Opening of New Medical Facility- UPMC Hamot in Mt. Jewett

With the opening of UPMC Hamot Medical Park - Mt. Jewett (at 18 W. Main Street), a service of Kane Community Hospital, now two physician assistants are providing primary care in addition to Linda Rettger, MD, family medicine and Mohammed Suddle, MD, internal medicine.

Eric Asp, PA-C has worked with Dr. Rettger at KCH’s community clinic in Mt. Jewett for four years. "The move to the new facility on Main Street," Eric noted "will offer the same high quality, caring staff who have served the community for three decades, while giving us room to add care and services."
Eric works fulltime at FCI McKean and one day a week at the Mt. Jewett Family Practice. His specialties are family medicine, men’s health, infectious diseases (like Hepatitis C and HIV).
He will also provide care for Walk-In Saturdays to begin at the new facility on May 12. Walk-In Saturdays offer care 9 a.m. to 12 noon for routine clinic visits and minor problems. This is a new service at the new Mt. Jewett facility. No appointment needed.
Eric is a nationally certified Physician Assistant (PA-C). A native of Kane, Eric has a B.S. in Biology from Penn State University. In 2002 he received his Master of Health Science from Lock Haven University in Physician Assistant studies with emphasis in Rural Primary Care.

Since 2003 Eric has worked for the Bureau of Prisons, FCI McKean in Bradford. Prior to that he worked for Prison Health Services for the State prison system at SCI Forest in Marienville. From 1995 until 2000 Eric was an EMT-B for Kane Ambulance/Emergycare.

KCH Stroke Telemedicine Pilot Program Underway with UPMC Hamot

A new and potentially life-saving technology is now being piloted at Kane Community Hospital’s Emergency Room.  KCH’s affiliation with UPMC Hamot makes this pilot possible.

“It’s called the stroke telemedicine program,” stated KCH ER Nurse Manager Cindy Salerno, RN, CEN, PHRN.  “What that means is, when a patient comes to our ER with stroke-like symptoms, our ER doctor and nursing staff, and more importantly the patient, will be able to consult directly with a neurologist at UPMC Hamot in Erie."

"When an acute stroke patient arrives at the KCH ER, and the ER physician determines a call to UPMC Hamot is indicated, the call is made and a neurologist is  dispatched to a specialized office to begin an assessment of the patient," Mary Parana, RN, ADON, Director of Outpatient Services at KCH noted. "This is possible because of mobile monitoring equipment that allows the stroke patient to be seen and be assessed by the neurologist with video camera and monitor at both Kane and Erie, so the ER physician, consulting neurologist and patient are able to see and hear each other." 

UPMC Hamot Earns 100 Top Hospitals Award for the Sixth Time

– Kane Community Hospital is proud to announce that UPMC Hamot has been named a 100 Top Hospital by Thomson Reuters for the sixth time. Thomson Reuters recently released a study identifying the 100 top U.S. hospitals based on their overall organizational performance. UPMC Hamot is the only hospital in the region to earn this prestigious designation. 

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals® study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993.

To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 2,886 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals. They used public information - Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

If all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated at UPMC Hamot and at other 100 Top facilities:

• More than 186,000 additional lives could be saved.
• Approximately 56,000 additional patients could be complication free.
• More than $4.3 billion could be saved.
• The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.
• If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.

KCH begins Free Healthy Heart Series & offers reduced rate cardiac scoring during American Heart Month

Kane Community Hospital, an affiliate of UPMC Hamot, offers a couple of options to learn more about heart disease and your heart this month, American Heart Month.

The KCH Cardiac Rehab & Wellness Center is offering a FREE, KCH Healthy Heart Series, for fives Tuesdays in a row, from 12 noon - 12:45 p.m. in the 2nd floor Center at the KCH at 4372 Route 6 West.

The Tuesday series dates and topics are:  February 21, Exercise; February 28, Nutrition; March 6, Hypertension Management,  March 13 - Stress Management and March 20, Diabetes Management. 

So, invite a friend and take a mid-day break for 45 minutes and learn about getting or maintaining a healthy heart.  

At each session, a healthy heart topic is explored and you'll get a "take home" exercise and nutrition tip.  There will be time each session to ask questions, get answers, and enjoy a heart healthy snack and bottled water. 

Come for one or all in the series.  Attend all five and get one-month FREE membership at the KCH Fitness Center ($25 value)..  To participate, simply call 837-4779 so we know to expect you.

Reduced rate Cardiac scoring.  Also during February, KCH's Imaging team is offering Cardiac Scoring for a reduced rate of $40 as part of KCH's Wellness Screening Program.

Cardiac Scoring checks the buildup of calcium in plaque on the walls of the arteries of the heart.  This test is used to check for heart disease at an early stage and help score the severity.  For more information or to schedule the screening in February call 837-4580 for an appointment. 

Other KCH Wellness Screenings are offered at different times throughout the year for reduced rates:  Cardiac Scoring is offered in February; Vascular Screening (three screens for one low price: coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm) in January, April, August, December; Bone Density screening in May and September; Mammography screening in October; and Lung Screening in March and November.

KCH Wellness Screening participation is easy.  Call to make an appointment. Go to registration the day of the screen and pay by check or credit card.  Get screened.  Get results.  All screens are non-invasive, painless.