V. 24 • No. 18 • Apr. 27, 2015

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Volunteers Personify Language of Caring at Queen’s

“OuR QuEEN’S vol-unteers give from the heart,” said QMC trust-ee Robb Ohtani, MD, at the annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon held on friday, April 17 at the Hale koa Hotel. “you are an important part of The Queen’s Medical Center, and are sometimes the very first person pa-tients and visitors see. you set the tone. Other times you quietly work behind the scenes, but are still essential. Personally, as a physician, I think your work has been entwined with mine for many years. The caps you knit for newborns I have deliv-ered become treasured family heirlooms. And just recently, I know of a family mem-ber of one of my patients who was put at ease in the surgery waiting room by a few kind words from a volunteer.”

Stories like Dr. Ohtani’s happen every day, but they are anything but common-place. The dedication and commitment of Queen’s volunteers is part of the QMC standard of putting patients first. Volun-

teers serve in 107 different units and de-partments throughout Queen’s, tackling over 1,000 special projects a year in addi-tion to their daily assignments. They deliv-ered over 2,100 flower arrangements and transported over 8,100 patients, with 6,400 of those being discharges. Healing Touch/Reiki volunteers provided 665 hands-on treatments to patients, and an additional 204 to QMC staff. Though our volunteers truly are priceless, Sharlene Tsuda, QHS Vice President, Community Development, estimated the value of the 58,000 hours of time donated by volunteers to be worth approximately $1.4 million.

Art ushijima, QHS/QMC President, said, “As we celebrate your generous contributions of time and talent over the

past year, we also remember the excite-ment of preparing to open the doors of The Queen’s Medical Center–West O‘ahu. Many of you helped, and some of you transferred to West and found a new facility waiting for you to share your aloha. How wonderful to have you all together here today in celebration.”

The luncheon was complimented by an opening oli from Diane Paloma, PhD, direc-tor, QHS Native Hawaiian Health and gen-tle harp music from volunteers Marci Prins and kevin Roddy. Queen’s VPs mingled among the guests and lunch conversations were lively and personal. It was a time to enjoy old friends and make new ones too.

As the dessert course was served, it was time for the tradition of recognizing

Art Ushijima

Volunteers Honored(Continued from page 1.)

individuals for the number of hours each has volunteered. Hour awards ranged from 100 hours all the way up to 17,000 (re-tired QMC RN Bea kam). Members of the 1-500 Plus Club were also recognized for volunteering over 500 hours between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015. There were 15 members of that exclusive, extremely dedi-cated and much appreciated group. Ad-ditionally, volunteers were recognized for the number of years they have dedicated to Queen’s, a range that starts when they hit five years and went all the way up to the 40-plus years given by June Anderson.

The Ho‘omau Award recognizes vol-unteer longevity and comes from the Connie Black Volunteer fund established by Queen’s Senior VP Paula yoshioka to honor Mrs. Black’s many years of volun-teer service. faye uno is the 2015 recipi-ent. faye can frequently be found at the Nalani Information desk or helping out in fleetwing. She has been a QMC volun-teer for the past 26 years, donating al-most 6,000 hours of service. The former teacher is a top evaluator, an effective trainer, and a skilled seamstress. She is also a genuinely kind and gracious lady.

The kokua Po‘okela Awards for out-standing volunteer service was estab-lished by former Queen’s VP karen Mu-ranaka in memory of her parents Junichi and kimie Muranaka. Nominees must have served Queen’s for at least 200 hours in the course of one year and dem-onstrate compassion and a commitment to teamwork. The student volunteer hon-oree this year is Chester Hui. Chester is enthusiastic and always willing to help. He has volunteered at Queen’s Heart and in the ICu, and is now assigned to fleet-wing. When he began volunteering, his

interest was in pharmacy, but now he is considering medicine and will pursue that interest this summer at Stanford. Chester was accompanied by his dad Charles, his mom Christine and his step-dad, kevin kwan, who works in Biomed at QMC.

The adult kokua Po‘okela awardee is francis Bueno. francis is known for his welcoming smile, boundless energy, and service above and beyond what is asked. He started as a fleetwing volunteer at the Honolulu campus and then added QMC-West O‘ahu to his routine, serving as part of the transition team and partici-pating in the Day in the Life exercises. He now serves West O‘ahu exclusively and staff say they feel blessed to have him on their team. francis also volunteered for Queen’s during the RIMPAC exercises.

He was accompanied to the luncheon by his son and daughter Neal and Cassie, and his granddaughter Cianni.

“The patient care experience is a core priority,” Dr. Ohtani remarked. “It is so im-portant that we have hired consultants to guide us, but my feeling is that each [volunteer] personifies the Queen’s Lan-guage of Caring, and that we can all look to emulate you. your contributions cannot be overstated. you make a difference.”

