Intermountain Health

Dr. L. Marcela Serrano, Peaks Region medical director of primary care, is not just a doctor, she's a visionary advocate for Latina empowerment. With a fervent dedication to breaking down barriers, she's taking part in initiatives to encourage Latina girls to pursue higher education. Through these efforts, she's not only transforming individual lives but also shaping a brighter future for entire communities. Recently, Dr. Serrano presented at Latina Village, an annual event focused on developing leaders, elevating the voices of Latinas, and increasing the number of successful Latina professionals and entrepreneurs who graduate college. Dr. Serrano was one of five Latina women speakers who have excelled in their respective fields including finance, education, the arts, and more. She was invited to speak by Rocio Duran, the founder of Latina Village, whose goal is to support, develop, and mentor Latina girls with the hope that they’ll go on to higher education and have great careers.  Dr. Serrano shared her personal journey as a graduate of the University of Chihuahua School of Medicine in Mexico. She obtained her specialty in family medicine in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and has a subspecialty in gynecology from the University of Illinois in Peoria. She joined legacy SCL Health in 2012 and stayed until 2017. After working for Denver Health, she rejoined the organization in 2019. Dr. Serrano said if she could give one piece of advice to Latina girls it would be persistence and networking. She explained how as a female minority, doors don’t always open as easily, so you must try over and over again.   “I always tell people that if someone tells you no, ask why, and really listen to their feedback because it will only help you improve and get you closer to the goals you’ve set for yourself,” she said.  

Parenting is often romanticized and therefore struggling with parenthood and/or a new baby can make a parent reluctant to ask for help. This is a major life adjustment and some struggle is normal. Don’t be embarrassed to talk to your provider about anxiety or depression. At Intermountain, mental health screenings are part of primary care. It’s ok to ask questions. The world has gone through significant changes in the last year. Help is everywhere. Just open your mouth and ask.

Strength comes from knowing when to ask for help. Shoutout to @carlnassib and @thedefensiveline for being champions both off and on the field. 🏈💪 #MentalWellness https://lnkd.in/ghgpBPJM

WEEK 5 Mental Health Exercise You are what you believe yourself to be. —PAULO COELHO Celebrate YOU Write down three positive things about yourself. What are your strengths? What are physical characteristics that you like about yourself? What personal characteristics are you most proud of? @thedefensiveline

When parents come up to you in a grocery store and hug you, 20 years after saving their child, you know you’ve had a career of impactful moments. This happens regularly to Stephen Minton, MD, who has specialized in neonatology for more than 47 years.  In his current role as medical director of the Intermountain Health Telehealth Neonatal Critical Care Program, he splits his time between the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and assisting urgent situations through telehealth. Dr. Minton is passionate about teaching his staff every step of the way. When he does rounds, he includes the entire team. He’ll have someone on the team present the patient to him, ask the questions, and offer suggestions. Sometimes it takes the team hours to complete rounds, but no one complains. At the end, they all fully understand each patient and the care they need to provide, and chances are, they learned something new along the way. Dr. Minton believes in trusting his staff, and in return, they trust him. Working together, they develop a culture of trust and delegation, and the team knows when they need to get him intimately involved with more serious situations. It’s a priority for him to create a culture of family. To support a continuous learning environment, he created a series of 40 one-hour lectures he shares with the staff over time. “You learn by stories, not by facts, so I have a million stories and I use them, and people remember them,” said Dr. Minton. 

Join forces with us as we redefine strength beyond the football field. Let's embrace the power in vulnerability and proclaim together - the strongest play is asking for help. Discover more at strongestplay.com 🏈💪 #StrongestPlay @bbhulksmash @thedefensiveline

Each week, Brenna Seitz, an occupational therapist at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, takes horseback riding lessons in Firestone, CO. Last month, she was practicing jumps when her riding partner, 55-year-old Ken, slumped over and fell off his horse. Their trainer grabbed Ken's horse and since she knew Brenna was in the medical field, she asked her to check on Ken. Brenna is certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and CPR but had never performed it on a person. Another rider called 9-1-1, and the operator helped Brenna count as she performed compressions. She continued CPR for 12 minutes until the paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital. It took 4 more minutes in the ambulance before they could get his heart to beat on its own. Brain scans at the hospital confirmed Ken suffered no neurological deficits, which, after his heart, was the first thing everyone was concerned about. He’s a healthy, active guy with a genetic predisposition that caused 80-100% blockages in four arteries he wasn’t aware of because he didn’t have any noticeable symptoms. “Brenna is a real hero,” said Ken. “Statistically, I’m told I shouldn’t be alive and am extremely fortunate to have no neural losses. Because of the high-quality CPR she performed, and because she stuck with it for so long, I’m still here, and I suffered no brain or even any heart muscle damage from the event. She knew exactly what to do and how to do it correctly and didn’t hesitate to help me. She impressed every doctor, nurse, and staff person who read my chart. It’s a miracle I’m alive.” Learn more about this inspiring story below. ⬇️

Anxiety is like a virus and runs around and attaches to whatever it wants. Under normal conditions, women are somewhat socially isolated when they have a baby. They’ve taken time off work or quit their job and are spending more time at home. Isolation is different right now, because everyone has felt some isolation during the pandemic. While this is maternal mental health month, let’s not forget that adjustment can be hard for the partners, too.

Here’s Sammy Twito's go-to icebreaker story: she grew up in a corner of Montana so rural that her home was 45 miles from the nearest school. Her dad was a pilot and owned a small plane, and on days when they were running late, he took advantage of it. “He’d be like, hop in the plane, we’re flying,” she recalls. “The airport was right next to the school, so people would see me fly in and I thought it was the most absolutely embarrassing thing that could ever happen to me.” Not the most common childhood mortification. But an experience, perhaps, that has prepared her to find common ground among disparate teams – and for the four-state road-trip she and her team have undertaken to align patient experience across the enterprise. As director of patient experience for inpatient and pediatrics – along with Jenna Gonzalez, RN, MSN, over ambulatory and Sahar Ameri, MBA, over outpatient, oncology and hospice & homecare – she helms the Patient Experience Accelerator, an all-sites effort to operationalize best practices and improve the patient experience. “Our job is to look at the big picture,” she says. “That’s part of the reason why it’s so important to us to go out to each care site, because we’re listening to their unique needs and challenges and showing them how they can operationalize best practices as leaders.” “The majority of people feel like they’re very unique,” she says. “Nobody gets us. We’re very different. But the challenges and strengths we see are so similar. Part of this process is finding out how similar we truly are.” Learn more about how we're enhancing the patient experience across our enterprise below. ⬇️

It's time we view mental wellness as a team sport. Remember, the strongest play is reaching out! #MentalWellness #TheStrongestPlay @moneymarc91 @thedefensiveline https://lnkd.in/ghgpBPJM