October 2018 Director of Surgical Services News Roundup
This month, we saw the opening of new surgical facilities, improvements to others, and several people were given accolades for their hard work. Read more about the October 2018 director of surgical services news below:
Hocking Valley Community Hospital Opens New Cataract Surgery Center
Hocking Valley Community Hospital, in collaboration with OSU Wexner Medical Center, opened a clinic specializing in ophthalmology. Specifically, the facility will be providing cataract surgery services.
Doctors Mona Adeli, M.D., and Tyler Oostra, M.D. both bring their experience and talent to the surgery center from OSU Wexner Medical Center. Both physicians completed their opthalmology residencies within the Ohio State University health system and have remained a part of the system since.
Tara Jacobs, the Hocking Valley Director of Surgical Services, is thrilled to see this center open. “This is a tremendous asset for our patients and community,” she said.
CHI Health Mercy Hospital Installs da Vinci System
CHI Health Mercy Hospital in southwest Iowa recently installed the da Vinci Surgical System. This technology will give physicians the ability to perform less-invasive surgeries as well as see 3-D images of patients’ organs during procedures.
Initially, the robotics team is comprised of three technicians and three nurses. However, the facility intends to train the entire surgical services staff on the new equipment.
Since the implementation of the da Vinci Surgical System, several successful surgeries have already been completed, including hysterectomies, hernia repairs, and gallbladder and colon resections.
St. Anthony Regional Hospital Now Offering Manometry, Bravo, and Laparoscopic Nissen
Speaking of da Vinci systems, St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll, Iowa, has always pushed the envelope when it comes to surgical technology. They proudly boast that they were the first facility in the region to embrace da Vinci technology. Dawn Bonham, RN-BSN, the Director of Surgical Services at St. Anthony expounded upon how this technology has helped improve patient outcomes, including shortening the length of stays.
This year, they’ve added even more new equipment for their patients’ digestive surgery success: manometry, Bravo technology, and laparoscopic Nissen. Manometry is a test used for diagnosing issues related to digestion, Bravo technology monitors acid reflux levels, and laparoscopic Nissen is a surgical treatment for reflux. Additional, it can also be used on hiatal hernias.
Bonham adds that these three specific technologies allow the facility to, “provide access to needed care for the growing elderly population in the community.”
Heather Lamper Receives Distinguished Leader Award
Whitman Partners would like to extend congratulations to Heather Lamper, of UPMC Susquehanna Muncy in Pennsylvania. She recently was awarded the Distinguished Leader Award for her hard work as the Unit Director of Surgical Services.
Although Ms. Lamper has been a nurse for over 30 years, she still loves her work. One of her favorite aspects of the job is being able to find a job anywhere. That flexibility proved to be crucial when her husband served in the Navy and they moved often.
She also highly values being able to care for people, specifically people that she knows. “Caring for former teachers, neighbors, and now that I’m in my fifties, even classmates, make me feel as though I’m giving back,”
she mused, when speaking about how rewarding she finds her career..
This isn’t Ms. Lamper’s first award – she was also given the Pat Stopper Award for Excellence in Nursing Management in 2015.
Sheridan Memorial Hospital Awarded for Infusion Management System Innovation
The Wyoming Nurses Association (WNA) Summit and Convention was recently held in Sheridan, Wyoming. This event brought together over 120 nurses from hospitals across the state of Wyoming. This year’s theme, #bedsideandbeyond, served as a reminder that although nurses are usually found at the bedside with their patients, they can inspire patients and families in the world outside of the hospital as well.
At the summit, Sheridan Memorial Hospital was awarded the WNA Innovation Award for their Infusion Management System. They use a special type of smart pump that wirelessly connects with their system and other devices.
Dee Gilson, the Director of Surgical Services and Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Sheridan Memorial Hospital, just completed her two-year term as the president of WNA. The new president is Kathy Luzmoor, a retired nurse of 40 years.
Oakland Regional Hospital Now Known as Surgeons Choice Medical Center
The hospital formerly known as Oakland Regional Hospital, in Southfield, Michigan, has completely transformed! It is now a physician-owned, boutique hospital specializing in surgeries. The new name is Surgeons Choice Medical Center.
In 2016, the hospital hired new CEO Dr. Steven Craig to restructure the facility, which was experiencing drops in patient volume and physicians. Dr. Craig brought a new strategy which increased surgery volume 40 percent.
Stephanie Prechowski is the Director of Surgical Services for the facility. She manages the four operating rooms and is partially responsible for all of the success the hospital is experiencing. Thanks to her team, infection rates are extremely low, as well as post-surgical blood clot rates.
Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle to Offer New Surgical Technology Program
Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle in Columbus, Mississippi, will be partnering with East Mississippi Community College to offer the first and only surgical technology program in the region. Although this partnership has been in the works since February, the classes will not begin until January of 2019.
The hospital donated not only classroom space near the hospital, but computers and operating room equipment to practice on as well. There will be 15 students in the inaugural two-year program.
Derrick Forrester, Director of Surgical Services, and the rest of the surgical services team are looking forward to getting the program underway next year. There is a lack of qualified surgical technologists in the area, and this undertaking should solve this problem.
Horizon Health Expanding Surgical Services Department
Horizon Health, located in Paris, IL, is expanding their surgical services department. It was important to the facility to ensure that patients would be receiving the same quality of care as a large-city hospital, despite being in a rural community.
The majority of surgeries here are outpatient, but the facility has 25 inpatient beds for overnight stays. However, the average length of stay is less than four days.
Horizon Health is a designated Critical Access Hospital. Critical Access Hospitals are facilities with 25 or fewer acute care inpatient beds that offer 24/7 emergency services and are located 35 miles or more from other hospitals.
St. Michael Center for Joint Replacement Adding Second MAKOplasty System
St. Michael Center for Joint Replacement, in Texarkana, Texas, announced that they are adding a new MAKOplasty system to their surgical center. This will be the second MAKOplasty system in the facility.
MAKOplasty is a type of robotic arm used for knee and hip replacements. This additional system will allow for more patients to get these surgeries with the benefits of shortened recovery time and smaller incisions than traditional methods.
Carol Giese, the Director of Surgical Services at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System, is very pleased to be bringing this second set of equipment in to the facility. The precision it brings will offer the best outcomes for future knee and hip replacements performed there.
Scotland Memorial Hospital Assistant Director of Surgical Services Recognized with Pinnacle Award
Niki Hammonds, the assistant Director of Surgical Services at Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg, North Carolina, won a Pinnacle Award. This award is presented to the best employees in all of Atrium Health.
This year, twelve people were presented with the award in recognition of the caring, commitment, integrity, and teamwork that they showed throughout the year. Ms. Hammonds was nominated because of the care she showed to hospice patient Danielle Burns.
Mrs. Burns was a mother of two children that wanted to live long enough to see them graduate from high school. The school offered to host the graduation at Scotland Regional Hospice House so that she could be present for the once-in-a-lifetime ceremony.
Carisa Brewster
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