NVH Newsletter January 2025
Operation Cerner:
Over the next four months, the team at North Valley will be transitioning to a new Electronic Health Record System: Cerner. This change has been a long time coming, and this upgrade is designed to enhance patient care, improve efficiency, and ensure the safety of your medical information. However, this change involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work for our dedicated staff and may bring noticeable updates for our patients and visitors.
What is an EHR and Why the Change?
An EHR is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart, designed to provide accurate and up-to-date information to healthcare providers. Our new system will replace our current platform, offering improved features like better coordination between care teams, faster access to patient histories, and more secure data management.
This change is part of our commitment to delivering the highest standard of care and staying at the forefront of healthcare technology.
What Staff Are Doing Behind the Scenes
The transition to a new EHR is a significant undertaking. Our staff have been hard at work to ensure a smooth rollout. Here’s a glimpse of what’s involved:
Training: All staff, from nurses and doctors to administrative personnel, are participating in extensive training to learn the new system.
Data Migration: Patient records are being securely transferred to the new system, ensuring no loss of important medical history.
System Testing: Teams are conducting rigorous tests to confirm the system is functioning correctly before it goes live.
Looking Back:
2024 has been a transformative year for NVH, marked by significant building efforts—not just in the literal sense with ongoing construction, but also in strengthening our teams.
This year, we’ve welcomed new nursing leadership in both the Hospital and Extended Care units and filled several key roles across other departments. At the start of 2024, we faced significant staffing challenges, with 24 open positions and a heavy reliance on contract staff (travelers), particularly in nursing.
Through dedication and teamwork, we’ve made steady progress. Over the course of the year, we’ve successfully reduced our open positions to just 12, significantly improving our staffing levels. These strides have also allowed us to reduce our reliance on agency staff—a trend we’re confident will continue as we head into the new year.
This progress reflects our commitment to building a strong, sustainable team that provides the best possible care for our patients and community. We look forward to achieving even greater milestones in the coming months!
Respiratory Season:
In January the Extended Care was in outbreak status for Influenza A. The team has done a fantastic job of following their process for an outbreak, and we are now at the end of the outbreak. Lauri Jones from Okanogan Public Health gave kudos to the team for their prompt reporting, plan in place, and success in preventing further infections. I’d also like to recognize Dr. Di Croce for her timely response and care of our residents.
Across the county, we have high levels of influenza and continuing cases of COVID and RSV, but it is not to late to protect yourself with a vaccine. Ask your primary care provider or local pharmacy.