OB/GYN Kari Hamlin, MD, has joined Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg.
As a Kansas native, Dr. Hamlin knows the importance of close-to-home, community-based care and is excited to care for women in all stages of life.
Dr. Hamlin earned her undergraduate and Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Kansas and then did her OB/GYN residency through UKSM-W at Wesley Medical Center.
She also earned Master’s degrees in both Business Administration and Health Care Leadership from Friends University.
Prior to joining Ascension Via Christi, Dr. Hamlin spent nearly a decade caring for patients at other rural Kansas family medicine clinics and medical centers. During that period, she served as chief of Obstetrics and chief of Staff for Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center.
“We are excited that Dr. Hamlin chose Ascension Via Christi to practice, further improving access to care for women in Southeast Kansas,” says Drew Talbott, hospital president. “Dr. Hamlin’s knowledge, courtesy, patient-first mindset and compassion makes her a great fit for our OB/GYN team.”
Patients can schedule an appointment with Dr. Hamlin by calling 620-230-0044. For more information, visit ascension.org/PittsburgKS.
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About Ascension Via Christi
In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi operates seven hospitals and 75 other sites of care and employs nearly 6,400 associates. Across the state, Ascension Via Christi provided nearly $89 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2021. Serving Kansas for more than 135 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the leading non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S., operating more than 2,600 sites of care – including 145 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org
The Wound Center at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg has been recognized as a Healogics Center of Distinction based on its outstanding clinical and operational results in 2021 despite the
extraordinary circumstances presented by the pandemic.
To earn this recognition, centers must achieve or exceed a 92 percent patient satisfaction rate and 75 percent wound adjusted comprehensive healing rate and have an outlier rate of less than 16 percent; Pittsburg’s wound center numbers were 95 percent, 80 percent and 12 percent.
“I am so proud of the work this team does,” says Charlotte Russell, director of Physician Services, noting how well they work with each other on patients’ behalf. “In addition to being clinically proficient, they are all so kind and accommodating. They truly are a blessing to our Mission.”
Rachel Stevens, MD, serves as the wound center’s medical director and Tammie Caves as its clinical
program director.
To learn more about the Wound Center, call (620) 235-7522.
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About Ascension Via Christi
In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi operates seven hospitals and 75 other sites of care and employs nearly 6,400 associates. Across
the state, Ascension Via Christi provided nearly $89 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year
2021. Serving Kansas for more than 135 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering
compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is
the leading non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S., operating more than 2,600 sites of care – including 145 hospitals and
more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org,
The closing of Mercy Hospital Fort Scott in 2018, left the community lacking emergency care. The community was apprehensive about the closure because the nearest emergency care facilities are in hospitals in Pittsburg, which is 30 miles south or Iola, which is 47 miles west.
History
In 2018, leaders in Bourbon County approached Ascension Via Christi Hospital leaders in Pittsburg to provide continued access to emergency care in the former Mercy Hospital Emergency Room.
After careful deliberation, Ascension determined they would play a role, President Drew Talbot of Ascension Via Christi Hospital said.
Mercy Hospital kept the ER open after the hospital closed on Dec. 31, 2018, until the Ascension Via Christi Fort Scott Emergency Department could get the approval to operate under the Pittsburg hospital licensure. Then Ascension filled the hole in services and saw its first patient on Feb. 28, 2019.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital has imaging and laboratory services at 401 Woodland Hills, Fort Scott.
Services
Since that date, the emergency department has seen more than 16,000 emergency room patients, performed more than 20,000 imaging studies, and processed more than 54,000 lab tests, according to Talbot in an interview.
And they have expanded services.
109 S.Main is the location of Ascension Via Christi’s Medical Clinic in downtown Fort Scott. The photo was taken in January 2020.
