News:

New Wiggins Primary Care Opens

George Regional Health System displayed its newest addition to the medical community, holding an open house and ribbon cutting for the new-and-improved Wiggins Primary Care, Friday, Sept. 14.

Paul Gardner, George Regional Health System Administrator, Bobby Burn, M.D., a physician at Wiggins Primary Care, and Wiggins Mayor Jerry Alexander were joined by family and friends as they celebrated the expansion of the facility.

“The parking lot and the waiting room are bigger,” Dr. Burn said of the structure’s improvements. “The building is brand new. Being next to Wal-Mart, it’s easy to find.”

The new 8,000 square-foot facility, which officials found necessary following the post-Katrina population boom, contains 12 state-of-the-art patient exam rooms, a spacious waiting room, a parking lot that has tripled its original size and a digital x-ray machine.

Wiggins Primary Care, a satellite branch of George Regional Health System, houses Dr. Bobby Burn, and Glynnis Randall, C.F.N.P. In July 2008, Christie Nohra, M.D. will be joining their practice.

The new Wiggins Primary Care operates Monday and Tuesday 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and Wednesday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sueann Burdick, D'Shea Burn, Glynnis Randall, CFNP, Dr. Christy Nohra, Dr. Bobby Burn, Paul Gardner CEO, Kathy Fender, Jill Dean, April Kostmayer, Chrissy Robirtson, Hayley Cornelson.

 

The COMMUNITY BEAT

George Regional Health System is launching its new quarterly newsletter - Community Beat. Through this newsletter, we will keep you informed on all news and current events happening in our health care facilities. In every edition, you'll also find several health-related articles to keep you in check with the latest strategies, newest technology, and current trends in the health and wellness industries. We want this to be a newsletter for the whole family, so we'll include George's Jungle - complete with fun puzzles and healthy recipes for kids - in each edition as well. Through the Community Beat, we hope to provide you with information to keep you feeling well and options when you're not.

Patient Spotlight: Prescreening Saves Lives

David Gunter is like most middle-age men- he's allergic to hospitals. Even though Gunter has a family history of colon cancer and he's over the age of 50, he never wanted to get a colonoscopy. Like most people, his excuse was, “I feel fine.” But he wasn't.

“It's actually a pretty funny story,” Gunter said. A few months back, one of his shoulders was giving him trouble while he was playing golf, so Gunter had his doctor take a look at it. Although Gunter's shoulder showed no signs of injury, it was Gunter's medical history report that had him coming back to the hospital the next day.

“Going down the medical check list, the doctor asked if anyone in my family ever had colon cancer and I said that both my mom and my sister had it.” Gunter said. “Then the doctor looked me right in the eye and said I needed to get a colonoscopy done right away.”

Gunter is glad he did; the doctors found he too had colon cancer. Days later Gunter was back at the hospital having 13 inches of his colon removed. “I'm so glad they caught it when they did. If I had come in 2 years earlier for a pre-screening, the doctors would have caught the cancer in the developing stage and I wouldn't have needed major surgery. Thank God for my golf shoulder. I don't want to think what would have happened to me if I had not come in when I did,” Gunter sighed.

Gunter is now telling everyone he knows over the age of 50 to get a colonoscopy done. “I tell them that there's no excuse for not going. The procedure is painless, but the results can save your life.”

“I want to thank George Regional Hospital for talking me into having the colonoscopy and for the way they treated me throughout the process. The nurses were great; the doctors are the best around. Anything I can get done at George Regional, I will.”

GRHS Raises over $15,000 to Fight Cancer

Dozens of staff and volunteers from all of our health care facilities joined together on June 1st, 2007, to help raise money for cancer research at the Relay for Life fundraiser. Hundreds of people filled the George County High School stadium. Some of them were cancer survivors, others weren't, but they all were there to help save the lives of future cancer victims.
George Regional raised roughly $15,000 dollars of the $108,000 total raised during this year's event. All of the money will fund things like cutting-edge cancer research, prevention and early detection programs, and cancer patient services.
It's estimated that 12,500 Mississippians will be diagnosed with cancer; almost half of them will die. The money George Regional and other relay for life teams raised will give every cancer victim a better chance of survival. We want to thank the 160 GRHS employees who participated in Relay for Life through payroll deductions and others fundraisers.

GR Helping Position George County for Future

Hundreds of people gathered at George County's new industrial park as county and economic leader rolled out the plans for the undeveloped site. The vision is to feed off of the current industries in Jackson County and Mobile by attracting supplier industries to George County. George Regional set up a display booth and handed out flyers to show its support for the future growth.
“Any new development in George County will bring not just more business, but more people to the area,” said George Regional Health System Chief Administrator Paul Gardner. “Our health system supports the growth and is already planning for the anticipated need for more healthcare which will inevitably increase with the population.”