We are aware of the recent news that Samaritan provided a proposal to the City of Watertown Planning Board with the preliminary idea to construct a new building on our property. However, there is some confusion on this process.
Samaritan is consistently looking to meet our patients’ and the community’s healthcare needs, and oftentimes this can lead to new construction and renovation of existing space. Adequate space is often a challenge at healthcare facilities.
At this time, Samaritan is proactively bringing construction ideas and questions to the City of Watertown Planning Board as there are new City zoning changes that we need to navigate together. The goal is to understand the zoning changes and how it impacts any possible new construction for the Medical Center.
That being said, Samaritan is only in the investigative stage of potentially constructing a new building near the main hospital. These are preliminary discussions and there is no official Certificate of Need (CON) submitted to the NYS Department of Health (DOH) or Samaritan Medical Center Board approval at this time.
Samaritan is pulling our submission from the City of Watertown Planning Board because our intent was to have a conversation about future plans, not seek approval for a new building. We simply wanted feedback and we did receive very valuable feedback. However, there was some miscommunication on both ends. We did not anticipate seeking any approval from the City at this time.
Once there are more permanent plans, Samaritan and our construction teams will go back to the Planning Board and let the community know of our future plans.
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center is pleased to announce its DAISY and BEE Award recipients for February 2023. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® recognizes exemplary nursing staff, and the BEE Award honors other outstanding staff members who support patient care, both at the hospital and all outpatient clinics.
Taylor Endres, registered nurse at Car Freshner Center for Women and Children at Samaritan Medical Center received the DAISY Award. Jacqueline Henry, unit clerk at Samaritan Medical Center’s Inpatient Mental Health Unit, received the BEE Award.
Sarabrooke Mowery, PA and grateful patient at Samaritan Medical Center nominated Endres saying:
Taylor Endres, RN
“Taylor was the difference in excellent labor, delivery, and maternal after care in the 48 hours after our daughters birth. Taylor was the primary nurse during labor and delivery portion and she was phenomenal. She cared for me in a way that really showed she cared. Anything and everything to make me comfortable, she did it without hesitation. Her experience not only as a nurse, but as a mother herself, was apparent and every tip and trick was offered to me through my very painful and quick labor. When Taylor came on the next evening, out of the goodness of her heart, came by to check on baby and me, even though she does not work in the maternal ward. She was the one who listened to us and turned my care around. She listened and provided as the great nurse she is. After our concerns were raised she jumped into action and my pain was the primary focus. Within minutes she had medication to sooth my pain and an endless supply of ice diapers. Our assigned night shift nurse took the time to teach proper swaddling and baby bathing techniques. With Taylor’s care and love for her job, we were finally able to truly focus on our baby and enjoy her. Taylor is a blessing and an amazing nurse, she is one of the reasons Samaritan Labor & Delivery has the great reputation it does.”
For receiving the DAISY Award – which is an international award backed by The DAISY Foundation – Endres was presented with a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse, a DAISY Award pin, and a symbolic sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe. A larger version of this sculpture has also been installed in the Healing Gardens at Samaritan Medical Center in honor of all DAISY and BEE Award winners to come. It was purchased using funds donated by the Samaritan Auxiliary.
Henry was nominated by a Robyn McGowan, RN at Samaritan Medical Center with the following statement for nomination:
Jacqueline Henry, Unit Clerk
“Jaqueline is an asset to our unit. Especially on our weekend, she is extremely helpful. She comes to the nurse’s station to give us updates, helps with the extensive phone calls, scheduling visitations, and other various tasks; allowing the nurses to focus on their own duties with patient care. She is very knowledgeable with computer skills, and help the nurses immensely. She handles every task with ease. She exemplifies Samaritan’s values: accountability, honesty, empathy, respect, and trustworthiness. She is a true team player. She is always going above and beyond to help the unit run as smoothly as possible. She is the first to offer to sit with patients who have coded when we are short-staffed or when it is unsafe for a safety aide to be off the unit with the volatile patient population. When her unit clerk duties are completed, she asks for more jobs/tasks to do within her job description. Her actions reflect great credit upon herself, IMHU, and Samaritan Medical Center.”
