Angel Medical Center CEO Column for August 2024

 A Reminder About All the Services You can Take Advantage of at Angel Medical Center, Including All-Important Vaccinations as Our Children Start School

Where in the world did summer go? It’s August already, and as the new school year approaches for our kids, I want to review the vast array of services and care that Angel Medical Center (AMC) provides to help you check off those items on your health to-do lists.

Since we tend to associate the care we get at a hospital with the specific experiences we or our loved ones have had, there may be AMC services that you might not be aware of, but that allow you to get expansive care — in your own community

AMC offers 30 acute care beds and a 17-bed Emergency Department, as well as two operating room suites and a procedure suite in our new $68 million facility. As part of Mission Health, we also provide services through our walk-in health clinic — Mission My Care Now – Franklin — and CarePartners Hospice and Palliative Care, which provides care and comfort for patients with serious chronic or terminal illness, as well as support for their loved ones. Also, through our partnership with Asheville Cardiology and MAHEC OB/GYN, we can enhance your care further by offering heart health and women’s health services. In addition, HCA healthcare’s recent $5 million investment in our new heliport means better, faster access to more advanced care needs than we are able to offer. 

We are proud to have been recertified as a Pathways to Excellence hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2023. We also celebrated our 100th birthday and got recertified as a Stroke Ready Hospital by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

In addition to emergency care and ambulatory surgery, other outpatient services include wound care, cardiopulmonary diagnostic care and rehabilitation services, and stroke rehab care including speech, occupational, and physical therapy. Our diagnostic imaging offerings include mammography, MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds, X-rays, nuclear medicine, and DEXA scans, which are bone density screening tests for osteoporosis and its precursor, osteopenia. Our on-site pharmacy and lab make the care we offer that much more efficient.

We also offer services you won’t find in many rural critical access hospitals, like wound care, diabetes care and education, and an anticoagulation clinic. We provide occupational medicine services too, which help community members achieve wellness in their workplaces.

Another hot topic as kids return to school is one that has become something of a taboo issue because of the controversy that surrounds it — immunizations. The debate can become emotional, but we do know, unfortunately, that numerous illnesses and diseases that had seemingly disappeared from our radar as concerns in the industrialized world are now back.

With their return, we’re seeing adverse outcomes in both children and adults. One recent example is the whooping cough outbreak that started in Henderson County, and spread to Buncombe, Graham, Macon, and Transylvania counties. Pertussis (whooping cough) and other highly contagious diseases can have lifelong impacts and even lead to death if not controlled promptly.

I do empathize with the fear and worry people have around vaccinations. As parents, my wife and I weighed the pros and cons of vaccinating our child. We would be preventing our child from contracting illnesses that had frightening consequences that include lymphatic issues, musculoskeletal conditions, deafness, blindness, sterilization, stroke, heart defects, and sadly, death. The answer was crystal clear. We scheduled our child to receive the vaccinations with no regrets.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) confirm that immunizations have been exhaustively tested and researched. I encourage you to protect your child, my child, my team, and our community by choosing to vaccinate, and to discuss vaccination risks and benefits with your pediatrician or our local health department.

One last shout out: Did you know that Franklin High School and Middle school have athletic trainers on staff to help keep your student athletes safe while participating in sports? Lynette and Justin do a wonderful job of assessing, treating, and referring your child to the proper resources. You can arrange for your child to get an appointment during practice.

AMC and Mission Health’s Sports Medicine team partner to help ensure our Franklin Panthers are ready to hit the field each week. Thank you, Lynette and Justin, for all you do for our athletes and the Franklin Panthers.

About

Clint Kendall, FACHE, MBA, MSN, BSN, RN, is Chief Executive Officer/Chief Nursing Officer of Angel Medical Center. He started his career as a nurse, and that perspective still informs his work and passion for the patient experience. Clint holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Nursing, and Health Care Management from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Carolina University. Clint has also earned the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) certification, and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), and the American Nurses Association (ANA).