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An experience in high-quality care first-hand in a Premier ED

By Elizabeth Lamkin, President of Hilton Head Regional Hospital - Reprinted with permission

John Lyman, MD

January 10, 2009

Being a hospital professional and a community member, Hilton Head Regional Healthcare is not just an intellectual pursuit for me. This is my healthcare provider as well as my family and friends’. Every time I have a personal connection to a patient, I too feel the personal stress of the situation and am reminded of the reality of the work we do and the remarkable staff supporting the mission of our hospital.

I want to share a recent personal experience with a friend and colleague who came to visit recently and needed our Emergency Department in a big way. The friend is a physician, Dr. John Lyman, himself considered among the leading authorities in his field on Emergency Department procedures. He is Chief Clinical Officer for Premier Health Care Services Inc. of Dayton, Ohio. He was here in June when he suddenly began experiencing shortness of breath. Fortunately, he is not superstitious. It was a Friday, June 13.

Immediate Emergency Care – As most people who work in medicine, Dr. Lyman probably underestimated his pain and drove himself to the hospital. He drove up to the Emergency entrance, where he was greeted and examined through our Ambassador assessment, he was then met by Dr. Robert Clodfelter, our chief of Emergency Medicine and Premier’s ED Medical Director at Hilton Head Hospital, who happened to be working that day. He said Dr. Clodfelter was really sharp in assessing his condition and immediately put him into an emergency bed where the ER staff went to work on a diagnosis.

Dr. Lyman told me: “I was impressed by the level of care, and not because some may have known I am a physician. I’m certain that had nothing to do with it. The doctors and nurses discovered I had a heart murmur and did a catheterization. My arteries were good, so it was a mechanical thing, not a heart attack.”

Surgery Scheduled for the Next Day -- Within 15 minutes, the staff promptly transferred him to cardiology. Dr. David Kastl, our cardiovascular surgeon, soon arrived as well. Plans were then initiated to repair a mitral valve prolapse.

At this point, Dr. Lyman’s full recollection wanes due to his being sedated, but he told me he does recall being treated by a very caring and able staff. His wife, Gail, arrived on Saturday, and Gail says she was thrilled with the care her husband received. She pointed out that she recently had experienced another family medical emergency in another larger city in a larger hospital, and the care she experienced there could not approach Hilton Head Hospital’s high level of quality healthcare.

Comforting Care — Dr. Lyman tells me, “I had surgery the following day on Saturday, and by Monday I was fully recovered. My wife tells me she had never experienced such wonderful medical care in such a comfortable and caring environment. She said Hilton Head Hospital’s ambience is very calming. It was the best care she had ever seen at any hospital.

“Of course, this kind of circumstance is never pleasant and I would not want to do it again, but it sure was a pleasure to be in your hospital,” Dr. Lyman told me. “Your emergency services are great, and your heart care center is top-notch.”

Although I hear stories like this often it’s at moments like this when they become personal that allow one to appreciate the real benefits of compassionate emergency care at a community hospital like ours.

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Premier Health Care Services, Inc.
332 Congress Park Drive
Dayton, OH 45459
800-726-3627