On January 8, the Orange County Recuperative Care Program officially opened its doors in Costa Mesa. Launched by HASC and the National Health Foundation (NHF), the project provides a clean, safe environment with medical oversight for homeless individuals who are being discharged from area hospitals but require further recovery for their illness or injury.

Program staffers provided by NHF review hospital referrals and facilitate patient transfers from participating hospitals to the program. Hospitals are notified within four business hours if a patient has been accepted for the program, as the hospitals pay a set daily fee for the administrative service and for the medical oversight the patient will receive.

Congratulations to HASC and the NHF for providing this long overdue service to our neighboring community in Orange County.

Bearing the responsibility for medication safety, Coast Plaza’s pharmacy is in constant interaction with nearly every department throughout the hospital, especially medical and nursing staffs. With a watchful eye toward patient care and safety, this service is comprised of three main attributes:

• Distribution: Pharmacists are responsible for ensuring that the proper medication is dispensed in a timely manner to be available for the patient. They also assess all new medications before entry into the patient profile to make certain there are no contraindications, allergies, unwanted drug-drug interactions, food-drug reactions, dosage or strength issues, duplications of therapy, and that each patient receives a correct, complete order.
• Kinetics/Pharmacotherapy (Clinical): Pharmacists must correctly calculate doses for patients based upon kinetic principles. The pharmacist will order the proper dosing and any labs necessary to determine the correct levels. This includes both vancomycin and parenteral nutrition.
• Monitoring: After supplying initial doses, pharmacists continue to monitor each patient’s progress from a variety of perspectives, including renal, radiological, cardiological, respiratory, and dietary concerns. This includes the assessment of patients on anticoagulants or in need of electrolyte monitoring, as well as addressing potential food-drug interactions for all patients as treatment continues.

Coast Plaza’s pharmacy team is proud to work directly with its fellow departments in attending to the above responsibilities while providing quality care to our patients.

As the initial face of Coast Plaza Hospital, the Admitting Department is a patient’s first contact with the hospital, setting the tone for the rest of his or her visit. Known throughout the healthcare industry as the Patient Access Department, our Admitting staff consists of 16 employees and a manager, and provides 24 hour service with a range of responsibilities, including PBX, main admitting, insurance verification, ER registration, and ER coordination.

Admittedly, Admitting has its hands full as it services the many immediate needs of each patient. In 2009 alone, this department registered 34,872 patients, which entails obtaining all of a patient’s demographic and other key information, verifying benefits (if any), and obtaining all required signatures while making the necessary written disclosures as mandated by law to provide the necessary treatment.

Playing the dual roles of customer service and hospital liaison, the Admitting Department works closely with staff physicians, ancillary departments, clinical staff, and management, while making each patient’s first impression as positive as can be expected, given the circumstances. Coast Plaza’s Admitting Department is top-notch, displaying courtesy, professionalism, and kindness each and every day, no matter the pressures they confront.