Category: General News

The Murray Regional Vaccination Clinic is administering vaccines to the community by scheduling appointments online. There will be 1,100 available appointments for the upcoming vaccine clinic, Wednesday, March 24^th.

If you are in Phases 1A-1C, you may book an appointment for the Murray Regional Vaccination Clinic.

• 1A – Long term care facilities, assisted living facilities, health care personnel
• 1B – Anyone age 70 or older, first responders, Kentucky K-12 school personnel, Kentucky child care workers
• 1C – Anyone age 60 or older, anyone age 18* or older with CDC highest risk, C19 risk conditions, and all essential workers

To find out more about Phases 1A-1C, and to see if you meet the criteria, visit https://govstatus.egov.com/kentucky-vaccine-survey and complete the survey.

The next Murray Regional Vaccination Clinic will be Wednesday, March 24, 2021 from 8 am to 5 pm at Murray State University’s CFSB – Entrance B.

If you meet the criteria for vaccination, sign up for an available vaccination appointment time by visiting www.murraykyvaccine.org

Please note: If you have previously called, or filled in the online form to be placed on the Calloway County Health Department call list – Please use this online system to book your appointment at this time.

This is a collaborative effort amongst Murray State University, MSU School of Nursing, the Calloway County Health Department, and Murray-Calloway County Hospital.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital is celebrating this year’s Social Work Month in March, with the theme “Social Workers are Essential” to highlight the invaluable contributions social workers make in our society, especially as this nation addresses the Coronavirus pandemic.

From left to right: Social Workers Brittany Morgan – Spring Creek Health Care, Michelle Paschall – Acute Care, Katlyn Hill – Acute Care, Lisa Kim – Acute Care, Khadra Clayborn – Inpatient Rehab,  Charlotte Rhodes – Hospice, and Cindy Atherton – Geratric Behavioral Health

Not pictured: Melissa Lewis – Spring Creek Health Care

Photo by Danyel McCuiston / Murray-Calloway County Hospital

Murray-Calloway County Hospital celebrated Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day on Wednesday, March 10. As the nation’s food and nutrition experts, registered dietitian nutritionists are committed to improving the health of their patients, clients and communities. 

“We are dedicated to help serve and improve the health of our community with current, science based information. We serve our patients in multiple settings. During a hospital admission, we provide a nutrition assessment and education as well as nutritional meals to help with a quick recovery. We see community members on an outpatient basis for weight loss in our Bariatric Office or with other health concerns at our Center for Health and Wellness. Our dietitians also meet the nutritional needs of our mature patients in the Long Term Facility with thorough and consistent nutritional care.  Essentially, nutrition is vital at every point in the life cycle and we are here to help and serve the community in any way we can,” said Alissa Bryan, Director of Food Services.

Pictured left to right: Lauren Jones, Kesnie Billington – Intern, Suzanne Seeley, Amy Futrell, Alissa Bryan, Rebecca Wright, and Amy Fennel – all Registered Dietitians.

PRE-PROCEDURE TESTING – Patients will need to go to Suite 180 West in the Medical Arts Building from 9 am-1pm, Monday-Friday, or MMA 4^th floor location on Saturdays 9-11.

Also, community members that want COVID testing can walk-in MMA during regular hours and they will schedule an appointment with a provider to be seen at that time.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital is now offering a CT Calcium Scoring screening test in our Radiology Department on the newly installed CT scanner.

Members of the Radiology Team who have completed training and are performing these tests include: Morgan Dunigan, RT (R) (CT), Darryl Filbeck, RT (R), JoAnnah Rogers, RT (R) (CT), and Lori Morris, RN

• A CT Calcium Score exam, also known as a coronary calcium scan, is a quick, convenient and noninvasive way of evaluating the amount of calcified (hard) plaque in your heart vessels.

The average candidate for calcium scoring is between the ages of 40-65, and have the following risk factors:

*Smoking
*Family history of heart disease
*Obesity
*High cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes
*Experiencing chest pain and symptoms

After the test is completed, each individual will be given a score and the following list indicates the next level of care needed:

• 400 and above – Signs of heart disease may be present and patient should set an appointment with Cardiologist.
• 1,000 and above – Plaque is probable and an appointment should be made immediately with a Cardiologist.

