For the second year in a row, Celtic Healthcare has made the Pittsburgh 100, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranking of the Pittsburgh area’s fastest-growing, privately-held companies. Celtic Healthcare will be honored at an awards event on August 21, 2008, at the Duquesne Club in Downtown Pittsburgh, where we will learn which specific rank we have received. Last year, Celtic was named the #5 fastest growing company out of 100.

Thank you to all Celtic employees and referral sources - who make our growth possible, positive, and patient-centric.

Celtic Healthcare’s Second Quarter CHF Telemonitoring Statistics Unprecedented
Results Show Reduction to 0% in Patient Re-Hospitalization

Celtic Healthcare’s Telemonitoring program, which enables delivery of health-related services remotely, enhances the quality of care that our clients receive. This service provides clients and their families with peace of mind, knowing that assistance is always close by.

Not only does this program improve clients’ accessibility to care, but results have shown that clients benefiting from this program also have a dramatic reduction in hospital readmissions.

In the 2nd quarter of 2008, ZERO patients were readmitted to the hospital for the reason they were on the Telemonitoring program to begin with. This represents a 0% re-hospitalization rate – truly unprecedented in our industry!

Celtic Healthcare’s Telemonitoring program is different than others:

• Our clients are monitored seven days a week by a registered nurse.
• Our monitors not only record vital signs and symptoms, but have innovative disease management education tools for clients and providers to use.
  

For more information on this program, contact us at 800.355.8894.

The “Extra Special” of Celtic Hospice: The Ministry of Presence in Hospice Care

For Sr. Catherine Higgins, CSJ, LSW, Hospice Social Worker and Chaplain for Celtic Hospice and Palliative Care, spirituality is not only the main focus of her daily personal life, but also her professional life. “In hospice care, spirituality is one of the most important issues in a person’s life,” states Sr. Catherine. “Hospice nurses (including the ones I work with so closely at Celtic) are excellent at symptom management and pain control. It is my belief that they manage this mainly for the person to be able to do their inner work.” A person is not able to address these issues if they are in pain, so hospice nurses make the way for servants like Sr. Catherine to go in and work “interiorly.”

Sr. Catherine knew she wanted to be a Sister since she was six years old and never wavered in her desire to enter religious life. She started out her career as a school principal before entering hospice. While working as a school principal, Sr. Catherine’s mom became terminally ill after suffering from a massive stroke. When her doctor gave Mom two weeks to two months to live and having no available hospice care, Sr. Catherine brought Mom to the convent to live with her and the other Sisters. They cared for her around the clock, but ultimately it was Mom who ministered to all of them. The most important thing Sr. Catherine learned from this experience was the ministry of PRESENCE. Though Mom couldn’t do much more than just “be there” with people as they were given the opportunity to provide the gift of mercy through feeding, bathing, and physically “pivoting” her, it was Mom who listened and consoled and was told profoundly deep and personal things that people felt absolution from after sharing.

It was through this experience that Sr. Catherine knew from deep inside that hospice care was her calling. Being one who was never good at “small talk,” Sr. Catherine is passionate about the privilege of being able to share in the profound experience of nurturing the spiritual aspects of the terminally ill. “Dying people don’t have the energy to play games,” shares Sr. Catherine. “They have no hidden agendas, and a sacred trust is gained almost immediately.”

One of Sr. Catherine’s favorite stories is one of visiting with a dying man who appeared to have absolutely no interest in talking with her. On her first visit, he sat in silent defiance on a small bench in a narrow hallway with his arms folded across his chest. Sr. Catherine fulfilled her social work tasks and left. After hearing from numerous nurses and even receiving a call from the patient’s wife that this man was wondering when she was coming back, Sr. Catherine paid a second visit. After about 10 minutes of similar silence, Sr. Catherine was able to break the ice by asking about a photo hanging in the hall which turned out to be this war veteran’s memory. The next week, and every week after that for several months, they continued to share stories and break through this man’s reason for anger. They discussed his anguish about being forgiven for the “killing” he did while serving in the war. They discussed the resentment towards God he felt in confused devotion to his father whose bitterness toward God infiltrated his entire family after the loss of a son to the influenza epidemic and the refusal by a priest to perform an individual funeral and burial due to circumstances beyond their control. This man was finally able to understand forgiveness when Sr. Catherine forgave him and shared the forgiveness of a loving God.

“The only way I could get to that was by showing up and being present,” comments Sr. Catherine. “I am called to listen, not preach, watch with and not look at the person. By entering into their pain and listening to the anguish of the dying person, we can show God’s infinite love and mercy. That is what I pray to be able to do.”

To learn more about Celtic Hospice & Palliative Care Services or any other of Celtic Healthcare’s full continuum of home healthcare services, please call 800-355-8894 or visit us at www.celtichealthcare.com.

 

Arnie Throws Out the
First Pitch!

Celtic Healthcare CEO Arnie Burchianti had the opportunity to show his love of baseball by throwing out the first pitch at the Washington Wild Things home game on Friday, July 11th!

A sea of Celtic team members cheered Arnie on, as Celtic Healthcare employees and their families clapped from their very own Celtic section in the stands. Following the first pitch, Arnie then treated the first 100 children who entered the game to FREE HOT DOGS!

It was a great night for Celtic team-building and for showing Washington Wild Things fans what Celtic Healthcare is really about – supporting our communities.

 

What Are All the Green Shirts About?

That was the comment being heard around the Westgate Plaza Parking Lot in Union Township, New Castle on Saturday, June 21st. Even the City Bus Driver stopped to ask what was going on!

Well, Celtic Healthcare was sharing. Celtic’s nurses, office personnel, and employee’s children gathered to participate in the Celtic Great Share.

What is Celtic’s Great Share? It may be an umbrella on a rainy day. Or a bottle of hand sanitizer before going into the grocery store and then coming out and having a stranger help you load your groceries into the car and put your shopping cart back. It might be a mini-fan on a sweltering hot day. It might be as simple, and sweet, as someone holding the door for you. It’s something nice - a little random act of kindness. It’s Celtic’s Great Share. Celtic Healthcare created this program to go into local communities and add a bit of unexpected joy to someone’s day. It involves representatives from Celtic Healthcare going out and surprising random individuals by performing acts of kindness.
On Saturday, June 21st, 12 employees and family members of Celtic Healthcare shared joy and kindness with the shoppers going in and out of the Westgate Plaza Shop ‘N Save. And the great part about it was that the Celtic team members received so much more back than they gave! Smiles, hugs, handshakes, and life stories were shared.
Celtic Healthcare wishes to express an extra special thank you to Frank Moses, owner of the shopping plaza, who gave Celtic Healthcare permission to hold the Great Share Event.
Look for us again - we might be at a community festival, your local business district, or really anywhere unexpected!

Fun Fact & Quirky Question: Be careful! Celtic Healthcare encourages everyone to brush up on safety tips for summertime activities and chores. Which weekly summertime chore sent 92,122 Americans to the hospital for injuries in 2006?