Hospital News - 4th Quarter 2007

Gala evening

November 25, 2007 - The third annual Hunt Memorial Hospital District Charitable Health Foundation Gala was headlined by Emmy-winning comedien Russ Stolnack Saturday, Nov. 17.

Some 180 guests were on hand to help raise $80,000 for the Foundation. Among other items, the money will be used to purchase a life-saving ER airway crash cart.

Helping Foundation Director Jack Gray was celebrity Emcee Scott Murray, former sportscaster in the Metroplex.

		Rich Carter, CEO of HMHD, greets a table of guests prior to dinner.
Jack Gray, left, visits with Foundation donor and supporter Jack Finney.		Peggy Darby, table host, presents the table to George and Bernie Herlt and Hubert Lytle.
Dr. Joe Blieir is welcomed to the Gala by HMHD CEO Richard Carter.		Beverly and Dr. Mike Adkisson visit with Judge Richard Beacom and Gloria Jordan before dinner.
		Mr. and Mrs. Wyman Williams visit with a guest at the Gala.
Mary Rich Lynch & Mrs. David Narramore compare notes on dinner.	Judy and Clay Woods, Bill and Kaye Brown visit prior to the dinner.	Melva Geyer and emcee Scott Murray enjoy a laugh.
		Mr. and Mrs. Wyman Williams visit with a guest at the Gala.
Wesley United Methodist Church youth set up and cleaned up to earn money for a mission trip.		Gladys Gray, Scott Murray, Jack Gray and Russ Stolnack, from left, gather after the program.

 

Administrator updates Rotarians on hospital projects

November 16 - Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville Administrator Mike Klepin updated Daybreak Rotarians on November 15 on the finances, services and expansion projects of the hospital and the Hunt Memorial Hospital District.

Klepin, who is a member of Daybreak Rotary, gave the presentation as part of a series of programs on local governmental entities giving insight into education, civic endeavors and economic development.

Klepin pointed out that the district employs some 850 full and part-time people with a payroll of $47 million including contract labor and benefits. HMHD is operating on a $110 million expense budget for the current fiscal year. Revenue includes income from patient care and from taxes which bring in $6.7 million based on a rate of 21 cents per $100 valuation. Tax money brought into the district covers payment on interest and sinking on bonds, charity and first responder units in the county.

Pardon our mess!
by Richard Carter

November 15, 2007 - If you’ve made a trip to the Greenville hospital lately either as a visitor or a patient, you can understand why I’m asking you to “pardon our mess.” I guess I should say our current mess.

First, understand that all the work being done in the front parking area is to help our visitors. I’m glad to say that the weather is cooperating, and before you know it most everything will be back to normal. Of course, there will be times when parking spaces are at a premium, because as our parking area is growing by 200 spaces with the expansion, so will our patient “spaces” as we add rooms in the new wing and more employees to staff them.

They tell me the driveway under the portico should be completed by Thanksgiving or shortly thereafter, and the work in the outer front parking area will be done around the end of November.

We hope this work on the infrastructure has not been too inconvenient for our visitors and patients who are coming in or being dismissed.

As we see all the progress being made on the West Wing, we’re getting more and more excited about the hospital expansion and what it is going to mean to the community.

The structure work is 100 percent complete, as is the utility work, and most of the bricks have been laid. I would tell you how many bricks there are, but I’m told there is a contest among employees to guess the number, so just in case one of them reads this they will not have an advantage.

Although we have been watching all this work going on for months, it still amazes me that the workers know where everything is supposed to go and that all the wiring going on eventually connects up to whatever it’s supposed to connect up with. The miles and miles of wire include not only utilities, but also medical service connections and television cables.

Of course one of the biggest projects in the West Wing will be the cancer treatment areas that will include the huge radiation vault for our linear accelerator. The vault was the first thing to be built when this project started last winter because of its size and the depth of its walls.

