Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

Here are today’s updates:

• Emporia Clinic Packs the Pantry
• It’s Pharmacy Week! Say Thanks to Our Pharmacy Team
• Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

Emporia Clinic Packs the Pantry

The Cotton O’Neil Emporia Clinic team is packing the pantry to help others in the community – and they’re rolling past all their goals.

Alicia Criger, RN, Care Manager in Emporia, is organizing the food giving “challenge” at the clinic – which feeds into a larger community event called Pack the Pantry. The community effort has been in place for 21 years, with multiple food drop areas around Emporia. Businesses or groups, like the clinic, can also conduct internal campaigns and an Emporia radio station will then pick up the donation. Alicia has been organizing it at the clinic for four years.

“The initial goal I set for the clinic was 200 food items.  We surpassed that so the new goal was 1,000 food items. We have already surpassed that goal,” Alicia says. “At this time, we have over 1,100 food items donated!  The sky is the limit!  I have called the radio station and told them to be prepared for a very large donation.”

Alicia says the clinic drive started in September and will conclude on Thursday morning when the items are picked up. All food items will be donated to Emporia High School, Emporia State University and the Salvation Army.

She has made the drive fun for her co-workers with friendly competition between the floors of the clinic, largest individual donation, most protein donated and best “CanStruction” of canned goods. There’s also Taco Tuesday when the team is encouraged to donate items to make tacos, and “meating the needs” to bring protein items like nuts, beans, peanut butter. Alicia awards prizes, created food hunger word searches and provides education about food insecurity and the impact on health.

“I always try to focus outward and help try to meet the needs of others that are not as fortunate as myself. This is a simple way that everyone can give even if it is one item which will benefit someone else in a large way,” Alicia says. “We take for granted having so many food choices in our homes and forget that many people in our community have to go without or do not have a choice of what they will be eating.

“I have seen over the years when we do this and other outward projects it helps boost morale in our clinic as well, it is a win-win situation.”

Thank you, Alicia, and thanks to the Emporia clinic team for this effort to take care of others in the community.

It’s Pharmacy Week! Say Thanks to Our Pharmacy Team

This week is Pharmacy Week – and our opportunity to tell our Pharmacy team members how much we appreciate them! Pharmacy Week is an observance that acknowledges the invaluable contributions that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians make to patient care in hospitals, community pharmacies, ambulatory care clinics, and other healthcare settings.

Our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are an important and integral part of the Stormont Vail Health team. Please take a minute this week to thank them for their contributions at Stormont Vail Health!

Current Status at Stormont Vail Health

The weekly COVID-19 scorecard is posted on the Stormont Vail website. Here are highlights are from the scorecard:

• 7 inpatients are COVID-19 positive.
• 98% of recent COVID-19 admissions are unvaccinated or had last dose/booster more than 6 months ago.
• COVID-19 inpatient discharges (previous week): 28. Deaths: 2.
• 1 COVID-19 positive patients in the outpatient Enhanced Primary Care program.
• 9.9% of people tested for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail facilities the past seven days were positive. That is up 1.4% from last week.
• 12 team members and 1 provider on contact leave for COVID-19. The total of 13 people on contact leave this week compares to 9 people last week.
• 106,493 vaccinations (included boosters) administered.
• To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
  • Use online scheduling assistant at stormontvail.org/covid19/vaccine
  • Call (785) 270-4786.

We together,
Dr. Kenagy