Karla Bodie is relatively new to IU Health, but she brings with her more than 20 years of experience as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). She cares for palliative care and renal patients at Methodist Hospital. “Our patients have a very specific set of needs that sometimes some other places aren’t going to experience… I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I’ve gone the extra mile for them.”

October is National Physical Therapy month when we have the opportunity to thank all our hard-working physical therapists and physical therapy assistants for the amazing care they give to patients. IU Health’s Comprehensive Wound Center at Methodist Hospital is home to some of Methodist Hospital’s most experienced clinicians, including Stacy McCord and Melanie Austin-Burke. “Seeing the healing in so many ways is the most rewarding thing to me,” said Melanie. “Not just the healing of the wound, but the healing of the whole person where they feel like they can get out there and go again.”

You can’t see them with the naked eye, but germs are everywhere. Some are helpful, like the Lactobacillus acidophilus, which lives in the intestines and helps digest food.

The IU Health South Central Region Infection Prevention team—William Snyderman, Teresa Mathis, Robin Koch, Caroline Tann and Felicia Stipp—work with teams from Martinsville to Paoli to protect patients from harmful germs that can lead to infection and even death.

“Healthcare facilities serve all community members, and they can serve as a location where pathogens are spread,” says Snyderman, the team’s regional manager.

He explains that those pathogens, also known as germs, can take root in schools, places of worship, stores and more. So, being safe in healthcare facilities can protect the community as well.

“Health and safety are so key to our lives and those we serve,” says Mathis, infection preventionist at IU Health Bedford Hospital and IU Health Paoli Hospital. “Simple things like hand hygiene are so important and easy to practice.”

Good hand hygiene is one of the principles of infection prevention. Other essential tools are cleaning and disinfecting, vaccinations, injection safety, respiratory etiquette and proper personal protective equipment.

“By practicing infection prevention principles, we protect ourselves, our patients and our team from infectious disease,” says Snyderman. “Infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility.”

“The infection prevention specialists are here to help teams in our facilities understand the standards and process for keeping our patients safe from harm,” says IU Health Morgan infection preventionist Koch. “It takes all of us working together to keep our patients safe.”

Leo Stenz is the first IU Health patient to receive a new alzheimer’s medication called Lecanemab, a first-of-it’s-kind, FDA approved drug that’s shown to significantly slow a patient’s cognitive decline. “It gave me some excitement that something is coming around the corner,” said Leo, who doctors diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease about two years ago.

For Jason Ponder life in a hospital and growing up with doctors has always been the norm. Since he was a baby, Ponder has struggled with Alport syndrome, a genetic condition, insomnia and early onset Crohn’s disease. For the past seven years, he’s undergone 12 surgeries, the family routinely monitors his kidneys, and he receives monthly iron transfusions and takes medications.

“Jason knows he’s different,” says his mother, Maria Ponder. “To us, it’s just normal, he has had health issues.”

Recently, Ponder has been working through hearing and speech setbacks. Alport syndrome has given him chronic ear infections and issues with his hearing. Since he can’t hear as well, his speech has fallen behind from the standard level for his age.

“As his mom, it can be hard, because I know how much harder it makes things for him. It’s what he has become use to, and he does a good job at handling it.”

The family learned of his auditory memory issues when Ponder was just six years old. This is his second year in kindergarten and communication is becoming more demanding. He has visited a speech pathologist at IU Health Ball for the past three years. From his time here, Ponder and his family have grown close with Alesia Struewing, MA, CCC-SLP.

“Alesia is wonderful,” says his mother. “She does a great job communicating with me about what Jason is struggling with and keeping up with his school teachings. She is always willing to speak up for him and advocate for his needs.”

Every week Ponder comes in after school and they work on his speech with games, activities and practices. His mother will tell Struewing what sight words he has been struggling with that week, and they spend part of the time one-on-one learning it.

Struewing uses various techniques to help Ponder learn and improve. Over the summer, she did a practice called ‘turtle speech’ where she makes him slow down his sentences to talk at an understandable pace where he says each syllable. She recently recommended ADHD medication, but not for ADHD. She found that the medication can help with memory, which is a big struggle for him. “It was a new solution that we hadn’t considered before,” says his mother.

A few weeks ago, Ponder was able to read his first book. His mom shared the video with Struewing who celebrated with the family. “I can tell she has the same amount of excitement and loves to see him progress just as much as we do,” she says.

Struewing even helps the family find programs to help cover the cost of all the health and care appointments. “She has helped me in so many other ways beyond what I expected.” Says his mother. “She advocates for my son and provides us with ways, ideas and techniques for his overall well-being.”

Ponder just celebrated his seventh birthday this month. “We are so proud of him,” says his mom. “He has worked so hard and progressed so much.”