When we asked the voters to approve the construction of the Wing Wing to accommodate a cancer treatment center there were those who wondered why we couldn’t put it on the seventh floor which were renting out. If we had tried to put that vault up there with its 6-foot-thick concrete walls, it would have come crashing down to the first floor. So, we determined it would be more feasible to put it there to begin with. (By the way, the frame for the door alone weighs 1,800 pounds.)

One of the most amazing feats by our employees comes from the kitchen where I’m told that the staff did a yeoman’s work getting the transfer of the cafeteria to the Atrium and the old kitchen to the temporary kitchen. They didn’t miss a beat in serving the patients or the customers. Good job, guys!

Soon (on Dec. 5) we are scheduled to move the gift shop and the offices next to them to the former rehab and fitness facilities on the second floor of the Atrium where they will remain for several months. The space currently occupied by those offices will become part of the first floor renovation that will include an enlarged gift shop, new offices for Development and Communication and the Charitable Health Foundation.

Everything should be wrapped up by June, but in the meantime we must do some work that will result in a few inconveniences. Remember that it is all being done with the public in mind and we’re trying to make it as convenient and painless as possible for our patients, visitors and employees. When we’re finished, Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville will indeed be a step closer to being a complete medical center in North Texas.

That’s something Hunt County and area residents should truly be proud of.

Carter is chief executive officer of the Hunt Memorial Hospital District.

Emmy winning comic headlines Hospital Foundation gala

November 5, 2007 - When it comes to keeping healthy, everyone needs a good laugh now and then.

The laughter at the upcoming Hunt Memorial Hospital District Charitable Health Foundation Comedy Gala will make the audience feel better, and it should also bring smiles to the faces of future patients at the Presbyterian hospitals in Greenville and Commerce.

Emmy-winning comedian Russ Stolnack, known by his nickname Russ T. Nailz, will headline the Foundation’s third annual “Laughter is the Best Medicine” Gala at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17. His stand-up comedy routine is performed regularly in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and at comedy clubs around the country.

Stolnack is also called “The Executive Impostor” for his hilarious performances before employees of some of America’s largest companies where the audiences think he is a visiting corporate executive.

The winner of six Emmy awards – three for acting and three for writing – Stolnack also won the National Speakers Association’s Humorous Speaker Competition in 2004. From his San Diego base, he travels the country helping raise money for many charitable causes. He also spends time entertaining children with his in school literacy program, reading and performing his original songs.

“We are excited about bringing this outstanding comedic talent to Hunt County to help continue our mission of increasing philanthropic support for local healthcare needs,” said Jack Gray, Foundation director.

“The 2006 Gala netted more than $40,000 to enhance the patient experience,” Gray said.

Proceeds from that event are providing state-of-the-art therapeutic patient recliner chairs for the new intensive care unit (ICU) under construction at Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville. Gray says that bariatric recliners that accommodate special needs patients also are being secured with Gala donations.

CHASE Bank of Greenville will be the title sponsor of the 2007 Gala marking its second consecutive year as the lead partner, Gray announced.

“We are grateful to our friends at CHASE Bank and all of our other corporate underwriters for support that is so important to help us meet local healthcare needs,” Gray said.

When contacted about his upcoming Gala appearance, Stolnack revealed that “I’ve just signed a major deal with Time Warner. Now I get 100 channels for only $49 per month.”

The dinner will be catered by Bon Appetit Catering. Tickets are $50 per person.
A limited number of reserved seats are available at $50 per person. More information is available by calling 903-408-1616 or 903-408-1698.

Thank you!

October 30, 2007 - Sharon Kroncke, left, presents a certificate to Hunt Memorial Hospital District CEO Richard Carter for the district’s support of DrugFree Greenville and Red Ribbon Month.

Some of that support comes through the Tobacco Grant, which is administered by HMHD.

Red Ribbon Month is observed during October every year.

Heritage open house

October 24, 2007 - David Denson, left, facilities manager for Presbyterian Hospital of Commerce, visits with PHC Volunteers Gerri Titus, Lela Brock and Bob Titus during the October 16 open house celebrating the first anniversary of the Heritage Program for Senior Adults.

