Adventist Health News Notes

Building for the Future at Walla Walla General Hospital

Construction on the new Walla Walla (Wash.) General Hospital is well underway. As the spring weather gets better, the project is beginning to speed up in more visible ways.

The first phase of the new emergency center is taking shape. Crews have poured concrete foundations and are shaping the new entrance with steel beams. This phase is expected to be completed this summer. Once completed, the emergency room staff will move operations into the new section while the remodel begins on the current ER. When completed, the emergency center will be larger, with more rooms and a spacious waiting room, as well as a smoother flow for staff, patients and EMS.

Construction on the main lobby and the remaining additions is just beginning. The main entrance will be closed early this summer as walls come down and the new lobby goes up.

While the 72-bed hospital seems like it's in a state of constant change right now, employees and the community are excited about the finished project, which is expected to be complete early next year.

Tillamook County General Hospital Opens New Clinic in Manzanita

To help meet health-care needs in an under-served area, Tillamook (Ore.) County General Hospital (TCGH) is pleased to announce the opening of Tillamook Medical Group/Manzanita (Ore.) Primary and Specialty Care clinic. This new clinic location enhances health-care services available in north Tillamook County by providing specialty services in addition to urgent and primary care.

"We are very excited about this new clinic," says Larry Davy, TCGH CEO. "We have received many requests from this community for expanded access to a wider array of health-care services. Extending the Adventist Health mission and patient-centered care is a key focus of the clinic."

Specialty and urgent care are key areas of focus for the new clinic. Specialty physician and provider services include obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, podiatry, and internal medicine.

Adventist Medical Center — A Leader in Treating Heart Disease

Adventist Medical Center (AMC) in Portland, Ore., is in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for consistently beating national guidelines in several important measures for the treatment of patients experiencing heart attacks. That's one of the reasons the hospital has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry-GWTG Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2011.

AMC is one of only four hospitals in Oregon to receive this national recognition. The award signifies AMC's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that AMC has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.

Jim Pelch, AMC Northwest Regional Heart Center executive director of cardiovascular services, states that the comprehensive cardiac center has already reached significant milestones in treating cardiac patients. The hospital consistently beats national benchmarks and is one of only two accredited chest pain centers in Oregon.

Featured in: May 2012

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