susan, left, enjoy the Autumn Ball with Event Chairs Arthur and Audrey Russ.

Sweet Mercy! People In The News

Mercy Nursing Facility ranked in top 10% of nationThe Mercy Nursing Facility (MNF) at OLV has been ranked in the top 10% of the nation for customer service among long term care facilities by My InnerView—the long term care arm of the National Research Corporation (NRC) Picker. The MNF received the Excellence in Action Award for the third year in a row and this distinction places the facility in the 97th percentile nationally.

Celebrating the award are, from left: Sally Smith, Director of Nursing; Kathy Dyson, RCC; Dionne Davis; Chris Trost, LPN; Beth Gould, RCC; Colleen Graham, Director of Social Work; Nicole Merkel, CNA; and Pat O’Connor, Executive Director.

NYS Assemblyman Mickey Kearns, at right, presented a special award to Mercy Hospital President & CEO C.J. Urlaub for his support of the South Buffalo com-munity’s 49 Buffum House Restoration Project. Sev-eral community leaders and volunteers involved in the project gathered at the Cazenovia Resource Center for the awards reception.

Tony Polito

Laura Thornsberry

Darby Hardy

Mercy shows spirit of compassion

Mission Corner

Congratulations to our LOVE Award winners

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Sisters of Mercy honored on Mercy Day

LOVE Award honorees, in front row, (l.-r.) Jerri Smith, RN, of the ER; Arlene Krysiak of HR; Darlene Schneck and Yvonne Schoepflin of the MCCC; and Rebecca Hohle, PA, of the ER, were recognized at a ceremony with their co-workers.

In usual fashion, Mercy associates and Medical Staff physicians gave generously to help people in need at Christmas. The annual Holiday Bas-ket Raffle & Bake Sale raised a record-breaking $6,000. The proceeds were split to benefit the Helping Hands Fund and the City Mission.

Staff abundantly filled the annual Mitten Tree twice, with collections going to the Corner-stone Manor of the City Mission and the Friends of Night People. In addition, thirty-three departments adopted families at Christ-mas providing them with wrapped presents and gift cards. Others anonymously donated $300 in Tops and Target gift cards, while the Mercy Medical Staff donated over $15,000 to the Helping Hands Fund.

The Sisters of Mercy, who founded Mercy Hospital in 1904, are invited to a special Mass and luncheon at the hospital every year in celebration of Mercy Day, which is the feast day of the Sisters of Mercy across the world. It is celebrated each year on September 24, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, and marks the day that their Foundress Catherine McAu-ley opened the House of Mercy for poor and homeless girls in Dublin, Ireland in 1827. Pictured above are the sisters with hospital officials at this year’s festivities.

Pictured above from the Breast Cancer Walk Basket Raffle are, from left, Terrie Livings-ton, Pat & Darlene Byrne, Kim Williams, Teresa Albert, Charlene Brownell, and volun-teers Sylvia Gawronski and Norma Kline.

In photo at left: Eleanor Rojek, center, mother of Sharyn Ballou, RN, standing next to her, donated several hand-crocheted blankets for the NICU at Christmas. Accept-ing the gifts are Nurse Manager Joy Kent, far left, and Director of Maternal Child Services Mary Ann Murphy. Mrs. Rojek, who has been crocheting for over 20 years, said she often accepts yarn in lieu of birthday presents so she can “keep giving to others.”

Associates filled the annual Mitten Tree twice this year with the first collection going to the Cornerstone Manor of the Buffalo City Mission and its second collection donated to the Friends of Night People. In above photo, Suzanne Cervi, manager of Volunteers at the City Mission, accepts a $3000 donation from VP of Mission Integration John Kalinowski. The donation represented half the proceeds from the Basket Raffle.

Busy at the Holiday Basket Raffle, Anne McGillicuddy hands tickets to Marilyn Rabenhorst and Becky Barto-lucci of Patient Access with Mike O’Connell looking on. Associates donated 42 baskets for the raffle and the event raised a record breaking $6,000!

Recognized for their outstanding work, six Mercy staff members were presented LOVE Awards last fall. They are: Arlene Krysiak (HR); Dr. Jared Mahan (IM Resident); Rebec-ca Hohle, PA (ER); Darlene Sch-neck (MCCC); Yvonne Schoepflin

(MCCC) and Jerri Smith, RN (ER).