An outpatient mental health treatment program that provides individualized treatment to older adults suffering from psychiatric, emotional or behavioral disorders, the Heritage Program is located in a new facility on the PHC campus.

Also pictured in the back are Stuart Pritchard of Commerce, who is Laboratory director of the Greenville and Commerce hospitals, Verlin Conkle, director of the Heratige Program, and Mike Klepin, PHG and PHC administrator.

Changes on hospital board

October 24, 2007 - No sooner had the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Board of Directors approved the appointment of a new board member in Precinct 2 on Tuesday, than they accepted, with regret, the resignation of Dr. David Fry in
Place 1.

After completing a several month search, the board of directors Tuesday night unanimously gave Caddo Mills resident Joe C. Johnson the nod to fill Phillip Killgore’s vacant seat.

Johnson currently serves as the president of the Hunt County Fair Board, is a member of the HMHD Charitable Health Foundation and is a member of the Daybreak Rotary Club.

Johnson’s background of public service “will be a tremendous asset in helping guide important healthcare decisions that the Board would be facing,” said board Chairman Ron Wensel.
Hospital officials are planning to swear in Johnson in early November.

Fry, a local physician, has represented Precinct 1 on the board for more than three years. He resigned for personal reasons, according to Wensel who announced the resignation during HMHD’s meeting Tuesday night.

Wensel said Fry had been a stable influence during his tenure. “I really hate it because he was a really good source of medical and procedural information for the board,” he said.

By a 6-0 vote, the board reluctantly accepted Fry’s resignation.

HMHD CEO Rich Carter said the district will begin a new search for a Precinct 1 representative to fill the vacancy left by Fry’s resignation. Anyone wishing to apply is encouraged ton contact one of the hospital’s current board members. Fry’s now vacant seat is up for election again in May 2008.

In other action Tuesday, the board agreed to lease available office space on the first floor of the Professional Building to Dr. Ralph Brookshire, approved the purchase of various lighting and equipment for surgical services and anesthesia departments, and agreed to seek a proposal for county-wide ambulance services.

Heritage Program serves Commerce seniors
by Richard Carter

October 12, 2007 - HMHD will hold an open house next Tuesday, October 16, to celebrate the first anniversary of the Heritage Program for Senior Adults in Commerce.

The Hunt Memorial Hospital District is proud to be able to provide this much needed service which has met with a great deal of interest since it opened just a year ago.

Located in a new 2000 square-foot structure on the Presbyterian Hospital of Commerce campus at 2900 Sterling Hart Drive, the program has attracted clients from a 35-mile radius.

From all reports, it is a feature of HMHD health care that has made a big difference in the lives of our seniors who find themselves facing new situations in life, such as the loss of their spouse, having to recover from a devastating illness or injury or loss of independence.

The program is essentially an outpatient mental health treatment program that provides just such individualized treatment to older adults suffering from psychiatric, emotional or behavioral disorders.

The program is designed for “seniors” 55 and over, but most are usually around 65. Because the Commerce hospital carries a critical access designation, Medicare pays all the costs.

The clients are referred by their personal physicians, their family, a friend, a minister, counselor, or, they can just walk in seeking help.

Verlin Conkle, director of the program, has expressed a great deal of satisfaction in the success of the program. “We’ve already doubled our staff and established a successful after-care volunteer support group. We call it our alumni group and it meets every month,” Conkle said in a recent interview.

He says the average daily census at the Center is around eight, “It’s a comfortable number, although the building can handle up to 12 patients,” he says.

Treatment is supervised by Dr. Heath Penland, a psychiatrist from Greenville. Staff includes therapists Shelley Jackson and Carol Alden, and technicians Shonna Patterson and Linda Richardson.

Older citizens and their caregivers have unique problems and needs. Physical decline, loss of independence, safety concerns, and multiple losses can contribute to depression and other mental health issues that decrease their ability to cope with the natural aging process.

The program is individualized but time limited from 60-90 days. A central part of the discharge plan is to engage the client in community-based activities which keep the individual involved in meaningful and pleasurable activities which can help prevent the return of symptoms.

