The Village at Germantown Breaks Ground on Healthcare Center Expansion

The Village at Germantown has broken ground on its new healthcare center.

The Village at Germantown is a continuing care retirement community that offers levels of care corresponding to the needs of its residents as they age. The Village provides independent and assisted living, as well as skilled nursing care, and memory care.

The new health care center expansion will add an additional 52,000 square feet. The current memory care and assisted living suites will be relocated to the new building where additional space will be available to build more suites for both levels of care. The number of assisted living suites will increase from 13 to 32. The number of memory care suites will increase from 8 to 16, and the number of individuals who can participate in memory care daycare will increase from three to 10.

Skilled nursing suites will be built in the current space that houses the memory care and assisted living rooms. This space will allow for additional skilled nursing rooms, increasing the current number of 30 suites to 50.

The 1,800 square feet at the entrance to the health care center will be designed as a physical, speech, and occupational therapy complex that will better accommodate state-of-the-art equipment and counseling areas.

The $22 million expansion and renovation project will be funded through tax exempt bonds. The expected completion date for the assisted living project is the middle of 2015. The entire project is expected to be completed by the middle of 2016.

Methodist University Hospital is First in Tennessee to Implant Non-Surgical, Leadless Cardiac Pacemaker

Methodist University Hospital is the first facility in Tennessee to implant the Nanostim™ leadless pacemaker, the world’s first retrievable, non-surgical pacing technology, as part of the LEADLESS II Clinical Trial. Developed for patients with bradycardia – a heart rate that is too slow – the Nanostim device is designed to be placed directly in a patient’s heart without the visible lump, scar and insulated wires (called leads) required for conventional pacemakers.

The implant took place as part of the LEADLESS II pivotal trial, a prospective, non-randomized, multi-center, international clinical study designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Nanostim leadless pacemaker in patients indicated for the device in the U.S. The study is expected to enroll approximately 670 patients at 50 centers.

James G. Porterfield, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.H.R.S, an electrophysiologist with Arrhythmia Consultants, performed the implant procedure.

The Nanostim revolutionizes treatment for certain heart rhythm disorders in which the heart beats too slowly explained Dr. Porterfield. The implantable device offers patients a less-invasive procedure that reduces complications such as device-related infection of the surgical pocket and lead failure.

Dr. Porterfield’s wife, Linda Porterfield, PhD, F.H.R.S., a professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center was very excited when this research protocol came across her desk.

Implanted via the femoral vein with a steerable catheter, the Nanostim leadless pacemaker offers physicians at Methodist a less-invasive approach compared to traditional pacemaker procedures that require more extensive surgery. The miniaturized device is designed to be fully retrievable so that it can be readily repositioned during the implant procedure and later retrieved if necessary.

The Nanostim leadless pacemaker is less than 10 percent the size of a conventional pacemaker and is the least invasive pacing technology available today. The small size of the device and lack of a surgical pocket, coupled with the exclusion of a lead, improves patient comfort and can reduce complications, including device pocket-related infection and lead failure. The elimination of the visible lump and scar at a conventional pacemaker’s implant site, in addition to the removal of patient activity restrictions that are routinely put in place in an attempt to prevent dislodgement or damage to a conventional lead, will potentially improve the quality of life for patients with this technology by allowing most to continue living active, uninhibited lifestyles. The device is supported by the St. Jude Medical Merlin™ Programmer, which is also used to interrogate and program the company’s other pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).

The Nanostim leadless pacemaker received CE Mark approval in 2013 and is now available in select European markets. The device is not available for sale in the U.S.

Select Specialty Hospital Makes Additions

Select Specialty Hospital is pleased to announce the following new additions to their staff. Donna Grisham joins as their Chief Nursing Officer. Grisham previously worked at the Regional One Health and comes with over 20 years of experience in nursing, education and leadership roles.

Mark Kimball joins as Chief Executive Officer. He comes from Archbold Medical Center in Thomasville, Georgia. He has over 20 years experience in operations, physician recruitment & retention, business development, finance, operations, regulatory compliance, and community involvement.

Thomas Beasley, MD, Joins Methodist Healthcare

General surgeon Thomas Beasley, MD, has teamed up with Methodist Healthcare to join Methodist Surgical Associates Olive Branch, Miss. He will primarily operate at Methodist Olive Branch Hospital.

Dr. Beasley earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South Sewanee. He received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis.

Baptist Cancer Center Awarded $3 Million NCI Grant

The National Cancer Institute recently designated the Baptist Cancer Center as one of 12 centers nationwide to spearhead clinical research focused on disparities in cancer care among minorities and historically underserved groups.

The work will be focused in Memphis, a city with among the highest disparities in cancer mortality in the U.S.

Baptist Cancer Center locations in Oxford, Miss., Columbus, Miss., and Jonesboro, Ark., will also participate under the Baptist Cancer Center umbrella.

The five-year grant, which totals more than $3 million, will distinguish Baptist as a minority/underserved site and will pull together the resources of a number of local organizations under the NCI’s Community Oncology Research Program, known as NCORP. The organizations, which all have a commitment to effectively addressing health care disparities, include Meharry Medical College, which previously served as a minority-based community oncology program for the NCI. Other partners include the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, the University of Memphis School of Public Health, the Church Health Center, and others.

The grant will fund the enhancement of clinical trials, outreach for clinical trial education and enrollment, and support practices serving minority and rural populations. In collaboration with community primary care centers, the program will also address clinical research in screening, prevention and cancer surveillance. In addition, the NCORP program is addressing how cancer care is delivered through “cancer care delivery research.”

According to the NCI, Baptist was chosen because of its strength in the community and because of the demographics of the surrounding areas the health care system serves, which is among the poorest in the nation and comprises 40 percent African-Americans, five percent other minorities, and 25 percent rural areas.

Dr. Stephen B. Edge, director of the Baptist Cancer Center, will serve as the Baptist NCORP Principal Investigator with medical oncologist Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon serving as the leader of the cancer care delivery research team, and Dr. Philip Lammers as the lead investigator at the Meharry Medical College.