St. John's Mercy Villa to undergo $2 million renovation

St. John’s Mercy Villa, a long-term care facility at 1100 E. Montclair in Springfield, is undergoing a major remodeling project. St. John’s Foundation for Community Health, through its Mercy Villa Care Fund, will provide $500,000 to the nearly $2 million project, which is estimated to take up to three years to complete.
 
The improvements include new windows, new floor and wall coverings and new lighting for resident rooms, offices, dining room, activity room, therapy room and entryway.

“With this renewal project we will be able to use state-of-the-art technology to provide our residents with the highest level and quality of care,” says Don Swafford, Mercy Villa administrator. “The resident rooms are going to be more family-oriented, and improving the accessibility of the lobby is going to make it easier for our residents and their families.”

St. John’s Mercy Villa is a 150-bed long-term care facility with a 95 percent occupancy rate. It houses three nursing units, two dining areas, a beauty shop, a landscaped courtyard and a chapel.
“Doctors and nurses work together to provide the best care for our patients,” says W. Timothy Wilson, D.O., Mercy Villa medical director.

“As part of St. John’s Health System, Mercy Villa residents have access to the latest treatments, procedures, as well as a skilled, on-site nursing staff.”

Osteoporosis drug raloxifene effective in preventing invasive breast cancer

Initial results of the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, or STAR, show that the drug raloxifene, currently used to prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, works as well as tamoxifen in reducing breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women at increased risk of the disease. Cancer Research of the Ozarks, a joint venture between St. John’s and Cox health systems, participated in the clinical trial, which is of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever conducted.

Both drugs reduced the risk of developing invasive breast cancer by about 50 percent. In addition, within the study, women who were prospectively and randomly assigned to take raloxifene daily, and who were followed for an average of about four years, had 36 percent fewer uterine cancers and 29 percent fewer blood clots than the women who were assigned to take tamoxifen.

Uterine cancers, especially endometrial cancers, are a rare but serious side effect of tamoxifen. Both tamoxifen and raloxifene are known to increase a woman's risk of clots.

“Although no drugs are without side effects, tamoxifen and raloxifene are vital options for women who are at increased risk of breast cancer and want to take action,” said Leslie Ford, M.D., associate director for clinical research in the National Cancer Institute’s division of cancer prevention. “For many women, raloxifene's benefits will outweigh its risks in a way that tamoxifen's benefits do not.”

New sleep services offered in Rolla, Springfield

St. John’s Clinic-Rolla now offers pulmonology services from a board-certified pulmonologist/sleep disorders specialist. Nikhat Salamat, M.D., treats asthma, emphysema, wheezing, sleep apnea, insomnia, restless sleep, shortness of breath and frequent lung infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.

Dr. Salamat is a member of the American Thoracic Society, American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Medical Association and the American College of Chest Physicians.

St. John’s nationally accredited Sleep Disorders Center moved from the first floor to a new space on the third floor of the emergency trauma/outpatient imaging center on St. John’s hospital’s north side in October 2005.

The new sleep facility has 10 rooms dedicated to sleep studies with private bathrooms, showers and updated digital equipment, which allows staff to do more from the observation rooms instead of having to enter the patients’ rooms frequently.

Board-certified sleep disorders specialist and pulmonologist John Brabson, M.D., is the medical director of the center. A second sleep disorders specialist, Timothy Young, M.D., starts this summer.

“The best part of this new facility is it’s much quieter for the patients and we can provide a more enhanced environment for sleep studies. The new space has also doubled the size of our sleep clinic,” says Kristie Dover, Sleep Disorders Center coordinator.

St. John's Life Line Receives Accreditation

St. John's Life Line air medical service has been fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). The service received full accreditation on the first attempt, which only 35 percent of programs applying achieve. There are approximately 110 programs internationally, out of 400, that are accredited. St. John's Life Line Air Medical Service provides highly skilled flight nurse/paramedic teams to care for adult, pediatric and neonatal patients.

St. John's Clinic - Audiology offers new hearing aid with sleek design, advanced technology

St. John’s Clinic - Audiology aims to change the perception of hearing aids among the 50-plus age group.

With the help of a new, state-of-the-art digital hearing aid with a groundbreaking new design, adults beginning to experience hearing loss don’t have to give up on looking as young as they feel.

The new groundbreaking hearing device with sleek lines, hot colors and brushed metallic surfaces appears to have more in common with modern high-tech communication devices or fashion accessories than traditional hearing aids. Called Oticon Delta, this hearing device combines eye-catching contemporary design with the most advanced hearing aid technology available today.

“This is not your grandfather's hearing aid,” says Shari Norval, AuD, CCC-A, St. John’s Clinic audiologist. “For the first time, I can offer patients a hearing device that meets the important image and style demands of people in the 50s and 60s and provides the needed boost in listening clarity for mild to moderate hearing loss.”

A fear that hearing aids will make them look older and out of step with their active, busy lifestyle prevents many adults from taking advantage of the extra edge provided by hearing amplification.
“Every second, a person over the age of 50 experiences loss of speech clarity in noisy listening situations such as work, social gatherings and crowded restaurants,” Norval says. “They may still hear well enough to get by in less demanding situations but more and more, they will find that they are understanding less of what is being said.”

Less invasive procedure reduces stroke risk in carotid artery disease patients

St. John's Clinic cardiologist Robert Merritt, M.D., and colleagues Clyde Redmond, M.D., and Matthew Burry, M.D. at St. John's Hospital can now perform a less-invasive procedure to prevent the risk of stroke in patients with carotid artery disease.

The therapy, called carotid artery stenting, has been studied extensively and was approved for limited use by the FDA and insurers in March of 2005. The procedure is considered an equally effective treatment for patients compared to carotid artery surgery, while lowering the risk for adverse outcomes in patients considered high-risk for the surgical approach.

This method allows a stent to be placed in the artery by using an X-ray machine and a catheter device. The patient is usually in the hospital less than 24 hours and has no surgical wound.
“It is safer than traditional surgery for high-risk patients,” says Dr. Merritt.

Recently, Medicare and insurers have allowed expanded use of the stent device to include patients without symptoms of stroke who have severe blockage.
St. John's is able to offer the procedure by participating in a clinical trial that tracks patients for one year following the procedure.

People with at least an 80 percent blockage and are considered high-risk for the traditional surgery are candidates for this procedure.
“This is a new option for patients, especially those that may be considered too high-risk for the open surgery and therefore would be excluded from the stroke prevention benefits of carotid artery treatment,” Dr. Merritt says.