Southern Ohio Medical Center

SOMC Diabetes Education Receives Renewed ADA Certification

November 30, 2007 » The Diabetes Education Program at Southern Ohio Medical Center has received a new three-year Education Recognition Certification from the American Diabetes Association. This program offers high-quality education services to the patients it serves.

“The ADA recognition process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of the services they provide,” Stacey Stevens, RN, Diabetes Education Coordinator at SOMC said. “And, of course, it helps patients to identify these quality programs.”

Wasim Deeb, MD, an endocrinologist on staff at SOMC, says the renewed certification reflects the importance of teaching diabetes management through a high-quality process and sustaining world-class service.

“The medical professionals on staff here at SOMC have provided essential input into this complex process of creating a high-quality educational program for managing diabetes,” Dr. Deeb says. “Achieving this renewed certification demonstrates our capacity to benchmark against the best in the nation.”

Dr. Deeb says addressing the many issues of diabetes care in one program helps the patient better manage the disease and many of the related problems that can arise. He points out that knowing these issues can prevent complications and unnecessary hospital admissions as well.

For more information about the SOMC Diabetes Education Program, contact Stacey Stevens at (740) 356-8670.

Orthopedic Surgeon Marchyn Brings New Partial Knee Procedure To SOMC

November 28, 2007 » Orthopedic surgeon Duane J. Marchyn, MD, of Scioto Valley Orthopedics, is bringing his patients a new knee implant procedure that spares bone and preserves ligaments.

Called the Journey Deuce, this new implant is designed to meet the needs of younger, more active individuals who suffer pain associated with arthritis. The procedure preserves more of the patient’s own bone, and saves the two stabilizing ligaments in the front and back of the knee.

According to Dr. Marchyn, who practices at Southern Ohio Medical Center, the Journey Deuce is appropriate for patients with arthritis in two areas of the knee as opposed to those who require a total knee replacement after arthritis has attacked all three areas of the knee.

The Journey Deuce resurfaces the two affected compartments with a curved metal implant that moves against a thin plastic and metal insert on the tibia, or shinbone.

“Before the Deuce came along, we would have to perform total knee replacement on patients who only had disease in two of the three areas,” Dr. Marchyn says. “Now, we can offer these patients a procedure that allows us to spare ligaments which, in turn, preserve a lot of athletic function.”

Since the Journey Deuce spares bone on both the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (shinbone), younger, active patients now have an “early intervention” solution for their OA knee pain. Typically, surgeons try to delay total knee replacement for their younger patients, because a potential revision procedure later in life can take a toll on physicial activities before the patient is willing to give them up.

Dr. Marchyn trained to perform the procedure at the Medical Education Research Institute (MERI) in Memphis, Tenn. A board-certified orthopedic surgeon, he was trained at the University of Kentucky and has practiced in Portsmouth for 23 years.

For more information on the Journey Deuce procedure, visit www.JourneyDeuce.com.

Coleman Named SOMC Medical Library Specialist

November 20, 2007 » Kristi Coleman has been named the Medical Library Specialist at Southern Ohio Medical Center. In this position she will oversee management of current and archived medical information resources for the SOMC medical staff, including print and online professional materials and communication.

Coleman has been an SOMC employee for three years and comes to the Medical Library from the SOMC Cancer Center, where she served as a financial counselor. A native of the area, she is a graduate of Shawnee State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science. She and her husband, Jayson, live in the area and have two children.

SOMC LIFE Center Supports Homeless Shelter

November 20, 2007 » LIFE Center staff and members donated canned and dry goods to Operation Safety Net, The Scioto County Homeless Shelter, for the holiday season. Shown with the collection of donations are (from left) LIFE Center Director Gary Coovert; Homeless Shelter Director Maureen Cadogan; LIFE Center staff members Debbie Kielmar, Brandi Moore and Jerrod Campbell; Homeless Shelter supporter Gerald Cadogan.

SOMC First Hospital Named To ‘America’s Safest Companies’

November 20, 2007 » For the first time, Occupational Hazards has recognized a healthcare facility as one of America’s Safest Companies.

Southern Ohio Medical Center has earned the honor through the organization’s all-encompassing approach to create a safe and healthy workplace for its 2,300 employees.

