Giving Hearts Day 2023
Thank You Oktoberfest Donors and Sponsors!
Mercy Hospital Job Fair!
Community Heartsaver CPR/AED and FIRST AID class
For anyone in the community needing CPR/AED and/or FIRST AID certification, please sign up. It is available for the general public by the Valley City Cardiac Ready Community team.
We require registration and payment prior to class.
To sign up, call Alana McClellan at 701-840-1009 or 701-845-6400 or email me at Alana.mcclellan@commonspirit.org
Successful Hiring at CHI Mercy Hospital Valley City
With the introduction of COVID-19 back in 2020, we saw an overwhelming need for health care workers on a national and global scale. With the significant rise in critical patients we watched staff- burnout plague healthcare organizations. We have also been and continue to experience a nationwide nursing shortage, where the demand for nurses will surpass the supply colleges and universities are able to provide. All of these factors combined have put healthcare systems at risk and patient populations potentially in harm’s way.
One saving grace through this time period was traveling nursing staff. These nurses are able to travel around the country providing nursing care to hospitals in need. They are able to help fill gaps in schedules, which in turn keeps hospital doors open. Even though this was a great resource to use in our time of need, there were some disadvantages to travel staff as well. We have found it is more cost effective to hire and retain staff than to rely on travelers who are not permanent fixtures in our facilities.
With the hiring of Ryan Fowler, CHI Mercy Hospital of Valley City’s President, there was a major push to reduce traveling staff members in our facility. Ryan spearheaded an initiative to hire our own staff members again in Valley City so we wouldn’t have to depend on traveling agencies to staff our hospital. The organization came together to create a plan on how we were going to make this happen.
We started this process by working with the local Economic Development team consisting of Jennifer Feist and Kara Anderson. They helped us get in contact with the local Job Service pages to promote our open positions, they posted our job listings on their Indeed page, and helped us with key points to touch on for job descriptions. We worked on increasing our posting on our own social media and Indeed pages. With this we have seen a lot of success!
In the past two months we have hired 13 new people to different positions around the facility. This has been a variety of professionals including nurses, certified nursing assistants, cooks, radiology technicians, and a new director of Human Resources. Many of these people have come from other areas looking to work in Valley City. We even have a new international nurse who has come to our community with her family from the Philippines.
The hospital would like to thank our Economic Development team for their efforts in helping us hire this significant amount of people in such a small amount of time. We want to thank our employees who worked together to come up with a plan and executed it well. We also want to thank Job Service ND for posting our open positions on “Barnes County Featured Jobs of the Day”.
We are so happy to have many new faces in the facility but also out in the community! We do still have a few positions available at the hospital. If you or someone you know is interested in a position please apply at the link below.
Fowler Named President of CHI Mercy Health Valley City
VALLEY CITY, ND – CHI Mercy Health Valley City is pleased to announce the appointment of Ryan Fowler as president of CHI Mercy Health Valley City effective March 21, 2022.
Fowler brings to the position more than twenty years of healthcare experience and an extensive background in quality, safety and risk management. He recently served as chief administrative officer for Lower Umpqua Hospital District of Peace Health in Reedsport, Oregon, where he oversaw the organization improve its patient, quality and engagement scores while completing much needed capital projects. Prior to that, Ryan worked for LifePoint Health as assistant administrator/chief operating officer for Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital and as administrative director of quality for the Wyoming Market.
Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and a master’s degree in Public Administration, both from Idaho State University, Idaho. He is a member of the National Association of Healthcare Quality, the Association of Healthcare Accreditation Professionals, and the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Several CHI Mercy Health Employees Recognized for Dedicated Service
Valley City, ND It is remarkable and gratifying to have employees who have served CHI Mercy Health for so many years, like the employees recognized on December 16th, 2021.
The following individuals were recognized for their years of service:
- 15 Years of Service: Martha King, Annette Nielson
- 20 Years of Service: Jody Haugen
- 25 Years of Service: Janie Larson, Amy Noeske, Donna Smith, Judy Smith
- 35 Years of Service: Lisa Urbatsch
Picture (Left to Right)
Top Row: Annette Nielson, Martha King, Jody Haugen, Janie Larson
Bottom Row: Judy Smith, Amy Noeske, Donna Smith, Lisa Urbatsch
2021-2022 Community Health Assessment & Improvement Plan Survey
Take the Survey!
Purchase of a Technogym for CHI Mercy Health Physical Therapy Department
Pictured from Left to Right:
Kyle Gregerson, PT, DPT, Physical Therapist
Grant Goven, PT, ATC, Physical Therapist
Steve Spickenreuther, Director Foundation/Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2021
Contact: Lisa Urbatsch, Executive Assistant
Phone: 701-845-6486
E-Mail: lisaurbatsch@catholichealth.net
Valley City, ND CHI Mercy Health Foundation is pleased to announce the purchase of a Technogym for CHI Mercy Health Physical Therapy Department.
Donna Smith, Rehab Manager, states this piece of equipment is very versatile with a wide range of weights along with a pulley system. The Technogym will enable the Physical Therapists at CHI Mercy Health to expand their treatment options, to address strengthening of both upper and lower extremities, balance training, rehab with patient’s who have had a surgery and with patient’s who have had a stroke. Please feel free to call the Physical Therapy Department at 701-845-6575 with any questions regarding services available. The Physical Therapy Department would like to express their sincere thank you to the Foundation Board for purchasing this equipment.
CHI Mercy Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization to serve the needs of CHI Mercy Health. The Foundation is dedicated to providing support for Mercy Hospital with supplemental funding for capital and program needs essential to the hospital’s growth and development. Through this service, the residents of Valley City and the surrounding communities have access to local, modern, quality healthcare that allows our family, friends and neighbors to stay close to home for their health care needs.
Cardiac rehab is available at CHI Mercy Health
Cardiac rehab team
Cardiac rehab is available at CHI Mercy Health. Our cardiac rehab program recently purchased a new heart monitoring system which has been a great asset to the department. It is a state of the art heart monitoring system and we typically monitor your heart throughout an exercise session.
So what is cardiac rehab? According to the American Heart Association, it is a medically supervised program designed to improve your cardiovascular health if you have experienced heart attack, heart failure, or heart surgery. It is proven to improve your heart health. It can reduce mortality after a heart event by over 50%. Cardiac rehab helps by reducing the risk of a future cardiac event by improving heart disease. It involves essentially 3 parts: Exercise counseling and training, education for heart-healthy living and counseling to reduce stress. Cardiac rehab can help you lower your risk of a future cardiac event, eat better, lose weight, return to work, and engage more in daily activities. We also have a wide variety of exercise equipment, including exercise bikes, treadmills, and more.
So who is eligible for cardiac rehab? If you have had a heart attack or heart disease, such as coronary artery disease, angina (chest pain) or heart failure, or have had a heart procedure or surgery, including coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, including angioplasty and stent placement), valve replacement, a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), you would be eligible.
We offer 2 levels of care – phase 2 and phase 3. Phase 2 is ordered by your provider or cardiologist. The exercise program is tailored to your needs and usually lasts around an hour. You are monitored throughout your session closely and it is usually following a hospital stay or cardiac event. This is covered by insurance. Phase 3 is a supervised maintenance program to continue your therapy following your initial phase. You do not need a provider’s order to join our phase 3 program. We monitor your heart once a month and vital signs every visit. A nurse is always there to monitor your session.
To learn more and to learn more about phase 3, please call Jodi Archer, RN, CHI Mercy Health at 701-845-6561. Our hours are 7:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Thursday. You can also ask your provider if you qualify for cardiac rehab.