Three New York groups gather in December

My alma mater. I used to study on this lawn in the spring.

I went to school in Westchester County,  New York, a 20-minute train ride from New York City, at the College of New Rochelle, in New Rochelle, NY. (The city most famously known as home to the Dick Van Dyke Show.)

So I was particularly pleased when Ann-Marie Carducci, RN, MPA, CPHQ, CPUR, CPC, CCS, director of utilization management at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx offered to get a local group going in the area.

But it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride and sadly with workload increases and additional responsibilities, Ann-Marie needed to pass the baton over to Deanna Holowczak, BSN, RN, Clinical Documentation Specialist, at Riverside Healthcare System in Yonkers. Deanna’s currently studying to earn her master degree in nursing administration while she juggles a number of other responsbilities. So thank heavens for the addition of  Luanne Jennex, RN, clinical documentation specialist over at Westchester Medical Center, in Valhalla, who met with Deanna and agreed to help launch the first meeting of the Westchester County NY ACDIS group.

Luanne is also in school, finishing up her final courses on her way to earning her BSN, with a master degree potential. “Imagine that after 34 years of nursing?” she jokes.  It just goes to show, she says, “you can teach an old dog new tricks.”

So, after some months of diligent grassroots networking efforts the Westchester group is ready to go, looking forward to hosting its first meeting in December. Anyone intersted should contact either Deanna or Luanna at their e-mail addresses above.

In a blog post yesterday, I talked a little bit about the geographical difficulties in getting a local networking group going. Like California, New York defies easy categorization. According to the state Web site, New York contains nearly 50 counties and more than 1,000 cities, towns, and “villages.”  From New York City to Albany is 159 miles. The drive takes, according to Google maps, a mere 2.5 hours; roughly the same amount of time it takes to drive from the end of Long Island into the Big Apple. From Buffalo to Yonkers its a 408 mile commute.

When I went to school in New Rochelle I could make it out to Long Island for visit in about an hour, but I was a crazy college kid back then. Most seasoned residents know enough not to undertake such a drive.

So I appreciate the importance of Adelaide M. La Rosa’s efforts in Roslyn, NY. A registered

Long Island ACDIS promises to go the distance for networking needs.

nurse and director of the Clinical Documentation Improvement Program over at St Francis Hospital, she’s been gathering the names and contact information of interested CDI specialists for a few months now and is also ready to host the Long Island NY ACDIS Chapter’s first group meeting.

What I particularly appreciate about both these groups is their flexibility. Not only are they willing to volunteer to help their CDI peers but they’ve also expressed a willingness to include any CDI professional into the meeting that wants to come. So while there is currently no ACDIS groups in Queens or Manhattan for example, those who would like to make the trek off the big island and over to the long one are more than welcome, Adelaide says. The same holds true for our Westchester County hosts.

A great view of the Albany skyline. Join CDI specialists there for the December meeting.

There’s a similar story to tell about our third New York group being fashioned by Lois Rubin RN,  BSN, CPUR, CCDS, Lead Clinical Documentation Specialist at St. Peters Hospital, up in Albany. Lois received a great response to initial inquiries about an ACDIS meeting in northern New York. Such a good response, in fact, she worried about the logistics of gathering such a diverse group of people. Nevertheless, she’s courageously forging ahead and plans to host the first meeting during the third week of December.

Such wonderful efforts on behalf of the profession are just another reason we are so energized by local chapter growth in general and in New York in particular.

If you are interested in getting a networking group going in your community please contact me at mvarnavas@cdiassociation.com.