“Safety is our first strategic value,” says Penny Cooper, director of Risk Management and Safety Services. “We’re very focused on safety.”

Occupational Hazards is a news organization that informs safety, health and industrial hygiene professionals in the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors about trends, management strategies, regulatory news and new products that help them provide safe and healthy work sites.

Every year, the 222-bed hospital in Portsmouth admits about 13,000 patients, performs 12,000 surgeries and handles almost 80,000 emergency cases. Through it all, SOMC is dedicated to not only taking care of patients’ needs, but ensuring that employees are kept safe and healthy, as well. Safety is listed first among SOMC’s strategic values, including the promise that the facility “will build and sustain an exceptionally safe organization.”

As part of SOMC’s determination to go above and beyond expected safety policies, the organization has implemented a random audit program, an ergonomics team, a safety leadership team, a safety hotline and a healthy partners program. It’s all part of SOMC’s commitment to build a safe environment for the facility’s workers.

SOMC created the Safety Champions program in 2005 to facilitate cultural change within the facility and highlight the importance of workplace safety. Continually trained, safety champions’ responsibilities include serving as liaisons for other employees, raising departmental safety concerns and assisting continual monitoring and readiness. SOMC has about 200 champions in the program.

Since the safety champions program has been in place, SOMC has reduced total recordable injuries by more than 30 percent, has reduced workers’ compensation costs by more than 9 percent, has improved compliance with external governing bodies and has won several safety awards.

As a current member of the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Mentor Program, SOMC is taking steps to gain VPP Star status. Management believes achieving this goal can help SOMC continue to save lives, avoid worker injuries, reduce insurance and litigation and raise worker morale.

SOMC even has partnered with VPP Star status site Turner Construction for the facility’s $110-million expansion. Cooper says SOMC didn’t want to just hire a construction company as an employee; they wanted a company with a proven safety record to act as a partner in this extensive project.

Employees are also rewarded and honored for creating new ideas on safety issues. When a nurse noticed that SOMC’s medication system placed the most-used drugs at the bottom, causing staff to repeatedly bend over, she submitted her concern to the Ideas program. This incentives program rewards employees who submit safety-related ideas or solutions that are approved by the safety leadership team. Thanks to the Ideas program and the nurse’s observation, the problem was solved. Now, the most commonly used drugs are located within easy reach.

“It changed the whole system,” Cooper says.

It also shows how encouraging employee input can affect an organization’s safety culture. By putting safety first, SOMC has become one of the few healthcare facilities to stand out as a safety star.

SOMC’s Clark Appointed To OUCOM Faculty

November 19, 2007 » Southern Ohio Medical Center Anesthesiologist Curtis R. Clark, MD has been appointed to the position of Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine for the triennium 2007 to the beginning of 2010.

Dr. Clark attended the Saba University School of Medicine in Saba, Netherlands Antilles, and completed his undergraduate studies at Elon College, Elon, NC. He completed his residency in Anesthesiology at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. He joined the SOMC staff in 2006.

Topping Off Ceremony Held At SOMC Construction Site

November 19, 2007 » A “topping off” ceremony was held at Southern Ohio Medical Center Nov. 16, when construction crew members placed the final steel beam on top of the new patient care addition in front of the existing hospital on the Main Campus, 1805 27th St.

This tradition at major construction sites includes organization members signing the beam before it is placed, and a flag and potted tree are secured to the beam until final construction requires their removal.

Throughout the prior week SOMC employees signed the beam, which was painted white, with permanent marker, and all were invited to the brief ceremony where refreshments were served. When the patient care addition is completed in 2009, the four floors will include 102 private patient rooms.

The expansion is part of overall changes at SOMC coming with the arrival open heart surgery in mid-2008.

SOMC Nurses Receive Oncology Certification

November 15, 2007 » Kelly Lawson, Connie Wolf and Sheryl Grooms, registered nurses of the Cancer Center at Southern Ohio Medical Center (pictured above l to r), recently received Oncology certification (OCN) from the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC).

Lawson is a graduate of Shawnee State University and has been part of the nursing staff at SOMC since 1990. She is currently Breast Health Navigator at the SOMC Cancer Center.

