Dr. Ben Stephenson appointed to chief of staff following resignation from Dr. Breck McCarty

Doctor Ben Stephenson is the new Chief of Staff at the Haxtun Hospital District. His appointment came early last week following a resignation of Doctor Breck McCarty from her duties as both a physician with the District and Chief of Staff. Dr. Breck McCarty’s resignation is effective as of June 30.

Board of Directors for the Haxtun Hospital District met last Monday, June 22 and during the Chief of Staff report, were informed of Breck McCarty’s resignation effective at the end of the month. Following the news, board members reviewed the medical staff bylaws and the Board’s responsibility in the chief of staff selection.

After discussing qualifications and those interested and able to accept the open position, board members voted to appoint Dr. Stephenson. The chief of staff appointment is for a term of two years; Dr. Stephenson will take over the new role on July 1.

“We are very sad to see Breck resign, but understand that is what she needs to do for health reasons,” said HHD Chief Executive Officer Dewane Pace. “She truly is a beloved physician and member of our Team.”

Pace said Dr. Stephenson, Dr. Craig McCarty, Dr. Nate Chappelle, Dr. Gerard Ashbeck, Sarah Tisher, Nurse Practitioner, and Jessica Bullard, NP, are all working together to make sure patients are seen in a timely manner and that so far this year, HHD has used no locum physicians.

“We will look for an additional physician to join our Medical Staff in the near future but for now our current providers are covering the needs and patients can be seen,” Pace said. “We are also utilizing our Fleming Clinic three days every week and designating that site for patients without COVID-19 symptoms.”

The June HHD Board of Directors meeting opened with a report from Marketing Director Julia Biesemeier, who announced a new collaboration with Jet Marketing. She told board members her department is working to take a more proactive approach with outreach to the community and the company, Jet Marketing, is known for working with small, rural facilities, specifically with bandwidth. Biesemeier hopes to present a more consistent message moving forward with a standardization of all marketing materials.

The Marketing Director also noted modifications to logos for both the hospital and emergency services with a more consistent color palette and a brand refresh to all ads, postcards, newsletters, brochures and HHD’s website haxtunhealth.org.

During staff reports, Chief Financial Officer Joleen Stroyek gave her May month ending report to board members, noting that both ambulatory care unit and clinic statistics were down for the month due to COVID-19, however, with the opening of the Fleming Clinic to three days a week, there has been an increase in patient volume. The re-opening of specialty clinics has also improved statistics.

According to information Stroyek presented to the Board, the ACU had 40 total patient days with 10 in-patient and 30 swing bed. Those numbers are 31 percent under budget for the month and 20 percent over budget year-to-date. Clinic numbers are 21 percent under budget for the month and negative six percent year-to-date. The Haxtun and Fleming clinics saw a total of 342 patients in May.

In the Chief Nursing Officer report, Registered Nurse Lea White reported the resignation of Director of Nursing Angeline McGill effective on June 12. She said HHD is looking for the right person to fill that position. HHD also has an opening for a full-time RN/LPN.

Additionally, she said the extended care unit has a total of 21 residents right now and that as for that side of the facility, all non-essential visitation continues to be restricted for resident’s health and safety.

CEO Pace had a number of new hires to report to board members at the end of June including new physical therapist Wendy Evans. Evans holds a Master of Science degree in Sport Science and exercise Physiology from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and a degree in Movement Studies from the University of Kent as well as a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Miami Florida.

Evans has expertise in Trigger Point Dry Needling, Kinesiology, Pilates based Physical Therapy, Rolfing Structural Integration, Muscle Activation Practitioner, Physical Therapy and is also a licensed massage therapist.

Originally from the UK, Evans has traveled extensively and has joined the Haxtun community.

Pace said HHD will also welcome Bullard as a Family Nurse Practitioner to the team at HHD in August. Bullard grew up in Otis and played college volleyball in both Colorado and Kansas. She has been a part of the HHD team as a nurse since 2006.

Bullard continued to advance her medical career over the past 14 years culminating with passing her nurse practitioner board exam and being granted medical staff privileges at HHD. Bullard will begin seeing patients in August and will also help with the opening of the clinic on Saturdays.

Pace added that HHD is currently in the process of hiring a pharmacist to assist with the in-patient pharmacy as well as the retail pharmacy with plans in the works to open for business on Saturdays. Pace said that as clinic visits continue to increase on Saturdays so does the need for opening up more services such as the pharmacy, lab and radiology.