News Around the State

Forrest General honors Nurses of the Year, Patient Choice Award Winner

Forrest General Hospital recently honored three outstanding nurses during National Nurses Week celebrations, including Clinical and Non-Clinical Nurses of the Year and the Patient Choice Award.

Clinical Nurse of the Year Melissa Suchy, RN, receives flowers from System Clinical Operations Officer Ora Shaheed during Friday’s Nurses Week celebration.

At a celebration held on Friday, May 11 for nurses hospital-wide, Clinical Nurse of the Year was awarded to Melissa Suchy, RN, who works on the 4T patient care area. Suchy, who has been at Forrest General since 2006, cares for patients under telemetry observation, monitoring heart rhythm and rate. 

Education Department employee Amy Carpenter, RN, at right, was chosen as Non-Clinical Nurse of the Year. Carpenter is pictured with Chief Nursing Officer Micah Rehm, at left, and 7T Patient Care Manager and Nurses Week coordinator Luke Barnes, center.

At a luncheon for Nurse of the Year and Patient Choice Award nominees, Amy Carpenter, RN, who works in Forrest General’s Education Department, was honored as the hospital’s Non-Clinical Nurse of the Year. Carpenter joined Forrest General’s staff in 2000 and currently serves as a clinical educator for the Intensive Care Unit. 

Madelyn Trosclair, RN, at right, was chosen as the Patient Choice Award winner. Pictured with Madelyn are Chief Nursing Officer Micah Rehm, at left, and 7T Patient Care Manager and Nurses Week coordinator Luke Barnes, center.

Madelyn Trosclair, RN, a Labor and Delivery nurse who has been with Forrest General since 2004, was honored as this year’s Patient Choice Winner. This award is given to one nurse each year and is based on nominations from community members.

“Each year, National Nurses Week offers Forrest General a great opportunity to say thank you to all of the outstanding nurses on staff for their commitment and dedication to caring – not just during Nurses Week, but 365 days a year,” said Forrest General Chief Nursing Officer Micah Rehm. “There are more than 3 million nurses across the United States, and I believe Forrest General has some of the very best. Our nurses are skilled, experienced, dedicated and work very hard to care for our patients and their families. We are pleased to be able to recognize these three nurses, as well as all of our nurses, during National Nurses Week.”

Dr. Wesley Girod Performs First Single-Incision Gallbladder Surgery in South Mississippi

Dr. Wesley Girod, a general surgeon at Southern Surgical Associates, recently removed a patient’s gall bladder using only a single, inch-long incision camouflaged by the belly button. The advanced robotics-assisted procedure, which was performed at Wesley Medical Center using the da Vinci Si Surgical System, is the first of its kind in south Mississippi. 

New FDA approved advancements to the da Vinci Si surgical robot now make it possible for robotics-trained surgeons to perform certain procedures with only a single, inch-long incision. As the area’s first and only da Vinci-trained general surgeon, Dr. Girod is now bringing this minimally invasive procedure to south Mississippi.

“I’ll be using just one tiny incision to perform the entire gallbladder removal surgery,” Said Dr. Girod.

Wesley Medical Center brought da Vinci robotic assisted surgery to the Pine Belt in 2007. In 2011, their upgrade to the newest da Vinci robot enabled physicians to take a minimally invasive approach for even more complex surgical procedures and made single-incision surgery an option for specially trained physicians. Wesley Medical Center is one of only a few hospitals nationwide to offer single-incision da Vinci surgery.

“The da Vinci gives me a greater range of motion than traditional laparoscopic instruments,” said Dr. Girod. “I can see the operative field in far greater detail and I’m using the robot now for everything that I previously did laproscopically, such as colon and gallbladder removal, esophagus repair and surgery for hiatal hernias.”

The da Vinci Si Surgical System integrates robotic technology to virtually extend the surgeon’s eyes and hands. Using the system, the surgeon operates while seated at a console viewing a 3-D image of the surgical area. The system mimics the surgeon’s hand movements in real time, in a smaller scale, within the operating site in the patient’s body.

