How to Share the Value of Volunteering with Children

Named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of its 150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know, Paul Generale serves as an executive vice president and the chief strategy and network officer for CHRISTUS Health in Dallas. Outside of his professional responsibilities, Paul Generale enjoys spending time with his family and volunteering with his children.

Volunteering can provide a meaningful way for family members to connect with each other and the wider community while engaging in activities that benefit society. To instill an affinity for service in children, it’s important to lead by example. Engaging in volunteer work, even before children can join, sends the message that volunteer work is valuable. Consider helping at the children’s school or for their sports team as a way to model the importance of participating.

When children are old enough to participate in service activities, singular community events such as a Neighborhood Clean-up Day or school fundraiser can help them experience the rewards of volunteer work. To establish a regular volunteering routine, consult children about the causes that matter to them. Whether it’s cuddling animals at a shelter or serving food at a soup kitchen, children will likely enjoy the experience more when they feel they have participated in the decision-making.

The Differences Between Red and White Wine

The executive vice president and chief strategy and network officer for CHRISTUS Health in Dallas, Texas, Paul Generale handles new acquisitions and ventures for the not-for-profit health system, along with leading strategy, managing services, and overseeing employees. In his free time, Paul Generale enjoys deep-sea fishing and is also a wine enthusiast.

There are many varieties of wine, but the basic difference is in the color: red or white. Both types are made from grapes, but with red wines, the red grape skins are left on during the fermentation process. This gives red wine its color. Meanwhile, white wine grapes have their skins removed, so the resulting product appears lighter in color.

This is not the only difference between white and red wine. In fact, red wines are typically aged in oak barrels, while whites age in stainless steel vats. The differing production methods come out in the taste of the two. While white wines are more acidic and have floral aromas and fruit tastes, red wines are known for rich and velvety textures that result from the additional oxygen incorporated into the process via the oak barrels.

The differences in taste mean that red and white wines pair best with different foods. Fatty foods, like pork chops and hamburgers, pair well with red wine. However, people who aren’t big red-meat eaters may prefer white wine as accompaniment for meals. White wine pairs easily with white meats, like chicken, turkey, and fish, along with cheeses and green vegetables. 

CHRISTUS Health Expands Its Partnership with LHC Group in San Marcos

Based in Dallas, Paul Generale holds responsibilities as an executive vice president and the chief strategy and network officer of CHRISTUS Health, a not-for-profit health system that encompasses approximately 350 facilities and services. Paul Generale’s faith-based organization recently announced that it would expand its existing joint venture (JV) with LHC Group and add a San Marcos hospice provider.

Since 2017, the JV has encompassed home health and hospice agency governance and ownership. With both organizations bringing specialized knowledge to the table, the JV also encompasses long-term acute care facilities and community-based services. Reflecting a mandate that includes equal board representation by both organizations, the result has been a sustained expansion of in-home-care and facility-based-care offerings.

The public health issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the importance of the JV, as LHC Group delivers infrastructure capacities and CHRISTUS Health works to ensure safe care environments for every patient needing assistance. With the finalization of the San Marcos hospice agreement, the JV will expand to include 22 locations across three states and various palliative care, hospice, home health, and long-term acute care facilities. 

Ensuring Safety and Wellness as Non-Essential Health Services Expand

Paul Generale works in Dallas as the chief strategy and network officer and an executive vice president of CHRISTUS Health, a Catholic health system comprised of dozens of hospitals and long-term care facilities. With a strong interest in industry trends, Paul Generale shares a focus with many health care providers in reinstating and expanding elective services during the COVID-19 pandemic in a safe, effective manner.

One built-in advantage for health care providers, compared with many businesses, is that they already have robust protocols in place to ensure patient safety and infection control. Nevertheless, increasing elective care volume involves careful monitoring of traffic flow through hallways, lobbies, patient rooms, and treatment areas.

This means establishing and publicly disseminating new standard operating procedures (SOPs) that ensure safety among patients, staff members, and visitors alike. Beyond social distancing mandates, this may mean more robust visitor screening protocols and more frequent disinfection and cleaning schedules. Other steps include decluttering spaces and removing nonessential items such as magazines, plants, and excess furniture. This streamlines the process of cleaning potentially infected surfaces.

Communication is just as critical, and news about these new protocols should be delivered in a clear, concise, and reassuring manner that gets all team and community members on the same page.

CHRISTUS Hospital Performs Successful Double Lung Transplant in Mexico

Named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of its “150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know,” Paul Generale has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the health care industry. Since 2016, Paul Generale has served as an executive vice president and the chief strategy and network officer of CHRISTUS Health in Dallas.

With a mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ through holistic patient care that treats mind, body, and spirit, CHRISTUS Health has a facility located in Monterrey, Mexico, called CHRISTUS MUGUERZA Hospital Alta Especialidad. For the past 85 years, this institution has been regarded as one of the most prestigious hospitals in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon.

