News

KCH Announces DAISY Award Winner

September 3, 2019, 8:16 AM HST (Updated September 3, 2019, 8:16 AM)

Kona Community Hospital (KCH) last week named Liana Steindamm as its 3rd quarter DAISY Award recipient for extraordinary nursing.

Steindamm, a Women’s Health Unit nurse, was nominated by the father of a newborn who was delivered at KCH. The nominator described Steindamm as a “wonderful nurse” and credited her hard work and commitment with making their “stay feel like home,” a KCH press release said.

KCH recently partnered with the DAISY Foundation to honor extraordinary nurses. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care provided to patients and families, the release continued.

“We’re all so proud of Liana,” said Stephanie Irwin, KCH education director and DAISY Committee member. “She is an amazing nurse, and this is a well-deserved award.”

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families or colleagues. The award recipient is chosen by a committee at Kona Community Hospital to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented quarterly at celebrations attended by the honoree’s colleagues, patients and visitors.

The DAISY Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.

The care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.

KCH Dietary Department Welcomes Chef Sam Choy

April 25, 2019, 5:08 PM HST (Updated April 25, 2019, 5:08 PM)

The Kona Community Hospital (KCH) dietary department welcomed Chef Sam Choy to its inaugural guest chef event. The occasion, held on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, was in celebration of KCH’s healthy dietary initiative ‘Ai Pono, Ho‘omaka ana—Eat Healthy, New Beginnings.

Chef Choy’s award-winning cuisine represents the ideals of KCH’s dietary initiative: fresh, local dishes influenced by the land and people of Hawai‘i. Chef Choy and the KCH cafeteria staff prepared Loco Moco Kona Style and plant-based Vegetable Adobo.

Meals featured fresh, locally grown ingredients and were served to hospital staff and visitors through Ginger Café. Patients on standard diets were also offered their choice of the special entrees.

In March, after six months of working with Beyond Green Sustainable Food Partners to improve the cafeteria program, the KCH cafeteria achieved several milestones. Twenty-five percent of the food served to hospital staff and patients was sourced from local farms through the addition of new local food vendors such as Adaptations, Fresh Island Fish, Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative and long time vendor, Cal-Kona.

Additionally, the cafeteria launched a new grab-and-go scratch-cooked breakfast menu resulting in an
increase in participation of 103%.

The daily offering of scratch cooked healthy meals continued to gain support with hospital staff choosing vegan meals for the first time in their life and asking for recipes to make the dishes at home.

“Chef Choy’s recipes were delicious,”, said Judy Donovan, marketing and strategic planning director at Kona Community Hospital. “He was amazing in the kitchen and charming with staff and visitors. This event was truly a celebration to recognize the achievements of the entire dietary department.”

KCH Expands Dietary Initiative

February 4, 2019, 2:45 PM HST (Updated February 4, 2019, 2:45 PM)

Kona Community Hospital expanded its ongoing healthy dietary initiative to include more organic, locally-grown ingredients. The initiative ‘Ai Pono, Ho‘omaka ana—Eat Healthy, New Beginnings—launched in September 2018, also welcomed a vegan chef to the team to bring creative plant-based entrees to the hospital’s Ginger Café.

The hospital reached a local food purchase rate of 25% in November, 2018. With the recent addition of produce vendor, Adaptations Inc, the hospital will see an even higher percentage of local, organic foods in the Ginger Café and in patient meals.

Adaptations Inc sources from 70 Hawai‘i Island farms and offers delivery to the hospital twice weekly. Maureen Datta, co-owner of Adaptations, cites the mutually beneficial relationship in providing local food to the hospital, “Good food is good medicine,” said Datta. “Farm fresh produce harvested to order is bursting with nutrition and doesn’t travel through the traditional supply chain from off-island. A hospital’s cocern is health and our food hub enables the cafeteria team to focus on providing tasty healthful meals for their patients, staff and visitors.” Adaptations’ role in managing the quality control, food safety concerns, availability, invoicing, consolidation and timing logistics for the hospital make it easier for the hospital to source local food.

