Member Spotlight: Horblit Health Sciences Library -Danbury Hospital

Posted by benniefinch on July 24th, 2023 Posted in: Blog, Communities of Interest, NLM Resources
Tags: community partnerships, history of medicine, Hospital library, Member Spotlight, National Library of Medicine, NLM Traveling Exhibit

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The Horblit Health Sciences Library at Danbury Hospital, part of Nuvance Health is currently hosting, Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Surgeons, one of the NLM traveling exhibits. I had the opportunity to visit the exhibit, the library, and their amazing librarians.

There are two health science librarians at the Horblit Health Sciences Library, Amanda Pomeroy and Kristin Chapman. Both are fully embedded in the hospital system. They are both members of the interdisciplinary Provider Assistance Care Team (PACT) team, serve on the hospital safety committee, participate in rounds and report. We will hear more about their work a little later.

 

Why did you choose to bring this NLM Exhibit, Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Surgeons, to your library?

Kristin was familiar with NLM traveling exhibits and specifically the Contemporary African American Surgeons exhibit from her previous work experience and was excited to bring this exbibit to Danbury Hospital with the full support of her supervisor Amanda.

The exhibit was created in partnership with the National Library of Medicine and the Reginal F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. According to the exhibit informational flyer, the exhibit describes how “early black pioneer physicians become skilled practitioners and educators, paving the way for future physicians, surgeons and nurses and opening doors to better health care for the African American community”. The exhibit features five contemporary academic surgeons who “not only exemplify excellence in their surgical fields” but also are committed to educating and mentoring young physicians and surgeons.

The library partnered with the department of surgery to promote the exhibit and will be partnering to feature the exhibit in their August Grand Rounds. Both the library director and the department of surgery director will provide information about the exhibit and one of the department’s neurosurgeons will talk about their own experience in medicine. They are pleased that this grand round will be at the same time they welcome in their new group of fellows.

How has your hospital interacted with the exhibit so far?

The library hosts residents and medical fellows from all over the world, so having an exhibit that highlighted the work of African American academic surgeons felt important to the librarians. On the first day the exhibit was set up, a long-time hospital employee stopped to talk to the librarians about how meaningful it was to see other African American people represented in the exhibit.

Can you tell me a little more about your work, your library, and your hospital?

Kristin and Amanda report that the library serves everyone: community, patients and families, students, physicians and hospital staff. There is clearly a welcoming presence in the library with many visitors who use their space for a variety of needs, from a quiet space to work or rest, doing research or using the computer lab which is connected to the hospital simulation lab. During the visit, there were numerous visitors who stopped in to ask a question.

The librarians see their role as building a bridge between resources of the library to support bedside treatment and to provide information access to whoever needs them. They attend grand rounds and morning reports. They do reference interviews, provide literature searches, support students in research and support requests for systematic reviews. They are also very engaged with DOCLINE.

The library provides important spaces for hospital staff, students and physicians to meet and they frequently support patrons even in being a welcoming presence and asking about their day. They are aware of the medical education process and are able to help students navigate their rotation exams and even learn about which resources they find more helpful for their individual learning styles.

Some of the things Kristin and Amanda love most about their work and Danbury Hospital:

• Danbury Hospital is a teaching hospital – hosting medical students, nursing students, medical residents, and fellows in medicine and spiritual care.
• The Caregiver Center is centrally located and provides a variety of supports for patients and their families with a variety of resources. The library hosts a collection of resources there for easy community access.
• The hospital has many multidisciplinary teams such as the PACT team and crisis intervention team and multidisciplinary work in the Caregiver Center.
• The deep interest in nursing education. The Nursing Education Department serves four schools of nursing.
• Mission Health Day in partnership with Western Connecticut State University, the VA and other community partnerships, is run by clinician and non-clinician volunteers to bring health care to everyone by offering health screenings and health information to community members.
• The focus on global health program in the Nuvance Health System.
• The hospital system invites staff to apply for their internal Teaching Academy, focused on developing teaching skills and dedicating time to complete projects to support professional development. They are just beginning their third cohort.
• Building relationships with staff and all of the hospital departments.
• Always striving to do better, even at the things going great.

What would you like to share with other libraries that are considering hosting an NLM exhibit?

• It’s easy!
• They have observed great interest in the exhibit panels.
• The panels are beautifully done.
• A lot of work is done for you. There are images and materials that are available.
• They are pleased to have partnered with the department of surgery.
• Think about your space and how you might accommodate the 6 large panels.

The panels are sturdy but portable – In a desire to make the exhibit accessible and to draw attention, currently, as you approach the library hallway, you see the first exhibit panel and you can follow the panels along the route to the library and then visit the remaining panels in the library space. At night, they bring all the panels into the library where they are accessible 24 hours with badge access. When they host grand rounds, they plan to bring the panels to the grand rounds.

Live or work in Region 7? Download the schedule to find out which traveling exhibits are coming near you!