Nathan Littauer Pediatric Patients Will Receive Teddy Bears

Nathan Littauer Pediatric Patients Will Receive Teddy Bears

GLOVERSVILLE, NY Pediatric patients who present to Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home’s Emergency Department (Emergency Room) will be given Valentine’s Day teddy bears, thanks to Davin Healthcare. A nurse-founded and employee-owned company assisting in strategies of healthcare workforce shortages; Davin Healthcare donated 50 teddy bears to Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home. “We are a staffing partner with Nathan Littauer, and this Valentine’s Day, we wanted the pediatric patients to feel some love,” said Davin Healthcare Events and Engagement Coordinator Emily Cooper. “We wanted to do something nice for our younger patients who present in Emergency Rooms.”

Nathan Littauer Staff hold up the teddy bears donated to the Emergency Care Department for Valentine’s Day.

Cooper arrived at Nathan Littauer Hospital’s Emergency Room (ER), and greeted Nathan Littauer staff with a donation of 50 teddy bears, intended for Littauer nurses to gift them to any pediatric patients who present in the Emergency Room. Nathan Littauer Emergency Department Manager Kerry Button, RN, BSN, said, “This is a wonderful gesture of Davin Healthcare and a great idea for our pediatric patients, which will surely put a smile on their faces.”

Nathan Littauer Hospital was one of many hospitals to receive teddy bears. “We really just wanted to help our younger patients smile on Valentine’s Day.” Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home thanks Davin Healthcare for the kind donation and for thinking of its pediatric patients on Valentine’s Day!

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About Nathan Littauer

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home is a full-service, 74-bed acute care hospital with an 84-bed skilled nursing home. Since 1894, Nathan Littauer has provided safe, high-quality health and wellness services with a focus on securing appropriate new technologies for people residing in Upstate New York. Over the years, the hospital has expanded its services in order to offer health care that is comprehensive, accessible, and relevant to the needs of the communities they serve.  More information can be found by visiting www.nlh.org.

Nathan Littauer’s Tree of Lights Ceremony Slated for December 1st

All are welcome, and are cordially invited to attend the Nathan Littauer Auxiliary’s Tree of Lights Ceremony on December 1st, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.!
 
Those honored and/or memorialized will be listed on display in the Hospital Lobby. The tree will be lit all through December as a symbol of hope and love.
 
The Tree of Lights Ceremony is held on December 1st, at 5:00 p.m. in the main lobby, and there will be a Facebook Live event available for those to connect virtually.
 
To make a donation, please download our Tree of Lights Brochure. For more information, contact Volunteer Services at (518) 773-5505.

History and Health Care

A New Primary Care Center in Caroga Lake

GLOVERSVILLE, NY – Caroga is a town steeped in history. According to the town’s comprehensive plan, the roaring 20s marked an increase of commercial activity, complete with swelling summer populations. After the establishment of the Caroga campgrounds, many developments would take place, further increasing the population of the town.

In 1992, the town acquired the old Wheelerville School, which was originally constructed in 1856. Soon after, the town opened: municipal offices, a courtroom, a public meeting space, with a medical clinic for the public. It wasn’t until late 2005, when Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home would lease a portion of the municipal building, would the area finally welcome their first primary care office.

Thursday, September 24, 2020, began Caroga Lake’s newest historic milestone.

From left: Building architect, Fred Franko; with Hyman Hayes Associates, Vice President of Population Health and Executive Director of the Nathan Littauer Foundation, Geoffrey Peck, former President and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home, Laurence E. Kelly, Supervisor of Town of Caroga, Scott Horton, Caroga Lake PCC Coordinator, Betsy Oathout, and Caroga Town Clerk, Linda Gilbert, break ground for the new Caroga Lake Primary Care Center.

Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home proudly announced to the Town of Caroga Lake; the construction of a new, modern primary care center. The new center is approximately 1,350 square feet of space, and will be next to Caroga’s Town Hall, where the original primary care center was housed. A groundbreaking ceremony marked the expansion of primary care in Caroga with: the building architect, Fred Franko; with Hyman Hayes Associates, former President and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home, Laurence E. Kelly, Vice President of Population Health and Executive Director of the Nathan Littauer Foundation, Geoffrey Peck, and the Supervisor of the Town of Caroga, Scott Horton.

“It is exciting to work with Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home in our commitment to the community,” said Horton. “We appreciate Nathan Littauer Hospital and everything they have done for the area. This new Caroga Lake Primary Care Center is a boon, and it shows that the area of our town continues to grow. In turn, so is its need for great healthcare services.”

 “We continue to expand our services we provide in the Adirondack area, and we look forward to meeting new patients,” says Alison Townsend, Physician Assistant with Nathan Littauer. “We provide an invaluable service to the community members here, and I think our patients are really grateful for that. There’s a lot of history here. I am incredibly impressed with Nathan Littauer’s ability to expand healthcare services, so they are more accessible for people in the region.”

Nathan Littauer’s Nursing Home Has New Guidance for Visitation

Click on the link below for more information on the organization’s guidelines for visitation:

A Few Questions With Sean Fadale, Littauer’s New President and CEO

Littauer’s new President and CEO, Sean Fadale, walking into Littauer’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Starting this October, Sean Fadale will take his seat in the CEO’s office at Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home — and be just about 15 feet away from the intensive care unit.

That proximity is a physical sign of one of the ways rural hospitals can be different from the sprawling the medical complexes in more urban areas.

Fadale’s career to this point has included several stops at organizations similar to Nathan Littauer, a 74-bed acute care hospital and 84-bed skilled nursing home in Gloversville. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton.

Justin Dawes, a reporter with The Albany Business Review, spoke with Fadale about the role of rural hospitals and some of his main priorities during this time.

Q: Why have you dedicated so much time to smaller, rural hospitals?

A: I’ve spent the bulk of my career in rural health care. It is something that I have a great affinity for. There’s an opportunity at small organizations to be nimble, to be able to change course and trim our sails as necessary. The other thing I enjoy about it is that as a leader of the organization, I’m close to the employees and I’m close to the patients.

Health care is a tough business, and that’s the reality of it — health care is a business. Knowing that each year we’re going to be reimbursed a little bit less for what we do and everything’s going to cost us a little bit more, we have to make sure that we are making the best decisions with the resources we have and still produce the best outcomes for our patients, at a low cost.

Q: How important would you say the role of a rural hospital is to the community it serves?

A: Without the hospital and our primary care centers, there may be people without local access to care. I think something that is critically important for rural health care organizations is that we’re a major employer in the area. So we are an economic engine for the community because we are a primary employer.

Q: The White House recently issued an executive order on “improving rural health and telehealth access.” What are your initial thoughts on that and on telehealth in general?

A: There are many organizations that need the legislative help, that need funding to be viable organizations for the future because COVID-19 has really wreaked havoc on organizations across New York state. So any legislative support from the New York state or federal governments will be usually beneficial.

Telemedicine is something that’s going to be very important for organizations across the country, especially for rural health care. Telemedicine is another access point for our patients. It is absolutely something we have to continue to explore. When you look at rural health care, one of the things that you quickly realize is that transportation becomes an enormous issue.

Q: What do you think your first move will be as Nathan Littauer continues to navigate the pandemic?

A: For any organization, we have to make sure we have the best policies and procedures in place to keep our staff and our patients healthy; that we have enough PPE to handle a potential second wave or third wave; and that we are ready to tackle flu season when it comes. There may be things we need to figure out, but from everything that I’ve seen, they’re doing a great job here caring for their patients and caring for their staff.

Click here to read Littauer’s announcement of Sean Fadale as the organization’s new President and CEO.