Archives for Heidi Prescott

CHA ACO, LLC improves care for Medicare patients, saves Medicare $6.4 million

CHA Accountable Care Organization (ACO), LLC, operated by Beacon Health System, improved care for nearly 12,300 Medicare beneficiaries in Indiana and southwest Michigan in 2020, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program, accountable care organizations that meet quality and cost goals...

Beacon nurse describes emotional toll of caring for COVID patients as pandemic rages on

In his own words: Ian Klein is a Registered Nurse who holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and works at Memorial Hospital in South Bend. “I want to describe what goes on in a medical worker’s life right now. These are all my own personal experiences.” Patient 1: Woman is...

Pediatric hospitalist cites concern about capacity to care for all children if COVID cases continue to climb

In her own words: Dr. Kate Dutkiewicz, Medical Director at Beacon Children's Hospital, explains how children with every illness and injury could be impacted by rising pediatric COVID cases. And what we can do to stop this from happening. Children need specialized nurses and doctors because they are not small adults....

Doctor describes unforgettable conversations, emotional last goodbyes of COVID patients in ICU

Dr. Luke White, a Beacon Medical Group critical care and pulmonary specialist who works in the Memorial and Elkhart General critical care and intensive care units, describes the emotional challenges physicians face during the pandemic. Part of my work as an intensivist is performing the brain death exam, which we do...

Beacon physician and mom offers parents back-to-school safety advice during pandemic

Dr. Kristine Jennings, director of the Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, offers parents of school-age children advice for keeping their kids safe as they return to the classroom. One of the focal points of the conversations of many of my office visits with my patients, as a family physician, and...

Memorial Hospital RN implores community to mask, get vaccinated, as COVID hospitalizations rise

In her own words: Kate Melody, RN, Memorial Hospital Childbirth Unit charge nurse. Many of us are happiest just living in our own bubbles, not actually watching COVID numbers and data. We are sending our kids back to school, many of them with mask-optional policies. Many don’t think it could affect them...

Family doctor offers glimpse of COVID cases at Beacon, pleads for community to get vaccinated

In his own words: Dr. Joe Caruso, a Beacon Medical Group family physician. The hospitals and ICUs are filling up with COVID patients again. They are not filling up with vaccinated patients; they are filling up with very sick people who choose to not get vaccinated. They are not filling up with people...

Picture this: Girl in Throwback Thursday photo contacts us about her experience at Memorial Hospital

While scrolling through her Facebook feed, Brittany Jaso stopped and looked closely at a black-and-white photo that caught her eye. In it, she saw a nurse and student nurse tending to a small child in a wheelchair. She picked up her phone and messaged the little girl in the picture. The nervous...

Wheelchair race, other new events, happening on Aug. 8 at Sunburst Races in Granger

Splash pads. Community pools. Public parks and playgrounds. Many of these spaces created for children are limited in their ability to accommodate children with physical handicaps. Teeter-totters, slides and most swings are not tailored for children like 4-year-old Royce Purser, who lives with a permanent birth defect. “We have worked very...

Elkhart General Hospital receives reverification as Level III trauma center by American College of Surgeons

Elkhart General Hospital has been reverified as a Level III trauma center through 2023 by the Verification Review Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. The hospital cared for nearly 650 trauma patients last year during the pandemic. Established by the American College of Surgeons in 1987, the Consultation/Verification...