Medical Milestones Continue In East Texas

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East Texas

MEDICAL MILESTONES CONTINUE IN EAST TEXAS

By: MARVIN ELLIS, Staff Writer December 29, 2001

MOTHER FRANCES ADDITION: Crews work on the first two floors of

a six-floor, $77 million expansion at Mother Frances Hospital. The building will

house a surgery center, heart institute and three floors of new patient rooms.

(Staff Photo By Branch)

The East Texas medical world continued to break new ground in 2001

with the first-ever free dental, eye and medical clinic, expansion projects and

a 50th birthday. (Dec. 30, 2001)

EDITOR'S NOTE:This is one of a series of stories through Jan. 1

reviewing the events of 2001 in East Texas.

The medical world in East Texas continued to break new ground in

2001 with the first-ever free dental, eye and medical clinic for uninsured and

low income adults and children, drawing more than 2,000 patients.

Other major highlights included the $82.8 million expansion projects

at Mother Frances Hospital, a $15 million addition at the University of Texas

Health Center at Tyler for a fourth wing to the Biomedical Research Building and

buildup on community awareness to the biological and chemical terrorism

following Sept. 11.

Also, blood supply was at a three-year low earlier in the year but

rebounded in September and East Texas Medical Center celebrated its 50th

birthday.

The Texas Mission of Mercy outreach treated more than 2,000 East

Texans in the first-ever free clinic in the state. More than 1,000 medical

personnel donated time while medical and community groups donated equipment for

the pilot program, which is already being considered for other parts of Texas

and a possible repeat in the Tyler area in the next two years.

Dr. Nichols, Tyler dentist and organizer of the event, which

was held at Youth With A Mission west of le, said, " More people showed up

than we had expected, and the clinics went smoothly in most cases. We did have

to turn away some people. "

He said 600 dental patients were treated, 1,100 eye patients were

seen and physicians solved 350 medical problems. About 300 people had to be

turned away for dental work due to the overwhelmingly response for medical help.

Although this outreach was a success, Regional Blood Bank

had to purchase blood from other states in January when two types of blood were

listed at " zero. " Renay , director of donor and community services at

, said it was a three-year low for blood donations.

However, in September following the terrorist attack, East Texans

flocked to the blood banks to give a large reserve. At one point

officials requested donors to wait a few weeks to give blood.

Trinity Mother Frances Health System committed $82.8 million for two

projects in Tyler - one a $77 million, six-floor surgery center and heart

institute being constructed at Mother Frances Hospital. It will include 152

additional patient rooms and create 300-400 new jobs. The second project is on

Troup Highway and estimated to cost $5.8 million.

" The new surgery center will be housed on the first two floors and

will feature 16 surgery suites containing equipment and technology previously

unavailable in East Texas, " J. Lindsey Bradley Jr., president and chief

administrative officer, said. " Physicians will perform routine and specialized

surgeries in the new center, which will include expanded cardiovascular,

orthopedic and neurosurgical capabilities. "

The site at 1327 Troup Highway will be a 63,835-square-foot

construction project, expected to be completed in July 2002. It will house

physician offices, Wellness Center, Outpatient Physical Medicine and

Rehabilitation and Health System's Health At Work.

In other TMFHS highlights:

a.. A new hospital opened in ville in February.

b.. Vascular Brachytherapy, a new cardiac procedure was first

performed in January to help reduce restenosis in some heart patients.

c.. Champion EMS, a Northeast Texas emergency medical transportation

service, opened a 6,800-square-foot facility in July at 2201 S. Mobberly Ave. in

Longview. The $1.7 million project includes a regional communications center,

administrative offices and the Longview ambulance station, serving a 35-county

region in East Texas. Trinity Mother Frances Health System of Tyler and Good

Shepherd Health System of Longview formed Champion EMS in May of 1998.

d.. The 14th annual Children's Miracle Network telethon celebrated a

record-setting fund-raiser June 3 with $500,000 promised during the two-day

event.

e.. TeleCare Plus, a medical call center began in 1990, surpassed

the one million mark in calls from the public.

f.. Health care was expanded to 1,600 Spanish-speaking Tylerites

with the Parish Nurse Program at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.

ETMC TYLER'S 50TH

The East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System celebrated

its 50th anniversary, honoring U.S. Sen. Kay Hutchison with ETMC's first

" Beacon of Excellence " Award for outstanding efforts regarding national

health-care issues and her exemplary support of Texas hospitals and health

systems.

In other ETMC highlights:

g.. Every Day Clinic opened in Gun Barrel City Oct. 1.

h.. New mammography equipment was added at The Breast Care Center at

Athens.

i.. A $10 million expansion project was completed at Athens.

j.. Obstetric services returned to Panola County after a 13-year

absence at Carthage.

k.. Crockett Education Center opened with a partnership among

Angelina College, ETMC Crockett and the Houston County Hospital District.

l.. Family Birthplace construction began in August at Crockett

Family Birthplace.

m.. All-new emergency department opens at Fairfield.

n.. Construction projects made great strides in 2002. In 2001, the

two-year, $20 million project to renew ETMC ville began to take shape.

