Complete rest necessary for concussions, doctor says

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - Concussions require extended periods of rest and limited physical activity in order to recover quickly. But a Cape Girardeau doctor encourages young athletes to also take a mental break.

Dr. Stephen Jordan, a neuropsychologist at St. Francis Medical Center, says any physical or mental stress extends the length of recovery.

"We not only need to keep the kids from participating in sports and over-stressing themselves physically," Dr. Jordan said. "We also need to cut back on their academic demands to let the brain rest from having to think too hard through that period, and finding that balance between not falling too far behind in their classroom but not pushing them too hard either."

Jordan says reducing the amount of time spent in front of a cell phone, computer, television or any other flashing light will help speed up the recovery time.

The typical recovery period can last from a couple days to eight weeks, depending on the severity of the concussion.

Full participation in any activity should not begin until all signs of a headache have disappeared.

Drew Yount, KRCU

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Coaches learn about injury prevention

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - Coaches are in charge of team strategy and they push players to get into good physical shape.

St. Francis Medical Center is training coaches to also guard against injuries.

St. Francis’ sixth annual coaches clinic on Thursday featured speakers Dr. Stephen Jordan, neuropsychologist at St. Francis, and Jason Stinson, a Kentucky football coach charged with reckless homicide after one of his players died of a heat related illness.

Mark Thompson of the marketing department at St. Francis said they wanted to engage the players, parents, and, most importantly, the coaches in the sports medicine program at the hospital.

"We felt that coaches are teachers and if we want to teach the coaches and want them understand what’s in the best interest of the students and to help them be better coaches we probably should start a program like Coaches Clinic," Thompson said.

The coaches were given several hands-on opportunities at the clinic.

They learned the basics of CPR and how to tape ankles, shins, fingers, and turf toe to prevent further injury.

There will be another Coaches Clinic held in the spring.

Drew Yount, KRCU

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St. Francis unveils Heart and Cancer Center

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau has added a few more tools to help win the battle with cancer and heart problems. The tools come in the from of a new state-of-the-art Heart and Cancer Center.

The massive new center bolsters more than two-hundred thousand square feet of space, strewn over four floors.

The center includes the Cancer Institute that offers radiation therapy and a hair boutique, for those undergoing cancer treatments.

The institute is home to the third cyber knife in the state of Missouri, as well as some thirty-five medical recliners for chemo-therapy.

The new center is also home to the Heart Hospital, with five-treatment labs, a ten bed intensive care unit, and an additional fifty beds.

Marilyn Curtis, who was in charge of coordinating the project, is excited about what the new center could mean for the hospital’s patients.

“Over the last several years, we have been very, very fortunate in continuing to strengthen our cancer services that we provide,” Curtis said.

The center was unveiled at an open-house for the construction crew and their families, last Saturday.

The center will host many more open-house opportunities until the center is officially opened July fifth.

The new center was the largest privately-funded construction project in Cape Girardeau's history, with an $84 million price tag.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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SEMO Red Cross and St. Francis Medical Center receive MFH grants

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - St. Francis Medical Center and the Southeast Missouri chapter of the American Red Cross received grants from the Missouri Foundation for Health on Wednesday.

A two-year, $100,000 grant was given to the Red Cross to provide basic support for services and assistance to victims of disasters based on their needs, educating the public on prevention and survival, and training volunteers, according to Cheryl Klueppel, the executive director for the American Red Cross - Southeast Missouri chapter.

"We are so pleased and grateful to the Missouri Foundation for Heath for recognizing the need and recognizing the support that the American Red Cross can provide in the Southeast Misssouri area to help address and support some of the health needs in the Bootheel area. So we are very grateful," Klueppel said.

This is the second time the Red Cross chapter received the grant. The Red Cross chapter serves 11 counties from Perry County to the Bootheel.

St. Francis Medical Center's grant totalled $149,959.

Part of the grant money will be used to continue their youth programming at local schools, where they train high school students to go to elementary, middle, and high schools and talk to students about tobacco use, according to Terry Baker, the Tobacco Prevention Manager at St. Francis Medical Center, said.

“Advocating for healthier communities and to really show the students and the community that tobacco use is not a norm in our communities. Most people don’t smoke. And kind of establish that and help reduce the initiation of tobacco use among our youth,” Baker said.

It will also be used to implement Project Smokebusters in several area schools.

The local grants are part of a $7 million round of funding approved by MFH’s board.

Rachel Weatherford, KRCU

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Repetitive head hits can bring lifelong repercussions

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - The long-term impacts of concussions and repeated hits to the head lead to greater incidence of dementia and other disorders later in life.

That’s the message that Chris Nowinski brought to St. Francis Medical Center on Thursday. Nowinskispoke with about 40 junior high and high school coaches about concussions and a degenerative brain disorder called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.

"What we’re finding is that hits to the head as a young person will spark this degenerative process that will follow you for the rest of your life and in a lot of ways will destroy your life. That means that we need to be much careful with not only concussions but also sub-concussive hits. Just the repetitive hits to your head that don’t cause symptoms but frankly are still bad for your brain," Nowinski says.

Symptoms of CTE include short term memory loss, violent outbursts, loss of impulse control, and depression.

CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem. Dave Duerson of the NFL’s Chicago Bears committed suicide in February of this year. Study of his brain suggests that he suffered from CTE.

Nowinski is the president and CEO of Sports Legacy Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Nowinski is aHarvard graduate and former professional wrestler who retired from the WWE in 2003 after at least 6 concussions.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Hospitals continue to work towards electronic records

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - Both of Southeast Missouri's largest hospitals are working to complete their conversions to electronic medical record.

St. Francis Medical Center's $11.8 million conversion is expected to enter the final phase by 2012. Despite government incentives, the center expects to lose approximately $4.6 million.

Diane Smith, director of Information Systems, says St. Francis is initiating a program called Healthy Connect to safeguard privacy. It provides an information exchange between healthcare providers. It also allows for private communication. Healthy Connect is powered by a central server, unlike public email.

"It adds another layer of protection and security that patients will receive some comfort in so far as thinking that their records will be public and out on the Internet," Smith said.

Patients won’t have to list off their medical history each visit. Instead it will be available to other healthcare providers through the system.

Southeast HEALTH has been making the switch for several years as well.

The estimated cost for the entire project is around $15 million. While several physician’s offices have already gone electronic, the hospital expects to be completely electronic by mid-2013.

Southeast Health is addressing concerns by providing safety measures for patients, according to Jay McGuire, director of Information Systems at Southeast HEALTH.

“We’ve instituted a very robust auditing system so we can find out who accessed a record, date and time they did, so we can backtrack and find out should there be a breech," McGuire said.

The process will allow staff quicker access to medical records, and eventually provide a patient portal. McGuire says the system is more efficient and will help ease the storage crunch caused by paper records.

Rachel Weatherford, KRCU

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St. Francis finishes ER renovation

St. Francis Medical Center welcomed a new addition yesterday -- the second and final phase of its ER renovation expansion that tripled the size of their emergency and trauma center.

Marilyn Curtis, Vice-President of Professional Services, said the hospital needed to build this because they serve around 650,000 people in five states. St. Francis Medical Center is the only designated trauma center between St. Louis and Memphis.

"To be able to provide emergency trauma care to such a large region is very important to St. Francis because we want to meet the needs of the people that we serve," said Curtis.

The number of people the ER can accomadate fluctuates depending on how many people arrive for care, but with the completion of Phase Two they now have 32 treatment rooms for patient care and 30,000 square feet of space.

Work began on the $12 million project in August 2008.

Rachel Weatherford, KRCU

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