KLA Learns About Local Health CareKosciusko Leadership Academy met Tuesday at the Kosciusko Community Hospital Wellness Center to learn about health care in Kosciusko County.
Those attending learned about mental health, hospital healthcare and emergency services.
Guest speakers were Steve Miller, CEO of Kosciusko Community Hospital; Kurt Carlson, president and CEO of the Otis R. Bowen Center of Human Services; and Mel Tucker, administrator of Multi-township Emergency Medical Services.
Miller began with the history of hospitals and health care in Warsaw, sharing how KCH got its start.
He related that many physicians are selling practices and joining hospitals due to the increasing costs of malpractice insurance and low reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaide. Miller also shared that KCH has several projects that it is currently working on - adding an MRI unit and a renovation project to make all hospital rooms private in the near future.
Carlson followed by sharing about the history of mental health and its evolution to community-based services today. He explained one of the newest services they have: telemedicine. It's telepsychiatry using videoconferencing in real time. This service helps extend their services to rural areas and increases access to those areas.
Carlson also shared on the partnership with the Enchanted Hills community area in the past few years with the crime level now dropping in half.
Tucker wrapped up by talking about the role of emergency medical services in Kosciusko County. They have grown from receiving approximately 1,800 calls a year to a little more than 6,000 calls in 2010. Tucker shared that new CPR methods have been discovered with lots of innovation going on in medical treatments.
MTEMS serves communities in Kosciusko County and provides pre-hospital medical care and emergency education.
The next meeting is March 1 at 7 a.m. It will be held at the Cardinal Services' Training Center at the Big R Shopping Center in Warsaw.
