Health briefs

LINNES RESIGNS FROM SOUTHEAST

Debbie Linnes has resigned her position as CEO of SoutheastHEALTH, citing differences in management philosophy, according to a hospital statement released June 13. Linnes came to Southeast in September 2009, after serving as CEO at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. Wayne Smith has been named interim CEO. He joined Southeast in September 2010 as vice

president of human resources and development. He previously served in a similar capacity at Saint Francis Medical Center.

TUMBOUGH JOINS VNA-TIP

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- DeAnna Tumbough joined VNA-TIP HomeCare of Farmington as a registered nurse.

SAINT FRANCIS EXPANDS BIRTHPLACE

Saint Francis Medical Center recently completed an expansion of its Family BirthPlace, increasing the number of private patient rooms to 16. The expansion also includes a two-bay triage area and another swing room that can serve as a labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum suite or triage room. The facility offers private bathrooms; private whirlpools or showers; TV and DVD players; specially designed, comfortable beds; daily quiet time to promote mother-baby bonding and gift baskets for moms. The expansion became necessary as the Family BirthPlace's delivery numbers continued to skyrocket. The department's 874 births in 2010 represented a 16 percent increase over the previous record of 752 set in 2009, and an 82 percent increase over the 481 births recorded in 2005.

CROSS TRAILS NAMES NEW CEO

Ron Camp

Ron Camp of Cape Girardeau, was named chief executive officer of Cross Trails Medical Center in April. The medical/dental provider has locations in Cape Girardeau, Marble Hill and Advance, Mo. Camp previously worked in the financial/accounting management field for 24 years.

DAMBA NAMED PRESIDENT OF STATE ASSOCIATION

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dr. Victoria Damba, Farmington, Mo., was installed as president of the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. She will lead the state organization for osteopathic physicians, an affiliate of the American Osteopathic Association, for the next year. Damba is a family physician at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center.

THREE-BED HOSPITAL APPROVED

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A certificate of need was approved May 9 for Black River Community Medical Center, a three-bed hospital being planned by Poplar Bluff Medical Partners and Saint Francis Medical Center. Despite opposition from Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee voted 5-2 to certify the need for a short-stay monitoring hospital in an existing building at 217 Physicians Park Drive, reported the Daily American Republic. Black River Community Medical Center, a not-for-profit corporation, will renovate and lease 4,650 square feet of the existing medical building owned by Poplar Bluff Medical Partners. Black River will also lease some equipment and use the current laboratory and imaging center. The center will treat asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, simple pneumonia and dehydration. It will also have an emergency room and two outpatient observation beds.

APPROVAL GRANTED FOR NEW HOSPITAL

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee voted 6-0 on May 9 to approve a certificate of need for a $170 million Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The new hospital will have 425,000 square feet on seven floors and a basement, reported the Daily American Republic. It will have 250 private patient rooms, and will be built on the south side of Route PP east of the U.S. 67 bypass. Health Management Associates of Naples, Fla., which owns the hospital, decided to build a new medical campus due to "lack of space in the current facility, the inability to expand, lack of privacy with semiprivate rooms and the inability to install new technology," according to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center CEO Greg Carda. Carda expects 200 to 250 more employees to be hired for the new hospital. The certificate of need also includes closing of the south campus and converting the north campus into a psychiatric and rehabilitation facility operated by PBRMC. The south campus is being used by the Three Rivers College nursing program. The hospital is expected to be completed in early 2014.

NEUROSURGERY CLINIC OPENS IN PERRYVILLE

Dr. Kevin A. Vaught, neurosurgeon at the Brain & NeuroSpine Clinic of Missouri in Cape Girardeau, opened a clinic on the campus of Perry County Memorial Hospital, Perryville, Mo. His services include complex brain and spine care and coordinated nonsurgical and pain management care. Vaught has surgical privileges at Perry County Memorial Hospital, SoutheastHEALTH and Saint Francis Medical Center. His Perry County clinic hours are the first and third Monday of each month, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

FORSYTHE COMPLETES CONTINUING EDUCATION

DESLOGE, Mo. -- Dr. Stephen Forsythe of Quality Health Care, completed 26 hours of AOA Category 1-A continuing medical education credits at the Missouri Osteopathic Annual Convention. Forsythe attended sessions on topics such as cardiology, psychiatry, special issues with aging, new frontiers in medicine, radiology and osteopathic manipulative treatment. Osteopathic physicians are required by the American Osteopathic Association to earn 120 hours of continuing medical education every three years. Missouri physicians are required by state law to earn 50 hours of continuing education every two years.

HUGHES JOINS MALDEN CLINIC

MALDEN, Mo. -- Hollie Hughes joined Missouri Southern Healthcare's Malden, Mo., clinic as a family nurse practitioner. Her office is at 500 N. Douglass St., Malden.

SOTO PERFORMS MISSOURI FIRST AT SAINT FRANCIS

Dr. Gabe Soto

Dr. Gabe E. Soto, in coordination with Saint Francis Medical Center, was the first physician in Missouri to qualify for limited market release of the new Safire BLU Bi-directional Irrigated Ablation Catheter, an innovative technology that treats cardiac arrhythmia. Soto, a cardiology and electrophysiology specialist with Cardiovascular Consultants of Cape Girardeau, performed his first clinical procedure with the technology on April 13. The next closest clinical site where the catheter's limited release can be found is on the East Coast. The Safire BLU offers added control, including bidirectional deflection, a new shaft with a higher torque response and a lower fluid infusion rate than other ablation systems when treating cardiac arrhythmia. It delivers radiofrequency energy to specific areas of cardiac tissue to create lesions that interrupt the abnormal electrical signals that cause irregular heart rhythms. It also features a bidirectional deflection capability to allow physicians to reach challenging anatomic locations during ablation procedures, turning up to 180 degrees in both directions.

