Center for Women at Mount St. Mary's Hospital

Every year during Hospital Week, our Spiritual Care team visits departments throughout the hospital and our offsite clinics and performs the Blessing of the Hands. Sister Judith Terrameo described what the Blessing of the Hands symbolizes: "It is a blessing from God which gives us the gift of compassion to then give to those we minister to; it is God's anointing. The oil used for the Blessing of Hands comes from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem."... Such a special, sacred tradition for our MSM family! Thank you to Sister Judith and the Spiritual Care team!

The DAISY Award was created in in memory of Patrick Barnes. DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem, and the award is given to nurses to honor them for the amazing dedication, compassion and care they give to patients. Here at MSM, we are proud of our nurses and are happy to announce that we now have a DAISY Award parking spot for our DAISY awardee! A premium spot for a premium nurse! Pictured here with the new parking spot are Heather Telford, Chief Nursing Officer, and Kadie Maggard, Director of Nursing, Patient Care Services.

Nurses Week continues, and so does the gratitude we have for our MSM nurses! Your dedication, expertise, and compassion are beyond appreciated. To be a nurse is a calling, and we cannot thank all of you enough for all you do! Two nurses at MSM received special awards-Danielle Lewis, RN, BSN, and Daniel Cullen, RN, BSN. Danielle was awarded the Outstanding Staff Nurse Award, and Dan was honored with the Nurse of Distinction Award. Congratulations to both of you! Your leadership, talent and exceptional patient care does not go unnoticed! Way to go!

Nurses Day is a special day to reflect on the dedication, compassion, and expertise of nurses, and the difference they make in our lives. Today, we honored Heidi Lang, RN, a special MSM nurse from cardiology, who passed away in January of this year. Her department coordinated the planting and dedication of a tree on our hospital's campus. Dedication of a tree in particular is significant, as Heidi loved nature. The placement of the tree also has meaning, as she ate her lunch on many beautiful days at a picnic table in the grove. May the life of this flowering tree in this special place remind all who pass by it of the life of a special nurse who touched the lives of so many.

In so many ways, our community continues to be there for our MSM family, and we are so grateful for the outpouring of love and support. Today, we thank the Lewiston Event Center for their generous (and delicious!) donation of pizza for our caregivers! Thank you for thinking of us-we appreciate you!

Kaitlyn Grande and her husband, Alex, welcomed their daughter the morning of March 24thjust six days into New York State’s Stay-At-Home order. Thanks to the compassionate care of the staff at the Center for Women at Mount St. Mary's Hospital, the new parents felt at ease and able to celebrate this special moment. Read more about their giving story! #SeasonofGiving #GivingStory

It's true, babies don't come with manuals, but Catholic Health's online childbirth classes can help ensure that you and your loved ones are as prepared for your little one's arrival as possible. #HealthyMomHealthyBaby

Upgrade! Our Operating Room and Labor & Delivery Department are thrilled with the new Pintler Medical pads that were delivered to MSM! Our new pads are state-of-the-art, using the latest innovative technology. They provide enhanced comfort and encourage better circulation due to a pad design which allows for pressure redistribution. They also use active warming technology, which keeps patients warm throughout procedures.

Last week, we celebrated the retirement of Sibilla Strovers. Sibilla has been a nurse at MSMH since 1993! She has touched the lives of so many through her nursing, mentoring, and friendship. On her last day of of work, she assisted Dr. McEvoy in a patient's delivery; what a special ending to a special nurse's career. Thank you for being such an important part of our MSMH family! We wish you the very best on your retirement journey, Sibilla!

As we close the month of October, we say thank you to our MSMH Spiritual Care team. During this Spiritual Care week, and everyday, they are celebrated, as they carry out our mission, "we are called to reveal the healing love of Jesus to all." Spiritual Care is so vital to our mission. Always leading with compassion, our Spiritual Care team prays with our associates, our patients and their families; they are always there for our MSMH family, saying hello when we arrive, and wishing us a good night when we leave. They offer guidance, sound judgment, and are there for all with an empathetic listening ear. Thank you to this special team; we are so incredibly grateful for you all!

It's Sterile Processing Department (SPD) Recognition Week! Today, we give a big shout-out to our SPD team, who work tirelessly to provide "A" grade quality care! Their job is one that is behind-the-scenes, however, without them, the Operating Room could not function to provide the very best care. We thank you for all of your hard work to ensure efficiency and safety by creating a clean, sterile, and optimal surgical environment for our patients!

Thinking of all of you today.

