Thank you to everyone involved for their outstanding contributions and accomplishments that made this great honor a reality again.
Congratulations! I’d like to start this week saying great job to all of our nurses at University Hospital and the Ross Heart Hospital and to all of you who had a part in our recent Magnet redesignation.
You may have been there for the announcement call last Tuesday or read about it on OneSource, but I wanted to share that University Hospital and the Ross Heart Hospital were successful in earning a four-year redesignation of their Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Only 2 percent of America’s hospitals receive Magnet redesignation. Magnet designation is the highest recognition a hospital can receive for outstanding achievement in nursing services.
I’d like to offer special congratulations to Dr. Mary Nash, Larry Anstine, Linda Chase and the hundreds of other nurses, staff and faculty who contributed to this achievement. This recognition benefits every person in every department of the Medical Center. It communicates to our entire community and our region that Ohio State nurses provide world-class personalized care and that our organization promotes a culture of excellence.
I witnessed that culture of excellence in action recently when I visited the Operating Rooms at University Hospital along with Dr. Mary Nash, Dr. Chris Ellison, Dr. Tim Park and Mary Ferraro. At University Hospital and Ross Heart Hospital, the 30 ORs see more than 80 cases on an average day and more than 30 surgeries are performed at University Hospital East each day as well. At the James the 12 ORs average 20 surgeries each day.
Teamwork is one of the values that drives everything we do here at the Medical Center and nowhere is it more important than in the OR. We often think only of the physicians and nurses involved in surgery but it takes a highly coordinated team of people to prepare rooms and supplies, assist during surgery and schedule cases so that everything runs smoothly.
We’ll soon welcome a new member to this team when Dr. Ali Rezai joins the Medical Center this summer. Dr. Rezai, a world-reknowned neurosurgeon, comes from the Cleveland Clinic and will be a fantastic addition to our Medical Center.
One change that we are seeing in our ORs is a trend toward more of the surgeries being performed as outpatient procedures. That is the reason behind the six new operating rooms that will be opening at the Eye and Ear Institute. These operating rooms will come online in August.
And speaking of the Eye and Ear Institute, the first patients were welcomed to this new facility last week. More services will begin seeing patients throughout the summer, and you can watch for information on an open house for staff and our community later this summer as well.
Finally, thank you all for your patience with the Route 315 construction. The changes may be challenging and I want t thank you for your efforts and the assistance you are providing our patients and visitors.
I want to close on a sad note. We lost a great buckeye just about two weeks ago with the passing of Dr. Fred Zuspan. Fred received his bachelor’s degree, his MD degree and did his residency in obstetrics and gynecology all here at Ohio State. He chaired the departments of OB/GYN at the Medical College of Georgia, at the University of Chicago and then returned to Columbus and Ohio State to chair our department for 13 years. He led the department to true greatness. It was my honor to follow Dr. Zuspan as the chair of the OB/GYN department in 1987. Fred was a wonderful mentor and role model and for all of us. To Jane his wife and the entire Zuspan family, we send our condolences and they will be in our thoughts and in our prayers.
Well, have a great week.