Above: View of St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Morehead, KY.
Looking at the map of St. Claire's 11-county service area (see map at left), the fact-finding team got a good feel for St. Claire's extensive network of clinics and programs in the region. St. Claire President Mark Neff pointed out the free clinics in the region and, as we could have guessed, told us that those clinics "are completely overwhelmed" with the need for services. Sr. Marge noted that St. Claire logs in about 500,000 patient encounters a year!
On Thursday, April 8, the fact-finding team traveled due east on I-64 for a full day of talking, listening and learning at two health care providing sites.
We stopped first at Bellefonte Primary Care (BPC) in Grayson, KY. Diana Williams, Director of Healthy Co
mmunities for Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital (OLBH) - that's her on the right - served as our liaison with the medical staff there. The clinic in Grayson is one of seven Primary Care Centers operated by Our Lady of Bellefonte, including the Main Hospital in Ashland. See the map above left - Grayson is number 4 on the map and about the southernmost of the locations.
mmunities for Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital (OLBH) - that's her on the right - served as our liaison with the medical staff there. The clinic in Grayson is one of seven Primary Care Centers operated by Our Lady of Bellefonte, including the Main Hospital in Ashland. See the map above left - Grayson is number 4 on the map and about the southernmost of the locations.At the clinic, we had the chance to speak with Dr. Kari Shields (seen below left) and Dr. Segun Okudoya about the kinds of medical issues in their area and
how our proposed medical mission might fill in some gaps. Dr. Shields also provides geriatric care services at a local nursing home, and talked once again about the challenge of providing dental care - in this case, to many of her elderly patients who cannot get adequate dental care through their Medicare coverage. Another challenging area is providing dermatological care for elderly patients. Dr. Okudoya, who also works out of the South Shore BPC facility, talked a little bit about his work with helping patients manage chronic health problems, including diabetes, COPD, hypertension, etc. Our team also learned that at one time OLBH had operated a mobile unit to provide basic screening procedures for women, including Pap Smears and mammograms. The hospital has not done this for a few years, but our team may want to check on the possibility of utilizing this unit and/or its equipment for a medical mission.
how our proposed medical mission might fill in some gaps. Dr. Shields also provides geriatric care services at a local nursing home, and talked once again about the challenge of providing dental care - in this case, to many of her elderly patients who cannot get adequate dental care through their Medicare coverage. Another challenging area is providing dermatological care for elderly patients. Dr. Okudoya, who also works out of the South Shore BPC facility, talked a little bit about his work with helping patients manage chronic health problems, including diabetes, COPD, hypertension, etc. Our team also learned that at one time OLBH had operated a mobile unit to provide basic screening procedures for women, including Pap Smears and mammograms. The hospital has not done this for a few years, but our team may want to check on the possibility of utilizing this unit and/or its equipment for a medical mission.
After lunch, we stopped in to visit Sts. John and Elizabeth parish just outside Grayson. Sister Marie Colette Gerry gave us a tour
of this beautiful church and pointed out some of the prominent features in the spectacular stained glass windows. Above left are two of the windows in the cupola, representing fall and winter, and at right is the magnificent panel behind the altar, depicting the Baptism of Jesus.
of this beautiful church and pointed out some of the prominent features in the spectacular stained glass windows. Above left are two of the windows in the cupola, representing fall and winter, and at right is the magnificent panel behind the altar, depicting the Baptism of Jesus.Then it was back west on I 64 to stop in at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead. Sr. Marge Mouch, Director of Mission Integration, greeted us at the door. She had arranged a meeting with a number of hospital administrators, so we got right to work.
Looking at the map of St. Claire's 11-county service area (see map at left), the fact-finding team got a good feel for St. Claire's extensive network of clinics and programs in the region. St. Claire President Mark Neff pointed out the free clinics in the region and, as we could have guessed, told us that those clinics "are completely overwhelmed" with the need for services. Sr. Marge noted that St. Claire logs in about 500,000 patient encounters a year!We saw that I 64 marks a dividing line between upper (north of the interstate) and lower tiers (south of the interstate). The St. Claire folks told us there are more gaps in health care in the lower tier. For instance, one of those lower tier counties does not even have a dental practice within the county. Some dental care is offered on a limited basis from mobile units, but otherwise, residents have to travel pretty far to access dental care.
Dr. William Melahn, Vice President of Medical Affairs, seen at right, talked about the most pressing health challenges in the area, and again, the usual suspects were named: dental care, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and COPD. Dr. Melahn pointed out that controlling the chronic medical conditions in, s
ay, 80% of cases presented, would not be all that difficult or even expensive in these days of the discount department stores' $4 formularies. As examples, Dr. M noted that health care providers can take excellent care of people with diabetes for about $12/month. Likewise, hypertension can be controlled for about $8/month and heart disease for about $20/month. The trick, of course, is to sustain the treatment and make sure people are enrolled in the programs or have the means to obtain the medications. Another big component for meeting these widespread health challneges is to get people to buy in to the wellness components of managing disease, including eating properly, exercising, not smoking, etc. Dr. M also noted that a focus on screening and intervention/wellness might actually be the mission trip activities that yield the greatest benefits. Certainly something to think about!
ay, 80% of cases presented, would not be all that difficult or even expensive in these days of the discount department stores' $4 formularies. As examples, Dr. M noted that health care providers can take excellent care of people with diabetes for about $12/month. Likewise, hypertension can be controlled for about $8/month and heart disease for about $20/month. The trick, of course, is to sustain the treatment and make sure people are enrolled in the programs or have the means to obtain the medications. Another big component for meeting these widespread health challneges is to get people to buy in to the wellness components of managing disease, including eating properly, exercising, not smoking, etc. Dr. M also noted that a focus on screening and intervention/wellness might actually be the mission trip activities that yield the greatest benefits. Certainly something to think about!And there were many other items covered, such as rounding up more statistics for consideration of how to best allocate resources, recruiting volunteers of all kinds, collaborating with educational organizations such as UK and Morehead State, telemed conferencing, etc.
Many thanks to all the physicians and administrators for finding time to meet and talk with us. We look forward to working together to serve the needs of this region!
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