A lot of exciting things are happening around the medical center this spring! New faces and new equipment can be seen around the facility, as well as some new events coming soon! We are so excited that Zane Bendig, NP has joined our team! He is already seeing patients in the clinic and getting settled in at our facility. We are thrilled to have him here.
The BSMC Foundation and the Medical Guild purchased a new tub and bath chair for our residents. It has finally arrived and been installed in our tub room. The bath chair is so much more comfortable than our previous one, our residents are very pleased. They say the tub is “beautiful” and “so much more convenient.” We’ve also been told that it is “really nice” and “so wonderful to have.” We understand that bathing becomes one of the hardest tasks to accomplish at home when caring for a loved one. In the event you’d like assistance bathing, appointments can be arranged for outpatient baths in our facility! Please call 378-2188 for scheduling. We wouldn’t have this great new equipment without the support of the Foundation and Guild, and, of course, our wonderful community members. A big thank you from all of us, staff and resident’s alike, for your continued support of Big Sandy Medical Center.
We have also acquired a new portable X-Ray machine via the Helmsley Grant. The Helmsley Trust began offering grants to different facets of medical care in 2008 with Rural Healthcare gaining its own category in 2009.
According to their website, “the program invests in projects that improve healthcare delivery and strengthen the healthcare workforce.” We applied for funds to be used specifically for the X-ray machine and are grateful to have been awarded the grant money.
Being portable, we are able to bring the machine to the patient, instead of the patient to the machine. That allows for greater comfort for our patients, especially those in pain in the ER. It also means less time spent transferring back and forth between departments.
Even more exciting, the machine has the capability to show the images immediately after taking them. This allows the provider to see and make decisions right there in the ER. As with all things in technology, there are constantly updates, improvements and changes and this machine keeps us “with the times.”
Although we don’t have many new faces in our CNA staff, they deserve to be mentioned too! National Nursing Assistance week was June 13-19; a week designed to celebrate them for all that they do. We know that a week isn’t enough to thank them for the daily care they provide, but we really are so grateful to have such awesome CNA’s! If you see Deb Baumgarn, Lynn Faber, Donna Fetch, Robin Coyler, Denise Harmon, Cody Houle, Quin Pegar, Lisa Sipler, Morgan Simpson, or Brandy Terry out and about, be sure to thank them for all they do for our residents!
At BSMC we understand the realities of working and living in our rural community. We all enjoy the wide-open spaces but often when emergencies occur, people are more than a few minutes from the hospital. For some folks, it could be well over 30 minutes before an ambulance could get to them in the field or on the ranch in their time of need.
One of our goals this year is to have ALL BSMC staff CPR certified, including those without direct patient care. Not only to be of help in an emergency situation in the hospital, but also to be proactive in the community should the need ever arise.
Jessica Dooley, RN, BSN has been teaching classes regularly since March and will have the last 6 staff members certified by the end of July. At that time, she will begin offering classes in our community. CPR classes will be $40 and include adult, child, and infant CPR as well as AED use.
There will also be an option for first aid, with an additional $20 cost. Each portion (CPR and First Aid) of the class takes roughly 4 hours to complete.
Classes will be capped at 6 people/class, per the American Heart Association standards. We all pray we never need to perform CPR, but it is better to be prepared and not need the training, than to be in a situation where you wish you knew what to do. You never know where you might be when someone you love needs life-saving care; you could be the one that saves their life.
In other news, Big Sandy Medical Center will be hosting their First Annual Corn Hole Tournament July 13 at the Jerry Martin Memorial Hall. This will be a great way to raise funds for the facility every summer. The monies raised at this year’s tournament will go towards the purchase of new IV pumps and a new cardiac monitor. This equipment allows us to safely administer medications and monitor our patients in the process, in accordance with the national standards of care. Our current equipment is outdated; in fact, most of it is older than our current Director of Nurses! For those of you wondering, Corn Hole is a lawn game most commonly played at camp sites and in back yards throughout the summer.
It has become quite competitive throughout the Midwest and we’re here to see what hidden talents reside in our Big Sandy community. The game is like a bean bag toss; however, official bags are filled with feed corn instead of dry beans.
Each team is made of two people and there are two boards set 27 feet apart. There is one hole in each board, the goal is to get as many bags on the board or in the hole as possible. Each turn allows 4 bags to be tossed; every bag that falls in the hole is worth 3 points, and 1 point is awarded for every bag on the board. If both teams score, their points cancel each other’s out meaning only one team scores with each turn.
The first team to 21 wins. Registration for the tournament is open now! If you’re interested in competing, get your registration and $50 entry fee in now as only 42 teams will be allowed to compete. There is an additional is a $10 fee for registration the day of the event. Registration forms are available at BSMC Nurse’s Station, The Grocery Store, or on the Facebook page.
There will be cash prizes awarded to the top 3 teams, graciously sponsored by, Pep’s, the Mint and the Diamond 4 U club. The Grocery Store has donated bottled water for those at the event as well. Ophus Auction Co. has sponsored the use of their sound system and someone to MC throughout the day, keeping everyone on track from the first toss, to the winning toss.
To keep you on your game there will be a cash bar, tended by employees of the facility, and Cow Patti’s Cook Shack will be serving up some delicious food. We are so grateful to the community for helping us put this together and can’t wait to see everyone at the tournament! Will you be the “Boss of the Toss?”