“We subsequently opened a primary care and prenatal clinic with a local provider and later added a second provider to meet the community need,” Talbot said. “When our hospital in Pittsburg successfully recruited David Robbins, MD, and Justin Ogden, MD, we further expanded the services offered at our Fort Scott clinic to include cardiology and orthopedics.”
“We utilize the same laboratory used by our Ascension Via Christi hospitals throughout Kansas,” Talbot said. “We have on-site diagnostic imaging capabilities, including CT, digital X-ray, ultrasound, and most recently-cardiac echo ultrasound. As part of Ascension Via Christi, these images are read by a Kansas group of 30 board-certified radiologists with advanced training in a variety of areas, providing our Fort Scott ER and Pittsburg hospital with diagnostic capabilities on par with those of a large metro-area hospital.”
They currently have 35 associates serving in Fort Scott, he said.
Future
“We have an agreement with Bourbon County (Commissioners)that will take us to February 2023 and we hope to continue to offer our services in Fort Scott for as long as there is an unmet need,” Talbot said.
“We are proud of the sustainable model of care that we have established,” Talbot said.
“While we understand Bourbon County leaders’ desire to explore the viability of returning to a community hospital model, (see: Noble Health Announces Reopening a Hospital in Fort Scott) our lived experience as the community’s emergency care provider indicates that the volumes are too low to do so without federal or local taxpayer funding,” he said.
“However, as a department of our hospital in Pittsburg, we have demonstrated that we can operate an ER and supporting services in a financially sustainable manner,” he said. “We have an essentially self-supporting model of care and we are proud of our caregivers’ contribution to patients and families and to Fort Scott’s growth and development.”
Via Christi is working on securing a facility to continue to expand its services once the Feb. 2023 agreement is completed.
“We recognize and appreciate the need for patients and families to receive close-to-home care whenever there is sufficient demand to support services,” he said. “That’s what led us to respond to the community’s needs when Mercy closed its doors. Our clinics have received tremendous community support. We are already looking to expand the availability and types of services being offered. With that in mind, we are working on securing a long-term home where we can offer these and potentially other needed services under one roof.”
Precedent
“We accepted the community’s invitation to serve because ensuring Kansans’ access to care is in keeping with our mission as a non-profit Catholic healthcare system,” Talbot said. “It also has historical precedent, given that Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph nearly 120 years ago at the request of Mt. Carmel Coal Mining Co. founder CharlesDevlin, who recognized miners’ need for close-to-home care.”
Ascension Via Christi Clinic in Fort Scott is now offering ultrasound and echocardiogram services, making it possible for patients to receive these services in the best possible place: Close to home and family.
“We continue to invest in and grow our outpatient services in both Fort Scott and Pittsburg,” says Drew Talbott,
president of Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, under whose umbrella the Fort Scott ER and associated clinic
and diagnostic services operate. “Physicians and specialists in both geographic markets will have access to the
diagnostic imaging they need to provide seamless, well-coordinated care, which is particularly important for heart care
patients and expectant mothers.”
The newly added imaging services, which require a physician referral, are being provided every Thursday at Ascension
Via Christi’s Fort Scott clinic.
Josh Seaver, who lives in Fort Scott and has served as an sonography technologist at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in
Pittsburg for 2.5 years, says he is excited to play a role in making these services more readily accessible to his
neighbors.
“As someone who commutes to work daily, I am happy to eliminate patients’ need to drive to either Pittsburg or Joplin
whenever possible,” says Seaver. “Having the services available is a benefit to them and to me as it is one less day on
the road.”
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About Ascension Via Christi
In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi operates seven hospitals and 75 other sites of care and employs nearly 6,400 associates. Across the state,
Ascension Via Christi provided nearly $89 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2021. Serving Kansas for
more than 135 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with
special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the leading non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S.,
operating more than 2,600 sites of care – including 145 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Visit www.ascension.org.
The renovation of the Ascension Via Christi Cancer Center is now complete, giving Pittsburg-area patients who are battling cancer close-to-home access to advanced technology in a patient- and family-friendly environment.
