1. society
2. welfare
3. healthcare
4. hospital

AUGUST 2008
crothall services group
CELEBRATIONS
A member of Compass Group PLC
How to Get
Your Linens Their
PAGE 8
Top Healthcare Challenges
(Second in a 3-Part Series)
PAGE 6
More Than
Just Transporting Patients
PAGE 10
Inside This Issue
OUR MISSION
group
services
crothall
NS
CELEBRATIO
AUGUST
2008
A member
of Compass
How to Get
Group PLC
Your Linens Their
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Howr Lito
nens Their
PAGE 8
cover story
You
PAGE 8
Crothall Laundry Services leads
the industry in environmentally
friendly solutions.
allenges
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Top He
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PAGE 6
(Se
More Than ients
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Just Transport
PAGE 8
PAGE 10
in All Directions
Top Healthcare Challenges
OUR VALUES
INTEGRITY.
A commitment to forthright,
honest communication in all of
our encounters.
COLLABORATION.
An unyielding commitment
to consistent teamwork in order
to achieve collective goals.
ACCOUNTABILITY.
As a company and as
individuals, we accept full
responsibility for our actions
and the associated outcomes.
features
6Pulled
In the markets we serve,
we will be recognized as the
premier provider of the best
quality, customer-focused
support services.
6
12
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
Providing the right tools,
training, and support for
professional growth.
LEADERSHIP.
Displaying the passion
to exceed expectations in all
that we do.
10More Than
a Moving
Hospital Experience
Beyond Transporting Patients
12A
Conversation with
Scott Brown, Medi-Dyn CEO
crothall services group
CELEBRATIONS
13That’s What
Friends Are For
Nursing Names Crothall
Support Departments as
New Best Friends
A member of Compass Group PLC
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
BOBBY KUTTEH
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/SALES
& MARKETING
BART KAERICHER
10
13
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/PUBLISHER
TIM POLIZZI
EDITORIAL/CONTRIBUTORS
rebecca monroe
DESIGN
Nathan Billman
in every issue
3
From the CEO
4
Crothall Momentum
14
“Make a Difference”
Winners
Celebrations is published quarterly by
Crothall Services Group, a
member of Compass Group PLC.
© 2008 Crothall Services Group. All
rights reserved.
955 Chesterbrook Boulevard, Wayne,
PA 19087.
10% Post Consumer Waste
2 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
Printed in the USA
From the CEO
“It makes me proud to know that our company is leading
the way on environmentally friendly initiatives.”
I hope you are enjoying good health and extra time
with your family this summer.
As we continue to enhance our Green strategy internally and with
the support of our parent company, Compass Group, I have asked our
teams to further evaluate our programs and what we are currently doing
for the environment. We must always be mindful of serving our client
communities in the most responsible way.
I have been overwhelmed by the amazing things we are doing for
sustainability in our Laundry division. Senior Vice President Mike Bailey’s
leadership on this front has been visionary, and it makes me proud
to know that our company is leading the way on environmentally
friendly initiatives.
In this issue, we also continue our series on the biggest challenges for
you, our clients, and how Crothall’s solutions can help you accomplish
your goals. One example of this is our Patient Transportation division,
which is constantly innovating. We take a look at how our programs can
impact not only trip times, but also safety and clinical staff and patient
satisfaction as well.
I am proud to announce the recent acquisition of Medi-Dyn. The
addition of this Englewood, Colorado-based company will help solidify
our leadership position in the industry with 58 new customers and will
strengthen our presence in Texas and the western U.S. I am excited to
bring new talent into the Crothall family, and I look forward to working
with Medi-Dyn’s existing clients to better meet their needs through our
network of resources.
Every day brings new reminders of why I am so blessed to be part
of this company and work with such special people. Feedback from
our recent employee engagement survey (to which more than 60% of
our employees responded) was 84% positive, a great achievement for
which I am most proud. We still have work to do, and I believe our best
days are yet to come.
