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The Privacy Notice requires Adobe Acrobat Reader
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FEBRUARY 2002 NEWSLETTER
H. Clark Duncan, Administrator
Over the last year or so Washington County Memorial Hospital has made many improvements to our services, facilities, and equipment. Following is an overview of selected accomplishments and service improvements at WCMH over the last 12 months:
1) WCMH installed a new state-of-the-art CT scanner which provides faster
scanning, clearer images, and has a wider range of use than the earlier
generations of scanners. Images are produced in 3-dimensional display. This
helical CT can replace some procedures which formerly would have involved
injection of dye(contrast media) such as for evaluating a patient for kidney
stones or tumors of the kidney or pancreas. It is also safer for patients
because patients receive up to 40% less radiation with this new helical CT than
with previous generations of CT.
2) The hospital has established a sleep disorders lab that is second to none
in our region. Sleep disorders are a major problem in our population now, with
up to an estimated 70 million people in the U.S. having some kind of sleep
problem such as sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, or even sleep-walking.
Generally, much of our modern society now works more and sleeps less than in
previous years, making sleep disorder evaluation an important part of health
assessment and treatment. By the way, did you know that in 2001 the average
American adult was getting 6 hours, 54 minutes of sleep on weeknights, compared
to 8 and ½ hours in 1900(which was of course before most people had
electricity)?
3) The hospital has made commitments to insure that we have stable, consistent
physician staffing of our Emergency Room. Almost all our staffing is by only 4
physicians so they are familiar with our hospital staff and our capabilities.
This allows for good consistency of service. Our Medical Directors are Dr. Andy
Ninichuck and Dr. Kelly Hartel. Dr. Ninichuck regularly participates in Medical
Staff meetings and ER Staff meetings and provides regular input on service
improvements. The hospital has also increased the nurse staffing in the ER,
where our volume has grown to over 12,000 visits per year.
4) Last June 1 the hospital received designation from the federal Health Care
Financing Administration as a Critical Access Hospital. WCMH was the 6th
hospital in Missouri to receive such designation (there are now 16). This
qualified WCMH to receive improved reimbursement from the Medicare program. This
is crucial to the financial viability of small rural hospitals like WCMH, and
has made a significant positive financial impact on our hospital.
5)WCMH has established an in-house nuclear medicine capability. This is a new
service to us and provides new dimensions of diagnostic capability such as bone
scans and gallbladder scans. This is a highly regulated and controlled service
as you might expect, requiring additional licensure by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
6) In December the hospital had a dedicated T-1 line installed giving the
hospital its own high-speed internet access. This will allow us to conduct many
of our business functions faster and more efficiently. For many insurance
companies we will be able to verify patient account status or claim information
on-line rather than by telephone (which is slow, aggravating, and has frequently
resulted in insurance companies giving us inaccurate information). Another
benefit to us of the T-1 line will be the ability to perform teleradiology, the
transmission of digitalized radiology images for instant interpretation x-rays.
This will be a valuable service improvement. Other benefits of the T-1 line will
be the capability for on-line educational programs for our staff.
7) The hospital recently purchased all-new IV pumps at a cost of over $45,000.
These computerized pumps are easier for the nursing staff to use and have a
number of safety features not only for our patients but for the protection of
our staff from the risk of needle sticks.
8) The hospital is in the process of upgrading all of our patient beds to more
modern, comfortable, smoother functioning beds. They are also all of the same
type beds, made by the Hill-Rom company which is a leader in the manufacture of
hospital beds. This will be easier for our nursing and other staff to operate
and for our Maintenance Department to care for.
9) The hospital laboratory is in process of installing approximately $350,000 of
new equipment. This is 3 major instruments which will improve and expand our
in-house capability, and for a number of tests will improve the turnaround time
for test results. Of course this will help us improve our patient care, and will
in some cases allow for more efficient use of our laboratory technician time as
some of the new testing is more automated.
10) Late last year the Board approved a major and comprehensive revision to the
wage and salary program for hospital employees. Significant pay increases were
also made to all categories of employees, which will help us recruit and retain
employees. The annual cost of these revisions will be $270,000. We feel this was
a much-needed commitment for the future of the hospital and has been
well-received.
11) The hospital has stepped up its commitment to continuing education for
its employees, with much of the efforts directed toward the nursing staff. We
now have 67% of our RNs and LPN's currently ACLS certified. (ACLS stands for
Advanced Cardiac Life Support). On February 15th and 22nd classes will be held
to certify another 8% of the staff. This year 6 of our nurses(5 RNs and 1 LPN)
achieved what is known as PALS certification. (PALS stands for Pediatric
Advanced Lifesaving Support). We had 4 RNs achieve rigorous advanced training to
become certified as Trauma Nurse Specialists. We now have 8 staff members
trained through Mid-America Transplant Services to be Requestors for Organ and
Tissue donations at the end of life, and this will no doubt save some lives,
somewhere, because of the extra effort to encourage organ donation.
12) The hospital has had an internal construction and renovation project
underway for approximately the last 7 months. This is very nearly complete. We
have a newly renovated and expanded Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation wing,
with additional equipment, private treatment rooms, and a private room for
hydrotherapy. We have newly remodeled facilities for Cardiac and Pulmonary
Rehabilitation. We have a new patient and visitor waiting area, and new
handicapped-accessible public restrooms in the rehabilitation wing, which has a
new brighter look. We have a newly renovated Medical Records Department which
will make it easier for that staff and all those who interact with patient
records. We have built a new patient registration area across from the present
Emergency Room entrance which will within a few weeks allow us to separate the
clerical, financial processing work from the clinical work done in the Emergency
Room. Our goal is to make a smoother, more private patient flow in the ER.
Finally, we have renovated an area to become our new Outpatient Clinic wing,
with private exam rooms and a new waiting area specifically for the convenience
of our patients seeing our visiting specialists. We do apologize to our patients
and visitors who have had to bear with us during this time of renovation, and we
are pleased that all this work is nearly complete. In the near future we will be
announcing an open house to allow the public to see these new areas.
H. Clark Duncan, Administrator