Now these and many more important “what if” questions directly concerning the quality of patient care at Saint Louis University Hospital can be answered, thanks to the Grand Vision Grant initiative, created and sponsored by the Saint Louis University Hospital Auxiliary.

This exciting new program, introduced in January 2001, earmarked $150,000 this year for projects supporting the Auxiliary’s mission “to promote and advance the welfare of the patients, their families and the community served by Saint Louis University Hospital.” Tenet and SLU faculty and staff were invited to apply for grants that addressed the needs of patients not covered by SLU Hospital, the University or the Auxiliary.

 “We recognized that the people who have daily contact with patients and families know best what would make their hospitalization more comfortable,” explains JoAnne Shapiro, auxiliary co-chair of the Grand Vision Grant initiative. The grant program challenges and empowers those people to take their ideas to the next step.

All hospital and university employees and medical staff members had until February 14 to submit an approved Grand Vision Grant application. The application asked them to describe their proposed project and explain its goals, objectives, costs, importance and potential impact on those served. They also had to demonstrate how the project would be administered and coordinated, as well as create a timeline of execution and a method of measuring the project’s effectiveness.

“One of the benefits of this grant application process was that it fostered communication within hospital departments,” says Edie Feman, also an Auxiliary co-chair of the initiative. “Employees brought their ideas to managers who discussed them with their entire department, and together they created a way to make that idea work and present it to us.”

The Grand Vision Grant Program review committee received 24 applications, ranging from those asking for the maximum $50,000 to one that asked for $720. All were considered equally and weighed according to several criteria which included:

• The degree that the proposal met the described mission of the Auxiliary
  
• The need/value/contribution of the project for the SLU Hospital medical community
  
• Clarity of specific, identifiable objectives and how they will be measured
  
• Appropriateness of line-item budget with clear explanatory narrative
  
• Management by project administrator
  

The total of all applications amounted to $415,000. Since the Auxiliary resources were limited to $150,000, all valuable proposals could not be funded this year.

Of the 24 considered, 14 Grand Vision Grants were awarded:

Community and Campus Patient Transportation

Joseph H. Flaherty, MD, SLU division of geriatric medicine, received $27,500 to implement his idea of providing a van for transporting patients around the SLU Hospital campus. The program will affect approximately 4,800 patients and families. 

Improving Health with Heating and Air Conditioning

Dr. Flaherty also received $10,000 for a program offering financial aid for heating and cooling bills to elderly patients admitted to the hospital. Being forced to make a choice between paying for heating and cooling or medications affects the health of these patients.

“Health Maintenance of the Patient”-A Special Publication of Successful Aging

Nina Tumosa, PhD, SLU division of geriatric medicine, was awarded a $17,000 grant to create a 24-page brochure containing articles, graphs, crossword puzzles, questionnaires and pictures designed to teach people about recommended annual medical tests and about medical topics, such as cholesterol levels, obesity and hormone replacement therapies. The publication will be distributed to approximately 70,000 families during a nine-month period.

Exercise for Dialysis Patients

Marie Philipneri, MD, SLU division of nephrology, proposed an exercise program for hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients to include strengthening, flexibility and aerobic exercises to be performed while patients are on the dialysis machine. Included in the $16,790 program are treadmills, stationary bicycles, therapeutic bands, and of course, awards and prizes for successful participants. Currently, 155 patients receive dialysis.

Purchase and Installation of Artwork in the Corridors of Five Inpatient Floors

Gloria Miller-Bogus, CNO, of SLU Hospital, and Phillip VanCleave, director of building services for SLU Hospital, suggested that by hanging 15 pieces of artwork per floor, for a total of 75 prints, the environment of the hospital would become more visually pleasing for patients and families. They were given a $10,000 grant to implement this idea.

Recreational Activities for Abdominal Transplant

7 North nurse manager Lorraine Hill, RN, had an idea that focuses on the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients recovering from abdominal transplant surgery. The resulting $7,600 she was awarded will go toward the purchase of games, a treadmill and two stationary bicycles, impacting the recovery of 21 patients a day and 7,700 patient days a year.

Educational Video Presentation for Breast Cancer Patients

A $7,074 grant awarded to John A. Miller, MHA, SLU division of general surgery, will fund the development of two video presentations for breast cancer patients. The first video focuses on the options, and if selected, the process of having a breast biopsy. The second video discusses the options one has once diagnosed with breast cancer. The project aims to empower patients, in the privacy of their own homes, with information about their disease. Approximately 100 patients will receive the videos.

Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Education Center

Awarded to Kathy Nipper, RN, MSN, nurse manager for 9 North, and Vonda Temporal, RN, MSN, geriatric clinical nurse manager, this $7,000 grant enhances the ability to educate older patients and their families through the use of videocassettes and a portable large-screen monitor.

Cardiac Surgery Patient Education and Comfort

This $6,456 grant, awarded to Pat Crafton, RN, 7 ICU, and Mary Rich, RN, nurse manager for 7 South, provides pre- and post-operative teaching guides to open-heart surgery patients. In addition, patients receive comforting heart-shaped pillows that have an anatomically correct diagram of the heart and major vessels. A marker attached to the pillow can be used for patient education and for family and visitors to leave a message of good wishes. The teaching guides and pillows will be distributed to the 300 open-heart patients treated at the hospital this year.

Paging Devices-OR/Ambulatory Care

Tricia Nester, SLU Hospital medical staff office database analyst, submitted the idea of an on-site paging device for communication with patients and waiting families in the ambulatory care unit and operating room. The resulting $5,045 grant allows for the purchase of paging devices so families on the hospital grounds can remain in touch with hospital personnel.

Bone Marrow Registry Drive

Bree Owens, SLU public relations, and medical student Michael Riley teamed up to create a program coordinated with the Heart of America Bone Registry to underwrite the $25 typing fee for donors. The $5,000 grant will underwrite the typing fee so that no one wishing to be a bone marrow donor would not be turned away because of the cost.

Auxiliary Comfort Closet

Ralf Lucas, SLU Hospital director of customer relations, received a $5,000 grant to stock a “closet” of toiletries, books, puzzles and games for inpatients who forgot to bring such items when admitted to the hospital. Lucas expects many patients to benefit from this program.

Diversional Activity Enhancement

Awarded to SLU Hospital psychiatric consultation liaison nurses Shari Helbig, RN, and Mary Kennedy Hughes, RN, this $1,604 grant funds the development of a comprehensive library of recreational activities for patients, thereby easing their psychological concerns while in the hospital.

More Paging Devices

Helbig and Kennedy Hughes also envisioned a program that enables families of patients to leave the physical premises of the hospital and still maintain a direct link with the hospital. The $720 they were awarded for this idea will lease 20 beepers.

Looking ahead, the Auxiliary hopes the result of this year’s Grand Vision Grant initiative will encourage more hospital employees to envision ways to put their grand visions into action. “We encourage anyone who has an idea that would improve patient care at Saint Louis University Hospital or Saint Louis University to make their case in a grant application next year,” Feman says. “It is the best way the Auxiliary knows of thanking the hospital for all it does for people.”  The Auxiliary also wishes to thank all of the employees of the hospital and the university. Without their continued support, this grant project would not have been possible.

The Auxiliary has a 50-year history of service to the hospital.  If anyone would like any information about the Auxiliary, its programs or membership, please call (314) 577-8030.