All the best,
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 3
Crothall Momentum
a review of our businesses
Laundry & Linen
Patient Transportation
Driving HCAHPS
Embracing HLAC
Driving HCAHPS scores is an
important challenge facing healthcare providers and their service
partners today. After an entire year
of extensive research, benchmarking, and multiple focus groups with
our best operators, Crothall has
developed a powerful toolkit called
Immediate Strategies for Driving
HCAHPS Scores for our EVS
leaders. All accounts will have the
7 Immediate Strategies fully in
place by September. Crothall will
also introduce two hospital-wide
strategies that research and pilot
testing have proven to decrease
non-clinical call light requests and
increase patient confidence in
the cleanliness of the hospital.
Beginning October 1, 2008,
Crothall will launch The Crothall
Way: Driving HCAHPS Scores for
Success. This long-term approach
to HCAHPS performance is comprised of 7 Key Drivers with
more than 40 proven strategies
addressing patient interaction,
employee satisfaction, and visual
and frequency triggers that directly
impact the patient’s perception of
hospital room cleanliness.
Crothall Laundry Services is
proud to share the news that
four of our operations have been
accredited by the Healthcare
Laundry Accreditation Council
(HLAC). Beginning with our
managed operations at Rappahannock Goodwill Industries (Fredericksburg, Virginia) and Hospital
Laundry Services (Wheeling,
Illinois), we have recently earned
three-year accreditation at Rome,
Georgia, and Clermont, Florida.
HLAC was formed for the purposes
of inspecting and accrediting
laundries processing healthcare
textiles. Becoming accredited is
an entirely voluntary process.
HLAC’s mission is to publish high
standards for processing healthcare textiles and to provide an
inspection and accreditation
process recognizing laundries
meeting these high standards.
Crothall has eight facilities
scheduled for HLAC surveys in
the upcoming months; however, it
is our intention to seek accreditation at all of our operations.
An Organizational
Model for Decentralized
Patient Transport Services
Environmental Services
4 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
In the past six months, we have
experienced an increased interest
from administrators who recognize the positive impact Patient
Transportation has on patient flow
and throughput. However, transport services may be decentralized
and scattered throughout ancillary
and nursing departments, and staff
may have other responsibilities
besides transport. It sometimes
becomes impossible to separate
those functions and create dedicated transporters for a centralized
Patient Transport service. We have
designed an organizational model
utilizing decentralized patient
transport services that allows us to
capture, track, and analyze data
from multiple processes that
contribute to effective patient flow
and throughput. Without dismantling the current staffing structure,
the model allows us to provide
hospitality services, maintain
nursing/patient ratios, standardize
and monitor performance, and
improve response times.
Facilities Team
Furnishes Apartment
for Needy Family
Facilities Management
TeamOps Makes Migration
of Professional Services
Maintenance a Breeze
Healthcare facilities depend on
functioning plants composed of
equipment that requires exceptional
care. Scheduling and tracking preventive maintenance on those assets is
the focus of Crothall’s proprietary
TeamOps* CMMS application.
Crothall believes standardization
of systems provides increased
efficiency and support through peer
networking. When Crothall merged
with Professional Services last
October, it was essential to plan a
careful strategy for migrating data
from Professional’s Xxpedite maintenance management software to
TeamOps.The migration process,
which included data migration and
system configuration, also involved
preventive maintenance scheduling
and end-user training. Collaboration
of both companies’ managers with
Crothall IS and a time-saving feature
built into TeamOps that allows data
to be uploaded from Excel have
made the migration a success.
*TeamOps provides management with
enhanced functionality, including
wireless PDA updates that allow
technicians to receive and update
work orders in real time.
Clinical Equipment Services
Certified for
Outstanding Service
Medical technology is ever changing,
and healthcare institutions must
maintain their equipment at
optimum performance for the
most reasonable price. With a core
value of Professional Development,
Crothall Clinical Equipment Services
approaches this challenge by providing
technical training and certification
to our Biomedical Equipment
Technicians. Crothall’s Technical
Resource Center has been able to
secure manufacturer or third-party
training for our associates on various
CAT scan units, mammography units,
patient monitors and networks,
patient beds, and basic radiology
service requirements. We have been
able to reduce the “downtime” on
this equipment, yielding higher
customer satisfaction and increased
revenue in the institutions we serve.
With an aggressive division goal of
60% staff certification, technicians
may receive certification from the
International Certification Commission (ICC) in general medical
equipment (CBET), radiology
equipment (CRES), or laboratory
equipment (CLES). The Healthcare
Technology Certification Commission also offers certification for the
Certified Clinical Engineer (CCE).
