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 Bedford County Medical Center CEO Dan Buckner briefed the Shelbyville City Council Tuesday on what to expect at the new Heritage Medical Center, set to open on July 12. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] |
That was the message Dan Buckner had for Shelbyville City Council Tuesday as he briefed them on what to expect when the new facility opens on July 12.
He invited the council for a private tour of the facility to show them what the $40 million hospital will bring to Bedford County.
Buckner said that they have seen a 35 to 40 percent increase in patients since January and that his staff "is really hitting the mark." Turn around time in the emergency room is down as well, he said.
The layout of the new hospital also allows for easy expansion and Buckner said the move for patients will be like moving from a hut to a house. Currently, Bedford County Medical Center is one of only two hospitals that do not have medical gases pumped into their rooms.
"That tells you how old we are," Buckner noted.
During the last two weeks of June, several open houses will be conducted for the public and officials, as well as a day for family members of workers to see where their loved ones will be employed. Patients would be moved to the new facility on July 12.
Buckner added that as of Monday, the medical building being constructed in front of Heritage is now 100 percent leased and talks have also begun to build a second medical office building there.
"I'm proud to bring you a brand new hospital and a brand new attitude," Buckner said.
Council members took a look at the concept of numbering Shelbyville's traffic lights to make it easier to give directions to people from out of town. Also, councilman Al Stephenson complained that traffic lights in Shelbyville do not seem to function properly during rainfall events.
"The traffic lights in Shelbyville s--k!", Stephenson said. He stated that he recently waited at an intersection and even though there was no oncoming traffic, the lights would not change.
Gene Williams addressed the council to ask the city to provide a donation toward the expenses for the visit of the Moving Wall, the half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.,
The mobile memorial is scheduled to be in Shelbyville from Oct. 30-Nov. 3 at Riverwalk Park behind the Fly Arts Center, home of the Shelbyville-Bedford County History Museum. The wall contains the names of the 58,253 persons who died during the Vietnam War, including 12 from Bedford County.
Williams said that Bedford County had already donated $2,500 toward the effort and the Celebration recently made a donation as well.
A new retirement issue will also be addressed by the council, this time dealing with city employees who are fully vested in the retirement plan, but have already left the city's employment. The move the city is proposing will leave the retirement age at 65 and allow workers to retire without the loss of benefits.
A motion will be before the council next week to authorize the mayor to execute a purchase order with Verizon Wireless. Signing up for the federal contract would result in a discount of 19 percent off service charges, along with other amenities such as discounts on phones. City employees would all be eligible for the 19 percent discounts.
Another motion to be before the council next week is to excuse the contract for the Spring Carnival at H.V. Griffin Park to be held on March 25 -29. Another event to be authorized is the fireworks display scheduled for July 4. The county normally contributes half of the $7,500 for the pyrotechnic display.
The Shelbyville Fire Department is asking the council for authorization to apply for a $30,000 grant to buy a 6000 psi air compressor, cascade system and fill station to fill air bottles capable of holding an hour's worth of air.
The council will also vote on granting an easement to the Duck River Electric Membership Cooperative to supply power to the new maintenance hangar at the Shelbyville Airport.
The council will also vote on several bids next week, which will include the refurbishment of the transfer station, repair of the Brookhaven subdivision sign, a portable aquatic lift for the recreation center pool, skateboard ramps for H.V Griffin Park and mowers for the parks department.
Last year my father was in Bedford County Hospital. Not once but twice. The first stay was good; However, when he went home on Wed only to come back on Thurs and undergo emergency surgery again for the same thing, you get to wondering. The first stay... the nurses were wonderful. The second stay and the "rent a nurse" was horrible. The nurse kept telling us the Dr. orders had not come down. We finally resorted to calling the Dr and then the nurse was ticked. But not near as ticked as I was.
My father will NEVER go back to Bedford County Hospital if avoidable. I don't give a dang if you build a 3000 room hospital. I saw to much in the time he was there. 5 people on the floor and they can't answer the calls. No sheets, no towels, no washclothes... I made up his bed. No hand washing...
I agree the emergency room nurses are better but when you don't have them in the rooms, you take your business elswhere. I am not in the business of being SICK.
