SGMC honors

lifesaving duo

VALDOSTA – Brenda Alexander, chief human resources officer and vice president of South Georgia Physician Network, shared the story of a panicked mother and her unresponsive baby who came to SGMC’s Professional Building looking for the emergency department.

Dana Mace, patient access services, was registering other patients for their appointments when she noticed the frantic mother and left her desk to investigate, realizing the baby was turning blue, hospital representatives said in a statement.

Mace quickly rushed the family outside and headed toward the emergency department a few hundred yards away. As luck would have it, she ran into Dr. Kimberly Mackey, neurosurgeon, who jumped into action.

Mackey began performing chest compressions as she ran with the child over to the emergency department for further care.

“Thanks to their heroic measures, the baby’s life was saved,” hospital representatives said.

Ronald Dean, president and chief executive officer, congratulated the team and thanked them for answering the call to provide care in a patient’s time of greatest need.

“You never know how you might impact a life just by showing up,” he said.

The honorees received a standing ovation during the presentation.

For more information, visit sgmc.org.

SGMC Berrien,

Lanier campuses

recognized

VALDOSTA – South Georgia Medical Center’s Berrien and Lanier campuses were recognized for “outstanding commitment to quality improvement” by the Georgia Hospital Association and Alliant Health Solutions.

This comes after their participation in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Improvement Collaborative, hospital representatives said in a statement.

HQIC is a CMS-funded, four-year project, established to partner with hospitals across the nation in rural, critical access and urban settings that provide care for vulnerable populations in order to improve outcomes in patient safety-related areas, representatives said.

Areas of focus include decreasing adverse drug events, promoting infection prevention, promoting patient and family engagement, promoting health equity, decreasing readmissions, decreasing other harm areas, and promoting opioid-safe prescribing.

SGMC Berrien and Lanier campuses were identified as top-performing hospitals in several categories: sepsis mortality: non-covid; and no adverse drug events.

Scarlett Rivera, SGMC director of quality improvement and patient safety, said, “Our number one focus is patient safety for all of our patients who entrust us with their care every day. We look forward to working with all of the hospitals in the GHA program collaborative over the next two years.”

This is just one of many programs across the health system which focus on patient safety. SGMC also partnered with Press Ganey to become a High Reliability Organization. An HRO is an organization with predictable and repeatable systems that support consistent operations while catching and correcting potentially catastrophic errors before they happen, hospital representatives said.

Dr. Brian Dawson, SGMC vice president and chief medical officer, said, “SGMC is focused on being the safest health system in the nation through proven best practices and participating in programs that help us identify areas where we excel, as well as areas where we can improve.”

SGMC hospital campuses in Lowndes, Lanier and Berrien counties are accredited by DNV’s accreditation program, Integrated Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, also called NIAHO.

DNV integrates the ISO 9001 Quality Management System with the Medicare Conditions of Participation. ISO 9001 relies on systematic, repeatable and well-deployed practices that ensure safe patient care, representatives said, adding “it is the most widely accepted quality management system in use around the world and provides a strong foundation for hospital quality, patient safety and high-reliability programs.”

For more information, visit sgmc.org

SGMC touts

residency program

VALDOSTA – South Georgia Medical Center recently announced its second class of residency physicians will soon be joining the health system.

On June 26, SGMC will add eight more doctors specializing in internal medicine as a part of its residency program, hospital representatives said.

In partnership with Mercer University School of Medicine, SGMC launched the program with approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2021.

SGMC welcomed its first class of eight physicians in July 2022; these doctors will now move into post graduate year two of their journey, hospital representatives said.

SGMC received more than 1,800 applications for the program and conducted 102 interviews.

Match Day, as it is known in the medical community, occurred March 17, when soon-to-be physicians learned the hospital where they will be training.

Eight medical school graduates ultimately matched with SGMC and will begin their three-year residency training in South Georgia.

“Educating the next generation of physicians is a responsibility that our team does not take lightly. We are thrilled and humbled to be able to have such a powerful impact on the future of medical care for our area,” said Dr. Gregory Beale, SGMC residency program director.