Google Santa Monica Facilities
Manager Brady Walters and his team
raised money to participate in the
“Adopt-An-Apartment” program of
“Upward Bound House.” The
community-based social service
agency provides food, clothing, and
shelter to homeless families with
minor children. Families who
“graduate” are able to take everything
with them, creating a need for more
furnishings and basic household items.
(From L): Danny, Elaine, Anna, Jane, Doug, Brady
The team had to (1) raise funds,
(2) gather items, and (3) decorate/
furnish the apartment. The team sold
belongings on eBay and Craig’s List,
competed on “The Price Is Right,”
and collected donations from
Google employees and Crothall
Cares to finally meet its goal!
Shopping for and decorating the
apartment included cutting out fun
pictures from magazines to place in
picture frames. “I think we all left the
experience wondering who gained
the most – the family we were
helping or ourselves,” commented
Facilities Assistant Anna Simon.
For full details of the
team’s “fun” raising, go to
www.crothall.com/celebrations.
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 5
feature
Pulled in
All Directions
Part 2 in our 3-part series
discussing the most
pressing issues facing
healthcare executives
Healthcare’s 9 most challenging issues identified by industry surveys are listed on the opposite page. These concerns
touch all areas of operations and hospital departments, including well-run support services departments that can emerge
as part of the solution to these issues. Crothall’s programs contribute to solutions for 8 of these 9 top concerns.
In Part 1 of this feature (May 2008), we discussed 2 of the most pressing issues, Financial Concerns and Quality. In this
installment, we focus on the next 3 issues, Physician/Hospital Relations, Personnel Shortages, and Patient Safety.
Physician/Hospital Relations
Without physicians, there would be no hospitals.
Keeping these critical and highly sought-after
stakeholders satisfied with your facility involves two
basic truths: first, they want to be treated with respect;
and second, they place the well-being of their patients
above all else.
Physicians desire to work in an environment that is
attractive, clean, and comfortable for themselves and
visitors. They want a facility that they can be proud
to recommend to their patients. Environmental
Services can be used as a differentiator, communicating
a high level of excellence and attracting the best
doctors. At Lehigh Valley Muhlenberg* (Bethlehem,
PA), after Crothall gave the ED floors a complete
makeover, Dr. David Richardson, Medical Director
6 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
for the ED, was so impressed, he sat down and literally
ate his lunch off the floor!
The frustration for doctors and patients caused by
down equipment and rescheduled appointments can
be prevented with a proactive Clinical Equipment
Services team. And making sure radiology
appointments and tests are kept requires an efficient
Patient Transportation department that respects the
need for on-time patient delivery.
At Sinai Hospital of Baltimore*, Crothall’s centralized
Patient Transportation department was able to
eliminate complaints and unacceptable wait times in
the Non-Invasive Cardio Unit. Director Wendy Appler is
pleased that wait times have been reduced to under 10
minutes, and the number of cases is on the rise.
Top Hospital
Concerns for 2007
Modern
Healthcare
ACHE
Care for the uninsured
1
2
Financial challenges
2
1
Quality
3
4
Physician/Hospital relations
4
3
Personnel shortages
5
5
Patient safety
6
6
Governmental
mandates/challenges
7
7
Capacity
8
9
Patient satisfaction
9
8
Sources: Modern Healthcare September 17, 2007;
www.ache.org/pubs/research/ceoissues.cfm
Personnel Shortages
For the first time in its 7-year history, group purchasing
organization VHA’s 2007 Services Contracting Survey
revealed a new #1 reason hospitals outsource:“Resources
are not available internally.” (This displaced perennial
favorite “Reduce operating costs.”) Outsourcing support
services fulfills this key objective in several ways. For those
services, it guarantees levels of staffing to meet your
facility’s needs. By removing these responsibilities from
the hospital, HR can focus instead on recruiting and
serving the needs of clinical staff.
According to the American Hospital Association
(“Trendwatch Chartbook 2008”), graduation from nursing
schools has increased slightly in the last few years, but not
enough to make up for the drop off in previous years and
increases in demand. In fact, by 2020, the AHA projects a
shortage of 1 million nurses. Hospitals are realizing that
squandering scarce nursing resources on non-clinical tasks,
such as transporting patients, cleaning rooms, and even
changing bed linens, keeps nurses from clinical patient
care. Outsourcing these duties liberates your nursing staff.
