An Innovator’s Café event was held Thursday, September 23, 2010 at Porter Health System. This event, “A Culture of Excellence: Fostering Innovation through Evidence-based Practices”, co-sponsored by Porter and Ivy Tech Community College of Northwest Indiana, focused on Porter’s successful model of combining evidence-based medicine and leadership to create an environment of innovation and a culture of delivering high-quality care.
The Café opened with an introduction by Barb Young, President of Porter County Community Foundation and J. Guadalupe Valtierra, Chancellor of Ivy Tech, followed by a lunch and presentation, given by Porter CEO Jonathan Nalli. He spoke on the various aspects of medicine in which Porter is leading the way, from robotic surgery to evidence-based care in the ICU to a higher rate of employee satisfaction. Porter is consistently encouraging their employees by rewarding those who work hard and listening to the feedback they provide. The encouragement leads to better work performance which ultimately betters the quality of care delivered daily at the hospital.
After Nalli’s presentation and a question and answer session, the group of 115 broke up into smaller sessions to learn more details about the areas in which Porter is excelling. Taffy Arias, RN, and Cathy Pera, RN, gave a presentation on Hourly Rounding, a system that the nurses utilize in checking on their patients, making sure they are comfortable and receiving the best care. Critical Care Project, a look into the ICU and how Porter has increased survival rate and decreased risk of infection, was presented by Terri Fontenot, RN, Dr. Doug Mazurek, and Dr. Tim Whetsel. Dr. Adam Perlmutter presented on Robotic Surgery, demonstrating how the machinery works and how utilizing this method leads to a safer procedure and quicker recovery. Rounding out the sessions, Congestive Heart Failure was presented by Mark Kime, Director of Cardiology, and Terry Pugh, RN, focusing particularly on the excellent follow up care heart patients receive at Porter.