Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Hopkins and Surrounding Counties Issued Tuesday, April 3rd
A severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for Northeast Texas including Hopkins County and all counties surrounding. The watch is in effect from 10:25 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2018.
Thunderstorms are expected this afternoon along and southeast of a Goldthwaite to Dallas to Bonham line. The best severe weather risk is expected during the mid to late afternoon hours. The primary hazard of the storms is hail and high winds.
Lady Cats Off to Best Start in Carrillo Career
Lady Cats Softball Coach David Carrillo said this year’s softball team is off to the best start of any team he has ever coached. Coach Carrillo was on KSST Radio and Cable Channel 18’s Saturday Morning Coaches Show last Saturday.
The Lady Cats are 7-0 in district play. They are 20-4 for the season. Coach Carrillo called it an amazing year so far. The Lady Cats continued their winning ways last Friday as they defeated Greenville, 7-0. It was the Lady Cats’ eighth win in a row.
Again the Lady Cats used strong pitching, solid defense and good hitting to get the win over Greenville. Coach Carrillo, noting that his team struggled at home the last time against the Greenville pitcher, urged his team to stay focused and to get it after it this time. He said the Lady Cats put the ball in play and used small ball to force Lady Lion’s mistakes and to score runs. Coach Carrillo praised the pitching of Bailey Haggerty. He said Haggerty’s pitching record this year is 17-1.
Coach Carrillo said this year’s team has more depth than past teams. He has 17 on the roster. Coach Carrillo said they are buying into his we instead of me approach. He said his assistant coaches, Bailey Dorner, Chris Valdovinos and David Westberry are doing a good job of keeping his bench players’ minds on the game. Coach Carrillo said this year’s district is the toughest ever. He said every team has at least one very good pitcher. He said the rugged competition will make everyone better at playoff time. Coach Carrillo said he expects the second half of district play to be rough.
The Lady Cats currently have a two game lead over the field. The Lady Cats play Hallsville, 5-2 in district play, Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Lady Cat Park, weather permitting.
Game Day: Wildcats in Hallsville; District Record at 5-0
Wildcats Baseball Coach Jerrod Hammack said Monday the Wildcats had a good week last week winning two games they expected to win. The Wildcats won at Greenville last Thursday, 8-2 and then came out on top at Mount Pleasant, 8-0 on Friday.
The Greenville game was supposed to be played in Sulphur Springs Thursday but Wildcat Park was too wet to play on. The Mount Pleasant game was played Friday after rain outs Tuesday and Wednesday. Most of the district played last Monday to avoid the rain but Mount Pleasant did not wish to play the game early.
Coach Hammack said he has a veteran team and changing game sites and rain postponements did not seem to bother them. The wins gave the Wildcats a 5-0 district record. They are tied for first with 5-0 Hallsville. The Wildcats play at Hallsville this week.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. this week has been moved to Monday at 7 p.m. because of expected rainy weather Tuesday night. Since the Wildcats used Triston McCormick and Ryan Humphries to pitch on Thursday and Friday, neither of them can pitch Monday night in Hallsville due to UIL rules concerning days off between starts. Coach Hammack will pitch someone else. He said it’s like the third game of a three game playoff series where you have to pitch a #3 pitcher to get a win and to advance.
Lady Cats Soccer Coach Reflects on Bi-District Loss
Lady Cats Soccer Coach Joel Bailey said he couldn’t be prouder of his team even though they fell a little short in a 2-1 bi-district loss to Wylie East in Rockwall last Thursday. Coach Bailey said the Lady Raiders were a great team and a great program. He noted they won the state championship in 2015.
He was very pleased that the Lady Cats earned the respect of the Lady Raiders coach. Coach Bailey said, after the game, the opposing coach was very complimentary about how the Lady Cats played and handled themselves during the game.
Junior Keeley Hudgins got the first goal of the game during the first seven minutes of the first half to give the Lady Cats a 1-0 lead. Coach Bailey said Hudgins seems to score in big games. He said her goal winner against Pine Tree clinched third place for the Lady Cats. Senior Mileena Zirretta got the assist on the goal Thursday as she played it over the top of the Lady Raiders defense. Coach Bailey said Hudgins took advantage of a goal keeper misstep by dribbling around her and putting the ball in the net.
Wylie East scored two goals into a strong wind to win the close contest.
Coach Bailey had a work around lots of injuries this season. He lost two players to major knee injuries including versatile four-year varsity player Jo McMillan. Coach Bailey said this year’s six seniors will be missed but never forgotten. Four of them earned college scholarships to continue playing soccer.
