St. Mary’s joins with Ironton’s Medical Centers

By TIM PRESTON - The Independent

IRONTON October 10, 2008 11:13 pm

— Pride was evident in the expressions of a small group who gathered in Ironton Friday morning to unveil a new sign at the Family Medical Center announcing a partnership between St. Mary’s Medical Center and the Ironton Lawrence County Community Action Organization.
Hospital officials and community leaders visited each of the four Family Medical Centers in the county to announce the collaboration aimed at improving primary health care services.
St. Mary’s Chief Operating Officer Todd Campbell said the partnership has been intensely studied and ushers in the first phase of a new era in local health care.
“We’ve been kicking the tires for about five years now,” Campbell said. “The St. Mary’s staff saw the quality and the groundwork here and also the opportunity to move both organizations forward. This is the first step of moving forward.”
Citing the consistent accreditation and outstanding care ratings of Family Medical Center staff and resources, Campbell said the first phase of operations will be to determine the best use of physicians and resources to provide patient services.
Patients who use Family Medical Centers will have access to all of St. Mary’s services and specialists while retaining the option to receive care from any hospital of their choosing.
“We want to increase our patients’ access to specialty services and diagnostics,” said D.R. Gossett, executive director of the Ironton Lawrence County Community Action Organization. “Those assessments will be available at St. Mary’s if patients make that choice, but our plan is to eventually make those additional services available at some of the centers themselves.”
Lawrence County commissioners Jason Stephens and Doug Malone spoke briefly during the morning gathering in Ironton, along with Ironton Mayor Rich Blankenship.
Malone praised the Family Medical Center staff for their efficiency, and Stephens said the new partnership will benefit a wide range of people, including residents of Coal Grove, Chesapeake and surrounding communities.
“It’s really exciting to look at where we’ll be five years from now,” Stephens said, crediting the thought which has gone into the business plan “to reward the entire community.”
The announcement is the latest in a series of plans by Lawrence County Healthcare Future LLC to improve health care delivery in the area. The group recently announced it will build a new Family Medical Center in Ironton near the intersection of Route 141 and U.S. 52, with construction expected to begin in 2009.
Future phases of the plan include a surgery and imaging center, depending on patient demand for those services. If that happens, hospital officials say they will assess the possibility of building a new hospital at the site.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.