Cogitator September 1, 2010

( Sandra Coletta, CEO Kent Hospital)

VISITING ROTARIANS

Ed from Wakefield (apologies from the editor for missing Ed's last name), joined us. 

GUESTS

Laura Krohn, East Greenwich elder care attorney and recent Rotary guest speaker, joined us as well.  (Sounds like President Ed's preparing for yet another installation!)

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

A big birthday parade this week...Bill TenEyck (Sept. 1st), Stan Reuter (Sept. 2nd), Chuck Sauer (Sept. 5th), and Bob Petrucelli (Sept. 7th) celebrate birthdays this week.  Happy birthday to all!

Honorary Rotarian John (and Ginny) Eastman celebrate their wedding anniversary on the 1st of September every year.  Chub (and Florence) Clement celebrate on the 6th, and Seth (and Jeni) Wilson honor the 7th of each year.  Happy anniversaries John, Chub and Seth.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Three Club Reminders:

--The 2010 Rotary Foundation Seminar will be held on Saturday, October 2 (8:30 am-noon), at White's of Westport (Mass.). It's a good way to familiarize yourself with the many aspects of our foundation, and learn where, when and how money is used and returned to the district. The registration fee of $25 will be paid by the club, and includes opening coffee/juice and mid-morning brunch. See John Wolcott for more information, and get the word to him by Sept. 20th if you plan to attend.

--George Popella is looking for Paul Harris team members.  For years George has put together a new Paul Harris team as a tribute to the incumbent president, and he needs your help this year.  Here's the scoop:  five members contribute $200 annually, for five years, and each year one team member is chosen (randomly) for a Paul Harris Fellowship Award (honoring a $1000 contribution to the Rotary Foundation).  After five years, all team members are Paul Harris Fellows.  George's efforts, along with generous club members, for more than a decade have made our club a true standout in the District for our contributions to the Rotary Foundation.  So, please see George Popella if you're interested in joining a Paul Harris Team, whether for the first time, or, if you'd like to become a Paul Harris Fellow once again.

--President Ed reminded the club of District 7950's Providence Bruins Night, Friday October 15th.  Tickets are $10, and, $5 of the ticket price will go to Polio Plus.  District Governor Charlie Murphy will be there, and President Ed hopes a large East Greenwich club contingency will be there for a great time and a great Rotary cause, Polio Plus.   

In other news, Mike Gemma, apparently stunned to have the house to himself, decided to stay home with Julie...hmmm.  Rumor has it they found the kids karaoke machine and went crazy.  Between belting out his favorite 80's tunes while wearing bunny slippers, Mike passed on 2 messages through President Ed.  First, phonebook sales have exceeded $70,000 while expenses are well in-check.  The final figure for phonebook ought to be higher than this year's goal.  Secondly, Mike made a pitch for club members to remember Flood Ford/Mazda when looking for a car.  He recently bought wife Julie a car from Flood Mazda.  That now makes three cars bought by Rotarians (Bob Miller, Judy Pratt, and Mike Gemma) from Flood dealerships since Flood's huge $7500 2010 sponsorship of our club's Scott Carlson Memorial ALS 5K race.  And that makes for a win-win for Rotary, and, for Flood.

A Board Meeting will be held Thursday, September 9th, at the same usual time and location--7:30am, United Methodist Church on Route 2.  All are (always) invited, board members are reminded. 

Andy Erickson received a District 7950 special recognition award for 38 perfect years of Rotary attendance back in June.  This, however, was the first time since the June installation dinner that President Ed and Andy have been at a Wednesday meeting together, so President Ed was able to finally congratulate Andy and present to him this terrific award.  Congratulations, from all of us, Andy...

Chuck Sauer reminded everyone to watch the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon on Labor Day, since Bob MacKenzie will be presenting our club's donation of $750, while also receiving recognition for our club's donation last year of $1500.  (Chuck arranged to have a very surprised Past President Bob 'arrested' during last year's MDA annual campaign, and our 'bail out' money totaled $1500.)      

HAPPY BUCKS

--Jane Boynton congratulated Betsy DePrimo and the phonebook committee for an amazing year.  She also gave a buck for Bill TenEyck's excellent surprise 50th birthday party last week.  

--Bill TenEyck followed up with a happy buck and said he did indeed, as best he could recall, have a most excellent 50th party. 

--Judy Pratt was happy that daughter Samia began junior high school and son Alex started 5th grade.  She was also happy that the August 30th ALS golf outing at Alpine CC raised $41,000, with the help of Dr. Bob Miller, and several other Rotarians in attendance.  (And congratulations to Jon Pratt, whose team won first place honors!)  

--Betsy DePrimo thanked her hard working phonebook committee for such a phenomenal year.  Not only was she thrilled about wrapping up a great campaign, but Betsy was even happier to announce that she will soon be heading out for an Eastern Mediterranean cruise.  (Sounds like a good reward for all Phonebook committee chairs!)  

--Bob MacKenzie was happy to announce his daughter's recent engagement.  He also was happy about finally getting his shot at being discovered on TV during the MDA telethon.  Good luck, Bob!  Who knows, Amica's loss could be Hollywood's gain.   

--Jodi Gladstone's daughter just started her college career at Simmons College in Boston, where she will be in a 5-year nurse practitioner program.  Also, her son (and soon-to-be state track star) began his East Greenwich High School career.

PROGRAM/SPEAKER

Sandra Coletta, Kent Hospital CEO.  

'Sandy' Coletta began her talk with a large visual aid to her right, outlining the points she wished to make.  Her use of such a simple guide was to make an overall point about the seriousness of procedural improvements being made at Kent Hospital, as well as the overall quality of care.  Such simple guides are part of many important changes Sandy has helped implement at Kent over the past year.    

Sandy also spoke about 'Food for Paws,' a Kent original program which makes sure that elderly recipients of Meal on Wheels have plenty of food for their pets, too.  Apparently, many recipients throughout the years have been sharing their meals with pets.  This is good for the cat or dog, but not so good for the meal recipient's own health.  Kent wisely saw the problem and created 'Food for Paws.'

Sandy mentioned many items as 'Issues of Interest.'  

--Care New England and Lifespan's merger has been shelved for the foreseeable future.  There was too much lost time, money and effort.  Sandy felt that while she saw the merger as quite beneficial for Kent, it was not necessary for Kent to continue on as a top-notch Rhode Island hospital.  

--Medicare reimbursement cuts and nearly $27 million of uncompensated care helped force layoffs of Kent's LPN's.  Also, early retirement was offered to several hospital employees as the hospital tightened its belt and budget.  

--Angioplasty procedures will no longer be done at Kent.  The know-how was there, along with the certification, but there were only so many procedures being done in a year's time.  Tough budgetary times and quality of care concerns, therefore, helped make this decision.

--Kent now has a Plaza of Honor outside its main building.  An original WWII dedication plaque in the basement was discovered, which led to an effort toward creating a peaceful new plaza for WW II veterans, as well as all US veterans.  There is also a poignant memorial within the plaza honoring the victims of the Station Fire, a tragedy in which Kent proved its mettle as a community hospital.

--The Michael Woods Institute was established after the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit by Woods' family.  'Embedded implementations' of extra safety procedures are part of Sandy's (and the hospital's) pledge to the family of Michael Woods, and, to the community.        

Thanks, Sandy, for the great program.