Wolf is a graduate of the Ashland Community College School of Nursing. She started working at SOMC in 1997 and has been a member of the SOMC Cancer Center staff since June 2005.

Grooms is a graduate of Shawnee State University and has been a part of the nursing staff at SOMC since 1978. She has worked in Medical Oncology at the SOMC Cancer Center for the last two years.

Other staff members at the SOMC Cancer Center who have received Oncology certification include Heather Ashley, RN, BSN; Debbie Bihl, RN, MSN, CNP; Rachelle Collins, RN; and Kristie Meeker, RN, BSN.

SOMC Cancer Services Receives Second ACR Radiation Oncology Accreditation

November 13, 2007 »Southern Ohio Medical Center has once again received the prestigious three-year accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Radiation Oncology.

The SOMC Cancer Center provides radiation oncology services including cancer consultation, radiation therapy treatments, follow-up care, 3D treatment planning and simulation, IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), BAT (Bimodal Acquisition Targeting System), prostate permanent radioactive seed implantation, and education for cancer patients and their families.

The three-year renewed accreditation is the result of a recent survey by ACR reviewing the high practice standards of SOMC’s Radiation Oncology services. The evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists.

“SOMC was the first hospital in the region to have ACR accreditation,” SOMC Cancer Services Director Wendi Waugh says. “Even before we opened the new cancer center on Kinneys Lane in late 2004, we were pursuing the highest national standards of cancer care, the use the latest effective technologies and implementing best practices in radiation oncology.”

“We are thrilled to again receive this important accreditation,” Li-fen L. Chang, MD, senior medical director of Radiation Oncology at SOMC, says. “Experts in the field have assessed the qualifications of our staff, the adequacy of our equipment and the quality of our practice. It is an honor to accept this acknowledgement.”

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.

For more information visit www.somccancer.org, and visit ACR at www.acr.org.

Thompson Receives State Home Care Honor

November 13, 2007 » Karen Thompson, RN, director of SOMC Home Care, has received the Dorothy Royce Award from the Ohio Council for Home Care, for her work in promoting home care.

Thompson has been a home care professional since 1980 and has been director of SOMC’s program since 1989. She is a past president of the Ohio Council for Home Care and served 10 years on its board.

“Karen has been a strong advocate for home care in Ohio, donating time and money to support/advocate for home care reimbursement and quality improvement,” the council stated. “She is kind and caring in all her actions both professionally and personally, and is an outstanding representative for our industry.”

Thompson was presented the award at the council’s annual awards luncheon Sept. 19 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

In addition to serving on the council’s Political Action, Government Affairs, and Nominations committees, Thompson is a past member of the Compliance and Reimbursement Issues and the Continuing Education Review committees.

Over the past five years Thompson has visited every US senator and US representative from Ohio at their Washington offices to educate legislators about the home care industry. She has testified on behalf of the industry before the Ohio House and Ohio Senate and has been active in the political caucuses on behalf of home care.

Local Breast Cancer Advocates Agree to ‘Be The Cure’

November 13, 2007 » The SOMC Cancer Center welcomed a hundred breast cancer survivors and supporters to a celebration and call to action Thursday, Nov. 8 at the center.

The guests were treated to refreshments, enjoyed visiting with SOMC Cancer Services staff, were able to hang a celebratory ornament on the center’s Survivor Tree, and agreed to “Be The Cure,” and take the message of getting a mammogram to five of their friends.

SOMC Cancer Physician Liaison Dr. Thomas Khoury welcomed the first group of breast cancer awareness advocates who can be a vital link to reaching women who may be neglecting their own health for the sake of family and other obligations.

Wendi Waugh and Norma White of the Cancer Center, who have been breast cancer patients themselves, spoke to the group about the importance of regular screening. They shared personal stories and urged the attendees to reach out to at least five of their friends who need the message to get a checkup.

For more information on breast cancer screening, call the SOMC Cancer Center at 356-7490.

Local Runner Thompson In New York Marathon With Armstrong Team

November 12, 2007 » SOMC donation recipient Chad Thompson, right, stands beside world-famous cyclist and Livestrong founder Lance Armstrong, left, after attending a special dinner in New York City for members of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) Livestrong Army. Thompson, a Wheelersburg native, was chosen by the LAF in March as one of eight participants to run on behalf of the organization in the 26-mile ING New York City Marathon, which took place Nov. 4. Thompson finished 13,580 out of 39,000 competitors and clocked in at a time of 4:06:09. His participation in the event also helped raise more than $3,500 for the foundation, which inspires and empowers people living with cancer.