Henry was presented with a certificate, a BEE Award pin, and a gift bag with other tokens of gratitude.
Both awards will continue to be presented throughout the year, and nominations can be submitted by patients, families, or colleagues at any time. To make a nomination or to learn more about the Samaritan DAISY and BEE Awards, visit www.samaritanhealth.com/daisy-bee.
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About Samaritan Medical Center
Samaritan Medical Center (Watertown, New York) is a 290-bed not-for-profit community medical center, offering a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services. From primary and emergency care to highly specialized medical and surgical services, such as cancer treatment, neonatal intensive care, behavioral health and addiction services, and imaging services, Samaritan Medical Center and its team of healthcare professionals proudly serves the medical needs of our civilian and military community. Quality, compassion, and safety are the basic principles by which exceptional care is delivered at Samaritan.
About The DAISY Foundation
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 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 Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 3,900 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of direct care Nurses, Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and for nurses participating in medical missions. More information is available at http://www.DAISYfoundation.org.
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center announces the implementation of a free, secure, and convenient process for patients to obtain online access to medical scans and images, effective April 3, 2023. When a patient has imaging/radiology testing done at any Samaritan facility, those images and accompanying reports will be available via secure online access through our partnership with Nuance PowerShare. This system is separate from our patient portal systems. It can be accessed by the patient and any medical provider that the patient designates to see their images.
Patients will need to create a secure account with PowerShare in order to access medical scans and images. This account created provides Samaritan with consent to provide these electronic medical images to patients via this secure system. Patients can also grant access to their medical providers. This is the quickest and most convenient way to get medical images to providers.
A secure account with PowerShare will provide many benefits to patients – online access to medical images at no charge; accessibility from anywhere, at any time, with any internet-connected device; unlimited secure storage of medical images; images can be downloaded from the system to have forever; and the ability to share your images with doctors who need to see them.
To gain access to this new system, patients need only email [email protected] or call 315-785-4527 and provide their full name and date of birth. Patients can expect a response within one business day. This will start the official electronic process to gain access to PowerShare. Once an account is set up, patients will need to specify which images they are requesting. Full details are available at samaritanhealth.com/powershare.
If patients do not have access to the internet, or do not want to create a PowerShare account, the traditional method to receive images on a disc will still be available. Those without internet access can request images in-person at the Medical Records Department with a signed Release of Information form. Others may request images via email to [email protected] with a signed Release of Information form, which is available at samaritanhealth.com/release-information.
Watertown, NY– After careful consideration, and because the COVID-19 hospitalization rates remain stable, Samaritan Medical Center announces an update to visitation hours.
As of Monday, April 3, 2023, Medical/Surgical (inpatient) Units, Intensive Care Unit, and Progressive Care Unit patients may have visitors from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
For safety purposes, all visitors must be in good health. We have updated our visitor management system and remind inpatient visitors that a driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID is required at the time of visit. Most visitation is restricted to those 12 years of age or older. A parent or guardian must accompany visitors under the age of 18. Masks are required, as well as proper hand-washing throughout the visit. Visitors who have recently been in quarantine or in contact with anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 are encouraged to stay home.
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center will no longer require COVID-19 testing prior to outpatient surgical procedures effective Saturday, April 1, 2023, in accordance with New York State Department of Health guidance. Exceptions to this are surgical patients scheduled to be an inpatient post-surgery or any surgical patient with symptoms or at the provider’s discretion. Those patients will test on the day of scheduled surgery upon arrival and admission to the hospital. All patients will be screened for any COVID-19 symptoms before the procedure. Any patient that is sick or ill will be rescheduled for their surgical procedure.
As a result of this change, Samaritan’s COVID-19 Drive-Up Testing Site at 1575 Washington Street, Watertown, will close effective April 1, 2023. Other testing sites are available at local pharmacy locations as well as North Country Family Health Center, 238 Arsenal Street, Watertown, NY, 315-775-7777. For a full listing of community-based COVID-19 testing sites, visit www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites.
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Summit Village Assisted Living received a $21,000 grant through New York State’s EQUAL (Enhancing the Quality of Adult Living) program.