This hospital recently made headlines for performing on a patient with COVID-19 a successful double lung transplant, the first transplant of its kind conducted in Latin America. Before the transplant, the medical team was caring for the patient with an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), a life support therapy that substitutes the functions of the lungs. “It is very important to point out lung transplantation isn’t a treatment for COVID-19. Instead it helps with what the disease leaves behind, which can be severely damaged lungs left scarred and barely functioning following an acute infection,” explained Dr. Uriel Chavarria, medical coordinator of CHRISTUS MUGUERZA’s Lung Transplant Program. 

How to Drink Wine Like a Connoisseur

A graduate of Baylor University, Paul Generale received his MBA in health care administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Serving as an executive vice president and the chief strategy and network officer of CHRISTUS Health in Dallas, Paul Generale enjoys being a wine connoisseur in his leisure time.

If you’re interested in appreciating wine, there are a few steps, called the four S’s of wine drinking, that you can take to refine your wine tasting and consumption. The first is “see.” Examine the color of the wine and know that older wines tend to be darker. Next, swirl the wine, which helps release its aroma.

Then, sniff the wine with the aim of trying to identify some of its fragrance notes, such as fruit, spices, or wood. Finally, sip the wine slowly instead of swallowing a mouthful. Hold it on your tongue and swish it around slightly. Try to identify the different flavors.

One final tip: Sample a variety of wines to develop your palate. Soon, you’ll be able to discern subtle differences between wines - and impress your friends in the process! 

CHRISTUS Health Holistic Care Includes Spiritual Services

A graduate of Baylor University with a bachelor’s of business administration, Paul Generale received his MBA in healthcare administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. The executive vice president and chief strategy and network officer of CHRISTUS Health in Dallas, Paul Generale has served the healthcare system in various executive capacities for close to two decades.

A Catholic nonprofit health system with over 600 centers distributed domestically throughout Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas, and internationally throughout Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, CHRISTUS Health seeks to further Christ’s healing ministry by providing holistic care. That mission includes a dedication to supplying spiritual care as an essential part of assisting patients in regaining health.

CHRISTUS Health’s board-certified chaplains are trained to deliver an ecumenical approach so they can support patients of all faith traditions and meet each patient’s specific needs. Spiritual care services include traditional worship services, sacraments, prayer, and pastoral counseling, as well as psychological support in the form of counseling for issues such as grief and loss. Patients can also receive assistance with end-of-life issues and other ethical concerns.

CHRISTUS Health Plasma Donations Help COVID-19 Patients

Part of the Dallas-based CHRISTUS Health leadership team, Paul Generale oversees operational strategy and network coverage as executive vice president. One of the defining aspects of Paul Generale’s organization is its Christ-inspired commitment to going “above and beyond” what is expected in caring for patients in need.

For example, engaged couple Philip Ortego and Natasha So’oto, a physical therapist and registered nurse with the CHRISTUS Shreveport Bossier Health System in Louisiana, were both diagnosed with COVID-19. After recovering, the couple sought a way of assisting other people with COVID-19. They decided to donate plasma through the LifeShare Blood Center.

Distinct from donating blood, plasma donation involves plasmapheresis, a process that separates the clear part of blood from its platelets and cells. Because Philip and Natasha successfully recovered from the coronavirus, their blood potentially contains virus-fighting antibodies. Plasma transfusion gives critically ill COVID patients a lifeline and may also be effective in preventing the disease.

CHRISTUS Health’s Institute for Innovation and Advanced Clinical Care administers the program that brings together patients and plasma donors. Its efforts are part of broad research that spans care regions from Santa Fe to Corpus Christi.

 

New CHRISTUS Health RTLS Platform Drives Patient-Flow Efficiency

Paul Generale serves as executive vice president and chief strategy and network officer at CHRISTUS Health, a nonprofit in Dallas that ranks as one of America’s leading Catholic health systems. As reported in Healthcare IT News, Dallas executive Paul Generale’s organization recently piloted a new cost- and time-saving approach at the 150-bed CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-Westover Hills.

The pilot program involves linking real-time locating system technology (RTLS) with a patient-flow-technology platform and other supporting workflow processes. This provides accurate information on when rooms have been vacated, are ready for cleaning, and are clean and able to accept the next waiting patient. It also addresses persistent patient flow inefficiencies at a facility that has many moving parts and specialized departments.

The RTLS technology system involves installing hardware at multiple entrances/exits and issuing patients bracelets embedded with RTLS technology upon entering the hospital. The bracelets are scanned at certain points throughout their stay, including discharge. Beyond the real-time connectivity, the key innovation is on moving the focus to the patient physically leaving the patient room rather than on completing documentation. This results in quicker availability of beds and increased admission rates and revenue potential.

The RTLS technology can notify staff members of bed availability 2 hours and 40 minutes earlier than can electronic health record manual entry systems.