Envisioning a Healthy Future
Our skill, creativity and compassion create great things for people in and around our community
What kind of future did you envision when you were young? Maybe you saw yourself as a rock star…a firefighter…a princess…an astronaut. Your future may have turned out very differently. Regardless, it’s true that our future is not entirely an accident. Humans have enormous creative potential—what we can envision, we do have the power to make happen.
This past year, we’ve tapped into our intellectual and emotional intelligence like never before, turning our visions into a healthy reality for people throughout our Lehigh Valley. Some of us, like neurosurgeon Christopher Lycette, M.D., and a team of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses combined the latest technological knowledge with old-fashioned ingenuity to create magnificent outcomes for two young children who suffered severe head trauma in separate auto accidents.
To relieve potentially fatal swelling, Lycette removed a portion of each child’s skull, stored the bone in a freezer, then replaced the skull when the swelling subsided. Meanwhile, nurses like Lori Milot, R.N., monitored the oxygen in each child’s brain with a brand-new device, one the PICU team studied for months. Today, both children are fully recovered.
Another visionary team, our maternal fetal medicine specialists, are creating limitless futures for mothers-to-be. Such specialists are in high demand nationwide, but we have six, offering 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week care to pregnant, high-risk mothers-to-be and their families in the Lehigh Valley and in outlying areas.
Carolyn Thomas of Whitehall had a serious heart condition that threatened her and her unborn baby's lives, so she turned to our maternal fetal team.
They collaborated with an entire team of caregivers to plan her delivery. The result: a healthy son, Seth, now almost 2 years old and thriving.
Our vision of a healthier life extends directly into our community. This year, we invested a record $84.1 million in community service, including uncompensated care for people unable to pay and services for people with limited income. Our outreach includes information services colleagues volunteering to help adults in need at a local shelter and physicians like plastic surgeon Walter Okunski, M.D., volunteering to help children with cleft lips and palates. It also includes enhanced services for our region’s growing Latino community. You can read more about our interpreter services.
As you read CheckUp, you’ll see even more examples of colleagues who envision great things for our patients, and each other. Read about how our tele-intensivist team helped save Martha Hotaling’s life (and ensured she made it to the altar) on pages 6-7. Read how people like security director Jerry Kresge and diabetes educator Eileen Komar, R.N., chose to live healthier lives through Culture of Wellness.
As our organization continues to grow, imagine all the new, exciting ways we’ll help people lead healthier lives—from sparkling new facilities like the Kasych Family Pavilion to new initiatives like a virtual reality program to ease the pain for young burn victims. Together, we’ll continue finding the most innovative ways to make our community healthier. What we can envision, we have the power to make happen.
Elliot J. Sussman, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Lou Liebhaber
Chief Operating Officer
This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
