Felty Leaves Starke Hospital, Lease Negotiations with County Continuing

Felty, CraigStarke Hospital has a new interim chief executive officer. Hospital spokeswoman Stacey Kellogg released a statement to WKVI saying “We confirm that Craig Felty has left the organization, and wish him the best in his new endeavors. G. Thor Thordarson, CEO of La Porte Hospital, will serve as interim CEO at Starke Hospital until this position can be filled. We also have an interim Chief Nursing Officer in place to ensure there is no disruption in patient care or operations. Patients, safety and quality always come first, and this will not change.” Continue reading

Starke County Officials Approve Hospital Lease Extension

 
 

The Starke County Commissioners last night approved another extension of the lease deadline with Starke Hospital. The county owns the land and building at the corner of Culver Road and South Heaton Street in Knox. Starke Hospital wants to build a new facility there. Once it’s finished they plan to tear down the current building and use that spot for parking and green space. Continue reading

Starke Hospital CEO Discusses New Facility Plans

 
 

Negotiations between the county and the new owners of Starke Hospital regarding the construction of a new facility on the existing site are ongoing. The county owns the current building at the corner of Heaton Street and Culver Road in Knox and the land on which is sits, but the hospital is operated by Community Health Systems. Starke Hospital CEO Craig Felty says they’re making progress in negotiations with the county for a new lease. Continue reading

Starke Hospital CEO Touts Successes in Patient Care

 

Starke Hospital officials are recognizing some of the hospital’s accomplishments when it comes to specific areas of patient care. Hospital CEO Craig Felty says they continuously measure a variety of patient safety and quality of care indicators. This information is then reported to the federal government, but the hospital also uses it to make sure it’s offering the best care possible. Continue reading

Hospital CEO Reaffirms Commitment to New Facility

 
 

The CEO of Starke Hospital says the new owners of the local facility would prefer to construct a new building on the existing site at the intersection of South Heaton Street and Culver Road. The county owns the land and the building, but Tennessee-based Community Health Systems now owns 80-percent of the hospital. IU Health has retained 20-percent ownership, and a subsidy of CHS is running the day-to-day operations. The name change to simply “Starke Hospital” reflects the shift, and a new branding symbol is in the works. Continue reading

Starke County Youth Club Honors IU Health Starke Hospital

radiothonIU Health Starke Hospital’s investment in the youth of the community has earned them recognition from the Starke County Youth Club. Executive Director Irene Szakonyi presented IU Health Starke Hospital President Craig Felty the Aim High Award in recognition of the hospital’s top pledge of $5,000 during the recent radiothon. The daylong fundraiser on WKVI raised $41,000 for the club. It provides after school and summer enrichment programs for students from Knox, North Judson-San Pierre and Oregon-Davis schools at sites throughout the county. Continue reading

IU Health LaPorte, Starke Hospitals Name New CNO

Felty, Craig
Craig Felty

IU Health Starke Hospital President Craig Felty has an additional title. He was recently named the chief nursing officer of IU Health LaPorte and Starke Hospitals, effective immediately. Felty has served as interim CNO since November of 2014. A chief nursing officer oversees the entire nursing department and ensures that patient-care, clinical and staffing standards are met. Continue reading

Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation Gives IU Health Starke Hospital High Marks

 
 

IU Health Starke Hospital recently underwent a rigorous accreditation process. President Craig Felty says the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation’s findings are a nationally recognized symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to “They come in and they more or less go from top to bottom in your hospital,” Felty says. “They look at everything from the physical structure to our processes to our quality outcomes to how we credential and privilege our physicians. It’s a very thorough four-day survey that’s done every three years.”

The survey team comes in unannounced. Felty says the hospital staff has to be in a “state of constant readiness” for them. The Joint Commission team members spent four days at IU Health Starke Hospital, touring the building, tracking the progress of individual patients through the hospital and talking to cart and bedside care providers.

Felty says the Joint Commission’s report was overall very positive. “We had absolutely no findings in the actual patient care division, which was absolutely wonderful. We have an older facility, and so we do have challenges that come with that. A couple of our findings were related to the age of the facility and things that pop up here or there. The few findings that we had, we are very happy to say and very proud of the colleagues of Starke Hospital, or physician partners, who we could not do without. Physicians are a huge part of our organization. We are just very proud to say that we had a remarkable survey, one of the best surveys I’ve had in my 20-plus years of experience with the Joint Commission.”

 

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Starke Council Receives Update on Hospital’s Capital Expenditures

Craig Felty
Craig Felty
The recently named president of IU Health Starke Hospital presented the county council this week with the hospital’s fourth quarter report for capital dollars spent at the hospital. Craig Felty told the council that the hospital suffered from the loss of the hospital’s oldest generator, and as a result, they had no choice but to put in a new one. He said other expenses included finishing the work on the hospital’s electric system, fireproofing for firewalls throughout the facility and the installation of fire stops.

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Craig Felty Named IU Health Starke Hospital President

Craig Felty
Craig Felty
IU Health Starke Hospital has named its new president but it’s a familiar face; Craig Felty was named president of the organization, after being previously named interim administrator after former executive Linda Satkoski retired in December. Felty previously served as executive director of patient care services at IU Health Starke Hospital since January 2011.

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IU Health Starke Hospital Names New Interim Director

Craig Felty
Craig Felty
IU Health Starke Hospital has a new interim administrator. Craig Felty will take over for fellow executive Linda Satoski, who is retiring. He’s served as the executive director of patient care services at the Knox facility since January of 2011. IU Health executives said in a statement that the search for a permanent president of IU Health Starke Hospital is ongoing and should be finished this spring. Felty brings more than 25 years of patient care and healthcare management experience to the position. He has worked as Patient Care Manager of the Mitchell Emergency Department at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Critical Care Transport Nurse for an ambulance service in Illinois and Director of Emergency Services for Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, Ill.

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IU Health Starke Hospital to Hold Breast Cancer Awareness Walk Saturday

 
 
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month in full swing, IU Health Starke Hospital has announced they will hold a 5K, two-mile walk in partnership with multiple organizations in the community to raise awareness of breast cancer. According to Craig Felty, executive director of Patient Care Services, the race begins on Saturday with registration at 3 p.m. and opens at 3:30 p.m. with ceremonies before kicking the races off at 4 p.m.

Felty said it’s a great cause to get behind and invites everyone in the community to participate.

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Flu Shots Recommended as the Virus Spreads through the State

Indiana is experiencing a high level of influenza-like activity early in this flu season with seven deaths reported since November.

Craig Felty, Executive Director of Patient Care at IU Health Starke Hospital said the hospital’s Emergency Room had 59 positive cases in December 2012. No cases of the flu were reported in December 2011. Pulaski Memorial Hospital has seen a big increase in positive influenza cases since Dec. 1.

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IU Health-Starke Hospital Welcomes New Employee

Craig Felty

Indiana University Health-Starke Hospital announces the employment of Craig Felty as the Director of the Emergency Department and House Supervisor.

Felty has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and is pursuing a Masters Degree.

He is married to his wife, Tricia, and is the father of five children. The family resides in Hebron.