Our annual ceremony to celebrate all lives- especially for those babies who can’t be with us. October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. All are welcomed. Thank you to the Foundation committee and Sr Judy for their support and commitment to our families.

Special Deliveries for Special Caregivers! THANK YOU to Sean J. Daly - President of McKeagan LLC and Director of International Services at ROAR Logistics Inc.(a Rich Products subsidiary) and Robert Rich III - President of Three Sticks Marketing LLC and ROAR Logistics Inc., for their generous donation of 10,000 masks to our Mount St. Mary's family! In a joint statement, they described the importance of this donation: "The pandemic has heavily impacted available supply of pers...onal protective equipment, as well as supply chain efforts throughout the world. The strain on local medical/nursing facilities to meet state regulated on-hand PPE requirements is ever-increasing. While we may not find our "new normal" for quite some time, we can ease the transition by giving back within the community - and that's exactly what we have positioned ourselves to do." We are grateful for this donation, aimed at keeping our caregivers safe.Thank you for all you do for our community!

Congratulations to Kimberly Phelps,RN! Kim received the "Great Catch Award" for following safe behaviors, paying attention to detail, and speaking up for patient safety. Because of Kim's questioning attitude and follow through, she was able to improve the implementation of orders for a patient, which ultimately improved the patient's care. Congratulations, Kim! Great Catch!

Local artist Arthur Jones stopped by Mount St. Mary's with an incredible painting he created of the May 12 Air Force flyover. His family, beaming with pride, accompanied him, as he presented CJ Urlaub, Mount St. Mary's President, and Julie Berrigan, Mount St. Mary's Foundation Executive Director, with this awesome donation. On May 12, a KC-135 from the 914th Air Refueling Wing’s 328th Air Refueling Squadron at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and F-35s from the Vermont National Guard flew over Western New York hospitals to honor frontline healthcare workers. Jones’ painting depicts the aircraft, as well as the American flag and blue heart formed by Mount St. Mary’s caregivers as their way of saying thank you to the Air Force. Thank you so much, Arthur, for this donation, which captured that special day so beautifully!

Did you know.... that Mount St Mary's is the only niagara county breastmilk depot? We received our first milk delivery 3 years and 7 months ago!... Since then we have shipped out 30 boxes of humanmilk- that is 7,917 fluid ounces of breastmilk that have been donated!! #nysmilkdepot #niagaralove #cfw #proud #chs

Special Deliveries for Special Caregivers-"Fruit & Veggie" Edition! A huge thank you to Pro*Act USA, a national network of global distributors, for the 150 box...es (that's over 2,000 pounds!) of fresh produce through Tarantino Foods, local wholesale food distributor! Pro*Act USA's Feeding the Frontlines initiative provides fresh boxes of produce (at no cost!) to frontline caregivers to show gratitude for the hard work done each day during the COVID-19 crisis. We are so appreciative for this generous donation. After a long day at work, it was so great that our caregivers could take home fresh, healthy produce to share with their families! Many thanks!

A special thank you to our friends at T.J.Maxx for generously donating their extra inventory of seasonal items with our MSM family! We are thrilled to share these items with families in need at our Neighborhood Health Center, as well as upcoming giveaways for our dedicated caregivers! Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!

Special Deliveries for Special Caregivers-HUGE edition! Thank you to Fuccillo Chevrolet Grand Island for their generous donation of 450 meals from Adrian's Cus...tard & Beef! Our MSM family not only loved the delicious meals, but also enjoyed coming out to say hello and be a part of the #fuccillofeedsthefrontline fun! THANK YOU!

Huge!!!! Thank you Fuccillo Chevrolet Grand Island and Adrian's Custard & Beef!!!

Today, our MSM family gives a huge shout out to our Environmental Services team! Each day, and especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this dedicated team of individuals did an outstanding job! They clean and disinfect patient rooms, surgical suites, and common areas. They also maintain supplies like MSM's hand sanitizer and paper products, and ensure all floors are cleaned and maintained, along with delivering linens and disposing of trash and medical waste, just to name a few essential duties. Thank you to our EVS team! Here a couple of pictures of some of our 36 EVS associates-we appreciate you all!

Last Friday, the members of the Board of Associates of MSM presented scholarships to the winners of the 55th Annual Hewitt Awards at our Heroes Rock! Garden. We are proud to be a part of this event, and are happy the awards could be presented, though it was very different from previous years due to COVID-19. Congratulations to Adrianna Frerichs of Wilson, and Anthony Haak of Lockport on their scholarship awards, as well as the Hewitt nominees throughout Niagara County!