UMC released the following story authored by Ruth Cummins.
Like
hundreds of Mississippians, Harry Miggins is on dialysis while waiting
for the kidney transplant that will greatly improve his quality of life.
But
pending that, several of his vessels have been widened and strengthened
to make it easier for his blood to flow to and from a dialysis machine.
Dr. James Wynn, University of Mississippi Medical Center professor of
transplant surgery, performed two outpatient procedures to better
accommodate needles required for dialysis.
Miggins’
surgery took place not on UMMC’s campus in Jackson, but at Merit Health
Madison, thanks to a business venture between the two hospitals. It
allows Medical Center physicians to perform low-risk, non-complex
surgeries and provide post-operative care and clinic visits at Merit
Health’s facilities in Canton, effectively expanding UMMC’s adult
hospital capacity and operating room availability.
And, it allows UMMC providers to be more easily accessible by patients and families.
Miggins
loves it. Each of his surgeries were in the morning, and he was home by
early afternoon. “I got in and out pretty fast. It was a good
experience,” said Miggins, who lives in Jackson.
Parking
at Merit Health Madison, a quick jog off the Nissan Parkway West exit,
“is really good,” Miggins said. He and his father were able to park just
steps from the visitors’ entrance.
At
a time when competition for patients can be fierce in the health care
market, the relationship between UMMC and Merit Health Madison is just
the opposite. UMMC surgeons work side by side with Merit Health
Madison’s surgical nurses, anesthesiologists and surgical support staff
in providing select short-stay procedures.
UMMC
daily copes with constraints on operating room space, hospital bed
space and ambulatory clinic space. The agreement allows room for more
high-acuity cases and specialty procedures to take place at University
Hospital.
"Merit
Health Madison is proud to partner with the University of Mississippi
Medical Center to facilitate access to health care while allowing growth
of services for patients in central Mississippi," said Brit Phelps,
Merit Health Madison’s chief executive officer.
"Our
community is benefiting from UMMC specialists, such as Dr. James Wynn,
who can operate and follow up with their patients at Merit Health
Madison."
Dr.
Thomas Helling, professor and chief of the Division of General Surgery,
frequently performs procedures in the ORs at Merit Health Madison.
“What’s
been a pleasant surprise for patients is the ease in which they can
maneuver through the system,” Helling said. “It’s a light, airy
environment, and it’s not crowded. Patients are having a good experience
as they work through the surgery, post-operative care and discharge.”
Along
with general surgery procedures, UMMC specialists are performing
orthopaedic, breast, breast oncology, plastic, general and pediatric
ENT, and vascular access surgery such as that performed on Miggins.
UMMC physicians are seeing breast, plastic and general surgery patients at clinic appointments there.
“If
it’s a serious problem, there’s no question that patients would want to
be where the facilities and expertise are, and that’s the main campus,”
Helling said. “But if it’s a fairly quick operation with low risk,
they’d prefer to be in a hospital that doesn’t have as much activity.
Patients enjoy being out here, and they come from all over.”
Dr.
Claude Harbarger, assistant professor of otolaryngology and
communicative sciences, performs pediatric surgeries at Merit Health
Madison every other Thursday. Most of the procedures are for ear tubes
and tonsillectomies, he said.
“The
patients and families who’ve gone there have had a very good
experience,” he said. “It’s more of an in-and-out experience, and the
check-in process is quick.”
It also loosens up operating rooms at Batson Children’s Hospital for children with more serious illnesses, Harbarger said.
It’s
important to remember that Merit Health Madison is a free-standing
hospital equipped with an Emergency Department, full radiology and
anesthesia services, ICU services, and a full front-line health care
team, Wynn said. “It’s great to have all of those capabilities, if
something did arise in a surgery,” he said. “That patient could be
admitted, if necessary, to a full-service hospital.”
Wynn
performs kidney transplants at UMMC’s Jackson campus, and he’s
providing a wide variety of procedures at Merit Heath Madison to help
kidney failure patients begin dialysis or continue on it.
“Being
able to further expand our surgical capabilities is a great thing, and
access is easy for everyone,” he said. “Patients from the northern part
of the state like to come here so that they don’t have to drive into
Jackson.”
Merit
Health Madison’s surgical staff, including veteran nurses and
anesthesiologists, “are literally bending over backward to provide
patients and families with a good experience,” Helling said. “Everyone
seems very appreciative that we are out there and contributing to the
success of the medical complex.”
Long-range
plans are to explore care for UMMC inpatients at Merit Heath Madison
and to perform surgeries there with a higher degree of complexity, Wynn
and Helling said.
“We’re
focusing now on developing a familiarity with the hospital and
personnel, and we hope to expand that as we become more acquainted with
the resources and support staff,” Helling said.
7 comments:
Yada Yada...Let's do whatever it takes to get a credible, large hospital up here in MadCo. To hell with this CON process that denies need and restricts us to traveling to antiquated buildings in Jackburg. And moving the old Canton hospital six miles to the west didn't do jack shit.
As a monthly subscriber to NewCareMD up in Madison, last December the good Doc thought I might have a blood clot in my left leg, so he hooked me up with the new Hospital in Canton and some kind of "Medsave voucher" or the sorts to have them ultrasound my leg. The hospital and staff were incredibly nice. From the parking to the intake paperwork to the procedure. ALL an easy experience. $200 out the door total. Years ago at St. Dominics that was $800 to the Nuns and another $175 or so to the Radiologists.
Damn right 3:33. Let's don't have any restrictions - you and your Madison County neighbors all should have your own private hospital across the street from your stucco mansion. Or at least, within your cookie cutter development. Having drive eight miles into Jackson or ten miles into Canton - to the new Merit Hospital that replaced the old one five miles further thereby grossly inconveniencing you those daily trips I'm sure you have to make to a hospital.
" No more CONs - a chicken in every pot, and a hospital for all immediately around the corner."
9:11 - Thank you for responding. Please take a moment and give us your opinion of why so many clinics, specialties, physicians and related health care facilities have relocated (or branched) to Madison over the past ten years.
And while you're at it, let's get your opinion as to why places like the gigantic colonoscopy business relocated to Flowood from North State Street and the Jackson Ear business (hearing aids) moved out of St.Dominic's and are now in Flowood.
Obviously you continue to fixate on stucco, but try to forget that for a moment while you craft an answer. Thanks in advance.
As a physician and a resident of Jackson like many physician neighbors and many in my group for ortho. We do travel to Madison and flowood. Several physicians in my group live in CCJ, belhaven, fondren etc... we treat all patients equally and this community bashing needs to stop. It's garbage.
Thanks, 6:40 a.m.! “Community bashing” is indeed pointless at best, and pretty stupid, when one thinks about our metro/suburban area as a whole. We have fine doctors who serve everyone. Does it really matter where the clinic is?
6:40 - While you may be in charge while in an operating room, thank God you don't set the rules on this blog page. Since, for some reason, you mentioned place of residence, you might also know there are way MORE physicians (of your income group) who live in Madison and Flowood than live in your gated CCJ or Belhaven and Fondren. Who cares where any of you live? This is about customer service, which, in this case, means the availability of care (including surgery) where the customers are.
If I drive North State to Baptist for ortho surgery on a knee, I'll also need neck and back surgery by the time I get there.
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