Recent News
Collingsworth General's Float Wins First Prize
in the Best Use of Theme category
The staff at Collingsworth General Hospital takes great pride in their community and that was very evident as their float in the Collingsworth County Fair Parade took first place. The parade was held September 10 and the theme for the float competition was Community Pride. “Everyone at the hospital is proud to be part of this community and has a great amount of appreciation for how this community supports us. That’s why we always enjoy getting involved in our community celebrations that highlight why Collingsworth County is just a great place to live and work,” says Candy Powell, Hospital Administrator.
Implementing HIT in Critical Access Hospitals
The 13-bed Collingsworth General Hospital in Wellington, Texas, has had many unique challenges, not unlike the other 77 critical access hospitals (CAHs) in the state, and the 1,324 in the U.S. Not only do rural hospitals have limited staffs—Collingsworth has only two physicians—these organizations have limited funds for information technology implementations. To aid its transition to electronic medical records (EMRs), Collingsworth secured one of only 16 national grants from the federal Flex-HIT Program. The $1.2 million grant was administered by the Office of Rural Community Affairs’ Texas State Office of Rural Health, a state agency which oversees programs to increase rural communities’ access to healthcare.
CAHs are significantly less likely than other U.S. hospitals to have adopted key applications that are preconditions for meaningful use, according to a policy briefing from the Rural Health Research Centers at the Universities of Minnesota, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Southern Maine (the Flex Monitoring Team), which were the recipients of a five-year cooperative agreement award from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to monitor and evaluate the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program (Flex Program). Fewer than 14 percent of CAHs have an EMR with a clinical data repository and some clinical decision support capability, while the most frequently adopted technology applications are order communication systems, which have been adopted by almost two-thirds of CAHs, and radiology picture archiving communication systems (PACS), which have been adopted by over half of CAHs.
In 2008 Collingsworth General Hospital began implementing its EMR from the Horsham, Penn.-based NextGen Healthcare. The hospital currently has independent laboratory and pharmacy systems, and has implemented medication reconciliation and computerized physician order entry (CPOE). The hospital is now working towards creating an enterprise system through NextGen to help meet meaningful use requirements. Hospital Administrator Candy Powell spoke with HCI Associate Editor Jennifer Prestigiacomo about the challenges her hospital faces implementing health IT.
Can you tell me a little about your EMR implementation?
Essentially when we started out, they brought in a team of seven or eight from NextGen, and they went through our whole hospital and learned our [processes] and saw what processes were duplications, and showed us where we were spending a lot of time. They were mainly working with our 10 department heads at the time. Then we had to pull all of our data in, and that took a great amount of time getting everything pulled and ready to go into the system. Nextgen was very good about getting on the phone and working with our other vendors to help integrate. When the implementation process started, they probably brought about five or six [people] down and they would train our super-users. They were here probably a week before going live, and then a week and a half after go-live. At times, we were worried that our financials weren’t integrated, as we were integrating systems that we not all NextGen systems. Getting vendors to work with other vendors [was challenging].
Candy Powell
What were some other challenges your hospital faced?
Money is always an issue with small, rural hospitals. Another big challenge is IT staff. In small, rural towns you’re limited on who does your IT. We realized that was a huge hurdle to overcome. We ended up getting a guy in Austin, and he runs all of our IT now. He works for other facilities too. So we had to outsource it. I have one person here, and one we’re training to back her up.
What you have in small hospitals is so many people wear so many hats, where in urban hospitals they do one job usually. In urban hospitals you usually have a lot of hospitals to be super-users, they may have 20 to 30 people set up as super users when they put in a system. In our hospital we probably had four or five super-users and they still had to carry on all their tasks while they were doing this. We have a lot of remote staff like our social worker, and we have a contract pharmacist—you just don’t have everyone around all the time.
Is it challenging to have the head of your IT department work remotely?
You have to think of things in advance to be prepared for [things that come up]. We have to have backup servers. When you’re in a rural town you have to have more backup plans in place than in an urban community.-
Collingsworth Community Takes Look at New Hospital Addition 
Wellington, TX (January 31, 2011) – More than 500 people came out last week to the open house celebration hosted by the Collingsworth County Hospital District Board and Collingsworth General Hospital. The occasion was to show off the recently completed hospital addition.
“It was great to see so many people in the community interested in this project. During the guided tours, everyone seemed genuinely interested and impressed with this new medical facility built for them and their families,” says Pat White, President of the Collingsworth County Hospital District Board. “We’ve talked about this project and watched the progress for a long time and everyone on the Board is very pleased with the outcome. This new hospital addition is a huge asset to the community and one that will benefit the citizens for a long time,” he adds.
The new facility was open to the public from 3 to 6 p.m. last Wednesday and those who came out for the event were given guided tours by the medical providers and nurses. On the tour, guests were able to see the new emergency department procedure room and the main emergency room. The emergency room was designed to easily accommodate two patients but in the case of a major trauma the department can hold additional patients.
