Hospital Board seeks new CEO, welcomes FNP

Members of the Phillips County Hospital and Family Health Clinic Board of Directors confirmed at their monthly meeting in Malta last Tuesday that Hospital CEO Ward VanWichen tendered a resignation letter on Thursday, February 20, which they accepted.

The replacement for VanWichen, who took over the CEO position at the hospital in April of 2007, is in its infancy, accoding to the Hospital Board.

Members of the board were introduced to the Phillips County Hospital's newest Family Nurse Practitioner, Christy Scoggins. Scoggins makes her way to Phillips County via Alaska (though her hometown is in Texas, see a feature on her in the edition of the PCN) and joins Dr. Edwin Medina and FNP-BC Theresa Ohl on the medical staff.

"I told her when I first interviewed her that she was going to fit in here very well," Dr. Medina said of Scoggins. "She is very experienced, well versed, and we are happy to have her on staff."

Dr. Medina said that several candidates are currently being interviewed to fill one more nurse practitioner position at the hospital and a few of them will be invited to Malta to visit the facilities soon.

"If we get a fourth provider that has the experience that Christy and Theresa have, it will be great for the community," Dr. Medina said. "I am happy with how the recruitment is going."

During the Medical Staff Report, Dr. Medina said the in-patient for the month of January was around 12-to-15 patients and the clinic was full. He said that approximately six-to-eight students from the Chatham University will work rotations at the hospital this summer with the PA Program.

"These are students who come and do their clinical experience here," he said. "They rotate with me for about six weeks to eight weeks and my colleagues help when I am not here ...they come out here and get a vast experience. They see everything in the ER from child birth to death, they see the gament."

Near the meeting's finale, Board Member Troy Blunt reported that the Malta Airport will have its runway redonefor a week this summer and planes won't be able to land there during that project. (That week, as of yet, is undetermined.) He said there will also be a month where the lights at the airport will be redone and night landing will not be available.