St. Joseph Health System Offers Variety of Services
Published Jan 24, 2008
St. Joseph Regional Health Center is a 210-bed facility that provides emergency care, inpatient surgery and outpatient surgery.
Through an array of hospitals and clinics, St. Joseph Health System views keeping the Brazos Valley healthy as its primary goal.
Whether caring for seriously ill patients or simply educating the community, the St. Joseph Health System has offered assistance since it first opened as Bryan Hospital in 1913.
Al Smith, senior vice president of St. Joseph’s, says it’s the hospital’s founding mission to provide care to Brazos Valley residents.
“Part of our mission is to do wellness fairs and events so people don’t have to come into the hospital,” Smith says.
Some of the wellness fairs are specific, such as to check glucose levels or provide children with booster shots. Some programs are offered at free and reduced costs, he notes.
Residents also can be assured they’re getting the best care available when needing the services of St. Joseph’s medical staff. The organization features a regional cancer center, regional health center, occupational health center, a rehabilitation center – and that’s just in Brazos County. St. Joseph also has facilities in the counties of Burleson, Grimes, Lee, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington.
St. Joseph Regional Health Center features state-of-the-art, non-invasive scope procedures that also offer information in digital form.
The hospital’s new surgical suites showcase voice-command technology that allows physicians to control lighting and other items through a headset worn during surgeries.
A patient’s medical file can be displayed on a 50-inch plasma set along with real-time images from the surgical scopes, while several flat panel displays allow the entire medical team to monitor a patient. Touch-screen technology allows the surgical staff to control nearly everything in a room. About four of the hospital’s 16 surgical suites have the high-tech capabilities so far, St. Joseph reports.
The hospital also now has a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner to allow radiologists and physicians to diagnose and treat patients more quickly. The $1.5 million machine housed on St. Joseph’s Bryan campus allows examinations “feet-first” to lower patients’ anxiety of being in small spaces.
Even more upgrades are expected over the next few years as St. Joseph’s completes a fundraising campaign.
A four-story addition, called the Tower, will be added to the Bryan campus. The Tower will include an outpatient center and more than 70 beds for surgical and intensive care patients. The state-of-the-art facility will cost more than $34 million, with St. Joseph’s investing $25 million with the goal of raising the balance.
The healthcare operator reached its base goal of $5 million in October 2005 – with plans to raise $2.5 million more – as part of the Promise Campaign fundraiser.
“This multi-year, fund-raising success story has been a labor of love and our ability to achieve this milestone is due to the many individuals who have dedicated thousands of volunteer hours and made significant contributions to this effort,” says Sister Gretchen Kunz, president and chief executive of St. Joseph Health System.
Story by Cristal Cody
Photo by Stephen Cherry
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