Dekalb Medical Center

Description

OUR MISSION
At DeKalb Medical our mission is to improve lives through the delivery of excellent health and wellness services in partnership with our physicians

OUR VISION
DeKalb Medical will be the recognized leader in clinical and service excellence and employee satisfaction

OUR VALUES
At DeKalb Medical we embrace specific values that set us apart from other healthcare organizations These are our values

Diversity
Respect
Healing
Service

History

According to the US Census Bureau DeKalb County had a population in 1940 of slightly less than 87000 The area was largely rural with farms outnumbering retail businesses by more than three to one Residents received their medical care primarily at Grady Hospital and Emory Hospital

By 1950 the population had climbed by 50000 The number of farms had dropped by half and the ranks of the technical clerical professional and sales professions were swelling Changes were needed to accommodate the growing population particularly changes in medical care Grady Hospital provided care largely for the lowincome population and Emory Hospital was making a name for itself as a research and teaching hospital As these two facilities became increasingly specialized practicing physicians faced a shortage of beds and patients in the community began to demand attention be focused on their needs

J Rufus Evans MD was instrumental in publicizing the need for a community hospital enlisting the support of the countys sole commissioner Scott Candler Sr quotDr Evans was the backbone of the hospital in the early daysquot said retired physician Ernest Atkins MD one of the first surgeons on the DeKalb General Hospital medical staff quotHis leadership and positive thinking got things done If you needed something you went to him and hed see to itquot

In 1952 DeKalb County voters approved 1 million in general obligation bonds to be used with matching government funds A 40acre site on North Decatur Road was chosen and the architectural firm of Bothwell and Nash contracted for the job But when plans were submitted to the state health department Candler and Evans were informed that no matching funds were available from federal or state sources Plans for the new hospital were put aside for five years

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

During the 1950s the population of DeKalb County doubled increasing the need for a new community hospital In 1957 the county commissioners office was expanded to a fivemember board and the issue of the hospital was given a high priority

Upon learning that government monies were becoming available through federal HillBurton funds the commission recommended a 14 million general obligations bond referendum for a hospital which was approved by voters The DeKalb County Hospital Authority was created on September 19 1957 and it promptly put an application before the Division of Hospital Services for funds to match the 14 million in county bonds The funding was approved

The 40acre site on North Decatur Road was purchased for 160000 and the Hospital Authority began its search for an experienced hospital administrator The man they chose came to the job with one of the Souths few masters degrees in hospital administration and with a vision of a facility offering care that extended quotbeyond the purely medicalquot That man was William H Thrasher

August 1 1958 was Thrashers first day on the job in a temporary office at the DeKalb County Health Department quotHe said he started with a desk and a beatup typewriterquot his wife Helen Thrasher said In addition to the administrative duties of public relations and staffing he also was involved in the planning building and equipping of DeKalb General Hospital

quotDEKALB GENERAL HOSPITAL STAFF IS TRAINED TO CAREquot

From the beginning Thrasher was a handson administrator with an open door to the public He invited public comment monitoring and responding to newspaper articles letters and editorials In the DecaturDeKalb News he invited public questions and comments writing quotThe DeKalb County Hospital Authority wants the public to be informed on hospital plansquot Thrasher then listed his office phone his mailing address and even the telephone number of his home

In an article published in 1960 under the headline quotDeKalb General Hospital Staff Is Trained to Carequot Thrasher explained his goal for the new DeKalb General Hospital quotHospital personnel have been instructed and recruited on a theory designed to eliminate many of the complaints often heard about hospitals quotThey will look at their duties in their relationship with the patient as if they themselves were the patientquot he said

quotA 45 MILLION BEAUTYquot

Opening day was May 1 1961 Together with the 66member medical staff the hospitals 300 employees began their work quotDedicated to the Glory of God and to the Improved Health of Mankindquot as proclaimed by a plaque in the lobby

quotWe opened with three patients and a 90000 payrollquot said retired family physician Floyd R Sanders Jr MD As president of the DeKalb Medical Society in 1960 he helped to organize the original medical staff making hiring recommendations to the Hospital Authority Six hours after the doors opened the hospitals first baby Stacey Stull was born Also that day LC Buchanan MD performed the hospitals first surgical procedure on Martha Ivey

