january 2007
Lawson Appointed To SOMC Board
January 29, 2007 » George Lawson has been appointed to the SOMC Board of Directors, Chairman Robert E. Dever has announced. His term on the SOMC Board is effective through July 2009. Lawson is also a member of the SOMC Foundation Board, serving as chairman since 2005.
An area native, Lawson served in public education for more than 35 years. He retired as superintendent of the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center in 2001. For the past four years Lawson has been the director of the College Tech Prep at Shawnee State University.
He and his wife, Pat, live in the Portsmouth area. They have three grown children and five grandchildren.
SOMC Maternity To Play Lullaby With Each Birth
January 29, 2007 » The Maternity Department at Southern Ohio Medical Center welcomed a new addition Jan. 29.
“In honor of the birth and new family, we will play the Brahms’ Lullaby, which will be heard throughout the hospital,” Jone Stone, nurse manager of Maternity Services at SOMC, said. “It will only last 10 seconds, but it will be a nice way to let everyone know that such a wonderful event has happened.”
Ideas for the addition of the lullaby started last May during a patient-care-centered workshop and focus group.
“We had a variety of employees from all departments suggest we add a song,” Stone said. “Other hospitals do similar things, so we decided to start working on it.”
After researching other hospitals to find the most common song and time-lengths, the final decision of using Brahms’ Lullaby was made because of its comforting sound and correlation to newborns.
“We wanted music that was recognizable and had a soft, warm feel to it,” Stone said. “Brahms’ Lullaby seemed like the obvious choice.”
The version of the song that will be heard throughout all departments was performed and recorded by Tyler Thompson, music major at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. The lullaby will be activated through a remote button located within the Maternity Unit.
“We appreciate our families and the privilege of providing care for them during their birth,” Stone said. “The lullaby will be a great way to celebrate this great event and we’re all looking forward to the addition.”
SOMC Wheelersburg Rehab Services To Celebrate Tenth Anniversary Feb. 8
January 26, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center’s Wheelersburg Rehab Services will celebrate 10 years of operation with an open house Thursday, Feb. 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the facility, 613 Center St., Suite D. Light food and refreshments will be available and clients, employees, friends, and guests are all invited to attend.
“The open house will be a reunion to thank the community and our clients for the business they have provided over the past 10 years,” Dayna Lawhorn, physical therapy assistant at SOMC Wheelersburg Rehab Services, said. “They have done a lot for us and we wanted to do something nice to show how much we appreciate them.”
SOMC Wheelersburg Rehab Services provides a wide range of occupational and physical therapy to patients suffering from various injuries, including back and shoulder problems, neck injuries, arthritis, and neurological problems occurring after a stroke. They also provide rehab for patients following major surgeries, strains, and sprains.
The facility first opened in 1997, with four tiny rooms and a staff of two therapists. The staff has now grown to include six, and their services have increased in capabilities and quality thanks to the addition of space and equipment.
“Our growth over the years has allowed us to offer more programs for our patients instead of sending them elsewhere for help,” Lawhorn said. “We’re able to reach a wider audience and provide more in-depth services, which is great for the community.”
The rehab center also was honored earlier this year when Pam Higgins, rehab technician, was recognized for her work at the facility with the most distinguished award given by the RehabCare Group, the Trusheim Spirit Award.
Lawhorn says the staff looks forward to growing and advancing even more in the future, and thanks everyone for all the help and support that has been given to the facility thus far.
For more information, contact the SOMC Wheelersburg Rehab Services office at 740-574-8189.
SOMC Using State-of-the-art IV Pumps
January 24, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center has taken another step in 21st-century medical care with the deployment of more than 450 intravenous (IV) pumps that include new safety features for patient protection.
LifeCare Plumb A+ devices developed by leading global hospital products manufacturer, Hospira, Inc., utilize a drug list containing safe dosage parameters. The pump prevents under-dosing and over-dosing of drugs by warning caregivers that a dose entered is outside of acceptable limits.
The new LifeCare Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device, developed by Hospira, Inc., helps reduce the potential for human error in administering pain medications by using a built-in bar code reader, compatible with pre-filled, bar-coded medication vials, to allow patients to control the flow of their medication.
