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KershawHealth
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KershawHealth
Community-Centered Care KershawHealth pledges quality, personalized services for residents.
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taying connected and responsive to the people of Kershaw County and surrounding communities has been at the heart of KershawHealth’s mission since its inception in 1913. It was then that a group of local citizens recognized the need for convenient, quality care and answered by founding a not-forprofit hospital in Camden. Nearly 100 years later, this comprehensive healthcare system is steadfast in its pledge to improve the health and well-being of area residents by consistently delivering quality, costeffective, personalized healthcare. “We are the only healthcare system in our county, so we strive to make a positive difference in the lives of all citizens,” says Donnie Weeks, Presdient/Chief Executive Officer. “To do that, we must have the physicians who make our mission possible, as well as the technology, equipment and facilities necessary to provide that care. Everything we do is centered on that mission.” The medical center in Camden is at the hub of a growing system that provides a broad range of medical, diagnostic, rehabilitation, home care
and wellness services at locations across the Kershaw County area. The newest addition is the Elgin Outpatient Center, which joins facilities in Lugoff, Bethune and Kershaw. The Elgin facility is home to Urgent Care at Elgin, as well as physician offices, outpatient laboratory, imaging and cardiology. Even with the technologicallyadvanced facilities in place today, KershawHealth is proactive in its long-term plans for development. “We have a strategic plan, and that has been critical to helping us meet the challenges in healthcare today. Out of that came the decision to build our Elgin outpatient diagnostic and urgent care center,” Weeks says. “We also have purchased property in Camden where we will create an outpatient facility – including urgent care, oncology, physical therapy, imaging and laboratory services – in the near future. Strategic growth is critical to our ability to remain financially sound and to fulfill our mission.” Weeks attributes much of KershawHealth’s evolution to wise guidance provided by the healthcare system’s local board of trustees. “We are a mid-sized system, and
being locally controlled has been very good for our community,” Weeks says. “It’s a partnership that has proven to be the best model for us to deliver healthcare.” For KershawHealth, every day is about striving to be the best community healthcare system in South Carolina. It’s about helping everyone reach their individual potential for wellness.
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This special section is published for KershawHealth by Journal Communications Inc.
For more information, contact: KershawHealth 1315 Roberts St. P. O. Box 7003 Camden, SC 29021 Phone: (803) 432-4311 www.kershawhealth.org ©Copyright 2010 Journal Communications Inc., 725 Cool Springs Blvd. • Suite 400 Franklin, TN 37067 • (615) 771-0080 All rights reserved. No portion of this special advertising section may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent. On the cover: Entrance to KershawHealth Photo by Todd Bennett
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Picture of Health KershawHealth provides comprehensive diagnostic services – from imaging to sleep studies.
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ershawHealth ensures that residents can rest easy knowing the big picture of their well-being – literally. The health system offers a comprehensive selection of diagnostic services ranging from cardiovascular testing, imaging and laboratory services to sleep disorder diagnostics and treatment. “In the past year, we’ve replaced much of our equipment to offer state-of-the-art digital imaging,” says Dave Baker, director of radiology. “It’s a $2 million upgrade, and it has made everything much better for our patients as well as our technologists, who can now work much faster and with better results.” Digital imaging services include digital X-ray and mammography, as well as a full range of other imaging services – open and closed MRI, nuclear medicine, bone densitometry, ultrasound and cutting-edge 16- and 64-slice CT scanning. With these advanced tools, KershawHealth’s specialists can identify the smallest issue before it becomes a problem. Patients have convenient access to imaging services at the Medical Center in Camden, the Outpatient Center in Elgin
and the West Wateree Medical Complex in Lugoff. In addition, the upgrade includes a PACS network, which archives all images so they can be viewed either on site or at remote locations, says Frank Morrison, PACS coordinator. “This not only saves us from dealing with chemicals and films but also speeds up the process and reduces the radiation exposure to the patients and to the technologists,” Morrison says. Because heart disease is the leading cause of death in South Carolina, KershawHealth offers a wide array of cardiovascular tests. These include echocardiograms, EKGs, stress testing, upper and lower extremity arterial studies, vein mapping, arteriograms, Holter monitors and more. All backed up by the expertise of highly qualified cardiologists, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, nurses and technicians. Accredited by the College of American Pathologists, the clinical laboratories of KershawHealth offer comprehensive services to assist physicians in diagnosing disease, monitoring health and evaluating therapy. Services are available at the
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Medical Center, the West Wateree Medical Complex and the Outpatient Center in Elgin. “Every day, laboratory results contribute a significant percentage of the information needed for precise diagnosis and personalized treatment. An accurate diagnosis begins the journey back to wellness for patients. Using state-of-theart technology and instrumentation, our laboratory professionals perform and supervise tests that not only search for potential health problems in the hopes of identifying the disease early, when it is most treatable, but also guide and assess the ongoing care of patients,” says laboratory director Jane Atkins. Those who are having trouble getting adequate rest can find treatment and relief at KershawHealth’s accredited Sleep Diagnostics Center, where registered technologists help identify and treat sleep disorders. The center offers a relaxing, homelike environment for patients, says Alyson McGugan, the center’s manager. “We have four private bedrooms where we diagnose and treat all types of sleep disorders in a way that makes the patients very comfortable,” McGugan says. “People just love it here.”
