Page 1B • The Leader • April 13, 2013 • www.theleadernews.com
You’re in pretty good
HANDS
Convenience and quality combine in community-centered care by Cynthia Lescalleet For The Leader
Matter of convenience
It’s better to get better closer to home – and that’s getting easier for patients in the Greater Heights. Hospitals and healthcare providers serving Leader neighborhoods have added new facilities, extended the range of services and brought in physicians and other specialists to handle the types of illness, injury and long-term treatments that resonate with their communities.
Nationally, so-called convenience in care is both “a growth strategy” for the healthcare industry and a conscious shift toward getting patients in the door “before the acute episode,” said Rivka Friedman, a senior consultant at The Advisory Board Co., based in Washington, D.C. In the event of such an episode, such as a stroke, convenience also means a more holistic, coordinated continuum of care. “Providers are more connected now,” she said, in managing a patient from diagno-
sis to treatment to follow-up care. Healthcare providers are also looking at various segments of their patient population to serve better, she said.
Suburban now urban
Part of community-based care comes from knowing the community in the first place, said administrators at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital. The giant has been serving the area since 1966. It opened as Memorial Northwest – back when the location really was the
city’s northwest boundary, observed business development administrator Jeremy Brynes, leafing through a thick tome of hospital history. The original hospital was an early satellite campus of downtown’s Memorial Baptist Hospital System. The merger with Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center came in 1999. Memorial Hermann Northwest’s muchexpanded campus today encompasses a 260-bed facility, an emergency department fielding an estimated 50,000 visits annually and more than 600 affiliated
TIRR helps restore normal life by Michael Sudhalter michael@theleadernews.com For Wanda Comeaux, having The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research’s Neurological Outpatient Center at Memorial Hermann Northwest made a world of difference. “When I found out it was there, it made it more convenient for me,” said Comeaux, a 63-year-old Shepherd Park Terrace resident. Comeaux discovered that she had a tumor last December, and her primary doctor referred her to MD Anderson Cancer Center. “I knew something wasn’t right with me,” Comeaux said. “I was losing my balance and falling. I couldn’t walk and had to start using a cane.” The tumor, which turned out to be benign, was removed during a surgery in late January, but Comeaux needed to re-adjust to every day life. “I couldn’t drive at first -- someone was taking me there,” Comeaux said. “As I gained my strength, I was able to drive on my own.” Adrianna Laprea, the senior physical therapist in the program, said Comeaux was “determined and reached her goals.” Laprea handled Comeaux’s physical therapy, and Emilia Dewi was the Occupational Therapist who worked with Comeaux. The outpatient facility was opened last November and is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Prior to that, patients would have had to travel to the main TIRR facility at Kirby & South Braeswood, near the Texas Medical Center. Over the past two months, Comeaux has gone through Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs “to get strength back on the left side” of her body. She went twice per week and finished the program at the end of March. The OT focused on hands, eyes, and typing (or daily functions, like cooking) and the PT emphasized balance, walking without a cane, walking up and down the stairs and walking on the treadmill. “They are things you do every day but you take them for granted,” Comeaux said. “My progress was so great. I pushed myself. I was so determined to be where I was before to do the things I wanted to do, like travel and go out with my friends.” Comeaux will have more time to enjoy those things, since she’s retir-
physicians. Specialty departments include heart and vascular, orthopedics, cancer treatment, sleep labs, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation, women’s care and wound care. “We optimize services across campuses,” said CEO Gary Kerr. However, some emerging needs in the community have been addressed recently with new facilities: a family practice clinic started serving patients last fall on 19th Street in the
see Hands • Page 4B
Major cancer study looks to Houston for participation Residents of Houston and the surrounding area have an opportunity to participate in a study beginning May 11 that has the potential to change the face of cancer for future generations, according to the American Cancer Society. Men and women between the ages of 30 and 65, who have never been diagnosed with cancer, are urged to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3). CPS-3 wants to enroll 1,400 residents of the Greater Houston area and 300,000 people across the United States and Puerto Rico. The opportunity for local residents to enroll in CPS-3 is being made possible in partnership with 7 Greater Houston community organizations, which will provide 19 enrollment locations throughout the area starting May 11 through June 2. The YMCA of Greater Houston is providing a majority of those sites with 13 YMCA locations hosting a CPS-3 enrollment, ensuring local residents have a convenient place to sign up for the study. Those interested in participating are asked to confirm their eligibility and schedule their appointment at CancerStudyGH. org or call 888-604-5888.
see Study • Page 3B
Why a Health section in The Leader?
Shepherd Park Terrace resident Wanda Comeaux cooks a meal in her home on April 8. Before going through rehab at TIRR, simple tasks like cooking and walking were difficult for Comeaux. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter) ing from Chevron after 22 years this month. “I feel a whole lot better,” she said. “There’s a big difference in my reactions, my movements. I feel much, much better.” According to its website, TIRR’s Outpatient Rehabilitation-North-
west, “offers the highest level of treatment in northwest Houston for physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy...these facilities have the latest equipment and technology and are designed with the patient in mind.” In addition to Laprea and Dewi,
the staff includes Bethany Costa (PT), Tamara Traber and Nora Byrd (OTs), Speech Language Pathologists Tiffany Harrington and Nichole Diez, Rehab Technician Jenna Scarcella, Clinic Manager Jessica De La Rosa and Clinic Business Director Sandra Loyd.
Historic Community. Legendary Care.
Today marks the third in a four-part strategy in The Leader to highlight some of the most important topics of our community. Last year, we introduced a monthly section called “Leader Listings,” aimed at coverage of the real estate market in the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and North Houston. Earlier this year, we launched “Business Leaders,” a section designed to bring more positive news about our local businesses. And today, we introduce the third of those sections, appropriately titled “Our Health.” Beginning in May, we’ll also introduce “Family Time,” a monthly section devoted to the things parents and families can do with their children. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. “Our Health” gets all the attention today. Our area of Houston has changed rapidly over the past five years. We have a segment of readers who look more and more to healthcare in our community as a necessity. We have an older, extremely important generation of readers who want to know about the health programs in our area, and someone needs to provide coverage of our local doctors and institutions. We believe we can provide that news. We also have a younger generation of readers who may have just moved into the area. For them, we’d like to use this section to inform them about all the wonderful doctors and facilities in our community. If you have thoughts or ideas about “Our Health,” please feel free to email our editor: charlotte@theleadernews.com.