Category: General News

Our hospital systems remain devoted to this community, and we are prepared to care for you and your loved ones if you need us, but we need your help.

“We are all in this together” has never been truer than it is right now in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. In the western Kentucky/southern Illinois region, this means a shared feeling of sacrifice, resilience and endurance. For the region’s major health care providers, it also means our commitment to work together to serve you – our community – and advance the care of all of our patients.

Our hospitals have also partnered with local and state health and emergency management departments to speak with one voice and to work as a unified team throughout this pandemic. Our strength is in our shared mission to protect lives, care for the stricken, and work together to face this virus using our best resources.

Our health care teams and administrations are working together. We are supporting one another so that we can protect you. We will remain steadfast in that commitment until this COVID-19 threat is eradicated.

We cannot do this alone. We need your help and cooperation. This pandemic is not a threat that can be solely tackled within the four walls of a hospital. Success is in our collective hands. If everyone follows these three simple steps, we will no doubt see a vast improvement in the number of COVID-19 diagnoses:

• Wear a mask
• Wash your hands frequently
• Distance yourself from others in public

By following these guidelines, our communities have the ability to make a tremendous impact on the progression of the virus. Our actions in the coming days and months will be critical in our efforts to minimize hospitalizations and return to our lives with friends and family.

We are far stronger working together as health partners and as a community than we could ever be alone.

Sincerely,

Mike Yungmann, President Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital
Chris Roty, President Baptist Health Paducah
David Anderson, CEO Jackson Purchase Medical Center 
Jerry Penner, CEO Murray Calloway County Hospital
David Fuqua, CEO/Administrator Marshall County Hospital
John Sumner, CEO Trigg County Hospital                               
Dan Odegaard, CEO Caldwell Medical Center
Liz Snodgrass, CEO Livingston Hospital & Healthcare Services
Jon Gleason, CEO Crittenden Community Hospital
Rick Goins, CEO Massac Memorial Hospital
Lee Gentry, CEO Continue Care Hospital of Paducah
Jeremy Jeffrey, Mercy Regional EMS
Kent Koster, Purchase District Health Department
Billie Newbury, Preparedness Coordinator Region 1
Jerome Mansfield, McCracken County Kentucky Emergency Management Director
James Tolley, Interim Director Pennyrile District Health Department

Murray-Calloway County Hospital is pleased to welcome Karomibal Mejia, MD, Interventional Cardiologist who is focused on carotid, coronary and vascular disease.

Dr. Mejia completed his medical degree at Universidad Autonoma De Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic and completed his residency at Bronx Lebanon & Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY, in Internal Medicine. He continued his education by completing a Cardiology fellowship and an Interventional / Endovascular Cardiology fellowship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Vascular Medicine, Echocardiography, Nuclear cardiology and is as well registered physician in vascular ultrasound interpretation.

He is a member of the American College of Cardiology, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society of Vascular Medicine, and the American Medical Association.

He is married to his wife, Belisa, and they have one child. During his spare time, he enjoys reading, biking, and going to the gym.

Dr. Mejia will join Dr. Ali Homayuni at Murray-Calloway County Hospital and the practice of Murray Cardiology Associates to lead the Murray Heart and Vascular program.  If you have any questions, please contact the Marketing Department at 270.762.1381 or visit www.murrayhospital.org.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital’s 36^th Annual Service of Remembrance scheduled for December 1 has been postponed at this time.

The Service of Remembrance is held every year as a way to remember loved ones who have passed away during the year at Murray-Calloway County Hospital, Spring Creek Health Care, and in Hospice.  The service will be tentatively rescheduled for early in 2021 depending on COVID restrictions in place at that time.

For more information on the Service of Remembrance, contact Kerry Lambert, Chaplain, Pastoral Care at MCCH, at 270-762-1274

In recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Jazzercise Murray in conjunction with B U Yoga Studio raised over $550 for Murray-Calloway County Hospital’s “Call Out Cancer” Campaign to build a new regional cancer center. The funds donated will go directly toward the building project.

“We certainly appreciate our community supporters and the creative way Jazzercise hosted a free, socially distanced community wellness event to get people involved to donate,” said Lisa Shoemaker, Senior Philanthropy Officer.

The Enduring Hope “Call Out Cancer” telethon supported the building of a new regional cancer center to care for families within our region. The funds raised will support new cancer technology including a new linear accelerator, chemotherapy room, and infusion center.

