Author: electricpulp

Meeting people where they are and bringing accessible health care to our communities is a goal we’ve set at Monument Health. In addition to providing free and reduced-cost health screenings to achieve this goal, we have recently launched a pilot program for Community Health Workers, hiring three in the Rapid City market, and one in Spearfish.

This is a grant-funded program sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the South Dakota Department of Health. To be a Community Health Worker (CHW) in this program, our caregivers had to complete a certification class through Lake Area Technical College.

The main purpose of the CHW is to mitigate some of the social determinants of health gaps. To get there, the CHW will partner with our Ambulatory Case Managers in primary care at the Rapid City Clinic on Flormann Street and the Family Medicine Residency Clinic to identify patients who would benefit from the involvement of a Community Health Worker.

“What’s so exciting about this approach is that Community Health Workers meet the patients where they are. It could be their home, the homeless shelter or wherever,” said Shelly Roy, Associate CNO of Nursing Professional Practice, who implemented the CHW program at Monument Health. “By going to them, we’re able to learn more about them and develop a relationship to help them get what they need on their health care journey. It could be helping the patient gain access to healthy food at a food bank, making sure the patient is able to apply for Medicaid or enrolling them in classes to engage in healthy living education.

This program strengthens our commitment to our communities and relationships with other nonprofit organizations in the region. This helps us work together to create a healthier and stronger Black Hills.

As we work within our communities we hope to see fewer trips to the Emergency Department and more preventative and maintenance care for diseases like diabetes, hypertension and mental health.

Monument Health Rapid City Hospital recently received the Stryker Gold Environmental Excellence Award in recognition of sustainability efforts. To earn this award, our caregivers identified and recycled 13 tons of single-use medical equipment.

Stryker is a medical technology company that manufactures and sells surgical and medical equipment. At Rapid City Hospital, ultrasonic scalpels, ligatures, EP catheters and ECG leads were recycled and sent to Stryker Sustainability Solutions for reprocessing and remanufacturing, rather than going to a landfill.

Throughout 2022, caregivers recycled more than 26,000 pounds of medical equipment. Once recaptured items are processed or remanufactured and quality tested, they can be repurchased at lower costs resulting in savings and reduced waste. By working with Stryker and committing to purchasing recycled materials, Monument Health saved more than $426,000 in 2022.

Jace Brock, a buyer with Supply Chain, coordinated the partnership with Stryker contributing to the award. He says sustainability is a passion and this partnership is just one of many sustainability initiatives within the organization. “These are not large objects so it demonstrates just how much is being kept out of landfills,” said Brock, noting the scope of the project. “They add up to more than 25,000 pounds.”

He credits widespread cooperation throughout the hospital for being able to capture and divert that much waste. “This recognition represents our caregivers and their support of this partnership,” he said, “Without their continued efforts, we would never capture and divert this much waste.”

Rachel Astleford, a Clinical Dietitian with Monument Health Lifestyle Medicine, was always involved with athletics growing up. When she went to college, she joined the track and field team, throwing the javelin and the shot put. After graduation she wanted to find a way to stay involved in athletic competitions. “I decided to try powerlifting when I was still new to Rapid City,” Rachel said. “I ended up just kind of signing up for this powerlifting meet on a whim probably about four months before it took place. That was in January 2021 and I just had an absolute blast.”

Since her first meet, Rachel has competed twice more, and in her most recent competition she broke two state records for her weight class. One was for the bench press, and the other was the total record, which is a sum of the weights lifted for the squat, deadlift and the bench press.

“It was a super fun day, and those were just kind of like the cherry on top of everything. It’s just fun to have your hard work pay off in that way,” Rachel said.

Rachel has always had a passion for food and an interest in the medical field, so becoming a Clinical Dietitian seemed like a natural career path for her. After graduating, Rachel interned at Monument Health and then found herself working in Missouri. When the opportunity arose in late 2021 to return to Rapid City to join the Lifestyle Medicine department, she was happy to accept.

“We see people for everything from weight management to Crohn’s and celiac disease to metabolic disorders. I also specialize in pediatric nutrition and sports nutrition, so I get referrals from orthopedics and sports medicine doctors, which is kind of interesting,” Rachel explained. “It’s a really good variety, and a lot of our role is just educating people if they have a new diagnosis, and helping people make lifestyle changes that are sustainable, and that are going to help with whatever their goals are going forward.”

Rachel finds her love of nutrition and athletic competition useful when it comes to helping her patients. She says, “I’m not a trainer or an exercise physiologist, but I know how much exercise has helped me, both mentally and physically.” Rachel encourages her patients to consider exercise or strength training if their physician recommends it. The most rewarding part of her job, however, is helping people change the way they see food and nutrition. “I love to help people heal their relationship with food and learn how to use food to benefit them and not run their lives.”

Lifestyle Medicine focuses on six areas to improve health — two of which are increase physical activity and healthful eating. Rachel embodies these in both her professional and personal life, as an athlete and as part of a team dedicated to helping patients achieve a happier, healthier life.

If you were to survey everyone who works at Monument Health, you’d find veterans throughout the health care system, at every level. Veterans and active duty military personnel are in the families and friend-circles of every caregiver and provider — respect for our servicemen and servicewomen is part of the culture at Monument Health.

A significant number of our patients are veterans as well, and the Monument Health Military and Veterans Group is always looking for ways to recognize and honor them.

“When a patient registers as an inpatient with the hospital, one of the questions they are asked is if they’re a veteran, and if they would like to be visited by a member of the Military and Veterans Group,” explained Mark Harder, Supervisor of Radiation Therapy Rapid City Hospital. “We do get quite a lot of notifications for veterans in different spots to visit.”

Mark is the Chair of the Military and Veterans Group. In addition to visiting our veteran patients, the group makes sure that there are American flags for veteran patient doors, and organizes Hero Walks for veteran patients who spend their final days at a Monument Health location.

Their latest accomplishment? The creation of magnets for veteran inpatients, identifying them as veterans and noting what branch of the military they served in. The magnets are displayed on the exterior of the patient’s door, in every hospital with inpatients. “We want to recognize the service that these patients have done for their country and community. They put themselves in harm’s way for the nation, and we want them to know that we appreciate what they’ve done,” Mark said.

Mark has been instrumental in making sure that the magnets were produced and distributed to all Monument Health hospitals, but he’s quick to share the credit. “This wasn’t my idea — a number of people wanted to do something like this and after talking about it in one of our meetings I just ran with it,” he said. “But this is a team effort from the entire Military and Veterans Group, not just me.”

Thank you Mark, and our Military and Veterans Group, for everything you do to honor our veteran patients. To all of our military and veteran patients, caregivers, providers and community members, thank you for your service.