Leading candidate Reginald Coopwood, MD, will assume the position of CEO of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED) on March 1, during a pivotal time in the facility’s development. The MED made headlines last fall when the Board voted to close the Emergency Department if $32 million could not be raised to sustain the regional safety net hospital for residents within a 150-mile radius.

 

“Without a doubt, Dr. Coopwood, as both a senior healthcare administrator and a physician, is the right leader for The MED,” said Gene Holcomb, chair of The MED Board of Directors. “He has significant and distinctive experience in working with safety net hospitals. His prior leadership positions have equipped him with a unique understanding of issues confronting hospitals like The MED.”

 

A board-certified surgeon, Coopwood served most recently as associate clinical professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and associate professor of surgery at Meharry Medical College, both located in the Nashville metro area.

 

“The position as CEO of The MED brings great challenges and opportunities,” said Coopwood of the oldest hospital in Tennessee. “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead this organization and look forward to working closely with employees, physicians and the community as we ensure that the tradition of providing quality healthcare to the citizens of the Mid-South continues.”

 

A board member of the National Public Health and Hospital Institute (NPHHI), Nashville Health Care Council and Tennessee Court Appointed Special Advocate Association, Coopwood previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Meharry Medical College and Comprehensive Care Center.

 

A 2005 graduate of Leadership Nashville, Coopwood was named a fellow to the Health Care Solutions Group, co-founded by Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Health Care Council. As a member of the Nashville Downtown Rotary Club, he has chaired the Organ Donation Committee.

 

A member of the American College of Health Care Executives, American College of Physician Executives, R.F. Boyd Medical Society and National Medical Association, and a fellow in the American College of Surgeons, Coopwood received his pre-med education from Oakwood College, focusing on biology, chemistry—and business administration, before earning a medical degree from Meharry Medical College.

 

In 2000, Coopwood was the first appointed Chief Medical Officer for Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, and assumed the CEO role in 2005. That same year, Coopwood received the Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center’s coveted Dr. Archie Powell Excellence in Health Award.

 

Before his official start date, Coopwood will work with FTI Cambio, the management consulting firm for The MED for the last 18 months, for interim management and transformation services to ensure a seamless leadership transition for the 350-bed regional healthcare facility. With five Centers of Excellence, and more than 38 areas of medical specialty, The MED also serves as an acute-care teaching hospital for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, where most doctors in Tennessee trained.

 

“Dr. Coopwood’s far-reaching knowledge of the healthcare landscape will greatly benefit our community and the patients we serve,” said Holcomb.

 

Jackson, Miss. –– Baptist Breast Health Center in Jackson, Miss. has recently been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in Stereotactic Breast Biopsy as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

 

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. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.

 

The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic and interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

 

Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, P.A. opened a satellite clinic in Collins in Jan.

 

The clinic, located at the Covington County Hospital will offer orthopedic care and x-ray services. SBJ physicians Dr. Lance Line and Dr. Robert Dews will see patients on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

 

Line, a board certified, fellowship trained sports medicine orthopedic surgeon said that SBJ has had great success with their satellite clinics in other areas and Collins was the next place they wanted to offer services.

 

Greenville, MS – In January 2009, Delta Regional Medical Center (DRMC) was informed of Medicaid’s decision to no longer reimburse hospitals for outpatient rehabilitation/physical therapy services not provided on the main campus of a hospital. DRMC Outpatient Rehabilitation has been located off campus since 2002.

 

After the DRMC Board of Trustees considered the financial impact and DRMC’s mission to the community, an over-riding sense of commitment to community responsibility prevailed. DRMC, unlike many other Mississippi hospitals and freestanding therapy programs, felt there was no other choice, in spite of the controversial Medicaid ruling, but to continue to provide outpatient rehab services to the region’s less fortunate population. Mr. Ray Humphreys, DRMC’s CEO, said that the decision to continue care for Medicaid patients for outpatient rehab services was made in consultation with Dr. Greg Gober, the area’s only orthopedic surgeon. Gober said that if they don’t continue the service, patients will not be able receive any orthopedic care due to the fact that virtually all orthopedic care requires follow up rehab therapy.             