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Full Recovery, Close to Home Patients enjoy access to effective, convenient rehabilitation programs.
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t KershawHealth, patient care extends well beyond the time of surgery or a hospital stay with a variety of highly effective rehabilitation programs. The programs are tailored to the individual needs of the patient and designed to address any specific physical or mental challenges that may result from cardiac surgery, serious injuries, strokes or other issues. The programs can include medical monitoring, exercise and diet programs, stress management and more. For example, KershawHealth offers the RACE short-term inpatient physical rehabilitation program. RACE helps people who don’t need to be hospitalized but who do need more than regular home health services as they recover, most often after total joint replacement surgery. RACE has proven so popular that it has grown from being an eight-bed program in 2007 to 20 beds today, says Timothy Hornsby, RACE program director. “We offer rehabilitation that a lot of people need, and we accept patients from all area hospitals. Of course, if you were at KershawHealth Medical Center for care, you transfer right from the hospital to us,” Hornsby says. “So not only are you able to stay in town, but there’s no need to move to another facility to continue your treatment.” The RACE unit is more homelike than the Medical Center, with common areas, a garden, beauty salon and many social activities. This type of environment adds another level of support and encouragement, Hornsby says, as it allows patients to get to know one another. Naturally, many people prefer the program because it allows them to stay close to home. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, on the other hand, has two phases that begin just after surgery or treatment and continue for several months as recovery progresses. The Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, a new service, works in much the same way, says Danny Wharton, director of cardiopulmonary services. “Our patients have about 36 sessions over three months, and we see about 300 patients annually,” Wharton says. “We begin working with them at their baseline condition and develop a program to help them improve from there.” Both programs are conveniently located at the Medical Center and use the spacious, specially designed rehab gym there. “When you’re still ill and have a program that lets you regain your functions right here in town without having to travel, it’s a big help,” he says. “By the time people finish our programs, they’re able to function at a better cardiac or cardiopulmonary level, and they’ve been able to have family and friends support them because they’ve been right here the whole time.” Special Advertising Section
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Precision Procedures High-quality options make surgery convenient.
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esidents in need of a wide variety of surgery enjoy the convenience of having that expertise close to home, thanks to KershawHealth’s array of state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgical services. Procedures range from laser procedures for eye, ear, nose and throat problems to arthroscopy for shoulder, knee and ankle joints. Total hip, knee and ankle replacement is available, along with laparoscopy for gallbladder removal, appendectomies, urological conditions and ob-gyn procedures. An expanded service for KershawHealth – lithotripsy – uses shock waves to pulverize kidney stones. In addition, KershawHealth doctors routinely perform vascular surgeries, including carotid endarterectomies, aortic aneurysm repair and lower-extremity grafts. People in the community benefit greatly from having such high-quality, diverse options available locally and on an inpatient or outpatient basis, says Kathy Layden-Morris, director of surgical services. “If you can have something done right in your own town, it’s so much more convenient,” she says. “We are doing things here that aren’t being done anywhere else, too; we did the state’s first total ankle-replacement surgery.”
About 450 procedures are performed here monthly, a number that continues to climb as word spreads about the many services available and the high level of care patients receive, Layden-Morris says. “We have great surgeons and a top-notch facility,” she says. “Why would you go anywhere else when you have all this right here?”
ER Alternative Urgent Care at Elgin treats minor emergencies
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lways responsive to the needs of the community, KershawHealth has provided another option to keep its residents well. To meet urgent medical needs that aren’t emergency room situations, there’s the new Urgent Care at Elgin. The center is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. It is staffed at all times by a physician with experience in urgent care or emergency room medicine, notes Dr. Shelley Janssen, medical director. Equipped with the latest diagnostic equipment, the center is a convenient option for busy people and families who are on the go, says Mike Bunch, Vice President/Chief Operating Officer. “Our purpose was to provide services during the evening and on weekends,” Bunch says. “Now the entire county has access to a level of care that’s appropriate when a life-threatening emergency’s not at hand, but the situation requires quick attention and medical care that shouldn’t be delayed.” The center has seen a steady stream of visitors since opening in October 2009. “From a service perspective, it’s a model for outpatient care,” Bunch says. “It allows us to direct people to a convenient, accessible facility and has given us a way to provide quick, quality care without people having to come to the Medical Center.” www.kershawhealth.org
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Powerful Partnerships Professional affiliations create access to specialists and advanced technologies.
