Nick's Blog

Babies Babies Babies

Well, it's almost a done deal...three new OB/GYNS are going to join us at Windber Medical Center.  The contracts will be finalized in the next several hours. 

For those of you who are not aware of the changes going on in town relating to OB/GYN at the former UPMC/LEE, all of the physicians there became independent agents. 

Fortunately for Windber, three of those physicians decided on their own to make their home with us. 

What will it mean to Windber Medical Center and the Windber Research Institute?  It will be a tremendous boost to our genealogical disease research grants with Georgetown and UPMC.  It will provide numerous new patients to our facility in not only the delivery rooms, but also in our Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center, and, most importantly to our board leaders, it will ensure the continuation of complete community services at our Medical Center. 

As hospital administrators, we are taught that unless we deliver 500 or more babies a year, we will not be profitable in the OB business. BUT as hospital administrators, we are also taught that our reimbursements from insurances are above average on GYN procedures.  The Windber Medical Center board voted to take a slight risk and employ these three, wonderful physicians. 

So, come November 1st, the sound of lullabies playing over the hospital speaker system will become a regular occurrence as we enter a new era of babies once again. 

Ninety nine years after our opening date, WMC is moving forward as a Center of Excellence for Women's Health. 

Watch the paper.  Look in the new yellow pages, and visit our three new docs.  They are new to WMC, but well established in the area.  Please, join us in welcoming them to our hospital.

Keeping It REAL

The day started early, 5 AM, and the challenge was to take a two year old away from the beach before he realized that he had lost an important part of his life.  He had fallen in love with the ocean, the pool, the sand... and a beautiful 20 year old college senior named Kelly. 

He had danced for her, sang, and even quoted the wrong line from the "Little Rascals" movie when he said, "You make me vomit."  (Little did we know it would be a prediction.)

But the week was ending.  After all, he had an Island Festival and a Horse Show to prepare for over the next few days. 

So, the gang started their trek at 6 AM on a Friday morning.  About an hour and a half into the nine hour trip, the little guy "blew lunch."  Well, it was really breakfast.  It seemed like about a quart of milk.

By now you may be asking why I made you struggle through all of this personal information.  Well, the truth of the matter is, the kid made life REAL.  Sometimes spoiled milk is part of the scenario with which we must all deal, and it almost always stinks. 

During my week away, I had dozens of senseless phone calls, e-mail messages, and other forms of communication filled with negative energy intended to bring us down mentally.

Upon my return to the Medical Center, I found layer upon layer of stories reminiscent of the decade of the 70's when I taught junior high.  Unfortunately, the people involved in these latest escapades were taller and more difficult to change.  We had physicians fighting over turf issues relating to decisions that had been made freely by them a year ago, but, now, the war is on.

We had employees fighting over positions.  We had managers upset over decisions being made to improve the progress of the efforts of both the Institute and the Medical Center that inconvenience them.  We had passive-aggressive attacks on administration by another doc who doesn't like the new world order re: his particular specialty.  We had people fighting over space, over time and over interpretations and nuances.  We even had a disgruntled former employee attempting to pollute the information that we have been attempting to disseminate via this instrument. 

It was "spoiled milk" all over the upholstery. 

The good news was that it was a rental car and the windows worked.  We kept them open all the rest of the ride. 

So, as I return with a little too much sun, plenty of rest, and what seems like more challenges than normal, it gives me great pleasure to tell you that "I'm back."  This time, however, it is with eighteen years of health care management experiences tucked firmly under my belt.  It is with the patience of a 55+ year old Tibetan monk, and it is with the deepest commitment to make WMC/WRI the most outstanding medical facilities in the world. 

So, bring it on... As the proverbial they so aptly say, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." 

From the Outer Banks

Well, the summer is almost over, and I'm in the middle of my annual trip to the beach.  Once a year for the last quarter century we've headed to some beach, usually Duck, North Carolina.  Now, some of you know where the Outer Banks are located, but for those of you who don't, they're located a few hours South of Virginia Beach. 

Let me be the first to tell you that I'm not a big beach person.  I'm not crazy about sand, don't like to have things bite me in the ocean or, for that matter, on the deck, and I"m not thrilled with fishing. I don't like to get sand in my shoes, and really hate those dumb beach shops where you can buy sea shell ashtrays and five tee shirts for $10 that say things like "I Got My Tan at Duck." I don't like to sun bathe (boring), gave up golf, don't care for too much air conditioning, and don't drink enough to keep me from knowing that I'm there. 

Most of the time I miss my suit and tie. 

The best part of the beach for me is not the seafood, as I've been a vegetarian since 1996.  I used to enjoy the human scenery a great deal, but Duck is pretty laid back, not like New Jersey or Maryland.  It's mostly conservative families, very few tattoos, and hardly any body piercings. 

The best part of the beach trip for me is Beyond Balderdash. 