Both the Plumb A+ and the LifeCare PCA infusion systems offer these enhanced safety features through its compatibility with Hospira MedNet, a customizable software system that closely defines medication dose limits and tracks the IV drug delivery through the bar codes to help prevent medication errors.
Rory Phillips, director of Pharmacy, says the investment in this new equipment is central to patient care and safety.
“SOMC’s commitment to both safety and service is reflected in this investment. We strive to be among the top hospitals in the nation in safety and service indicators, among others, and the LifeCare PCA devices help us bring a higher level of comfort with additional safety measures.”
The software has the flexibility to develop and program dose guidelines for up to 150 medication entries, and also allows SOMC to create customized clinical decision rules for up to 18 different clinical-care areas of the hospital, such as the post-anesthesia care unit, oncology and pediatrics.
Atkins Earns SOMC IDEAS Award
January 19, 2007 » Greg Atkins (second from right), a staff member of the Nutrition Services Dept. of Southern Ohio Medical Center, recently received an IDEAS award for suggesting a new window be placed in a stairwell exit door to prevent accidents. SOMC Maintenance members Michael Coriell and Brent Conley (far left and right) arranged installation of the window. Presenting the award to Atkins was SOMC Safety Services member Sheri Anderson. SOMC’s IDEAS (Ideas Designed by Employees at SOMC) program rewards employees for presenting viable ideas that support the organization’s values of safety, service, quality, relationships and performance.
Wound, Sleep Centers Welcome Staff
January 16, 2007 » The SOMC Wound Healing Center, Sleep Diagnostic Center and Diabetes Education Department welcomed 140 employees and physicians to an internal open house Tuesday, Jan. 16 at the new facility in the former cancer services building on the main campus of Southern Ohio Medical Center. A public open house is planned for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21 and everyone is welcome to stop in, take a tour and enjoy refreshments while learning about the state-of-the-art wound healing technology and sleep diagnostic approaches now in use. Above, Wound Healing Center Director Michael Bradford and Hyperbaric Oxygen Technician Deanna Potter, RT, (left) discuss the new oxygen chambers (in background) with visitors.
SOMC Rehab Tech Receives National Honor
January 12, 2007 » When Pam Higgins fell and broke her arm on Nov. 2, 2002, it was a day and an accident that would change her life.
“I had to have two surgeries, and bone down to the elbow was replaced,” she said. “I have some limited mobility but (with such severe injury) that’s still pretty awesome.”
During 16 months of rehabilitation, Higgins got to know the staff of SOMC Outpatient Rehab very well.
“I would finish on a machine and just go ahead and set it up for the next patient, I became so familiar with the process,” she said.
After so much time spent as a patient in rehab, Higgins decided to pursue it as a career. She started as a secretary for SOMC Rehab Services. Ultimately she became a rehab technician and now works at SOMC’s rehab facility in Wheelersburg, as well as helping out in Lucasville.
Taking care of the patients, she uses some unique methods of encouragement during a process that can be painful and challenging for those overcoming their obstacles.
“I don’t like tears,” she said. “We had a lady here right before Christmas and I gave her a ‘Marvin the Martian’ doll and told her to hit him and choke him if she got frustrated. Sometimes I put a cone on my head and run around like a unicorn. I have been know to jump out of the hot pack room.”
Nominated by SOMC Outpatient Rehab Clinical Coordinator Emily Carson, Higgins has received the RehabCare Group, Inc.’s most distinguished award, the Trusheim Spirit Award.
“Higgins is openly committed to our values of excellence, integrity, teamwork and fun and stands out among her peers in the areas of leadership, customer service and communication,” John H. Short, Ph.D., RehabCare President and Chief Executive Officer, says.
Dr. Short said Higgins was selected for her “passion for personal and program development and her special brand of patient care.”
Higgins was honored during a dinner Dec. 11 in St. Louis, Missouri, a formal event to which she almost did not go. “I called my co-workers back home, panicking, and told them I was ready to slip back up to the hotel room and put on some jeans, but they talked me out of it,” she jokes.
Higgins says all of the credit goes to her co-workers, and that they really deserve the honor. She has pursued further education in her field and praises her co-workers for their support in her endeavors.
