Swedish Covenant Hospital in the News

Part 1: How a CEO Empowered Staff to Save $3M and Their Jobs
HealthLeaders Media: Full article >

"I could be retired in the Hamptons right now," said the Chicago hospital CEO.

He said it in a joking kind of way, but it's clear Mark Newton knows he's given up a lot to be the president and CEO of Swedish Covenant Hospital, a 120-year-old, 206-staffed-bed community facility on Chicago's North Side.

Swedish Covenant Hospital Leads With Breast-feeding
Center Square Journal: Full article >

Mark Newton has been CEO of Swedish Covenant Hospital for 11 years, during which he helped the independent hospital grow into the largest academic community hospital on Chicago's North Side. Known for his entrepreneurial attitude in what can be a very bureaucratic industry, Mr. Newton held management roles outside of the hospital sector before he joined Swedish.

Waking Up to Sleep Centers
HealthLeaders Media: Full article >

Many of the overweight patients being treated for sleep apnea are children. The 323-staffed-bed Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago has a two-bed sleep and neurodiagnostic center that usually is booked months in advance.

'Forks over knives' cuts out dairy and meat
Medill Reports Chicago: Full article >

Many clinical dieticians, including Adam Reppert of Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, remain skeptical about following a diet that excludes all meat and dairy. Reppert noted that while there is substantial research that says a plant-based diet is associated with the reduced risk of most major chronic health conditions because such diets are usually low in saturated and trans fats and refined carbohydrates, some meat and dairy foods can prove beneficial.

Breastfeeding disparities sharp in Chicago-area hospitals
WBEZ: Full article and audio >

The Illinois Department of Public Health compiled birth-certificate data about breast-feeding for the first nine months of last year. WBEZ compared the 49 hospitals (see below) that deliver babies in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

Creating a Growth-Oriented Hospital: Q&A With Mark Newton, CEO of Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital
Becker's Hospital Review: Full article >

Mark Newton has been CEO of Swedish Covenant Hospital for 11 years, during which he helped the independent hospital grow into the largest academic community hospital on Chicago's North Side. Known for his entrepreneurial attitude in what can be a very bureaucratic industry, Mr. Newton held management roles outside of the hospital sector before he joined Swedish.

Baby Won't Wait for Blizzard to Pass
Chicago Sun-Times: Full article >

The paramedics rushed the couple to Swedish Covenant Hospital, where their daughter, Vada, was born less than an hour later.

“I almost can’t believe it happened,” Julia Johnson said as she recovered at the hospital. “It was a pretty harrowing experience.”

Baby Arrives During Blizzard
CBS Chicago: Full article and video >

Meet Vada Fritzsche Johnson. She was born during the Chicago Blizzard of 2011.

Her mother, Julia Johnson, says she went into labor after the power went out in her home.

Snowstorms couldn't stop these babies
The Chicago Tribune: Full article >

"She had to walk down the street about a block in the blizzard, and she had a contraction about halfway and had to stop," he said.

She gave birth to little Vada Johnson 40 minutes after arriving at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago.

 Fire department gets gift of 2 new EKG machines
Lincolnwood Review: Full article >
Read WellCommunityChicago.org reaction to the article >

Lincolnwood residents can breathe a little easier since Swedish Covenant Hospital presented the fire department with two 21st century electrocardiogram units.

The department had two units that are about 10 years old and can't transmit patient information as fast as the state of the art units could, which could mean a heart patient's life, said Lincolnwood Fire Chief Michael Hansen.

 Spine & Neck Service Line Requires Planned Growth
HealthLeaders Media: Full article >

The Chicago Back Institute, which is part of the 206-bed Swedish Covenant Hospital, predicts that there will be a 22% increase in inpatient and a 37% increase in outpatient spine procedures between 2008 and 2018. Nonsurgical spine treatment currently accounts for about 90% of volume and 40% of spine revenues in the United States.

Local Resources
The Chicago Tribune: Full article >

These Chicago-area medical centers are accredited and recognized by the American College of Radiology for their ability to image children with CT scans using appropriate radiation doses. Several other Chicago area hospitals are under review.

Meat With Antibiotics off the Menu at Some Hospitals
The Chicago Tribune: Full article >

The evening's menu featured grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef over pasta, fresh seasonal vegetables and fresh organic peaches — items right at home in the city's finest restaurants.

Instead, the dishes were prepared for visitors, staff and bed-bound patients at Swedish Covenant Hospital.

The Northwest Side hospital is one of 300 across the nation that have pledged to improve the quality and sustainability of the food they serve, not just for the health of their patients but, they say, the health of the environment and the U.S. population.

