February 26, 2013

WICHITA COUNTY HEALTH CENTER 

Receives Highest Rating from U.S. News & World Report

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2013—WICHITA COUNTY HEALTH CENTER has received the highest possible overall rating of five stars in U.S. News & World Report’s fifth annual Best Nursing Homes, available exclusively at http://www.usnews.com/best-nursing-homes.

The Best Nursing Homes 2013 ratings highlight the top nursing homes in each city and state, out of nearly 16,000 facilities nationwide. U.S. News’s goal is to help users find a home with a strong track record of good care.

Best Nursing Homes draws on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency that assesses homes in three categories—health inspections, level of nurse staffing, and quality of care—and gives each an overall rating.

U.S. News awarded the “Best Nursing Home” designation to homes that earned an overall rating of five stars from CMS in January 2013.

“I am excited and honored that our exceptional staff has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report again this year”, says Vicki Hahn, CEO. “We recently completed a Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services survey resulting in one minor deficiency which was paper work related.” 

Along with the ratings, U.S. News has published a series of articles and a step-by-step video to guide users in choosing the right nursing home. The articles and ratings are exclusive to the website and aren’t expected to appear in print.

“Fewer than one out of every five nursing homes got an overall rating of five stars,” said Avery Comarow, U.S. News Health Rankings Editor. “All seniors deserve the best nursing care available, and these are homes that merit their consideration by demonstrating such high quality.”

Wichita County Health Center is comprised of a Critical Access Hospital, Rural Health Clinic and Long Term Care Unit all under one roof.  This type of set up benefits our community and patients greatly by establishing a setting for continuity of health care and efficiency of community resources. 

November 20, 2012

VICKI HAHN TO CHAIR KANSAS HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION BOARD

Victoria J. Hahn, Administrator, Wichita County Health Center, Leoti, was inducted in as the 2013 chair of the Kansas Hospital Association Board of Directors. Her formal investiture was last week during the association’s annual convention in Overland Park.

Hahn has been an active member of the Kansas Hospital Association. She previously served as a member of the organization’s executive committee and as treasurer and chair-elect. As board chair, Hahn will guide the 21-member governing board that oversees the organization’s strategic activities.

“Vicki has many years of experience in the health care industry, and we look forward to her leadership as she serves in this important capacity,” said KHA President and CEO Tom Bell.

The Kansas Hospital Association is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. KHA membership includes 212 member facilities, of which 126 are full-service community hospitals. Founded in 1910, KHA maintains its vision of “an organization of hospitals working together to improve access, quality and the affordability of health care for all Kansans.” 


Wichita County Fair Days!

Have fun and be safe

July 25-28, 2012

CHANGES AT WCHC

Employees Terry Laws and Amanda Gerstberger, RN have changed positions in their job roles at WCHC.  Terry is the Maintenance Manager and Amanda will soon begin her orientation as the Risk Manager, Infection Control and Quality Improvement Manager.  Both Terry and Amanda will also continue providing their skills in their previous positions as needed and/or possible.

March 28, 2012 

Nurse aid classes are available on line!  

The course includes 45 hours of study and then 45 hours of clinical (hands on) training.  Our nursing home staff and facility has been approved as a clinical site.  This is a great way for area residents to get their nurse aid certification without the hassle and expense of traveling. 

Many medical professionals started their careers as nurse aids.  From experience I know that being a nurse aid is truly a rewarding experience WCHC employee, residents, and patients are a second family to all of us.  We support each other, laugh together, work together and celebrate our personal and career accomplishments.

 WCHC is an awesome place to work!  We would love to have you join us.

 Vicki Hahn, CEO

Contact Patti Whalen, Human Resource Manager for more information.

Phone: 620-375-2233                    E-mail:  wchchr@wbsnet.org

Grant Awarded to WCHCAugust 6, 2011The Wichita County Community Foundation, Inc has awarded WCHC $1,000 to be used towards purchasing patient over-bed tables.  Much of the patient room furniture is part of the original hospital building process in 1976 and needs to be replaced.  Donations and grant funds are being sought to update the acute care patient rooms.A big thank you to our Community Foundation in supporting and improving our community.  Another great reason to be proud of Wichita County!June 22, 2011

Congratulations WCHC...!!!!   

ZERO Deficiencies 3 years in a row!!!

WCHC just received a zero deficiency Kansas Department of Aging survey of the Long Term Care Unit.

WCHC is truly one of the best nursing homes in the Nation!

I am so proud to be part of this amazing and caring team!  Great job everyone!

