Mt. Sterling Residents Have Lots of Health Care Options
health care, hospitals, mary chiles hospital,
Residents of Mt. Sterling and Montgomery County don’t have to go far for quality health care.
Mary Chiles Hospital offers an increasingly broad range of services - from emergency care to surgical procedures.
The hospital‚ which will observe its 85th birthday in 2005‚ opened in 1920 in a private home purchased through donations‚ including a large contribution from the Chiles family. A 63-bed acute-care facility was built in 1960 on a campus that today sports many new facilities.
“We’re very fortunate that we can meet so many medical needs locally‚” says Jon Tarr‚ vice president of physician services and business development. “Our thing is‚ let’s keep them (patients) in town.”
A recent addition of particular importance is the Kentucky Clinic-Mt. Sterling Cancer Treatment Center‚ a joint venture of the hospital‚ the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center and UK’s Department of Radiation Medicine. The center opened in April 2004.
Mary Chiles Hospital‚ located at 50 Sterling Ave.‚ is part of the Gateway Regional Health System‚ which also includes Gateway Surgical Associates and Integrity Orthopedics in Mt. Sterling as well as Bath Family Health Services in Bath County and an independently owned satellite clinic in Menifee County.
Tarr says 150 physicians are affiliated with Mary Chiles Hospital‚ including some who make regular visits from Lexington. The hospital’s full-time staff now includes three general surgeons‚ two orthopedic surgeons‚ three gynecological surgeons and one urological surgeon as well as an oncologist‚ nephrologist and many other specialists.
Technological advances include a Toshiba 16-slice CT scanner‚ installed in summer 2004‚ which Tarr says is the fastest CT scanner on the market. The hospital also has an MRI scanner.
A 15‚000-square-foot contiguous building that once housed a nursing home is being converted into new patient registration areas and a “sleep lab” where people can be monitored and treated for sleep apnea‚ Tarr says.
Elsewhere in Mt. Sterling‚ the Windsor Care Center/Sterling Place assisted-living home is meeting the needs of older citizens who cannot live completely independently.
“I’ve worked in long-term care since 1978‚ and my mother worked as a nursing assistant‚” says Rebecca Cooley‚ administrator. “We know we’re providing quality care.”
Windsor Care Center has 98 beds with full-time nursing care‚ and Sterling Place offers 22 personal-care beds for residents who need some supervision‚ plus four assisted-living apartments.
The facility also offers an adult day-care program where people can spend the day‚ receiving physical therapy if needed and taking part in planned activities. The participants then return to their homes at night.
“The adult day-care program provides an option for families who don’t want to have to place relatives in a nursing home yet‚” Cooley says.
Story by Anne Gillem
Photo by Wes Aldridge
