Grant helping tobacco-free program provide diapers for new moms

Thanks to a grant from Ozarks Health Advocacy Foundation (OHAF), 20 local mothers will receive diapers for a year as an incentive to stay tobacco free.

The $6,480 grant from OHAF allows Cox Medical Center Branson to fully implement a Baby & Me -Tobacco Free program. Baby & Me - Tobacco Free is an evidenced-based tobacco cessation program targeted specifically at pregnant women.

“Through the Baby & Me - Tobacco Free program, we will provide counseling, support and resources to pregnant women in our community,” explains Tracey Williams, director of OB Women’s Services. “Our goal is to come alongside expectant moms, help them quit and then incentivize them to stay quit. By helping these soon-to-be moms become tobacco-free, we’ll be able to improve birth outcomes and long-term positive outcomes, for mother and baby. We are very grateful of Ozarks Health Advocacy Foundation’s grant that will help us encourage moms by providing them with a much needed essential for that first year.”

“At Ozarks Health Advocacy Foundation, one of our priorities is to address the critical needs of children,” says Cindy Fulp, president of OHAF. “We believe in the Branson area, there is a lot of need for a program like Baby & Me. An estimated 25 percent of pregnant women in Taney and Stone counties use tobacco and we hope, with this grant, we are able to help move that needle in the right direction.”

Ozarks Health Advocacy Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in southwest Missouri by providing support to area nonprofit agencies addressing children's critical physical, mental, and dental health needs in the Ozarks.

For more information about Baby & Me – Tobacco Free, visit babyandmetobaccofree.org or call CoxHealth Women’s Center Branson at 348-8313.

Join us for a conference focused on healthy communities

CoxHealth is proud to be the presenting sponsor of this year’s Public Affairs Conference at Missouri State University. This year’s theme is “Building Healthy Communities: Body, Mind, Spirit.”

Plenary speakers include;
- Jillian Michaels -- Keynote Speaker, Health and wellness expert
- Mark Umbreit -- Restorative Justice
- Paul Thomlinson -- Why People Die by Suicide
- Robert Putnam -- Our Kids: American Dream in Crisis
- Zack Exley -- Information, Tech & Class Gap
- Peter Gray -- Emotional Resilience in College

For more information and details, please visit the conference website at this link.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Brock Shamel named administrative director of regional services

Congratulations Brock Shamel! Brock, who joined our Branson team in 2010 as an intern, has been named administrative director of regional services for CoxHealth!

In his new role, Brock will be responsible for the overall operations of CoxHealth regional services’ 75-plus ambulatory and hospital-based practices, coordinating and integrating services with partner members of Cox Medical Group. Over t...he past 6 years, Brock has taken on roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately moving into the role of director of Cox Medical Center Branson clinics in 2014. 

Brock completed his undergraduate degree at College of the Ozarks and received a master’s degree in health administration from Missouri State University.

“Brock is an inspirational leader, combining great vision for the big picture with a keen connection to the details of clinic operations,” says Max Buetow, vice president, regional services and neurosciences. “He brings his energy, integrity and compassion to work with him every day.” 

Cox Family Medicine Residency to gain nine resident physicians

For nearly 30 years, the Cox Family Medicine Residency program (Cox FMR) has been the only physician residency program in the Ozarks. Now the program, which works to train physicians who will be at the forefront of patient care, is gaining nine new resident physicians.

Cox FMR is pleased to announce the Class of 2019:  

• Jennifer Bulcock, MD, University of Kansas – Kansas City
• Matthew Dalke, MD, University of Arkansas – Little Rock
• Whitney Davis, DO, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
• Alyssa Easter, MD, University of Missouri – Columbia
• Jenny Eichhorn, MD, University of Missouri, Kansas City
• Cliff Ganus, MD, St. George’s University       
• Evan Johnson, MD, University of Arkansas – Little Rock
• John Long, MD, University of Kansas – Salina
• Lukas Mathews, MD, Ross University

Nationally, there has been an increase in the number of medical school seniors who are choosing primary care residencies. But the need is still great, and the shortage of primary care doctors is a reality. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of 91,000 primary care physicians by 2020 to keep up with expected health care demands. As a result, CoxHealth expanded the residency positions available from 8 to 9 this year with hopes for further expansion in the future. 

“This year, we had 775 applicants to our program for 9 available spots,” said residency administrator Tonya Fisher. “This speaks not only to the increasing trend of medical school seniors recognizing the importance of serving as a primary care physician, but also to the strength of our program here at CoxHealth.”

Another benefit of having a primary care physician residency in the Ozarks? Many residency graduates choose to practice medicine locally: In fact, 62% of the graduates in the past five years have remained in Southwest Missouri. 

“There is no question that CoxHealth’s commitment to maintaining a quality residency program and training excellent family physicians benefits everyone in our region,” says Fisher. “Physicians trained here tend to stay here.”

Cox Branson to receive Excellence in Eye Donation Award

 

Saving Sight, one of the largest eye banks in the country, will be recognizing the staff at Cox Medical Center Branson on Friday, March 25, for their outstanding commitment to donation.

