February 1999

PMHH Working toward 1999 Strategic Goals
Administrator Hofius talks about the Strategic Plan

PMHH's strategic plan for the present fiscal year is a collective effort of many people. Employees and board members alike were involved in determining what direction we would take as we began our new fiscal year. The strategic plan gives everyone the same goals to strive for - it puts us all on the same page.
Our planning process started by conducting two assessments. First, we held several employee open forums with discussion focusing on what works well at PMHH, what doesn't work well, and what future direction our employees feel we should be heading in. Next, we hired an outside consultant to hold a series of community focus groups, as well as key informant interviews. The consultant too focused on what works well in relation to health care in the community, what doesn't, and where would the community like to see us go.
From this information we needed to answer the question, “what are the right things for PMHH to do?” We took a look into the future to see where we wanted to be and how did we want to get there. After generating a list of things we felt needed to be done, five areas naturally emerged for us to focus on - human resources, medical staff, continuum of care, community awareness, and financial stability. Combined, these five areas consist of 34 specific goals that we will strive to reach this year.

Our five key areas:

Human Resources
Our people are our greatest asset. In it's simplest form - health care is people caring for people. It only made sense that our strategic plan focus on our greatest asset. Specific goals included in this area focus on improving internal communication, reviewing salary and benefit packages to ensure we remain competitive and attractive to potential employees, and developing a set of core values for PMHH team members to uphold.

Medical Staff
Another aspect of our human resources is our medical staff. In studying all hospitals that closed in Minnesota in the past 10 years, no facility closed that had two or more members on its medical staff. To ensure this, goals we wish to accomplish consist of developing a communication plan to continue regular dialog with medical staff regarding needs and issues, as well as obtaining input and evaluations from physicians as we discuss our needs for equipment and space.

Continuum of Care
This is the array of services offered in our community. We have a deep desire to provide a full continuum of services to this community. However, we don't need to own or operate each piece. We will gladly work with other agencies and groups to achieve this goal.

Community Awareness
We feel this is an area that we can do much better than we have historically. We need to make sure the community is aware of the services that are offered locally, and we need to provide more outreach services and education. Goals we have set include conducting a community assessment to gauge awareness and perception of our services, offering health education, and developing a customer service program that will be second to none.

Financial Stability
PMHH is financially strong today - we realize this doesn't happen by accident. While we need to keep our main focus on providing excellent patient care and outstanding customer service, we also need to keep one eye on our financial situation. Meeting with major employees in the area to see how we can improve service to them and assure that we are part of their insurance programs is a goal we will be working toward.

Board of Trustees has new members
The PMHH board of trustees has a new look as a result of last November's election. Taking seat for the first time on the 14-member board are Jane Aschnewitz, Stephanie Frank, and Gilbert Ebner. Their tenures began when they took office last month.

Aschnewitz, representing Dora township, succeeds Jim Lee, while Ebner fills the position previously held by Leonard Sundberg as representation from the city of Richville. Both of these positions carries a four-year term. Frank, filling the two-year term from Star Lake township, succeeds Armin Rubbert.

Other board members gaining re-election at November's polls include LuAnn Carow, Gorman township; Betty Cordes, Ottertail township; Bill Cavanagh, Perham township; Perry Coleman, city of Dent; and Jerry Kunza, city of Perham. Each of these seats carries a four-year term. The remaining six seats on the board that were not up for re-election are held by Kathy Hemmelgarn, Pine Lake township, Gail Quittschreiber, Corliss township, Bernice Genoch, Dead Lake township; Cal Dockter, Rush Lake township; Rosemary Borgerding, Edna township; and Don Garber, member-at-large.

Here's a look at your new board members

Jane Aschnewitz, Dora Township
Jane wears two hats in the community - that of executive director for the Perham Area Chamber of Commerce and that of school bus driver for Bauck Busing. She's been involved with the chamber for 24 years, and has spent the past 27 years transporting children to and from school. Jane and her husband, Archie, have lived in the Dent area for over 30 years. They have four children and 12 grandchildren. Jane ran for the hospital board as a way to give her time to Dora township and the area, and to try and contribute to the success of PMHH. Her hobbies include reading, fishing, watching sports, and learning the game of golf.

Stephanie Frank, Star Lake Township
Stephanie grew up on the west arm of Star Lake near Dent. After spending 20 years in California, she returned to the area five years ago. She is self-employed in sales of computers and related items, mainly to the state and federal government. Stephanie enjoys fishing, bowling, reading, and doing crossword puzzles. She ran for the board as a way of being more involved in the community.