Tour guides also walked visitors around the nurses’ station and through a patient room used to isolate individuals who have or might have a contagious disease. The air ventilation system in the room is separate from the hospital’s main system. The air in this room is processed and leaves the building through a different vent so other patients, guests and staff are not contaminated if the patient is contagious. Before being invited to stay awhile and enjoy the hors d’oeuvres, dessert buffet and chocolate fountain, guests were also shown a typical patient room that includes a love seat that folds out into a single bed for those patients who have family members spend the night.
“We are very pleased with the hospital addition and our patients and the staff is very excited to be in the new facility. We’re really happy that so many of our community members came out to join in the celebration and see the new hospital addition,” says Candy Powell, Hospital Administrator.
The Collingsworth General Hospital addition and the new Collingsworth Family Medicine clinic were funded by a $5.5 million bond issue the voters of Collingsworth County passed in May 2008. The 11,857 sq. ft. hospital addition includes 13 patient rooms, a nurses’ station and state-of-the-art emergency department. The clinic that opened last January is a $1.4 million, 6,891 sq. ft. facility. Local Professional Promoted to Chief Nursing Officer 
Wellington, TX (January 3, 2011) - Vikki Barton, RN, at Collingsworth General Hospital and long-time Wellington resident, has been promoted to the position of Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). She has worked for the hospital since 1998 when she began her career as a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). In 2003 she returned to school to earn her nursing degree from Amarillo College. She was promoted to the position of Registered Nurse in 2005 and most recently serviced as the Charge Nurse on the day shift.
“This is really exciting and very humbling to me to be named CNO. I believe a hospital’s success hinges on the quality of care delivered to patients and that quality of care cannot be exceptional if the nursing staff is not dedicated to its patients and their health. We have a highly dedicated, caring nursing staff at Collingsworth General and I am honored to be named the leader of that nursing staff,” says Barton.
Working at Collingsworth General Hospital for the past 12 years has given Barton the opportunity to gain healthcare experience in a variety of medical areas such as trauma, pediatrics, geriatrics, cardiac, discharge planning, respiratory therapy, assistance with medical procedures, wound care and physical therapy. She also worked for a few years as a part-time hospice nurse.
“The community of Collingsworth County is very fortunate that we have a depth of talent within our nursing staff. That allowed us to promote Vikki from within. Not only has she exhibited her skill at collaborating on multidisciplinary teams and building positive relationships with patients, their families and the medical staff, she has also shown us she truly cares for the individuals of this community, especially when they are in need of the hospital’s services,” says Candy Powell, Hospital Administrator.
Barton considers Wellington her home since she has lived here for 25 plus years. She was born and raised in Shamrock and moved to Wellington in 1985. “I have stayed here to raise my family and this is my home. That is why I have such a passion for my work. I’m not only taking care of my family; I’m taking care of my friends when I come to work each day,” says Barton in closing.
Barton has two sons, Wesley, 24, attends Texas Tech University and Hayden, 17, is a junior at Wellington High school.
Collingsworth General Hospital and Employees Celebrate Season and Long-Term Employees.
Wellington, TX (December 13, 2010) – The medical providers and staff of Collingsworth General Hospital and Clinic gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the holidays and recognize long-term employees. “We thought with the spirit that surrounds the holidays, the Christmas party would be the perfect time to begin this recognition program. We have so many employees that have been with us for years and they deserve special recognition,” comments Candy Powell, Hospital Administrator, adding, “It’s the people inside these walls that really make us a hospital the community can be proud of and these employees with multiple years of service bring continuity to the process.”
After celebrating the holiday season with good food and a visit from Santa, employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service with the hospital were recognized. The employee with the most years of service had to sing for her dinner and awards. Mary “Cindy” White, a nurse aide, has been with Collingsworth General Hospital for 35 years and she carries the distinction of being one of the most loved and appreciated members of the staff.
“Cindy is wonderful. An example of just a few things she does to make our patients feel better during their stay at the hospital is singing to them, giving massages, combing and fixing their hair and reading to them. She is a blessing to our patients and our group. She even takes the time to pray with patients,” says Powell.
Collingsworth General Hospital employees honored for five to nine years of service are from left to right in the front row, Tiffany Wilson, PA-C, six years; Carrie Bowen, six years, and Crecelia Gutierrez, six years. From left to right in the back row, Sid Herring, six years; Melissa Tunstall, RT, six years, and Mary Waters, LVN. Not pictured and all with five years of service are Johnny Noble, MT; Tamara Noble, and Carolina Trejo.
Collingsworth General Hospital employees honored for 10 to 19 years of service are from left to right in the front row, Rebecca Castillo, 13 years; Pat Barnett, PT, 14 years, and Mary Johnson, 15 years. From left to right in the back row, Paul Bell, RT, 13 years; Sarah Jett, LVN, 12 years; Vikki Barton, RN, 12 years; Romie Garza, 14 years; Rose Hernandez, 16 years; Candy Powell, 17 years, and Brenda O’Rear, 17 years.
Collingsworth General Hospital employees honored for 20 plus years of service are from left to right in the front row, Sara Hernandez, 22 years; Maria Torres, 24 years, and Teena Hightower, LVN, 27 years. From left to right in the back row, Frances Holland, CPhT, 21 years; Marilyn Kennedy, 25 years; Mary “Cindy” White, 35 years, and Irma Martinez, 27 years.