Baptist Hospital East and Central Baptist Hospital named again among Kentucky's Top 20 "Best Places to Work."

For the second consecutive year, Baptist Hospital East and Central Baptist Hospital have been named among the top ten “Best Places to Work in Kentucky.” The Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management State Council, in conjunction with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, announced the winners in the contest, which is sponsored by anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The program is a multi-year initiative to motivate companies in the Commonwealth to focus, measure and move their workplace environments toward excellence.

Baptist East and Central Baptist were ranked in the category of large-sized companies (200 employees or more).

Wireless technology implanted into a heart patient at Western Baptist Hospital.

In December 2005, the first wireless cardiac resynchronization therapy device was implanted in a patient with congestive heart failure at Western Baptist Hospital. The implanted device is a pacemaker that also functions as a defibrillator utilizing wireless technology. Once implanted, the patient returns home and is given a monitoring unit that automatically and wirelessly reads implantable device information at time specified by the patient’s physician. This information is uploaded to a secure website, where the patient’s physician may access it when needed to monitor the patient’s daily functions.

This implanted device, using wireless technology to aid in patient management, gives new hope to patients with congestive heart failure who want to resume their normal routine and activities.

The Chest Pain Center at Central Baptist Hospital receives accreditation.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers recently granted the designation of Accredited Chest Pain Center to Central Baptist Hospital. Central Baptist is one of four accredited Chest Pain Centers in Kentucky and one of only 198 in the nation.

To become an Accredited Chest Pain Center, Central Baptist had to demonstrate a commitment to providing patients with consistent quality in delivering emergency care based on national guidelines established by leaders in cardiovascular and emergency medicine.

Central Baptist has one of the busiest and most respected heart programs in the commonwealth. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with 600,000 dying annually of heart disease. More than five million Americans visit hospitals each year with chest pain. The Society of Chest Pain Centers is working to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reducing the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

Baptist Hospital East named Top 100 Hospital for second consecutive year.

In February, Baptist Hospital East was selected for the 2005 Solucient Top 100 Hospitals award.

The Top 100 Hospitalsaward is based on the top 100 Hospitals National Benchmark for Success study. Hospitals are scored based on performance in five critical areas: clinical outcomes, patient safety, operational efficiency, financial stability and growth. Baptist East is one of only 20 hospitals in the nation selected for this award among large community hospitals (250+ beds) and the only hospital in the Louisville area noted in the study.

The Baptist Regional Apothecary opens at Baptist Regional Medical Center.

A retail pharmacy, the Baptist Regional Apothecary, opened January 2, 2006 at Baptist Regional Medical Center. The pharmacy is available to hospital employees and family, all discharges patients, as well as the general public. The pharmacy provides prescription medications, over-the-counter products, and durable medical equipment.

Baptist Regional employees with health coverage through Cumberland Healthcare Incorporated will receive decreased co-pays on generics, preferred brands, other brands, and injectable medications.

The Baptist Regional Apothecary also provides mail orders, telephone refills, and co-pay counseling. Currently the pharmacy is open weekdays from 7 am - 5 pm.

Community Care Clinic opens on the Baptist Northeast campus.

A Community Care Clinic opened on the Baptist Hospital Northeast campus in late November, the culmination of years of work on the part of various Oldham County groups. The clinic is currently open one evening a week for uninsured patients, who are charged $5.

Numerous volunteers have donated time, money and services to make the clinic available to provide primary care and referral to other needed services through a developed network of providers willing to accept these patients on a reduced or free basis.

HDB Services, a local non-profit organization in La Grange, stepped forward early in the planning stages to oversee the clinic under its established non-profit status. HDB Services also runs a MedTrans van which has answered the need for medical transportation in the county, and Prescription Access that helps people without insurance have prescriptions filled.

Health and wellness online resource will be available soon from Bluegrass Family Health.

Bluegrass Family Health will introduce Health Education Answers in the second quarter of 2006. This on-line resource provides information about health and wellness. The site includes many interactive features including surveys and games. There are sections for specific health issues such as diabetes, weight management, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, men’s health and women’s health.

The wellness section of Health Education Answers contains ways members can stay healthy at home. Members can also learn ways to make their home safer, stop smoking, eat healthful foods, and set their own wellness goals. Members can access Health Education Answers from the Bluegrass Family site at www.bgfh.com by logging into MyBluegrassInfo.

The MRI Center at Hardin Memorial Hospital receives re-accreditation from the American College of Radiology.

Hardin Memorial Hospital’s MRI Center has been re-accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR) for a three -year period.

The ACR awards accreditation to centers for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer review evaluation of its operations. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field of MRI. They assess the qualifications of the personnel, adequacy of the equipment, as well as the quality improvement activities.