Chicago Back Pain Center Aims to Avoid Surgery
HealthLeaders Media: Full article >

With bundled payments on the horizon and more seniors and others with back pain complaints, Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital has invested $2.5 million in a center to treat just this kind of complaint—in a comprehensive kind of way.

The 334-bed hospital recruited three neurosurgeons and support staff to help patients exhaust every course of possible care before considering surgery, says Daniel Laich, DO, one of the center's new neurosurgeons.

Swedish Covenant Hospital Opens Back Care Center
Chicago Breaking Business: Full article >

Swedish Covenant Hospital on Chicago’s Northwest Side said it has opened a comprehensive back care center executives hope will position its growing campus for the future demands of health reform.

Known as the Chicago Back Institute, the hospital said it has invested $2.5 million in the project, including upgrades of existing neurological surgery equipment and purchasing new minimally invasive devices.

Au Natural: Nine Ways to Manage Labor Without Drugs
Parents: Full article >

A Real Mom's Take: "My prenatal experience with the Nurse-Midwifery Group at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago mirrored that of my friends who saw OBs. I had ultrasounds, did prenatal testing, and all of the typical lab work that pregnant women typically have.

"The difference, I think, is that each appointment included a conversation with one of the midwives that lasted 30-45 minutes and discussion about the birth experience that my husband and I wanted. My goal was to avoid medical interventions and methods of 'augmentation' (Pitocin, pain medication, breaking the water) and the things associated with them (IVs, restricted movement, restricted food, etc.). I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth.

 The Laughing Guru
The New Yorker Magazine: Abstract of article >
(Subscription required for full text)
Read WellCommunityChicago.org reaction to the article >

In the United States, they have taken Laughter Yoga to senior centers, universities, and gyms, and into medical settings, such as the cancer wards at Swedish Covenant Hospital, in Chicago, and at a Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Note: Swedish Covenant Hospital has offered patients and employees laughter yoga as a therapy for more than five years. It is currently used as part of a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Swedish Covenant Hospital is making good on a paycheck promise to its workers. It asked workers to take a pay freeze last year and promised to repay the salaries if employees helped the hospital turn a profit.

At a time when companies are laying employees off, Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago is giving everyone raises. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports on how hospital executives are making good on a promise.

When management at Swedish Covenant Hospital froze salaries last year, it also struck a deal with its 2,200 employees: Help us turn a profit and we'll give your money back.

Dr. Bruce Silver, who served as a luminary for early clinical testing at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, compared images from the new DR product with ones from Fuji CR systems installed at the hospital.

The AcSelerate system is already operating at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, which served as a luminary site for early clinical testing. Future updates are expected to allow tomosynthesis and energy subtraction, pending FDA clearance possibly later this year, according to the company.

Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital is staging its own events to help heart patients get back in the game. Stretching of course is a key part of that any physical fitness plan. Getting the heart pumping is important too. Sometimes you have to walk before you can run and a brisk workout on an exercise machine is a good way to break a sweat. In these events people qualify for the World Heart Games in Atlanta.

The vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) delivery rate should be 37 percent, according to Healthy People 2010 and 2020, Centers for Disease Control's national health objective.

A feeling of contentedness washes over you the moment you push open the doors of this Northwest Side gym, affiliated with (and attached to) Swedish Covenant Hospital. Cheerful Swedish flag-emblazoned signs on the doors congratulate you on going to the gym, and the effusively friendly front-desk workers are so happy to be at work they break into song.

If your joints are groaning loudly these days, go ahead and blame the cold weather. Frigid temperatures have long been associated with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and joint pain that can affect the hips, knees, elbows, shoulders and hands, according to this piece in the Winter issue of Well magazine, Swedish Covenant Hospital's health and wellness publication.

The Special Report includes comments from: Derek Kelly, chief medical information officer at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital (Kennedy, iHealthBeat, 12/4).

More than 100 nursing alumnae from across the country attended the "Angels Among Us" Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation 2009 Annual Benefit Gala this year. At the gala more than $575,000 was raised toward the Nursing Education Endowment Fund and the Pursuit of Magnet Recognition at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Renowned Chicago newsman Bill Kurtis was the emcee for the gala, which took place at the Palmer House in Chicago.

As the director of the Nurse Midwifery Group at Swedish Covenant Hospital on the Northwest Side, Ruerup works two to three days a week in clinic and administration and takes her turn on call several times a month. Her staff of seven midwives delivers a quarter of the babies at Swedish Covenant.

Cesarean sections are more common than ever in the U.S. But the rate of C-sections varies dramatically between hospitals-and can be as high as 35 percent--according to the 2008 Illinois Department of Public Health hospital statistics.