“Owning a boutique fitness studio in Murray, I fervently support the health and wellness of our clients. But I also grew up here and care about my friends, neighbors, and our community. Nearly everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. Just in my own family, we’ve had family members fight thyroid, breast, skin, and colorectal cancer. There are so many things to deal with when receiving a cancer diagnosis, I just don’t believe that having to worry about where to go for treatment should be one of them,” said Beth Podrovitz, Jazzercise Murray.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital was proud to sponsor this year’s ALS Virtual Walk. MCCH focuses on supporting community health initiatives and was proud to be a $1,000 sponsor of the event hosted by the ALS Association in the fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Pictured left to right: Jerry Penner, CEO of MCCH and Mitzi Cathey, Radiological Technologist and 39-year employee at the hospital who serves as the ALS representative for Team Brad.

The Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit at Murray-Calloway County Hospital  (MCCH) joins with NAMI to recognize Mental Health Awareness Week.  This year we’ve seen the numbers of Americans impacted by mental health conditions on the rise as a result of the pandemic and more people than ever need help. In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) on Oct. 4-10, 2020, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and participants across the country are raising awareness and educating about mental illness warning signs and symptoms.

This year’s theme for MIAW is “What People with Mental Illness Want You to Know.” Too often, people with mental illness are marginalized, isolated and discriminated against because their conditions are misunderstood by the general public. 

One in five adults experience mental illness every year. Although many people today understand that mental illness is a medical condition, there are still many stigmatizing misconceptions and stereotypes at large. By amplifying the voices of people with lived experience during MIAW, NAMI hopes to increase awareness, empathy and compassion for those with mental illness.

The Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit at Murray-Calloway County Hospital works with variations of those with a mental illness. It is an inpatient geriatric-psychiatric program for short-term care. It is a hospital-based program for individuals 55+ who are experiencing emotional or behavioral problems. The 12-bed inpatient unit is on the 2nd Floor of the North Towers and was specially designed to meet the needs of geriatric-psychiatric patients with a separate dining area, a recreational therapy room, and comfortable patient rooms. The program provides compassionate, short-term, comprehensive care for older patients in a secure, caring setting.

The unit admits patients who are 55 years of age or older and whose primary diagnosis is psychiatric. Signs and symptoms that may indicated treatment is needed include:

• Major Depression
• Psychotic episodes
• Suicidal thoughts or attempts
• Mood instability
• Mania
• Verbal or physical aggression
• Hallucinations
• Increased confusion
• Behavioral issues related to dementia
• Delusions or paranoia

Features of the behavioral health unit include:
• Nurses’ station
• Recreational therapy room
• Group and community dining area
• Quiet room

Learn more about Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMI offers information about mental illness conditions, symptoms and treatment through the NAMI HelpLine at 800-950-NAMI (6264).

For more information about the Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit at MCCH, call 270.762.1220.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital announces the retirement of two long time physicians, Dr. Richard Crouch, Family Medicine at Murray Medical Associates and Dr. Ray Charette, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Murray Orthopaedics.

Dr. Ray Charette has served our community for over 40 years. He is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon and a fellow in Total Joint Replacement and a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. Charette graduated Magna cum Laude and completed his medical degree from the University of Ottowa in 1974, followed by a residency in General Orthopaedics at the University of Ottowa Faculty of Health Sciences at Montreal General Hospital. He also completed a Total Joint Replacement fellowship at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind.

Dr. Crouch received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky and has cared for the families of our community for over 42 years. He will continue serving on the Murray Independent School District Board of Education after 30+ years and during retirement plans on taking some classes at Murray State University.

“Dr. Crouch and Dr. Charette have been pillars to providing healthcare to our community for many years,” said Jerry Penner, CEO. “Their dedication to our patients has been first-class. We wish them the best in retirement.”

THANK YOU doesn’t say enough for this group of Murray Masketeers and Corrie Johnson for coordinating this group who made over 4,300 masks and donated many to MCCH and other healthcare facilities. We appreciate your dedication to our employees, our patients, and our community as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Dan Miller recently donated several historical works of art to Murray-Calloway County Hospital. Dr. Miller formerly had the pieces displayed in his medical office. Pictured are photos of the Mason Memorial Hospital, Murray Surgical Hospital and a watercolor of Mason Memorial Hospital. MCCH plans to display the works of art throughout the hospital.

For more information, please call the Marketing Dept. at 270.762-1381.

Pictured left to right – Jerry Penner, CEO, MCCH & Dr. Dan Miller, Retired Physician