Saving Sight awards the Excellence in Eye Donation Award to its partner hospitals that achieve an eye donation consent rate of more than 45 percent and had at least 10 patients donate eye tissue in 2015. Last year, staff at Cox Branson helped to facilitate 23 eye donation cases, which resulted in 22 individuals receiving restored sight through a cornea transplant. Overall, the hospital achieved a 64 percent consent rate for eye donation.

The Excellence in Eye Donation Award was created in 2014 to recognize hospitals that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to eye donation. Fewer than 15 percent of Saving Sight’s partner hospitals are being recognized with the honor. This year marks the second time Cox Branson will receive an Excellence in Eye Donation Award.

“We applaud Cox Medical Center Branson for empowering others to give the gift of sight and for striving to create a culture that supports donation,” said Tony Bavuso, CEO of Saving Sight. “Thanks to the generosity of eye donors and their families, and the staff at Cox Medical Center Branson, more people than ever were able to receive a sight-saving cornea transplant last year.”

The Saving Sight award will be presented to Cox Branson at 11:30 a.m. March 25 in the CoxHealth Outpatient Center lobby. In conjunction with the Saving Sight honor, Mid-America Transplant will have representatives on hand starting at 9 a.m. registering first-person donors. Community Blood Center of the Ozarks will also host a blood drive from noon to 6 p.m. in the Cox Branson Tree Rooms that day.

In Springfield, Cox South will be receiving an Excellence in Eye Donation Award on April 15. Cox South achieved a 60 percent consent rate with 150 donors.

Each year around 48,000 individuals in the United States require a cornea transplant to restore vision that has been lost due to disease, disorder or injury. With the help of hospital partners like Cox Branson, Saving Sight provided corneas for more than 3,000 of those transplant surgeries in 2015.  For more information on becoming an eye, organ and tissue donor please visit donatelife.net.

CoxHealth physicians, survivor to host prostate cancer informational event

There’s nothing like getting information firsthand: On March 29, the community is invited to learn more about prostate cancer from CoxHealth physicians and a local survivor. The evening, which is open to both men and women, features heavy appetizers – and a chance to hear more about diagnosis and treatment of the disease straight from those who know it best.

 “It is important for men to understand that prostate cancer is very treatable, but it isn’t something to ignore,” says Dr. Abe Abdalla, radiation oncologist with CoxHealth, who notes that nearly 200,000 men are estimated to be diagnosed with the disease in 2016 in the United States alone. After skin cancer, it’s the most common form of cancer for men – 26,000 are estimated to die from it this year – and will affect around one out of every seven men.

But there are ways to fight it. “There are a variety of treatment options available, so it’s important to have all the information before making a decision on how to combat the disease,” says Dr. Abdalla. “Some prostate cancer patients with very favorable features do not need aggressive treatment and could be closely observed, while many other patients need carefully tailored plans to treat their cancers and maintain a good quality of life. But in it all, awareness and testing are crucial components.”  

Dr. Abdalla will present at the event alongside Dr. David Anderson, a urologist at CoxHealth. The duo will speak about prostate cancer as its relates to their specialties, as well as why testing and treatment are important. Tom Guy, a local survivor, will also discuss his experience with the disease. All three will answer questions from the audience.

The event will be held at 6 p.m. in Foster Auditorium at Cox Medical Center South (3801 S. National Ave., Springfield). Registration for the event is requested by March 25. For more information or to register, call 417-269-5224.

Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Cox Branson meets ‘gold standard’ in care

John Pafford, who recently suffered a stroke, walks down a hallway inside the Acute Rehabilitation Unit with help from Physical Therapy Assistant Whitney Haughery.

The Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Cox Medical Center Branson has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation, the highest level possible, from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This award marks the third time the comprehensive inpatient rehab unit has received the high honor from CARF.

 

“CARF is the premier accrediting body for rehabilitation programs and considered the gold standard,” says Acute Rehabilitation Unit Program Director Nancy Ward. “While it is a voluntary program, it is a very rigorous program that we choose to undergo because we want to be the best for our patients.”

 

The unit is dedicated to helping individuals recover mobility and daily activities following illness, injury or disease. The staff of the 13-bed unit includes a physiatrist, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, dedicated social worker and other support staff.

 

“We are a small, specialized unit and therefore we are able to provide very individualized care,” Ward explains. “Our goal is to get each person who comes through our unit back home and enjoying life.”

The unit includes a transitional living apartment where individuals practice skills such as cooking, entering and exiting a bathtub as well as getting into and out of a traditional bed. Before going home, individuals also spend time practicing getting into and out of a car.

 

“Anything they would do at home, we do with them here,” Ward says.

 

Individuals may be referred to from home, doctor’s office, emergency room, assisted living, nursing home or hospital.

 

For more information about the Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Cox Branson, call 348-8217.

Ask an expert about shoulder pain management

When it comes to shoulder pain, there are a variety of treatment options, ways to reduce discomfort and avenues to improve mobility. People can learn more about those opportunities on Tuesday, March 22 with Dr. Ken Carpenter, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at CoxHealth.

 

“Knowledge allows people to have options,” says Dr. Carpenter. “It’s my hope that attendees will leave this event encouraged by what they learn and the information they receive.”