“The technology is very advanced, and most general surgeons are not trained to perform da Vinci robotic-assisted surgeries,” said Dr. Girod. “I chose to become trained because about 70 percent of the procedures I perform are done laproscopically and I wanted to offer my patients the most precise, least invasive option possible.”

A traditional open cholecystectomy is a major abdominal surgery in which the surgeon removes the gallbladder through a 5- to 7-inch incision. Patients usually remain in the hospital at least 2 to 3 days and may require several additional weeks to recover at home.

Minimally invasive robotics-assisted surgical procedures may result in less pain and scarring, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications. During a single-incision surgery, the small scar can often be hidden by the belly button.

Wesley Medical Center is committed to providing superior care to the Pine Belt and has been recognized for patient safety and top performance on key quality measures. The da Vinci minimally invasive surgical program at Wesley is one of the fastest growing in the state. For more information, call 601-268-8000 or visit Wesley.com.

Forrest General Earns ACR Accreditation

Forrest General has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in computed tomography (CT) as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). CT scanning — sometimes called CAT scanning — is a highly accurate medical test that uses cross-sectional 2D and 3D images to help physicians diagnose and tailor treatments for various medical conditions.

While this accreditation focuses on one type of radiology test, this recognition by the ACR further demonstrates Forrest General’s commitment to provide quality comprehensive radiology services for the Pine Belt.

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed.

“Forrest General has received ACR accreditation for mammography, MRI, ultrasound and radiation oncology in recent years, and this CT accreditation is further testament to our ongoing work to provide the best services available,” said Radiology Service Line Administrator Joe Marcello. “Receiving ACR accreditation for radiology services is an important demonstration of Forrest General’s commitment to our WE C.A.R.E. mission and vision for each and every patient. Knowing that our staff and facility has passed the ACR’s rigorous evaluation provides patients and physicians with the confidence that Forrest General is the best choice for radiology services in our area.”

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

Forrest General Rehab Unit Receives 2012 Top Performer Recognition

Pictured, from left are Joshua Maksi, M.D., Rehab Medical Director; Maelang Bradley, Rehab Patient Care Manager; Brenda Cain, Director of Inpatient Rehab and Therapy Services and Toni Hudson, Therapy Manager.

Forrest General’s Rehabilitation Unit recently announced that it ranked in the top 3 percent in the nation for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities that qualified to be ranked in the IRF database of Uniform Data Systems for Medical Rehabilitation(UDSMR) in 2011.

The facility’s ranking is based on three categories of results – patient functional performance outcomes, the percentage of patients that leave the unit and go home, and the percentage of patients that leave the unit and return to acute care.  The goal of the performance evaluation is to recognize high-performing facilities for their delivery of quality patient care that is effective, efficient, timely, and patient-centered.

“Through a team approach, Forrest General’s Rehab progressed from the 59th percentile in 2010 to the 97th percentile in 2011,” said Rehab Director Brenda Cain. “It takes passion and dedication to build a program like we have here at Forrest General Rehab. We are living our vision every day, which is to restore lives through a team approach because We C.A.R.E.”

Forrest General Rehab specializes in rehabilitation services for patients with functional deficits such as strokes, trauma, spinal cord injury, head injury and other disabling impairments.  Our passionate and supportive staff helps patients recover quickly and return home safely with a renewed since of self-sufficiency. 

Forrest General Rehab is CARF Accredited (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) and is a Stroke Accredited Specialty Program.

 

Wesley Medical Center Ranked #1 in Mississippi for Cardiac Care, GI Care and Orthopedic Surgery

Wesley Medical Center has been named the best hospital in Mississippi for cardiac care, gastrointestinal care and orthopedic surgery, and rated among the top 50 hospitals in the nation when it comes to orthopedic surgery. CareChex, the medical quality rating service of the nation's largest privately-held health care information service company, The Delta Group, ranks Wesley Medical Center:

• #1 in Mississippi for Cardiac Care 
• #1 in Mississippi for Gastrointestinal Care
• #1 in Mississippi and Top 50 in the Nation for Major Orthopedic Surgery 
• #1 in Mississippi and Top 50 in the Nation for Spinal Surgery 
• #1 in Mississippi and Top 50 in the Nation for Joint Replacement

“We are committed to providing superior care for our patients and being recognized for doing just that is a very special honor for us,” said Mike Neuendorf, CEO for Wesley Medical Center.  “These rankings prove that patients do not have to travel outside of the Pine Belt to get the best cardiac care, gastrointestinal care, or orthopedic surgery.”

