Certified Diabetic Educator Nancy Evans, RN/BSN will lead the next meeting of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas’ Diabetic Education class on Tuesday, July 9 at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be held in the diabetic education room at CHC/SEK, 3011 N. Michigan in Pittsburg. Special guest Brenda Brennan, ARNP will also be present to answer your diabetes-related questions. There is no charge to attend, and the meeting is open to anyone interested in learning more about managing diabetes. For more information, contact Nancy Evans at (620)240-5027 or [email protected].
Dr. Daniel Minnis’s new location, 204 S. State Street.
Dr. Daniel Minnis is no stranger to Fort Scott.
Dr. Minnis managed Dr. Gary Brown’s dental practice for the last 14 years and when Brown wanted to retire, a buyer was sought.
” We diligently looked for a buyer without success and rather than close down the practice I decided to purchase … so patients would have access to care,” Minnis said.
Accent Dental LLC now has a new office at 204 State Street and is dedicated to providing high-quality dental care for the residents of Bourbon County, Minnis said.
The hours of operation are Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and the office can be reached at 620-223-0130.
Dr. Daniel Minnis and Jennifer Doherty, dental assistant prepare for the next patient at Accent Dental LLC.
The following questions were part of an interview with Minnis:
Education: University of Missouri Kansas City School of Dentistry
Experience: 30 Years, since 1988
Community involvement:
“Founded the Community Health Center of SEK Dental Clinic and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Community Health Center of SEK. I have worked as a volunteer for CHC/SEK for the last 14 years to help bring affordable Medical, Dental, and Mental Health Care to Southeast Kansas.”
What services do you provide to our community?
“All aspects of General Dentistry.”
Why did you pursue your career?
“I have desired to be a healthcare professional since the age of 14.”
Minnis employees from left: Alison Leach, receptionist; Dr. Minnis, Jennifer Doherty, dental assistant; Ashley Doyle, hygenist; Baylea White, assistant; Destiny Allen, assistant; Angie Smith, assistant. Not pictured: Katy Kanes, hygenist; Roger Nolte, DDS, and Latasha Vick, DDS.
Randy Cason, Ascension Via Christi Hospital President speaks at the grand opening of the Fort Scott Emergency Department on Feb. 28.
Ascension Via Christ came to Fort Scott to fill in the void of emergency care, following the closure of Mercy Hospital.
The following is an update on the facility options for the Fort Scott Emergency Department, from Randy Cason, president of Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg. Ascension Via Christ opened the local emergency department on Feb. 28, 2019.
“Ascension Via Christi stepped forward to meet the Fort Scott community’s immediate need for close-to-home emergency, laboratory and diagnostic imaging and we continue to explore and discuss options beyond our two-year lease agreement,” Cason said in a press release. “Our goal is to establish a sustainable model of care that best meets the needs of all the patients and families we serve in Ft. Scott and Southeast Kansas. However, we are still in the beginning stages of the exploration process of potential facility options.”
The door to the Emergency Department in Fort Scott.
The facility is operating out of the former Mercy Hospital building currently, which is located at 405 Woodland Hills on Fort Scott’s south side, just off Hwy. 69. The emergency department faces the south side of the building.
Ascension Via Christi took over operations of the emergency department in February 2019, following the closing of Mercy the end of December 2018.
From left: Tawny Sandifer, Ascension Via Christi Chief Nursing Officer; Naomi Powers, Director of the Emergency Department in Fort Scott and Pittsburg; Jessica Cobb, RN Nursing Manager, Fort Scott and Pittsburg; Kayla Stewart, RN Coordinator Clinical Program. The photo was taken during the opening of the emergency department in February 2019.
People who are interested in working with Ascension Via Christ can visit www.viachristi.org/jobs
Readers are asked to notify their government representatives about supporting an act to ensure benefits for illnesses associated with Agent Orange, which was used during the Vietnam War.
“Disability benefits are increased in increments,” according to Carl Jowers, American Legion Post 25 Commander. “Approval of this bill could lead to military personnel who handled Agent Orange chemicals on Guam or stateside to become eligible for Agent Orange disability benefits next.”