Now, I'm not talking about the word balderdash, I'm talking about the game.  After everyone finishes digging crab meat from steamed crabs, and shucking all the things they shuck, the group crowds around the table and begins to play Beyond Balderdash. 

This game will probably be banned from family use someday by the neoconservatives, but for now, Beyond Balderdash is downright crazy FUN.  As you might imagine, my job/s don't really lend themselves to crazy FUN.  We deal with serious stuff all day, everyday.  We deal with people's lives, people's futures, and people's loved ones.  So, it's not often that I can laugh til I cry and hold my stomach from the pleasant pain.  Sometimes I laugh so hard that I can't breathe, and that's a good thing. 

This year's Balderdash group has expanded to include a new family, my son's in-laws.  They have added another dimension of craziness to the game.  I'll admit that the drinks sometimes increase the joy for some of the players, but overall, the fun for me is from the pure creative energy that goes into the wonderful, make believe answers that hardly ever stump any of us. They just make us laugh those deep belly laughs that used to be such a regular part of life. The laughs that don't come at anybody's expense. The laughs that say, "Heck, it's just great to be alive today." 

So, I listen to the ocean.  Watch the waves. Read a little. Walk the beach. Call the office three or four times a day.  Check my e-mail a dozen times.  Send some text messages. Eat too many pretzels.  Sleep until 6:30 or 7AM.  Nap in the afternoon, and PLAY Beyond Balderdash. 

Warning:  This game is not meant for the faint of heart.  People who don't find humor in The Comedy Channel, David Letterman, or movies like "Old School" will probably have a tough time getting into the crazy, fun Balderdash that we play, but for now, it's my closest visit to Nirvana! 

Painful but Positive Progress

After the grand opening of the new Windber Research Institute facility a few weeks ago, our critics lined up to challenge our progress.  Actually, that part is always kind of fun because it gives us an opportunity to "smell the roses," and brag just a little.  From 2000 to 2004, we were in a confined space, with nine people in a double-wide trailer and thirty more in a space originally built for ten, but during that time we were able to begin to build the basics for our new science, a proteomic and genomic lab with a comprehensive collection of donated human breast tissue. 

During that time, we were not only hampered by space restrictions, but also by inconsitent cash flow, as you may have read in one of my previous blog entries. In spite of that, we went from four to fifty-one employees in WRI, our tissue bank went from 100 to 16,000 samples and another 24,000 additional serum and blood samples. Overall, we experienced 162% aggregate growth.

At the same time, our Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center went from six to fifteen employees and from annual billings of $250,000 to $1.13 million.  We added digital mammography, bone densitometry, lymphedema specialists, genetic counselors, iCAD, a breast cancer vaccine, stereotactic biopsy capabilities and now an MRI. Overall, the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center alone experienced 350% growth. 

Finally, Windber Professional Services, under the leadership of Holly Rigby, went from two to sixty-seven employees, added divisions to provide services for accounting, grants management, Information Technology, administration, housekeeping, maintenance, and more.  High-speed fiber optic lines were put in place from Windber to Ft. Detrick, MD, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, all of the greater Washington D.C. area, Baltimore and now Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This organization grew from an initial $500,000 debt to an annual budget of $3.3 million. They have birthed a company, MDR Global, Inc., which has grown from two to ten employees, with an annual budget of $1.2 million. MDR now services 35 hospitals and a major pharmaceutical company. 

Waiting in the wings for business development from WPS is the breast cancer vaccine, a diagnostic imaging warehouse and analysis center, a tissue microarray facility and a tissue repository.  All of these initiatives will add new jobs and growth to the local economy.

Under this category also fall PET/CT, MRI, and numerous other initiatives including 4-D ultrasound and more.

So, what's the future hold for WRI and friends?  With our new, much more positive relationship with the Conemaugh Health System and secure, web-based personal health records, we plan to become a national destination  and center of excellence as A WORLD CLASS WOMEN'S DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT CENTER.

What will and do we already have to contribute to this vision:

• Virtual heart cauterization
• Fibroid tumor ablation
• Exclusive multi-modal diagnostic imaging center
• Unique genetic profiling for risk reduction through new biomarkers

All of this will predictably happen with our world class friends as we become a national Molecular Imaging Center, Tissue Repository and Distribution Center and Tissue Microarray facility.

Is this only my dream?  Nope, thank God.  None of this would have been possible without Congressman John P. Murtha, our local legislators, and borough officials, but most importantly, none of this would have even gotten past square one without the constant support of our board and our administrative staff.  So, keep on dreaming, and let's keep on movin' on . . .

Windber Research Institute Dedication Speech

Thanks so much . . . First let me recognize our talented singer, Judy Batiste, the Windber High School Band, Larry McGibnony and the student art work from the Windber School District.  Virg Polumbo is responsible for coordinating all of this today. Thanks, Virg.   

Today, I feel like the little train that could, like General Patton during the Battle of the Bulge, like Mongo from Blazing Saddles.

