Health briefs

SOUTHEAST PHARMACY DIRECTOR WINS AWARD

Dr. Nicole Allcock, director of pharmacy for SoutheastHEALTH, received the 2012 Health System Pharmacy Alumni Service Award from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

PAIN MANAGEMENT CARE COMES TO FARMINGTON

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dr. Andrew F. Walker and Dr. Carmen N. Keith, pain management physicians at Saint Francis Medical Center, are now seeing patients from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursdays at Parkland Health Clinic in Farmington.

CARDIOVASCULAR CONSULTANTS PARTNER WITH PERRY COUNTY

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dr. Steven J. Carr, a cardiologist with Cardiovascular Consultants in Cape Girardeau, is now providing cardiology services from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. Carr is board certified in nuclear cardiology, internal medicine and cardiovascular disease.

OB/GYN JOINS CAPE CARE FOR WOMEN

Dr. Kimberly K. Roos

Saint Francis Medical Center added Dr. Kimberly K. Roos as a women's health specialist at Cape Care for Women. She specializes in minimally invasive surgery and the da Vinci Surgical System and is board certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She joins Cape Care for Women after five years at The Women's Health Group in Broomfield, Colo.

SOUTHEAST RECEIVES PERFORMANCE AWARD

Southeast Hospital received the American College of Cardiology Foundation's NCDR ACTION Registry -- GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2012, one of only 164 hospitals nationwide to do so. The award recognizes Southeast's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It signifies that Southeast has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations. To receive the Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Southeast consistently followed the treatment guidelines for eight consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures.

BENDER RECOGNIZED AT SURGEONS MEETING

Dr. Edward M. Bender

Dr. Edward M. Bender of Cape Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery was recognized in a speech at the 48th annual meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earlier this year. Dr. Michael J. Mack, president of Society of Thoracic Surgeons, cited Bender's work with iPhone and iPad apps to help thoracic surgical education.

SAINT FRANCIS ADDS BONE SURVEY FOR CANCER DETECTION

Saint Francis Medical Center is the first in the region to offer the PET F18 Bone Survey, the new standard in bone imaging. This new tool helps capture high-definition bone images, making it easier to accurately detect cancer that has metastasized or spread to the bone. PET F18, also known as sodium fluoride F18, is a radioactive, diagnostic tracing agent used in PET imaging. After the agent is injected into the patient intravenously, it travels through the blood directly to the bone, highlighting active bone turnover that may indicate metastatic disease. A PET scan then captures highly detailed, exquisitely clear images of the bone and any potential abnormalities. Better image quality, increased clinical accuracy, enhanced patient convenience and added efficiency are among benefits of this type of bone scan. The PET F18 Bone Survey is more easily tolerated by patients and requires less waiting time from injection to scan than a conventional bone scan (45 minutes versus three hours). The procedure itself takes only 20 minutes, compared to an hour for a conventional bone scan.

SOUTHEAST PARTNERS WITH MADISON COUNTY

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- Dr. Yubao Wang of Southeast Hematology/Oncology is now providing hematology and oncology services the second Friday of every month at Madison County Medical Center.

TWIN RIVERS HONORS EMPLOYEES

KENNETT, Mo. -- Kim Hughes was nurse of the month for September at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center. Jacklyn Medsker from the cardiopulmonary department was clinical non-nurse of the month and Tammy Parker, a patient access representative in the outpatient area, was support associate of the month. Those honored in October were Gary Wilson, nurse of the month, Beverly Taylor, clinical associate of the month and Tiffany Prewett, receptionist at the Kennett Orthopedic Center, support associate of the month.

SOUTHEAST TO OPEN CLINIC IN JACKSON

SoutheastHEALTH has announced plans for a new convenient care clinic at 2432 E. Main St. in Jackson, scheduled to open in April 2013. Southeast Convenient Care will fill a void in the growing Jackson market for additional unscheduled, extended-hour medical care, according to a news release from the hospital. The clinic will provide an alternative to emergency room visits for patients who do not require complete hospital facility services and eliminates the wait times often associated with an emergency room visit. Clinic hours are scheduled to be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Services will include adult and pediatric care, sports and school physicals, pre-employment physicians, sports injuries, work-related injuries and more. Imaging and lab services will be available on-site. The clinic will initially be staffed by physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and appropriate support staff. Southeast also operates an outreach clinic, HealthPoint Fitness and Rehab and Main Street Pharmacy in Jackson.

Nancy Mueller

MUELLER RECOGNIZED BY INFECTION CONTROL TODAY

Nancy Mueller, materials manager for SoutheastHEALTH, was recognized by Infection Control Today for her work in SoutheastHEALTH's central sterile department. Mueller was recognized as part of International Central Sterile Supply Department Week. She and the central sterile department clean and disinfect equipment to prevent infections.