The outpatient cancer center opened 26 years ago, funded entirely by donations to the Mount Carmel Foundation’s “Legacy of Hope” campaign.
The $1 million renovation also was funded entirely by
community donations, this time to the “Legacy of Hope II” campaign led by Johnna Norton, the foundation’s executive director.
“I am so proud to live and serve in such a giving community and with a team that throughout the pandemic has continued to provide exceptional care to our patients,” said Charlotte Russell, director of
operations for the Ascension Via Christi Cancer Center and Ascension Medical Group Via Christi physician practices in Pittsburg.
Through the community’s generosity, the chemotherapy area now has seven private treatment suites and the entire cancer center was updated to create a brighter and more welcoming environment. The patient and family resource room was also refurbished, providing a comfortable space for the patient and family education, nutritional counseling and spiritual and emotional support services.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital also made a significant investment in the cancer center, spending $1.5 million to acquire a new state-of-the-art TrueBeam linear accelerator, allowing patients to receive highly precise radiation therapy in a shorter period of time.
In January, the hospital added medical oncologists James Moore, MD, and Michael Cannon, MD, to its medical staff. Drs. Moore and Cannon, both with Cancer Center of Kansas, join medical oncologist Mickey Xun, MD, with Ascension Medical Group Via Christi, and radiation oncologist Duane Myers, MD, with Radiation Oncology Associates, in providing southeast Kansas residents ready access to comprehensive cancer care.
“We now have a beautiful space, an outstanding team of physicians and the advanced technology we need to continue our legacy as the community’s cancer care partner,” said Drew Talbott, president of
Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg. “Like Charlotte, I am tremendously grateful and proud of our community and staff.”
For more information about Ascension Via Christi in Pittsburg, visit ascension.org/PittsburgKS.
Via Christi Cancer Center Chemotherapy Bays. Submitted photo
About Ascension Via Christi
In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi operates seven hospitals and 75 other sites of care and employs nearly
6,400 associates. Across the state, Ascension Via Christi provided nearly $89 million in community
benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2021. Serving Kansas for more than 135 years,
Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized
care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the
leading non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S., operating more than 2,600 sites of care –
including 145 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of
Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org.
2
Pittsburg Via Christi Hospital announces that Stetson Cole Weber, son of Hannah Walters and Seth Weber, Prescott, is the New Years’ baby born on January 1, 2022, at 12:33 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and is 20.5 inches long.
Noble Health Corporation announced yesterday that in the near future they will be deciding whether it is feasible to reopen a hospital at the former Mercy Hospital facility, according to Rob Harrington, Director of Bourbon County Regional Economic Development Inc.
“There will be two more meetings with the (Bourbon County) Commission and then they will begin talking with the public about the outcome of the feasibility study,” Harrington said.
“Today was a good day for Bourbon County and we are excited to see the process continue,” he said.
“The next phases will be dedicated to renovation costs and I believe labor,” he said.
“The study has been completed, however, it contains information that at this time needs to remain confidential until after the property is transferred to Noble by the county,” Harrington said. “We are hopeful that this will happen in January and February when they begin doing their town hall meetings.”
Noble Health Corp. announced in June 2021 that it would explore the possibility of reopening the acute care hospital facility in Fort Scott, according to a previous press release from the corporation.
The corporation, a Kansas City company, engaged in a cooperative agreement with Bourbon County to conduct a feasibility study that could lead to the reopening of the former Mercy Hospital building, located at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd., according to the press release.
The building is located just off Hwy. 69 on Fort Scott’s south side.
Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed in December of 2018.
Mercy Hospital before it closed in December 2018.
Since that time Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas has leased a portion of the building, and Ascension Via Christi Hospital, Pittsburg, has leased the emergency department. Those leases end in December 2022. Fort Scott Community College has leased the western part of the building for student housing.
To view the prior features on Nobel Health in Fort Scott:
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes is located a 1 S. Main, Fort Scott.