Residents are doctors who have completed medical school, have earned a degree such as M.D. or D.O., and practice under the direct supervision of an “attending” or senior physician.

Physicians complete residencies so that they can specialize and become board-certified or board eligible in a particular field.

Research shows that medical residents tend to stay close to their training site to work after they graduate, hospital representatives said. The residency program is intended to enhance recruitment and retention efforts at SGMC.

“SGMC’s expert faculty provides residents an educational foundation focused on evidence-based medicine. Our doctors are committed to their success and look forward to seeing them excel in their medical careers,” said Dr. Leslie Lamptey, internal medicine associate program director.

Outside of the hospital, the internal medicine residency program operates a continuity clinic at SGMC Internal Medicine on Park Avenue in Valdosta under the direction of Dr. Joseph Hayes, medical director.

“This allows residents the opportunity to learn how to manage both common and complicated outpatient conditions and to follow patients over time,” hospital representatives said.

SGMC’s 2023-24 class of internal medicine residents includes Dr. Anna Ledford, M.D., Dr. Taylor Martin, D.O., Dr. James McSweeney, M.D., Dr. Justin Owens, D.O., Dr. Vivekanda Pingali, M.D., Dr. Hala Sharma, M.D., Dr. AmandaNell Shook-Chacon, M.D., Dr. Mariya Tom, M.D.

For more information, visit sgmc.org/gme.

SGMC maintains

gold recognition

for cardiac care

VALDOSTA – Each year the American College of Cardiology recognizes hospitals for their participation in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

South Georgia Medical Center received the Chest Pain – MI Registry Award (Gold) for the care of cardiac patients for the second consecutive year, hospital representatives said in a statement.

“This accomplishment demonstrates sustained, top-level performance in quality of care and adherence to guideline recommendations for cardiac care,” hospital representatives said.

Dr. Doug Luke, SGMC chief of cardiology, said, “Maintaining this high level of performance requires daily effort from multiple departments across the organization. We would like to congratulate the team and thank them for their dedication, resilience, and attention to detail.”

The NCDR participation and award landed SGMC a spot in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” edition.

The annual report ratings are designed to assist patients and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive care for challenging health conditions or elective procedures.

According to the NCDR, for 25 years it has delivered a suite of data registries to help hospitals, centers and health systems measure and improve the quality of cardiovascular care they provide.

The NCDR uses real-world evidence to improve patient outcomes and achieve quality heart care.

SGMC has the region’s only open-heart program, structural heart and valve center, and cardiac electrophysiology program.

To learn more about SGMC’s heart and vascular programs, visit sgmc.org.

Gibbs receives

DAISY Award

VALDOSTA – South Georgia Medical Center honored Summer Gibbs, R.N., with the March DAISY Award for extraordinary nursing care.

Gibbs was recognized for her compassion and leadership during a recent patient encounter, hospital representatives said in a statement.

Gibbs was nominated by a patient family member who described her as a “ray of light in a time of darkness.”

According to the nomination, Gibbs displayed incredible kindness and thoughtfulness for a patient and their family during the patient’s final days.

The nomination explains how Gibbs utilized a new technology resource, the CARE Channel, to provide calmness to the patient. The CARE channel, provided by donations to the SGMC Foundation, offers premier relaxation programming with peaceful nature scenes and soft music to deliver a healing environment.

Gibbs made sure to keep the family informed and went out of her way to provide loved ones with privacy in the final moments, hospital officials said.

Because of her actions, she was described as “a shining example of the values of SGMC.”

SGMC continues to ask patients and fellow employees to honor nurses they feel go above and beyond in their actions and care.

Nominations are reviewed by a committee based on criteria that include compassion, teamwork, leadership, attitude and skills and knowledge.

DAISY awards are presented monthly in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients and visitors. Each honoree receives a certificate commending her or him for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.”

They also receive a beautiful sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa. A special floral arrangement of daisies was generously donated by Zant’s Flower Shop.

To nominate a nurse for the DAISY award, visit sgmc.org/daisy.