Cancer Center Nurse Inspires Patients, Colleagues - Susan Hendrickson, RN Honored With DAISY Award

Smiles are not always the easiest thing to come by given the seriousness of what many patients in the FitzPatrick Cancer Center’s (FCC) Infusion Center are facing. Still, Registered Nurse Susan Hendrickson’s ability to brighten up those darker days is one of many reasons she has been named the latest recipient of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at CVPH. Susan was nominated by Charleen Tuthill. As Manager of Oncology at the FCC, Charleen witnesses Susan’s positive im [...]

Don't Delay Care

Don’t Delay, Get Screened Today The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things in our lives but not the importance of regular cancer screening. Screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers can dramatically improve treatment outcomes and in some cases, prevent the cancers from occurring in the first place. According to the National Cancer Institute, when detected at its earliest stages and confined to the primary site, the 5 year survival rate for: Breast [...]

Providing Care During the Pandemic

A Perioperative Nurse's Point of View

The pandemic has impacted our personal and professional lives in so many ways. For Carol Lincoln, RN, a perioperative nurse who works in our Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), or Recovery Room, changes came fast and furious in the early days of COVID-19. And things continue to change as we adapt to the virus and variants like delta. A summer surge of COVID-19 cases, an influx of patients needing care unrelated to the virus and workforce shortages impacting just about every area of the hospital ar [...]

Celebrating Safely: COVID-19 and the Holidays

The holiday season is fast approaching, and with COVID-19 still prevalent in our region, it is important to think about how we can celebrate safely during get-togethers with family, friends and colleagues. Late last spring, we all expected that this holiday season would be back to normal. Sadly, the emergence of the delta variant has changed that. The following numbers, while offering some encouraging signs, also show the pandemic is not over: Across New York State, daily cases are slowly [...]

Telemetry Technician's Curiosity Prevents Life-Threatening Heart Issue

Rhythms, waveforms and alarms keep CVPH Telemetry Technician Tonya LaFountain on her toes as she maintains a constant watch on her patients on R3 every day. It was Tonya’s attention to those details, a strong curiosity and a willingness to speak up that may ultimately have saved the life of a patient. On a morning last spring, Tonya was in the midst of the usual hustle and bustle of her work when she noticed something just did not seem right with one of her patients. The woman was being [...]

Breast Cancer Survivors Raise Big Bucks for Foundation, FitzPatrick Cancer Center

Organizers inspired by care at FCC

Connected by friendship, grateful to beat breast cancer and inspired by the compassionate care they received, two North Country women organized and hosted a fundraiser that will benefit cancer patients in the region for years to come. Lisa McGinn and Chris Bigelow are also hoping it demonstrates the power of community-based generosity and the benefits such an event can offer to The Foundation of CVPH and the many lives it touches, while convincing others to take action and give back in any way t [...]

10 Minutes is Better Than No Minutes

Exercise… The word itself can spark anxiety for many. It’s easy to come up with excuses to avoid exercise, and even easier to fall into sedentary habits. Dylan Daniels, EP, CCEP, understands. As a Clinical Exercise Physiologist at UVM Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital Daniels’s job is to help patients who have avoided the “E” word and need help to get moving again. “Lots of people think that they just can’t do it,” s [...]

Homegrown: Training North Country Kids For a Career in Medicine

Ten years ago, high school student Joey Tousignant enrolled in career exploration program called New Visions at UVM Health Network-Alice Hyde Medical Center. The program offers motivated, high-achieving students an insider’s view into a wide range of health care roles through college-level courses, supervised clinical experience and job shadows with Emergency Department physicians, pediatricians, nurses, occupational therapists and much more. Fast forward a decade and that high school s [...]

Getting the Care You Need

A guide to help you receive the right care in most appropriate setting

Need Care? Know Where to Go. As the pandemic presses on and the national shortage of health care workers intensifies, it’s more important than ever to understand your health care options to ensure you receive the right level of care in the most appropriate setting. Health care options for North Country residents often include primary care, urgent care and emergency care so it’s not always obvious where to go for care – or when.  So in the heat of the moment, this gui [...]

OR Nurse Helping Lead Next Generation of RNs at CVPH

Paige Garnot, BSN, RN Honored With DAISY Award

The Operating Room is one of the busiest places you will find at CVPH. It takes a team effort to make every procedure happen. One of the Registered Nurses frequently in the room is Paige Garnot, who has been named the latest recipient for of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at the hospital. As an Operating Room Nurse, Paige has many important responsibilities. Chief among them is serving as a patient advocate while the patient is under anesthesia during the procedure. She makes sure t [...]