At this time CT Calcium Scoring is not covered by insurance so it will be a cash pay exam for the patient.  The cost will be under $80 (discounted cash price to be paid at the time of visit).  The radiologist will later bill the patient for an estimated $28 for reading. There is no IV contrast on this exam and there is no prep for the patient.  It will be less than a 30 min. exam.

If the CT Calcium Score exam shows an abnormal indication of calcium indicative of possible cardiac disease then an Interventional Cardiologist (IC) will review the test at that time to determine the next course of action. An IC such as Dr. Homayuni may think the patient would be a candidate for an additional procedure called a CCTA (Cardiac Computer Tomography Angiography) The CCTA is a new specialized procedure also now offered at MCCH.

This CCTA is a test that uses X-rays to provide detailed pictures of the heart and the blood vessels that go to the heart, lung, brain, kidneys, head, neck, legs, and arms. This test can show narrowed or blocked areas of a blood vessel and is a safer way to determine disease stages without having to do an invasive heart catheterization procedure.

If blockage is determined following the CCTA, then a heart catheterization would be the next course of action to look further at the vessels.

For more information on the CT Calcium Scoring test or the CCTA, contact the Marketing Department at 270.762.1381.

Pictured: Dr. Homayuni met the criteria for administering the CT Calcium Scoring procedure and was our first patient. He is shown with members of our Radiology team.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital (MCCH) proudly announces the appointment of Nicholas O’Dell, M.D., as the new Medical Director of MCCH’s Murray Medical Associates Hospitalist Program. Dr. O’Dell joined Murray Medical Associates in 2014 and was named Chief Medical Officer in February 2020.

“To say the past year has brought numerous challenges to us all would be an understatement.  When I was named as Chief Medical Officer, I never imagined I would spend the ensuing months dealing with the local effects of a global pandemic.  I devoted all of my time and attention to helping lead our organization and community through the COVID-19 crisis up until the day I left Murray for my deployment with the US Army,” said Dr. O’Dell.

As both the Chief Medical Officer and as the hospitalist director with Murray Medical Associate’s Hospitalist service, Dr. O’Dell will focus his time to serving in these capacities and will stop seeing patients in the clinic.

Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients. A hospitalist program helps improve outcomes because someone oversees and coordinates your care, increases patient safety, reduces length of stay, and enhances hospital efficiency. Hospitalists typically have more expertise in caring for complicated hospitalized patients on a daily basis. They are also more available most of the day in the hospital to meet with family members, able to follow-up on tests, answer nurses’ questions, and simply to deal with problems that may arise. All MCCH hospitalists are well-versed in the unique needs of the hospitalized patient. A hospitalist is assigned to care for an inpatient if he does not have a primary care physician or if his primary care physician has referred him to the program. MMA’s hospitalists include the following:

• Nicholas O’Dell, Dr. Joshua Donegan, Dr. Myra Irvin, Dr. Melissa Mangold, Dr. Clark Harris, Melissa Johnson, APRN, Laken Darnell, APRN, and Jamie Rhodes, APRN

Dr. Myra Irvin and Dr. Joshua Donegan will continue to see patients on an outpatient basis during regular clinic hours in the Murray Medical Associates office located at 480W in the Medical Arts Building.

John Wilson, Chief Operations Officer and Jerry Penner, CEO, are shown with a game ball on the basketball court at Murray State University’s (MSU) CFSB center. Murray-Calloway County Hospital (MCCH) is a proud sponsor of MSU athletics.

The Kentucky Air National Guard sent a team to Spring Creek Health Care to assist the staff and spend time with residents doing various tasks and activities. The team has worked outside and they have even played Hungry Hippo with the residents.

“We’re all in this together as Kentuckians and as guardsman, that’s why we sign up – to give back to our state. It’s always good to help the elderly and we’re highly motivated to defeat this virus,” said Brian Noe, Lieutenant, KY Air National Guard.

LACROIX Sparkling Water donated around 600 cans of various flavors of canned water for employees at Murray-Calloway County Hospital to show their support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pictured are employees of MCCH Food Service Department and Jennifer Burton, Food Service Assistant Manager.

Ginnie Heath, Home Resource Coordinator of NECCO Paducah recently donated several Valentine’s Day baskets to Murray-Calloway County Hospital employees to show appreciation for their dedication to patients and families in our community.

Pictured left to right – Janey Henson, CNA, Labor & Delivery pictured with Ginnie Heath, Home Resource Coordinator at NECCO Paducah.