Cover Feature
from escaping the room) increased greatly with the virus and ProMedica took extra time to increase the number of negative pressure rooms in the hospital. More than 50 percent of the beds in the hospital are negative pressure rooms. Since ProMedica was used as an overflow hospital for the Detroit area hospitals, those rooms were utilized right away. Dr. Yaroch takes pride in having a state-of-the-art hospital available to the residents of Lenawee County. Born and raised outside of Chicago, she came the area to practice internal medicine in 1999. In August 2015, she became the president of the hospital but admits the provider side never goes away. She says she will see patients when she is out in the community who thank her for saving their lives and she said she always says the same line: “I was just doing my job.”
CARING FOR THE WHOLE PATIENT ProMedica’s new Adrian campus offers wide range of services — By Sarah Gray — Creating a campus that treats patients and community members with all needs from preventative to acute care is the goal of Julie Yaroch, DO, president of ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital in Lenawee County. “We want to take care of the whole patient,” she said, adding that this effort is not just the responsibility of the hospital, but also of everyone in the community. ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital opened its doors September 24, 2020 – a challenging time for every hospital. Plans to merge Bixby Hospital in Adrian and Herrick Hospital in Tecumseh had been in the works for several years before the pandemic hit. Construction only slowed the opening date of the building by one month and that time was used to create a hospital that was equipped to handle the current needs of patients. Dr. Yaroch stated that since the building was under construction when the pandemic hit, contractors were able put other safety measures in place while other hospitals were trying to modify their hospitals to accommodate. At ProMedica, it was there from the day the doors opened. The need for negative pressure rooms (which prevent airborne diseases such as COVID-19
12
ProMedica offers a wide range of services to Lenawee County, and Dr. Yaroch is committed to making sure every patient receives the care they need. “I have a passion to address the needs of rural health,” she said. “I want to help work for change. To help those who can’t help themselves.” Having access to the network of doctors in ProMedica’s 12 hospitals allows patients to have a wide variety of specialties available, all within the same network. Patients can be referred to doctors outside the area but still in the ProMedica network, allowing their full medical history to travel with them easily, thus avoiding any confusion or explaining. “It is greater access to multiple resources,” she said. At ProMedica Hickman, a high level of care is expected in all areas of the hospital. “What we do, we do well,” Dr. Yaroch said. This includes emergency room care, general surgery, labor and