Patients receive intensive treatment Monday through Friday. They are treated in the least restrictive environment possible, returning home each afternoon.

As the client recovers, the frequency of care is reduced and discharge strategy is implemented to sustain the improvements gained in the program.

The center has also partnered with Texas A&M University-Commerce to create an internship program. Current interns are Masters of Social Work student Crystal Kee, and Masters of Counseling student Cristina Wagner.

A bipolar support group that meets once a month is also being hosted by the center.

As I said before, we do take a great deal of pride in the programs and the people who make it work. We would love to have you join us for the open house which is from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday at the center which is just south of the main hospital in Commerce.

For more information on the program, you are welcome to call Verlin at 903-886-2238.

Carter is Chief Executive Officer of the Hunt Memorial Hospital District.

Commerce Heritage Program observes first anniversary

October 12, 2007 - The Hunt Memorial Hospital District will host an open house Tuesday, October 16, to celebrate the first anniversary of its Heritage Program for Senior Adults which is located on the Presbyterian Hospital of Commerce.

The event will be from 4-6 p.m. and among the special guests will be city, county and chamber of commerce officials, administration and board of directors of the hospital district and HMHD employees.

Located in a new 2000 square-foot structure at 2900 Sterling Hart Drive, the program opened in November of 2006, with Verlin Conkle as its director. Clients have come from a 35-mile radius of Commerce and the average daily census is around eight, although the facility is designed to hold up to 12 clients.

The building includes offices, a recreational room and counseling offices. It is the most recent completed construction project in the district.

The program is essentially an outpatient mental health treatment program that provides just such individualized treatment to older adults suffering from psychiatric, emotional or behavioral disorders that may be the result of the loss of a loved one or spouse, a major illness or injury or loss of independence.

The clients are referred by their personal physicians, their family, a friend, a minister, counselor, or, they can just walk in seeking help.

Treatment is supervised by Dr. Heath Penland, a psychiatrist from Greenville. Staff includes therapists Shelley Jackson and Carol Alden, and technicians Shonna Patterson and Linda Richardson.

The center has also partnered with Texas A&M University-Commerce to create an internship program. Current interns are Masters of Social Work student Crystal Kee, and Masters of Counseling student Cristina Wagner.

Women's Health Expo at Presbyterian Greenville

October 9, 2007 - Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville is sponsoring a Women’s Health Expo on October 18 in connection with several observances during the month concerning health care.

The event is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. on the 6th floor in the Homer Horton, Jr. Board Room.

A number of vendors will be available to introduce products and procedures dealing with women’s health care. They include:

-- Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville Digital Mammography and Diagnostic Imaging
-- Rehab and Fitness Center at Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville
-- Community Health Center
-- Women In Need
-- Breast Bridge Network
-- Greenville Vascular Surgical Associates
-- American Cancer Society
-- Med Spa / Med Loss
-- Cosmetic Skin Laser and Hair Removal of Greenville
-- Greenville Women’s Wellness Center
-- Liao Orthopedic Center
-- Rehab Hospital of Greenville
-- Citizens Home Health
-- The OB-GYN Clinic

There will also be information on PHG’s Art Healthy Therapy Program, childbirth classes and The Early Pregnancy Program.

No reservations are necessary and there is no fee.

Domestic Violence in the spotlight this month
by Chelsea Parker

October 9, 2007 - Texarkana, Paris, Palestine, McKinney.

Close to home.

Oh, yes – Greenville.

They’re all listed in 2006 report published by the Texas Code of Family Violence, and for certain, it’s not the type of recognition cities want.

Domestic violence is, however, part of the landscape in every municipality, whether it is reported or goes unreported. The cities mentioned above are the locations of some of the 120 women killed in Texas by an intimate male in their lives. In Greenville’s case, a 55-year-old woman was shot by her ex-husband who was upset because she was seeing another man. He then turned the gun on himself.

The 120 murders is only one category from the 2006 statistics, but it’s getting attention.

That is why October is being observed as Domestic Violence Awareness Month as proclaimed by President George W. Bush.

