COVID-19: Hitting Close to Home

What we do now determines if our hospitals will get overwhelmed

As COVID-19 cases surge in our region, many people are worrying about where they might contract the virus. In reality, you may only need to go as far as your own home. For most of us, our guard is up once we leave our home. We are on high alert, taking many precautions to reduce the risk of getting sick. Yet, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties is rising at a troublesome rate. As of Thursday, December 17 in Clinton County alone, the seven-day rolli [...]

New Ambulance Arrives on Scene

Your generosity is ensuring patients in our region are getting the top notch emergency care they need. This new ambulance rig just recently went into service in the Keeseville and Peru areas. Because of your support, The Foundation contributed $125,000 to help pay for it. “It’s great for us, but I think, more importantly, it’s great for those communities,” Director of Emergency Management Michael Cahoon said. “We benefit because we get state-of-the-art equipment [...]

Emergency Department Receives National Certification Champion Award

The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) was named a 2020 National Certification Champion Award winner by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN). The honor was announced during a virtual ceremony streamed across the country last month. The BCEN is considered the benchmark for board certification across the emergency nursing spectrum. CVPH competed against large healthcare organizations nationwide. The hospital was recognized for hav [...]

CVPH Meets Retired Nurse's Lofty Expectations

Patient Received Urgent Care She Needed

Plattsburgh resident Barbara Thompson knows a thing or two about providing excellent care. The 96-year-old guided countless patients to better outcomes as a public health nurse in the city for more than a decade. But in the early morning hours of June 1, Thompson suddenly found herself on the receiving end of care. She woke up in the middle of the night with significant pain in the area of her left shoulder and immediately began worrying about a potential heart attack. A short time later, [...]

Jessica Sienkiewicz Goes Back to the Drawing Board to Care for Her Patients

Clinical Assistant uses artistic talents to improve patient experience

Jessica Sienkiewicz, Clinical Assistant, is part of the team that provides care to thousands of patients who come through the doors of the Emergency Department (ED) each year.  Using the tools of her trade - stretchers, thermometers, blood pressure and EKG machines, along with her skills and compassion, she strives to provide both quality care and an exceptional patient experience to those who turn to the ED in their time of need. But it may with a paint brush and her talent as an artist [...]

Seasoned Nurse Still Learning Today

Storm  Treanor, RN, makes her way through  the CVPH Emergency Department (ED) seemingly un-phased by the beeping and buzzing of technology and constant whirlwind of activity.   As a registered nurse with more than 50 years of experience, she currently works rotating shifts (per diem or as needed) in the ED and is in her element. “Currently, my full-time job is EMS Coordinator for Clinton County.  I coordinate education, certifications, supplies and logistics for [...]

Seizing Every Opportunity to Make a Dfference

Kim Bracey, RN, helps a family stuggling to keep a loved one safe

Fortunately for one local family, Kim Bracey, RN of the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit is a life-long learner – on and off duty.  In addition to many years of service to CVPH, Kim has been a dedicated member of the Morrisonville Ambulance Service.  To be the best for her patients, at the bedside and in the field, Kim stays current with new practices, programs and services. It’s at one such EMS educational event that Kim met Sgt. William Dominy of the Clinton C [...]

CVPH Volunteer Kit Booth: Moving Forward by Giving Back

Helping Patients One Visit at A Time

The Emergency Department is a perfect assignment for Kit Booth.  In that fast-paced environment, he’s able to make genuine connection with someone in need.  It seems to come naturally to this affable and authentic gentleman.  As part of a corps of volunteers assigned to the Emergency Department – which sees close to 54,000 patients each year, Kit visits patients to see what they may need to make their stay more comfortable. “Maybe it’s a warm blanket or a d [...]

A Man With A Plan

Mike Cahoon Is Committed To Keeping His Community Safe

If Mike Cahoon shows up to work bleary eyed and a bit sluggish, no one wonders anymore what he’s been up to. Mike is the CVPH Director of Emergency Management and has served as the chief of the Chazy Fire Department for 20 years so it’s likely he’s been up most of the night with other dedicated volunteer firefighters dousing a fire. He’s been a volunteer firefighter for 32 years and has become expert at balancing family life with his career and his intensive involvemen [...]

Emergency Department Experience Exceeds Expectations

Staff does a remarkable job

By Jeff Meyers, Freelance Writer The other day I visited the Emergency Room (ER) at The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital with my girlfriend, Carol, who was suffering from some significant pain that needed attention. As these things often go, it was Sunday afternoon, and she didn’t think she could make it through to the next morning to call her doctor for an appointment. I was expecting to spend the rest of my day in the Emergency Depar [...]

A Letter of Thanks & A Happy Reunion

Essex Family Returns to Emergency Department to Say Thank You

Tristen Benway, purple cast on each arm, returned to the Emergency Department recently with a card of thanks and bouquet of flowers for Registered Nurse Emmalee Colby. With her was her mom, her sister and a family friend. They made a special trip from their home in Essex.  It’s not often that the Emergency Department staff is visited by a patient just to say thanks. So when little Tristen’s mom called to ask if they could come by, the team was thrilled at the idea of visiting wi [...]

CVPH Veterans conduct Flag Retirement Ceremony

Event was prompted by Skilled Nursing Facility resident

It’s a little before 10 a.m. on June 14. Residents of the CVPH Skilled Nursing Facility are gathered around the flag pole on the front lawn of the hospital taking their rightful place in the front row to witness what will be CVPH’s first annual Flag Retirement Ceremony.  After all, it was their idea.  Retired Air Force Veteran Ken Thayer, RN, explains to the audience that the ceremony is taking place because a resident asked, “What does CVPH do for Flag Day?” [...]

Sherry Deyo-Pugh, RN Goes The Extra Mile

Emergency Department Nurse Keeps Patients' Needs On Top of Her Priority List

“It’s what anyone would have done,” said Sherry Deyo-Pugh, RN of the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Emergency Department.   After working a full shift in the ED, she volunteered to drive the elderly wife of a patient to the University of Vermont Medical Center where he would receive life-saving heart surgery.  “They drove themselves to the ED. They had no family close by.  The patient was taken to o [...]

John Stafford, A-EMT Critical Care Escorts WWII Vet on Honor Flight

Friendship blooms from chance encounter

John Stafford is no stranger to assisting those in need. As a seasoned member of the CVPH ambulance crew, helping people is built into John’s job description. However, escorting World War II  veteran Rudolph “Rudy” Chapola on a North Country Honor Flight went above and beyond John’s call of duty. John was at work the day Rudy arrived in the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Emergency Department.  Rudy, who was 9 [...]