Community People, Quality Health Care
Leading the way in rural medical excellence
NOTE FROM THE CEO
This month I have some good news and some not so good news.
Let’s start with the good news first. We have two new providers joining our network; Karen Morrow, FNP is a nurse practitioner, who specializes in family and pediatric medicine. She joins us from Crescent City where she has an established practice.
Greg Tjossem, MD is a Family Practice doctor joining us from Iowa. Both will start in January and provide much needed capacity in Brookings.
monthly health tips
The month of June brings with it the official beginning of summer, Father’s Day (mark your calendars – it’s the 19th this year!), as well as Men’s Health Month! The purpose of celebrating Men’s Health Month is to “heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of diseases” that affect our fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers.
Curry Health Network - Recent News
November 2011
Curry Health District hires Quorum Health Resources (QHR)
At a recent board meeting, QHR presented their plan to increase efficiencies in system and staff to create a healthy fiscal picture for the Network.
CFO Mark Sayler recently stated about QHR “The first thing they’re doing is
looking at our staffing, setting up a plan so that when we don’t have as many
patients, we can staff differently. They are helping us to understand where we
can cut and where we can’t, how we can be flexible in busy times and efficient
in slow times.”
“They are also looking at what our charges are, how we’re billing, making sure
we bill everything we can,” Sayler said.
“Health care is horribly complex. The emergency room, surgery, lots of times
they do lots of procedures. It’s easy to forget to write something down, so it
doesn’t get billed to the patient. It’s also very important in health care that
everything is well documented. If we do a procedure, it needs to be ordered by a
physician. If we do and it’s not included in the medical record, we can’t bill
for that either.”
Sayler said that QHR is helping make sure the health district can bill
everything they are entitled to bill.
“Once they get those going, they’re going to look at other things as well,”
Sayler said.
He said QHR has contracts with suppliers that can help Curry Health get better
discounts on equipment.
Excerpts courtesy of the Curry Coastal Pilot
June 2011
Volunteers greet clients at Curry Health Center
Those who visit the new Curry Health Center on Fifth Street in Brookings seeking
health care may be surprised to be greeted at the receptions desk by a friend or
neighbor.
That friendly greeter, as a member of the newly-formed Brookings branch of the
Curry General Hospital Auxiliary, will be a volunteer-in-training to provide a
warm and friendly atmosphere for patients needing medical attention.
The group of approximately 30 volunteers meets on the first Wednesday of each
month for planning and training. In addition to providing a warm and friendly
presence at the reception desk, the volunteer group is making plans for
additional activities to serve clients.
Auxiliary members currently work at the reception desk in two shifts, Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Current plans to expand services include providing a coffee and muffin kiosk in
the reception area. Moira Fossum, health center community relations director,
who works with the volunteers, explained that patients who are often required to
fast for early morning tests will appreciate having sustenance available.
Opening a gift shop in the center is also on the agenda being considered by
auxiliary members. Fossum noted that funds raised by the auxiliary services will
be used for purchase of additional equipment for the health center.
She cited, as an example, $20,000 raised by the hospital auxiliary in Gold Beach
last year that was used to purchase a much needed digitizer, capable of
transferring X-ray images to computer images.
Brookings fireman Andy Stubbs, currently the single male member of the
auxiliary, said that he is planning to recruit additional firefighters for the
group.
Fossum said that the volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and encouraged
anyone interested in serving to join. She added that a junior auxiliary is being
considered to allow interested student volunteers to also serve at the health
center.
She declared, “It’s a happy, friendly group. Come on down and join us.”
For additional information, contact Fossum at 541-412-2025.
Article courtesy of the Curry Coastal Pilot
Health District joins with Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians
Health District CEO Bill McMillan announced recently that, effective July 1,
Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians, a medical group managed by EM Care, a national
emergency department staffing company, will assume staffing for Curry General
Hospital’s Emergency Department.
According to McMillan, Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians and EM Care will allow
the hospital to have access to a deeper pool of board certified emergency
physicians.
“The most important change is that, through Wild Rivers Emergency Physicians,
we’ll have a physician on site 24/7,” McMillan said. EM Care is known for its
patient-focused practices including customer service training for its
physicians, next day call backs, quality assurance programs, and the ability to
treat a broader variety of problems in the emergency department, reducing the
need to transfer a patient to a higher level of care.
The district would like the public to know one other change: Because Wild Rivers
Emergency Physicians is a separate medical group from the hospital, patients
using the emergency department will receive a billing from the hospital and a
billing from the physicians’ group.
Article courtesy of the Curry Coastal Pilot
Hi, this is Dr. Craig Reed...
This June marks one year for me with the Curry Health Network -- providing general psychiatry and child-adolescent psychiatry.
A native Oregonian, I studied medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University. I studied General Psychiatry at Texas Tech University then returned to the west coast for specialized training in child-adolescent psychiatry t the University of Washington.
I look forward to serving Curry County residents for years to come from my Brookings office and I anticipate offering services in other Curry County communities in the future.
I invite patients to see me or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Trish Canning. At Brookings psychiatry, we recognize that the scope of mental health encompasses mind, body and spirit.
May 2011
Pathologist comes to Curry County
A pathology group out of Medford is now sending a pathologist to Curry General Hospital twice a month to review biopsies. Dr. Ward, Surgeon, batches his biopsies and other surgical oncology cases together, and the pathologist is on site to examine the tissue and make a diagnosis.
We now own the equipment needed; a machine called a Microtome which rapidly freezes the tissue sample and slices it into very thin segments that are then placed on a slide for the pathologist to view under a microscope powerful enough to show individual cells.
