Memorial Hermann Southwest

George Gaston, CEO of Memorial Hermann Southwest was our guest speaker this week. George has been with the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System for about 17 years, but has been the CEO of the Southwest Campus for only about 7 months.

The timeline for the evolution of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System looks like this:

• 1907 - Opening of Memorial Baptist Sanitarium
• 1925 - Opening of Hermann Hospital
• 1962 - Memorial Southwest Hospital opens as a 100-bed facility near Hillcroft & Gulfton
• 1977 - Memorial downtown closed and merge with the new Memorial SE Hospital located at 7600 Beechnut near the Southwest Freeway
• 1995 - Pavilion built to house expanded surgical, outpatient and women's services
• 1996 - University place opens offering independent living, skilled nursing and long-term nursing home facilities
• 1997 - Memorial Hospital merges with Hermann Hospital and all facilities renamed as "Memorial Hermann"
• 1999 - The Wellness Center opens on the Southwest Freeway
• 2006 - Southwest Heart & Vascular Institute opens

Some of the latest innovations at Memorial Hermann Southwest include:

• Addition of a Senior Emergency Room for those 55+
• Streamlining the main ER so that the average time "from door to doc" is 27 minutes
• Addition of Palliative/Hospice Services
• For senior patients who have an acute condition requiring hospitalization, Memorial Hermann Southwest offers a new Senior Medicine Unit with staff specially trained to handle issues which may face our senior patients.
• Addition of an Asian Service Line offering 24/7 interpreters and cuisine and TV and radio programming and newspapers presented in native languages with staff trained for cultural sensitivity to help the patients feel more comfortable.

George sees the future role of Memorial Hermann Southwest in servicing the healthcare needs of Southwest Houston will be to include the following:

• Provide a comprehensive approach to healthcare
  • Meeting physical, mental, emotional, spiritual needs
  • Community support groups
• Act as an educator for:
  • The Community - through seminars and screenings/health fairs
  • Patients - be patient oriented and increase expertise in chronic disease management while increasing the rotational health programs from Baylor and UT-Houston
• Nursing and Ancillary Students - have over 330 students for 2010
• Chaplaincy interns - have 9 interns for 2010
• Physician training - Family Practice Residency Program anchored at MHSW has some 42 residents this year.

Memorial Hermann Southwest is ranked by HealthGrades as one of the top 50 Best Hospitals in the USA...that puts MHSW in the TOP 1% in the Nation!

You can learn more about Memorial Hermann Southwest on their website..

Guests, Visitors & Other Good News

Visiting this week from Memorial Hermann Southwest were Chase Ogden (who is working on his masters while he interns at MHSW), and Kyle Stanzel from the Marketing Department. Greg Gregory introduced us to Ron Schwartz, a client service executive in Greg's office. Arif Saleem introduced Ron Johnson, a business associate who has visited with us on the past. And also with us were the familiar faces of Terrence Thompson and Ralph Head.

Of special note where our own dear Sultana Kazim who has been apart from us for months due to health issues. She and her daughter from Dubai gave us great joy in visiting with the club this week. They also brought in two bags full of eye glasses for the Eye Glass Project. Do come again Sultana...and don't take do long next time!

The winner for the visiting Rotarian who came the farthest for our meeting was Gardner Crawley, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Malling, Kent, United Kingdom.

You are all most welcome! We hope you will visit with us again - SOON!

What a Sing-Off!

When President Delores called for a chorus of "Happy Birthday" for those with recent birthdays she got more than she expected. We ended up with Jon King as Choirmaster as we sang to (left to right) Ade Stephen, Lee Larkin, Wayne Staton, Chuni Vyas and Sultana Kazim! What a great group! What FUN!

Pakistan Relief On The Way!

Just as he did after Hurricane Katrina, our President-Elect Nominee Arif Saleem will not sit on his hands when there are people in need! Following the horribly disasterous flooding in northwestern Pakistan that has left the country reeling Arif has once again swung into action. With the assistance of a groups of friends and support from Rotary, Arif has two 40-foot shipping containers full of clothing, household items and medical supplies headed for Karachi, Pakistan.

Our Rotary Club assisted by getting the contact information of the Rotary District Governors for the two Rotary Districts in Pakistan so that Rotary can help coordinate the distribution of the relief supplies upon their arrival. Our club also is acting as a sponsor of the shipment - to help ease the way for the two containers to speedily make the trip from Houston to Karachi and then on to those in real need of the supplies. Learn more about the disaster.

Applause to Arif Saleem! This is truly an example of SERVICE ABOVE SELF!

Coming Up At Rotary