All posts by Loretta George

Bourbon County, Fort Scott, Mercy Hospital

Ambulance Service For Bourbon County

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The Bourbon County Courthouse.

A task force began in October 2018 following the announcing of the closure of Mercy Hospital Fort Scott.

That task force has been meeting weekly since, to work on issues regarding the need for emergency medical services following the closure of Mercy.

“There is a statute that counties are to provide EMS services,” Dave Bruner, a member of the task force said.

“What is in concrete at this point is that the county and the city have signed a contract to provide a service for a year,” Bruner said.

Since both the City of Fort Scott and Bourbon County Commission had already set their budget for 2019 prior to the announcement of Mercy closing, it put them in an uncertain financial position to provide those emergency medical services.

Fort Scott City Hall

“We said ‘let’s put this together and after a year, look at the contract’,” Bruner said.

“When Mercy announced the closure, they have to give 180 days notice,” Bruner said. “So April 1 is when we will be fully Bourbon County EMS.”

“In the meantime from Jan. 1 to April 1, there will be a change of labels on the ambulances,” he said. “Mercy is obligated until April 1. They will still be employees of Mercy.”

There are currently six full-time employees and 16 part-time employees of Mercy EMS.

“We are going to do our best to retain all of them,” Bruner said. “The city will run the day to day  operations of the service-the staffing of ambulances and dispatch.”

The county will pay a subsidy to the city and handle the billing.

“There is a goal to establish a third-party entity to do the billing for the county,” Bruner said.

“The first responders (in emergency situations) in the small towns will continue to be local volunteer fire departments and EMT’s,” he said.

This provides help until the ambulance can arrive on sight of the emergency.

“The goal is to keep the same familiar faces,” Bruner said. “The only thing that will change will be the names on the ambulance and the uniforms.”

“My goal is to give the EMS a place to call their own facility,” he said

Currently, the task force is in negotiations.

“We don’t have a list of what Mercy is donating yet,” Justin Meeks, Bourbon County Legal Counselor said.

“We hope donations will be finalized by Dec. 18,” Meeks said.

Under discussion in negotiations  are vehicles, equipment and facilities.

The task force is comprised of Nick Ruhl, Meeks, Jody Hoener from the county; Dave Martin, Bruner, Robert Uhler, Paul Ballou, Rhonda Dunn and Deb Needleman from the city; and Christi Keating from Mercy.

 

Bourbon County, Government, Kansas

Collins Begins Political Career

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Ken Collins, 102 E. First St., Mulberry,  is the newly elected  Second District Kansas State House of Representative.

“The district covers most of Crawford County, except Pittsburg, and the eastern edges of Neosho and Allen Counties along with the western edge of Bourbon County including Bronson and Uniontown,” Collins said.

Collins has been transitioning from citizen to a representative since being elected in November.

Orientation began last Sunday with social events and meetings.

Election of House leadership positions took place this week, Collins said.

He will be in his Topeka apartment at the beginning of January, he said.

“But I plan to come back home most weekends. It is important to me to not lose touch with the people of the district,” he said.

Constituents may contact Collins at his cell phone number,620-240-0778 or personal email [email protected].

“I will also have an official email address that will be available on the Kansas.gov website,” Collins said.

“I hope to have regular updates and I plan to continue the Facebook page that I  established during the campaign. It can be accessed on Facebook by searching for @kansasdistrict2.”

His priority is to see that US HWY 69 continues to be upgraded to four lanes all the way to the south of the Arma/Franklin bypass, he said.

Entertainment, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Freezing Temps Did Not Deter Parade

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Temperatures hovering at the freezing mark did not stop the Chamber of Commerce’s Fort Scott Christmas parade Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Following are some snapshots of the event.

Feel free to add photos.

Bethel Community Baptist Church provided a living nativity in downtown Fort Scott Tuesday evening.
Parkway Church of God’s float in the Fort Scott Christmas parade Tuesday evening.
Fort Scott High School Band students entertained the crowd at the Christmas parade.
The Buck Run Community Center staff offered free hot cocoa at the parade.
Customers view the offerings at Christmas At the Empress, a sale of local vendors, who set up a temporary shop Tuesday evening at the same time as the parade. The Empress Event Center is located at 7 N. Main.

 

Bourbon County, Entertainment

Moonlight and Mistletoe 2018

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Inside the lobby of the Courtland Hotel.

The  Courtland Hotel, 112 E. First Street, is the host for the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County’s annual fundraising event-Moonlight and Mistletoe.