April 2011
9th Annual High on Health Dinner
Purchase
your tickets now to the 9th Annual High on Health Dinner and Auction!
"An Evening Aboard the USS High on Health" is the theme of this year's
Rotary/Curry Health Foundation's fund raising event. It will be held April 9th
beginning at 5:30 in Docia Sweet Hall-Event Center at the fair grounds in Gold
Beach.
Tickets are $45 per person including dinner and entertainment.
A live and silent auction will be held which will include items such as: week
long vacations, artwork, helicopter rides, golf at various destinations and a
year of desserts.
This year funds raised will be used in purchasing two BioZ Diagnostic Systems
which will be used in Brookings and Gold Beach. These systems will track and
evaluate cardiovascular health, dyspnea, and pacemakers.
Call the Curry
Health Foundation today at 541-247-3189 or order your tickets
online
($2 online ticket fee collected at the time of purchase)
February 2011
Join us for a sneak peek of the Curry Medical Center Sunday February 27 from
1 - 3pm.
Visit the newly constructed Curry Medical Center at 500 Fifth Street to see and hear all about the newest health care facility on the Southern Oregon Coast. We invite you to enjoy a tour of the facilities, and an opportunity to meet the health care professionals who are eager to serve you.
We look forward to seeing you!
Goodbye Brookings Medical Center - Hello Curry Medical Center!
The Urgent Care area at our new facility is open to provide modern equipment and expanded services to the community.
Urgent Care hours will be Monday thru Saturday 8am to 8pm
Scheduled Appointments will be Monday thru Friday from 8am to 6pm.
Phone 541-412-2000 to schedule your appointment or just to answer your questions - we're pleased to hear from you! Primary Care Providers will resume seeing patients for scheduled appointments on Monday February 28.
You can find us at 500 Fifth Street. We look forward to serving you!
Moira
Fossum volunteers in
the Curry Health
Network booth at the
Disaster
Preparedness Fair.
The fair was
organized in
conjunction with the
72nd Annual Meeting
of the Membership of
Coos-Curry Electric
Cooperative, Inc.
and was held on July
17, 2010 in the
Event Center at the
Curry County
Fairgrounds in Gold
Beach, Oregon.
TELESTROKE COMES
TO THE CURRY HEALTH
NETWORK
Imagine
receiving a
face-to-face
consultation with
the top neurologist
in the Northwest and
having personal
access to his or her
supporting team of
physicians and
medical staff –
without leaving
Curry County. With
Curry Health
Network’s new
telemedicine
program, now you
can. This new
program allows
highly trained
medical-specialists
to perform
consultations and
examinations on
patients in remote
hospitals via an
interactive
audiovisual system.
A television-type
screen enables
doctors in Portland,
Oregon and patients
at Curry General
Hospital to see and
hear each other in
real-time, allowing
doctors to perform
critical diagnosis
via satellite.
At this time, the
Curry Health Network
is developing its
telemedicine program
solely for stroke
victims. Stroke is
the third leading
cause of death in
the United States
and the leading
cause of serious and
long-term
disability. The
Telestroke system at
Curry General
Hospital will enable
someone who has
suffered a possible
stroke to be seen by
specialists at the
Providence Primary
Stroke Center in
Portland. Doctors
will be able to see
and communicate with
the patient, as well
as view their
electronic medical
records and test
results. This will
enable neurologists
in Portland to
properly diagnose a
stroke (and/or
detect one before it
occurs) without the
patient leaving
Curry General
Hospital.
Telemedicine is an
emerging technology
and shows great
potential in many
fields of medicine.
Other small
hospitals and
healthcare
facilities in rural
regions across the
United States are
beginning to
implement
telemedicine
programs for a
multitude of
important needs to
include: burn wound
assessment,
cardiology,
oncology,
dermatology,
psychiatry, and
more. While the
Telestroke system is
a good start for
Curry County, it is
just one of many
ways that the Curry
Health Network is
seeking to better
serve the needs of
the community. As
the Curry Medical
Center prepares to
open in Brookings
this next year and
medical technology
continues to
improve,
telemedicine will no
doubt play an
important role in
making sure
residents in Curry
County have access
to the specialized
care they need. The
Curry Health Network
Telestroke program
is scheduled to
begin operating on
August 1st. For more
information on the
Telestroke program
refer to our booth
at the Curry County
Fair or at the
Providence
Telestroke Network
or you may contact
Kyle Johnson at
541-247-3179 or by
email..
Kyle Johnson is a
former Captain in
the Marine Corps and
a current graduate
student at Oregon
Health Science and
Portland State
Universities. This
summer he is working
as the
administrative
intern for Curry
General Hospital in
Gold Beach, OR.
January 2010 Building Update from Blake Middleton
It's
important that we
keep you up to date
with the progress of
the new Brookings
Medical Center
construction
project, so I will
endeavor to send
reports as the
project moves along.
We are happy to have
started to clear the
property and begin
excavating the site.
The first structure
to be built is the
lower Retaining
Wall. The excavator
"Cradar" has begun
to put down a base
of rock for to work
from.
Once
the base is
completed, they will
begin to dig and put
down a foundation
for the wall. Once
that step is
finished, the wall
will be built and
then it is on to the
foundation for the
main building.
On the side of
safety. Construction
sites can be very
dangerous especially
during clearing and
excavation. Todd
Construction
requires that all
visitors have
permission, hard
hats, and other
safety equipment
before entering.
As we move further along, I will be pleased to arrange for people to see the site. Give us a call to let me know of your interest in visiting.
