Decatur County General Hospital

Description

Welcome to the Decatur County General Hospital Our facility combines the latest in medical technology with high quality personal care An emphasis on community needs and increased patient care has been key elements to our success and growth Your wellbeing is our business

DCGH is a notforprofit community hospital located in Parsons Tennessee It is a county owned facility and has been part of the Community Health Alliance since 1996 Adjacent to the Tennessee River Decatur County is an outdoor paradise with water sports hunting fishing camping and vacation opportunities Centrally locatedDCGH has easy access from major roads and interstates

MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to care for all who come to us by providing an appropriate level of care at a cost consistent with or below industry standards At every level of service to the patient
we will strive to be kind compassionate and dedicated to continuous improvement

VISION STATEMENT
We will treat our patients and their families the way we would want to be treated

History

History of Decatur County General Hospital
Decatur County General Hospital owned and operated by Decatur County was built in 1963 It is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Decatur County Court The first members were Joe Gregory Sr Chairman HL Townsend Sr SecretaryTreasurer Fred Alexander ViceChairman Kenneth Graves Bob White Delmar Ballinger and George White

The 22bed hospital accepted the first patient on December 8 1963

Dr Paul Ford Teague was the only fulltime physician on staff until he was joined by Dr Robert M Fisher in July 1964 The present medical staff consists of Dr Thomas Hamilton Chief of Staff Dr John Phillips Dr Ramesh Reddy Dr William Jennings Dr Joseph Hames Dr Vikki MurphreeVice Chief of Staff Dr Joseph Montgomery Dr Charles Alderson Dr Patrick Murphy and Dr Wayne Lennington

When the hospital opened in 1963 Jack Jordan was the Administrator The nursing staff consisted of one RN who was the Director of Nursing 5 LPNs 3nursing assistants an orderly and an OR Technician Lab and xray were staffed by one person

In April of 1967 the Decatur County Court authorized bonds in the amount of 124000 to build an addition to bring the number of beds to 37 The addition also included new Administrative and Business offices a conference and inservice room new lobby and waiting room storage rooms and a doctors lounge

In 1971 one of the 4bed rooms was converted to a 3bed Intensive Care Unit with 2 of the beds equipped with bedside cardiac monitors Nurses were sent to Nashville and Memphis to learn to recognize and treat lifethreatening cardiac rhythms In 1978 a 6bed intensive care unit was completed to bring the number of beds to 40

As medical care became more complex and licensing laws changed the administration recognized the need to recruit more RNs to staff and supervise patient care A nursing scholarship was begun in 1972 to assist with tuition each year for hospital employees who were interested in becoming RNs and who planned to work at Decatur County General upon graduation
As the hospital continued to grow new departments have been added or expanded Decatur County Emergency Medical Service was added in 1973 and has continually been upgraded to being a Grade A Service staffed by Paramedics Lab and xray have been moved into new and larger areas A CT scanner Mammography and Ultrasound services have been added Home Health services were added in 1992 New outpatient services include Urology Ophthalmology Cardiology Orthopedics Gastroenterology and Podiatry The intensive care unit was changed to an OutPatient Surgery area in 2000 and a new Surgery Unit was Built

Decatur County General Hospital currently employs 147 with an annual payroll of 47 million making it one of the largest employers in Decatur County It has an annual operating budget of over 95 million The total assets of Decatur County General Hospital are approximately 71 million

Community service is of major importance to the administration of the hospital It is a Partner in Education with Decatur County Middle School and provides many services to the school Since 1984 an annual Health Fair has been held by the hospital and provides free health screening A blood chemistry test is provided for a nominal fee Between 300400 people take advantage of the fair each year A lighted walking track and landscaped park with several picnic tables were built on property behind the hospital building in 1998 In 2006 a chapel was opened with money donated by a patient in honor of Dr Vikki Murphree

Larry N Lindsey served as the Administrator of the hospital from 1972 to 2007 John Crawford held the position as interim Administrator from April 2007 until December 2007 Norene Pumphrey was named Administrator in January 2008 The current Board of Trustees include Dale Scott Secretary Mary Ivey Delmar Ballinger Collins Pratt Michael Ivey Jon Ayers and J Wayne Stanfill

In 1996 the hospital administration decided to become Joint Commission accredited The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations evaluates the Quality and Safety of care for healthcare entities To maintain and earn accreditation organizations must have an extensive onsite review by a team of JCAHO professionals at least once every three years Decatur County General Hospital became accredited in 1998

The hospital is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Decatur County Health CouncilDelta Grant Initiative It holds Community Blood drives for Lifeline Blood Services The employees as a hospital group volunteer for Relay for Life American Cancer Society and for Decatur County Worlds Largest Coon Hunt for St Jude and participate in many other service entities The laboratory is licensed by the State of Tennessee CLIA and has been accredited by the College Of American Pathologists since 1997