The DeKalb News Era called the hospital quotA Dream Come Truequot and other news organizations called the facility quotuniquequot and quotprogressivequot for the metro Atlanta area Some of the features repeatedly highlighted in these stories

Facilities for inservice training of employees
Central air conditioning
Halfbaths in all rooms
Thermostats in all rooms for temperature control
Television sets radios and telephones in each room
Central radio system allowing broadcast of the chapels religious services
Temperaturecontrolled cart for delivering meals
Stateoftheart equipment for developing Xrays in fewer than 10 minutes
A system of progressive patient care creating zones for seriously ill patients intermediate patients and those well enough for quotselfcarequot

quotIn those early years it really was a county hospitalquot said Sanders who served for many years on the Hospital Authority and later the hospitals board of directors quotWe offered the major services obstetrics surgery internal medicine pediatrics and a small psychiatric unit We were used to making referrals to specialists at other facilities then Now we have services of all kinds with our own specialists in almost every area We offer nearly everything except open heart surgeryquot

COMMUNITYBASED CARE

During the 1980s DeKalb General Hospital took major steps toward making communitybased healthcare a reality in DeKalb County by adding many new services designed to meet the communitys needs This included the Outpatient Surgery Center Pain Center Diagnostic and Treatment Center Diagnostic Imaging Center Diagnostic Breast Center Pediatric Rehabilitation Center Cancer Center and three neighborhood Family Care Centers

The Wellness Center at DeKalb General Hospital opened in 1985 to women only but soon expanded its services to men due to popular demand To better serve its members The Wellness Center expanded to a larger facility in 1996 It has also added The Center for Integrative Medicine which combines traditional and alternative therapies to treat the body mind and spirit Modalitiestherapies include Healing Touch Reflexology Yoga Tai Chi Herbal Consults Massage Accupressure Meditation BodyFocused Psychotherapy Guided Imagery Feldenkrais and Nutrition Consults Today the 18000squarefoot Wellness Center combines stateoftheart facilities with professional staff to create a comprehensive health and wellness program Features include the latest circuittraining equipment an indoor track and swimming pool lockers a towel service a demonstration kitchen and an aerobics studio

Every staff member is a trained health professional and all are certified in CPR The staff includes registered nurses health educators exercise physiologists registered dietitians massage therapists fitness technicians and customer service representatives

From yoga to smoking cessation and vegetarian cooking to meditation classes The Wellness Center provides education classes to meet every members needs All classes are led by instructors with certification in the fields in which they work

EVOLVING AND GROWING

While continuing to expand communitybased healthcare DeKalb General Hospitals organizational structure also evolved to meet the growing healthcare needs of the community In 1989 DeKalb General Hospital changed its name to DeKalb Medical Center to more accurately describe the variety and scope of services offered In 1992 a corporate restructuring resulted in the formation of a parent company DeKalb Regional Healthcare System DRHS to oversee the growing number of facilities and services In 1994 DRHS purchased Decatur Hospital further expanding the organizations offerings to the community

In 1997 the board of directors of DRHS decided to affiliate with PROMINA Health System Georgias largest notforprofit locally owned and operated health system quotPROMINA shares a corporate culture and vision that reflects our ownquot said John R Gerlach who was then the chief executive officer of both DeKalb Medical Center and DeKalb Regional Healthcare System quotWe joined PROMINA seeking to improve and protect the quality of local health care while providing easier more affordable access to vital health services Together with our physician partners were working to improve the quality of healthcare we provide to our communityquot

