Crouse Connects
Crouse isn’t just about healthcare. We’re about what we believe sets us apart: Carepassion™ .
We always say we’re not a ‘perfect’ hospital. But our physicians, nurses, providers and staff strive to listen to each patient and family member’s feelings and needs with the respect and dignity you deserve.
Our CrouseConnects blog is designed to talk about some of the ways we connect and do just that. How we work on achieving clinical advances that help us provide the best in patient care for our community and region. And how we try to tend to the “little things” — parking, getting around and dining, for example — to make anyone’s visit or stay at Crouse more welcoming and comfortable.
04/01/2024
Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Awareness Month: A Family’s Experience
By: Laurie Clark
The month of April is Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Awareness Month. HIE is a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen and restricted blood flow to the brain. It can cause cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing and vision impairments, feeding and GI issues, other developmental delays and disabilities and is the second leading cause of infant…
Read more10/26/2023
Stroke Care: Beyond the Hospital
By: Laurie Clark
How Crouse is helping patients recover from stroke long after their hospital stay.
Read more07/26/2022
Spotlight on Social Work
By: Laurie Clark
The Crouse Social Work team, comprised of 17 social workers, is an essential part of the patient experience, interacting with patients, families and the entire care team. Our social workers are advocates for patients, but they also help patients advocate for themselves. “Their every interaction impacts the patient experience and Crouse social workers are acutely…
Read more05/09/2022
Carepassion in Action: Respiratory Therapists Bring Birthday Cheer to a Patient
By: Laurie Clark
No one would want to spend their birthday in a hospital bed. Unfortunately for Mary Gersbacher, a COPD patient, that is how she recently spent her 82nd birthday. Fortunately, Mary’s respiratory therapists Todd Davison and Taylor Iannuzzo took the time to make the day special for her and brought her balloons and a necklace. Mary…
Read more03/16/2022
Spotlight on Nursing: Care Coordination
By: Laurie Clark
We’re putting the spotlight on a few of our nurses in the Crouse Health Care Coordination department – there are 21 of them in total – who work daily with physicians, the healthcare team, families and insurance providers to make sure patients receive the proper care upon leaving the hospital. “Our care coordinators work with…
Read more11/23/2021
Don’t Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle: Coping with Holiday Stress
By: Laurie Clark
The holidays are a time of giving, joy and merriment, but for many, they can also be a big source of stress. In fact, according to a study by the American Psychological Association, 38 percent of people feel their stress levels increase during the holidays. Crouse experts Christine Kowaleski, DNP, MHNP-BC and Tolani Ajagbe, MD,…
Read more05/04/2021
Maternal Mental Health: How COVID-19 Has Isolated New and Expecting Moms
By: Laurie Clark
The COVID-19 pandemic has been very isolating for many people, especially those who have mental health conditions. In fact, in a May 2020 article for the Washington Post, William Wan wrote that the pandemic is “pushing America into a mental health crisis.” A June 2020 study from the CDC reported that “symptoms of anxiety disorder…
Read more12/30/2020
What to Expect: Delivering at Crouse During a Pandemic
By: Laurie Clark
Having a baby is an exciting time, but due to the COVID-19 virus, many parents-to-be are feeling anxious about coming into the hospital. Our Kienzle Family Maternity Center team has not missed a beat, and has been delivering babies throughout the pandemic with the same level of safe, compassionate care families have experienced at Crouse…
Read more10/21/2020
Meet Andrea Hammond, RN: Patient Care is Anywhere It’s Needed
By: Laurie Clark
“It’s what I hope someone would do for me.” That’s how Andrea Hammond, RN, described a recent Friday morning. She was running late for her shift in our Witting Surgical Center, but saw a man fall in the middle of the street. “He was an older gentleman, and I pulled over to make sure he…
Read more10/16/2020
Art to Heart for Crouse Healthcare Heroes
By: Laurie Clark
Working in both the medical field and the art world, Syracuse native Robin Kasowitz felt the need to give back to both communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. An artist and a psychotherapist, Robin serves on the Everson Museum’s board of trustees. When the pandemic hit Central New York, she said she saw people “being so…
Read more10/01/2020
Crouse Nursing Student Hero: Life Saved by a Nurse in Training
By: Laurie Clark
How many nursing students can say they’ve saved a life? At least one who we’re proud to say is one of our own: Vincenzia Diglio, a Syracuse native and Bishop Ludden High School grad who’s a second-year student nurse in the Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital. Vincenzia happened to be caring for a…
Read more04/22/2020
Delivering During the Pandemic: Safety First for Babies, Moms, Families
By: Laurie Clark
At 38 weeks pregnant, Jenn Scott is excited to welcome a new baby into her current family of three. Yet with a due date rapidly approaching, Jenn is more concerned with her health and that of her husband as she prepares to give birth during the coronavirus pandemic. Concerns During COVID-19 She already knows what…
Read more01/13/2020
Nursing Programs Can’t be One Size Fits All
By: Laurie Clark
The Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital has been educating nurses for more than 100 years, ranking among the top nursing programs in the nation. With a 99% job placement rate and an NCLEX-RN pass rate higher than both state and national averages, it’s no surprise why students choose to start their nursing careers…
Read more12/17/2019
The Dreaded Flu Season
By: Laurie Clark
October until April is typically known as flu season. Formally called influenza, the flu is a respiratory illness caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs.
Read more07/20/2019
Refugees Learn about Health Careers from Crouse
By: Laurie Clark
Through a partnership with the North Side Learning Center, these students participate in a program which helps refugee and immigrant young adults, ages 14 to 21, familiarize themselves with paths to personal, academic, professional and financial success.
Read more02/05/2019
Providing Diapers to Families in Need
By: Laurie Clark
How many times a month does a baby’s diaper have to be changed? Any new parent can do the math: six to ten changes each day, times 30 days, equals about 300 diapers needed for a newborn each month. By any count, that’s a lot of diapers. But when parents are financially challenged, the cost…
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