News in Brief: The Hospital Edition

The following was taken from several Bridgeport Hospital press releases.

New Newborn ICU Family Resource Room opens at Bridgeport Hospital: Just in time for National Prematurity Awareness Month, The Tiny Miracles Foundation celebrated the opening of its new Family Resource Room at the Bridgeport Hospital newborn intensive care unit (NICU). The Tiny Miracles Foundation (TTMF), a local non-profit organization dedicated to helping families with premature babies, funded the renovation and design of the new family resource center for families with babies hospitalized in the newborn intensive care unit at Bridgeport Hospital.

TTMF partnered with Milt Jacoby of The Joan Jacoby Fund, which had previously donated the space as a pediatric waiting room to bring this project to fruition. The two donors agreed that the underutilized waiting room would better serve both NICU and pediatric unit families as a fully-equipped resource lounge, which was desperately needed by NICU families. So with the blessing of Mr. Jacoby, TTMF overhauled the room into a beautiful, convenient and comfortable place for parents to relax, convene, and learn during lengthy NICU visits. This resource room will benefit the families of more than 450 babies who pass through the Bridgeport Hospital NICU each year.   

Since parent involvement in the care of premature newborns is critical to the improved health and development of fragile preterm babies, one of the many goals of TTMF’s Family Resource Room is to encourage parents to visit more often and for longer periods of time so they can participate more readily in their infant’s care. As such, the resource lounge offers a comfortable and convenient amenities and educational resources to encourage such visitation and use. Features include a comfortable seating area with TV, DVD, computer, internet, sibling toys and a play corner, plus a kitchenette, private bathroom, and parent lockers. In addition, the lounge is stocked with a library of educational, informational and inspirational books, materials and resources for the families of premature babies in the NICU. Tiny Miracles Foundation volunteer mentors who visit the Bridgeport NICU weekly can now meet with parents in the resource room and will restock the library and children’s corner as needed.

The Family Resource Room Dedication and Grand Opening Ceremony was hosted by the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation on Nov. 16, 2011. The celebration was attended by hospital leaders, neonatal and pediatric physicians, NICU staff and NICU graduates, as well as Milt Jacoby and members of the Jacoby family, and The Tiny Miracles Foundation directors, volunteers and donors. Commemorative speeches were given by Bridgeport Hospital CEO Bill Jennings, Bridgeport Hospital Foundation President Steve Jakab and Development Director Susan Chudwick, and Tiny Miracles Foundation President Elizabeth Klein and Executive Director Gwen Noto. The speakers emphasized the essential need the new Family Resource Room satisfies and the exemplary spirit of collaboration exhibited by the people and organizations involved in the project.

The Tiny Miracles Foundation’s programs and services provide vital emotional support, financial assistance, education, equipment, supplies, resources and referrals to strengthen families of premature children as they navigate through their ordeal of a premature birth in the NICU and care for and raise their preterm children at home in the years ahead. For more information about The Tiny Miracles Foundation, please visit www.ttmf.org, or contact TTMF at 203-202-9714 or info@ttmf.org.

Melissa Turner to assume dual Human Resources role at Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital: Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) has promoted Melissa Turner to the dual role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital, effective January 2012.

Turner already serves as Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Greenwich Hospital, where she has worked since 2007. She will replace Senior Vice President, Human Resources Joseph Janell at Bridgeport Hospital. Janell will retire at the end of 2011 after 40 years with the organization.

“This opportunity allows both Greenwich Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital to take innovative steps in streamlining and leveraging our System’s administrative structure,” said Bridgeport Hospital President and CEO William M. Jennings and YNHHS Senior Vice President, Human Resources Kevin Myatt in a Nov. 16 letter to employees of both hospitals.

“Melissa has made significant contributions to Greenwich Hospital’s Human Resources functions, including recruitment, employee relations, compensation, benefits, information systems, staff education and development,” the two officials say. “Over time, she has worked with her team to align their personal career aspirations with the needs of our increasingly complex organization.”

Turner holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and she completed the Wharton School of Business Executive Education Program for Leadership Development. She resides in Greenwich with her husband Tony and their two children.

“I have found my career home in healthcare,” Turner says. “It has provided me with the perfect platform to pursue the work I enjoy while also giving back to the community.”

Bridgeport Hospital has been a member of YNHHS since 1996 and Greenwich Hospital joined in 1998. 

Child FIRST Program Achieves National Status: Child FIRST (Family Interagency  Resources, Support and Training), founded in 1998 by Bridgeport Hospital pediatrician Dr. Darcy Lowell, has been designated as one of only nine national evidence-based home visiting models for maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Child FIRST is an early child intervention program that works to decrease the incidence of serious emotional disturbance, developmental and learning problems, and abuse and neglect among high-risk young children and families. A team consisting of a master's degree-level mental health/developmental clinician and care coordinator provide comprehensive in-home assessments of child and family needs, observation and consultation in early care and education settings, parent-child mental health intervention, development of a child and family plan of care, and care coordination/case management.

“We know that families want to do their best for their children,” says Lowell. “We can dramatically improve the outcomes not only for the child but for the whole family if we intervene at the earliest possible time. This is critical to creating healthy, successful learners and closing the achievement gap.”

The HRSA/ACF designation is based on a comprehensive review of a randomized controlled trial conducted by Child FIRST and reviewed by Mathematica, a national policy research firm dedicated to improving public well-being through quality data collection and analysis. Child FIRST families showed significant improvement in child emotional and behavioral problems, child language development, maternal depression and stress, involvement by protective services, and access to community-based services and supports.

Child FIRST received the 2007 Community Service Award from the state Department of Public Health and Connecticut Hospital Association for its efforts to improve the health of at-risk children. Last year, the program expanded to the Hartford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, New Britain and Waterbury areas. The state Department of Children and Families (DCF) has incorporated Child FIRST into its early childhood system with a plan to expand statewide into all 15 DCF regional service areas. 

Child FIRST receives funding support from multiple local, state and federal organizations concerned with the welfare of young children and their families. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the largest health philanthropy in the nation, has provided $5.5 million along with 18 other matching philanthropic partners toward statewide replication of the program. The new HRSA/ACF designation will help replicate Child FIRST on a national level.

For more information, call Child FIRST at 203-384-3626.