The event, this Friday, December 7, is open to the public, and tickets are available at the Visitors Center or Chamber of Commerce, 231 E. Wall.

The cost is $25 per person. Food and a cash bar is available.

“The Historic Courtland Hotel, located in downtown was gracious and opened the hotel to us,” Rhonda Dunn, chair of the HPA said.  “Many people in town will not have seen inside the Courtland Hotel & Spa or in the rooms, because in general, we don’t use hotels in our own town.  This is an opportunity to check out the hotel built in 1906.”

The Courtland Hotel was built in 1906.
Fort Scott Police Department

West Retires, Pickert Promoted in FSPD

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There are 20 people employed at the Fort Scott Police Department. One long-serving officer will retire and one will be promoted to replace him, according to the police chief.

“Shaun West is retiring on December 21, 2018,” Police Chief Travis Shelton said. “Jason Pickert has been promoted to Police Captain and will assume his new assignment upon Shaun’s retirement.”

Shaun West. Submitted photo.

Captain Shaun West began his career at the Fort Scott Police Department as a reserve officer in 1990.

In 1993 he was hired on full-time.

“I have been a reserve officer, patrol officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant, and captain”, West said.

After 28 years in Bourbon County, West is retiring from the FSPD and has moved to Linn County.

“I have moved into Linn county where my wife is a deputy, my brother is a chief and my son is an officer,” he said.

“I will be looking for work that allows me time to spent with my grandchildren and to build a home on one of the lakes, which we have purchased property on,” he said.

Jason Pickert. Submitted photo.

Detective Sgt. Jason Pickert will be promoted to captain, upon West’s leaving.

Pickert has been with the Fort Scott Police Department 14 years.

Throughout this career, he has been an officer, detective, detective,   sergeant, and now captain.

Pickert said being in law enforcement has been enjoyable because of the people he works with.

“My fellow officers, dispatchers, and the firemen and EMT’s that we share a building with are all good people, that are fun to be around and that makes it easy to come to work every day,” Pickert said.

“Also, Law Enforcement is very interesting because you never know what type of call you will be responding to or what type of case you will be investigating.”

Pickert’s hometown is  Richmond, Kansas.

 

Business, Health Care, Mercy Hospital

I Am Rehab Replaces Mercy Therapy And Fitness Center

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From left to right: Hugo Dahlstrom, Occupational Therapist; David Shank, Physical Therapist; Denny Gillard, Physical Therapist. Not pictured: Janet Smith, Physical Therapist, and Sarah Moore, Office Assistant.
Mercy Therapy Services will get a new name Dec. 31, 2018, when Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closes.

 “I Am Rehab LLC is the official name of our business,” Hugo Dahlstrom, occupational therapist, said. “I Am Rehab & Fitness will be on our logo and signage. It is comprised of David Shank, Denny Gillard, and I.”

 

“We have not signed a lease agreement yet so we do not have an official start date, but we plan to be open immediately after Mercy closes on January 1,” Dahlstrom said.

“We will continue to provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, fitness center memberships, personal training, and pre-work screens,” he said.

The fitness center will still be available to the community.

“We will offer memberships at the same rates as Health For Life,” Dahlstrom said.

Bourbon County

Photo With Santa This Weekend

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Your American Legion Santa Claus will once again be at the Fort Scott Wal-Mart for “Photos With Santa” this weekend.
There is no cost for a “Photo With Santa,” however, a donation for American Legion children and youth programs are appreciated.
His hours are:
Friday. 4 – 8 pm.
Saturday. 10 am – 2 pm.
Sunday. 1 – 5 pm.
The American Legion Santa Claus is for children of all ages. Last weekend, he was photographed with a two week old baby and a Viet Nam Vet stopped by as well for a photo op.
Please let family and friends know about “Photos With Santa”
Carl Jowers. Commander
Fort Scott American Legion Post 25
Health Care, Mercy Hospital