Increasing patient throughput improves utilization of
clinical staff by allowing more patients to be admitted
without the need to hire more nurses. According to the
Healthcare Advisory Board’s 2002 “Maximizing Hospital
Capacity” report, for the average 300-bed hospital, reducing
length of stay by just one day is the equivalent of hiring 36
additional full-time nurses.
*For the LVH Muhlenberg and Sinai Hospital case
studies, please visit www.crothall.com/celebrations.
A well-trained Patient Transportation staff will prevent
injury to clinical staff, reducing worker’s compensation
claims and days out of work, which are often filled by
high-cost temporary agency nurses. According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor & Statistics, Nursing is the profession
most afflicted by musculoskeletal disorders. Crothall’s
Comprehensive Safe Patient Handling program can directly
reduce this danger. At Allegheny General Hospital in
Pittsburgh, the creation of Mobilization on Demand (MOD)
Squads has reduced injury claims by 57% and associated
costs by 69% since the program’s introduction.
Patient Safety
The safety of patients depends on the highest-quality
medical care. Outsourced support services provide
expertise in the areas outside the hospital’s core
competency so clinical staff can concentrate on caring for
patients. Additionally, there are several ways support
services have a more direct impact on patient safety.
Reducing hospital acquired infections (HAIs) is the first
priority of Environmental Services, and several studies
prove that a healthy environment reduces these risks.
Crothall has had success partnering with many clients
in the battle against infection.
A centralized Patient Transportation staff, trained in
processes and tools to safely lift, ambulate, and transport
patients, ensures that patient movement from admission to
discharge is efficient, hospitality-focused, and safe.
The Clinical Equipment Services department has the
important responsibility of keeping life-supporting
equipment in working order—the failure of one of these
devices is unacceptable for your patients.
Similarly, Facilities Management ensures that backup power
generators supply the power to maintain medical and
other equipment to keep the hospital running at all
times. This department has primary responsibility to
ensure that all Life Safety Code measures are followed
throughout the facility.
A hospital’s daily operations move at a breakneck pace.
Maintaining harmony, satisfaction, and safety among
physicians, staff, and patients can be an overwhelming
responsibility. Outsourced support services can support
the hospital’s mission and assist in solving an
administrator’s most pressing concerns, and Crothall offers
solutions that are both comprehensive and client focused.
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 7
cover story
How to Get
Your Linens Their
Crothall Laundry Services leads the industry in environmentally responsible practices.
Hospitals can greatly reduce their environmental impact through the decisions they make with regard to laundry
processing. In many ways, Laundry is at the forefront of the healthcare industry in Green initiatives, and some
technologies, once considered revolutionary, are now standard practice.
Standard Laundry
Technologies
Tunnel Washers
Since their introduction 40
years ago, tunnel (or continuous
batch) washers have offered a
way to significantly reduce
water consumption. This
technology can reduce the
volume of water used to clean
one pound of soiled linen from
3.0 (conventional washing
processes) to 1.5 gallons. While
the purchase price can be
expensive, the investment
quickly pays for itself in water,
energy, and chemical reduction.
Heat Reclamation
Incoming fresh water enters a
laundry facility at a relatively
low temperature and must be
heated to 150 degrees to
effectively sanitize linens.
Wastewater from the laundry
process can be routed into a
heat exchanger, through which
incoming water passes, raising
its temperature above 100
degrees. This significantly
reduces the required energy to
heat incoming water.
8 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
Crothall Innovations
Crothall is looking beyond these
available technologies and
implementing forward-thinking
strategies through innovation
and capital expenditure.
Water Utilization
At the Crothall-managed Hospital Laundry Services (HLS)
facility in Wheeling, IL, engineers partnered with a chemical
vendor to develop a novel
approach to water reuse.
Several companies offer water
recycling systems that take used
water, filter it, and bring it back
into the wash process as fresh
water. At HLS, a system was
crafted to take used rinse water
and excess water from linen
presses and pipe it directly back
to the initial wash/bleach zone
of the tunnel washer, yet have
enough water available for the
wet-out process. This is accomplished with no reduction in
cleaning quality.
