By KEVIN DONALDSON
Cumberland River Media Service
Cookeville Regional Medical Center has experienced significant growth in recent years, and has developed into a true regional referral center.
Those were observations made by CRMC Chief Executive Officer Paul Korth in a recent interview for the Upper Cumberland MEDICAL DIRECTORY.
Korth also discussed the hospital’s affiliation with Vanderbilt Hospital, and national-level awards CRMC has received in recent years, among other topics.
Following are the highlights of the interview.
1. Talk about recent major projects that have been completed at Cookeville Regional Medical Center.
KORTH: After adding our north patient tower several years ago, along with expanding the surgery and emergency departments, Cookeville Regional has experienced significant growth. As a result, it’s become necessary to expand some of those areas that house our support services. The most recent construction/renovation projects have involved relocating the pharmacy department so we would have physical space available to expand the central sterile services department. Those departments are typically not seen by the public, but are crucial to the services we provide.
The central sterile services department cleans and sterilizes all surgical instruments, medical devices and equipment. With the expansion of the surgery department a couple of years ago and with surgical cases increasing at Cookeville Regional, expansion of this department was critical to both the present and future growth of our hospital.
2. What about current projects, or projects planned for the future?
KORTH: We have recently opened an outpatient pharmacy for the convenience of our patients. After discharge, patients may fill their initial prescription before leaving the hospital. This pharmacy is not designed to compete with area retail pharmacies, but will provide a 30-day, or short-term, supply of medications for patients to help with their transition home from the hospital.
Oftentimes, patients will forget to fill their prescriptions on the way home and may miss some important doses before they get the opportunity to fill the prescriptions. Having the option to fill the initial supply at the hospital will help reduce that possibility.
In the near future, Cookeville Regional will be opening a wound care center in conjunction with Middle Tennessee Surgical Specialists. Expected to open in April 2015, the center will include two hyperbaric chambers to be used in the treatment of wounds. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves exposing the body to 100 percent oxygen delivered at high pressure to aid in the healing of wounds.
Cookeville Regional Medical Center is continually recruiting and adding new physicians. Last year, we recruited 19 physicians, and already this year, we have added 10 more physicians in specialties like rheumatology, cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, urology and nephrology, as well as a number of primary care physicians and hospitalists.
3. Discuss CRMC and affiliates being the “at home” choice for Upper Cumberland residents.
KORTH: Cookeville Regional has developed into a regional referral center for the Upper Cumberland. Truly, the days of having to go to a larger city for health care have passed. For most health issues, it’s no longer necessary to travel outside the Upper Cumberland for care.
We offer more than 40 medical and surgical specialties, with over 200 physicians on the medical staff. Cookeville Regional offers patients the same kind of care that they could expect in a larger metropolitan area including specialty care such as cardiology, electrophysiology, cardiac and thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, pulmonology, cancer treatment, orthopedics, physical rehabilitation and neurosurgery.
Cookeville Regional also houses a 32-bed behavioral health hospital owned and operated by Ten Broeck Tennessee.
Cookeville Regional has continually invested in state-of-the-art technology. The Cancer Center offers TomoTherapy® and is one of only two facilities in the state to offer this technology for the treatment of cancer patients.
The Outpatient Imaging Center houses a 3T MRI machine that provides highly-detailed and precise images to help in diagnosis of certain health issues, while the state-of-the art Surgery Department has upgraded its daVinci robotic surgery system to the daVinci SiTM Surgical System. It’s one of only six in Tennessee equipped with the latest in robotic surgery technology.
Cookeville Regional was the first hospital in Tennessee to offer robotic surgery in five specialties (gynecology, urology, cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery and ENT surgery).
As an accredited chest pain center with interventional capabilities, Cookeville Regional is proud to spearhead an effort in the region around the treatment of heart attack patients that is ahead of most other communities in the nation.
The cardiologists have worked diligently with area EMS teams (county-owned services) on a protocol they call “Code 37” that allows an EMS team to diagnose a STEMI heart attack in the field, and thereby initiate the “Code 37” protocol.
When initiated, Code 37 calls for the cardiac catheterization team and interventional cardiologist to be waiting and ready to treat as soon as the patient arrives. With this process in place, the Heart and Vascular Center has achieved an average of 43 minutes for their door-to-balloon time – well below the recognized gold standard of 90 minutes.
Cookeville Regional has elevated its breast program to the next level and is now among an elite group of institutions nationwide providing breast care after receiving a three-year/full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons.
This achievement makes Cookeville Regional’s breast program the only accredited breast center in the Upper Cumberland. The breast imaging center has also been designated a center of excellence by the American College of Radiology.
With both organizations putting their seal of approval on our program, women in our region can rest assured that they are getting the best in breast care at Cookeville Regional, from the screening process to diagnosis and treatment.
4. Tell us about your affiliation with Vanderbilt.
KORTH: Two years ago, Cookeville Regional and Vanderbilt announced an affiliation agreement to formalize a collaborative relationship between the two institutions. The affiliation agreement creates significant opportunities for both parties to work together to expand the scope of health care services in Putnam County and the Upper Cumberland Region. The partnership allows us to expand access to health services and resources for residents in the region, but does not change ownership or management of Cookeville Regional.
Vanderbilt is a natural partner for Cookeville Regional in that they are well-respected and recognized as a leader in health care by the residents of our region. As one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, they have a reputation of high quality and innovative health care.
As a partner with Vanderbilt, Cookeville Regional is a member of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, the largest provider-organized network of doctors, regional health systems and other healthcare providers in Tennessee and surrounding states. Pediatric specialists in cardiology and urology from Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital now have routine clinic hours in Cookeville for the convenience of pediatric patients. We continue to work with Vanderbilt on several initiatives, including educational programs and more pediatric specialty clinics.
5. Talk about recent awards the hospital has received.
KORTH: Our number one goal at Cookeville Regional is high-quality patient care and we are fortunate that other third-party national organizations and companies have recognized the success of our efforts to provide the best care possible for patients. The most recent recognition that we’ve received came from Becker’s Hospital Review in their published list of 100 Great Community Hospitals. This list was based on hospitals’ accolades, quality of care and services provided to their patients.
The Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team selected hospitals for inclusion based on rankings and awards from iVantage Health Analytics, Truven Health Analytics, CareChex and American Hospital Association. iVantage recognitions considered include Healthstrong Hospitals, which are organizations in the top tier of iVantage’s Hospital Strength Index rankings, and the Top 100 Critical Access Hospital list, which indicates the critical access hospital performs as well or better at the median overall than all U.S. general acute-care hospitals in clinical and operational performance and financial outcomes. Inclusion on Truven Health Analytics’ 100 Top Hospitals list was also factored in.
We also continue to be recognized by Healthgrades for clinical excellence in several areas including being among America’s Best 100 Hospitals in 2014 for Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac Care, Coronary Intervention, Orthopedic Surgery and Spine Surgery.
For a hospital our size, it is quite unique to offer the level of specialty care that we provide. To be recognized for the high quality of that care on a national level is quite significant. We have a great team here at Cookeville Regional – from physicians, physician extenders, hospital staff and the volunteers – who work hard to ensure that we provide excellent care for our patients.
Each day we work harder to maintain our level of quality care and it certainly benefits the tens of thousands of patients we see each year.