UMMC

City Fire has been dispatched to 228 Summit St., Batavia -- UMMC -- for a fire alarm.

There is a report of smoke in Suite 5.

Due to the severe-weather travel advisories and lake-effect snow warnings, the following closures have been reported to us:

United Memorial Medical Center outpatient sites: 

• Byron Family Care
• Batavia Family Care
• Tountas Family Care
• Tonawanda Seneca Family Care
• The Jerome Center
• Corporate Health
• Pembroke Diagnostics
• LeRoy Diagnostics
• Surgical Practice Office

Patients with appointments for today have been called and will be asked to reschedule.

The Hospital and Emergency Department are open. Please call 9-1-1 for emergency medical attention.

Genesee Community College is closing at 4 p.m. -- no classes for tonight.
http://www.genesee.edu/

The Byron-Bergen Public Library is closed today.

   I took this photo on tuesday .It sure does look different now.

Ricky Palermo has spent nearly 30 years working tirelessly to help find a cure for spinal-cord injuries.

On Dec. 4, UMMC and the Jerome Foundation will recognize his efforts when he is given the 25th Annual Health and Humanitarian Award at a luncheon at Terry Hills Restaurant in Batavia.

Both foundations are honoring Palermo for three decades as a national research participant, and for his regional advocacy and local fundraising on behalf of curing spinal-cord injuries.

Wes Audsley, CEO of Genesee/Wyoming counties' YMCAs, cited Palermo's tireless efforts to find a cure for spinal-cord injuries when choosing him as a nominee. Palermo was injured 28 years ago in an accident which left him paralyzed from mid-chest down.

"This humble man has contacts and influence in all corners of our community, based solely on the content of his character and the sincerity of his work. Everyone takes Ricky's call, everyone contributes to Ricky's cause, and everyone feels better for the experience of knowing and working with Ricky," said Audsley in a press release.

The Miami Project is the world's most comprehensive spinal-cord injury research center and is based at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. It was the inspiration for Palermo's drive to raise funds and awareness for those with spinal-cord injuries.

In 1997, Palermo and his family started the Ricky Palermo Foundation. Since then, it has raised $500,000 in support of the Miami Project, United Memorial Medical Center and the Genesee/Wyoming counties' YMCAs.

Palermo is a member of the Board of Directors of the Genesee County YMCA, where he has developed an exercise program for those with spinal-cord injuries. His foundation offers free rehabilitative exercise opportunities for people suffering from paralysis, regardless of the level of injury. It also offers counseling and hope, says Audsley. The program is funded by contributions to Palermo's foundation.

The Health and Humanitarian Luncheon is open to the public. Reservations can be made by contacting the United Memorial Medical Center Foundation at 344-5301. Seating will be limited so early reservations are recommended.

The spread of H1N1 flu virus has prompted a change in the visiting policy at United Memorial Medical Center.

As a result, starting this week no one under the age of 18 is allowed to visit patients. Heretofore, as with many hospitals, visitors had to be at least 14 years old, although there was flexibility and reasonable exceptions were made.

"We're becoming more restrictive about visitors -- it's for patient safety," said UMMC spokeswoman Colleen Flynn. "We don't want them to become infected. The virus can be especially harmful to a patient with an already compromised immune system."

Also under the new policy, there can only be two visitors per patient at any given time and visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Certain units, such as intensive care and pediatrics, may have more time restrictions.

Maternity patients are only allowed visits from their spouse or significant other, and grandparents. Exceptions are considered on a case-by-case basis by the nursing supervisor on duty.

Any visitor showing signs of infectious disease, such as a bad cough, will be asked to leave and given a mask to wear on their way out of the hospital.

"We are taking reasonable measures to protect patients, which is our number one priority," Flynn said.

All UMMC healthcare workers have been getting on-site H1N1 vaccinations, which were mandatory. That requirement was lifted, except for those with direct patient contact, which are innoculated first.

The H1N1 virus has been declared a national pandemic. As with other flu viruses, a person can be infected and contagious for 24 hours before showing any symptoms, which can hamper control efforts.

This strain, first identified in spring (not typically the flu season) is considered unusual because children are among the hardest hit.

Flynn said the hospital has seen an increase in the number of young flu sufferers. Some local peditricians are reportedly "swamped" with flu cases and some schools are grappling with absenteeism due to the flu or fear of catching it.

"Most cases are dealt with at home," Flynn said. "People treat it just like they would any flu. But because so much media attention is being paid to (H1N1), sometimes they tend to think the sky is falling. That's not necessarily true."

But do wash your hands frequently.

A host of local dignitaries and medical professionals gathered in the North Street parking lot today for a groundbreaking ceremony on a $20 million expansion of United Memorial Medical Center.

