News Around the State

Walthall Rural Health Clinic Welcomes New Nurse Practitioners

Walthall Rural Health Clinic, a service of Walthall General Hospital, is pleased to welcome three new Family Nurse Practitioners to the clinic as an added benefit for Walthall County families. The new providers are, from left to right, Candance Seymour, FNP; Chris Blackwell, FNP and Regina Williams, FNP.

The clinic offers a variety of services, from vaccinations and physical exams to quality care for the entire family in the event of an injury or illness. “We are incredibly pleased to add these three outstanding Family Nurse Practitioners to the clinic staff,” said Walthall General Hospital administrator Bryan Maxie. “Walthall County residents have trusted this clinic’s staff for many years to treat their family for healthcare needs, and we want to make sure that new residents or those who may not have visited the clinic in the past are aware of our outstanding healthcare providers and the services they offer.”

The clinic is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and is located at 200 Hospital Drive in Tylertown. For more information, contact the clinic at 601-876-5835.

Hospice Designated We Honor Veterans Partner

On Memorial Day, our nation takes time out to remember fallen members of our military and honor living veterans. When it comes to health concerns and end of life care for these veterans, sometimes they have special needs. 

To help offset these needs, Singing River Health System’s Hospice of Light staff members have been through extra training and are now designated a Level 1 We Honor Veterans Partner by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

To reach this Level 1 status, Hospice of Light staff participated in extra training about caring for veterans, including from the local VA, attended in-services regarding special veteran needs and benefits available, and integrated a “military history checklist” into their admissions process.

“The purpose of this is to be able to recognize which of our patients are veterans,” said Catherine Suddeth, social worker with Hospice of Light. “They do sometimes have some different needs, especially if they were in combat.”

Suddeth said also just being aware of the extra resources available for veterans at the end of life has been one of the biggest helps she’s seen from the extra training.

“We strive to provide world-class care to all of our patients,” Suddeth said. “This training and information allows us to provide even better care to a special segment of our population that has given so much. We’re honored to offer this extra service to them.”

Hospice of Light is in the process of applying to become a Level 2 We Honor Veterans Partner and should receive confirmation of this level in June. The primary goal of this second level is to “build organizational capacity to provide quality care for Veterans” according to NHPCO materials. This requires more in-services for the Hospice of Light staff and presentations in the local community.

We Honor Veterans exists to “empower hospice professionals to meet the unique needs of dying Veterans and their loved ones.” The program was started for hospices and other organizations to be able to provide better care to veterans through an assessment and implementation process. Veteran-centric education for staff and volunteers is implemented to help these organizations learn how to care for veterans and find more resources for them.

Hospice of Light has two physical locations - one in Jackson County and one in George County – but serves Jackson, Harrison, George, Stone, Greene and Perry counties and is the only hospital-based, Joint Commission accredited hospice program in the region.

For more information on Hospice of Light visit www.mysrhs.com. For more information on We Honor Veterans, visit www.wehonorveterans.org.

Sansing named nursing director

Lauri Sansing has recently been named nursing director for critical care, the progressive care unit (PCU) and the emergency department at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle. She has served as director of staff education since May 2009. In her new role, she will oversee the overall operations of the three patient care units of the hospital.

Originally from Steens, Miss., she is a graduate of New Hope High School and received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in 1998. She began her nursing career at Baptist Golden Triangle in 1998 as a nurse in the Critical Care Unit.

She transferred to the nursing staff development department in 2003 and was promoted to director of the department in May 2009.

She is a 2011 graduate of the Baptist Nursing Leadership Institute, an 18-month corporate -based program that provides leadership development and succession planning for select nurse managers or directors throughout the Baptist Memorial Health Care system.

Sansing has also served as an American Heart Association Training Center Coordinator and was named to a two-year term as a Mississippi Regional Faculty member in 2011. She is a certified instructor for Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support.

“Lauri is a proven leader. Her many accomplishments as the director of education made her the obvious choice to lead the emergency department, critical care and progressive care to the next level. I am very excited to have Lauri's expertise and talent leading these departments,” said Mary Ellen Sumrall, Baptist Golden Triangle’s chief nursing officer.

Sansing and her husband Ashley have two children and are members of Piney Grove Methodist Church in Steens, Miss. where they lead the youth group. She currently serves as vice president of Tentholders for Tabernacle Campground. In her free time she enjoys reading, fishing and spending time with her family.