SOUTHEAST MISSOURI HOSPITAL ANNOUNCES THREE NEW PROGRAMS

Southeast Missouri Hospital has announced the addition of three new programs to its services. The programs are a new oxygen therapy treatment, educational program and health care information on the Web.

Southeast will become the first area hospital to offer Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, which is a medical treatment that allows patients to breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. The treatment will be available in June.

The hyperbaric chamber has been used for more than 50 years, most often in a device that keeps deep-sea divers from suffering decompression sickness. Recent research shows that healing can be accelerated by using a combination of pressure and pure oxygen.

The treatment will be used to also treat smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning and some infections.

Hoping to benefit from a growing demand for surgical technologists, Southeast's College of Nursing and Health Sciences will add a radiologic technology program.

The program will begin in June 2002. With a national shortage of X-ray technicians, Southeast Missouri will eventually feel the crunch, hospital officials said.

Southeast intends to offer a two-year degree, which would be much like its two-year entry-level program for nurses.

Applications will be available in August, and 20 students will be enrolled in the first class.

Southeast's Web site also introduced Online Health @ to Z, which offers more than 3,000 pages of health information for both adults and children.

The pages offer categories of reputable online resources. The health information is searchable by key word.

With the introduction of Online Health @ to Z, Southeast's Web site has become one of the largest hospital Web sites in the state. The local site numbers more than 4,000 pages.

With so much unreliable information on the Web, the new site has the approval of the hospital staff and is presented in easy-to-understand language, said Joni Adams, webmaster.

The information can be accessed from the main hospital Web site, or by going directly to www.southeastmissourihospital.com/health.