IMPROVING CARE FOR SOUTH DEKALB

Improving quality care also meant improving healthcare access for a burgeoning population in south DeKalb County For more than three decades DeKalb Medical Center led the fight to establish a new hospital dedicated exclusively to serving south DeKalb Since 1970 when DeKalb County voters first approved a 195 million bond referendum to help fund a south DeKalb hospital DeKalb Medical Center was at the forefront devoting countless hours energy and resources to making a hospital in the south DeKalb community a reality

In October 1974 the hospital developed a fourphase concept for bringing medical services to south DeKalb The four phases included an outpatient diagnostic centermedical office building expanded outpatient services and additional medical office space an inpatient facility and a continuing care retirement facility Two years later in 1976 DeKalb General Hospital acquired the site for its south DeKalb facility

For the next three decades DeKalb General Hospital kept alive its plans and the communitys dreams Despite round after round of legal opinions position papers feasibility studies and moratoriums questioning the need for new hospital beds the hospital administration never lost sight of the communitys need for a hospital to call its own

Finally after receiving a certificate of need CON approval from the state in 1990 the DeKalb Medical Center Board of Directors selected Ms Julia Jones to spearhead the opening of the new south DeKalb hospital what would later become DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale

In 1994 DeKalb Medical Center launched the first phase of its Hillandale facility opening an outpatient diagnostic treatment center designed to attract new physicians to the area On August 6 2001 a new Minor Emergency Center and an Outpatient Surgery Center opened at Hillandale The Minor Emergency Center provides the community with 24hour treatment of minor illnesses and injuries as well as occupational medicine and rehabilitation services

Then on Feb 13 2002 DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale cleared one of its final regulatory hurdles receiving approval from the Department of Community Health Following a ceremonial groundbreaking on March 15 2002 construction cranes bulldozers and concrete mixers swarmed the Hillandale site for the next three years

At 7 am on July 18 2005 a new era of healthcare dawned in south DeKalb County as DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale opened its doors to the public The new 65 million sixstory 191000 square foot facility located on a 40acre campus in Lithonia became the first masterplanned digital hospital in Georgia The stateoftheart hospital is equipped with the latest computerized and wireless technology to streamline patient care reduce errors and speed medical diagnosis

DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale had arrived And a dream finally came true

WOMENS amp INFANT SERVICES

Following the success of Hillandale DeKalb Medical Center turned its attention to improving services for another growing community need womens amp infant services

New DeKalb Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Norwood appointed CEO in 2003 spearheaded the design construction and opening of a new stateoftheart facility dedicated to caring for newborn infants and their families

On January 29 2007 DeKalb Medical Center opened a new 55million Womens amp Surgery Center at its main campus in Decatur The freestanding fivestory 163thousand square foot facility offers innovative technology top clinical staff and a spalike setting

The Decatur community is going through a rebirth and revitalization and so are we We see this new facility as a reinvestment and a way to give back to our community said Norwood We are expanding the spectrum of vital health services to meet the evergrowing healthcare needs of women and families in this community

Those vital health services include a comprehensive array of obstetric gynecological and maternity services with an emphasis on family centered maternity care The Womens amp Surgery Center features 18 private LaborDeliveryRecovery LDR suites which give expectant mothers the convenience and comfort of staying in the same room before during and after delivery There are also 62 private postpartum MotherBaby rooms with high speed internet access refrigerators private bathrooms and roomy window seat couches which allow guests to spend the night

The center also includes three operatingdelivery rooms fully equipped for cesarean deliveries and four nurseries including a term nursery and a Neonatal Intensive Care nursery The NICU is composed of the Intensive Care Nursery the Special Care Nursery and the Growing Preemie Nursery A specialized 21bed Antepartum Unit is available for mothers who require hospitalization prior to the birthing process Supported by the expertise of perinatologists who are specially trained to care for highrisk pregnancies the unit is respected throughout the region and frequently receives referrals from around the state