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n a state with many advanced medical options, the strategic partnerships KershawHealth has formed allow us to tap into expertise and technology that would otherwise be unavailable within a community healthcare system. Those alliances mean many things to the people of Kershaw County. It might be a specialist in Charleston guiding an ER physician in Camden through the latest in stroke interventions. Or the expertise of a team of pathologists trained to detect the smallest abnormalities, which can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment. These professionals are not based here, but as part of the KershawHealth system, their expertise is vital to serving the health and wellness needs of local residents, says Donnie Weeks, President/Chief Executive Officer. “We offer the majority of services needed in our
community, but there are some that we could never have due to the expense,” Weeks says. “One way to have those is to team up with other doctors and practices and have them on an ‘on-call’ basis.” Examples of these partnerships include affiliations with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia. The stroke-intervention program with MUSC allows a Charleston-based neurologist to view digital images of a patient and then recommend interventional treatments to physicians in the ER. Pulmonologists from USC provide consultations for hospitalized patients and follow-up care for chronic illnesses like COPD. Women in particular benefit from an affiliation with Pitts Radiology in Columbia, which boasts a specialist in women’s imaging, Weeks says. “They have a trained eye for looking at specific things, and they might pick up a really small lesion that might be missed by someone who doesn’t have that specialized training,” Weeks says. Other key services are provided by Professional Pathology Services in Columbia, which aids KershawHealth’s expanding roster of surgery options, and South Carolina Oncology Associates, which brings oncologists to the medical center’s oncology department, allowing patients to stay in the community for their treatment. “Between the oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and pulmonologists, we have some really strong partnerships out there,” says Mike Bunch, Vice President/ Chief Operating Officer. “We bring in people that we couldn’t support on our budget but also maintain local control of these and all our other services. That’s of benefit to KershawHealth and also to our community.” Many of these partnerships would have been impossible without the foresight KershawHealth has shown in investing in technology like digital imaging and advanced computer systems. These have provided a framework for the development of a system of care far more extensive than many community healthcare systems can offer.
Donny Weeks President/Chief Executive Officer KershawHealth
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KershawHealth
Nurturing the Nurturers Services cater to women at every stage of life.
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omen today balance careers, family, social obligations and a hundred other demands. That often means their personal health isn’t the priority it should be. To change that, they need understanding, expertise, convenience and the confidence that comes from knowing they have access to the latest diagnostics, treatments and education. KershawHealth offers an accessible, comprehensive range of services for women at each stage of life. Women’s services include everything from care and classes for expectant mothers to advanced diagnostic testing and surgical procedures for cancer and other illnesses. KershawHealth’s Women’s Center helps expectant mothers begin their parenting journey by offering prenatal
and breast-feeding classes. When their little ones arrive, new mothers continue to enjoy programs such as car seat workshops and SafeKids events. A special women’s diagnostic imaging department at the Elgin Outpatient Center offers women advanced digital mammography, ultrasound, CT and MRI, and bone density testing. KershawHealth’s surgical services department offers the latest minimally invasive gynecological procedures. Women’s wellness programs encourage them to get and stay physically and emotionally fit, with a growing variety of offerings that include nutrition and stress relief seminars, weight management and smoking cession classes, Pilates, aerobics, yoga and more.
Care in the Comfort of Home Teams bring healthcare services, support to familiar surroundings.
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hether it’s care following surgery or an illness, or compassionate support when facing a life-limiting illness, the professionals of KershawHealth Home Health and Hospice bring their expertise to your front door. KershawHealth’s in-home programs have been named to the Home Care Elite list, ranking them among the best in the country. The goal of the Home Health team is to further assist in the recovery process, allowing patients to regain independence while in familiar surroundings. Registered nurses are available around the clock, providing services that include medication management, wound www.kershawhealth.org
care and family education. Certified physical therapists help rebuild stamina and strength, while speech therapists assist with speech and swallowing. Occupational therapists help patients relearn basic daily tasks, dietitians ensure proper nutrition, and medical social workers offer valuable information about community resources. KershawHealth Hospice gives families choice and peace-of-mind during a loved one’s final stages of life, enabling families to stay together in peace, comfort and dignity. A support system of doctors, nurses, aides, pharmacists, chaplains, volunteers and others meet the needs of both patient and family, whether at home or in a skilled- or assisted-care facility.