Kindred Hospital Melbourne Continues to Expand, Benefiting Not Only Patients, but the Community At Large

Kindred Hospital Melbourne (KHM) admitted its first patient on December 10, 2009. Over a year later, the hospital continues to grow and solidify its place in Brevard County’s post-acute health care continuum.

“During 2010, the hospital passed multiple inspections, completed its Medicare demonstration period required for Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) hospitals, added medical and hospital staff and held a successful grand opening in September for the health care community,” says Angelica Cotshott, CEO of KHM.

New Programs on the Horizon
The year 2011 will bring added services to the hospital. Two of the major projects on the agenda are opening the hospital’s operating room (OR) and laboratory. Managers have been hired for these two areas and are actively working to complete all of the steps necessary to implement the new programs.

“Preliminary plans for the OR are to perform procedures such as trachs, insertion of feeding tubes, wound debridement, skin flaps and grafts, and other basic procedures commonly needed by our patient population,” says Cotshott. “This will prevent the need for a patient to be transferred out of the facility for the above procedures.”

Long-term plans include increasing the complexity of cases to address more serious issues that may arise during the hospital stay.

Clyde Blaylock, RN, has joined the KHM team as the new manager of surgical services. His vision for the surgical department is to provide the hospital’s patients and their family members with compassion, kindness, understanding and quality care throughout all phases of their surgical experience.

“Our goal is to have the ability to offer the patients the latest technology, techniques, and instrumentation, along with outstanding physicians and exceptional staff to assist the Kindred patients toward a healthy recovery,” he says.

The laboratory will function as a core laboratory performing basic hematology, chemistry and coagulation studies. Meanwhile blood bank and microbiology will continue to be sent out to local reference labs.

“(Our vision for this department is) to provide state-of-the-art laboratory testing in support of our clinicians and patients and to utilize technical expertise in performing analyses with total focus on customer satisfaction and a quality result,” says Tony Nolen, laboratory manager, who joined the team to start up the laboratory department.

Sophisticated Wound Care
An advanced wound care focus at KHM is offered for complicated and chronic wounds. The hospital’s wound care services are evidence based and involve multidisciplinary specialists and departments including a certified wound ostomy continence nurse, physical therapy, occupational therapy, a registered dietitian and a specially trained wound care nursing team affectionately known as the SWATT (Skin Wound Assessment and Treatment Team).

Along with negative pressure wound therapy (both gauze and foam) and Pulsed Lavage, KHM has recently added MIST Therapy. This therapy is a low energy, low intensity ultrasound delivered through a saline mist to the wound bed. It helps to stimulate tissue regeneration at the cellular level, as well as decrease bio-burden within the wound environment.

“We are able to provide excellent outcomes using the therapies in conjunction with our advanced wound care products,” says Cotshott.

The opening of the OR for grafting finish work required for some wound care patients will complete the comprehensive wound healing opportunities at KHM.

Continuing an Upward Expansion
Other departments at KHM also are enhancing their capabilities. The respiratory therapy department recently acquired a Glidescope, a flexible laryngoscope to simplify and enhance the process of emergency intubations when a patient suffers respiratory distress.

In the area of marketing, a third clinical liaison (CL) will be hired. This person will cover the East Orlando territory. Having an additional CL will afford KHM more adequate coverage, which will decrease turnaround time for evaluation of referrals converting these to admissions.

With regard to physician coverage, Richard Baney, Jr., M.D., medical director for KHM, has been instrumental in recruiting physicians of all specialties necessary to treat the LTAC patient. A few specialists are still needed in the areas of gastroenterology and ear, nose and throat.

An in-house physician program also is in place for patient safety. Since LTACs do not have emergency departments, it is necessary for a physician to be in-house during night hours to respond quickly to a code or other emergency. This program is now fully operation thanks to the efforts of Michael Ott, M.D., a pulmonary specialist.

The senior team at KHM stresses the importance of a business giving back to its local community. They do this in a number of ways such as serving on non-profit boards, volunteering for non-profit organizations, sponsoring charitable events and hosting clinical and non-clinical students from various institutions around the area. A few of the charitable organizations that have benefited from KHM’s involvement are: Junior Achievement of the Space Coast, Habitat for Humanity and the American Lung Association.

In addition to the value it brings to the community through charitable giving, KHM has been able to provide jobs for over 30 previously unemployed individuals from Brevard County.

With the above additions and enhancements to its clinical services, KHM is positioned for continued growth in 2011. The senior leaders and staff are excited to provide the much-needed services to Brevard County’s health care community and residents.