This has reduced water usage at
the plant by 50%, making an
additional 40 million gallons per
year available to the community
for drinking water and sparing it
from the sewer system. HLS
currently uses 0.9 gallons of
water per pound of linen. The
plant is now taking another look
at conventional recycling/
filtration systems, which could
cut water usage in half again,
making HLS the gold standard,
operating at one-third of industry benchmarks for water usage.
Plastic Recycling
Laundry processing produces
a surprisingly large amount of
plastic waste. Soiled linen
collection bags, used to
transport linen between the
hospital and the laundry
facility, are normally made of
non-recyclable plastic, which ends
up in landfills. To support Crothall
Laundry Services’ commitment
to recycling, two alternatives are
available. First, Crothall offers
leak-proof, reusable, non-plastic
collection bags. Second, Crothall
can introduce a collection bag
made from recyclable plastic. At
Crothall’s Clermont, Florida, facility,
90% of the waste is comprised of
recyclable plastic, which represents
90 tons of material removed from
the waste stream per year.
The goal is to be the first 100%
phosphate- and NPE-free healthcare
laundry processor in the U.S. by
December 2008.
Other Initiatives
• Crothall is researching next-generation fabrics with new weaving
specifications intended to increase
linen life. Early indications show
the new blends may increase
product life span (reducing
waste) by as much as 20%.
“My goal is to continue to develop revolutionary
solutions…for the benefit of everyone.”
Phosphate-Free and
NPE-Free Chemicals
In the 1960s, it was discovered that
NPEs, powerful chemicals used in
laundry detergents, were killing or
mutating fish and playing havoc
with the ecosystem. Producers
such as P&G and Unilever voluntarily removed NPEs from home
laundry products. In Europe, NPEs
are prohibited in all detergents, but
there is no legal ban in the U.S.
Phosphates are used in alkalis,
highly effective surfactants that
bond to dirt to help clean linens.
They cause harm through a process
called eutrophication, which
deprives lakes and streams of
oxygen and kills aquatic life. Like
NPEs, phosphates are still permitted in the U.S.
Laundry chemicals without NPEs
or phosphates are available,
but their higher cost has made
industrial laundries reluctant
to switch. Crothall is taking
the initiative by introducing
non-phosphate-based alkalis
and NPE-free detergents at
all of its facilities.
• At University of Alabama at
Birmingham, Crothall appointed
a “dumpster diver” – someone
who spends three hours a day
sorting through the hospital’s
waste to find discarded linen.
In 2005, the program rescued
approximately $1.5 million of
linen from the trash. As an added
benefit, items such as recyclable
cardboard and even expensive
medical instruments have been
recovered from dumpsters.
• At HLS, fluid-proof and fluidresistant surgical linens are
laundered using state-of-the-art
processes. Products are sterilized
in Hi-Vacuum steam sterilizers
and packaged in puncture-resistant sterility maintenance covers.
An average pack of reusable
textiles replaces 3 pounds of
disposable medical waste, and
HLS provides over 1 million packs
annually. According to estimates
from Practice GreenHealth
(formerly H2E), this 1,500-ton
reduction in waste also saves
about $1.05 million in disposal
fees for HLS’s client hospitals.1
• Linen past its usable life with
respect to healthcare standards
may still be usable for less
quality-conscious applications.
Crothall is looking for ways to
recycle out-of-service linen to
second-tier users.
1
As a leader in the healthcare
laundry industry, Crothall has
a responsibility to be unselfish
in its development and sharing
of innovations to reduce the
environmental impact of its
operations. Senior Vice President
Michael Bailey has shown true
vision in this regard:“My goal is to
continue to develop revolutionary
solutions, simple enough to share
across the industry for the benefit
of everyone.”
What’s next for Crothall
Laundry Services in its pursuit
of Green innovations? “We have
only scratched the surface,” comments Bailey.“We need to examine
every aspect of our business. Just
look at the number of diesel trucks
in our fleet.”
http://cms.h2e-online.org/ee/waste-reduction/waste-minimization/textile/reusedispose/
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 9
feature
More Than a
Moving Hospital Experience
Hospitality is not a lost art.
