Insider - November 2021

Spotlight: Occupational Medicine

The staff at Occupational Medicine recently invited Insider to highlight their services to the Ames Laboratory community. 

“We've had a sustained period of time where people have been working remotely, and long-time staff members as well as new employees may not be aware that we continue as always to offer on-site medical services,” said Occupational Medicine Nursing Supervisor Kori Grooms. “We want to extend to everyone a welcome and knowledge of the full range of support we offer to the Ames Laboratory and Iowa State community.”

The key goal of the program, said Grooms, is to provide comprehensive, high quality, patient focused care by providing prompt service in a conveniently located, caring and supportive environment.

Occupational Medicine minimizes personnel health risks from working with hazardous materials and processes through routine monitoring and prevention. The program provides services to approximately 1,500 Ames Laboratory and Iowa State employees annually.

Occupational Medicine consists of six team members:

Dr. Margaret Evans – Occupational Medicine Physician
Kori Grooms RN, BSN – Nursing Supervisor
Whitney Groomes RN, BSN – Staff Nurse
Katie Daugherty RN, BSN – Staff Nurse
Aubrey Heupel – Student Worker
Noelle Sullivan – Student Worker

Hours & Location
The Occupational Medicine office is located in G11 TASF and is available by appointment Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 515-294-2056 or email om@ameslab.gov.

Services 
Occupational Medicine provides a wide range of clinical services that include; medical surveillance examinations, clinical testing, laboratory testing, immunizations, health promotion and risk reduction, and treatment for minor work-related injuries and illness.

Medical Surveillance
Medical surveillance examinations are provided to identify and monitor employees who work with materials that have known or potential health risks. Some of these hazards include; carcinogens, toxic chemicals, noise, laser use, and biological agents.

Baseline medical review may include the following:

• Review of medical history, workplace history, and hazard evaluation
• General physical examination
• Clinical testing as determined by the Occupational Medicine physician
• Immunizations
• Referral for special testing, such as chest x-rays

Tests performed as part of routine medical surveillance include but are not limited to: audiograms, spirometry, vision screening, and blood work.

Periodic medical reviews are offered to ensure evaluations, testing, and immunizations specific to an individual’s workplace hazards are current.

Other special evaluations may be provided for an employee who feels they have been exposed to anything potentially harmful to their health during the course of their employment.

Voluntary Examinations
Ames Lab employees who do not meet criteria for required medical surveillance are eligible to receive a comprehensive physical at the time of hire and then periodically. This physical examination may consist of the following: health history, physical exam, laboratory analysis (CBC, blood chemistry, cholesterol, and urinalysis), health counseling and other testing as deemed necessary by the Occupational Medicine physician.

Voluntary screenings were temporarily suspended during the pandemic and have recently been resumed. If you are a new employee or have recently been notified that you are eligible for a screening, contact us today to set your appointment!

Health Promotion and Risk Reduction
Occupational Medicine is involved in several outreach activities that help improve the health of employees. Don’t miss the annual flu shot clinic, blood drive, Active for Life challenge, blood pressure clinics, CPR and AED training, and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic expanded the role of the Occupational Medicine department as they were instrumental in developing policies and procedures to combat the spread, preparing the Laboratory for eventual reopening, and working alongside other Ames Lab stakeholders to find innovative ways to best protect our employees.

From a clinical perspective, Occupational Medicine staff has collaborated on many ISU COVID-19 efforts including: testing, individual case management, contact tracing and most recently administering COVID vaccinations to the greater ISU community.

Injury and Illness Treatment
Ames Laboratory employees exposed or injured while at work or in the course of employment should seek medical advice. All injuries, illness, or exposures must be reported to the employee’s supervisor, even when medical attention is not required.

Occupational Medicine is available to provide consultation and treatment for minor work-related injuries during regular work hours.

Worker Health and Its Impact on the Workplace
Occupational Medicine aims to address the challenges of worker safety, health, and wellbeing. COVID-19 has fundamentally uprooted what we have known about worker safety, health and wellbeing and has accelerated addressing these issues. It has also highlighted social issues that workers face, like childcare, sick leave, disability issues, mental health, and other underlying safety concerns.

Occupational Medicine is committed to protecting and promoting total worker health and continuing to evaluate innovative and effective ways to accomplish this goal.

Questions
If you are curious about how to get involved in the Occupational Medicine program, interested in a voluntary health screening or health promotion activity, or simply want to learn more – please contact Occupational Medicine at 515-294-2056 or email om@ameslab.gov.

Suggestion Box Update

Since announced July 23, the Ames Laboratory Suggestion Box has received six submissions. Thanks to those who shared their ideas and feedback to help make Ames Laboratory an even better organization. Here is a roundup of these ideas, with a status update on each. Have a new idea? Suggestions may be submitted at this LINK.

IDEA: Change the drinking fountain in Metals Development to a water bottle filling station.
UPDATE: Lab leadership agreed that it would be a great enhancement to our facilities to have a water bottle filling station in each of our main buildings. A water bottle filling station was installed on the 3rd floor of Spedding during the NMR Lab’s construction. A work order has been submitted to add a water bottle filling station to Metals Development, Wilhelm, TASF, and the SIF.

IDEA: Develop a systematic approach to business systems modernization and projects
UPDATE: Ames Laboratory created a Business Systems Modernization strategy in FY 2021. We are now working on an implementation plan, which will include communication and training considerations. When a new project starts, there will be more intentional thought given to resources, timelines, and staffing considerations.

IDEA: Electric Charging Stations for electric vehicles
UPDATE: Ames Laboratory explored charging stations for electric vehicles a few years ago. At that time, there were some legal hurdles. We are re-examining the work done previously to see if the situation has changed. If no longer legal hurdles remain, Ames Laboratory would need to determine costs allowability and project priority. In the meantime, Iowa State University does offer two electric vehicle charging stations at the Transportation Services Depot.

IDEA: Ames Lab 75th Anniversary challenge coins
UPDATE: The suggestion to create an Ames Laboratory 75th Anniversary challenge coin has been shared with the planning committee. The Committee is determining the activities and giveaways throughout 2022 to celebrate this milestone.

IDEA: Create a more robust controlled document template, to save authors and reviewers time
UPDATE: The suggestion has been shared with Performance Management, and they are assessing how to improve this process.

IDEA: Do a better job sharing DOE Virtual Seminars from other Laboratories
UPDATE: Chief Research Officer Jamie Morris is evaluating how we could share additional DOE seminars with Ames Laboratory. The communications team is looking at ways to improve and highlight the Events section of the Director’s Message. In addition, consideration is underway for potentially creating an Ames Laboratory 75th seminar series, which may be an avenue to share our own seminars more broadly.

If you have any questions or thoughts on these suggestions, please reach out to Chelsey Aisenbrey (chelseya@ameslab.gov). Thank you again for your suggestions, feedback, and ideas. Ames Laboratory is a much better place when we are all working together to enhance it.

Improvements and new resources announced in Procurement