The prestige of a CareChex number one ranking is significant in part because of their comprehensive evaluation system. While many rating systems are one-dimensional, ranking only one aspect of care, CareChex calculates rankings using multi-faceted clinical data and quality indicators, including patient safety, inpatient quality, core process measures, mortality rates, complication rates and patient satisfaction rates. The fully-inclusive system makes CareChex rankings of hospital quality more statistically accurate. 

“Being number one in cardiac care means that we’re doing the right things for our patients, every time,” said cardiologist Dr. Alan Covin. “CareChex looks at everything, from our heart attack and heart failure programs to our pacemaker implants, and thoroughly evaluates our processes piece by piece. They found that we get it right more often than any other hospital in the state.”  

Wesley Medical Center has previously been recognized by The Joint Commission as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures in the areas of Heart Attack and Heart Failure. They are also the area’s first and only accredited Chest Pain Center. Their orthopedic surgery rankings put Wesley Medical Center in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide, according to CareChex. 

“CareChex rankings take into account the quality of care in hospitals across the country and the information they provide allows the public to make informed decisions about their care,” said Neuendorf. “We’re very proud to say that when they choose Wesley for cardiac, gastrointestinal and orthopedic surgery, they’re choosing the number one hospital in the state.” 

Wesley Medical Center Laboratory Services Awarded Accreditation from The Joint Commission

Wesley Medical Center, in Hattiesburg, has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for laboratory accreditation. The accreditation award recognizes Wesley’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards. Wesley Medical Center Laboratory Services underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey in which a team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated the laboratory for compliance with standards of care that directly affect the quality and safety of diagnostic services and patient care. 

"In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, Wesley Medical Center has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients," says Jennifer Rhamy, M.B.A., M.A., M.T. (ASCP) SBB, HP, Executive Director, Laboratory Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. “Accreditation is a voluntary process and I commend Wesley Medical Center for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”

The Joint Commission’s laboratory standards address processes that follow laboratory specimens from the doctor’s order into the laboratory from specimen collection then back to the patient through result reporting, focusing on the provision of high quality, safe laboratory services integrated with patient care. These standards highlight the essential nature of laboratory services on the actual care and service delivery processes that contribute to and support the overall health care delivery system.

"With Joint Commission accreditation, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down,” says Mike Neuendorf, CEO for Wesley Medical Center.  “Pairing Joint Commission laboratory accreditation with our recognition as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures is an important step to maintaining excellence in the care we provide.”

 

Forrest General Radiology Receives ICANL Accreditation

Cardiovascular diseases, which are disorders of the heart and blood vessels, are the number one cause of death in the United States. Fortunately, early detection of life threatening heart disorders and other diseases is possible through the use of nuclear cardiology procedures. The Nuclear Medicine Department at Forrest General has been granted a three year term of accreditation in Nuclear Cardiology by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories (ICANL). 

Many factors contribute to an accurate diagnosis based on nuclear cardiology testing. These factors include the skill of the nuclear medicine technologist, the type of equipment used, the background and knowledge of the interpreting physician and quality assurance measures. Accreditation by the ICANL means that Forrest General has undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components by a panel of experts. The ICANL grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to be providing quality patient care, incompliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process, including a detailed case study review.

The seal of approval that accompanies ICANL accreditation means patients can rest assured that the facility has been carefully critiqued on all aspects of its operations considered relevant by medical experts in the field of nuclear medicine.