It is increasingly embraced as a fundamental part of
patient care. Attention is also riveted on high-impact
patient satisfaction practices in response to
Medicare’s new reimbursement policies.
Crothall’s Patient Transportation teams do more than
getting a patient from Point A to Point B. They have
developed a whole portfolio of optional enhancements, designed to pamper both patients and staff.
Many of these innovations have been adopted from
the hotel industry and specific client needs. These
services also present solutions to hot-ticket issues
such as patient throughput, staff and patient safety
and satisfaction, and an over-taxed clinical staff.
Preserving the Nurses
for Patient Care
Patient Throughput Zooming
Patient throughput issues are usually complex and
involve a multiple-department solution. One strategy
is Patient Throughput Zooming, which improves
patient flow through expedient discharge bed cleaning and availability.“With the use of TeamThroughput
and TeamTrip, we are able to automate each phase of
discharge and room preparation for a new admission
without ever involving a nurse,” says National Director
of Patient Transportation Diane McCullough.
10 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
Elite Discharge Teams and
XPDITE Service
With these optional enhancements, dedicated, specially trained Patient Transport staff members are
stationed strategically on patient care units and
designated areas to expedite the discharge transport
process. XPDITE Service focuses on 4- to 8-hour peak
time windows. At Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte
and Florida Hospital Altamonte, discharge teams were
established during peak hours in response to
TeamThroughput studies of discharge times.
All Aboard:
the “Patient Express” Elevator
A dedicated elevator operator provides a “patient
express” service to expedite trips for patients
and those accompanying them. Frustration
caused by long waits for an elevator can
be completely avoided and satisfaction
scores improved.
Other smart options that impact nursing
time off the unit include Courier
Service, Equipment Technician
Services, and Portable
Oxygen Tank Exchange
Services.
Safety First
Supplementing the basic Patient Transportation program
are services designed to minimize dangerous activities for
nurses such as lifting, transferring, and ambulating patients.The Safe Patient Handling Program protects both
the health and productivity of a hospital’s crucial clinical
staff and contributes to staff recruitment and retention.
Lift Teams
Dedicated transporters, who are trained in proper body
mechanic techniques in lifting and transferring patients,
work together as a Lift Team. At Mobile Infirmary Medical
Center, the two Lift Teams were welcomed with open
arms by doctors and nurses alike and now perform over
3,000 lifts per month.
Walking Partners
When patients need to be ambulated, this enhancement
offers specially trained, CPR-certified transporters as
Walking Partners to assist the patients. Mobile Infirmary’s
Walking Partners program performs over 1,300 walks
monthly, allowing nurses to focus on patient care.
Hospitality
Hospitality must influence the satisfaction of both internal
and external customers.These Patient Transportation
enhancements put the “icing on the cake” for a hospital’s
patients and employees. After all, happy employees =
happy patients!
Hospitality Resource Center
Crothall’s Hospitality Resource Center offers more than a
one-number call center
for support service
requests and
follow-up; it
serves as a
repository of
systems that can
monitor and
measure patient
flow and throughput.Through
specially-trained
dispatchers,
Crothall not only
tracks requests from service users and patients on response and completion times, but also reports transaction
times for patient movement that sometimes causes
bottlenecks in patient flow. At Presbyterian Hospital, the
HRC manages incoming requests for 3 services and is
staffed 17 hours/day, 7 days/week. Dispatchers manage
TeamThroughput software centrally, improving accountability for all associates and response time to requests.
Custom Care Services for Patients,
Guests, and Staff
Patients who get a “hallway” pass from their nurses can
take advantage of a scheduled trip to the Gift Shop or
Chapel or get a breath of fresh air with the Custom Care
Service. Similarly, the staff enjoys delivery of preordered,
prepaid food from the cafeteria or items from the lobby.
Customized services, such as errand running, booking
reservations for employees, or assisting with other timeconsuming activities, can be added to the service.
Patient Companion
“Sitter” Services
Specially trained Patient
Companions can be used as
“sitters” for non-restraint
patients.“They are taught to
respond to specific conditions
based on hospital procedures and protocol and can offer
customized services like reading a book to a patient,”
explains McCullough.