Vicki Hahn, CEO

VICTORIA J. HAHN NAMED TREASURER OF KHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

(Nov. 15, 2010) Victoria J. Hahn, Administrator, Wichita County Health Center, Leoti, was recently elected as the 2011 treasurer on the Kansas Hospital Association Board of Directors. The election took place last week during the association's annual meeting in Topeka. The 21-member governing body oversees the organization’s strategic activities.

The Kansas Hospital Association is a voluntary, non-profit organization existing to provide leadership and services to its members. KHA membership includes 204 member facilities, of which 127 are full-service community hospitals. Founded in 1910, KHA maintains its vision of “an organization of hospitals working together to improve access, quality and the affordability of health care for all Kansans.”

October 5, 2010

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT WEEK!
 WCHC will be honoring Marie McEntee, PAC on Wednesday October 6, 2010.  Marie has been employed at WCHC since October of 2001.  Her dedication and leadership has been a huge contribution to the success of WCHC and quality health care given to our patients.

As a community we are very fortunate to have her on our team and looking out for us!

July 30, 2010

Medicare gives WCHC a

5 STAR RATING!

CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and to help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions. 

The Nursing Home Compare Web site now features a quality rating system that gives each nursing home a rating of between 1 and 5 stars.  Nursing homes with 5 stars are considered to have much above average quality and nursing homes with 1 star are considered to have quality much below average.  There is one Overall 5-star rating for each nursing home, and a separate rating for each of the following three sources of information:

• Health Inspections – The health inspection rating contains information from the last 3 years of onsite inspections, including both standard surveys and any complaint surveys.  This information is gathered by individuals who go onsite to the nursing home and follow a specific process to determine the extent to which a nursing home has met Medicare's minimum quality requirements.  The most recent survey findings are weighted more than the prior two years.  More than 200,000 onsite reviews are used in the health inspection scoring nationally.

• Staffing – The staffing rating has information about the number of hours of care on average provided to each resident each day by nursing staff.  This rating considers differences in the level of need of care of residents in different nursing homes.  For example, a nursing home with residents who had more severe needs would be expected to have more nursing staff than a nursing home where the resident needs were not as high.

• Quality Measures (QMs) – The quality measure rating has information on 10 different physical and clinical measures for nursing home residents - for example, the prevalence of pressure sores or changes to resident's mobility.  This information is collected by the nursing home for all residents.  The QMs offer information about how well nursing homes are caring for their residents' physical and clinical needs.  More than 12 million assessments of the conditions of nursing home residents are used in the Five-Star rating system.

On the Web site people will be able to arrange the order of the nursing homes according to any of the three aspects above, as well as an overall quality rating based on those three sources of information.

- Updated July 2010.

Link to Nursing Home Compare

July 23, 2010

Annual Employee Inservice

This week is our employee inservice.  The inservice 
is a method for WCHC employees to refresh their knowledge in many important operational and safety areas.  We review the policy and procedures for fire, tornado, disaster, safety, patient rights, bloodborne pathogens, as well as infection control, risk management, code of conduct, HIPAA Privacy and Security, these are just naming a few!

Patti Whalen our Human Resource Director always does an outstanding job at putting this inservice together.  This year's theme is the BILLBOARD TOP 16 HITS.  She decorated the room with music records that brought back some great memories.  Thanks Patti, it was a good week!

July 22, 2010

NEW REHAB SERVICE!!!     

Speech and Language Pathology services are now part of the WCHC Rehabilitation services available for our patients.  Alyssa Simon, CCC-SLP began treating patients July 12, 2010.  Appointments can be made by calling 620-375-2233.

Alyssa joins Traci Ridder, Occupational Therapist; Kara Howell, Physicial Therapy Assistant; and Brian Miller, Physical Therapist.....our rehab team.

County Fair Time

WCHC and the WCHC Volunteers are raising money to purchase a blanket and towel warmer for the WCHC residents.  There is nothing quite like a toasty warm towel to wrap up in after a shower and to curl up in bed with a soft warm blanket at night!

Cheryl Green, Activities Director and her helpers worked diligently at compiling a wonderful recipe book that features WCHC employees and residents favorite recipes.  County Fair special price of 3 for $40 at WCHC, the County Courthouse Treasurers' office, or the Wichita County Library.  (Regular price is $15 per book.)

The WCHC Volunteers are working at the Color Wheel during the Fair with proceeds being used for their facility improvement projects.  Come have fun and be a winner!

Please help support our project....donations may be made by contacting Vicki Hahn, CEO or Janice Campas, CFO at 620-375-2233.