Harten
unhappycitizen - You my friend are on target. lol. No one thinks labor laws should apply to Healthcare workers, ie Nurses. They work a 12-13 hr shifts, might get a drink of water, a candy bar or (chips as jesuslives witnessed). I do belive it unprofessional to eat where pts can see you, but sometimes its the only venue to get food. Nurses do their job not because of good pay, hours are crappy, they deal with constant complaining and most keep a smile. Why because of dedication to caring for others, and meeting others needs before they meet their own while at work. Nurses and MD's are human beings, highly trained and skilled. Any ER worldwide will take the critical and make the non urgents wait. Society as a whole doesnt like to wait, whether its Wal Mart, the grocery, or the gas pump. An ER is a specialized area which should be approached with "COMMON SENSE" regarding the urgency of the matter. A flu patient only exposes more people to the flu. The flu is a virus in which most healthy individuals survive year after year, unless they are predisposed to medical problems. There is no cure for the flu. It doesnt warrant abuse of an ER then badmouth the ER because they had to wait, or because they need a work note to cover for missing work. Bedford County should be proud they are getting a new facility with better equipment, perhaps it will help with attitudes. They will have more room, and be able to decrease the wait times. Believe it or not, it causes the staff to be under stress knowing there are those waiting to be seen.
The issues of doctors, i agree. There are some really bad doctors there. But there are some really great ones. The issue is the er wait times are not because of poor doctors or bad staff, it is because of increased volume because some people use the ER for everything that there primary physican should take care of it. The ER is for emergencies quote EMERGENCY ROOM. Not rashes, not colds, not the flu. It is for chest pain, trauma, emergency births, difficulty breathing, etc.
jesuslives You state they sat 45 minutes and ate theer chips. Well i understand that it may have prolonged your stay, but did you eat lunch that day, breakfast, dinner. Yes it seams very disrespectful, but they have to eat to. a 12 hour shift with 80-100 patients a day can make you hungry, it may have seem like that to you but that may have been all they had to eat for a few hours.
Actually I think I could be in Tullahoma by the time I fight traffic on 231 going all the way out to the airport area.
Jesuslives
Really wasnt trying to imply your child wasnt sick, or that you yelled or screamed. You sound like a great parent. The audience I was referring to are i.e. those who take all 3-5 of their kids to the ER who have a cold , or get a tick on them, or have scratch from where they fell down. Its unforntunate they may have to sit and wait until the urgent patients are seen. In the meantime they think they are being ignored, and feel as if they havent received adequate care. From what I have seen in rural areas most pediatricians will accomodate an appointment. But it requires a phone call during their office hours. Yes, problems begin after their office hours but they still have an answering service. And most of the time they tell someone to go to the ER after hours. Thats why it is so important for all to have an MD outside of an ER who knows their problems. An ER does not subsitute for a regular MD. An ER is costly. Over the years our healthcare providers have had to adjust to more guidelines imposed on them. I have confidence in BCMC and wouldnt hesitate to go there in an Emergency. With my non-emergent needs I will continue to utilize my regular MD.
Jesuslives,
I can fully understand your concern for your child. From what you describe, that constituted a trip to to ER, and had it been a family member of mine, yes I would have asked more questions. It's hard sometimes to put a bad experience behind you esp. when it comes to a child. Rashes can be hard to diagnose at times which is why we have specialist (pediatrician, dermatologist) in the medical profession. Where most medical folks become frustrated is with the abuse that happens within healthcare and ER's all over the country are experiencing it. Rural hospitals often get bad raps because they do not have all the "fancy" equipment of large hospitals, but most have decent first line care and have the best shot at getting you to a larger medical center the fastest. As I said before, both rural and urban medical center have their good and not so good medical professionals and their reason for being where they are at.
I would have went to a doctor if it had not been 10:30 at night on a Saturday. And for you information it wasn't just a rash. His legs had swelled to an unbelievable size. If doctors cannot help diagnoss a rash, then would you want to go for chest pains. And I guess if I was being selfish so be it. I have seen people commenting on the lady leaving her child in her vehicle saying how wrong she was. Well let me tell you I look after my kids and make sure they are taken care of. I didn't go into the er and yell and scream, but you better believe I am going to question a doctor when I know they are wrong! I am not saying all people who work at BCMC are bad but when you have a bad experience you don't want to go back. Especially when it concerns my child.
I will make a suggestion to all those that have purposely stayed away from or moved their medical care to another town. When you or a family member are having a medical crisis i.e. heart attack, difficulty breathing, car accident with major injuries, please take the extra 30 - 60 minutes to take a private car to another emergency room to get stabilized. I sure would not want you to take the chance of our local hospital saving your life and having you safely transported to a larged medical center safely. As I said before, I have worked at both small and large medical centers, both have good and not so good medical professionals and both have their purpose for being in the places in which they exist.
Sorry, I just made the effort this month to have all my medical needs moved to Tullahoma...WHY, I am not going to take the risk of being robbed parking on 231. I don't want to contribute to the choking traffic this is going to cause. And the doctors and thier office staff here are of the LOWEST standard.
AMEN DAISY MAE you are right on. The doctors here give pathetically minimal care for a whole bunch of reasons. Mainly, they don't have to compete for paying customers and get away with what ever way they want to treat you. I pay and I moved to Tullhoma. For one thing the desk people are more educated acting an a lot nicer...