Mercy Home Health and Hospice Transitions to Integrity

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A photo of the Mercy Home Health and Hospice which is transitioning to Integrity Home Care and Hospice. Back Row: Kathy Stienbarger: RN, Rebecca Davied: Home Health and Hospice Director, LaShawn Noel: MSW, Dr Maxwell Self: Medical Director, Kyli Gates: RN Manager, Kerry Wunderly: RN, Joanna Gauthier: Accounts Coordinator. Middle Row: Albert Sacbibit: PT, Ashley Shelton: RN, Kelli Jones: RN, Chris Comstock: Admin Assistant, Trista Smith: Aide, David Goodyear: RN, Dreia Judson: Aide, Hugo Dahlstrom: OT. Front Row: Darcy Bukowski: RN, Tabitha Stults: Community Relations, Cindy Remlinger: Aide. Absent From Picture: Melissa George: Chaplin, Sandy Smith: Admin Assistant, Alice Helton: RN, Bob Meredith: PT, Brenda Baily: RN, Holly Schnichels: RN, Tori Stewart: COTA, Deanna Warner: RN, Shannon Nash: RN, Bill Rice: PT.

 

Mercy Home  Health and Hospice hosted the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce weekly coffee on Nov. 29.

Tabitha Stults, community relations with MHHH, spoke to the attendees at the coffee.

Stults said the Memorial Patio in Riverside Park, which was begun October 2017 was finished this month.

The area is in memory of those people served by hospice since 2012, when Mercy began its hospice service to the community.

Becky Davied, director of Mercy’s home health said that the home health department was started in 1974.

Mercy Home Health and Hospice will have a name change to Integrity Home Care + Hospice following the closure of Mercy Hospital on Dec. 31, 2018. Integrity is based in Springfield, MO.

Integrity’s Machelle Gillhous will assume the title of director of community engagement, following the merger.

“She won’t be in Fort Scott,” Stults said. “She is the director of community engagement for all of Integrity, she will be my direct supervisor.”

Between Jan.1 and March when Integrity takes over,  the staff will remain as Mercy employees as they go through the merger, Stults,  said.

“We will have the same staff and continue to provide the same services,” Davied said.

” We will continue to provide all of our traditional services that we do now,” Stults said.

Mercy Home Health and Hospice is located at 902 S. Horton in the Mercy Medical Plaza.   The phone number is 620-223-8090.

The services provided are:

For Home Health:

Skilled Nursing: Wound Care, IV Therapy, Disease Management, Palliative Care, Medication Management, Blood Draws, Infant and Pediatric Care, Patient and Family Education, 24 Hour on-call services.

Physical Therapy: Assessment, Evaluate, and Treatment

Occupational Therapy: Assessment, Evaluate, and treatment.

Home Health Aide Services: Bathing, hair care, skin care.

Social Work Services: short-term counseling and community resource education.

Chaplain Services: Spiritual support and resource education.

 

For Hospice:

Skilled Nursing: 24/7 on-call skilled nursing services, comfort care, pain management, patient and family education, durable medical equipment coordination, medication management   Services are available where ever the patient lives: a home or apartment, nursing home, assisted living facility, Independent care facility or hospital

Social Work Services: short-term counseling and community resource education.

Volunteer Services: Volunteers to read and visit with patients or allow caregivers a break.

Chaplain Services: Spiritual support and resource education

Bereavement Services:  Family and caregiver support for 1 year following the loss of a loved one.

Home Health Aid Services: Bathing, hair care, skin care, light housekeeping, patient and family support.

 

Fort Scott, Health Care

Update On Health Care In Fort Scott By Krista Postai

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Mercy Hospital Fort Scott announced Oct. 1 that it would close on Dec. 31, 2018.

The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Pittsburg, will then assume operations for the main clinic and convenient care at the former Mercy Hospital site.

Krista Postai, CEO of  Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas answered the following questions from fortscott.biz

 

What is in concrete at this point?

“Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas will assume operations of the Mercy clinics in Pleasanton and Arma on January 1.

We will also transition the Mound City Clinic, now under the management of Olathe Health System, on January 1.

CHC/SEK will assume operations for Mercy’s Convenient Care and their main clinic in the hospital on February 1.

Hours of operation for all these sites will remain the same.”

 

Who will be the administration team that will be on site on Jan. 1 at Mercy Fort Scott?

“Administrative offices for CHC/SEK are based in Pittsburg where we originally started.

All of our clinics – and we currently have 11 through southeast Kansas serving 50,000 patients – have a local practice manager on site that oversees daily operations. We have hired one for the Bourbon County Clinics and one for the Linn County clinics.

So “administration” for us is defined as these six people – CEO Krista Postai, Senior Vice President Jason Wesco, CFO Douglas Stuckey, Chief Clinical Officer Linda Bean, VP/Human Resources Megan Fry and General Counsel Daniel Creitz – and they work out of a System Office at 3015 N. Michigan.