SOMC Doctor Finds Mission Work In Jamaica Rewarding

SOMC physician Dr. Cindy Hamm (left) and volunteer nurse Dawn Watson in a clinic in Jamaica, where they worked for a week in October helping the poor.

November 6, 2007 » “I always swore I would never do mission work,” Dr. Cindy Hamm states, “because I don’t like to be uncomfortable! I hadn’t even lived without air conditioning since I was 23.”

And yet, for a week in October, Dr. Hamm and her husband, Bill, joined 16 others in the sweltering heat of St. Mary’s Parish, the most poverty-stricken district on the island of Jamaica, to help the poor and the sick.

“It was awesome,” she says of being able to help patients in one urban and two rural clinics, where individuals were so poor they were buying Tylenol pills one at a time instead of by the bottle.

“Our group brought seven suitcases of medicine and supplies donated by pharmacies and physicians from our area and it was wonderful to be able to give this free medicine to people who normally simply did not have anything.”

Once word spread that “the American doctors are here,” large groups of patients showed up, some waiting for hours outside the clinic in the sun.

For Dr. Hamm, the illnesses she saw were surprising, not because they were exotic but because they were so familiar. Most cases were not that different from what she has seen practicing family medicine in Minford with Southern Ohio Medical Center.

“Hypertension, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, tooth pain from poor dental care,” she says. “Some people, who had seen the blindness and loss of limbs that can result from these common conditions, showed up to be screened and proactive about their health.”

The Hamms went on the trip with Lucasville Center Street United Methodist Church Pastor Phil Howard and his wife, Wanda, and others from Kentucky, California, Missouri and Maryland. Dr. Hamm also brought along third-year medical student Mark Cheney and a local nurse.

SOMC medical student Mark Cheney with a young patient at one of the clinics in Jamaica where he and Dr. Cindy Hamm volunteered for a week.

“The goal was both medical mission and work mission,” she explains. “Several in the group worked at an orphanage where two buildings had burned, cleaning up debris and helping with repairs.”

She praised the work of student Cheney and the others on the team, who brought help, hope and touched countless lives during that week, though the conditions were sometimes challenging.

“I was in this box-like office just big enough for me to sit across from the patient, with a sheet pulled behind me to hide the exam table I was sharing with another physician at the clinic, and a plywood door held with a nail led out of this tiny room,” Dr. Hamm says.

During their trip members of the group visited an “infirmary,” a barrack-like nursing home lined with beds for the elderly and disabled.

“We gave all of the infirmary patients some candy, just some ordinary bulk candy we had brought,” she recalls, “and you know that expression you see in a baby’s face when he or she tastes something sweet for the first time? I saw that in their faces. It was very, very moving.”

Also during the trip, Dr. Hamm’s group visited Dunns River Falls in nearby Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and she was proud to be “the only person over age 29 who climbed all the way to the top” of the natural rock formation above the swirling waters in the national park “even if I did fall twice and lost my glasses there.”

Dr. Hamm and her group extended a tremendous thank you to the local pharmacies and physicians for their kind donations of medical supplies for the people who were served.

“I think everyone should have to go on a mission like this,” she concludes. “Especially teens and young people, so they can see how others live who have nothing, and understand how rewarding it can be to reach out and help others.”

Anyone who may be interested in the mission work or donating medical supplies for future trips can call Dr. Hamm at her Minford Family Practice office, 820-2141.

Local Pampered Chefs Support SOMC Guild

November 2, 2007 » The SOMC Promise Guild, which supports patients of the SOMC Cancer Center, recently accepted $1,500 from local Pampered Chef consultants Lesley Book and Becky Davis, who held fundraising activities for the group’s cause. For more information on how an organization can raise charity support like that awarded to the Promise Guild, contact Book at 464-0911 or Davis at 574-1946. Shown (l-r) are guild members Joyce Payton, Anna Cardenas, Guild President Barb Hemming, Davis, Book, and guild members Sherrill Day and Marilyn Mercer.