Perfect Care

Rapid Response Team – Mission Hospital
At Mission Hospital, a team of highly specialized Critical Care/Emergency Services nurses have been trained and assigned to provide immediate clinical support for patients showing signs and symptoms of imminent medical crisis including stroke, sepsis, heart attack and other problems requiring immediate critical interventions.

Nationally, this program has already saved hundreds of lives by preventing life threatening conditions before they occur.  One key to Mission’s success has been having a Rapid Response Team nurse solely dedicated to this role.  Traditionally, a nurse is assigned Rapid Response Team duties in addition to her normal caseload of patients.

Since the program's inception in 2006, Mission Hospital has documented a 50% reduction in non-intensive care unit (ICU) arrests, a 44% reduction in post-operative emergency ICU transfers and a 26% reduction in cardiac arrests prior to ICU transfer.

Code Sepsis Team Prevents Life-Threatening Infections at
Mission Hospital
Nurse and physician leaders from the Emergency Department, critical care and medical and surgical units are identifying opportunities and implementing procedures to reduce the incidence of serious, often life-threatening, infections.

The multidisciplinary focus of this “Code Sepsis Team” includes physicians, nurses, respiratory therapy, information technology, the laboratory, medical records and the quality management department. The Code Sepsis Team has implemented a number of infection fighting procedures house-wide.    Top

Sacred Encounters

At Mission Hospital No One Dies Alone
Far too often, hospital patients face the ends of their lives without daily support from family and friends. At Mission Hospital, community members, hospital volunteers and staff collaborate to ensure that “No One Dies Alone.”  This entirely volunteer-run program makes sure that every terminally ill patient has the opportunity to have the comfort and support of a hand to hold, an ear to listen.

In FY 2008, a total of 93 “No One Dies Alone” volunteers assisted 12 terminally ill patients in completing their life’s journey.  New volunteers are actively being recruited and 12 orientation/training sessions are offered annually for new volunteers.

Healthiest Communities

Camino Smiles
The Camino Smiles free dental treatment program for uninsured children is offered through Camino Health Center’s pediatric dental clinic in response to a community needs assessment. Camino’s service area includes the federally designated low-income populations residing in the communities of San Juan Capistrano, Lake Forest, Dana Point, and San Clemente. The program serves a demographically mixed population that is 89% Hispanic, 34% of children are five years old or younger, and 98% live below the 200% poverty level.

Services provided include: annual exams, x-rays, cleanings, fillings, sealants, and some emergency services. In addition to dental care offered in the clinic, Camino’s dental staff also provides oral health education and visual exams to at risk populations in the surrounding communities.

From June 2007 through May 2008, 244 uninsured patients received 582 free dental treatment visits. Dental plan completion rates among uninsured children increased by 16% and 92% of children and their caretakers who participated in the program demonstrated an increase in their oral health knowledge based pre- and post-test scores.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community 

Homework Club
The Homework Club was created to serve the children in the Community of San Juan Capistrano who were having difficulty completing homework assignments that are so important to reinforcing the skills they learned in the classroom. Many of these children faced a daily challenge to find a quiet and appropriate workspace or found it difficult to finish assignments on their own and were unable to rely on assistance from parents who often work late into the evenings.

The Homework Club is staffed by students from local high schools and managed by the Family Services Coordinator from Mission Hospital’s Education Department. It is available to children from local elementary schools in grades Kindergarten to 5th grade. An average of 20 to 25 children are served during the school year. During the summer months, a short Summer Program is offered that includes one hour of physical activity and one hour of tutoring three days a week.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community 

Project Search Education Initiative
The Project Search program at Mission Hospital began in September 2007 with four special needs students from the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) Adult Transition program. The goal of the program is to provide the students with job skills that will allow them to obtain employment after graduation. The students were placed in a year-long internship with several Mission Hospital departments including Central Supply, Nutritional Care Services, Mail Room, Human Resources, Community Benefit and Hospital Administration. In these positions, the students gained many new skills such as computer use, answering phones, filing, sorting mail, creating files, and stocking food and procedure carts for patients. The students also learned how to master the public transportation system to get to and from work.

Students were mentored by hospital personnel in each area along with a CUSD job coach. The job coaches and hospital leads worked together to develop skill acquisition plans for the students and provide support in learning new skills. Students in the program made tremendous growth and established friendships with their fellow co-workers. Parents and the teachers of students in the program commented on the change that they had seen in their students, as well.

At the end of the Mission Hospital/CUSD Project Search program two students were hired in the areas of Hospital Administration and Nutritional Care services. They have also started on their road to independence with one of the students moving into an apartment.
Mission Hospital and CUSD will be implementing phase two of the program starting in September 2008 with 5 new students.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community 

Childhood Obesity Program
In 2007, Mission Hospital began offering a new service as part of a more global effort to combat childhood obesity. The focus of this new initiative is to prevent obesity in children from 3 to 11 years old utilizing three basic components.

• Educating families and children about nutrition and physical activity
• Supporting schools to make changes that support healthy lifestyles
• Supporting local governments and communities in making environmental
  changes to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity

In 2007/08, Mission Hospital worked with local residents and the City of San Juan Capistrano to renovate local basketball and tennis courts. Another focus of the program has been family education.

To date, approximately 100-50 children and adults have been served. In addition, the program has more than 130 scholarships for children to participate in local dance and swimming programs.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community 

Mentoring Moms
New mothers living in Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente were
identified as being at high risk for post-partum depression during Mission Hospital’s most recent needs assessment. At highest risk are new mothers who are isolated from family or friends, and/or have limited to no resources available to them. These women are more likely to become involved in domestic violence relationships or have an increase incidence of child abuse. The purpose of “Mentoring Moms” is to link these mothers with a mentor who can advise them based their own experience with motherhood.

More than 32 new mothers have benefited from the services provided. Approximately 90% of the new moms served have expressed feeling supported, understood and able to take on their new role with the help of the mentor. An important future goal is to expand the program to reach additional mothers in need by contracting for a professional case manager.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community 

WECARE Program
WECARE (Working to Enhance Care and Resources for Elders) is an AmeriCorps project under Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Internship and Community Engagement Institute. The purpose of WECARE is to build a corps of volunteers trained and dedicated to provide comprehensive services to ensure safe, healthy and independent living for seniors.
WECARE provides needed services including:

• In-home assessment, referral, companionship, and meal delivery
• Chronic disease management and fall prevention classes
• Recreation/socialization activities, information fairs, etc.
• Education for seniors and caregivers

The benefits of a program like WECARE are many – increase in independent functioning, positive attitudes and perceived quality of life, decrease in healthcare costs and more.
Mission Hospital currently supports WECARE by serving as a host site for volunteers currently working in the parish communities of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel and Mission Basilica in San Juan Capistrano. WECARE volunteers and Health Ministry staff at the hospital worked together to develop a friendly visitor training manual and to recruit volunteers from the community who were willing to make home visits to isolated seniors. To date, 14 volunteers have been recruited and trained through the Mission Basilica.

Future goals are to continue the Friendly Visitor Program, expand to other faith-based communities in south Orange County and train more lay leaders to conduct the Chronic Disease Self-Management course.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community       Top