 

Continuing to cover Medicaid patients’ outpatient therapy was something the board felt very strongly about. They will continue to support patients                                                                                                                                         and community through these services even though the hospital will not be paid anything to cover the costs of these physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy services.

 

Hattiesburg, MS – James Griffin, M.D. a family physician with Wesley Medical Center, has recently completed the requirements for certification as a Diplomat of the American Board of Family Medicine.

 

Dr. Griffin received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed residencies in obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, and in family medicine at the Family Medicine Residency Program at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

 

Dr. Griffin is a member of the American Medical Association, Mississippi State Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians and the Mississippi State Medical Society. He is an active participant in and a board member of the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera.

 

Judy Rhyne ND, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer of Garden Park Medical Center in Gulfport, MS recently achieved her Certification in the Nurse Executive specialty from ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center). ANCC is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association which provides resources to achieve practice excellence. ANCC’s internationally renowned credentialing program certifies in specialty practice areas as well as recognizes healthcare organizations through the Magnet Recognition Program.

 

Judy has over 40 years career in the healthcare profession mainly in leadership and management roles. She has currently served as the CNO for Garden Park Medical Center for over 3 years and been with the parent company HCA for over 12 years. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, Clayton and Western Governors. Her graduate work comes from the University of Tennessee, Oklahoma University, and Memphis State University.

 

King’s Daughters Medical Center Sleep Center in Brookhaven recently received program accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

 

To receive a five-year accreditation, a sleep center must meet or exceed all standards for professional health care as designated by the AASM. The accreditation process involves detailed inspection of a center’s facility and staff, including an evaluation of testing procedures, patient contacts, and physician training. Additionally, the facility’s goals must be clearly stated and include plans for positively affecting the quality of medical care in the community it serves.

 

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine currently accredits more than 1,800 sleep medicine centers and laboratories across the country.

 

King’s Daughters Medical Center Sleep Center is directed by Dr. Sarah J. Broom and is located at 427 Highway 51N. For more information call (601) 835-9270.

 

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is a professional medical society for clinicians, researchers, and other health care providers in the field of sleep medicine. As the national accrediting body for sleep disorders centers and labs, the AASM is dedicated to setting standards and promoting excellence in sleep medicine heath care, education and research.           

 

Singing River Health System recently honored Brett Shoemaker, Singing River Hospital, and Nancy Useforge, Ocean Springs Hospital, as Employees of the Month.

 

Shoemaker worked at Ocean Spring Hospital from 2003 to 2005 before transferring to the University of Alabama Birmingham. He returned to SRHS in 2006 as a Cardiovascular Interventional Technologist in the Cardiac Cath lab at OSH. He was hired to his current position in 2008 as a Radiologic Technician and Picture Archiving Communication System Analyst for Cardiology and Information Systems.

 

Shoemaker helps improve patient satisfaction because his work with the Picture Archiving Communication System provides the patient with the highest quality of care and an overall decreased wait time.

 

Useforge, Admission Review Nurse, Patient Resource Management, was born in Savannah, Ga.

 

She completed her LPN and associate degree at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She worked with Kare-In-Home Health as an intake nurse before joining Singing River Health System in her current role in 2008.

 

She helps to improve patient satisfaction by working with patients’ financial considerations promptly and answering any questions they have.    

 

Greenville, MS – The Delta’s newest family medical doctor, Dr. Neal Suares, was notified by the American Board of Family Medicine that he has obtained board certification. Certification by the American Board of Family Medicine is a voluntary process that demonstrates a physician’s exceptional expertise in the specialty of Family Medicine. Board certification confers a standard of excellence in knowledge and practice to physicians who not only certify via the examination process, but who also work diligently on the maintenance of these skills during the seven-year cycle between examinations. The examination process covers the disciplines of the specialty including, but not limited to: adult medicine; care of newborns, infants, children, and adolescents; maternity and gynecological care; community medicine; care of the older patient; human behavior and mental health; and care of the surgical patient. Board certification is different from possessing a medical license, which is required by law for an individual to practice medicine. Board certification is specialty-specific, whereas medical licensure is not.