 

Hattiesburg Heart and Vascular Team Offers Cardiac Catheterization Options to Patients

During the 1950s, cardiac care was revolutionized through a new technique used to detect blockages in the heart. Catheterization, a procedure in which a physician threads a tiny line through a patient’s artery to the heart, was born out of a need to reach the heart to clear blockages, deliver life-saving medication and position stents. Using a catheter afforded doctors the option of taking a minimally invasive approach when treating their patients. 

Since then, physicians have performed millions of cardiac catheterization procedures. For the majority of those procedures, physicians make their way to the heart through the femoral artery in the groin. However, a growing number of physicians are switching to a new access point. The radial artery, which is located in the wrist, offers patients procedures that often result in less pain, less bleeding and a shorter recovery time. 

Though the procedure is often a better option for patients, there are challenges associated with the radial approach.  The size of the artery at the wrist is only about half the size of the femoral artery at the groin, the traditional access point. Accessing the heart through the radial artery is also more challenging for physicians to learn, so fewer cardiologists have been trained in the technique. 
Dr. Charles Mayes and Dr. Mark Campbell, of Hattiesburg Heart and Vascular are both fellowship trained in using the radial access point for heart catheterizations and are offering the option to their patients in the Hattiesburg area. 

“The procedure is technically more difficult than going through the femoral artery, but it is often a better option for the patient,” says Mayes. “Dr. Campbell and I knew when we came to Hattiesburg last year that we wanted to implement this program for our patients here.”

Physicians utilize heart catheterization for a variety of reasons. For instance, balloon angioplasty is a common procedure in which a catheter is inserted through an artery and maneuvered through the circulatory system to the heart to reach a blockage. Once there, a balloon on the end of the catheter is inflated to clear the blockage in order to increase circulation. 

One reason that the groin access point is used more often than the wrist is that the instruments used for many interventional cardiology procedures simply fit better through the larger route provided by the femoral artery.  Through better design, smaller and easier to maneuver instruments are now available for most procedures. Balloons, stents and catheters can all now be accommodated by the radial artery, but experience is key for physicians navigating the circulatory system through the wrist. 

“Major studies have shown that the radial artery approach is as successful as using the femoral artery entry point, but with lower rates of bleeding and other complications,” says Mayes. “Our patients deserve the least painful and most effective procedure we can give them. Ten years of experience with radial catheterization has shown me and Dr. Campbell that this is the right way to go for many patients and we’re glad to have partnered with Wesley Medical Center to offer this option in the Pine Belt.”

Despite the larger size of the femoral artery, accessing the heart via that route comes with unique complications.  In particular, bleeding risk is a concern. To stop bleeding after a catheter procedure through the femoral artery, very heavy pressure must be applied at the insertion site. Additionally, patients must lie still on their backs for hours. This can be difficult and painful for some patients, particularly the elderly or those with hip or back pain. 

The radial artery in the wrist, by comparison, requires only a band similar to a wristwatch to be placed around the wrist. This provides enough pressure to prevent bleeding at the insertion site. Patients are able to sit, or even get up and walk. 

Hattiesburg Heart and Vascular, a division of Wesley Medical Group, is committed to providing superior cardiac care to the Pine Belt. Wesley Medical Center, the only accredited Chest Pain Center in the Pine Belt, has also been recognized as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures in the areas of Heart Attack and Heart Failure. 

To learn more about the cardiologists of Hattiesburg Heart and Vascular, visit Wesley.com. 

 

Clinic participates in landmark study

Hattiesburg Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Services and Hypertension Center, along with Forrest General Hospital, are among 60 institutions nationwide, and the only site in Mississippi, selected to participate in a research study evaluating the efficiency of a radiofrequency catheter used to treat patients with resistant hypertension. This device delivers radiofrequent energy directly inside the kidney arteries to disrupt the nerves that are delivering excessive stimulation to the kidneys, a process that is a cause of severe hypertension. Prior studies conducted outside the U.S. have demonstrated significant blood pressure reduction in patients who have received this therapy. On average, blood pressure was reduced by more than 30 mmHg following treatment.

SYMPLICITY HTN-3 is an international, multi-center, randomized trial. A procedure is conducted through a minimally invasive course of action using the Symplicity™ Catheter. Studies conducted in Europe and Australia have shown the procedure to be safe, with significant and sustained reductions of blood pressure in subjects with uncontrolled blood pressure.

