St. Luke's Health System

On July 31, St. Luke's Guest Services Chase Matzdorff received a call before 6 a.m. — not often are early calls great news, but in this case, it was one that immediately brightened his day. Albertsons was calling with an offer, to donate free flowers to St. Luke's following a flower show. It was a quick yes, and seven truckloads of bouquets were brought to the Boise hospital and across the street to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Idaho. “It's quite an assortment,” Matzdorff said with a laugh. “It's pretty awesome they thought of us like this.” Volunteers helped deliver the flowers to departments that could take them in, from 9 East to the mother-baby and antepartum units to pediatrics. Patients young and old were very excited to receive the free flowers to help make their stays a little brighter.

St. Luke’s leaders recently accepted a check from the Stampede for the Cure for $50,000 at the 2024 Snake River Stampede in Nampa! All of the money raised by Stampede for the Cure stays local to raise awareness about breast cancer and fund free breast cancer screenings around the Treasure Valley. This year, St. Luke’s and Saint Al’s each received $50,000. Since 2003, Stampede for the Cure has raised $363,500 to donate to St. Luke’s. As a sponsor of the rodeo, some of our St. Luke’s Nampa leaders and staff were able to attend First Responders' Night, where they also got to take part in a special dinner!

Magic Valley Paramedics earns key recognition for 10th straight year. Magic Valley Paramedics was recently awarded Mission Lifeline EMS Gold recognition for the 10th consecutive year, a fantastic milestone and achievement. Congratulations to Stan Flint, manager of Magic Valley Paramedics, and Teresa Kelly, community health EMS and public access AED coordinator for Magic Valley Paramedics. MVP is owned and operated by St. Luke's. For many consecutive years, Magic Valley Paramedics has been recognized for their outstanding systems, processes, protocols and data measures that provide optimal outcomes for stroke and heart attack patients. Their commitment to excellence in heart attack and stroke care has earned them the prestigious Mission Lifeline EMS Gold designation since 2016, showcasing their consistent achievement of the highest standards in STEMI recognition and treatment. This year, Magic Valley Paramedics celebrates a remarkable milestone, their 10th consecutive year receiving the honor. This outstanding accomplishment reflects their unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional patient care. Kudos to the entire team at MVP for their hard work and commitment to excellence!

Magic Valley RN Adriana Peralez recently was awarded a DAISY Award. She has been the recipient of multiple DAISY nominations, but this was her first win. She was nominated by a patient’s granddaughter, who was impressed with her caring and attention to his wellbeing.   “My grandpa was in the MV ICU post-L heart catheter and stent placement. He thoroughly enjoyed her care the entire time he was there. Adriana pushed for discharge orders and made sure that we were informed every step of the way. While waiting for discharge orders, she found him a newspaper and took him on walks to keep him busy while we were waiting on the doctor. She even ended up staying late to get his discharge education in and made sure that he understood what he needed to do. Adriana ensured that he understood how important his medications were and how important it was that he made a follow-up appointment with cardiology. She was caring, engaged, and empathetic in every encounter, making sure every one of his needs were met. We are truly thankful for her.”    Adriana was celebrated with flowers and customary cinnamon rolls and was surrounded by her team and director Amy Bradley.

St. Luke's team the ‘berry’ best at ice cream event! St. Luke’s Magic Valley’s Food and Nutrition Services team took its talents outside the hospital and won top honors for “Best Flavor” at a “berry” special event—the Rotary Club of Twin Falls’ 13th Annual Ice Cream Funday. The winning flavor, named “I’ll Be Your Huckle and Berries,” was created by chef Mark Owsley and supervisor Adam Stroud. The huckleberry ice cream included a blueberry swirl and chocolate raspberry cups. St. Luke’s team member Mary Bird added crushed freeze-dried lemon drops to a raspberry coulis topping. “I have done this event every year since 2012,” said Owsley. “You can’t beat the smiles on the kids’ faces — and grownups as well!” St. Luke’s Magic Valley was one of 20 local groups that worked with Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl to create and name an ice cream flavor for the event. The winning flavor will be featured at Cloverleaf Creamery in August. Proceeds benefit Rotary’s Frontier Park restroom project.