The MRI Center at Hardin Memorial features two advanced systems with 1.5 Tesla magnets that provide a wide array of diagnostic imaging capabilities, including the diagnosis of strokes, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and cardiac imaging. The center has been accredited by the ACR since 1999.

Baptist Hospital East to build a new bed tower with 144 all-private rooms.

The Baptist Hospital East Board of Directors approved plans to build a new eight-floor tower at the rear of the hospital for the expansion of outpatient surgery and six acute care nursing units.

The new tower will include 144 new, all-private rooms. Most of the hospital’s current semi-private rooms will be converted to private rooms to keep the total bed count at 407. However, changes to the state health plan could allow Baptist East to add up to 112 new beds, increasing the hospital’s total beds to 519.

The hospital has made application for the new beds and a final decision by the state will be made in August. If approved, the hospital would still convert some of the current semi-private rooms to private rooms.

Construction includes 73 covered parking spaces, eight new outpatient operating rooms, eight PACU beds and 24 private rooms for pre- and post-op, plus holding. Floors three through eight will contain six, all-private 24-bed acute care units. Construction will be completed in 2008.

CyberKnife offers hope to radiation therapy patients at Central Baptist Hospital.

The CyberKnife Treatment Center at Central Baptist Hospital recently opened its doors to patients, giving them new treatment options that weren’t available in this region until now. 

CyberKnife Radiosurgery is a painless, non-invasive radiation treatment that can be used as an alternative to open surgery, in certain cases. It is the first and only robotic surgery device that uses a linear accelerator, mounted on a computer-controlled robotic arm, that can deliver more than 1,200 angles of radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy to treat tumors in the head, neck, spine and areas throughout the body that are often unreachable by conventional surgery or other stereotactic methods. Focused beams of radiation converge on the tumor while exposure to surrounding healthy tissue is minimized. Because of its precision and accuracy, the CyberKnife can non-invasively achieve a surgical-like outcome virtually anywhere in the body.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the CyberKnife technology is that it has given physicians the opportunity to help patients for which previously there was no treatment option. Now Central Baptist can offer patients hope and change lives. Central Baptist is the only facility in the state that offers the CyberKnife treatment technology.

VibraFlex technology restores strength and balance to Rehab patients at Western Baptist Hospital.

For patients with arthritic knees or those scheduled for orthopedic surgery or procedures, new technology at Western Baptist Rehab Center can help alleviate pain and stiffness. The

VibraFlex platform emits varying degrees of vibration though the patient’s legs. Typically, patients stand on the platform five to 10 minutes, three times a week. The vibration hyper-stimulates nerves and increases blood flow to the feet and legs, giving patient increase strength, balance and reflex sensation. It also can alleviate stiff, arthritic joints.

Volunteers at Baptist Regional Medical Center make a difference.

The volunteers at Baptist Regional Medical Center are working diligently to provide extra amenities and equipment not included in the hospital capital equipment. They have been responsible for the purchase of a van to transport patients when needed. They also purchased a R2 Image Checker that provides computer-aided detection of breast cancer.

Now the volunteers are planning to build an outside walking track at the Baptist Family Fitness Center. The track will allow fitness center members, hospital employees and volunteers to enjoy outside exercise. The walking track will be dedicated to Roderick Weisert, M.D. Dr. Weisert served the Corbin community for 23 years as a general surgeon. He recently passed away after a long and courageous battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Baptist Hospital Northeast's diabetes program receives American diabetes Association recognition.

Baptist Hospital Northeast’s “Living with Diabetes” education program recently received recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as a satellite of Central Baptist Hospital’s “Life with Diabetes” education program.

The teaching team is overseen by a coordinator and an advisory board at Central Baptist. This gives Baptist Northeast the ability to draw from the expertise of an endocrinologist (diabetes specialist) on staff at Central Baptist in Lexington, since there is not one on staff at Baptist Northeast.

The ADA Education Recognition effort is a voluntary process, which assures that education programs have met the National Standards for Diabetes Self-management Education Programs. Programs that achieve recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide the latest information about diabetes management for participants.

Sleep Center at Hardin Memorial Hospital receives accreditation from the
American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Hardin Memorial Hospital’s Sleep Center recently earned accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

The five-year accreditation shows Hardin Memorial’s Sleep Center meets or exceeds AASM standards for professional care of patients with sleep disorders. To receive accreditation, the facility passed a detailed review of its center and staff, and an evaluation of its testing procedures, patient care, and physician training. Achieving accreditation from the AASM is a significant milestone for Hardin Memorial Hospital’s Sleep Center. Accreditation signifies that Hardin Memorial provides clinical diagnostic services and treatment for patients who have symptoms or features that suggest the presence of any sleep disorder. It also assures our patients and the public that the sleep center provides quality patient care through comprehensive clinical evaluation and treatment.

The Sleep Center is able to treat a wide range of conditions including insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea.