The Medical Center welcomed a new general surgeon to the medical staff in 2017. Sara Soule, M.D. became part of the medical staff in August and has enhanced the cancer program at The Medical Center. Dr. Soule received her medical degree from the University of South Carolina and received her residency in General Surgery at the University of Colorado.

Medical Center Hematology & Oncology welcomed Shellie Hardcastle, APRN, AOCNP. Shellie completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nursing at Western Kentucky University. She has been with Med Center Health since 2001.

Graves Gilbert Clinic welcomed a new Oncology and Hematology Physician to their practice in 2017— Pamela Smith, M.D., PhD. Dr. Smith received her medical and doctoral degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and completed her Fellowship at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

All nursing staff were educated on the importance of ordering the Braden protocol order set on ALL patients who met the criteria of a Braden score of 18 or less. The Braden score is assessed during each shift assessment. It was also stressed during the education that the order set should be ordered on the FIRST assessment that indicated a Braden score of 18 or less. A goal was set at ordering the order set appropriately on >75% of eligible patients per month.

4C used the Braden protocol on 34% of eligible patients in January 2017. After the education and improvement initiative started, 4C was up to 75% in February and up to 100% by April. The combined rate of 92% for the months of February – December 2017 was the highest of any unit in the hospital. This improvement in the usage of the Braden protocol has resulted in zero PSI-3 incidents for patients discharged through October 2017. This is in comparison to 4 such cases that occurred in 2016.

Infusion Center/Endoscopy: The Infusion Center/Endoscopy takes great pride in disinfection, safety processes and results and have worked to be sure its protocol follows the most recent standards and guidelines put forth by The Joint Commission. Accordingly, the following improvements were put into place:

•   Reprocessing room was remodeled to accommodate work flow when utilizing Metricide OPA.
•   Training with the Surgical Tech staff in Endoscopy, along with many other unit staff members from Respiratory, Ultrasound,
      Cardiology, and Speech Therapy took place. Check off was conducted with managers and Infection Control staff.
•   New storage for all scopes were purchased in multiple areas and consists of vented cabinets.
•   Metricide representative provided in-service and introduction on the new product.
•   Transportation of all scopes were reviewed and changes made. All scopes are transported in carriers made by Medivators with
      red plastic covers for dirty scopes or instruments and green covers for all clean scopes and instruments. This was a house-wide
      change.
•   Storage for scopes in Endoscopy unit reviewed and vent removed.
•   Tagging system for all scope reprocessing was developed and each scope tagged. Policy on scope reprocessing was revised and
      published. All areas follow the same time line for cleaning unused scopes or equipment- 7 days.
•   All areas keep a log book and utilize the log book in endoscopy for logging equipment placed in Metricide OPA.

The Infusion Center/Endoscopy unit is up-to-date on all guidelines and has fully vetted all processes to ensure that the disinfection and safety of the equipment follows every standard or guideline.