Herbs are popping up in gardens and flower pots in many households. Fresh herbs look, smell and taste great. They may also have medical benefits that can help build your body's defenses against many viruses and diseases.

"Research is constantly underway proving that herbs have medicinal properties and are valuable for our health," says Syeda Farid, a registered dietitian at Swedish Covenant Hospital and Galter LifeCenter.

Swedish Covenant Hospital made the switch from CR to DR in June 2008 and has plans to go wireless down the road. The Chicago-based hospital, which performs about 135,000-140,000 procedures a year in radiology, has quickly climbed the digital ladder in the last five years, moving from traditional film X-rays to CR to DR and noting increased productivity along the way.

Dr. Ronnie Mandal, an internist at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital>, says he's gotten calls from worried elderly patients who saw the news on TV last week.

"Most of them are wondering, is it safe for me to use," he said.

For those on Tylenol, the short answer - from Mandal and other physicians - is yes, if used judiciously. Doctors say there's no reason to switch to other pain relievers, which can cause different problems.

The hospital of the 21st Century is shaping up to be paperless and wireless, with some of the most important workers never getting tired or distracted. That's helping doctors provide better, more efficient care, but there are challenges.

While working with an asthmatic patient at Swedish Covenant Hospital, Emergency Room physician Andrew Costello frequently turns to a computer terminal, and with a couple of clicks sends data to an electronic medical record."

Dr Ronnie Mandal, Internal Medicine, Swedish Covenant Hospital: "People have always stated that they've seen a relationship between the weather and their arthritis."

Julie Hamann, MS, RN, staff nurse in the ICU/IMCU at Swedish Covenant Hospital, Chicago, believes the Planetree model of patient-centered care, which emphasizes human beings caring for other human beings and creating a healing environment, contributes to patient dignity.

At Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital, the medical staff is on alert for patients with flu-like symptoms - none as of 4:30 p.m. Monday - but there is the expectation here and throughout the area that there will be cases of swine flu.
"It's difficult to predict. In Chicago we have a lot of tourists around. We have people moving in and out of the state, so I think we should be on high alert," said Dr. Oluwadamilola Adeyemi, Swedish Covenant Hospital.

Find out more information about swine flu:

	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
	Illinois Department of Public Health

Some hospitals have taken small steps - eliminating trans fats from their menus or switching to dairy products free of the growth hormone rBGH. Others have taken on bigger overhauls: The chef at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz cooks with produce from the hospital's on-site vegetable garden; Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital is gradually moving toward meals that are entirely organic.

At Swedish Covenant Hospital, paper medical charts and handwritten prescription orders have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Doctors at the North Side hospital use computers to access patient medical records, order lab tests and look at X-rays, among other things. The system also flags potentially dangerous interactions of medications.

Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago, IL) recently became MEDITECH's first MAGIC customer to achieve the prestigious Stage 6 Electronic Medical Record adoption recognition from HIMSS Analytics. Among Swedish Covenant's most exciting accomplishments leading to this honor, is their widespread use of MEDITECH's on-line physician documentation, which came about as part of their Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) rollout.

However, 15 hospitals of those 42 have reached the highest IT goal, Stage 7, a paperless EMR environment for patient care, according to Mike Davis, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics, the trade groups' data analysis division.

As the country moves to transform healthcare with the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 42 US hospitals recognized as a Stage 6 by HIMSS Analytics serve as role models in healthcare IT adoption for other healthcare systems just beginning this process.

According to Dr. Aleksandar Krunic, a dermatologist at Swedish Covenant Hospital, a good cold-weather hand cream should contain: ...

Solution: Your best bet is the steam room, because the high humidity will temper the drying effect of hot temperatures on your skin, said Dr. Aleksandar Krunic, a dermatologist at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital.

A new study says you'll get great care at these cross-country spots--all offer the best protection against complications and mortality.

In September, Swedish Covenant Hospital treated its first patient using electronic brachytherapy, which delivers therapy directly to cancer sites with minimal exposure to surrounding healthy tissue, said Dr. Gary Schreiber, radiation oncologist at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Electronic brachytherapy uses electricity to generate very low-powered X-rays, similar to a chest X-ray.

Swedish Covenant Hospital is here to help detect cancer early, and we're making it easier than ever with short wait times for appointments and digital X-ray technology. These advances allow our physicians to detect breast cancer at earlier stages, faster - which means better service and better outcomes for patients.