Background:
The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, which would ensure veterans who served in the offshore waters of Vietnam during the Vietnam War are never denied benefits for illnesses associated with Agent Orange exposure. H.R. 299 would also expand much needed benefits for veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange in Thailand and the Korean DMZ, as well as continue research on Gulf War illnesses.
This important bill now awaits consideration by the Senate, which failed to pass it last Congress.
Take Action:
Do not stand by as veterans suffer. Contact your Senators to demand they pass H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. The Senate must not delay while Blue Water Navy veterans sicken and die from diseases related to Agent Orange exposure.
On Facebook (copy and paste): I STAND with the VFW and call on the Senate to pass H.R. 299, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. Thousands of veterans who honorably served our country and now suffer from the wounds of war have waited too long for benefits they deserve! https://bit.ly/2QctydE
Krista Postai, President & CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas headquartered at 3011 N. Michigan, Pittsburg, KS 66762.
Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas is considering its options looking to the future of the Fort Scott center. They currently have a two-year lease with Mercy Hospital.
“We did formally request land from Mercy behind the existing hospital facing Horton Street and they have tentatively agreed to provide us space for a new 25,000 sq. ft. building,” Postai said. “Nothing formal has been signed but I understand the Mercy attorneys are working on it. This news has been shared with staff and we’ll start working on the design late in June.”
“We hope to fund it with a USDA low-interest loan they make available for rural communities like Ft. Scott,” she said. “It will have space for medical, dental, behavioral health services and a pharmacy. We hope to have it completed by January 2021.”
Recruitment is ongoing for the health center, she said.
“We do continue to work on staff recruitment for another physician and a psychologist or LSCSW, so if anyone has a relative that wants to move home we have a good opportunity for them,” Postai said.
Integrity Home Care + Hospice, formerly Mercy Hospice Fort Scott, received grant money from the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas to purchase a new Broda chair for the services they provide.
A grant amount of $2,500 was given and the chair is to be used in care for Alzheimer’s patients.
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas hosts individual charitable funds, created by donors who have a passion for giving back to their community.
Grants from the funds assist people throughout Southeast Kansas and many charities beyond Kansas.
Call the Community Foundation at 620-231-8897 with questions about this group and its many services available for donors.
Broda creates a line of tilt-in-space positioning chairs which are meant to improve people’s quality of life. They provide patients with a higher level of comfort and a higher quality of life. The chair provides ease of use for the caregiver and enhanced safety for the patient.
Integrity Home Care + Hospice is a home care company based out of Springfield, Missouri, who employs over 1100 employees, which includes nurses, certified nursing aides, caregivers, social workers, chaplains, and more. Integrity staff is passionate about helping clients navigate every step of the care process. Your Home. Your Healthcare. Integrity Home Care + Hospice is where proactive care and seamless solutions thrive. Let us help you chart the path to trusted healthcare wherever you call home.
The newly remodeled facility that was donated to Bourbon County EMS by Mercy Hospital, located northeast of Community Health Center at 405 Woodland Hills on May 13, 2019.
The new Bourbon County Emergency Medical Services Station at Woodland Hills is nearly complete.
“A new sign will be coming,” EMS Director Robert Leisure, “It will be seen from the street out front, Woodland Hills.”
“Mercy Hospital donated the building,” Leisure said. “The city runs the day-to-day operations. The trucks and facility are owned by the county.”
Inside the station is housed four EMS vehicles.
“Two duty and two transfer trucks,” Leisure said. “Two ambulances are at the Fort Scott Fire Department (on National Avenue).”
Paramedic Mike Kreiger consults with Bourbon County EMS Director Robert Leisure in the new facilities day room.
There is a dayroom to “relax and get off our feet in between calls,” Paramedic Mike Krieger said.
EMT Katelyn Harper works at the reporting station in the new EMS facility, it is adjacent to the kitchen area.
There is one large room that the main office, day room and kitchen are located in.
The kitchen area of the Bourbon County EMS Station at 405 Woodland Hills. In the background is the hallway to the laundry, sleep rooms, bathrooms and the director’s office.There are separate bathroom facilities for male and female employees, complete with lockers and shower.Paramedic Mike Kreiger and EMT Aide Chris Reed in the EMS station dayroom in between calls.Each shift employee has a sleeping room at the EMS station.