The purpose of this specialty program is to enhance both residents’ quality of care and life experience in Adult Care Facilities (ACFs). This grant allowed the Assisted Living team to purchase numerous items that will enhance residents’ lives with entertainment, physical exercise, enjoying the outdoors, and more. Items such as six large smart televisions, a bocce ball set, six weather-resistant benches, three octagon-shaped picnic tables, a music system for each floor to enjoy, exercise equipment for each floor that allows the residents to work their arms and legs while sitting for strength building, boxing balls for coordination, craft supplies, and Christmas lighting.
Assisted Living Administrator Neva Bossard said, “We discussed residents’ wants and needs through our resident council. We are excited for the new leisure improvements.”
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About Assisted Living at Samaritan Summit Village: With 120 beds, our caregivers assist with daily chores, planning exciting group activities, managing and providing medicine, and so much more. We’re here to help make living easier at a reasonable cost. The services needed by residents may vary widely, but the goal of our care is always the same: helping seniors to live exceptionally.
Watertown, NY – Two projects to improve safety and quality-of-life for Keep Home residents are complete thanks to funding from Samaritan Medical Center Foundation of Northern New York.
Beth Fipps, VP, Foundation and Community Services, said, “Samaritan Foundation is proud to provide upgraded equipment and needed items for residents at the Keep Home. Funds were raised by way of our annual golf tournament in 2022 toward this and other projects for our long term care residents.”
Large smart TVs were purchased and installed to provide communal activities for residents. Samaritan’s Information Systems department helped to ensure installation and activation of online services for each new system. A variety of television show and movie options are now available to residents in the activities room.
Additionally, a new security feature was installed at the main entry point for the Keep Home. Thanks to Foundation funds, residents and staff can now rest easy knowing there is improved accountability of visitors to the facility and for the safety of our residents. This new system went live the week of February 20.
Representatives pictured here, among Samaritan Keep Home residents, are: Amy O’Brien, Samaritan Medical Center Foundation of Northern New York, Clarissa Vohnoutka, Samaritan Information Systems, and Brandi Burnham, Samaritan Keep Home
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center is pleased to announce its BEE Award recipient for January 2023. The BEE Award honors other outstanding staff members who support patient care, both at the hospital and all outpatient clinics.
Allen Gray, screening and visitation specialist at Samaritan Medical Center, received the BEE Award.
Gray was nominated by a grateful patient with the following excerpt from their nomination:
Allen Gray, screening and visitation specialist
“This man was so kind to me and truly made a difference in the toughest time in my life… I just want him to know how much that means to me.”
Of significance, Gray has been nominated on multiple occasions by patients and co-workers who echo sentiments of his compassion and kindness as they are registering for services.
Gray was presented with a certificate, a BEE Award pin, and a gift bag with other tokens of gratitude.
To make a nomination or to learn more about the Samaritan BEE Awards, visit www.samaritanhealth.com/daisy-bee.
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About Samaritan Medical Center Samaritan Medical Center (Watertown, New York) is a 290-bed not-for-profit community medical center, offering a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services. From primary and emergency care to highly specialized medical and surgical services, such as cancer treatment, neonatal intensive care, behavioral health and addiction services, and imaging services, Samaritan Medical Center and its team of healthcare professionals proudly serves the medical needs of our civilian and military community. Quality, compassion, and safety are the basic principles by which exceptional care is delivered at Samaritan.
Watertown, New York – Samaritan Auxiliary’s One Night, One Diamondis being held on Saturday, March 25 from 6:00-11:00pm at The Commons on Fort Drum again this year. Tickets are $215 per couple, which includes dinner, dancing to the popular band ‘Atlas’, and an opportunity to win the one-carat diamond donated by Cook’s Jewelers, or a get-away package either to Lake Placid’s Mirror Lake Inn Resort & Spa or Clayton’s 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel. For tickets or more information please visit the website www.samaritanhealth.com/onod or with questions contact [email protected] or (315) 408-7895. RSVP’s with the names of attendees and date of birth, for entrance onto Fort Drum, must be received by March 14, 2023.
