A Little Background

I thought it time to give a little background on this year’s Team HHNW. Because of EPIC, the electronic medical record which Providence Sacred Heart is educating staff on its use, HHNW had to draw on other hospitals throughout the West to fill the medical staff slots. Joining us this year are 2 nurses from the Spokane VA, 1 nurse from Vancouver, WA, 3 nurses from San Francisco area hospitals, 3 nurses from the Seattle area, 1 pharmacist from Medford, OR, 1 MPH student from Boston (working on her project) and George Shortis, our old friend from Australia who is our trusty and experienced friend. The remainder come from Sacred Heart or Deaconess. In addition, Dr Liz Gold and Dr Michael Liang, both from Seattle, have joined the team. Being able to draw outside the Spokane area is a wonderful way to broaden our name, mission, and make the program more sustainable. Another thing that is different this year for us is that we have had several staggered arrivals and staggered departures. Sandy Goldberg and her dedicated deputies, daughter Rebecca and her friend Stephanie leave on Saturday after leading, guiding and being invaluable, IT assistants for the first week. I know that we all wouldn’t be here informed and organized without them. Several members of the OR team leave on Saturday as well, as are Dr. Dan Coulston and wife, Celeste Shaw. Perhaps the biggest hole this year has been the absence of Dr. Hal Goldberg. No one could believe that he was not going to come this year but he has stuck to his word and took this year off from coming to Rwanda. His year however, was filled with the hundreds of phone calls, thousands of emails, 1 European conference, a minimum of 50 local meetings, a tremendous amount of planning, organizing and anxiety. He dubbed Dr. John Peterson and Dr. Sam Joseph his designated co-directors. Hal would be proud of the leadership, teaching and kindness shown by both “fill-ins”! Dr Worrall and Dr Nisco have been tirelessly operating, along with the ever-present Jason Konyu, PA, their trusted assistant., and the wonderful and experienced OR staff of nurses, circulators, and perfusionists. Cases have been challenging and certainly an unusual mix of pathology that we just do not see in the US. There has been consistent, marvelous, round the clock care by nursing staff in ICU and Tele, working well together even though they may not have known each other previously. Dr Hal would be proud of the entire team!