Guest Services
At University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Guest
Relations Program has greatly increased patient satisfaction. Uniformed greeters welcome arriving patients and
visitors, provide wheelchairs, and open car doors. At the
information desks, greeters also give directions and find
appointments.They control visitor traffic to limited areas
such as the ICU and act as the “go to” person for status
updates and doctor reports.They also shuttle patients and
visitors around the UAMS campus on golf carts! At Presbyterian Hospital, a dedicated PT lobby attendant helps coordinate the smooth pickup of patients leaving the hospital
with a valet or personal transportation.
To read the full Presbyterian Hospital, Mobile Infirmary,
or UAMS case studies, go to crothall.com/celebrations.
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 11
feature
A Conversation
with Scott Brown, Medi-Dyn CEO
On July 10, Crothall Services Group acquired Medi-Dyn, Inc.
CEO Scott Brown sat down with us to share his thoughts.
Q: Now that Medi-Dyn is
transitioning to its next phase,
how did it all begin?
A: My father started the company in
1979, cleaning just a single hospital.
In 1992, after practicing law in
Denver, I joined the company as the
VP of Human Resources (actually, I
was the entire HR department). We
had only 10 clients and 43 employees.
Headquartered in
Englewood, CO
Q: What makes Medi-Dyn special?
Provides Environmental
Services, Patient
Transportation, and
Laundry Management
A: In virtually all of our competitors,
58 Healthcare contracts
in 17 states
Strong presence in Texas
and western U.S.
Became part of Crothall
July 10, 2008
Bobby Kutteh has said that
he is very impressed by your
unique training process.
Can you explain?
managers have worked in one or
more other housekeeping companies
during their careers. At Medi-Dyn,
we only recruited from outside the
industry and developed them
internally, teaching them the
discipline, the industry, and our
culture. This ensured that they were
open and receptive to our processes,
and it made us a tightly-knit group
because we all learned together.
Our training process was mandatory
for all managers (including me on my
first day), and it included 3 phases:
Phase 1 – Technical
Phase 2 – Administrative: Quality
control, regulatory, and industry
training
Phase 3 – Management: In-depth
information for running our business
day to day
12 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
Q: Why did you make the decision
to sell, and why was Crothall
a good fit?
A: It was a very difficult decision. This
company has a family feel that we are
all so proud of. I am also proud that
we created a company with a
reputation and values that have been
recognized, and in order to grow and
provide more opportunities for our
people, we needed to go in this
direction. But I wasn’t going to
entrust my employees to just anyone.
Crothall is a company I admire, and I
trust and respect its leadership,
starting with CEO Bobby Kutteh. I
also noticed how smoothly and
sensitively Crothall’s recent merger
with Professional Services went.
Q: What is your message to
Medi-Dyn’s clients?
A: This is a great opportunity for our
clients. In becoming part of a larger
organization, we gain a breadth of
talent that we can leverage to solve
our clients’ operational problems,
especially in the disciplines we
couldn’t previously offer. I also hope
and expect that some of our unique
strengths will positively influence our
new parent company. I am confident
that our clients will be taken care of
as we journey forward as part of
Crothall. We have turned a page in
our history, and I expect great things
in the next chapter!
That’s What
Friends Are For
Nursing Names Crothall
Support Departments as
New Best Friends
EVS Director Jerome Williams and the Florida Hospital Altamonte EVS team
win the Nursing "S.O.S. Award"
“EVS is considered a model department for what it means to be innovative, what it means to reach out
and embrace change, see the bigger context, and create a better patient environment.”
Rob Fulbright, Administrator/CEO, Florida Hospital Altamonte
This year, during Nurse’s Appreciation Week, Nurses
recognized other departments that enhanced their work
environment and helped them reach their goals.This
practice of sharing the spotlight by honoring “friends” is
evidence that hard-pressed clinical resources are turning
to support services departments for critical help. With
success, the resulting relationship finds trust and a new
level of respect between departments, paving the way for
collaborative innovation.
Fulbright, Administrator/CEO,“Our new goal was getting
ED patients admitted and up to open patient beds within
90 minutes.” Using data from TeamCHIMES and the
TeamCare bed tracking system, Williams found that peak
discharge time was from 2 PM to 8 PM, 7 hours after his
well-staffed 1st shift started work. He and his staff created
a new shift to accommodate the goal.