On July 28, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes began a new exhibit entitled”Fort Scott’s Frontline Workers”, highlighting groups of local COVID-19 workers.
Hours at the center, located on Main Street at Wall Street in downtown Fort Scott are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The exhibition is pictorial with text that honors first responders from four local agencies, health care workers from five local agencies, and educators in five local public and private schools.
Lowell Milken Center’s Frontline Workers Exhibit, July 2021. Submitted photo.
“Contacts were made to all the different agencies, we received input from several administrators and staff,” Cathy Werling, spokesperson for LMC said.
Cathy Werling is a children’s book author at the Lowell Milken Center For Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, who has published several books depicting unsung heroes at a young child’s level of understanding.
This new exhibit has been made possible with funds received from a Fort Scott Area Community Foundation grant, according to an LMC press release.
“Work began on plans for the project in October of 2020 after we knew we received the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation grant,” Werling said. “Contacting and interviewing all of the various frontline worker’s staff began in January of 2021.”
“The Lowell Milken Center’s Fort Scott’s Frontline Heroes project highlights frontline professions within our community who have been directly dealing with pandemic issues in order to provide safe and direct action for our citizens,” according to the press release.
Law enforcement photo from the exhibit.
The following are recognized: firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical services workers, health care workers from Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Ascension Via Christi Emergency Department, Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department, and long-term care facilities, assisted/independent living facilities, and local teachers/administrators at schools.
Educators. Photo from the exhibit.
“The LMC believes these groups of workers are truly Fort Scott’s unsung heroes, as they have given so much of themselves to our community’s citizens during the pandemic and continue to do so,” according to the press release. “We encourage all Fort Scott area citizens to support these heroes by viewing the new exhibits at the Lowell Milken Center, sharing words of gratitude and support in the LMC guest book and through the LMC’s social media pages on Facebook – www.facebook.com/LowellMilkenCenter, Twitter – https://twitter.com/LowellMilkenCtr, and Instagram – www.instagram.com/LowellMilkenCtr.”
Emergency Medical Services workers. Photo from the exhibit.
Local health professionals encourage people to celebrate safely
Crawford County Covid-19 cases are increasing, as well as throughout the region and they are already affecting local and regional hospitals, according to Dr. Tim Stebbins, Crawford County Health Officer and Director at Ascension Via Christi Emergency Department.
With the July 4 holiday approaching, Stebbins is concerned that traditional celebrations, including family and community gatherings, will increase the risk for transmission of Covid-19 and cause possible serious medical impact, especially on those who are not vaccinated against the disease.
Since the initial wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, Via-Christi Hospital in Pittsburg has gone from single digits of Covid-19 patients weekly back up into the 20s, and last week to 51 including ventilated patients with admissions on track for similar numbers this week.
Stebbins says nationally, 80-90% of new infections are in the unvaccinated/nonimmune group, with more than 90% of hospitalizations in the same group. Over the last few months, 98% or more of the deaths from Covid-19 are in the unvaccinated/nonimmune group.
Health officials have confirmed some of the new infections in Crawford County are the Delta variant of Covid-19.
As of mid-June 2021, the CDC estimates the Delta variant is accounting for 20% of new cases in the United States. The delta variant is challenging because it is highly transmissible and affects the younger age groups.
In milder cases, infected individuals may mistake the symptoms for a bad cold and not realize they need to isolate. Common symptoms reported have been headaches, sore throat, a runny nose, or fever.
Testing for COVID-19 is an essential part of containing the disease, and the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas has rapid testing available seven days a week. The Crawford County Health Department can also provide rapid testing.
For most vaccinated people, the current COVID-19 vaccines effectively prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from all current strains of the virus. Previous illness with Covid-19 also seems to provide some immunity from the disease.
“Everyone should consider their own risk when celebrating, including their own current health and vaccination or immune status,” Stebbins says. “If you have any immune compromising disease or illness, such as cancer, you should carefully weigh the risks and consider mitigation.”