The work speaks for itself, with many happy patients leading healthier lives, but there is something else special in St. Luke’s cardiothoracic surgery. Of the seven surgeons in the department who focus on the heart and chest, three are women — or 43% of the group. An exact number across the country is not known, but an Association of American Medical Colleges study in 2020 reported 8% of cardiothoracic surgeons were women, making it one of the most disparate specialties. “Honestly, yes, it means a lot to be a part of this group,” thoracic surgeon Dr. Rosemarie Serrone said. “The camaraderie of understanding what it means to be a woman in medicine is a big deal. To have not one, but two, other women around that just get it and understand the uphill battle to be respected in the field … we have had similar experiences since medical school.”

Sara Gibbons, senior director of clinical learning at St. Luke’s, and Troy Allbright, nursing manager with St. Luke's Enterprise Staffing, were recently appointed to the Idaho State Board of Nursing. Several commissions, councils and boards in the Idaho state government require representation from citizens to carry out legislative obligations. Appointees to the State Board of Nursing are assigned by the Office of the Governor to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of Idaho citizens through regulation of nursing practice and education. Congratulations to Sara and Troy for this outstanding honor!

St. Luke’s McCall celebrated the first birthday of the new hospital and urgent care clinic on July 18. To help celebrate, the St. Luke’s McCall Foundation provided cupcakes and ice cream for the team.   Planning for the new two-story, 50,000-square-foot hospital expansion began in 2015. With construction beginning the summer of 2019. The team had maximized every space and squeezed every bit of efficiency out of the previous facility, which had been remodeled and renovated multiple times over the decades. The region has continued to grow leading to increased demand for health care services.    With the new expansion St. Luke’s more than doubled the hospital’s square footage from 30,000 to 65,000 square feet. The expansion brought the hospital into the 21st century and ensures that we can continue to provide the high-quality, convenient care the people of our community deserve.   And although medicine, technology and science have exploded with possibility, what hasn’t changed is the value we all place on having the right care, right in McCall.    The new urgent care clinic opened on Aug. 8, 2023. The walk-in clinic offers nonemergency medical care seven days a week. Previously, community members would have to access care through the hospital’s emergency department. Offering urgent care now has helped us better serve the community’s needs at a more affordable cost.   Initial projections anticipated serving 8,000 patient visits the first year. Since opening in August 2023 through June 2024, more than 9,600 patients have been served. 

St. Luke’s recently gathered more than 100 representatives from nonprofit and community-based organizations at its annual Community Health Improvement Fund celebration at JUMP in downtown Boise. The event is an important opportunity for partners to gather, celebrate, network and share the work they do to serve the community. For St. Luke’s, it serves as a reminder of why there is investment in these valued partnerships—to further the health system’s mission.

The Surgical Services team at St. Luke’s Magic Valley recently hosted its first ever Family Day in the OR. Kids and adults were able to don scrubs and enter the OR setting where they were able to test their skill at robotic surgery using two robots in simulation mode.    “We wanted to be able to show our families what we do every day and the really cool equipment and tools that we have,” said Leon Jacobs, manager of surgical services in Twin Falls. “Doctors were just as excited as staff were to bring in their families.”    About 120 people attended, including St. Luke’s staff members from the OR, CSP, peri-anesthesia and surgery center in Twin Falls.   On the XI DaVinci robot, family members were able to move rubber bands from one pile to another. On the Stryker Mako, the participants were able to shave down a model femur in preparation for an implant.   “It was really fun, and we had an amazing turn out!” said Michelle Stierstorfer, director of Surgical Services, who brought her children and grandchildren to the event.    “Leon and his team did a wonderful job of organizing this family day — we hope to make it an annual event here at St. Luke’s Magic Valley.”