Nursing school could boost by-pass growth

by Robyn Minor, The Daily News, originally published on 5/18/2012

The look of Commonwealth Health Corp.’s proposed new building for WKU’s school of nursing should help spur development along that end of U.S. 31-W By-pass.

That was the opinion Thursday’s of the design review committee for the Tax Increment Financing District.

CHC’s new building will have a curved wall of windows facing the bypass to take in the northern sun exposure and the curve would mimic that of the bypass, according to architect Paul W. Edwards of Stengel-Hill Architecture in Louisville.

Commonwealth Health, the parent of The Medical Center, will own the building and will enter into a long-term lease with Western Kentucky University for about 80 percent of the building for classrooms, labs and office space. As for the 20 percent that The Medical Center will use, CHC Executive Vice President Jean Cherry said it will be used for training and meetings, some of which are spread across The Medical Center campus now.

The three-story, 77,163-square-foot building will use a combination of masonry, stone, aluminum and glass to complement the other buildings on the multiblock campus of The Medical Center.

Edwards said the building tries to incorporate as much light in the major public spaces such as break rooms and the lobby as possible, as well as lighting the ends of the hallways that lead to classrooms and offices.

On one side of the exterior, there is a pull-off spot for buses for the future possibility of public transit to the building.

Committee member Neal E. Downing, an associate professor of architecture at WKU, said he knows the university will be capable of expanding transit to the building with the recent purchase of three additional buses.

The project as a whole has the campus buzzing, Downing said.

Downing said historically that this end of the bypass had not been very aesthetically pleasing. The TIF ends on The Medical Center side of the bypass, but perhaps its appearance will encourage development on the other side, he said.

Over the years CHC has developed its side of the bypass piecemeal as it could purchase dilapidated properties and tear them down, according to Cherry.

“This gives us a chance to dress it up (further) and put a beautiful facade on the campus, rather than looking at the back of a building,” Cherry said. “I think that this certainly would encourage development on the other side of the street.”

Edwards said the building also will have a green belt on the bypass side, incorporating many of the same plants that already are used throughout The Medical Center campus.

The design review committee was pleased with the plan, only making two minor suggestions.

Member Elinor Markle suggested that the architect consider removing a few parking spots adjacent to the building and instead extend the greenspace to the building’s entrance.

Markle said it would better connect the building to the outdoors.

Member Eileen Starr suggested some sort of architectural element be added to a blank brick wall that people will see as they exit buses.

Cherry said they would try to incorporate the suggestions.

The City-County Planning Commission of Warren County also on Thursday approved the detailed development plan for the nearly four acres needed for the project. The commission also approved a variance of the required property line setback for construction.

The review committee also heard some preliminary plans for Block 7 in the TIF where the new Dollar General Store will be located.

“This is a very challenging site,” local landscape architect Brian Shirley told the committee.

The site is bounded by Seventh and Sixth avenues and Center Street.

In addition to being triangular shaped, it has multiple utilities that can’t be moved without great expense – about $150,000, he said.

Shirley and architects Nick and Matt Sewell gave the committee some preliminary drawings for the site that will be developed in two phases. The first is a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General. The second would be a two-story 6,000-square-foot building that doesn’t yet have a tenant.

Starr asked why there are two separate buildings.

Shirley said that is pretty much being dictated by Dollar General. The building is pushing the boundaries of what most Dollar General’s look like. It has a two-story appearance that is much dressier than most, primarily because of design standards within the TIF.

Downing and other members on the committee said the plan as it stands doesn’t really follow the standards set out for that block that is a gateway into the TIF. It should engage pedestrian traffic in the area as well as signal the entrance into the TIF.

“You are headed in the right direction,” Downing said.

But the plan has a ways to go before it will pass muster.

Shirley said they already were on revision 24 to the plan but will make further changes.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Hospitals working to prevent readmission

by the Daily News, The Daily News, originally published on 5/16/2012

Six area hospitals are among 100 Kentucky hospitals joining the Kentucky Hospital Association to improve patient care and reduce health care costs in the state.