The Hunt Memorial Hospital District will be participating in a series of programs sponsored by Women In Need, Inc., the local shelter for abused and neglected women and children. Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville will host “Help and Healing from Domestic Violence” on Oct. 24 in Conference Room 2 on the second floor mezzanine. The session is free and open to the public. However, seating is limited. Reservations can be made by calling 903-408-1064.

Domestic Violence, while taking the spotlight in October, is a year-round awareness at both the Greenville and Commerce hospitals, where doctors, nurses and the emergency room supporting staff personnel find themselves dealing with victims of family violence.

From the obvious need for treating injuries, there is also a hospital social service worker full time in the Emergency Department who follows up on cases of known and suspected violence.

“Domestic Violence affects more than just the victims. It affects the friends looking in from the outside. We can also help them become aware of what they can do to help,” says Chelsea Parker, the ER social services coordinator at PHG.

There is a family violence assessment form filled out by the social worker or ER staff at the hospital which can help determine the course of action.

Many, however, give no indication of violence because they don’t want to become part of the “system,” say authorities.

Parker says part of the protocol at PHG is to offer the victim a safety plan and help make them aware of what they can do. If the woman wants to leave the hospital, arrangements can be made for her to go to Women In Need, she said.

When children are involved, Child Protective Services is notified.

Parker’s job includes making certain victims do have the opportunity to work with a social worker, provide them with a list of counseling services and provide information on obtaining protective orders.

The various law enforcement agencies offer their support in dealing with the situations.

“Hospitals are challenged to help get the word out about domestic violence,” Parker says. “It affects women and men and children, every culture, every profession, age, race and economic status. It affects not only the physical, but also the mental status of the family.”

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE

Chelsea Parker is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), who earned her master’s degree from Texas A&M University in Commerce. Upon completion of her degree in social work, she returned full time just after Christmas of 2006 to Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville, where she had interned in 2005. Her family home is in Princeton.

Striving for the competitive edge

October 9, 2007 - It was the “firing line” for new Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville Administrator Mike Klepin, who barely had his feet wet before sitting down for an interview with Health Executive magazine on the topic of “Competitive Edge.”

The magazine is published monthly and circulated to 27,000 health executives around the country. In the interviews, administrators or other hospital staff are given the opportunity to tell their story about a certain aspect of the hospital he or she serves.

Health Executive editors found the effort to gain the competitive edge appealing to its readers:

“A desire to better meet the needs of their communities while staving off encroaching competition prompted two rural Northeast Texas hospitals to merge in 1984.

“Larger metropolitan hospitals in the mushrooming Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – about 45-minutes distant – saw expansion into semi-rural Hunt County as a way to drive business back to Dallas.

“The marriage of hospitals in Greenville and Commerce that helped thwart that effort occurred when voters created the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Texas, a county-wide agency with a publicly-elected board of directors. The two hospitals soon became Presbyterian Hospitals of Greenville and Commerce through an affiliation with the Presbyterian Healthcare System in Dallas….

“While keeping track of the day-to-day operations for both hospitals may seem overwhelming, Hunt Memorial’s matrix-style management structure gives program directors the ability to handle issues at the 24-bed Commerce Hospital, while Klepin oversees operations primarily at the Greenville hospital. ‘This management structure also gives us the ability to have consistency and continuity in our services and clinical programs,’ Klepin said.”

The story also focused on efforts to improve and strengthen physician relations, the West Wing construction project, the customer relations, and future plans for expansion of the Emergency Department.

Although Klepin has been employed less than six months, he already has a clear vision of what the future of Hunt Memorial Hospital District holds.

"We will continue to focus on providing services at home and eliminating the out-migration of patients to Dallas. We’re fortunate that the growth in our market is steady and manageable because it will allow us to take our time to look at the needs of our community.”

 

Hospital News Archives

 

1st Quarter 2008   2nd Quarter 2008   3rd Quarter 2008   4th Quarter 2008
1st Quarter 2007   2nd Quarter 2007   3rd Quarter 2007   

Back to Hospital News

All rights reserved



This page designed and maintained by