SoutheastHEALTH Provides Award-Winning Care to Region

Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau provides award-winning care that places it among the nation's best hospitals and part of a growing health system. Last year, a new brand, SoutheastHEALTH, was established. The name better reflects the health system's role in healthcare.

SoutheastHEALTH president and CEO Debbie Linnes says, "We are a far-reaching network of providers and facilities uniting to provide a regional system of healthcare services. This is not simply an evolution in name alone. We are reaching out beyond the borders of Cape Girardeau to partner with regional healthcare providers to expand and enhance the healthcare services across our region."

Southeast Hospital ranks high in patient safety and patient experience, as well as in a number of clinical areas including heart care, orthopedic services, stroke treatment, prostatectomy and vascular surgery, according to HealthGrades®, the nation's leading, independent healthcare ratings organization.

Rated Among Top Hospitals in Nation

Southeast's excellent record of patient safety places it among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for two years in a row (2009 and 2010). Southeast also earns high marks nationally for patient experience, ranking among the top 5 percent of hospitals for 2010/2011 and among the top 10 percent in 2009/2010.

SoutheastHEALTH assumed management of the Ripley County hospital in Doniphan, Mo., last fall.

The Outstanding Patient Experience Award is based on independent patient satisfaction survey results compared to scores from virtually all other hospitals in the nation.

Southeast currently has three Top Five state rankings. The hospital is No. 1 in Missouri for vascular surgery, number two for coronary interventional procedures, and number four for prostatectomy. The hospital ranks in the top ten statewide in cardiology services, overall orthopedic services, overall cardiac services and treatment of stroke.

Nationally, Southeast is five-star rated for carotid surgery, coronary interventional procedures, hip fracture repair, prostatectomy and treatment of stroke.

A regional system of care

For more than 80 years, Southeast Hospital has grown to meet the needs of the many thousands of patients served on both an inpatient and outpatient basis each year. Southeast dropped "Missouri" from the hospital's name last year because it no longer reflected the wide geographic region served by the medical facility. In addition to patients from Missouri, residents of Illinois, western Kentucky and northern Arkansas also turn to Southeast for their healthcare needs.

Southeast Hospital surgery staff and physicians celebrate the hospital's excellent HealthGrades ratings and rankings last month prior to a public ceremony.

Today, SoutheastHEALTH has multiple campuses and facilities including the Southeast Cancer Center, HealthPoint Fitness in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Southeast Home Health, Southeast Hospice and Southeast Endocrinology at Doctors' Park, Southeast Wellness Connection at West Park Mall and Southeast Medical Plaza with locations on Broadway and Mount Auburn Road. In addition, SoutheastHEALTH operates the Southeast Campus Health Clinic at Southeast Missouri State University and satellite outpatient cardiac rehab services in Sikeston and Dexter, Mo.

The health system also operates a rural hospital in Doniphan, Mo. New technology and major renovations are transforming the Ripley County hospital into a modern, rural health center. SoutheastHEALTH assumed management of the newly named Southeast Health Center of Ripley County late last fall.

Major facility improvements have been and continue to be made by SoutheastHEALTH, including renovation of a geriatric psych unit.

Nurse navigator

At Southeast Hospital, changes are taking place too. The hospital has established a position of nurse navigator for Women's and Children's Services. The nurse navigator helps steer women and their families through pregnancy, childbirth and those challenging few weeks that follow.

As the hospital's first nurse navigator for women's and children's services, Jane Unterreiner, BSN, RNC, assists moms-to-be in development of birth plans. She writes down their preferences for labor – if they prefer natural childbirth or the option for epidural anesthesia.

"Some people have a specific request such as not being continuously hooked up to IV fluids so they can move around more freely" she notes. The physician signs off on the written plan and the plan is placed in the patient's medical chart. "It just opens up communication for everyone," she says. "We want our patients to feel that their childbirth experience is special."