Williams worked with Nursing and Administration to
further troubleshoot throughput problems caused by lack
of communication and a need for more resources.“A high
level of positive communication between EVS, Nursing,
and Administration contributed to our initial and ongoing
success,” comments RM Mark Giuliani.“This facilitated a
clear understanding of expectations and potential
barriers for all. Nursing’s willingness to support timely
notification of needs remains critical to the success of the
overall process.” Having valid data to present to
Administration cleared the way for Williams to show
logically the need for more resources to meet throughput
goals and take some of the burden off Nursing.
Administration responded with the support they needed.
Nursing Goals at the Forefront
Crothall departments at several hospitals were recognized
as “Friends of Nursing” for helping them attain Patient
Throughput, Infection Control, and Patient Care goals. At
St. Vincent Hospital, PT Director Dave Edwards and
his team received the award for providing the greatest
amount of support in the delivery of patient care.
Riverview Medical Center nurses honored EVS/PT
with a Galaxy Award for supporting Nursing and
improving the cleanliness of the facility. General
Mechanic Chris Roper won a “Friend of Nursing” award
from Brookwood Medical Center nurses for getting
the Women’s OR to Joint Commission standards.
The results have been
phenomenal. In the
year and a half since,
the percentage of
turnarounds meeting
the 60-minute goal
has risen 24%, from
54% in March 2007
to 78% in July 2008.
Florida Hospital Altamonte:
Communication, Innovation, and Sacrifice
At Florida Hospital Altamonte, EVS Director Jerome
Williams and his team won the “S.O.S. Award” (See It, Own
It, Solve It) for helping Nursing achieve infection control
and patient throughput goals. According to Client Rob
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% Meeting 60 Minutes or Less
Discharge Cleaning Time
July 2008
March 2007
0%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
90 100
AUGUST 2008 CELEBRATIONS 13
“Make a Difference”
“It is this kind of
“You can teach
service that brings
people right
great credit upon
from wrong, but
your department
compassion comes
and to this
from the heart.”
hospital.”
Carmen Davis
University of Texas
Health Center at Tyler
Tyler, TX
Nominated by Bill Snow
It was 8:30 PM, and a woman sat in the ER, holding
her 7-month-old child. She had been waiting almost 6
hours since her discharge, unable to arrange
transportation home. Carmen Davis overheard the
woman’s plight and decided to help. Carmen called one
of her relatives who lived 25 miles from the hospital, and
paid her gas money to pick up the woman and child and
drive them over 40 miles to their home. A police officer
who witnessed this act of kindness wrote to express his
appreciation:“It is this kind of service that brings great
credit upon your department and to this hospital…There
are not enough good things said about your department,
and I wanted to share one.” Carmen’s supervisor, Scott
Strong, commented,“You represent the core of what
Crothall is all about!”
14 CELEBRATIONS AUGUST 2008
Kimber Washington
Brookwood Medical Center
Birmingham, AL
Nominated by Kyle Naessig
Kimber Washington was performing turndown
service one evening, when she heard someone
complaining about a visitor who smelled like urine.
Kimber stopped what she was doing and went to the
room. When she entered, she realized that the visitor was
in a wheelchair, and she asked if she could help. The
visitor told Kimber that she had been out all day and the
undergarments she was wearing had not been changed.
Kimber asked the visitor if she would like help going to
the restroom to clean up. The visitor embraced this act of
kindness and was relieved of any further embarrassment.
The only reason Kimber recounted this story was to
explain that she might be a few minutes behind on her
work. Her supervisor, Frank Danzy, commented,“In my
entire career in healthcare I have never seen compassion
of this magnitude. It is good to know that there are still
some people who care. You can teach people right from
wrong, but compassion comes from the heart.”
Our Employees
“Make a Difference”
Meet Crothall employees who demonstrate through their actions
what it means to truly “Make a Difference.”
Carmen Davis
“It is this kind of service
Anna Simon &
Doug Stoddard
that brings great credit
“An entire week’s trash
upon your department
(including dirt and lawn
and to this hospital.”
clippings) had to be
removed to find the box.”
Kimber Washington
“You can teach people
right from wrong, but
compassion comes from
the heart.”
CROTHALL SERVICES GROUP
955 Chesterbrook Blvd.
Wayne, PA 19087
www.crothall.com
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