 

Dr. Neal Suares is a native of Greenville, and returned home last August to practice medicine. He attained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees both in biology from Delta State University in Cleveland. Dr. Suares also attained his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from the University of Mississippi in Oxford. He attained his Doctor of Medicine degree from St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Dr. Suares completed his residency at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson.

 

Jackson, MS – While undergoing a city-wide water shortage, Central Mississippi Medical Center felt compelled to reach out to those in dire need by donating supplies to the earthquake victims of Haiti. The hospital shipped 17 pallets of much needed medical supplies valued at $200,000 and $25,000 worth of 1 liter bottles of water to World Harvest Missions’ New Life Children’s Home in Haiti. In this photo, Glen Silverman, Chief Executive Officer at CMMC, is assisted with loading the delivery truck by Charlie Everett from Materials Management and Kenneth Sullivan, a Day Labor staff member.

 

The Central Mississippi Medical Center Volunteer Auxiliary assisted with the hospital’s donation to World Harvest Mission. They, along with the hospital, contributed an additional $2,000 to help the organization purchase a container to hold the medical supplies while on the freighter to Haiti.

 

St. Dominic Hospital is one of a select number of hospitals in the nation and the first in Mississippi to perform surgical procedures using the newest da Vinci Si HD robotic system.

 

Several gynecologic procedures, including hysterectomies, can be performed with the aid of the new equipment. Paul Seago, MD, a gynecologic oncologist with Mississippi Oncology Associates at St. Dominic Hospital, performed a hysterectomy in January marking the first time the equipment has been utilized in the state. The device allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures instead of more invasive ones, which dramatically reduces patients’ recovery times.    

 

The da Vinci robotic system is not new to St. Dominic’s. The first robotic surgery was performed at St. Dominic’s in 2005. Dr. Seago was the first surgeon in Mississippi to perform a radical hysterectomy with the original da Vinci system installed at St. Dominic’s. According to Heather Boling, Directory of Surgery, since that time, several hundred robotic cases have been performed at St. Dominic’s with over 200 performed this past year.

 

Dr. Seago said the da Vinci Si HD offers the same 3-D operating environment and full range of motion as the earlier model but has been improved due to a high-definition viewer and increased mobility.

 

This newest equipment contains a console ergonomically designed and more flexible than the original system, and the high definition vision and greater range of motion makes it more amendable to performing gynecologic procedures.

 

The da Vinci also offers greater precision than the human hand can allow. Its high-definition cameras see more than the human eye, offering improved clarity and detail of tissue and anatomy, critical factors when performing delicate procedures.

 

 

Garden Park Medical Center announced today the successful completion of its first surgery using the next generation SILS™ procedure. The cholecystectomy, or gallbladder removal, was performed for the treatment of gallstones, and was the first of its kind to be completed at Garden Park Medical Center as well as the first to be performed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

 

Accomplished by using specialized Roticulator™ instruments – manufactured by Covidien – the SILS™ procedure is performed in surgeries related to gynecologic, bariatric and urologic conditions.,,,   Covidien’s newest technological advancement, the SILS™ Port, is available for SILS™ procedures across multiple surgical specialties. This instrument, the first of its kind, replaces the multiple ports currently utilized in single incision surgeries.

 

According to Dr David Evans, General Surgeon, the surgeon who performed the procedure, said the patient may not even see evidence of the surgery. One of the major advantages of the SILS™ procedure is that it utilizes only one access point, through the patient’s umbilicus, or belly button, ultimately resulting in the potential for no visible scar. By comparison, traditional laparoscopic cholecystectomies involve four ½-inch or smaller incisions that may leave scars.

 

Currently, more than 80 percent of all cholecystectomies performed in the Unites States are done laparoscopically with multiple access points. Using the next generation SILS™ procedure surgeons can make a single 20mm incision through the belly button minimizing the pain that may be associated with the additional sites of entry.

 

Approximately 500,000 procedures are performed each year in the U.S. to remove the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped organ located in the upper abdomen beneath the bladder.   While the gallbladder’s main function – to store bile produced by the liver and release it for digestion – is important to the body, it is not essential. Gallbladder surgeries are usually performed for the treatment of gallstones – small solid formations of cholesterol and bile salts within the gallbladder – or inflammation of the gallbladder, known as cholecystitis.