The hospitals’ goals include reducing preventable readmissions and hospital-acquired conditions.

Included in the program are Greenview Regional Hospital, The Medical Centers in Bowling Green, Scottsville and Franklin, T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow and Caverna Memorial Hospital.

The program will help hospitals identify ways to improve patient safety and share learning among hospitals across the state. The goal for this two-year project is to reduce preventable hospital readmissions that occur within 30 days of discharge by 20 percent and hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent (compared to 2010) by the end of 2013.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Generations gather for tea: Mother-daughter event at The Medical Center draws more than 90

by Robyn Minor, The Daily News, originally published on 5/13/2012

After an absence of nearly 30 years, Norma Hoehler is returning home to Bowling Green and spent Saturday celebrating the fact with parts of three other generations of her family.

Hoehler was at The Medical Center Women’s Center Mother-Daughter Tea with family, as were many of the other women and young ladies. More than 90 turned out for the annual event, which has been going on for about two decades.

“I just received the most wonderful Mother’s Day present,” Hoehler exclaimed. “I’m moving back to Bowling Green and they landscaped my patio for me.”

Hoehler is moving to Bowling Green Retirement Village, where her daughter, Vickie Jennett, is executive director.

“I’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” Hoehler said.

So Saturday’s event was a good time to start, at least with her daughter, her daughter’s daughter, Angie Wilk, and her daughter’s granddaughter, Morgan Wilk, all from Portland, Tenn.

The event turned out to be multigenerational for many families.

Guyla Wilson of Bowling Green was there with three other generations of her family from Bowling Green, 12 in all.

Wilson said she’s been coming so many times to the tea that she has lost track.

Her daughter, Carolyn Lindsey, said they missed the last few years and are happy to be back.

Lindsey’s granddaughter, Stephanie Riley, shares her love of tea, so the two were eager to drink the sweet concoction poured from one of the teapots on the table.

The pots were part of the collection of Linda Rush, director of community wellness for The Medical Center.

“I think I have 20 or 25 teapots,” she said. “You know once someone finds out you collect something, they tend to give that to you.”

But that doesn’t bother Rush.

“I love them,” she said.

While she no longer adds to her own collection, to satisfy her teapot craving, Rush buys them for others as gifts.

Three-year-old Emma Trinh eagerly ate one of the cupcakes prepared by Sweet Treats.

Hoehler and her daughter purchased the two books for sale by author Virginia Davis of Hart County.

Davis gave a brief talk about how her imagination as a child and voracious appetite for reading got her interested in writing. She now has two children’s books for sale, “The Flowers on Apple Hill” and “Irises’ Secret,” at virginiadavisbooks.com.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

WKU nursing program looking at expansion

by Robyn Minor, The Daily News, originally published on 5/13/2012

Western Kentucky University’s School of Nursing is about to get a big boost with a proposed expansion of Commonwealth Health Corp.’s campus.

Commonwealth Health is proposing to construct a 77,163-square-foot building adjacent to The Medical Center complex that would be used mostly for WKU’s School of Nursing. The project is in the Tax Increment Financing district, an area that starts at WKU’s main campus, extends downtown to the new Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center and over to U.S. 31-W By-Pass, and includes the large Medical Center campus.

“This takes quite a commitment both on the part of The Medical Center because it will own the building and on the part of WKU because we will have a long-term lease of the space,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “Western will have access to a new academic building, and we will be able to double the number of nursing students, which is huge for health all across Kentucky.”

Ransdell expects that graduates of the program will find employment not only at both of Bowling Green’s hospitals but in Glasgow, Caverna, Owensboro, Elizabethtown, Hopkinsville and elsewhere.

WKU would lease 80 percent of the building and move all of its nursing program and the new doctors of physical therapy and practical nursing programs to the building. The space also would contain faculty offices and the necessary lab space, Ransdell said.

It’s not clear what CHC or The Medical Center would do with the remainder of the building. CHC staff members familiar with the project were out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Ransdell said details of how many new faculty members would be required for the enlarged program are still being worked out.

WKU’s first classes in the new building are expected to begin in fall 2013, so bids for the project are expected to be sought soon.

