Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health

Our Food Services team is making sure patients and visitors spending the holiday in the hospital enjoy some traditional fare. Thanks to this team and all health-care workers serving others today. We are grateful for you and for the community we are privileged to serve. Happy Thanksgiving.

When a Women & Babies Hospital patient found herself facing an unplanned labor induction and then a C-section, she was beyond grateful for Labor & Delivery nurse Bethany Ploutz, BSN, RN. "Bethany went above and beyond, taking the time to answer every last one of our questions and explaining things as my labor progressed," the patient said when nominating Ploutz for a The DAISY Foundation Award. "When I found out I needed to have C- section, Bethany was there reassuring me everything was going to be ok. She helped me through my low points and made my time at Women & Babies Hospital a rewarding experience. She did everything she could to make me feel calm and comfortable. Words cannot express how thankful I am for Bethany and the exceptional care she provided for us."

The Spirit of Giving is underway! Teams at Lancaster General Health are stuffing holiday meal bags to add to the annual gift distribution taking place in December. Nurse manager Michelle Herr is pictured dropping off a bag on behalf of the IV Team. Food has been collected for more than 100 families! The Spirit of Giving program, now in its 19th year, helps fellow Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health employees and their families who are facing a serious or emergent need during the holiday season. LG Health departments volunteer to "adopt" the families participating in this program. Departments then shop for families from a provided wish list, wrap and drop-off gifts, which are later distributed to families. The Spirit of Giving program relies entirely on the generosity and compassion of our employees.

Thank you, Fenner Precision Polymers, for your thoughtful and generous gifts for patients at our Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute. Recently Karen Gabriel and Maria Hendriksma (2nd and 3rd from left) stopped by the Cancer Institute Boutique to deliver care bags filled with lip balm and PhysAssist oncology body cream. These products are so appreciated as cancer treatment can often cause skin to become dry and irritated. In addition to raising funds to support cancer patients, during October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Fenner also shared educational information with their own employees to empower them to take an active role in their own health, Hendriksma explained. Our Cancer Institute Boutique offers products and services to help people feel and look better during and after cancer treatment. http://spr.ly/6048s25A0

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is excited to be part of today's ExtraGive. During this community-wide day of giving, there are opportunities to designate a gift to three of our entities: 🔸 Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, Cancer Patient Support Fund 🔸 Lancaster County Children’s Alliance 🔸 Nurse-Family Partnership To view all the #ExtraGive2024 nonprofits or make a gift to a participating LG Health entity, visit www.extragive.org.

Our Healthy Beginnings Plus (top photo) and Nurse-Family Partnership teams have a long history of helping families thrive, providing free pre- and post-natal care for income-eligible mothers and their babies. We’re honored that these programs are recognized as 2024 Highmark Bright Blue Futures Rising Stars for their significant impact toward health equity. Dawn Horst MSW, LSW, manager of Women & Children’s Community Health for Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, accepted the award on behalf of her colleagues. Nurse-Family Partnership will be part of tomorrow’s #ExtraGive2024: http://spr.ly/6042sYgXw Learn more about both programs: http://spr.ly/6043sYgXb #HighmarkBrightBlueFutures

Staying healthy with diabetes is about both physical and mental health. And that's just what our Diabetes and Nutrition Center team shared with community members at our recent seminar, Whole Body Wellness for Diabetes. People with diabetes, their supporters, and health-care providers explored topics like meal preparation, diabetes distress, and the latest tech, fitness, and wellness products and services to help manage a disease that impacts 38.4 million Americans. Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health offers a wide range of online resources on all things diabetes in English and Spanish at: http://spr.ly/6048sYdJM #NationalDiabetesMonth

Lauren Drost, BSN, RN, a nurse in Lancaster General Hospital's Emergency Department, is joined by several nursing leaders as she is recognized with The DAISY Foundation Award for her extraordinary care. The patient's husband who nominated Drost for the award noted that her calm and caring demeanor offered so much needed reassurance. "Lauren would often stop to hold my wife's hand and offer a sense of comfort during this challenging time," he said, adding that "through all of this, she also juggled a whole assignment of other critically ill patients." Thank you, Lauren, for making a difference every day!

Dr. Efrat Dotan, the new executive medical director at the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, recently sat down with LNP to discuss her background and goals, which include expanding geriatric oncology and clinical trials in Lancaster.

At the recent VIVA (Vascular InterVentional Advances) Conference, Meghan Dermody, MD, chief of Vascular Surgery and medical director of the Interventional Vascular Unit at Lancaster General Hospital, presented her most recent research demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of TCAR—a minimally invasive procedure to open blocked carotid arteries in the neck, reducing patients' risk for stroke. Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is the first in Lancaster County to offer TCAR. We are also one of the few teams in the country to pair a vascular surgeon with an interventional cardiologist, reducing procedure time and increasing benefits to patients. In the bottom photo, Dr. Dermody is pictured with interventional cardiologist Todd Wood, MD, executive medical director, Heart and Vascular Institute, marking the team’s successful completion of 100 TCAR procedures in 2020. Currently, more than 250 procedures have been performed. Learn more about Dr. Dermody’s research: http://spr.ly/6041sBvBT