WINKLE ACCEPTED TO SPINE ACADEMY

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Dr. Kevin Winkle, spine specialist at Heartland Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Center, was accepted as a member of the American Academy of Spine Physicians. The organization is comprised of health care professionals committed to improving the quality of spine care through cooperative and conservative efforts.

BLOOMFIELD CLINIC ADDS PHYSICIAN

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Dr. David Mir joined the medical staff at Bloomfield Medical Clinic in November. His wife, Dr. Angizeh Sadeghi, is a gastroenterologist in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

DENTAL ARTS OPENS IN NEW OFFICE

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Dental Arts held a ribbon cutting to open its new building at 2700 Kanell Blvd.

COOLEY RECEIVES PLATINUM AWARD

Joyce Hill Cooley, hearing instrument specialist with Miracle Ear in Cape Girardeau, received a Platinum Award for Outstanding Educational Achievement at the Missouri Hearing Society Educational Conference in St. Louis. The society recognizes individuals who go beyond the basic continuing education requirements in an effort to provide superior service to their patients. Cooley completed 37 hours of continuing education to receive the award.

BELCHER GETS GOLD AWARD

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Donna Belcher, hearing instrument specialist with Quality Choice Hearing Aid Center Inc., received the Gold Award for Outstanding Educational Achievement at the Missouri Hearing Society educational conference in St. Louis. She completed 29 hours of continuing education in order to receive the award.

DENTIST JOINS CROSS TRAILS

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Dr. Courtney Beussink joined the dental clinic at Cross Trails Medical Center in Advance.

MINERAL AREA HONORS EMPLOYEES

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dr. Rafael Figueroa, colon-rectal surgeon, was Physician of the Month for March at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center. She has worked at the hospital's Mineral Area Surgical Specialist office for two years. Donna Loyd was Nurse of the Month for March. She has worked in the Home Health Department for two years. Retha Evans was Employee of the Month for March. She has worked at the hospital for 12 years, and is currently a supervisor in Patient Access Services.

CONVALESCENT CENTER BREAKS GROUND

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A groundbreaking was held recently for the New Horizons Transitional Care Unit, to be built at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. The 1,600-square-foot addition will include an exercise gym with a training kitchen, laundry and bath, as well as private speech-language/swallowing areas. The addition will also house a therapeutic pool to be used by patients of the Sikeston Convalescent Center and Health Facilities Rehab Services' outpatients. The unit will be built by Pat Drury of Denali Construction and is set to open this fall.

ESSNER GETS DESIGN CERTIFICATION

Rick Essner

Rick Essner, director of facilities management at Saint Francis Medical Center, obtained evidence-based design accreditation and certification (EDAC) from The Center for Health Design, recognizing his knowledge of the evidence-based design process for health care. The EDAC program educates and assesses individuals on their understanding of how to base design decisions on available, credible evidence. The goal of the program is to test people on the proper process to follow in order to identify, hypothesize, implement, gather and report data associated with their project.

HENDRICKSON RETIRING FROM SOUTHEAST

Dr. Karen Hendrickson, vice president and chief nursing officer at SoutheastHEALTH, is retiring from a post she's held since 1982. An interim chief nursing officer will be identified over the next few weeks, said Debbie Linnes, then president and CEO of SoutheastHEALTH. Hendrickson's last day in the office will be July 1. She will retire with the honorary title of chief nursing officer emeritus.

SAINT FRANCIS ADDS HOSPITALIST

Dr. Nefretiti Garrison-North

Dr. Nefretiti Garrison-North joined Saint Francis Medical Center as a hospitalist. Specializing in inpatient medicine, Garrison-North is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in pediatrics. She graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She completed her residency at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

SOUTHEAST HOME HEALTH RECOGNIZED

Southeast Home Health was recognized nationally as Home Health Quality Improvement Agency of the Month for June. Southeast Home Health has a comprehensive disease management program, which includes emergency care plans. The Home Health Quality Improvement Campaign has 8,523 participants from 4,753 agencies across the nation. The voluntary initiative seeks to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and improve the management of oral medications for home health patients.

THERAPY CLINIC HOLDS RIBBON CUTTING

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting to officially open BizZee Kidz Therapy, 4358C Highway PP, Poplar Bluff.

DENTAL OFFICE OPENS IN KENNETT

KENNETT, Mo. -- Brown and Copeland Dental held a ribbon cutting on May 18 with the Kennett Chamber of Commerce. The office is at 703 First St.

KLEMM GETS LEADERSHIP AWARD

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dr. Marianne Klemm received a district leadership award from the Mineral Area Osteopathic District Association and the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. The award was presented April 16 at the Missouri Osteopathic Annual Convention. The MAOPS District Leadership award goes to an osteopathic physician who has made a significant impact in the osteopathic district association. Districts submit nominees to the MAOPS awards committee, which then makes recommendations to the MAOPS board of trustees for final approval. Klemm is board certified in family medicine and practices at Great Mines Health Center, Farmington.