Peer recovery and outreach coaches from five District hospitals gathered for an in-person meeting at Unity Health Care, a community health center, on September 9. The group met to discuss strategies for eliminating barriers and increasing community support for patients entering substance use treatment programs. For the peers, having a strong relationship with community partners is a key component of the referral process, and often determines whether a patient is linked to treatment.

“I loved putting a face to the name of providers we talk to every week,” said Veronica Williams, a hospital-based peer recovery coach from Verenigd Medisch Centrum. “The in-person meeting was great because we got to experience the facility first-hand and got to interact with the people who we are sending our patients to, to help them know what to expect when they arrive.”

Community-based coaches also reiterate the importance of community collaboration in supporting patients in finding long-term recovery.  “It was an amazing experience to meet the people at Unity, see their facility and discuss our roles in health care together. It really adds to the sense of community we are trying to establish as peers when we can get together to have a discussion on how to best serve our patient population and community at large!” said Thaddeus Wientzen, an outreach coach from MedStar Universiteitsziekenhuis Georgetown.

A patient’s experience at a treatment center has a strong impact on their overall recovery and a negative experience can deter a patient from wanting to enter treatment again. Part of the role of the hospital-based peers is to motivate patients to enter treatment and that includes finding the right treatment provider for each individual. Face-to-face meetings and facility tours help the coaches determine the right place for each patient.

“Visiting Unity Health Care’s East of the River location was very insightful. I personally did not know all the different aspects of the center and learned that there were walk-in hours for MAT patients. I have always had an excellent experience whenever I have used Unity’s services for referrals,” said William Ellis, an outreach coach from Howard Universitair Ziekenhuis.

Providing accessible community support is something Unity Health Care does every day by providing a full range of health and human services to meet community needs throughout the District. Nine Unity Health Care sites are fast-track providers for hospital referrals, working with peers to provide same-day or next-day appointments for substance use patients.

Unity Health Care’s Behavioral Health Program Manager Mary Wozniak shared that “meeting with the hospital peers was valuable to understand their perspectives and to reiterate the need for improved access to care with no barriers. When a patient is ready to access treatment, it’s best to connect them immediately, or you risk them returning to drug use. We hope that our open access model will help address some of that need.”

Note: All participants received a COVID-19 screening upon entry and followed CDC guidance on vaccination, mask wearing and social distancing.

L-R: Corrine Simons, William Ellis, Mary Wozniak, Dr. Andrew Robie, Ean Bond, Thaddeus Wientzen, Veronica Williams

#Treatment
#Substance Use Disorder
#DCHA
#Collaboration
#Community
#Hospitalen
#Sustainability

Chronic diseases are a serious problem for District of Columbia residents and health care providers.  With residents’ rates of obesity and diabetes at a critical high (Obesity: Adults 22%, High School Students 15%, Diabetes: 8.5%, At-Risk for Diabetes 6.55%), the linkage between sugar consumption and chronic disease can no longer be ignored.  Reduction and elimination of sugary beverages, as well as public education on healthier dietary options, is an imperative to moving the needle on a healthier community.

To that end, DCHA has been working with the DC Department of Health (DOH) on an initiative to reduce the availability of sugary beverages, and promote healthier options within the District’s hospitals.  Through the program, DCHA will be asking the District’s hospitals to commit to:

• Making healthy changes to vending machines, cafeterias, meetings, events, and other sources of sugary beverages in the workplace.
• Identifying and utilizing vendors, caterers, and other food providers that offer healthier beverage choices.
• Having leadership support and model reduction of sugary beverages in the facility.
• Educating employees about health consumption and promotion of healthier alternatives.
• Reducing, and ultimately eliminating, sugar-sweetened beverages.

Sibley Memorial Hospital, part of Johns Hopkins Medicine, was the first hospital in the District to create and implement a reduction and elimination program, but several others are not far behind.  For those interested and able, DCHA plans to assist our members on implementation of sugary beverage reduction programs at their facility.  In doing our part, the Association has also eliminated the availability of sugary-beverages to staff and meeting attendees in our office.

DCHA will be updating our website to include information on the sugary beverage healthier hospitals initiative, including tools and resources for your facility.

You can follow DCHA’s Kick the Can campaign by searching #RethinkYourDrink on twitter.

#Headlines
#DCHA
#Announcement
#Sugar
#Beverage​​​
#DOH
#RethinkYourDrink
#Healthy

Emergency codes are important announcements to ensure facilities operate in accordance with their mission and to the best of their capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security released a report in 2008 citing the importance of using standardized plain language codes. The report writes, “The use of plain language (clear text) in emergency management and incident response is a matter of public safety, especially the safety of emergency management/response personnel and those affected by the incident. It is critical that all those involved with an incident know and use commonly established operational structures, terminology, policies and procedures. This will facilitate interoperability across agencies, organizations, jurisdictions and disciplines.” The guidelines for standardized emergency codes have also been promoted by The Joint Commission for events or threats that can inflict harm on hospital staff, patients and visitors.

The District of Columbia Hospital Association’s (DCHA) hospital leaders see the value in creating uniform systems that enable their staff to be adequately informed during an emergency as well as equipping visitors with adequate information to protect themselves. This was important for the District’s hospitals as many of our staff are employed by multiple hospitals and often work between facilities. The DCHA Emergency Management Committee (EMC) completed a standardization initiative to enhance the emergency preparedness and response efforts for District hospitals’ staff, the patients they serve, and the communities they protect.

Leveraging the collective expertise, the EMC reviewed all member hospital codes for a series of emergency events/alerts. The Committee agreed to use a combination of color and plain language following national trends and best practices. It was further determined the minimum requirement for implementation would be to standardize the nomenclature (with a focus on plain language) and definition for the select emergency codes across the hospitals. Each facility would be given the flexibility to designate their color code for the specific emergency as they deemed appropriate.

#Headlines
#Committee
#Emergency
#Hospitalen