We also have management staff including a Director of School Health, Director of Operations, Pharmacy Director, Dental Director, Director of Behavioral Health, IT Director, Billing Director, etc. who provide support for all of our clinics and staff…they are located at various sites throughout the area and travel from clinic to clinic to oversee programs.”

“Amy Budy will be our Practice Manager.”

 

 

Which doctors have signed on to stay at this point?

“I’ve attached the picture we took yesterday of the staff at the main clinic in Ft. Scott who we will employ beginning Feb. 1.

This includes the physicians we have hired – Dr. Burke, Dr. Seals, Dr. Self and Dr. Gugnani. We have also hired Dr. Allen from Mound City who will cover both Mound City and Pleasanton clinics. We do not anticipate hiring any additional physicians.”

Dr. Burke, Dr. Seals, APRN Amanda Stice, Dr. Self, APRN Kristine O’Dell, APRN Pam Moyers, Dr. Gugnani and APRN Mary Beth Newkirk. Kristine O’Dell is working in Convenient Care; the others at the main clinic in Fort Scott. Not pictured are APRN Bobbi Jo Thornton, and APRN Emily Bolinger who will be working at Convenient Care.

What services will you provide?

“We will continue to provide the services that have been offered by the clinics in the past.

Convenient Care will change its name to Walk-In Care – the hours and services will be the same.

At the main clinic, the same services will also be offered – primary medical care including obstetrics, lab, x-ray, immunizations, etc.

For most people, the only change they will notice will be the name on the building.

We also plan to continue to offer mammograms and provide space for specialists including the Cancer Center of Kansas.

We will also assume operations of the retail pharmacy next to the hospital clinic.

Once we make the transition, we’ll start looking at the addition of other services including behavioral health, addiction treatment and, eventually, dental care as we offer at many of our other clinics.

In the meantime, anyone needing these services will be referred to the closest clinic and, if needed, transportation provided.”

 

You said services fees will be income-based?

“All of our services are provided regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. We accept Medicare, Medicaid and all private insurances.

For those with incomes at 200% or below the federal poverty level, services are discounted. For example, a family of four with an annual income of $25,100 or below would pay $15 for a medical visit including lab and x-ray.

Special financial assistance paperwork must be completed annually and documentation of income provided and those with/or without insurance may apply.

For those with insurance, the discount is applied to the amount they owe after insurance pays.  Also, for those on Medicare, the deductible is waived per federal requirements. For the financial assistance forms, go to our web page…www.chcsek.org

 

 

Business

Christmas At The Empress Dec. 4

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A sample of items that will be sold at Christmas At The Empress.

A group of local craftsmen/women will be downtown during Fort Scott’s Christmas Parade on Dec. 4 to sell their wares.

“We were told by multiple people that the Stocking Stuffer had been canceled and that they relied on it for last minute shopping,” Julie Norris, a vendor, said.  “Vendors really enjoyed it as well.  We had the idea of running something while the parade was downtown so we would have traffic already there for the vendors.”
Christmas candies will be for sale at the event.
The vendors will set up shop at The Empress Event Center, 7 N Main,  across the street from Papa Don’s Restaurant.
The parade is at 6 p.m. on December 4. The vendors will be open from 5-8 p.m.

“We have several local vendors that will be present.  The list that we currently have confirmed: Nikki Carpenter with Chalk Couture, Hannah Gander with Mama’s Mugs , Dee Regina with Paparazzi Jewelry , Elise Herman with Usborne Books, Julie Norris & Chris Ames with ColorStreet, Amber Kelly with Tupperware, Angela Carpenter with Homemade Holiday Crafts, Alison Milburn with Bows by Ali Rose, Micki Craft with Home Sewn Crafts, Kelly Gander with Kelly’s Creations ,our children-Kallie and Bryton will be selling treats and hot apple cider, Jackie Harvey with Jackie’s Leather Earrings.  And Jeff Tinsley will have his homemade pecan and peanut brittles,” she said.

Jewelry will be offered for sale at the event.
“We are hoping to provide a nice variety of shopping for the community with our local vendors in one stop,” Norris said.
“Some items will include handmade Christmas decor, wreaths, reusable chalk decor, tumblers, personalized vinyl, kitchen towels, aprons, security blankets, cosmetic bags, Christmas candies, hair accessories,  jewelry, children’s books, affordable manicures, cosmetics, acrylic keychains, and more,” she said.