The new lobby area, which will serve as the grand entrance to the facility, was

created and features glass skylights in a barrel-vaulted roof, allowing natural

light to filter into the areas below.

o.. The Trinity Specialty Clinic opened.

p.. Cardiology On-the-Go! brought cath lab services to other areas

in East Texas Jan. 17 as the ETMC Cardiovascular Institute introduced new system

in Athens, Carthage, Crockett and ville.

q.. WebNursery services were added in ville, Carthage,

Quitman and Crockett.

r.. Nurses at ETMC Tyler became the first in Texas to use the

Ultraview Clinical Messenger, an alarm/pager that allows clinical caregivers to

remain mobile and be notified immediately when an alarm event occurs.

s.. Digestive Disease Center introduced a non-surgical procedure for

people suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease.

t.. The Breast Care Center held its second annual La Batalla Contra

El Cancer del Seno Campaign for Hispanic women of County with special $15

mammograms offered to the Hispanic female population, as well as breast health

education literature in Spanish.

u.. A redesigned Web site with expanding resource for reliable and

up-to-date health articles and medical information was introduced.

v.. ETMC Tyler was again verified as a Level 1 trauma center by the

American College of Surgeons' Committee on Trauma.

w.. The fourth annual regional prostate cancer campaign was

conducted in June. East Texas men at risk were eligible for $5 prostate specific

antigen blood tests to determine the level of PSA in the blood. ETMC screened

more than 18,000 men during these screenings.

x.. ETMC was named to the 2001 list of the nation's Top 100 Most

Wired Hospitals and Health Systems for the second consecutive year, based on a

national survey measuring how organizations are using technology.

y.. KnowledgeFirst, a series of free forums and live chats designed

to help health-care consumers stay better informed about medical procedures and

options as well as new developments in healthcare, was introduced in Tyler.

UTHCT

Nearly $15 million in state funds were approved for a

30,000-square-foot addition to the Biomedical Research Building, which will

increase it size 41 percent. The present Biomedical Center was opened in 1987

with 73,265 square feet covering three wings.

Dr. Dodson, vice president for research, said the fourth wing

will benefit the hospital in two ways. First, all researchers will be under one

roof allowing for better interaction, and second, it will be an economic boom to

do away with the World War II buildings housing some of the research with more

than $3 million in equipment moved.

UTHCT also was the first hospital in East Texas to add a Positron

Emission Tomography, also called a PET scanner as the latest diagnostic medical

tool to battle cancer and heart disease.

Dr. Chalmers, professor of radiology, said the PET scanner

could help prevent unnecessary surgeries while making evaluations for

malignancies easier, more efficient, quicker and earlier. PET scanners, until a

few years ago, were used only in research centers and a few large hospitals.

He said a PET scanner is the only medical tool powerful enough to

accurately image and measure, with a single pass, the metabolic function of

cancer, using a radioactive glucose. It has been estimated PET scanners will

save $1.6 billion yearly for Medicare patients and $4.1 billion for non-Medicare

patients.

In other UTHCT highlights:

z.. The first international scientific research cooperation

agreement was signed by UTHCT with Municipal Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention in Qingdo, China. Dr. Arthur , vice president for medical

education, said the agreement will strengthen mutual cooperation and

communications in fields of scientific research for both countries.

aa.. The largest cancer prevention clinical study on prostate cancer

was launched at 400 sites nationwide. UTHCT is one of the investigation groups

seeing if Selenium and Vitamin E can prevent this cancer.

ab.. A $730,000 grant was awarded to Northeast Texas Consortium at

UTHCT to expand educational information to rural areas, picking up signals from

32 orbiting telecommunication stations.

ac.. A bioterrorism workshop was held in November for law

enforcement, medical and governmental workers.

ad.. Elwood Stetson, chaplain for 24 years, retired.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

These events highlighted the year at the County Public Health

District:

ae.. Elrod, a public health worker for 21 years, was awarded

the second annual W.T. " Doc " Ballard Award.

af.. A $6.089 million budget was approved.

Highlights from Texas Department of Health included:

ag.. Flu vaccines were slow to arrive, but most supplies were filled

in December.

ah.. Medical plans were released on bioterrorism threats; detection

key to plan.

ai.. Two East Texas youths died from a rare microorganism while

swimming in Lake Hawkins and Lake Palestine.

County Medical Society had a record number of active doctors

joining with 461 members. Twenty-six were new.

Marvin Ellis covers hospitals and medical organizations. He can be

reached at . e-mail: medical@...

©Tyler Morning Telegraph 2002

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