This year’s event proceeds will improve quality healthcare through strategic equipment purchases. The BioFire’s syndromic approach to Infectious Disease diagnostics helps to quickly identify multiple pathogens allowing for one sample to comprehensively accomplish multiple tests in a significantly shorter time period and in a single report, thereby improving patient management and outcomes. As additional BioFire modules are added in the Samaritan Laboratory it will allow for a greater number of tests to be accomplished to include respiratory, gastrointestinal, cerebrospinal fluid panel testing for meningitis/encephalitis, blood culture, and pneumonia panel. This type of approach improves patient care and decreases the time needed for a diagnosis leading to treatment.
The Hologic Breast PACS System for Samaritan Women’s Wellness and Breast Care is advanced technology that will allow simultaneous review across multiple breast imaging modalities. Viewing mammography, breast ultrasound, and breast MR images simultaneously with current imagery results in faster read times and quicker results thereby enhancing patient care.
The Blue Diamond Sponsors are Apogee Physician and KeyBank. Pink Diamond Sponsors include Bob Johnson Auto Group, Purcell Construction, SeaComm, and Dr. Shikhar Vyas & Mrs. Vidhya Vyas – in memory of Gautam S. Vyas. Media Sponsors are the Watertown Daily Times, 7News, and Runningboards Marketing. Other top sponsors include Coca-Cola Company, FX Caprara Car Companies, Hancock Estabrook, Ives Hill Country Club, King + King Architects, The Martin Group, Nickles Property Service, Renzi Foodservice Charitable Foundation, Slack Chemical Company, Watertown Wealth Management, Philip J. Sprague.
Among last year’s Auxiliary highlights the 2022 One Night, One Diamond, celebrated virtually, generated a record $110,322 as a result of the gracious and overwhelming generosity of our community, sponsors, and donors allowing for the purchase of an ultraviolet disinfecting devise used in the terminal sanitization of rooms at the Medical Center, as well as supporting the purchase of five Sleep Diagnostic Systems for the Samaritan Sleep Lab. This was accomplished while honoring all Samaritan Caregivers throughout the entire system.
The Auxiliary runs the Gift Shops at the Samaritan Medical Center and Samaritan Summit Village, as well as the Starbucks Coffee Shop at the Medical Center, along with the Auxiliary uniform and purse sales for the staff, and membership dues which provide funding for support of programs, services, and the pledge commitment to support Samaritan Health. The Auxiliary had committed $500,000 as its most recent pledge commitment to the Capital Campaign for the Walker Center for Cancer Care, and annually provides two $1500 scholarships to Samaritan employees to further their education in a healthcare field of study. Additionally, the Auxiliary has continued the WHALE (We Have A Little Emergency) child safety seat ID program [email protected] and That’s Using Your Head, a helmet ID safety program [email protected], in conjunction with our Kinney Drugs Foundation partner.
About Samaritan Auxiliary: The Samaritan Auxiliary was established in 1896 to serve as ambassadors and volunteers to support and enhance healthcare programs at the House of the Good Samaritan. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the Samaritan Auxiliary is composed entirely of volunteers and play a vital role today in improving the quality of care in the Samaritan system through volunteer activities and financial support. Since 2006 when the event began raising funds for equipment, Samaritan Auxiliary’s One Night, One Diamond proceeds have purchased nearly a million dollars in equipment for Samaritan Medical Center.
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center Foundation of Northern New York will host the 26th annual Thousand Islands Golf Classic event on Thursday & Friday, June 8th & 9th, 2023. The presenting sponsor is International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 910 & Northern New York National Electrical Contractors Association.
This year’s event features a dinner reception and live auction on Thursday, June 8th, at the Edgewood Resort. On Friday, June 9th, enjoy 18 holes of golf at the beautiful Thousand Islands Country Club. Both the Old- and Lake-Courses will be utilized. The online silent auction will begin Monday, May 15th, and will close on Thursday, June 8th.
The increased demand for mental health services in our community can be seen as Samaritan’s Emergency Department behavioral health unit patient volume has doubled this past year, and our inpatient mental health unit continues to be full. A portion of the proceeds raised from this year’s event will be dedicated to enhancing vital mental health services at Samaritan Medical Center.
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