The design of the project will be up for review Thursday by the TIF Design Review Committee, and then later that evening the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County will consider the detailed development plan for the nearly four acres needed for the project. A variance of the required property line setback for construction will also be sought.

Planning staff approved both a preliminary drainage and landscape plan and determined that a traffic impact study is not required for the project. The new building would have 189 parking spaces, while just 111 are required.

The project, which has been two years in the planning stage, is ready to move forward because it is apparent that the TIF district will meet its $150 million investment requirement, Ransdell said. That means new tax revenues in the district can be used to pay for the infrastructure development of projects.

Sixty percent of the new tax revenue generated by The Medical Center and as a result of Western’s move to the area between U.S. 31-W By-Pass, Chestnut, Park and High streets and First Avenue will be used to help pay for this particular project, Ransdell said.

Western will pay an annual lease on the space – an amount that won’t be determined until construction bids are made – using the anticipated increase in tuition the university will receive, Ransdell said. That money in turn also will be used to pay off construction debt.

The move will allow Western to grow the number of baccalaureate-seeking nurses from 80 to 160, Ransdell said.

“We are (constantly) turning away qualified applicants because we just don’t have the room now,” said Robbin Taylor, WKU vice president for public affairs.

When the program is moved out of the Academic Complex, Taylor said there will be other programs eager to take over the space on the crowded main campus.

Doug Gorman, chairman of the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority, is pleased the project is coming to fruition.

“It is a culmination of the benefits and the hard work that has gone into the TIF that are making it possible,” Gorman said.

Gorman said it’s great for the community because the project involves the partnership of two of its largest employers – CHC and WKU.

“And it’s very exciting for the future of health care in our area,” he said.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

The Medical Center to honor nurses, mothers

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 5/5/2012

The Medical Center will celebrate nurses and mothers May 12 with the first Nurse Walk and the annual Mother-Daughter Tea.

The Nurse Walk will begin at 9 a.m. on The Medical Center Emergency Department lawn.

“The walk will be a mile and a half. We’re walking around the building,” said Jodi Hanna, a registered nurse and surgical services educator at the hospital. “There is not a registration fee. Our nurse of the year (who has not been revealed) will say a few words.”

The event is in celebration of National Nurses Week, which is Sunday through May 12, Hanna said.

“We wanted to promote wellness in the community and get the community involved,” she said. “Everybody’s lives have been changed or impacted by a nurse at one time or another. We wanted to bring attention to what we do.”

The walk will be casual, Hanna said. “We’re hoping to do it as an annual event and would love people to come out and join us,” she said.

The Mother-Daughter Tea will be at 3 p.m. at The Medical Center Auditorium. Cost is $8 per person. Preregistration is required.

“We have got 15 to 20 spaces left,” said Linda Rush, director of community wellness for the hospital. “The Medical Center has had this event for more than 20 years. We do it the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.”

The Mother-Daughter Tea isn’t just for mothers and daughters, Rush said.

“It’s for women and girls of all ages. You can come with your mother or daughter, neighbor or aunt,” she said. “We just encourage women to come and enjoy that afternoon together.”

Hart County author Virginia Davis and illustrator Jane Ward Kehrt of Glasgow will talk about their children’s book, “The Irises’ Secret,” during the tea. The book tells the story of a girl who hides a tea set in an iris patch and the little girl who finds it some time later.

“They will have copies of the book and do a signing,” Rush said.

Girls will have the opportunity to have cupcakes decorated especially for them by 11-year-old St. Joseph School students Madison Feria and Kate Lawless, who operate Sweet Treats Bakery.

— For more information about the Nurse Walk, call 796-3380. For more information or to preregister for the Mother-Daughter Tea, call 745-1010 or 800-624-2318.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Women in the Arts: Medical Center's exhibit showcases female artists from Kentucky

by Billy Hicks, The Daily News, originally published on 4/12/2012

The Medical Center will host the 22nd annual Women in the Arts exhibition this weekend at the hospital’s auditorium.