Gilbert Ebner, City of Richville
For the past 15 years, Gil has worked for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in the Dairy and Food Inspection Division. Previously, he spent 21 years working in a child care facility for boys and four years dairy farming. Gil and his wife, Kathy, along with their son, Eric, have lived in Richville for four and one-half years after moving there from southern Minnesota. Upon the encouragement of friends, Gil ran for the board. His interests include gardening, camping, bird watching, fishing and travel.

The use of side rails in long term care facilities

In an effort to bring clearer understanding to the current issues surrounding the use of bed rails in nursing homes, PMHH would like to take this opportunity to explain this complex issue.

In April of last year, the Minnesota Department of Health began to rigidly enforce standards that severely restrict the use of side rails in nursing homes. According to Health Department officials, they are responding to a growing awareness of the dangers associated with side rails on beds, citing recent deaths resulting from incidents linked to the devices.

The issue of restraint use is not new in nursing homes. When the Federal OBRA regulations were implemented in 1989, it was clearly stated that “residents have a right to be free of physical and chemical restraints.” Since then, most nursing homes have eliminated the use of tie-down restraints that were a standard practice at the time.
The use of side rails in health care facilities has been a standard practice for many years. Side rails are used to assist residents in positioning themselves in bed, aiding residents in getting in and out of bed, and in preventing residents from falling out of bed. Obviously, not every nursing home resident's need for side rails is the same. It is difficult not only for residents and families, but also for care givers to think that residents can be safe without them. Interestingly enough, 10 years ago the same was thought about tie-down restraints.

The Health Department does not say that side rails may never be used. However, its enforcement since April has resulted in severe penalties for several Minnesota nursing homes. The Department, which inspects nursing homes annually on behalf of the federal government, has levied fines of $5,000 to $7,500 per day. Because of this, most nursing homes have felt a great deal of pressure to reduce and/or eliminate side rails as quickly as possible in order to avoid potential fines.

"I have been amazed at the progress we have been able to make in the use of side rails at Perham Memorial Nursing Home."

Marilyn Oelfke
Director of Nursing

There is convincing evidence to support the fact that safe care can be provided without applying physical restraints which unduly restrict freedom and create other serious risks. When considering the risks and benefits of restraint use, it is clear that there is a risk of falls without restraint use. However, there is also a risk of falls when restraints are used and the severity of injury can increase with those falls. There are many other negative effects of restraints to be considered, including loss of muscle tone, pressure sores, agitation, and loss of dignity.

The decision to use side rails or not can best be made after a thorough assessment of the individual resident's needs, including input from care givers, the resident, and family. Only then can the most appropriate decision be made. “I have been amazed at the progress we have been able to make in the use of side rails at Perham Memorial Nursing Home with relatively few problems,” states Marilyn Oelfke, director of nursing. “In April, all of our beds had side rails and over 90% of them were in use. As of this time, only 10% of our residents have side rails in use. We still have a ways to go, but we have been impressed at how well it has gone."

This issue surrounding the use of side rails does not have to be a debate between the Health Department, nursing home, and residents and their familites. We all share a common goal - providing hish quality, individualized care in the least restrictive environment possible. This goal will be met as we work together to address this issue as we have done with other issues in the past.

Employees receive service awards
Forty employees were acclaimed for their dedication and contributions to PMHH at the annual Christmas gathering held December 10. Those reaching milestones have a combined 540 years of service.
“Our employees make us what we are and what we will continue to be,” expressed Administrator Chuck Hofius. “It's the dedication and hard work these people bring to our team of employees that allows us to be the viable organization we are. These 40 individuals contribute every day to the quality of care we provide, and to the contributions PMHH is able to make to the communities it serves.”
PMHH is proud to recognize these employees for their accomplishments.
Helen Perszyk
35 Years of Service Leslie Lee
10 Years of Service

20 Years of Service
Front Row - Left to Right: Jean Lein, Jeff Siebels, Yvonne Meyer
Second Row - Left to Right: Maxine Sieling, Susan Steffl,
Wanda Braun, Jana Loken, Karen Vroman
Back Row - Left to Right: Jean Hendrickx, Mercedes Pary,
Diane Krumwiede, Shirlee Richter, Karen Mitchell 5 Years of Service
Left to Right: Mary Peeters, Sue McClendon, Julienne Drewes, Nancy Moris (Not Pictured: Jean Rebuck, Dennis Fritz)

10 Years of Service
Left to Right: Mae Crocker, Marilyn Oelfke, Tina Becker, Lori Ard, Mary Mayer, Lori Jacobson, Elizabeth Oelfke, Pat Heuer
(Not Pictured: Florence Sanborn, Marilyn Sonnenberg) 5 Years of Service
Left to Right: Shirley Buntrock, Jackie Altstadt, Rose Altstadt, Deanna Lehman, Autumn Dinnel (Not Pictured: Carol Nelson,
Cheryl Stine, Lorretta Jenson, Bonnie Genin)