Technology Advances Keep Region in Good Care
Health-care providers use the team approach to treatment in the Texas Midwest.
This collaboration has been felt this decade through hospital consolidation and expansion of health-care networks serving the needs of residents in the region.
Comanche County Medical Center, for example, opened after a consolidation of the former Comanche Community Hospital and De Leon Hospital.
Located between the cities of Comanche and De Leon, the new hospital opened in July 2005 and has quickly built a reputation in imaging services.
Previously, patients had to visit surrounding communities to undergo imaging procedures, but the hospital’s board voted to invest in the latest imaging technology on the market.
The center is acquiring an advanced multi-slice CT system that will capture images of the body quickly, which should help in providing faster treatment for patients experiencing chest pain or stroke. With quicker diagnosis, patients have more options to undergo noninvasive procedures.
CCMC is also adding an MRI and new ultrasound technology. The ultrasound will help improve diagnosis of heart disease and is so advanced it can display a baby’s face in obstetrics exams.
As part of new services for Comanche County, CCMC is adding a nuclear medicine scanner and camera that will allow doctors to study and detect heart abnormalities. The machine will be used in conjunction with the ultrasound and MRI and can be used to detect cancer.
“We want to provide our physicians with the best diagnostic tools available. We hope to reduce the number of trips that our patients are required to make to other facilities by being able to treat them here,” says Kevin Storey, who is CCMC’s CEO and administrator.
To the west, Ballinger Memorial Hospital added its own CT scanner in 2004, four years after the 25-bed hospital garnered critical-access status. At Brownwood Regional Medical Center, a 2004 renovation in the surgery suites resulted in a state-of-the art intensive care unit and a new respiratory therapy department. Two years later, the hospital added an offsite rehabilitation and fitness zone. In 2007, a wound healing and hyperbaric medicine center opened.
Frontera Healthcare Network is emerging as the frontline health-care provider for residents of Concho, Mason and Menard counties, a rural area totaling about 10,000 residents.
In 2007, FHN took over clinics in Eden and in Menard County that had been operated by Concho County Hospital. Following that transfer, FHN is charting a growth strategy.
The nonprofit organization plans to add dental services, mental health services and limited drug services. FHN and Concho County Hospital are collaborating on recruiting and retaining medical professionals.