The exhibit will showcase female artists from Kentucky ages 18 and older and hosts a Special Purchase award, which gives the winner, determined by the exhibition committee and a juror, a cash prize, essentially to purchase the painting for display at the center.

The Medical Center’s director of community wellness, Linda Rush, said the exhibit is a good way to add atmosphere to the building.

“It started as a way to give visitors something nice to enjoy while they visited,” she said. “Then we found that it was also enjoyed by the employees and patients and was very therapeutic for them.”

Defending Special Purchase award winner Nell Peperis knows the joy of having patients look at her artwork. She said she has had about nine paintings purchased by the center to display, in addition to last year’s award-winning still-life painting of pears.

“Sometimes it’s work that motivates me, but sometimes I get requests to paint, sometimes I get the feeling I want to paint something,” Peperis said. “But there’s also the enjoyment of having someone appreciate the work you do that appeals to me, like when a patient who is sick forgets their illness for a bit while looking at my work.”

Misha Ambrosia, an artist enrolled in the last six exhibitions, recalled her first time winning the Special Purchase award and why she enjoys the event.

“There’s a lot of really talented women artists here, and it’s really nice to share an art show with them, share and talk, meet their significant others,” she said. “It’s always nice to have your artwork represented in the hospital. The year I won the Special Purchase award, my painting featured a patient there and she wanted to be wheeled down so she could see herself, and that made her really happy. How many artists can say that?”

The public exhibit runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Baby steps: Gaumard ‘Newborn HAL’ simulator helps Medical Center staff train for emergencies

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 4/7/2012

With the click of a mouse, Debbie Smith could make the baby have a seizure, have trouble breathing or turn blue.

Smith, nursery and neonatal intensive care unit charge nurse at The Medical Center, was demonstrating the hospital’s new Gaumard “Newborn HAL” simulator.

“It’s like a baby doll that has a computer programmed inside it. We can program scenarios,” she said. “We can make the heart beat faster or slower. It has the ability to turn blue, and that signals to the staff to treat it as if the baby’s color is blue. We can practice positive pressure breathing. If it’s done too vigorously it can pop a hole in the lungs.”

The simulator, which helps staff learn how to handle high-risk clinical emergencies in a risk-free environment, also “breathes,” kicks and cries. It can be a boy or a girl. Employees can practice routine skills, such as starting IVs and catherization. The Medical Center is nearly finished training various staff, including labor and delivery and NICU nurses and respiratory therapists, according to obstetrics clinical manager Amber Herman.

“Ten percent of babies born here will need a little assistance. This gives the staff the ability to approach the baby. Not everything is cut and dry,” she said. “It can help work out some of the kinks in their training and react appropriately. There has been a lot of positive feedback. This shows the value we all hold in their professional growth.”

Smith agreed. The staff who have trained seemed to respond to the simulator as they would in a real-life situation.

“In the past, we had a baby doll to do those skills, but we have to tell them (the scenarios),” she said. “It didn’t seem that real.”

There are also trainings with the emergency room staff at the other facilities of Commonwealth Health Corp., the parent company of The Medical Center, Herman said.

“They may end up delivering in those ERs,” she said. “They can practice on the simulator.”

The simulator is used with initial employee orientation in the NICU, ongoing competency assessment and continuing education for medical personnel. Doctors have shown an interest in it. Paramedics may also train with the simulator and have it tailored to situations they may face in their environment, Smith said.

“We can customize it to individuals. With paramedics, their work is in the field whereas we have this equipment (at the hospital), so we practice with the equipment,” Smith said. “It fosters a community between the disciplines.”

The newborn simulator was purchased in part by a $14,500 grant from WHAS Crusade for Children. The total cost was $22,500. The Crusade for Children website at www.whascrusade.org says the grants are made to nonprofit agencies, schools and hospitals that help children with special needs up to age 18. The term “special needs” is defined as physical, mental, emotional and medical needs.

“We’re very grateful for Crusade for Children,” Smith said.

The “Newborn HAL” will help the hospital give better service to southcentral Kentucky, Smith said.

“Our community will see the benefits of it over time,” she said. “I think it’ll get better and better.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)