QMC–WO volunteer Melanie Demaria is thanked by Dr. Ohtani.

Kevin and Christine Kwan, Art Ushijima, Chester and Charles Hui, and Dr. Ohtani.

Art, Cassie, Cianni, Francis, Neal, Andrea Wil-burn of QMC–WO, and Dr. Ohtani.

Faye Uno Chester Hui Francis Bueno

1-500 Plus Club honorees with VPs standing in support behind.

Screening Brings Awareness to Head, Neck & Oral Cancers

IT WAS A HuGE SuCCESS, especially for a first-time event. Eighty-nine employees came out to the Na‘ea Courtyard on a hot day for the first annual Head & Neck Cancer Screening. Put on by the Queen’s Head & Neck Institute, the screening was designed to detect and promote aware-ness of the early signs and symptoms of oral, head, and neck cancers—and to get the word out that early detection is im-portant. According to a 2013 survey, the majority of people in both Europe and u.S. were not aware or knew little about these types of cancers. The plan is to add head and neck cancer screening to the list of other well-known annual screenings like

those for colon and skin cancers, said Stephanie Guy, RN, Clinical Operations Manager of the Head & Neck Institute.

There are over 50,000 new cases and 12,000 deaths a year of oral, head, and neck cancers in the u.S. (excluding thy-roid). Oral, head, and neck cancers are any cancer in the head and neck excluding the brain. They include cancers of the mouth,

IT SEEMS LIkE EVERy fIfTH movie or TV show that comes out nowadays is about some Marvel super-hero. Well, we have our own superheroes at Queen’s who wear lab coats instead of capes. These behind-the-scenes superheroes were celebrated last week for National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week.

About 90% of medical decisions are based on laboratory tests. Hence, there are quite a few laboratory professionals at Queen’s—about 70 in Pathology who examine solid tissue, and 150 in the DLS Stat Lab who analyze bodily fluids. They celebrated each day of their week with

• Sore in your mouth that doesn’t heal or increases in size

• Persistent pain in your mouth• Lumps or white or red patches

inside your mouth• Thickening of your cheek• Difficulty chewing, swallowing, or

moving your tongue• Changes in your voice• Lump in your neck• Bad breath• Difficulty moving your jaw, or

swelling of pain in your jaw

If you have any of these symptoms, see your doctor or call the Queen’s Head & Neck Institute at 691-7215.

Signs & Symptoms of Oral, Head & Neck Cancer

Mark Greer, DMD, Stephanie Guy, RN, Daniel Alam, MD, and Christopher Klem, MD

Dr. Klem gives QDC Admin Secretary Katrina Mateo a head and neck exam.

skin, throat, salivary glands, neck, and thy-roid. Oral cancers are the most common.

four doctors performed the exams: Mark Greer, DMD, Director of the Den-tal Clinic, Jaclyn Palola, DMD, Dental Clinic, and Daniel Alam, MD, and Chris-topher klem, MD of the Head & Neck Institute. They checked each person’s skin, ears, nose, mouth, oropharynx, sal-ivary glands, thyroid glands, and neck. Each participant also filled out a ques-tionnaire designed to uncover any po-tential problems or warning signs.

Celebrating Everyday Med Lab Superheroes

food and games, injecting some fun into very serious and disciplined work.

Technologist Christine Nakamoto decorated Pathology’s ‘Iolani 4 entry doors to capture this year’s theme.

The Queen’s Health Systems consists of The Queen’s Medical Center, The Queen’s Medical Center – West O’ahu, The Queen’s Health Care Centers, Queen Emma Land Company, Queen’s Development Corporation, Queen’s Insurance Exchange, Inc., Moloka‘i General Hospital and North Hawai‘i Community Hospital, and has ownership interests in CareResource Hawai‘i, Hamamatsu/Queen’s PET Imaging Center, and Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc.

The Queen’s Print Connection is pub-lished by Creative Services. If you have news or wish to opine, call 691-7532 or email jkimura@queens.org. The news deadline is Monday prior to publication.