In addition to maternity services the new Womens amp Surgery Center offers surgical services utilizing the latest stateoftheart technology including computerguided navigation for neurosurgery orthopedics and ENT procedures Weight loss surgery includes laparoscopic RouxenY gastric bypass and laparoscopic gastric banding The Surgery Center also offers intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy which treats abdominal cancer patients without the risk of traditional chemotherapy

quotWe started out as a small surgical departmentquot said retired physician Ernest Atkins MD quotBack then all surgeries were inpatient procedures and patients usually had to stay several days Now many of the same procedures are done as outpatient surgeries Patients go home the same day and in most cases do as well or better than if they had stayed in the hospitalquot

PUSHING BEYOND

The launch of a new 55million Womens amp Surgery Center epitomized DeKalb Medical Centers commitment to strengthen services and realign resources to serve key healthcare needs in the community

In May 2007 DeKalb Medical Center relaunched as DeKalb Medical to better reflect a three campus system which each serves the unique needs of a specific community DeKalb Medicals main campus on North Decatur Road was renamed DeKalb Medical at North Decatur reflecting the quality care provided to residents of North Decatur and surrounding communities DeKalb Medical at Downtown Decatur continued to excel at longterm acute care LTAC DeKalb Medical at Hillandale continued to evolve to better serve residents of south DeKalb

In efforts to inform the public about these available resources DeKalb Medical adopted a new theme of care Pushing Beyond

We are Pushing Beyond the notion that healthcare is merely a prescription for your illness but instead treatment for your entire mind body and spirit We are Pushing Beyond traditional treatment options to include the latest technology and nontraditional therapies We are Pushing Beyond the notion that terminally ill cancer patients should simply lose hope said DeKalb Medical CEO and President Eric Norwood

Norwood cited the great hockey player Wayne Gretzky who was once asked why he was such a great player Gretzky replied by saying quotI dont skate to where the puck is but where the puck is going to bequot

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

Technology

In anticipating future challenges DeKalb Medical continues to invest in infrastructure and technology to better serve patients

To greatly reduce the possibility of physician error DeKalb Medical Center implemented a new Computerized Physician Order Entry CPOE system at its Hillandale and North Decatur campuses The Computerized Physician Order Entry allows physicians to use a computerized system for all orders including prescriptions and lab tests

The CPOE system is a combination of software and processes In addition to implementing software the ability to apply CPOE processes to positively affect care and to measure and improve care is why this computerized system will ensure patient safety at DeKalb Medicalquot said DeKalb Medical Applications and Integration Director Mark Trocino

The hospital also introduced one of the first hospitalbased pharmacy robots in the Atlanta area Other innovative improvements made by DeKalb Medical include the introduction of a sophisticated communication system involving wireless telephones and chartwall desks placed outside every patient room By simply pressing their call lights patients can be connected immediately with their caregivers by wireless telephones making it easier for them to request help or information Physicians can more readily locate patient charts and initiate orders through a special telephone interface that notifies the nursing unit secretaries by wireless telephones

Hospitalist Program

DeKalb Medical pioneered its hospitalist program in 1990 years before the term quothospitalistquot was conceived The MEA Medical Emergency Associates program was one of the first of its kind in the nation and has provided a blueprint for similar programs at other metro hospitals The MEA program is a group of inhouse physicians who specialize in providing roundtheclock care to hospital patients

Diagnostics
DeKalb Medical is one of the first hospitals in the region to implement a multimilliondollar digital Picture Archival and Communication System that will allow images to be viewed using computers instead of the standard Xray film and view boxes

Other new technology now available at the Diagnostic Imaging Center includes two MRI scanners an open MRI and a recently upgraded traditional MRI scanner as well as stateoftheart helical CT scanners and advanced fluoroscopy technology The Diagnostic and Treatment Center and its physicians is one of the few facilities in Atlanta with expertise in endoscopic ultrasound revolutionary technology used to more accurately diagnose gastrointestinal diseases DeKalb Medical also offers interventional radiology IR a new technology employing imaging techniques to guide therapeutic or diagnostic procedures Less invasive less painful and usually less expensive than traditional surgery IR procedures offer a simple safe alternative in a growing number of medical situations