New visitor identification system launched at Elkhart General and Memorial hospitals

The Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital guest services and security teams have introduced the Fast-Pass visitor identification system, following a soft launch at these locations. All visitors, vendors and off-duty associates and providers now will be issued a photo-identification visitor pass upon entering the hospitals. Individuals will also use the...

Memorial summer program again invites teens to explore medical careers

When Elizabeth Kuntz attended Saint Joseph High School in South Bend, she was always excited for Thursday afternoons. That’s when she volunteered in the Emergency Department at Memorial Hospital, where her duties included putting charts together, cleaning rooms, answering call lights, and much more. Kuntz ultimately would volunteer there for seven years,...

Black History Month: Recognizing African Americans in February helps “give them a voice”

As patient service representative for speech diagnostics at Memorial Hospital, Darice Ruth is part of a team that helps patients find their voice. Many of the patients have received treatment for cancers in the head and neck areas, affecting the larynx, or voice box. Some have difficulty speaking because of a...

Memorial pharmacist’s helpful act means a lot to COVID patient

Sometimes we can do things for others that seem small to us but are huge to those we do them for. On a recent Friday morning, Brenda Clanton had just learned she had tested positive for COVID-19. The 68-year-old Niles woman was grateful to Dr. Chris Hall, her Beacon Medical Group...

Afghan refugees settling in South Bend area receive health screenings, primary care at E. Blair Warner

As he nears completion of his three-year Memorial Family Medicine Residency program, Dr. Michael Keller has spent a lot of his time caring for South Bend’s at-risk, vulnerable populations. But since December, Dr. Keller, his fellow residents and the providers at Beacon Medical Group E. Blair Warner have started providing initial...

Black History Month: Chekesha Donaldson is “hopeful and optimistic” about diversity initiatives at Beacon

Whether she is reconciling staff credit card purchases, planning managers’ travel to conferences, crafting a monthly newsletter, ordering supplies or organizing new associate breakfasts, Chekesha Donaldson says much of what she does daily at Memorial Hospital is “behind the scenes.” She loves that aspect of her job and doesn’t necessarily want...

Embracing the power of candy bars and ‘dad jokes’ on Random Acts of Kindness Day

As Rev. Sarah Samson makes her way around Memorial Hospital of South Bend, she carries a tool important to her role as a hospital chaplain: candy bars. Each fun-sized Hershey or Crunch bar has a joke written on it. But not just any joke. A dad joke. “It’s hard being the smartest...

Indiana Landmarks plans to move historic May House currently located on Memorial Hospital campus

Indiana Landmarks is planning to move a 92-year-old historic home located near Memorial Hospital of South Bend to the Chapin Park National Register District. The structure most recently served as the home to the Junior League of South Bend. South Bend-based Lykowski Construction will be performing the relocation. The move would...

Beacon Health and Ivy Tech provide more information on nursing program collaboration

To address the nursing shortage that our community is facing, Beacon Health System and Ivy Tech Community College are collaborating to create the Beacon Scholar Program. This program will offer financial support to Ivy Tech Associate of Science in Nursing students by covering the cost of their tuition, fees and...

Black History Month: Information analyst appreciates Beacon’s focus on diversity, equity, inclusion

Anger over George Floyd’s murder by a white Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the nation in the summer of 2020, but Ron Bass also remembers feeling some hope then, too, from an email he received as a Beacon Health System associate. In the July 16 message, Beacon CEO Kreg Gruber,...