Clinics, family care centers help St. Mary's expand into communities

HUNTINGTON -- St. Mary's Medical Center continues to take services to the people, with a growing number of family care centers and clinics across the Tri-State.

St. Mary's Medical Center opened family care centers in Ceredo and in the Highlawn community last year. The hospital also collaborated with the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization to open four family care sites in Lawrence County, Ohio, last year.

"We want to provide family practice physicians in local communities so you don't have to travel as far," said Doug Korstanje, director of marketing and community relations at St. Mary's.

Korstanje said several more projects like the ones in Ceredo and Highlawn can be expected in the coming months. St. Mary's already is looking at a new location in Teays Valley and elsewhere, he said.

"You can expect to get great family care at any of those facilities," he said.

Korstanje said a pediatric center also opened in the Highlawn facility about a year ago.

Dr. Deidre Parsley started working at the St. Mary's Family Care Center in Ceredo after it opened last September. She said the hospital's work to establish clinics in surrounding communities is a great idea.

"This gives patients more access to medical care and health care. I think it's made a big difference here in Ceredo because patients, especially the elderly who sometimes have transportation difficulties, have somewhere much closer to go," Parsley said.

She said the family care center in Ceredo provides a continuum of care for adolescents and adults, including physical exams, blood and urine analysis, gynecological exams and minor skin procedures.

"Our patient volume is increasing. We've been very pleased with the progress that the clinic's made. Patients seem to be happy that we're here, that we're close for them, and we're very pleased the community lets us serve them," she said.

The centers in Ceredo and Highlawn are owned and operated by St. Mary's. The four centers in Lawrence County are owned and operated by the Ironton-Lawrence Community Action Organization, but St. Mary's collaborates to increase health care services in the Lawrence County market, Korstanje said.

The Lawrence County collaboration allows St. Mary's to add its resources to services already in Lawrence County, Korstanje said. The Lawrence County centers are located in Ironton, Coal Grove, South Point and Chesapeake, Ohio.

"We think it's just a win-win situation," he said. "They serve patients so well in Lawrence County. ... Any resources we can provide to them, we are."

Korstanje said St. Mary's also hopes to provide more specialists and services in Lawrence County.

"We continue to work with them on establishing specialty rotations in the clinics," said Tim Parnell, vice president of support services, planning and development at St. Mary's.

The current collaboration also allows St. Mary's to review the centers' operations and explore opportunities for expansion in the Lawrence County market, Parnell said.

"We feel that it's a very good arrangement and that it benefits everyone they serve in that community," he said.

He said St. Mary's is happy to create a stronger presence in the Lawrence County market and provide access to specialized services in that area. Special services may include diabetes education, laboratory services and other types of specialty services that are still under discussion.

Officials at St. Mary's Medical Center announced last year that the Lawrence County collaboration could continue with construction in 2009 of a $20 million family medical center. The center could act as a precursor for a hospital on a 20-acre parcel off Ohio 141 and U.S. 52 in Ironton.

Korstanje said no groundbreaking date had been set yet as of February, but staff still hope to make construction happen this year.

"We're still very excited about all the possibilities for the property," he said.