The project will add 44,000 square feet to the facility as a one-story addition to the front of the current structure. Operating room space will double from 300 square feet to 600 square feet. An additional 19 private recovery beds will be added to the hospital as well.
 

By the end of the summer, city residents will no longer hear the wap-wap-wap of Mercy Flight helicopter blades flying in and out of UMMC, the hospital's spokeswoman Colleen Flynn told WBTA.

Flynn said the heli-pad at the hospital will provide new parking spaces.

She said patients requiring air transport from UMMC to Buffalo or Rochester would first be taken via ground ambulance to the Mercy Flight facility at the Genesee County Airport.

Officials of United Memorial Medical Center met with local media this afternoon to confirm a report earlier in the day by The Batavian that a member of the hospital staff tested positive for the H1N1 strain of flu and to discuss precautions instituted by the hospital.

During the conference, both spokeswoman Colleen Flynn and Lorri Goergen, infection prevention manager, confirmed that other employees have reported flu-like symptoms, but the cases seem largely unrelated.

The fact is, as the County's interim health director Randy Garney, discussed with The Batavian this morning, H1N1 is now widespread in Genesee County.

"The first one who called in (sick) with symptoms had no contact with the first case we identified," Goergen said. "What seemed to happen almost simultaneously is that our ER had a sudden increase in patients coming in with the same symptoms, and the doctor's offices this Monday were calling quite rapidly."

The first infected employee is recovering at home, Flynn said.

Flynn said the hospital reacted quickly and transparently with employees about the first confirmed case, sending out a memo Tuesday telling employees to stay home if they had even subtle flu-like symptoms. 

All of the employees and the doctors of patients who might have come into contact with the infected worker were given instructions and opportunities for preventative steps.  Exposed employees were screened and offered anti-viral medications.

As Garney discussed this morning, because this is not currently flu season, any flu-like feelings should be considered H1N1. People who feel ill should stay home and have minimal contact with other people. If you feel sick, call your doctor. Health officials stress it is best to avoid going to the emergency room or doctor's office unless severely ill.  H1N1, like any other flu, can be treated safely at home if directions are followed. Any public exposure by an infected person to others increases the risk of spreading the virus, and just because a case is mild in one person doesn't mean that person couldn't pass along the virus to another person who will have a much more severe reaction.

UMMC officials stressed the importance of washing your hands and avoiding hand to mouth contact.

And while your annual flu shot will not offer much protection against this new strain, they did stress the importance of annual flu shots.

As Goergen noted, some 36,000 people die from the flu every year. Any case of flu should be treated with care, not just H1N1.

Because H1N1 is now pervasive in the community, the hospital also instituted some visitation rule changes.

• No children under 14 are allowed to visit
• Visitors are limited to 2 per patient
• Visiting hours should be strictly enforced
• 4th floor (maternity ward) are restricted to fathers only
• Time spent in the hospital should be limited -- employees are encouraged to ask visitors to avoid public areas, including the snack shop, cafeteria and lobby

A case of H1N1, often misidentified as "swine flu," has been reportedly contracted by a member of the United Memorial Medical Center staff, according to Randy Garney, interim director of the health department for Genesee County.

Citing privacy concerns, UMMC spokeswoman Colleen Flynn said she could not share any information about the reported case. Flynn did confirm that a memo was sent to employees on Tuesday.

Garney indicated people should not dwell too much on where a case might be found, but realize H1N1 is prevalent throughout the state.

"The general public should realize it's here," Garney said.

People, he said, are largely unaware of how  widespread H1N1 is at this point because most cases are never severe enough to lead to the person seeking medical attention.

But if you have flu-like symptoms, you have H1N1.

"It's considered H1N1 right now because we're beyond the flu season," Garney said. "If anybody has those symptoms, they should consider it H1N1."

Flu symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and extreme tiredness.

While H1N1 is pervasive throughout New York, the fatality rate is very low, less than .1 percent.

"The more troubling part of H1N1 is that it's being more aggressive with five- to 21-year-olds," Garney said. "Flu is usually more aggressive with people over 65, but H1N1 is not bearing this out."

Because H1N1 is such a new strain, Garney said, there is still much scientists are trying to learn about the strain. It's possible that older people at one time contracted a variant of the strain in their younger years and now have some level of immunity.

Garney reiterated that people with flu-like symptoms should stay home and avoid as much as possible and avoid unnecessary contact with other people.  Also, wash your hands and maintain other sanitary practices.

A fire alarm was triggered at UMMC, 16 Bank St. Firefighters are on scene and investigating. No further information is available at this time.

We just received a press release from United Memorial Medical Center stating that 14 employees were laid off in Januray, and previously 16 vacant positions were eliminated, in response to the economic downturn.

