Treating dementia requires facilities

Sen. Pendleton says he’ll lobby for expansion of Western State
Part two in a two-part series

By Nick Tabor, New Era Senior Staff Writer

Twenty miles north of Louisville, in Charlestown, Ind., the small St. Catherine Regional Hospital has a 26-bed facility for elderly patients who have mental problems.

The way a nurse describes it, the facility sounds like a far cry from a lush independent living center. But families, nursing homes and hospitals in Kentucky — including Western Kentucky — would be in worse trouble without it.

Often its patients have worked on farms or in auto shops or maintenance departments for years, said Amelia Johns, a St. Catherine nurse.

When dementia short-circuits their mental faculties, their bodies remain strong and even anxious. They can hardly sit still. Sometimes they tear out sinks, and one patient dismantled his entire bed.

“How he even took it apart with his bare hands is beyond me, but he did,” Johns said. “They’re pretty destructive sometimes.”

JSMC works to address community expectations

CEO of Jennie Stuart Medical Center Eric Lee recently met with New Era Publisher Taylor W. Hayes, Editor Eli Pace and Opinion Editor Jennifer P. Brown to answer questions about the hospital and changes in health care. The interview lasted more than an hour, and in this, the second of a two-part series, the questions are primarily about the hospital and the hospital’s role in the community.

Pace: How is a community hospital fundamentally different from a university or for-profit hospital?

Lee: The biggest difference is at the board level. In a community hospital, like Jennie Stuart Medical Center, you have a strong board who is very committed to keeping its health care, the impact of that health care and the decisions about that health care, and what is available, local. Having local control and the ability of this community to self-determine where we want our health care to go, that is the single biggest advantage we have.

Health care ‘nosing into an air of turbulence’

An interview with Jennie Stuart CEO Eric Lee

CEO of Jennie Stuart Medical Center Eric Lee sat down with Publisher Taylor W. Hayes, Editor Eli Pace and Opinion Editor Jennifer P. Brown recently to answer questions about the hospital and the future of health care in Christian and surrounding counties. The interview lasted more than an hour, and in this, the first of a two-part series, the questions are primarily about the future of Jennie Stuart, the health care industry as a whole and how the Affordable Health Care Act will affect them going forward. Next week, the questions will focus more specifically on Jennie Stuart and the hospital’s role in the community.

Brown: You’ve had a long career, 24 years at Jennie Stuart. With your institutional knowledge of the hospital, the surrounding communities and the health care industry, how do you see Jennie Stuart changing in the next 10 years?

Lee: I really think heath care is nosing into an air of turbulence, and it all starts with the federal government.