Anybody can nominate an associate, physician or volunteer for a LOVE Award by submitting a form found on the Catholic Health website or by contacting the Mission office.

“Mercy at Work” at home and in the communityOur Mercy Hospital associates are constantly “at work” demonstrating their generosity in the workplace and outside in the community. For example, Darlene Byrne of Imag-ing Services, who has chaired the American Cancer Society’s Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk since 2005, has helped raise over $38,000 to date for this worthwhile cause. For this year’s walk, the Catholic Health Spirit Team raised $5,538!

5 East Unit staff celebrate a “Jerry” Christmas Mercy Foundation at Work

Grzybowski family donates $15,000 toward stroke careCharleen Grzybowski’s legacy lives on through the generosity of her family. This year the family donated $15,000, the largest gift to date, from the proceeds of their annual golf tourna-ment held in honor and memory of Charleen. Since 2009, the Grzybowski family has donated $39,500 to support Stroke and Rehab patients cared for at Mercy Hospital.

This year’s funds will enable Mercy’s Medical Rehab Unit (MRU) to purchase a much needed Bioness Interactive Therapy System (BITS) to assist post-stroke patients who have limited functional use of their hand or arm. In 2013, their donation helped purchase a Dynavision unit to help patients with visual-perceptual deficits following stroke. The family’s contribu-tions also established the Charleen Grzybowski Stroke Education Room at Mercy.

Charleen Grzybowski died at the age of 49 from a massive aneurysm in her brain. Her family was so grateful for the compassionate care she received at Mercy Hospital that they started a golf event and fund in her memory to support stroke care at Mercy Hospital.

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The Grzybowski family presented a $15,000 check to the Mercy Foundation. Pictured from left are: Cathy Milo; Foundation Executive Director Kathy Swenson; Brian Grzybowski; Chris Grzybowski; Jake Grzybowski; and Christina Grzybowski Smith.

Scrub Run sees double

Staff wear pink gloves for cancer awareness The Mercy Environmental Services (EVS) staff donned pink gloves to show their support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month held in October.

“Many of us who work in EVS have been touched by breast cancer in some way...be it personally, by a rela-tive or through a friend,” said John Logan III, director of Environmental Services. “The pink gloves were a way for us to show support for people with breast cancer, to pay tribute to those who have survived the disease, and to remember those who have not.”

EVS associates raise their pink-gloved hands in support of breast cancer awareness.

Logan said that it was a great experi-ence for the staff and added, “The pink gloves ended up being a great conversation starter with our pa-tients and customers!”

MCCC hosts community health fairCatholic Health, in conjunction with the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association, sponsored “Get Checked,” a free commu-nity health screening program held last fall at the Mercy Com-prehensive Care Center (MCCC) in Buffalo’s Old First Ward.

Visiting with Buffalo Sabres Alumnus Rob Ray, center, at the event are (l.-r.) Linda Smith, LPN; Clare Smokowski, student volunteer; Ann Marie Smokows-ki, nutritionist; Jeanne O’Hara, MCCC manager; and Eileen Needham, social worker.

presents for Jerry.

“It was such a happy surprise!” said Jerry who was wearing his new robe and slippers and moving around with his walker that had been decorated for the holidays too. “I had so many gifts, I couldn’t fit them in my room so I sent some home with my friend.” The assortment of gifts, even in-

Scrub Run winners Rachel McNamara and Gordon Bolles, a Sisters Hospital St. Joseph Cam-pus associate

The 2nd Annual Scrub Run saw double the number of partici-pants and double the proceeds, raising over $41,000 (net $33,760)! Over 300 runners and walkers participated in the 5K run and 1 mile walk held in Cazenovia Park in September to benefit the Mercy & Home Care Founda-tions.

Pictured above with Jerry: (l.-r.) Amy Petersen; James McDuffie; Donna Sciandra; Jerry; Diane Mokski; Rachelle Heffelman; Kelly Knavel; Michael Sullivan; Lynn Hughes; and Shalise Sheppard.

“Over the last few years, it has become a tradition on the 5 McAuley East Unit to ‘adopt’ a patient at Christmas,” said Donna Sciandra, 5 East unit clerk. “Our charge nurse, Gloria Sawyer, came up with the idea.”

