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By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
Last week, brand new, fully equipped clinics opened to serve cardiology, endocrinology, hematology, nephrology, oncology, pulmonology and rheumatology patients. The offices, which look much like a regular doctor’s office, include a procedural room, exam rooms, a triage area and a comfortable chemotherapy room where patients can relax in recliners, watch TV, read or visit with others while taking their treatment. Family members and friends can also stay with chemo patients to offer support. Louise Duncan, director of nursing at PMH, said the chemotherapy is supervised by Duke University Medical Center and that five PMH nurses have been trained by Duke to administer the treatments. The service is now provided five days a week so that patients no longer have to travel to Durham, she said. “This is a huge service for people who are already sick, feel bad and are nervous,” Duncan said. “They don’t have to drive to Durham. Here,” she said of the specialty clinics at PMH, “they see people they know and get a personal approach.” The specialty clinics, explained Duncan and Clinics Manager Susan Long, are intended to give patients a sense of familiarity similar to what they would find in their doctor’s office. The clinics also offer space for patient and family counseling and education, they said. And, there is a private waiting room for patients who may be immuno-compromised. Patients who wish to participate in clinical trials now have local access as well, said Duncan, and no longer must drive to Durham to participate in new drug or treatment trials. Some bone marrow biopsies, blood transfusions, iron infusions, therapeutic phlebotomy and arthritis treatments are also offered in the specialty clinics. Two registered nurses, two nursing assistants, along with attending physician Dr. Karen Alexander, provide care for clinic patients. In addition to saving patients time and money from traveling to Durham, the specialty clinics also allow patients to “come in one door and receive all services, except radiology, in one place,” said Duncan, instead of hop-scotching all over the hospital. Parking space is provided close to the specialty clinics entrance, which is “better for patients getting in and out,” Clinics Manager Long pointed out. The hospital now serves eight to 10 chemo patients a week, said Duncan. Folks who are visiting in Person County may also get their treatments at PMH, but the clinic would need information from the patient’s oncologist before assigning a PMH oncologist to oversee the treatment. In addition to the chemo patients, the hospital serves 15 to 20 rheumatology patients every two weeks, along with 15 pulmonology patients each Friday and every other Monday. About eight neurology patients are seen every other Monday, and an average of 15 nephrology patients are treated weekly on Mondays and Tuesdays. The hospital recorded 8,900 such encounters last year, Duncan said, with an average of about 600 patients seen each month. Long said she was happy that the specialty clinics, in addition to offering patients hometown care, also provide more privacy and give physicians their own examining rooms, which allows them to do more for their patients. Operating hours for the clinics are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information may be found by calling the hospital at 599-2191 or visiting the Web site at www.personhospital.com. The specialty clinics are a part of the first phase of Person Memorial Hospital’s $14 million building and renovation plan that began earlier this year.
Reprinted with permission from |
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