MALHOTRA JOINS SIKESTON CLINIC

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Dr. Rajesh Malhotra joined Sikeston Family Medical Center on Nov. 5. He is licensed to practice medicine in six states and previously worked for Mobile Doctors in Kansas City, Mo. He is board certified in nephrology and RMS-certified as an interventional nephrologist. He is also a clinical specialist in hypertension.

BLACK RIVER WELCOMES SURGEON

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Dr. David Brotman joined the medical staff at Black River Medical Center. He is board certified in vascular and general surgery, with more than 20 years of experience. His clinical expertise includes general surgery, vascular surgery and wound care. Brotman previously worked as a general surgeon at his private practice in Pennsylvania. He joins 57 other physicians at the three-bed hospital in Poplar Bluff.

Darrin K. Sauerbrunn

SAUERBRUNN NAMED ACCOUNTING MANAGER

Darrin K. Sauerbrunn was named accounting manager at Saint Francis Medical Center. He will manage accounts payable, payroll, cash management and general ledger maintenance and reconciliation. Sauerbrunn has worked at Saint Francis for six years and is a certified public accountant.

VNA AWARDED FOR PATIENT EXPERIENCE

The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri was named a 2012 HHCAHPS Honors recipient, an award recognizing home health agencies that provide the best patient experience. The annual award acknowledges the top 20 percent of agencies that continuously provide the highest level of satisfaction as measured from the patient's point of view. The HHCAHPS Honors analyzes satisfaction measures covering performance and improvement of care during a 12-month period. The HHCAHPS Honors rankings were compiled from survey results of more than 1,800 home health agencies from April 2011 to March 2012. The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri is a not-for-profit organization that covers 13 area counties.

SAINT FRANCIS EARNS STATE MARKETING AWARDS

Saint Francis Medical Center won 20 Show-Me Excellence awards for excellence in health care marketing, more than any other single hospital in the state, from the Missouri Association for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing. The Missouri Hospital Association announced the awards at its 90th annual Convention & Trade Show in Osage Beach, Mo. Saint Francis' Show-Me Excellence awards include the following: Five first-place awards for Things Happen radio ad (advertising -- radio category), I Hate Cancer print ads (advertising -- print), I Hate Cancer outdoor (advertising -- outdoor), Dig for Life website (websites -- Internet) and 2012 calendar (photography); eight second-place awards for the Pink Up Cape 2011 newspaper wrap (advertising -- print category), Things Happen outdoor (advertising -- outdoor), 2011 Annual Report (annual reports category), Dig for Life campaign (cooperative partnerships), Flu Shot at Work campaign (employee communications projects), Services to Business e-Newsletter (external publications/routine -- electronic), PowerLine employee newsletter (internal publications/routine -- printed) and Heart Hospital Cancer Institute grand opening (media relations activity or program -- mid- to large-size hospital); and seven third-place awards for the Pink Up Cape 2011 commercial (advertising -- television category), Family BirthPlace outdoor (advertising -- outdoor), 2011 Foundation Annual Report (annual reports), New Physician Reception invitation (direct mail), 2012 NICU calendar (photography), Pink Up Cape RENEW event (special marketing or public relations project) and Pink Up Cape 2011 video (video category).

SAINT FRANCIS BREAKS GROUND FOR EXPANSION PROJECT

Saint Francis Medical Center broke ground Nov. 28 for its expansion and renovation project, "Building on Excellence." The hospital will enhance facilities, services and systems, bringing the community more focused and innovative care from top specialists, more leading-edge treatments and technology and better choices for surgery, pain management, women and children's health and more. Plans for the $127 million, two-phase project, slated for completion in 2016, include a five-story patient tower with areas for orthopedics, neurosciences, rehabilitation, surgical and medical services; the transition to all private patient rooms; updated patient elevators and patient-only corridors; renovation of the hospital's northeast side, including a new women and children's pavilion; expansion of the Pain Management Center and Family BirthPlace; and private NICU rooms.

LILEY IS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Nicole Liley was employee of the month for November at Woodland Hills. Liley, a certified nursing assistant, has worked at Woodland Hills for six months.

WHITTEN NAMED ADMINISTRATOR AT BLOOMFIELD CENTER

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Mayme Whitten is the new administrator at Golden Living Center in Bloomfield. She had served as interim administrator since August and accepted the position full time in late October. She previously worked for Golden Living Center's corporate office as a patient transient care representative.

CONVALESCENT CENTER TO EXPAND, REMODEL

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A groundbreaking was held Nov. 21 for the expansion of the therapy program and major remodel of the Sikeston Convalescent Center, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported. The project will add a hydrotherapy pool, non-impact exercise programs for inpatient and outpatient services and extensive remodeling and refurnishing. Gibson Construction of Sikeston has been contracted to provide oversight of the remodel project. Completion is scheduled for May 1, with the therapy pool to be finished in early spring.