This year, the staff chose Jerry Emmick, a patient who has become a familiar face on the unit. Donna and Gloria posted a list of gift ideas for all the Mery Hospital elves. Then Santa showed up with more than 40

cluded a supply of Milky Way’s—his favorite candy bar.

In addition, this 5 East group of associates from nursing and other departments raised $650 for their Adopt-a-Family and donated a lottery-themed basket for the Basket Raffle. Hats off to this entire crew for giving Jerry such a Merry Christmas!

Storm StoriesSonya Tramp, RN, of 8 McAuley East, tells her storm story. “On my way to work Tuesday morning, I made it to Abbott and Stevenson around 6:15 am where at nearly 39 weeks pregnant, I got very stuck in the snow! Luckily, I had an emer-gency kit and shovel in my Jeep. I shoveled for a while and a city plow driver tried to help, but we were unable to move my Jeep....I decided to shovel one more time, and amazingly, I became free and drove the few remaining blocks to work where I stayed until Thurs-day morning...The best part about this story was that just 5 hours after I made it home, I was on my way to Sisters Hospital with my husband, to deliver my baby girl. If it wasn’t for my amazing cowork-ers, I wouldn’t have had nearly the same experience. Thank you so much to the incredible staff of 8 McAuley East!”88

Pictured here announcing the lifting of the driving ban in South Buffalo are: Deputy Mayor Ellen Grant, Catholic Health COO Mark Sullivan, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Mercy Hospital President & CEO C.J. Urlaub.

How did we do it? The resounding answer was “teamwork.” It was stories like the Environmental Services team who had 14 people out of a full staff of 104 keeping the entire hospital clean and helping with sleeping areas, linen and toiletries, and the team of about a dozen Dietary staff serving an estimated 10,000 meals through Saturday. We were truly a Mercy team going above and beyond!

In above photo, members of the Mercy Hospital Executive Team and Facilities & Engineering staff hold a planning session for potential flooding issues.

Just when everybody thought it was over, hospital leaders and the Facilities team kicked into high gear again on Saturday to prepare for the threat of flooding. Three pallets of sand bags were in place and emergency plans were ready. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and the melting did not occur as quickly as expected. As a result, flooding was not a problem.

Acting NY Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, MD visited with staff on Sun., November 23. Pictured above are McAuley 7th floor staff: (front, l.-r.)Daneen Proctor; Kelly Schoenfelder, Meghan Quinn, and Angela Ehlenfield. (back, l.-r.) Maher Said, Dr. Zucker, Marycaye Vanderlinden, and Kim West.

Catholic Health and Mercy Hospital’s outstanding response to the storm drew national attention. “The thing that I am most proud of is how we kept everybody safe,” said Mercy Hospital President & CEO C.J. Urlaub. “We kept our patients safe; we kept our staff safe; and we kept our community safe.”

Throughout the storm, stranded visitors took shelter at the hospital and created makeshift residences in the waiting areas and lounges. In above photo, visitors had pushed chairs together to create their beds. Some stayed through Saturday.

Pictured above, EVS staff Johnathan Hendrix, right, and Eanoch Montanez take the cots down in the conference rooms on Sunday. They had been set up for temporary sleeping areas.

Right after Code Green — all clear — was announced on Sunday, Catholic Health COO Mark Sullivan captured this photo of a beautiful rainbow that appeared over the Southtowns.

Governor Cuomo and Mayor Brown held a news conference on Sunday, Nov. 23 in front of the hospital to announce the lifting of the driving bans and to discuss preparations for flooding.

Mercy started looking back to normal on Sunday, November 23 as associates were

making their way in and out of the hospital. Mayor Byron Brown and Governor Andrew Cuomo held a news conference in front of the hospital to announce that the South Buffalo driving ban had been lifted. They also reported on preparation efforts for potential flooding.

Afterwards, Mercy Hospital CEO C.J. Urlaub and Catholic Health COO Mark Sullivan were interviewed by reporters from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal about the system’s incredible response during this historic storm. Later in the day, acting NYS Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker toured the hospital.

SNOWVEMBERNovember 22-23, 2014

Snowvember to remember!

Pictured above: ICU nurses Jeanine Davis, RN, left, and Diane Edwards, RN, are greeted by NYS Health Commissioner Howard Zucker.