This free evening, which is open to anyone who would like to attend, features a presentation by Dr. Carpenter. He will also take questions from the audience. The event will be held at The Meyer Center (3545 S. National Ave., Springfield) in Conference Room B from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Registration is requested. For more information or to register, call 417-269-INFO.

New Cox Branson physician dedicated to caring for nursing home residents

Dr. Jessica King

Cox Medical Center Branson is welcoming Jessica King, MD, CMD. Dr. King’s time will be dedicated to caring for residents of two area nursing homes.

“Our providers are excited to work directly with a CoxHealth physician who has proven expertise in managing the complex medical conditions that many of these skilled nursing facility patients may have,” said Cox Branson Chief Medical Officer Brian Clonts, MD. “We believe that Dr. King will be a tremendous asset in providing excellent care for the patients discharged from Cox Medical Center Branson to one of these facilities.”

Dr. King, who grew up in Mountain Grove, attended medical school at University of Missouri - Kansas City. She completed her residency at Cox Family Medicine Residency in Springfield and is family medicine board certified.

She explained that when she completed her medical training, she didn’t anticipate working only in nursing homes. However, Dr. King said, when opportunities arose and she found herself dedicating more and more time to care at nursing homes, she fell in love with the idea and realized the value of having a physician in the nursing homes.

“For the past three years, I have focused all of my attention on nursing home residents,” Dr. King explained.  “I have provided care for patients who are there for rehab as well as those who reside there fulltime, whether they are too elderly or too ill to care for themselves.”

She said during that time, she realized how important it is for providers to be in nursing homes providing care.

“When I’m in a nursing home on a regular basis, I am able to get to know the patients and staff and I can understand each patient’s health better,” she said. “I believe the better I know a patient, the better care I can provide for them. If they do fall ill, I can intervene quickly and often keep them out of the emergency room or hospital. Having someone present, to take care of our nursing home residents where they are and where they live, that is huge.”’

Dr. King will be seeing patients at Forsyth Nursing and Rehab, in Forsyth, and Tablerock HealthCare, in Kimberling City. 

Dr. King and her husband, Derek, have an 8-month-old daughter, Olivia. In her free time, Dr. King enjoys kayaking, reading, traveling and kickboxing.

For more information about Dr. King, call 335-7128.  

Continuing a career in caring at age 82

The year was 1963 when Barbara McNagny graduated from a nursing degree program, intent on finding a job as a nurse.

Back then, the year wasn’t especially noteworthy. But now, 53 years later, it is: Because 82-year-old Barb can still be found nursing right here at CoxHealth. “It keeps me participatory in my society,” says Barb. “And it makes me functional. It gives me a reason to come in and perform and to make someone else’s life better.”

Nursing wasn’t the only career Barb considered in her younger years. “I actually wanted to be an airline stewardess, too,” she says.

However, that plan was derailed by a trip that made her airsick. “I decided I better not be an airline stewardess if I was going to end up being the guy getting sick in the bag,” she says with a laugh.

Her life’s journey was also a bit varied: She was born in Chicago, and moved to Indiana as a child where she grew up on a farm. After high school, not going to college wasn’t even an option. “I really wanted a degree,” recalls Barb. “It mattered to me.”

Because of that desire, she began studying nursing in Fort Wayne, Ind., but dropped out of the program because she didn’t think the school had high enough academic expectations for its students. “I must say, it took a little courage to withdraw,” says Barb. “But I thought, ‘I’m not going to get an education here.’”

After some time out of college – including a stint living in Long Beach, Calif., where she went to the beach daily before getting a job selling silver in a local department store – Barb decided to re-enroll in nursing school.

This time, she chose Columbia Presbyterian in New York City. “I absolutely loved the place,” says Barb, recalling its location on Broadway and 159th Street in the heart of the Big Apple. “When you sat in the cafeteria, you looked out at the George Washington Bridge all the time.”

Studies weren’t the only thing on her mind at the time: In the same time frame, she also got married and had her first child, a daughter named Lili. After graduation, the next few decades were spent taking care of her family – including two other children, Phil and Emma, who came along – with some part-time nursing thrown in at local doctors’ offices.

But when the family moved to Ava, Mo., in 1975 “to get away from the world,” Barb re-entered the workforce full time. Part of those years was spent at the hospital in Mansfield, where she did a little bit of everything to help keep things running smoothly.

“I had to be the only RN in the building at night,” she says. “I had to do all of the labor and delivery. I mixed my own IV antibiotics.”

After leaving the hospital, she spent time at other Springfield health care facilities before making the switch to CoxHealth in 1989. She began as a floater but then settled at Cox North in nephrology and on L600, which at that time was the diabetic floor, before transferring to Cox South.

After partially retiring in 1998, she came to Meyer Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital in 2006 and she’s been there ever since. “I really enjoy working here,” she says. “I am a caretaker. You just are who you are. And I like to take care of people.”

Even though she’s been here for 25 years, Barb has no intention to retire any time soon. “As long as I feel competent, I’ll keep working. And I won’t do this a day after I don’t feel that way.”

CoxHealth Colleagues
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