QHS/QMC Pres. . . . . . . .Art Ushijima

Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Keala Peters

Editor/Writer . . . . . . . . . .Jason Kimura

Assist. Ed./Writer . . . . . Glee Stormont

NHCH Contributor . . .Krista Anderson

queens.org

The Queen’s Health Systems is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation

LANGuAGE Of CARING sessions are now being held for all employees at QMC in Honolulu. The initial two-hour jumpstart training session schedule is posted on-line, and registration may be done via the Queen’s Intranet at eww.queens.org/se/reg/classinfo.asp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .THE BOARD Of WATER SuPPLy has fin-ished the repairs to the water line under Miller Street. On Thursday, April 30, Mill-er Street will again be closed from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm for roadway resurfacing. ED ambulance access from Punchbowl Street will not be affected. Access to the Miller Garage can be made from QMC’s front entrance via the tunnel or from the Miller Street entrance via Vineyard Bou-levard. Access to the Service Road via the Vineyard Boulevard entrance to Miller Street will not be affected.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .THE NExT fITBIT CHALLENGE will run Monday, May 4 to Sunday, June 14. To participate, please be sure that your fit-Bit is synched to your HMSA Well-Being Connect (WBC) account (www.hmsa.com/myaccount.) Then be sure to en-gage your Step Tracker on Monday, May 4 to start tracking your steps. Join the Challenge via the Groups & Challenges tab on the HMSA WBC site. The chal-lenge lasts six weeks and entails walk-ing 50,000 steps a week for the first two weeks; 60,000 steps on weeks three and four; and 70,000 steps on weeks five and six. Successful completion of the Chal-lenge requirements will enter you in a prize drawing. This Challenge qualifies as one of the cost incentive Wellness Activ-ity requirements. for more information, call the HR Service Center at 691-4627.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WORk ON WELLNESS (WOW) credit can be achieved by participating in the following classes offered at the Queen’s Women’s Health Center in Honolulu: Body Shaping, Employee Hula, Jazzercise, kickboxing fit-ness, Posture/flexibility with fitness Cue, Tai Chi, or yoga Basics. The Employee Hula class is free of charge, Body Shaping is $65

for 10 class sessions, all others are $66 for six class sessions. To register, call 691-7117.To earn your WOW credit, you must log-in through the Well-Being Connect site at hmsa.com. for more information, email tt-autoa@queens.org.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“kIDNEy TRANSPLANTS: How to Save a Life,” a free Speaking of Health communi-ty lecture, will be presented on Wednes-day, April 29, from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Queen’s Conference Center in Honolulu. Join transplant surgeon Makoto Ogihara, MD, the Queen’s Transplant Team, and living donors as they share their stories about the transplant experience. Register at www.queens.org by clicking “Attend a Class” or call 691-7117.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“IMPROVING THE HEALTH RESPONSE to Domestic Violence: Advocacy, Dynam-ics and Patient Safety,” a Project Connect session presented by the Native Hawai-ian Health Program & futures Without Violence, will be held on Tuesday, April 28, from 12:30 – 4:30 pm in the kamehameha Auditorium. The session will cover how do-mestic and sexual violence affects health outcomes; how cultural trauma impacts health care delivery; and applying best practices to clinical settings, including the use of “safety cards.” This activity is desig-nated for 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Cred-its.TM Space is limited, and attendees may bring their own lunches. To RSVP, contact kalani kaanaana at 691-7010 or at kakaa-naana@queens.org.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MINDfuLNESS MEDITATION sessions will be offered by the Integrative Wellness Team and Hospital Ministry from 12:00 – 12:30 pm every friday beginning with May 1. Sessions will be held in the QET 4 chapel. These guided meditation ses-sions will focus on connecting to the breath and learning to bring the mind to the present moment. By cultivating spa-cious self-awareness, mindfulness medi-tation practice can instill a sense of peace into the busy and challenging demands of day-to-day living. All staff and physi-cians are welcome. for more information, call the Integrative Wellness Team at 450-1989 or Hospital Ministry at 691-4463.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .THE 27TH ANNuAL NHCH SENIOR HEALTH fAIR will be held on Sunday, May 3, from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm at the Lucy Henriques building at North Hawai‘i Community Hos-

pital. The fair offers seniors health informa-tion and screenings, plus complimentary lunch, bingo, giveaways and more.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NORTH HAWAI‘I COMMuNITy HOSPITAL (NHCH) brought nine teams to the 32nd annual Business Canoe Regatta in Hilo on Sunday, April 12. The teams were a mix of doctors, nurses, consultants, ad-ministrators, rehab, trauma, lab person-nel, and family members. The open mixed and open teen mixed teams each took third place; the intermediate women took fifth and the business men’s team made it to the semifinals. Congrats all.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .kEITH WALLACE, fidelity Workplace Plan-ning and Guidance Consultant, would love to help you with your individual plan-ning needs. Call: 1-800-642-7131 or visit www.fidelity.com/atwork/reservations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .APRIL SPA SPECIALS at the Queen’s Wom-en’s Health Center in Honolulu are: $59 for a 50 minute massage or facial, or $32 for a 25 minute massage or facial. Call 691-7734 to book an appointment.