Perfect Care

Outpatient Surgery Pavilion opens
St. Mary Medical Center Outpatient Surgery Pavilion saw its first patients in February 2008. The surgery pavilion has three operating rooms and one procedure room and is expected to accommodate 250 outpatient procedures a month.  

Services provided at the Outpatient Surgery Pavilion include procedures that do not require a hospital stay. These services include: cataract; ear, nose and throat; knee and shoulder arthroscopy; carpal tunnel; lithotripsy; plastics; gynecology; podiatry; and GI procedures.

High Desert’s Most Advanced CT Scanner
St. Mary Medical Center patients now have access to the High Desert’s most advanced and most accurate CT scanning technology, the Aquilion 64 from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. This state-of-the-art technology makes it possible to obtain more conclusive and timely diagnoses, while exposing patients to lower radiation levels and reducing strain on their overall condition.

A scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis used to take between three and four minutes because the technician needed to take multiple scans while allowing patients to catch their breath between each scan. The 64-slice CT scanner can take high-resolution images of the entire body in about 10 seconds.

One of the 64-slice CT scanner’s most exciting advancements is its ability to take images of the heart. The additional clarity and speed provided by the 64 slices can catch a clear image of the heart in between beats. The heart’s constant change of size and shape with each beat made it impossible to get a clear image in the past. These high-speed scans can also show the extent of plaque build-up in cardiac blood vessels, often eliminating the need for invasive surgical procedures.   Top

Sacred Encounters

Bright Futures Now Available for All Uninsured Individuals
St. Mary Medical Center’s new “Bright Futures” Mobile Van has expanded the array of services it offers to the community. The mobile clinic will continue to provide the array of women’s and children’s services it has offered in the past, but now also offers full primary care services to uninsured adults. Adults who lack health insurance are now able to get health screenings or sickness evaluations through the Bright Futures van. Visits are low-cost and based on the patient’s ability to pay.

The new van also offers remote Internet access for staff working in the van. Clinic staff members are able to check the insurance eligibility of patients while out serving the community. They can quickly enroll eligible residents in a variety of low-cost insurance programs.

Along with a new vehicle and expanded services, St. Mary Medical Center has increased the hours of operation for the Bright Futures mobile clinic. Services are also available at the St. Mary Medical Center Healthy Beginnings Prenatal Clinics in Adelanto and Hesperia.   Top

Healthiest Communities

100% Health Insurance Campaign
Over the past two years, St. Mary Medical Center has championed a 100% Campaign across the High Desert. With funding from the St. Joseph Health System Foundation and St. Mary Medical Center, staff led the creation of a Children’s Health Initiative Collaborative. This has included working with schools and churches to reach uninsured families and assist with enrolling their children into free or low-cost insurance programs.  In many cases school and church staff are being trained and certified to enroll children into health insurance.

St. Mary Medical Center and Yucca Loma Elementary School personnel worked together to identify students who lack health insurance.  The campaign successfully confirmed that up to 98% of the 600 students were enrolled in health insurance.  In June 2008, the Governor of California recognized the hospital and school for their outstanding work

St. Mary continues working on 100% Health Insurance Campaigns with school districts in the communities of Adelanto, Apple Valley and Hesperia.   Additionally, hospital employees are undertaking enrollment efforts in partnership with local churches, where they train parishioners to enroll children attending school and religious studies.

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community

Improving Access to Health Care Services
Nearly 35% of the approximately 400,000 residents who reside in this region of San Bernardino County incur problems accessing health due to a lack of transportation, financial resources or health insurance. For more than 10 years, St. Mary Medical Center has operated the High Desert’s only community clinics and mobile medical programs dedicated to serving at-risk populations – some in rural communities where investment in health services has been minimal.

In the past three years St. Mary’s Community Health Department has opened two new clinics – a large facility in Apple Valley open six days a week along with a clinic serving residents in the City of Hesperia.  Additionally, the department has expanded its clinic in the rural community of Adelanto while also purchasing a new mobile medical van that is on the road five to six days a week.  These expanded health services represent the hospital’s commitment to serving a region that, up until recently, has been one of the fastest growing regions in California.  Not surprisingly, the medical center’s community health programs assisted more than 35,000 patients last year – a 40% increase from the previous year. 
New health programs were also added to the clinics along with expanded hours and service areas. 

› Click here for full coverage in Report to the Community

Green Power at St. Mary
St. Mary Medical Center has joined the Green Revolution. The hospital is constructing a covered employee parking structure shaded by highly efficient solar panels that convert the sun’s rays into a usable energy source providing a nearly constant energy source throughout the year.

Funding for the solar array is provided through a unique Power Purchase Agreement involving entrepreneurial groups in San Diego and San Francisco. Under the terms of this agreement, outside partners will underwrite the full cost of construction and maintenance for the units in return for the rights to a portion of the power generated.

The hospital estimates that the solar awnings will provide a savings of more than $10,000 a year on the hospital’s electric bill, along with an added bonus of a protected parking lot for employee vehicles.   Top