Sharon 22 your sensible and realistic opinion is appreciated. Its easy for those disgruntled to criticize others. Healthcare is an easy target. I posted once before and will repeat again. Where is "Common Sense"? If its not life, limb, or threatening eyesight, its not considered an Emergency, however to a distraught parent with a child with a new rash it constitutes all the above. Its called panic. Go to the ER and see if you can talk loud, yell, draw attention to yourself, and get ahead of others who have been appropriately triaged. I promise you, if you go to another ER; say in Nashville, its the same thing, except a longer wait, because they treat it as ER and not as a clinic. We now unfortunately live in a selfish, priviledged rural community, and expect immediate service. An ER MD does not subsitute for your child pediatrician, nor should it be abused for just wanting a work note because you missed work the day before. People dont realize, your local ER can only perform as well as the local community allows it to perform their duties. So, an analogy if I present to Bedford ER or any ER USA with chest pain with cardiac history, should someone with a common cold be allowed treatment before me? Think and use "Common Sense", dont abuse ER's for clinical reasons.
Whats a new building going to do if you don't have a staff take time to diagnoss the problem correctly. I think we have some good staff but some of the physicians, I have to wonder about. I had to take my child to the e.r. about a year ago. because of a severe rash. He was broke out in welps so bad on his legs that he felt like his circulation was being cut off. We sat in there for 45 minutes while they sat there eating there chips. Finally, when the doctor came in he told me my son had chicken pox. My son had chicken pox when he was 1,and he didn't have blisters now that even looked like chicken pox. When I told the doctor this, he proceeded to tell me it was a rash. DUH! HE told me it would go away. I continued to argue something was wrong. He told me he could prescribe me some antibiotic ointment, but did not think we needed it. He gave me a scrip anyway. I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with vasculitis. This could be dangerous if it gets in your organs. We battled this for months. My bill was over 800.00 to be told he had chicken pox. Go figure!
MTMC has just experienced a round of layoffs at their hospital. I'm fairly sure that it will have an impact on patient care. I understand some of those laid off were 20-30 year employees.
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php...
Our local hospital is not perfect by no means, but we are lucky to have a hospital still in existance in Shelbyville. I may not want to have open heart or bypass surgery at Bedford county, but I sure glad they are here to stabilize a person and transport them to a major medical center. I have worked at both rural and big city hospitals, both have their cons and pros and both have good and not so good medical professionals.
I drive to work in Mboro. I notice that the AirPort lights beam shines directly accross all the 2nd floor windows everytime it comes around. Was this part of the design? Also I have been a resident of Shelbyville for a number of years. I notice when the Hosp was a county org it has alot more people working. When I go now I notice that there are alot of staff running around like crazy. The nursing staff are just pushed to keep up with the amount of patients. The nonclinical people like housekeeping are just in a run. Thay dont have any joy what so ever. Is it normal to reduce staffing to the point that patient care is delayed. I dont see that at other hosp, like MTMC others in our area.
I WILL AGREE TO A POINT OF THE POOR HEALTHCARE. YOU DO HAVE AT LEAST THREE GREAT ER DOCTORS AND A GOOD NUMBER OF GREAT ER NURSES. THERE IS A CONCERN ABOVE THAT LEVEL. THE FLOOR, CCU, AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS. SERIOUSLY NEED AN UPGRADE. THERE IS A GREAT AMBULANCE SERVICE IN THIS COUNTY THAT IS GROWING TO FIT THE NEEDS OF THE PUBLIC.
THE MAIN CONCERN THAT I HAVE IS THE LACK OF GOOD CARE AT NURSING HOMES. GLEN OAKS AND BEDFORD COUNTY NURSING HOME ARE PATHETIC AT BEST. THEY NEED TO RECRUIT MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE NURSES AND STAFF NURSE PRACTITIONERS OR PA'S THERE TO RECEIVE THE STRESS ON THE ELDERLY BY SENDING THEM TO THE ER FOR A COLD OR OTHER BASIC CARE NEED.
AMEN daisy mae.. The doctors in bedford county aren't worth the [vulgarity deleted] in a drug test cup. They all are on the Corporate payrolls of the companies in town or why else would a company take you to "their" doctor when you get hurt instead of letting you go to your own doctor whom already knows you, and then just pick up the tab. I will tell you why......Scratch my back and I scratch yours! Nuff said. I know there is a doctor here in Bedford that had license pulled in another state for causing the death of a child. [Profanity deleted], bring all of them here. I will just keep going to Murfreesboro or Nashville, you know where they have REAL doctors.
Heck, Bedford County residents go elsewhere for their hospitalization needs because of much better healthcare in other cities. A new medical center is a step in the right direction but there is also a dire need to upgrade the 'quality' of the medical professionals --doctors, nurses, ect-- in the county.