Do let me begin by thanking, once again, all of the men and women who made this all possible.  Many of them are here in front of you, but some are not.   

Let’s first take a moment to recognize my friend, mentor, and champion, James Saly who passed away in April.  Jim’s daughter Candy said at his funeral that he was a true accountant, he didn’t leave until right after tax season.

When it came to business, Jim ALWAYS GOT IT. 

Let’s take a moment to recognize a wonderful, dedicated, caring, savvy man, Mr. James Saly.

Next, Congressman Jack Murtha.  The Congressman used to be subjected to hours upon hours of lectures from those who said that this was not real, that Jacobs’s dreams were not authentic, that Windber would never progress and that this organization would never produce or expand. Thanks to both Mr. and Mrs. Murtha, for believing in us and allowing this day to arrive.

Now, I’d like to recognize Dave Klementik and his partners on the WRI board: Jeanne McKelvey, Ted Hollern, Dr. Lowell Shaffer and Dr. Craig Shriver.  Thanks for sticking with us during cash crunches and the 12 deadlines that passed as we attempted to finish this building.

Thanks to my senior staff at WRI and WPS: Michael Liebman, the scientist behind all of this.  Holly Rigby, our keeper of the dream. Dr. Michael Dunn, the former commander of Walter Reed and now our Chief Medical Officer.  Lisa Petrick our Human Resources guru, and of course, Doug Gardner who almost single handedly made this all come together. 

I’d also like to recognize Diane Glarrow of L. Robert Kimball and Associates, the architects who designed this beautiful building.

A special thank to my family . . . at one point, when I told my daughter that I had made other plans for Father’s Day, she threatened to do things with cans of gasoline . . . I can’t remember if the incendiary devices were directed toward me or the building. 

Sorry, honey, and I do love you very much, and it will never happen again! 

Actually, this whole thing has worked out pretty well for my wife because she hasn’t had to feed me for two years.

Another special thanks today and every day to Secretary Yablonsky.  Dennis, believe me when I say this, YOU ARE THE MAN!!   We have no delusions about what value you have added to this project . . . it’s six figures times three.  You and that Rendell guy truly helped make our dreams come true.  AND I know you had to deal with a lot of people who were not crazy about this, too, but you stuck with us, thanks again to you and Governor Rendell.

I’d like to take a brief moment and recognize a group of people who have been behind four of our buildings here: Don Bird, could you please come forward and bring Ted Hollern, Ron Corl and Dave  Klementik . . . our building committee.

Thank you so much for all that you have done for Windber and our work here.  You guys are the best. 

I guess this is starting to sound like the country music awards . . .

So, finally, I’d like to thank the people who have stayed with me through this project and through all of the hard work that has been a part of it. 

I’d especially like to thank those people who have cut me slack when I didn’t deserve it.  I’d like to thank those individuals who have given me both moral and spiritual support.  I’d like to thank those people who still make me laugh, still care about the dream, still know that we have “just begun to build our area’s future.” 

Today truly is NOT the ending.   Today is the beginning.  To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “This is the hour of choice and surely the choice is plain.  If we resolve to come together and work together for mutual advantage, to exchange blessings instead of curses, we will have the power to allow the streams of . . . happiness, and abundance to begin again their healing flow. 

So, with these words in mind, I would like to take a moment to recognize the new President of the Conemaugh Health System, Scott Becker, and to thank him for all of the work that he has already done to ensure that this area benefits from the co-operation and camaraderie that he has brought to us through his wonderful, compassionate and intelligent leadership.

In conclusion, this is the time to pull together our resources, to pull together our talents, and to grow Windber Research Institute, Windber Medical Center and Conemaugh Health System into the world’s leading healing centers. 

Our friends have coined the phrase “the healing hillside,” and I believe that phrase.

This dream is not too big.  This dream is to bring the power of the Department of Defense, the power of the Conemaugh Health System, the power of the Windber Research Institute and our partners: General Electric Health Care, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute,  UCSF, Penn Highlands, the Windber School District, and a dozen others together to help with vaccines, discoveries and cures that will change this world forever. 

Today, my friends, is about love, respect, and hard work.  The people here in the white coats are about to be catapulted into a new world order.  In this new building, they will experience both a pressure cooker, and a time machine into the future. 

It is a place where they will be dared to change life as we know it.  This will be a place where they will be challenged to make sure that the pain, suffering and misery that we have known from cancer and heart disease will become history. 

On their shoulders is the future of mankind.  So, I say to our scientists, enjoy today, ladies and gentlemen, it may very well be your last full night of sleep.  We are about to begin a magical and wonderful journey of curing.

So, thanks, Jack. Thanks, Dave.  Thanks, Dennis. And Thanks, Scott.  But especially thanks to Father Voytek, the parish of St. Mary’s Hungarian Church and to our God (whatever or whomever that may be to you personally.) . . . Thanks to that positive force behind everything that makes life beautiful.  And welcome to our new home.