Ginger Café diners and hospital patients select from a meat and a plant-based meal option daily. House favorites such as chicken adobo, kalua pork and cabbage, and beef tacos compliment the new vegan/vegetarian meals requested by an increasing number of people addressing health and environmental concerns.

Hyejin Terry, Beyond Green Sustainable Food Partners chef, specializes in vegan cuisine. She most recently served as a Cook and Baker at Sweet Cane Café in Hilo. Terry brings a skill in preparing vegan dishes that appeal to the most faithful meat eaters. Terry describes her cooking style as “hearty, comfort food” stemming from her Southern U.S. roots.

“This year we are turning our focus to bringing fresh, cooked from scratch meals to our patients”, says Judy Donovan, Marketing and Strategic Planning Director at Kona Community Hospital. The effort stems from the hospital’s commitment to make healthy choices easier as a Blue Zones Project. The Ginger Café was the first hospital on Hawai‘i Island to earn certification as a Blue Zones Project ApprovedTM restaurant.

Kona Community Hospital proudly welcomed Hawaii`s first baby of the New Year at 12:01 am on January 1st. Parents, Clarissa and John Garcia were thrilled with the 12:01 am birth of Alekah Obra Garcia on January 1st. Adding to the magic of the moment, Clarissa and Johnson are both employees at Kona Community Hospital.

Congratulations to the Garcia family. Your entire KCH o`hana welcomes your its newest arrival.

  Parents, Clarissa & Johnson Garcia welcome baby, Alekha.

Read West Hawaii Today coverage of the happy event at:  New life: First Big Island baby of 2019 birthed at KCH

On September 26, Kona Community Hospital (KCH) will celebrate the completion of its newly remodeled and expanded Pharmacy with a blessing and open house. The event commemorates the culmination of a multidepartment renovation project.

Opened in the 1970’s, the pharmacy department has been constrained by its size for a number of years. The expansion nearly doubles the pharmacy size, creating space for new equipment and furnishings.

Design of the space took workflow efficiency into consideration. The new configuration replaces a cramped, 40-year old pharmacy model, which wasn’t as efficient as it could be. The brightly lit new space includes a general dispensing area that flows into the individual pharmacists’ workstations, also provides plenty of counter space. The pharmacy remodel includes the implementation of Quiet Zones to improve staff concentration and decrease distractions.

Security was also an important design component. The new pharmacy has two access doors, and no external facing windows, increasing staff safety. It is fully alarmed and will be monitored by high-security cameras.

The space has been outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, including:

• Seven zones, each with individual temperature and humidity control
• All new air handlers
• A HEPA air filtration system
• Pharmacy grade refrigeration
• 6’ Laminar Flow Hood

Additionally, the KCH pharmacy will be compliant United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 797 standards for sterile compounding. It will also be one of the first pharmacies in Hawaii to be USP 800 compliant in the handling and storage of hazardous drugs such as chemotherapy.

“The pharmacy’s new layout and technology will reduce potential for medication errors’” said Pharmacy Director, Marilinda Passon. “The new design will help us ensure that medications are dispensed safely and accurately so that we provide nurses and doctors the tools they need to heal the community.”

Noting that pharmacists no longer work only behind the scenes, Passon says, “Our pharmacists have a key role in employee and patient education. We’re thrilled that now we’ll be doing that job in a 21^st century pharmacy.”

The KCH pharmacy provides pharmacy services to Kona Community Hospital, the KCH Cancer Treatment Center’s Infusion/Hematology clinic and to Kohala Hospital. Currently, the pharmacy operates 7 days per week and is staffed by 8 pharmacists and 7 pharmacy techs.

To read the full West Hawaii Today article, “Kona Community Hospital Celebrates Volunteers,” dated April 29, 2017, click here

To read the full West Hawaii Today article, “Tax casualty? Maui Memorial Hospital ,” dated April 23, 2017, click here

To read the full Hawaii Tribune-Herald article, “Kaiser Seeks Employees Before Hospital Takeover,” dated April 11, 2017, click here