SSHS UIL One Act Play Ends Run at Area Competition
Wildcats Director of Theatre Arts Lesha Woodard said her students put on a very, very good show at One Act Play Area competition Friday at Flower Mound High School but despite that, she said she was disappointed the play, Violet Sharp, did not advance to Regional competition. Ms. Woodard said she was super proud of her kids.
She said the Friday performance followed a hard week of rehearsal and she called it an amazing performance. Ms. Woodard said she thought the play should have advanced. She said Brianna Isham and Dusty Merrell earned All-Star Cast awards and Sarah Harper got honorable mention All-Star Cast. Ms. Woodard said Leif Thomas earned an Outstanding Crew Member award.
She said her students were a great group of kids who worked amazingly hard and who represented Sulphur Springs High School well. Ms. Woodard said she was disappointed to have their season end before regional competition.
Winnsboro Police Report March 26-April 1, 2018
Three arrests, 124 calls for service, 30 citations and 37 warnings issued are featured in the March 26-April 1, 2018 Winnsboro Police Department Report. There were no accidents reported during the time period.
Amy Caddell, 39, of Cedar Creek was arrested March 26th on a Titus County Warrant.
Bruce Berry, 40, of Gilmer was arrested on March 30th for Driving Without License Invalid With Previous Conviction.
Angalic Rios, 27, of Cumby was arrested March 31st on a Hopkins County Warrant.
AMGA Acclaim Award Recognizes the Quality and Value of Care Provided to Sulphur Springs and Northeast Texas
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX – CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic, the Northeast Texas-based provider group and part of CHRISTUS Health, has been recognized with the American Medical Group Association’s (AMGA) prestigious 2017 Acclaim Award. Each year, the award, supported by AMGA Foundation, rewards a single medical group or other organized system of care that are bringing the American health care system closer to the ideal delivery model – one that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable.
“Receiving the AMGA’s Acclaim Award is a wonderful recognition of the effort and dedication built upon the foundation set forth by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio many years ago. Through the faith-based efforts of our Physicians, Advanced Practice Providers and Associates, CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic will not only continue to serve the people of Northeast Texas diligently, but grow to expand access to the highest quality health care as Northeast Texans have come to expect,” said Chris Glenney, FACHE, Senior Vice President of Group Operations, CHRISTUS Health and Chief Executive Officer, CHRISTUS Health Northeast Texas.
The mission of the Acclaim Award is to honor the nation’s premier health care delivery organizations that are high performing and are bringing their organization closer to the ideal medical group and health system by measurably improving the quality and value of care; improving patient experience and outcomes; continuously learning and innovating; and improving population health.
“The mission of our organization is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. It is very simple, but it means so much. It guides our choices and direction in all that we do,” said Scott Smith, M.D., Senior Vice President and Institute Chair of Primary Care for CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic. “Our Mission and our values are who we are as a System – and our strategy is how we enact that mission. Our strategy is to make our communities healthier and help people gain access to exceptional health care as conveniently as possible by collecting and acting on significant data to connect them to the services they need and the providers to deliver it.”
CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic is improving quality of care and reducing the cost of health services while achieving and maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction and provider engagement. AMGA’s High-Performing Health System™ (HPHS) attributes, along with their core mission principles, guide their physicians, advance practice providers, clinical staff and support staff to provide the highest quality of compassionate care.
“We pride ourselves on our commitment to bringing the best patient care and services to Northeast Texas. This has been an integral part of CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System’s mission as a faith-based health provider for almost 80 years, and we will continue to realize that vision for Northeast Texas for years to come,” said Steven Keuer, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System and President of CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic.
CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic joins the respected ranks of past Acclaim Award recipients like Premier Medical Associates, Permanente Medical Group, Geisinger Health System and other internationally renowned health care providers.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award by the AMGA and congratulate all of our physicians and hardworking teams,” said Jason Markham, Chief Administrative Officer of CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic.
Below are highlights of the initiatives which led to CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic being named the 2017 Acclaim Award Recipient, according to the AMGA:
Accountability
* Dashboards were created for all departments within the system and grouped with the HPHS attributes.
* CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic hired an external physician-coaching firm, which interviewed each physician leader and executive team member in order to create a custom leadership curriculum that would best fit the needs of their leadership team.
* Monthly meetings between directors and managers, as well as between managers and their team members, promote an environment of accountability related to departmental performance targets.
Care Coordination
* Quality reporting was upgraded to a self-service, web-based reporting portal, and results are shared at monthly meetings of providers and their teams.