“I lost my husband in April and this group has really been my new family. These people teach me every day. My heart just glows when I leave here. You don’t get tired of it, the way the staff cares. Without them my job is nothing. They are truly awesome.”
Khoury Chief of Staff at SOMC
January 12, 2007 » Thomas L. Khoury, MD, a surgeon on staff at Southern Ohio Medical Center, has accepted the position of Chief of the Medical Staff for 2007.
“This is a phenomenal time to be an active part of the medical staff at SOMC,” Dr. Khoury said. “Our commitment to bringing the best medical care available is more evident than ever as we embark on our expansion of services and facilities here at the hospital. In the next three years our community will see tremendous advancements in the kinds of care available here and I’m proud to be part of that process.”
Other 2007 medical staff officers elected at the December meeting include Jitendra Patel, MD, as chief-of-staff-elect; Jody Brahney, MD, as secretary/treasurer, and William Esham, MD, Gerardo Trinidad, MD, and Charles Wong, MD, as at-large members of the Medical Executive Committee.
Coterie Presents DVD Players To Pediatrics
January 11, 2007 » The Coterie Guild, part of the Friends of Southern Ohio Medical Center, recently donated new DVD/VCR systems for each room of the Pediatrics Department, in addition to a large selection of children’s movies for use by the patients. Shown at the presentation are (l-r) Pediatrics Nurse Peggy Pollitt, RN; Coterie members Beth Shoemaker, Bobbi Sammons, Jaime Madden and Brande Charles. Coterie works on several fundraising projects throughout the year to support programs within the SOMC Pediatrics Department.
Hamm Assistant Professor at OUCOM
January 11, 2007 » Dr. Terry Johnson, Assistant Dean for Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, is proud to announce that Cindy Hamm, MD, has been appointed to the position of Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the college.
Dr. Hamm’s appointment is effective through 2009. This is an appointment of the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) Group IV in the department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Hamm attended The Ohio State University School of Medicine and completed her residency from Grant Medical Center in Columbus. She is a graduate of Shawnee State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology, as well as degrees in computer systems and business management from Ohio University.
Dr. Hamm is a member of the medical staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center and practices family medicine at SOMC’s Minford Family Practice.
Cheatham Assistant Professor at OUCOM
January 11, 2007 » Dr. Terry Johnson, Assistant Dean for Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, is proud to announce that Jason E. Cheatham, DO, has been appointed to the position of Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the college.
Dr. Cheatham’s appointment is effective through 2009. This is an appointment of the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) Group IV in the department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Cheatham received his medical degree from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency training at Akron General Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Akron.
Dr. Cheatham is a member of the Emergencies Services staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center and works with the Emergency Physicians Medical Group, which provides physician staffing at SOMC.
Wheelersburg LIFE Center Celebrates Anniversary
January 11, 2007 » The SOMC LIFE Center in Wheelersburg will celebrate its fifth anniversary Tuesday, Jan. 16 with an open house from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. offering tours and information about LIFE Center programs. To celebrate the anniversary all three LIFE Center locations will hold “$5 days,” offering $5 t-shirts, $5 dollar one-day passes, a $5 joining fee, and $5 or 5 percent off all memberships paid in full.
For more information about the LIFE Center call the Portsmouth facility at 356-7650, Wheelersburg at 574-4022 or Lucasville at 259-5433.
PMHA Supports PAAC King Production
January 10, 2007 » The Portsmouth Metropolitan Housing Authority purchased tickets to support The Portsmouth Area Arts Council’s Theatre IV live stage production of “I Have a Dream – The Life and Times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
The production will be held at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Shawnee State University’s Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.
Designed for grades 3 through adults, the dramatization chronicles King’s impact on society. Teachers wishing to bring school classes are requested to make reservations two weeks in advance (Jan. 16) by contacting PAAC Executive Director DeLynn Coppoletti at (740) 351-3642 or at dcoppoletti@shawnee.edu. Admission to the play is $3 per person; the noon performance is open to the public.
Pictured, PMHA Executive Director George Horsley presents PAAC Coppoletti with a donation for the tickets.
