Each month, Andrea Burch, President of InterMountain Lutheran Hospital, shares insights on healthcare innovation, community wellness initiatives, and behind-the-scenes updates on how the new hospital is taking shape. From medical breakthroughs to heartfelt patient stories, this interview connects our readers with the pulse of local healthcare.
I’ve heard Lutheran has one of the most robust volunteer programs in the Front Range. Can you tell me more about it?
We absolutely do, and I’m so grateful for our incredible volunteers! They provide essential support to our patients, caregivers and visitors. From participating in our pet therapy program to running the gift shop, they really do play a vital role in the daily operations of our hospital.
We currently have 389 volunteers. Last year, our volunteers served more than 34,000 hours, and more than 7.000 of those hours directly impacted the move to the new hospital. They raised $35,000 for the hospital and had more than 20,000 patient interactions. Last year, we implemented a new student volunteer program and created an additional scholarship. We have close to 40 volunteer dogs who visit weekly to spread joy to our patients, families and caregivers. What I really love about the program is that 30% of our volunteers are retired Lutheran caregivers who have been with us for decades. It’s a testament to the great culture we have at the hospital.
You know how much I love the food in Lutheran’s cafeteria. Tell me about the improvements that were made in the new hospital.
Both the cafe and coffee shop at Lutheran offer high-quality food at reasonable prices. The cafe is more than just a place to eat, it’s a place for people to gather. We welcome our community to come join us for a meal or to enjoy a cup of coffee. Our state-of-the-art cafe is full of natural light and offers plenty of indoor seating along with a great outdoor dining space (weather permitting). We have a wood-fired pizza oven with a weekly rotation of specialty pizzas along with the usual favorites. Most of our food is cooked from scratch with a daily rotation of options like Mexican food, seafood and comfort food, in addition to a full grill service. We also have a fresh soup and salad bar available from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. On the days when people have limited time, we have lots of grab-and-go options that include sandwiches, salads and snacks.
The coffee shop offers full barista service with specialty coffee drinks and pastries, and a late-night menu available from 6:30 – 9 p.m. daily. The cafe is open from 6:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and we’ll soon be open on the weekends from 6:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
You mentioned previously that workplace violence was a major concern at Lutheran. Is the hospital still experiencing that?
The safety of our caregivers remains a top priority and we’re continuing to make great strides to combat workplace violence at Lutheran. Many of our caregivers have completed AVADE Training, which is a comprehensive approach to preventing, avoiding, de-escalating and mitigating violence and aggression. It addresses administrative, behavioral and environmental strategies to create a safer workplace and we’ve seen that the staff who have completed it walk away feeling more confident in their abilities to handle violent situations because of the skills and strategies they’ve learned. Our goal is to continue to put more caregivers through the training. We’re also expanding our security staff and will have our K9 security units patrolling the hospital by the end of March. The goal is to continue to increase the number of security dogs we have on campus because of the huge success they’ve had. The dogs are able to quickly deescalate difficult situations and have drastically reduced the number of workplace violence incidents at other hospitals.