* The system employs care coordinators and assigns them to a primary care team of providers. At each location, the care coordinator supports the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model via pre-visit planning, scheduling of appropriate preventive services, and identifying any concerns or health problems the patient may have for his/her upcoming physician appointment.
* Pursuit of quality is powered by value-based contracts that cover approximately 25-percent of adult primary care patients.
Compensation Practices and Incentives
* To remain successful with ever-changing physician reimbursements, CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic began modifying their physician compensation structure to align with value-based incentives.
Efficient Provision of Services
* Their medical group division, in conjunction with Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) Track 1 ACO, has implemented claims and electronic health record data analytics to impact the per capita cost of health care.
Organized Systems of Care
* CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic’s multidisciplinary, employed medical group is supported with a fully integrated electronic medical record. This entire network of providers and facilities could not operate efficiently and effectively were it not for the shared governance structure that incorporates physician leadership in all clinical decisions and strategy, sound financial stewardship, administration and management.
Quality Measurement and Improvement Activities
* Their Quality Committee has excelled in fulfilling its vision statement to use the resources available to help clinicians efficiently provide safe, evidence-based, high-quality care. As a result, they evaluate and attempt to improve performance in many areas outside of traditional quality metrics.
Using Technology and Evidence-Based Medicine
* The system heavily promoted the use of a patient portal to teams and patients as a tool to achieve patient-centered and timely care. Through the use of the patient portal, patients are better able to be engaged in their health care and better understand the clinical decisions made during their visits through access to after-visit summaries of all their recent visits, lab results, vital signs and imaging results.
* CHRISTUS automated a process whereby a patient’s elevated blood pressure would trigger the EMR to include hypertension information on the after-visit summary. These tools also assisted providers in the reduction of duplicated testing and services, reduced medication errors through best practice advisories when contradictions appeared, allowed up-to-date medication reconciliation and speedy referrals, and expedited prescription ordering.
“Though CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic has only been serving patients in the Sulphur Springs area for a relatively short period of time, the people of this community have had the chance to experience the dedication, compassion and sophistication that the caregivers provide,” said Kristi Stern, Administrative Director of Operations for CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic in Sulphur Springs. “From the convenience of the MyChart portal to the expansion of services and providers, CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic has prioritized the health of the people of this community. We will continue to work with our community to provide nationally-recognized health care services to the people of Sulphur Springs, Emory and the surrounding areas.”
CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic is a not-for-profit multi-specialty practice founded in 1995 and is part of CHRISTUS Health’s Northeast Texas Region, which also includes CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System and CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. The group of distinguished providers includes more than 650 physicians and advanced practice professionals with over 41 specialties providing a world-class continuum of care to patients in 82 locations across an area that would measure as the country’s 40th largest state.
“CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic is on the front lines of keeping people healthy in a community, and the strategies being recognized by the AMGA are helping to build healthy communities across every area touched by CHRISTUS Health. Driven by our mission, this strategy is not just about bricks and mortar, but about the hands that heal and the spirit of service,” said Ernie Sadau, CHRISTUS Health’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
No Front License Plate Stop Ends in Arrest for Money Laundering
A 2017 Dodge Challenger without a front license plate was stopped near the 136 mile post on I-30 by a DPS Trooper Sunday afternoon. During the stop, Ronnelle Louis Collins, 19, of Little Rock, Arkansas was deceptive when asked questions about prior criminal activity and avoided eye contact when asked questions about the presence of drugs, weapons and money in the vehicle, according to the officer’s report. A DPS K-9 unit was called.
As a result of the k-9 giving a positive alert on the vehicle, a search of the vehicle found a small amount of a controlled substance, a Glock .45 caliber semi-auto handgun, $13,000, and drug paraphernalia including bags and scales.
Collins is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 less than 1-gram, Money Laundering more than $2,500 but less than $30,000, and Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon.
Pursuit Ends With Arrest of Caddo Mills Man
A motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed near the sale barn on State Highway 154 was observed by a Hopkins County Deputy Sunday morning. When the deputies caught up to the vehicle and activated overhead lights, Luz Olivo, Jr., 30, of Caddo Mills, failed to stop.
The pursuit began on Highway 154 to FM 513 to FM 514 to Highway 19 to I-30 to Highway 360 to FM 36 where the suspect stopped and fled on foot. During the pursuit the suspect was traveling at speeds greater than 125mph. Olivo was caught in a pasture and secured in handcuffs.
Olivo is in Hopkins County jail charged with Evading Arrest/Detention with a Vehicle.
