IU Health Starke Hospital and IU Health LaPorte Hospital employees will be building a led panel for 25 homes in celebration of Habitat for Humanity of Indianapolis’ 25th Anniversary.
The assembly begins Friday, May 18th and volunteers will be working in one-, two- or four-hour shifts building panels for the homes. You are welcome to help in the process. Volunteers will receive a Habitat for Humanity/IU Health t-shirt. Light refreshments and sunscreen will be provided.
This week is National Hospital Week, and IU Health Starke Hospital Director of Finance Rosie Heise says the staff has been celebrating this week with different activities for the 180 employees at the facility.
“It’s to promote ‘Best People Making a Difference,’” said Heise. “It’s just to say thank you to all of our colleagues for the great job that they do. We are going to be celebrating Foundation Day to promote the Starke Health Fund and we’re also going to have a picnic lunch, free giveaways to our colleagues and just really celebrate everything they do.”
The Annual Starke County Health Fair will be held tomorrow. Various free screenings will be available along with a number of prizes, says Ashley Norem of IU Health Starke Hospital.
“The Health Fair includes various free screenings along with free give away prizes. One of the items will be a beautiful red leather IU Health Starke Hospital tote,” said Norem.
The news that IU Health Starke Hospital will have an Interim President will have no impact on plans of IU Health LaPorte Hospital pursuing the purchase of the Starke facility. Thor Thordarson, CEO/President of LaPorte Regional Health System said the commitment is still there.
As reported Saturday, there is to be a change of leadership at I.U. Health Starke Hospital. Linda Satkoski will become the Chief Operating Office for the entire La Porte health system after serving as the president of I.U. Health Starke Hospital for three years. David Hyatt has agreed to become the Interim President at Starke, and this change will take place June 4.
Satkoski says a number of big changes have been made in the last three years.
The Starke United Annual Meeting will be held this evening at the Community Services of Starke County building. The event is being sponsored by IU Health Starke Hospital.
Executive Director Julie Dessauer will give a review of 2011, including a report of the campaign total. Testimonials will be given by Rhonda Adcock of CASA and Barbara Miller of Community Services. An announcement of distribution will also be made.
How much is IU Health Starke Hospital really worth?
Starke County officials have agreed to hold a hearing on May 14th to consider adding an addendum to the Save the Hospital document to help answer that question. By adding an addendum to the ordinance, the officials would be able to dip into the fund to finance the hiring of a consultant firm that would place a value figure on the hospital, equipment and more.
EMS Director Paul Mathewson appeared before the Starke County Commissioners yesterday and shared a story that points out the advantages of moving to Advanced Life Service here. On March 23rd, the ambulance crew was called out to a case where a television fell on a five year old girl from a dresser. Mathewson was on the run and reported that the likelihood of recovery initially looked gloomy, but because of the advanced training, the crew was able to begin treatment and take her into IU Health Starke Hospital. Once there, the girl was stabilized and a Med Flight helicopter was called in to get her to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis as quickly as possible.
Yesterday was Doctor’s Day throughout the country, and Dr. Almuhammad Alfran, a Hospitalist at IU Health Starke Hospital, explained a bit about the gratification he gets from being a physician.
“I appreciate Doctor’s Day because I get the impression that people really appreciate what we do. I tell you the biggest reward for a doctor though is when they see the patient improve, or you see a look of satisfaction in the eyes of a patient. I think this is the greatest reward we can get as physicians,” Alfran said.
Alfran explained what the duties of a hospitalist are.
“A hospitalist is a specialist of hospital medicine. A physician who specializes in treating patients in the hospital, as compared to an outpatient physician who spends most of the time in the clinic. When they have free time they can stop by the hospital and check on their patients. For the hospitalist this is a physician who dedicates the entire day to working in the hospital. So when the patient is in the hospital the hospitalist is there, and the primary care physician is there when the patient needs him or her,” Alfran said.
This is Doctor’s Day – a day set aside to honor all doctors in the United States.
At IU Health Starke Hospital, there are 125 doctors on staff, providing care in 26 specialties.
