Sulphur Springs Pilot Club is Busy in 2017
Jane Goldsmith, a 12-year member of the Sulphur Springs Pilot Club, shared some news about Sulphur Springs Pilot Club’s 2017 projects during a recent interview on the Good Morning Show with Enola Gay on KSST Radio and Channel 18TV.
Just wrapping up is Hoop Dreams, a basketball camp for youngsters with brain-related disorders. This is the Pilot’s 10th year to host the series of games. In 2007, the project began with only 7 players and it has grown to 32 players this year. Members of the local Lions Club served as coaches, members of Teen Court served as buddies and SS Middle and High School cheerleaders served on spirit squads during the February games.
The Caregiver of the Year Award is an annual recognition given by the Pilot Club to an individual who donates their time and efforts for the welfare of another person suffering from a brain-related disease or injury. Recipients are selected from nominations received the public. The 2017 Caregiver of the Year is Christine Morris, who in 1999 brought her 95-year-old mother, Corrine Snow, home to live out her life near family and provided care until her mother’s death at the age of 112. Despite advancing age and her own growing health concerns, Christine unfailingly served her mother for 17 years as nurse, chef, housekeeper, beautician, shopper and driver. She also became personal secretary when her mother became Texas’ oldest citizen, always making it possible for her mother to be presentable to attend functions, meet people and be photographed and interviewed. At the time she passed away in 2016, Christine’s “patient” was the oldest person in Texas, the 45th oldest in the U.S. and on record as one of the oldest in the world. In the Pilot Club’s letter of nomination received from a great-granddaughter, Christine was described as “a hero”. The award was given during the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Banquet on February 16, 2017.
The annual Pilot Club fundraiser will be Spring Brunch on Saturday morning March 4, featuring Branson-style musician/Christian comedian Robert Burkhart. Tickets are $20 to attend the event at League Street Church of Christ Fellowship Hall from 10am til noon. Tickets can be purchased from any Pilot Club member or at the door. There will be a $500 door prize and other items.
Several other Pilot Club projects are planned during 2017. Pilot Club is an International organization with chapters all over the U.S. and in several countries. The local club has about 25 members currently and is seeking others. To find out about becoming a member or for information on club projects, you can contact Jane Goldsmith at 903-348-5099 or phone 903-243-0979.
8-Month Old Child’s Meth Level Higher Than Mother’s
Special Crimes Unit investigators assisted CPS agents with an investigation involving Courney Leigh Plunkett, 24 of Sulphur Springs and her 8-month old child that tested positive for methamphetamine. The child’s meth levels tested higher than Plunkett’s.
Plunkett was arrested at 5:21 p.m. Monday at her residence on CR 2316. She is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Injury to a Child with Intent. She is being held on a $50,000 bond.
Hopkins County EMS Replacing Unit; Transports Increasing
Hopkins County EMS will be replacing Medic 7, a 1998 truck, with a new unit following a vote of the Hopkins County Hospital District Board. The hospital district continues ownership of EMS services for Hopkins, Delta, and Franklin Counties. The new unit will cost $168,000.
EMS transports are increasing in the three county area. Currently those numbers are above target numbers expected by EMS personnel. January was the busiest month for calls for EMS. It was noted that EMS drivers are emphasizing the local hospital as a point of destination. It was noted that more Franklin County residents are choosing CHRISTUS Mother Francis over a hospital to the east of the county. Some continue to travel east due to specific physicians they have been using in the past.
Hopkins County EMS is also hitting response times. EMS response times in cities averages eight minutes 59 seconds. Locally those times are being met or exceeded. Rural response times have a standard of 20 minutes 59 seconds but Hopkins County EMS response times are averaging 15 minutes for rural areas. Currently there are 10 EMS workers working 24 hours every day. The shifts rotate every 24 hours.
Transport of prisoners for Texas Department of Criminal Justice and others is also a profitable service for local EMS. Transport of prisoners for TDCJ to their medical facility in Galveston pays $9.75 per mile. Using on-call personnel, the local EMS made 110 trips last year for facilities in Northeast Texas from Bonham to Texarkana. It was noted that a guard is present in the front seat and a guard in the back or a chase unit along with two medical personnel on each trip.
