Portsmouth Regional Hospital Expands Cancer Services: Seacoast health news
Genesis HealthCare honors Melissa Unrue as Compassionate Caregiver of the Year
EXETER — Genesis HealthCare, a national post-acute care provider, announced that Melissa Unrue, a Licensed Nurse Aide at Exeter Center in Exeter, N.H., has been selected as the Compassionate Caregiver of the Year in its Southern New Hampshire market. Melissa has been with the organization since 2021.
Modeled after the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care's national program, Genesis HealthCare sponsors an annual recognition program that provides a meaningful way for Genesis-affiliated centers to recognize and celebrate staff members who go above and beyond the standard of compassionate care. Staff, residents, and residents’ families are all invited to nominate a member of the team who demonstrates compassion in an exceptional way.
According to her nomination, Melissa puts 110% of everything she has into her position at Exeter Center. While Unrue only started a year ago through a nurse aide training class, she has been an invaluable member of the team. Unrue does whatever she can to ensure her residents can achieve 100% of their independence and dignity. She is there to support and offer aid and assistance when they need it most. She also makes sure her residents have choice in everything, even their outfits and their accessories for the day, because she knows how important it is to them. She even makes sure they have the color nail polish that suits them best that day.
“Melissa is a selfless person who provides exceptional care to her residents and is highly respected by her coworkers. She works to ensure dignity for every person she encounters at the center. Exeter Center is so lucky to have her on the team,” states Tina Osborn, Market President for Southern New Hampshire.
Unrue was selected as the market-level CCOY from among all staff in 13 Genesis-affiliated centers in Southern New Hampshire. She is now eligible for Genesis’ company-wide Compassionate Caregiver of the Year award, which will be selected from among its other market-level recipients later this month. Genesis will formally nominate its company-wide CCOY recipient to the Schwartz Center to be considered for that organization’s 2023 National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year award.
Portsmouth Regional Hospital Expands Cancer Services with New Radiation Oncology Suite
PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth Regional Hospital announced construction of a new radiation oncology suite on its main campus, 333 Borthwick Ave., in Portsmouth. The project is expected to begin in November 2022.
“Adding Radiation Oncology to our cancer services at Portsmouth Regional Hospital will allow us to provide our cancer patients with full service cancer care, from diagnosis to surgical and medical treatment options, including chemotherapy and radiation,” said Dean M. Carucci, chief executive officer at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. “Getting a cancer diagnosis is a life-altering event, and we want to make the treatment and healing process as seamless and convenient as possible. Radiation oncology was the final service we needed to be able offer our patients the full spectrum of high-quality cancer care, close to home on the Seacoast. And soon we’ll be able to do that.”
“We are always grateful when we can keep our patients close to home for the care they need,” said Devon Evans, MD, medical director of hematology-oncology at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. “Having radiation oncology next door at the hospital will help ease anxiety and the burden of travel, which is good news for patients and their families.”
“This is such an important service for our patients,” said Lauren Thompson, MD, medical director of surgical oncology at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. “Patients receiving radiation treatment are often at the hospital each day for weeks at a time, so having this service in their community, close to their support networks, is an enormous benefit for our patients, medically and emotionally.”
The new radiation oncology suite will be on the main hospital campus, 333 Borthwick Ave., Portsmouth, and will be located at the front of the building, to the left of the main entrance. It will include state-of-the art equipment to provide radiation treatment for most cancers, and will include a comfortable clinical area with a private front entrance and separate designated parking for radiation patients.
Construction is expected to take 12 to 14 months, with an anticipated opening date in late 2023.
Wentworth-Douglass identifies mental health, substance use, and primary care as community health needs
DOVER — Mental health, substance use disorders and access to primary care services are among the most pressing health needs facing the communities that Wentworth-Douglass Hospital serves, according to the hospital’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment.
Wentworth-Douglass conducts a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years to identify where the hospital should focus its programs and services to improve the overall health of the individuals and families it serves.
This year’s assessment also identified six other community needs including: access to long-term services and supports, chronic disease, financial barriers to care, obesity and physical inactivity, oral health, and social determinants of health (basic needs and transportation).