IU Health Tipton welcomed a new robot at the end of September, WALDO (Wonderful Assistant for Labs, Drugs and Other stuff). The robot will support Lab and Pharmacy teams by delivering samples from units to the lab and medications to hospital units. This pilot project will last for four months, and at the end of the pilot period, its success will be evaluated. The goal is to reduce the time team members spend delivering items between units.

IU Health North also has a robot, IU-D2, which is also operating under a four-month pilot program.

Alex Plumer first joined the IU Health Tipton team as an intern in high school. Now, he’s officially a pharmacist.

By Charlotte Stefanski, cstefanski@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health’s Indianapolis Suburban Region

Growing up in Tipton, Alex Plumer always looked up to his older brother. Plumer watched as his brother went through pharmacy school and started his career as a pharmacist at IU Health.

For the last five-and-a-half years, Plumer has been working to do the same. Now he’s officially a pharmacist at IU Health Tipton.

“I loved science and math in school, and he was a role model for me, so it got me interested,” Plumer says.

Plumer’s first experience at IU Health Tipton started back in high school when he took advantage of an internship opportunity where he was able to work in the hospital’s Pharmacy for a semester.

It was Plumer’s first exposure to healthcare as he worked alongside pharmacists and technicians.

There, he learned that a hospital’s inpatient pharmacy works differently than a typical retail pharmacy. He thought it would mostly be counting pills, but it was much more.

“The internship opened my eyes to the complexity of the healthcare system and the many moving parts and contributions that pharmacists can make to the team,” he says.

While attending pharmacy school, Plumer continued to work at IU Health Tipton as a pharmacy technician. He graduated this May and is now a pharmacist at the hospital.

He decided to stay at IU Health Tipton because of his fellow team members.

“It’s definitely a fun work environment. It doesn’t feel like work, even on the tough days that are a little crazy,” Plumer says. “It’s nice to have a supportive team that’s easy to get along with.”

Within his role, Plumer feels connected to patients as he works to see what conditions they have and how he can help better their care. While filling prescriptions, he looks for potential drug interactions, allergies, proper dosing and more. He also ensures that the medications, whether they be intravenous (IV) or oral, are safe for the patient.

Because Plumer and his team are right in the hospital, they can discuss medication histories, begin education and answer any questions that patients or team members may have.

Since joining the Tipton team, Plumer has been a big help through many milestones. This winter, he took the lead in implementing a large project that involved critical thinking to determine stocking levels of medication throughout the hospital as the pharmacy switched to a new inventory system.

And as the inpatient pharmacy switched to a weekday-only schedule, he’s helped ensure that nurses and patients have all the necessary medications for the whole weekend.

The third week of October is National Pharmacy Week, a time to acknowledge the contributions pharmacists and technicians make to patient care in hospitals, outpatient clinics and more.

He wants to give a shoutout to his fellow Tipton pharmacists and technicians as they continue to work hard and adapt to changes.

“We like to be problem solvers. I think we always lend a listening ear and are always willing to help find a solution, if we can,” Plumer says.

Maddie Cottrell is a nurse on Methodist Hospital’s neuro critical care unit. She cares for a variety of patients including those who have experienced an aneurysm, a stroke or a traumatic brain injury. “We have a lot of sad cases here with the unit being what it is. We are very good at supporting each other and making sure we’re there for each other. This team is phenomenal.”

Indiana University Health, the Brown County Community YMCA, members of the community and elected officials came together for a ceremonial groundbreaking on Wednesday, Sept. 13, to celebrate the upcoming construction of a new medical office building off State Road 46E and Maple Leaf Boulevard in Nashville, IN.

“Today, we’re celebrating a new, specially designed healthcare facility that will serve Nashville and the surrounding areas for years to come,” says IU Health System Regional Operations Senior Vice President Brian Shockney. “Our primary care office has been in Brown County for over 20 years, and this facility ensures that quality care will be provided for another 20 years.”

“The YMCA is proud to partner with our local leaders and IU Health to help improve the health of our communities,” says Brown County Community YMCA CEO Kim Robinson. “Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us and to everyone who is making this center of care possible.”

“What a wonderful asset the new medical facility will be to the people of Brown County,” says Brown County Board of Commissioners President Jerry Pittman.

Shockney explained how this project wouldn’t have been possible without the facilitation of the IU Health Foundation and a very generous gift from Burt Borgelt in honor of his wife, Sue Borgelt, for which the health center will be named.

Burt and Sue Borgelt provided the original funding for the Brown County YMCA, and their continued commitment to the community’s health will impact generations to come. Their most recent gift will ensure Brown County residents have a trusted team to go to for excellent healthcare, and it will pave the way for future expansion of programs and services for the community.

The new facility will be home to IU Health primary care, walk-in and orthopedics services. It will also allow for the addition of more specialty services in the future.

This project is planned to begin by mid-October with a planned completion around July 2024. Additional information, including plans for the current building, will be shared as it becomes available.