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Questions Regarding Indigent Care Asked During Hospital District Board Meeting
Who pays for indigent medical care for Hopkins County Jail inmates? That was the question presented to the Hopkins County Hospital District by Donna Wallace,Financial Officer with CHRISTUS Mother Francis Hospital. The question was asked during the district board meeting Monday night, February 27, 2017.
It was noted that close to $100,000 in medication cost is expended each year for prisoners and that a doctor makes weekly visits to the local jail. Now that the jail is larger and houses non-county inmates, the costs of medical care is increasing. Wallace stated that CHRISTUS may decide not to fund the county indigent programs.
Although no conversations have begun those conversations will begin soon, Wallace noted. She stated that meetings with the County Judge Robert Newsom and Sheriff Lewis Tatum will soon begin. The Hopkins County Hospital District is responsible for indigent care but with the increasing costs, indigent care must be residents of Hopkins County only.
She pointed out that if an inmate is not indigent, they are responsible to pay for their own care.
Hospital, Clinic in Full Compliance with Medicare/Medicaid; Doctor Network Increasing
CHRISTUS Mother Francis Hospital Sulphur Springs is once again in compliance with Medicare/Medicaid having more than met standards during a recent certification survey, according to Paul Harvey, hospital administrator. Harvey reported to the Hopkins County Hospital District Board Monday night during their regular session. Harvey updated the district board regarding activities at the local hospital. The Hopkins Hospital District owns 49% of the local hospital.
Harvey stated that the hospital staff had been intense in preparation for the final survey that would determine if the hospital could continue to receive Medicare/Medicaid payments for services. He also noted that rural health clinics are also surveyed every six years and the CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic had also undergone a survey in recent months. There were compliance issues but those were resolved within the 30-day period required. Now, both hospital and clinic are in full compliance.
Harvey noted that as of January 1, 2017 all employees, 32 providers/doctors, at the clinic have successfully moved to CHRISTUS. He also announced the addition of Stephanie Quick as the new manager for the Medical Clinic. Quick has previous experience in clinic management in Shreveport, LA. The clinic has restructured the medical team leadership and has a six member review committee. He stated the local clinic joined at a time when CHRISTUS physicians increased from 370 to over 600 physicians including the addition of 150 physicians in Longview. The addition of physicians increases the network for doctors when making referrals.
Communication of medical records between doctors and hospitals in the CHRISTUS system is being aided by the addition of a software system, EPIC. Using EPIC allows a person to use an app on their smartphone when at any other clinic and hospital using EPIC. Harvey called the decision a good decision for the community providing a seamless information stream for providers of medical care. EPIC should be available at both clinic and hospital by September 9, 2017.
Hospital occupancy rates have increased in January and February. Harvey told the board that ICU is running near 100% full since early January. He noted the addition of new physicians could increase those rates as well. He stated currently two primary care physicians, an additional mid-wife, and a pain management physician are high on the list of needed physicians. He pointed out that the local urologist will also attract more patients with area hospitals losing their urologists in retirement or moving to a new location out of area.
Vascular Clinic to Be Open Once a Month at CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic
Todd Bengtson, M.D., brings his decades of experience in Vascular Surgery and Ambulatory Medicine to the patients of CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic – Sulphur Springs and across Northeast Texas. The first Vascular Clinic day is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Dr. Bengtson will continue to see patients at this location the first Wednesday of each month. His office will be located at 113 Airport Rd., Ste. 300, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482 – located within the General Surgery offices.
To schedule an appointment or gather more information about Vascular Medicine, please contact 903.606.1400.
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New DQ in Town
A second location for Dairy Queen in Sulphur Springs opens Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 1419 South Broadway. A soft opening was conducted Monday in a fund raiser for the Sulphur Springs High School Band. DQ hours are 10 a.m. unti 10 p.m.
