Paris, Tenn. – Henry County Medical Center welcomed eight medical students at the monthly Board of Trustees dinner prior to the Board meeting on Thursday night and heard a presentation on robotics from Dr. Blake Chandler.
The students are from all over the country including Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Jackson. Each student went through the placement process at their individual schools and were matched with Henry County Medical Center for their third year clinical rotations.
HCMC Director of Medical Education Dr. Amanda Finely introduced the students to both the board members and community physicians and gave an overview of the program at the dinner.
“By having medical students here in a rural setting, instead of doing rotations in an urban area, gives them a chance to see how rewarding rural healthcare can be and hopefully we instill in them a desire and passion to serve rural communities in this field at a time when access to care in these communities continues to dwindle,” said Dr. Finley.
“The medical student program is a great opportunity for us to recruit physicians for our community and it is important that we are available and stay in touch with them,” according to Board Chair Dr. Scott Whitby. “The best scenario is for students to want to come back to smaller communities like ours. A great example of this is Blake Chandler.”
Physicians like Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Chandler are the driving force in the success rural facilities see when physicians support programs that make a difference for patients and result in growth at a time that many facilities face closure, he said. Dr. Chandler brought the orthopedic robotics program to HCMC.
Dr. Chandler, who has served HCMC for 20 years, presented a program with Chief Nursing Officer Neely Ashby on the growth of the program and his personal achievement of over 500 robotics cases in the four years of the robotics program at HCMC.
The orthopedics robotics program has surpassed original forecasts with almost 1,000 robotic hips and knees performed at HCMC. Dr. Chandler is now the third physician in the state to have completed 500 robotic orthopedic surgeries.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the board for being in the forefront and allowing me and supporting me to bring this technology to my hospital,” said Dr. Chandler. “It is an amazing advancement and we are so very lucky to have it.”
Ashby discussed the results of our orthopedics program since August 3, 2015, when Dr. Chandler did the first hip and knee case with the Mako robot. With upgrades to the robotic software along with advances like Exparel, Q-Ball, and pre-admission testing along with a dedicated joint class prior to surgery, HCMC has seen a reduction in readmissions in the program, less hip dislocations, better quality results as well as same day outpatient knee surgeries and reduced length of stay. Early mobility of patients has improved from 20% to 95% and functional assessments on the day of surgery have improved from 31% to 90%.
“The hospital took a chance on a piece of equipment and it has set us apart from other hospitals,” said Board Member James Travis. “Kudos to leadership for making us competitive and making our hospital stand out among all others.”
“We have seen that if our physicians are behind the projects and services we provide, we will be successful,” said Hospital CEO Lisa Casteel. “We have programs like robotics, the hyperbaric service, and the wound care center that are successful thanks to the leadership buy in, and support of our physicians.”
Photo: Dr. Chandler makes a presentation to the board. (Tori Daughrity photo).
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