There are four separate sleeping rooms for shift employees.
“The EMS schedule varies on which days are worked,” Leisure said. “But the goal is two 24 hour’s (shifts) per week or 48 hours per week.”
Laundry room facilities, with the dayroom/work station/kitchen area in the background.Three of the four EMS vehicles located at the Woodland Hills Station.
EMS Director Robert Leisure indicated the new ambulance service is doing well.
For an earlier feature on the service, click below:
Robert Leisure, Bourbon County Emergency Medical Services Director, 2019.
Robert Leisure was chosen as the new Bourbon County Emergency Services Director, with an official starting date of April 29.
“Robert has been a Paramedic/RN with the service for the past 23 years. Christi Keating had decided that she was no longer going to serve in the capacity of EMS Director earlier in the year,” Dave Bruner said.
EMT Katlyn Harper works at the reporting station at the new Bourbon County EMS facility at 405 Woodland Hills, northeast of the Community Health Center. Bourbon County EMS Director Robert Leisure fields a call in the background.
Bruner is a representative of the City of Fort Scott on a task force that was given the job of transitioning the services from Mercy Hospital. Keating was a representative of Mercy Hospital and there were also representatives from Bourbon County on the task force that was formed following the announcement of the closure of the hospital in October 2018.
“We opened the position up and Robert expressed interest as well as three other candidates,” Bruner said. “Robert was chosen to fill the EMS director position.”
“I was already a Mercy employee and transitioned over to county with the rest of the staff,” Leisure said. “I was asked and encouraged to step up and fill a void left by the late Danny Hall.”
Robert Leisure, Bourbon County Emergency Medical Services Director, 2019.
He has several decades experience in emergency services.
“I’ve been a Kansas paramedic for 23 years or since 1996,” he said. “Most of my EMS career was spent in this general area and mostly with Mercy.”
Leisure is a registered nurse with 16 years of experience with Mercy Hospital.
“Nearly all (nursing experiences)have come in the ER setting with the exception of a brief stint of flight nursing with Eagle Med,” he said.
Leisure believes he has a good mix of employees.
“I’m currently fully staffed with 10 full time and 15 part-time employees” Leisure said. “It’s a good mix of paramedic and EMT’s. Some with vast experience and some just getting started.”
Leisure is learning the director job with help and has been challenged and motivated by this new position in a good way, he said.
“My duties are very fluid to me right now as I’m learning the position which is a new position, with no predecessor to really follow,” he said. “I’m being helped greatly by both Christie Keating and Dave Bruner in this transition. Christie has an extensive background in management mostly inter-hospital. And Dave is very knowledgeable about the inner workings of governmental processes.”
His duties include: “ordering and maintaining medical supplies and medications, ensuring billing of the runs we do is done accurately and on time, ensuring compliance with all state policies and procedures for ambulance operations, configuring a schedule of work for staff that see’s all shifts are covered with two crews on a 24/7 basis,” he said.
In addition, “duties include quality assurance where run reports are reviewed to assure a certain level of care is maintained, hiring and maintaining a full staff, facilitating regular maintenance of the six ambulances, meeting with the medical director and reporting to both county and city commissions since the service is run by the city and owned by the county,” he said.
The partnership between the City of Fort Scott and the Bourbon County administration has worked well.
” I have nothing but great things to say about both commissions as they’ve worked together exceptionally,” Leisure said.
Bourbon County Ambulance Service has a station at 405 Woodland Hills, northeast of the Community Health Center building, and one at the Fort Scott Fire Department on National Avenue.
To view earlier stories on the Bourbon County Ambulance:
This is the first story in a National Public Radio series that will explore how the closure of a rural hospital, Mercy Hospital Fort Scott, disrupts a community’s health care, economy and identity.
Across the country, more than 100 rural hospitals like Fort Scott’s have closed since 2010, under increasing financial pressure.
Because of public response, NPR added a Facebook page for public comments, see the last link in this feature.