For the past three months, United Memorial has been working to take pro-active steps in positioning the organization to effectively cope with the impact of reduced reimbursements from governmental payers and the effects of the declining stock market. To remain financially viable and protect the high level of service provided to our patients, we have applied organizational changes.

United Memorial began implementing several cost saving strategies in January which included limiting expenses unrelated to patient care, restricting the travel and education budgets and re-evaluating projects and capital purchases. All contracts for supplies, utilities and services were re-examined for cost savings. The Cardiac Rehab program was altered to increase class size and allow fewer days of operation. The Process Improvement Department was restructured under Quality Management and the employee shuttle service was outsourced.

As a part of this process, 16 vacant open positions with the equivalent hours of 12 full time employees were eliminated and since January, 14 employees were let go. While the 14 individuals affected by this action account for less than 2% of our 770 person workforce, they were our colleagues, co-workers and friends. Each possessed admirable work ethics and they have collectively provided the Hospital with decades of respected service. Those that were eligible were offered severance packages and where appropriate, options to extend their healthcare coverage.

The eliminated positions include three in management and 27 support staff.

The Surgical Expansion and Affordable Senior Housing Projects will continue as planned. The Hospital leadership team has worked conscientiously to make decisions that will allow United Memorial to continue to grow and provide quality services that meet the healthcare needs of our community.

Apologies. This statement on the details of the power outage at United Memorial Medical Center Friday went overlooked by me. I had sent a request early in the afternoon that day asking to be updated on the status of the outage. Last I had heard at that point, all of the surgeries for the day had been cancelled and incoming patients were being sent elsewhere. That was around noon.

This mail was sent around 6 o'clock Friday evening:

Early this morning, United Memorial was made aware of potentially dangerous power issues at the North Street Campus. A transfer switch which allows approximately 75% of the Hospital’s electrical needs to move to generator power, failed.

While the Hospital was operational and functioning “on the grid” using regular electrical service, the lack of a redundancy system required the cancellation of all surgeries and placed the Emergency Department on diversion. All incoming ambulances were diverted to Millard Fillmore Suburban and other area hospitals.

In order to diagnose and correct the power issue, United Memorial went “off the grid” and was without power for approximately 16 minutes beginning at 12:20 pm today. This allowed crews to convert to a temporary manual switching system. In preparation for this event, United Memorial worked with the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management, City of Batavia Fire and Police, and the Department of Health to insure patient safety. Mobile generators and temporary lighting were brought in for critical electrical power needs and an internal labor pool was established to address issues due to the lack of elevator and computer services. Quality Management discharged patients that were expected to go home today prior to the power interruption and patient meals were delivered before elevator services were disconnected. A notice was also sent to all members of the Medical Staff alerting them to the situation.

This afternoon, electrical crews worked to move two operating rooms off of the manual switching system over to an automatic transfer switch. In an unexpected power failure due to circumstances such as weather or an accident, this conversion will allow generator power to become effective in a matter of seconds; with a manual transfer to generator power, 3-5 minutes are necessary. This conversion was completed by 5:15 pm today and the Hospital ended the diversion of ambulances. United Memorial is now operating at its regular capacity.

A permanent replacement of the faulty transfer switch should occur in the next 2-3 weeks when the customized part becomes available. There were no negative impacts to patient care during this incident and the Hospital would like to express their gratitude to the staff of United Memorial, the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management, City of Batavia Fire and Police Departments, our patients and visitors who worked cooperatively with patience and understanding while we attended to a potential life safety issue.

From United Memorial Medical Center:

United Memorial Medical Center is experiencing difficulties with the electrical power redundancy system at its North Street Campus which will affect the main hospital. To repair this issue, the Hospital will be without power for 15 -90 minutes while the issue is diagnosed and repaired at approximately 12:20 pm..

United Memorial officials are working with the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management, City of Batavia Fire and Police, and the Department of Health to insure patient safety. The Hospital is on full diversion and all surgeries have been cancelled for the remainder of the day.

The Hospital has initiated an internal labor pool in order to address issues that may arise due to the lack of elevator service. Currently, there are 90 patients admitted to the hospital at North Street. The Hospital is working to discharge patients that were expected to go home today before the power disruption is expected.

Visitors to the hospital today should expect to see increased activity and emergency personnel on stand-by. Their cooperation while we address this electrical concern is appreciated.

We received the following notice of closures at the United Memorial Medical Center:

"Due to today’s severe winter weather the following outpatient services of United Memorial will be closed today:

• Batavia Family Care

• Tountas Family Care

• Tonawanda Seneca Family Care

• Byron Family Care

• The Corporate Health Center

• All services at the Jerome Center including laboratory and medical imaging

• Pembroke Diagnostic Center

• LeRoy Diagnostic Center

• Cardiac Rehab Services, EKG, Echo and Stress Testing"