“The (Mercy Hospital) emergency room will operate as Mercy until Feb. 1,” said Tina Rockhold, whose last day as the communication director for Mercy Hospital Fort Scott was Dec. 28.

“The emergency room is open as usual until Jan. 31,” Reta Baker,  Mercy Hospital Administrator, said. “The clinics are available and open until January 31, then will continue as Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas.”

“Convenient Care is closed Jan. 1 (because of the New Year’s holiday) and will be open Jan 2, with the same hours and phone number,” Baker said.

The phone numbers will remain the same for the clinics, Rockhold said.

Mercy Convenient Care on National Avenue’s phone number is 620-223-8428. Mercy’s Clinic at the hospital is 223-8402. The Mercy Emergency Room can be contacted by phone through the main Mercy phone line at 223-2200.

The clinics scheduled transitions are as follows:

• Mercy Clinic Family Medicine Linn County, located at 11155 Tucker Road, Pleasanton, Kansas, will transition to CHC/SEK effective January 1, 2019
• Mercy Clinic Family Medicine Arma, located at 601 E. Washington Street, Arma, Kansas, will transition to CHC/SEK effective January 1, 2019
• Mercy Clinic Fort Scott, located at 403 Woodland Hills Boulevard, Fort Scott, Kansas, will transition to CHC/SEK effective February 1, 2019
• Mercy Convenient Care National, located at 1624 S. National Avenue, Fort Scott, Kansas, will transition to CHC/SEK effective February 1, 2019

Patients who plan to transition care the CHC are required to complete a medical release form.

 This will allow past medical records to be uploaded into the CHC/SEK electronic health records so providers can view a patient’s medical history once they are seen as CHC/SEK patients.

Parents and guardians may complete a release of medical records for those patients less than 18 years old. A durable power of attorney designation is necessary to complete a form for anyone older than 18 who is unable to sign.

An online release of medical records is available at https://tinyurl.com/chcsekROI.

Filling out online takes about 10 minutes or less.

To complete a hard copy form, please contact Jessica Marsh at [email protected] or call 620-223-8515. Completed forms may be mailed to Jessica Marsh; Mercy Fort Scott Medical Records; 401 Woodland Hills Blvd.; Fort Scott, KS, 66701.

Access to numerous health care services will remain intact following the closure of Mercy Hospital due in part to a substantial donation from Mercy Health Foundation Fort Scott. The foundation board agreed to donate $300,000 to Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas to ensure the continuation of essential health care services in Fort Scott and Bourbon County.

Mercy Health Foundation board members presented the check for $300,000 to CHC/SEK leadership on Tuesday, December 18.

Many services currently offered by Mercy will transition to CHC/SEK in Fort Scott effective February 1. The services include:

• A primary care clinic consisting of Dr. Katrina Burke, Dr. P.K. Gugnani, Dr. Maxwell Self, and numerous nurse practitioners.

• Convenient Care located at 1624 S. National will also transition to CHC/SEK effective February 1. Hours of the convenient care clinic will remain the same.

• Pre-natal care will continue to be offered with Dr. Larry Seals and Dr. Katrina Burke.

• Lab, x-ray, and mammograms.

• Future expansion of services by CHC/SEK which will likely include dental care, behavioral health and transportation services.

Funds donated by Mercy Health Foundation will assist CHC/SEK with start-up costs associated to support a new electronic health record and documentation system, computers, phones, printers and other business-related devices necessary to manage a clinic.

Mercy Health Foundation—Fort Scott, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, raises money and community awareness for Mercy Hospital. It is dependent on the support of individuals, corporations and foundations to help Mercy meet community health care needs. Mercy Health Foundation invests its philanthropic support in facilities and the advancement of technologies and programs to enhance Mercy’s ability to provide excellence in health care. For more information, visit mercy.net/giving.

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.