SOMC Wound Healing Center Welcomes First Patient
January 5, 2007 » The SOMC Wound Healing Center, which has opened on the main campus of SOMC in the former cancer services building, welcomed the first patient, Norma Bauman, Friday, Jan. 5 for treatment. The center provides hyperbaric oxygen therapy and other state-of-the-art approaches to wound healing. A public open house will be held with tours and refreshments from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21 at the facility. Shown with first patient Bauman (seated) are (back, l-r) Center Program Director Michael Bradford, RT; Staff Nurse Gina Smith, RN; Office Coordinator Kathy Grubb; Hyperbaric Oxygen Technician Deanna Potter; and Clinical Manager Bill Lynd, RN.
Rooney Welcomed at SOMC
January 5, 2007 » Richard C. Rooney, M.D., a general and thoracic surgeon, has been welcomed to the medical staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center.
Dr. Rooney received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati, where he also completed his residency and internship. He is board-certified with the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Mont Reid Surgical Society and the Scioto County Medical Society.
Dr. Rooney is practicing in Suite 102, Building C, 1735 27th St., on the Main Campus of Southern Ohio Medical Center. He can be reached at (740) 353-7881.
SOMC Sleep Diagnostic Center Moves, Expands
January 4, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center’s Sleep Diagnostic Center is relocating from 1671 Grant Street to the SOMC Main Campus at 1745 27th St. in the building which formerly housed SOMC’s cancer services until 2004.
The center will open for sleep diagnostic testing in early January, with a six-member staff of registered respiratory therapists providing a variety of tests for patients 13 and older.
“We’re very excited about the expansion of our services, ” Bryan Hammond, RT, director of Respiratory Therapy, says. “ We are acquiring some of the latest technology in sleep diagnostics and have a skilled and specialized staff administering tests.”
The center will use the Compumedics e-Series digital system to provide true sleep study data which can then be stored and retrieved in the Compumedics Nexus database.
“This system will grow with us in the future, as our needs change,” Hammond says. “Electronic medical records are becoming the expected way of holding data related to patients’ tests and we will be ready for that approach using this system.”
Ammar Ghanem, MD, a pulmonologist on staff at SOMC, has received his board certification in Sleep Medicine from the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He is also board-certified in Pulmonary Medicine and Internal Medicine.
“This new facility will provide an excellent environment and appropriate equipment for conducting sleep diagnostic studies,” Dr. Ghanem says. “The dangers of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders are very real. Sleep apnea is a real stress to the heart and treating sleep apnea prevents cardiac morbidities and may improve survival. Developing and providing this program to our community is a tremendous benefit.”
“The testing is non-invasive,” Elie Saab, MD, a pulmonologist on staff at SOMC, explains. “There are no needles or invasive procedures. The test is painless and provides a wealth of data from which we can determine a variety of sleep disorders and provide appropriate treatment.”
The facility includes new beds with specialized pressure-relieving mattresses in a comfortable, home-like environment.”
Most sleep loss is due to poor sleep habits and stress. However, millions of people suffer from undiagnosed sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy. These people should be encouraged to seek medical attention.
The SOMC Sleep Diagnostic Center will hold an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, in conjunction with the SOMC Wound Healing Center, which occupies part of the same building. The staff invites employees and physicians to stop by for refreshments and a tour.
For more information about the SOMC Sleep Diagnostic Center, call 356-8111.
SOMC Diabetes Education Relocating
January 4, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center Diabetes Education will relocate to the SOMC Wound Healing Center in early January.
“Many of the problems encountered with hard-to-heal wounds are related to diabetes,” Diabetes Education Coordinator Stacey Stevens says. “We’re very excited to be close to the wound treatment process and able to provide counseling and education services to wound center patients.”
The SOMC Diabetes Education Program is certified by the American Diabetes Association and provides counseling and classes on managing diabetes, nutritional information and support maintaining a healthy lifestyle while living with diabetes. For more information call Stevens at (740) 356-2429.
SOMC Wound Healing Center Opens
January 4, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center has opened the first hospital-based wound-healing service in the community.