Mental health and substance use disorders are two strongly correlated health concerns that Wentworth-Douglass has been highly focused on since a 2016 assessment.
While the hospital has made progress in these areas by investing in its own services (Wentworth Health Partners’ integrated behavioral health, Great Bay Mental Health, Crisis Team Clinicians and The Doorway), along with investing in community partnerships, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to magnify these issues by causing fear and confusion, which increased rates of anxiety and depression through all age populations, according to the assessment.
“Wentworth-Douglass has continued to grow its behavioral health services, year after year, by adding additional counselors, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, care coordinators and crisis team clinicians,” said Kellie Mueller, assistant vice president of Behavioral Health Services at Wentworth-Douglass. “Our future growth includes adding additional clinicians to current programs, as well as developing new programs such as a substance use recovery clinic for medication assisted treatment.”
COVID-19, workforce shortages, and population increases were some of the factors challenging the community’s access to primary care. Wentworth-Douglass recently opened Primary Care of Rochester to address a particular need in northern Strafford County and is working on new strategies for staff recruitment to improve access to primary care and expand services to meet the community’s health needs.
Beyond expanding access to primary care and behavioral health services, Wentworth-Douglass plans to meet the needs identified in the community assessment by:
• Maintaining financial assistance services and reducing barriers to care.
• Continuing to operate a Community Dental Center
• Expanding the Care-Van program to provide transportation to qualifying patients.
• Focusing on opportunities for educational events and health screenings.
• Providing community grants to local non-profits to help address these needs.
The 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment obtained feedback from individuals and experts representing broad interests across the community, including many with specialized expertise in public health. The assessment also included data from a University of New Hampshire community health assessment survey, with over 500 participants from the Wentworth-Douglass service area.
The 2022 Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Community Health Needs Assessment is available online at www.wdhospital.org/wdh/about-wdh/giving-back.
Cornerstone VNA becomes designated as a mental health friendly workplace
DOVER — Cornerstone VNA, located in Rochester, was recently designated as a safe, judgement-free “Place” by the Dover Mental Health Alliance. This is the second DMHA Mental Health Friendly Work “Place” designation outside of Dover, N.H.
Cornerstone VNA provides home, health, and hospice care to people of all ages. Their mission is to promote the optimum level of well-being, independence, and dignity of those living in the community by providing trusted, compassionate, and expert health care.
The staff at Cornerstone VNA received Mental Health First Aid training which teaches people how to recognize and respond to someone who may be in emotional distress. The group also received ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experience) training, which dives deep into the neurological, psychological, and physiological impact of trauma and how it relates to our biggest health and social problems such as substance use, housing insecurity and mental health.
Julie Reynolds, President/Chief Executive Officer states: “I am very proud of this organization and the people who work here who go above and beyond to collaborate on important initiatives throughout our local communities. The Dover Mental Health Alliance is doing amazing work, and we are honored to be recognized as a Mental Health Friendly Work ‘Place’.”
“Although our community coalition is called the Dover Mental Health Alliance, we work with organizations, businesses, and partners throughout Strafford County. Cornerstone VNA has been an incredible partner and we are so pleased that they are training their staff in Mental Health First Aid and ACEs. This not only supports their client’s health and wellbeing, but the staff as well,” added Suzanne Weete, of the DMHA.
The DMHA “Place” designation is available to any business, organization, or institution in Strafford County that strives to support their employees, colleagues, and customers’ mental health. The DMHA vision is to create a culture that understands, embraces, and addresses the complexities of mental health. The mission is to build a resilient community that is educated, responsive and conscious of the impact of mental illness.
The Dover Mental Health Alliance is part of the local, Strafford County non-profit community mental health center, Community Partners. For more information about Community Partners go to www.communitypartnersnh.org. For more information about the Dover Mental Health Alliance and upcoming trainings, visit www.facebook.com/DoverMHA/, or email Suzanne Weete at suzanneweete@communitypartnersnh.org.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth Regional Hospital Expands Cancer Services: Seacoast health news