Strategies to help prevent Covid-19 infection include handwashing, social distancing, and wearing a mask. It is especially important that all individuals, regardless of immune status, stay home if they think they might be ill.
The single greatest protection against COVID-19 for individuals age 12 and up is vaccination. Crawford County has a robust vaccination capability and vaccinations can be found through nearly all local pharmacies, SEK Urgent Care, PSU Health, Community Health Centers of Southeast Kansas, and the Crawford County Health Department. Three different vaccines are available in the County and vaccination is available to anyone 12 or older.
It is possible for all of us to celebrate this holiday safely and to minimize the risk of harm to our family and friends, Stebbins says. “Everyone should consider their own risk when celebrating including their current health and vaccination or immune status. We must all be smart in what we do, consider the risks, mitigate if appropriate, and seriously consider vaccination to prevent further spread and impact of this disease.”
The Bourbon County Commission room in the courthouse, September 2018.
The Bourbon County Commission will be receiving the former Mercy Hospital building at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd. and $600,000 from Mercy as a donation to the county, Rob Harrington, Bourbon County Economic Development Director said in an email.
Robert Harrington. Submitted photo.
Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed in October 2018.
The Sisters of Mercy had served the community since 1886.
Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas has had a clinic at the building since Mercy closed, but is moving when its’ lease is up at the end of 2022.
They have purchased the former Price Chopper store, 2322 Main Street, for their new facility.
The emergency department at the former hospital building also has a lease that will be up in 2022.
The county commission has been working on a solution to keep the building viable, as opposed to tearing the two-decades-old building down.
“Today is the beginning of a process, “Bourbon County Commissioner Clifton Beth said. “The attorneys will be going through the process of accepting the donation and the $600,000.”
Clifton Beth represents District 3. Photo from Facebook.
“We are in conversation with different entities that could potentially have use for that building,” Beth said.
The Bourbon County Commission is comprised of Beth, Lynne Oharah and Jim Harris.
First District Bourbon County Commissioner Lynne Oharah.Jim Harris, Bourbon County Commissioner, District 2.
Beth said credit needs to go to Harrington who has been working to find entities that are interested.
“A lot of behind-the-scenes work is going on,” Beth said.
“We are trying to save the building,” Beth said. “My main priority is to have an Emergency Room in Bourbon County.”
“At the end of the day, the end users for that building, if they can use it, great,” Beth said. “If not, we’ll look at other options.”
“My goal is to be sure we have an ER,” Beth said. “Ascension Via Christi has one-and-one-half years left on their (current) lease. In conversations with them, they are planning to stay.”
Ascension Via Christi operates the emergency department at the former Mercy Hospital building.
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE CHAMBER COFFEE ON FEBRUARY 25, 2021 HOSTED BY ASCENSION VIA CHRISTI ER DEPARTMENT.
Save the date for Chamber Coffee for February 25, 2021!
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces that the Chamber Coffee will be hosted by Ascension Via Christi ER Department on Thursday, February 25th at 8:00 a.m. at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd. Ascension Via Christi ER Department will be celebrating their Two-Year Anniversary in Fort Scott with a Drive-Thru hosting and serving coffee, donuts and a Free Mug for the Chamber Members and guest.
The Fort Scott Chamber President, Lindsay Madison will able to livestream video via Facebook while meeting and greeting the staff of the ER department. Other Chamber Members are welcomed to be part of the meet & great as well.
All attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks and masks will be available for those without one and practice social distancing.
The Chamber is now booking Coffees for 2021 calendar year. Any member business or organization wanting to host may contact the Chamber to reserve a date at 620-223-3566 or email [email protected].
Chamber members and guests are invited to Chamber Coffee events each Thursday at 8 a.m. to network, make announcements, hear about happenings in the community as well as learn about the host business or organization.
