Beacon hospitals reporting large number of COVID patients

Memorial Hospital The hospital went on ambulance diversion to all adult patients on Thursday morning. Both the number of physical beds and the inability to appropriately staff overflow beds led to this action.  The number of COVID-positive patients continues to be at or near a record high in addition to high...

CHA ACO, LLC improves care for Medicare patients, saves Medicare $4.9 million

Operated by Beacon Health System, CHA Accountable Care Organization (ACO), LLC improved care for nearly 14,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Indiana and Southwest Michigan last year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In doing so, it also saved Medicare more than $4.9 million in 2019, earning the South...

WSBT “Eye on Health” will feature Beacon’s new respiratory care model

Beacon Health is now partnering with WSBT-TV to provide the community with timely health information on its “Eye on Health” monthly news segment. The first story is scheduled to air tonight during the 5 p.m. newscast. Here’s a sneak peek. Beacon Medical Group patients who are experiencing cold, flu or COVID-19...

Beacon Health updates visitor restrictions at hospitals

October 7, 2020 Visitation policies are now in effect for all Beacon locations: A maximum of 1 visitor will be permitted at any one time for each patient. Visitors must be 18 years of age or older and in good health. Visitors cannot be acutely ill and cannot be in quarantine or...

Beacon discharges 1,000th COVID-19 patient, a retired Elkhart elementary school teacher

The staff at Elkhart General Hospital lined the hallway, cheering and applauding for a retired elementary school teacher. Bennie Payton, too, threw her arms up in the air after learning she was the 1,000th COVID patient to be discharged from Beacon Health System. “I’m truly blessed,” said Payton, 74, who spent nearly...

Faces masked, prayers raised: Hospital chaplains balance compassion with COVID realities

This original post was written the summer of 2020 and Beacon was experiencing the angst of COVID that had gone on for 6 months.  Now we are experiencing that same angst but it has gone on for 18 months.  And staff is tired, society is tired, and we are all...

Impatient babies no match for these Memorial Hospital nurses

Two expectant moms this summer didn't quite make it into Memorial Hospital before their babies were ready to be born. Luckily, long-time nurses Becky MacDonald and Kristin Roush were on hand for these special deliveries. Becky delivered a baby just outside the Childbirth Unit in Lafayette parking garage. About a month later,...

Sense of purpose, personal connection motivates EVS associate during pandemic

Maggie Alvarez is an Environmental Services associate at Memorial Hospital. When COVID started, it was scary. We were seeing a lot of elderly people dying of it. We wore masks and shields and glasses and were still afraid to breathe. I didn’t want to touch anything, even with gloves on. Or...

Project HOPE awarded $1 million grant to fight substance abuse in Marshall County

In August 2020, the Health Resources & Services Administration under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Beacon Health System a 3-year, $1 million grant to assemble and support a collaborative coalition within Marshall County to address opioid and substance abuse, which resulted in Project HOPE. Project HOPE...