The SOMC Wound Healing Center, located on the Main Campus of SOMC, is accepting patients by physician and self-referral. The facility offers a specialized staff and state-of-the-art equipment for treating wounds that are difficult to heal.
Sonja Lichtenstein, MD, a surgeon on staff at SOMC, is the Administrative Medical Director of the Wound Healing Center. Thomas L. Khoury, MD, a surgeon at SOMC, is the Medical Director of Research and Education for the Wound Healing Center.
Treatment at the center follows clinical pathways established with National Healing, a network of more than 80 wound healing centers nationwide. The treatment approaches have resulted in national rates that include full healing in 16 weeks or less in the majority of cases.
Among treatment approaches at the SOMC Wound Healing Center, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is available with two treatment chambers on-site. Patients relax in the chamber while receiving pure oxygen, which stimulates the healing process in tissues where blood flow and oxygen delivery is poor.
Additionally, the Wound Healing Center provides advanced therapies including bio-engineered skin substitutes, vacuum-assisted closure and platelet technologies. Therapy for ulcers such as those that occur in the feet and legs is available. Treatments can also address conditions of the skin, bone and tissue that do not respond to traditional treatments.
A public open house is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m Sunday, Jan. 21 at the facility as well as for the SOMC Sleep Diagnostic Center opening in the same building, which formerly housed the hospital’s cancer services until 2004. Tours and refreshments are planned and visitors are encouraged to take a few minutes to meet the staff and see the facility.
For more information call the center at 356-8775.
Virtual SOMC In Fire Training Game
January 3, 2007 » Employees at Southern Ohio Medical Center will train for fire safety with state-of-the-art approaches this year, including an innovative three-dimensional game that replicates a nursing unit of the hospital in which a fire is spreading and patients must be rescued.
“Video game training allows us to do the impossible,” game designer Rick Eid says. “We could never go to the nursing unit and set a fire and go through these steps, but in the virtual video game world we can do everything.”
Eid and more than a dozen staffers with his Huntington/Ironton-based company, TickStorm, worked for more than 10 months on the project, gathering and duplicating the characteristics of nursing unit Three North, the hospital’s cafeteria and a neighboring physician’s office. Once the data was gathered, the game had to be tested repeatedly to catch glitches and assure a realistic experience.
The game has a tutorial with no time limits that helps the user become familiar with controls and what must be done. When the training game is actually played on one of SOMC’s computers, the user has certain tasks that must be accomplished within a certain time frame. The user must locate a fire that has broken out, sound the alarm, rescue patients and extinguish the fire using a fire extinguisher. Users earn points as they complete each task and answer questions correctly about the SOMC policies on fire safety.
TickStorm’s team worked closely with SOMC personnel to assure as much realism in the environment as possible. The user sees the SOMC environment in first-person, moving through the hallways past replicas of doors, signs, staff members and patients. In the game, screenshots of SOMC’s computer network appear on monitors at nurse stations and television programs are visible on the sets in patients’ rooms. Even the emergency pages overhead are voiced by SOMC Telecommunications Supervisor Elsie Wolfe, who provides emergency pages in the real world as well.
“I’m a hands-on learner and will understand and remember things better if I can get in there and do them,” Eid says. “Video game training can be used in conjunction with conventional training and provide a great new way to remember what you have to do.”
“Once complete, this game will be available in January as part of required fire training for all employees,” Roxane Robinson of SOMC Safety Services explains.
Mynes Medical Director at SOMC Urgent Care Center
January 3, 2007 » Timothy Mynes, D.O., Family Practitioner, has accepted the position of Medical Director at the SOMC Urgent Care Center in Wheelersburg.
Dr. Mynes joined the medical staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center in 2004. He received his medical degree from Pikeville College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his Internship and Family Practice Residency at Southern Ohio Medical Center.
He and his wife, Janeen, reside in the Portsmouth area with their four children.
SOMC Welcomes New Year Baby Destiny Ann Bliss
January 2, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center welcomed the first baby born at the hospital in 2007 when Destiny Ann Bliss was born at 7:54 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. She is the daughter of Tiffany McCain and Matthew Bliss of Vanceburg, KY.
Destiny weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was delivered by local obstetrician Dr. George Pettit.