Dr. Phillip Hassan is the President of the Medical Staff and is also an Emergency Room Doctor. We asked Dr. Hassan about the duties of the President of the Medical Staff.
Tomorrow is Doctor’s Day, but a recognition breakfast will be held today at IU Health Starke Hospital. David Hyatt, Vice President of Operations at the hospital, talked with us earlier in the week about the doctors here.
The Starke County Council discussed the proposed hospital sale at their meeting this week. Council President David Pearman suggested that before any decision be made on the sale to IU Health LaPorte Hospital that a consultant needs to be secured to give the members some idea of what the facility is worth.
IU Health Starke Hospital is joining other IU facilities around the state in disseminating information on early spring allergies. The unseasonably warm winter and spring so far is presenting challenges for allergy suffers.
IU Health allergist, Dr. Deb Baylos, says allergies are more a function of pollen count in the air. However, she says allergies are starting earlier and will likely end earlier. Weather conditions really affect the intensity of allergies. For example, a warm, moist spring will intensify mold which tends to intensify mold allergies. If you notice signs of mold growth in your property, you may need to contact a mold remediation company immediately especially if someone in the house has allergies.
Family and friends took time out of a Sunday afternoon to attend a retirement ceremony for Edith Gurrado and Meda Howard. The pair are retiring after 103 years of service to first Starke Memorial Hospital and more recently IU Health Starke Hospital.
Meda Howard was asked about her 43 years with the hospital.
The President and CEO of the LaPorte Regional Health System visited with the administrative team and Community Hospital Board at IU Health Starke Hospital this week. Thor Thordarson praised the leadership team for turning around the hospital that he said was losing money before they arrived.
“I came down here to congratulate the board and the leadership team for doing a fabulous job over the last several years, and really turning this hospital around from losing millions of dollars a year a few years ago to having a healthy operating margin in 2011,” stated Thordarson. “I know it’s been difficult here for the last few years so it’s very nice to see the fruits of all those very difficult decisions came out and good quality health care and financial results happen.”
The year was 1952. Harry Truman was President of the United States, Rocky Marciano was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion, the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series, and Rosanne Barr and Mr. T were babies.
In 1952, Edith Gurrado began a job in the dietary department at Starke Memorial Hospital – a position that she would hold for 60 continuous years. That streak ended recently when Edith announced her retirement from IU Health Starke Hospital.
Stacie Brown, 35, of Knox, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for causing the death of her stepson, three-year-old Ethan Brown on June 9th, 2011.
Knox Police Department Detective David Combs was on the witness stand almost two hours describing the case in detail. Brown had been charged with one felony count of battery resulting in death. Another count of Neglect of a Dependent was dropped in a plea bargain arrangement.
IU Health Starke Hospital is offering a one hour massage to a lucky blood donor this Thursday.
“The American Red Cross is bringing their bloodmobile to Starke hospital this Thursday, January 19th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,” said David Hiatt, Vice President of Operations at IU Health Starke Hospital. “We’re going to have it in front of the hospital and we would like to invite members of the community to come and donate blood. To show our appreciation, we are putting together a raffle. Anybody that donates blood on Thursday will be entered in to win an hour-long massage at IU Health Starke Hospital.”
Ed Hasnerl was recognized for serving 14 years on the IU Health Starke Hospital’s Community Board during a special meeting Monday night. At the same time Hasnerl was receiving his award, the board was welcoming his replacement, Martin Bedrock.
In board business, Ben Bennett was reelected the Board President, Sandy Hansen remains as Vice President, and Dr. Walter Fritz was selected to be the new Secretary taking the place of newly retired member, Ed Hasnerl. Continue reading
Advanced Life Support service for Starke County may be only a few weeks away. That was the message the Starke County Commissioners heard last week from EMS Director Paul Mathewson.
“We found out that the application itself got accepted by the State for us to go ahead and move forward in becoming ALS certified,” said Mathewson.
Mathewson said he’s waiting on the state to come down and inspect the rigs and equipment before he can move ahead.
“We’re getting in equipment to stock the ambulance itself with all of the necessary equipment to run an ALS rig. We’re in the process of hiring on new paramedics to upgrade our service so that when the State is able to come down, we’re ready to go.”