“Too much activity of the nervous system is a major contributor to high blood pressure. When there is excessive nerve output the kidneys are stimulated to increase blood pressure through numerous processes. This study utilizes a new, minimally invasive approach to deactivating the kidneys using 21st century technical advances,” says Hattiesburg Clinic interventional cardiologist and peripheral vascular interventionalist, Robert Wilkins, MD.

Bryan Batson, MD, of Hattiesburg Clinic’s Hypertension Center believes there are other potential benefits of the study. Batson explains, “Even though we are focused on treating uncontrolled high blood pressure, what we learn could eventually help us develop breakthroughs in the treatment of all forms of elevated blood pressure and possibly other disease states. So far the effects have been outstanding.”

In order to participate in SYMPLICITY HTN-3, participants must meet the following criteria:

• Be between the ages of 18 and 80 years old.
• Be receiving a stable medication regimen that includes full tolerated doses of three or more anti-hypertensive medications of different classes, one of which must be a diuretic that is expected to be maintained without change for at least six months.
• Have an office systolic blood pressure of greater than or equal to 160 mmhg based on an average of readings taken at an initial and confirmatory visit.
• Be competent and willing to provide written, informed consent to participate in this clinical study, including all required office visits.

Drs. Wilkins and Batson are co-principal investigators for this trial. Sub-investigators for the trial include Craig Thieling, MD, and Phillip Mellen, MD. For more information or to refer a patient for this trial, please call Hattiesburg Clinic’s clinical research coordinator, Frances Findley, at 601-268-5794. 

 

Becker's Hospital Review Names Forrest General in “101 Hospitals With Great Spine and Neurosurgery Programs”

Forrest General is the only hospital in Mississippi named by Becker's Hospital Review to their list of "101 Hospitals With Great Spine and Neurosurgery Programs." The list recognizes some of the most outstanding hospitals for neurosurgery and spinal surgery care in the United States.

The nervous system and the spine are two very sensitive areas of the body, and treatment of their disorders and diseases is no small task. As neurosurgical and spinal surgical care takes shape in the 21st century with new research, cutting-edge technologies and innovative techniques, hospitals must be able to keep pace. The 101 organizations included in Becker’s list are leaders in the field, contributing to the advancement of spine and neurological care as we know it today. 

“It is a great honor to be included in such a select list of leaders in neurosurgery and spinal surgery care,” said Evan Dillard, Forrest General president and CEO. “While we celebrate this and other achievements in our service lines, we are even more pleased at the feedback we receive from patients who have had a positive experience at Forrest General. Our staff and physicians are what drive our success, and they deserve all of the credit for this and other recognitions we receive.”

Forrest General is considered by HealthGrades as one of "America's 100 Best Spine Surgery" hospitals and a recipient of two Spine Surgery Excellence Awards. Forrest General's Neurosurgery Unit recently achieved patient satisfaction in the 95th percentile in its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores, compared with other neurosurgical specialty units across the country. It is also ranked within the top 15 hospitals in the country for spinal fusion and the top 50 for spinal surgery in CareChex's 2012 quality rankings. “Forrest General offers a full complement of services for neuroscience patients, from the care given by staff in our Certified Primary Stroke Center to the most complex brain and spinal surgeries performed by our outstanding surgeons,” said Steve Jackson, Forrest General neuroscience and orthopedics service line administrator. “Our goal is to provide world class care that gets our patients back to living life to the fullest, and recognitions like Becker’s listing confirm that we are accomplishing that goal for our patients.”

To compile this list, the Becker's Hospital Review editorial team utilized several sources, including nominations, quality care data, clinical accolades and contributions to the field of neurosurgery and spine care. Resources from prominent healthcare sources were used to finalize this selection, including U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, Thomson Reuters, Blue Cross Blue Shield Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery, Delta Group CareChex and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The full list of hospitals in the “101 Hospitals With Great Spine and Neurosurgery Programs” can be found at www.BeckersOrthopedicAndSpine.com.