Rahel trusted her instincts and was recommended to Ermias Tilahun, a specialist in internal medicine at Swedish Covenant Hospital. It was April of 2007. By then, Rahel was in very bad shape.
"She was less than 80 pounds when I saw her," said Dr. Tilahun.
Like Rahel, Dr. Tilahun wasn't convinced it was cancer. He had a hunch as a result of working with other immigrants and being Ethiopian himself.

According to a study conducted by the Swedish Covenant Hospital, Chicago, researchers found that adopting daily exercise habits and a calcium-rich diet could reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of health risks that include large waist size, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and insulin insensitivity.

"As with many health conditions, when the good behaviors are absent, the condition is more prevalent," lead researcher Adam Reppert, a dietitian at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, said in a written statement.
He and his colleagues report the findings in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Brooke Newton, Planetree coordinator at Swedish Covenant Hospital on Chicago's Northwest Side, describes the Planetree approach as a natural fit. "Planetree has provided us with a way to formalize the patient-centered philosophy that we have always had; it has given us a name for it and structure."

It was said in passing, but I remembered the remarks a good friend had made at a social gathering. She noted how she had lived in a highly diverse area in Chicago when she was young, a place where people seemed to get along just fine regardless of their country of origin or language. She hadn't been back in years, but one day she went to visit a friend who was a patient at Swedish Covenant Hospital in the old neighborhood. My friend said she was impressed by how the hospital had expanded and that the nurses and physicians seemed so upbeat and friendly. Something else that impressed my friend was the garden built right in the middle of the hospital campus.

On Wednesday, the federal government released an online searchable database of hospital death rate estimates at more than 4,300 hospitals nationwide... In a USA Today analysis, Loyola University Health Services, Edward Hospital in Naperville, the University of Chicago Hospitals, Rush University Medical Center, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital and Swedish Covenant Hospital appeared on multiple "lowest" mortality rate lists between 2005 and 2007.

For the first time, the government disclosed information about patient deaths for all hospitals in the country... Regarding pneumonia, the medical centers in Illinois with lower-than-expected pneumonia death rates are Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights (9.1 percent), Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago (7.8 percent), Edward Hospital in Naperville (8.1 percent) and ENH, based in Evanston (8.9 percent). ENH owns Evanston Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital and Highland Park Hospital.

Death rates from heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia are widely viewed as yardsticks of a hospital's overall performance. Until today, these rates were closely guarded secrets, but this morning USA TODAY posted the government's best estimates of heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia death rates for every U.S. hospital for two years.

Note: Swedish Covenant Hospital is identified as 'Better than the National Rate in 2006-2007'. These statistics are available on the map accompanying the article and on the hospital compare site at the following link: Hospital Compare Site >

There should be a Who's Who crowd at the Aug. 21 unveiling of the Healing Garden at Swedish Covenant Hospital, designed by landscape architect Maria Smithburg and named for Bill Kurtis and Donna LaPietra. Those expected to attend the dedication include violinist Rachel Barton Pine; construction mogul Richard Pepper and his wife, Roxy; Stanley Tigerman; Shelley Farley (just back from the Olympics); Sugar Rautbord; Carol and John Walter, and WMAQ-Channel 5's Anna Davlantes.

Maria Simmons, manager of patient food services for 324-bed Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, says her hospital also has experienced positive patient feedback on its efforts to green its food-supply chain. "What we've come to understand is, especially with the grass-fed beef, patients are able to pick up on the flavor immediately. I get notes like "tastes like meat should," she says.

Healthcare tax-exempt borrowers were offered an unusual bright spot by Congress last week following months of bad news: A sweeping bill to help homeowners included a provision to aid others embroiled in the housing meltdown, namely tax-exempt bond borrowers, a group that includes more than 60% of U.S. hospitals...

And Mark Newton, president and CEO of 324-bed Swedish Covenant Hospital, Chicago, called the Federal Home Loan Banks' new authority a short-term fix for a problem that requires a more lasting solution. It's unclear whether bond insurance will rebound, he said, yet tax-exempt bonds continue to need credit enhancement.

"Hospitals' cash crunch" (June 9) calls for "the rest of the story."...

Additionally, while Swedish Covenant falls into the "safety-net" category, it was inappropriately included in the "struggling" list. Swedish Covenant is among many safety-net hospitals that have responded to the numerous challenges of the health care market while continuing to expand infrastructure and advance quality outcomes, far from "cutting services or stalling capital projects," as Crain's described the situation for cash-starved hospitals.

While most of Illinois' 200 hospitals have money at stake, a few of the city's safety-net hospitals could be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy or closure if the cash comes too late.

Note: Swedish Covenant Hospital identified in a chart associated with this article.