St. Vincent Clay Hospital Celebrates Five Years

September 14, 2005

St. Vincent Clay Hospital (SVCH) is celebrating their Five-Year Anniversary as a local health ministry of St. Vincent Health. A member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest not-for-profit and Catholic healthcare system, St.Vincent Health is among state’s largest healthcare employer, with 16 health ministries serving 45 counties in central Indiana.

In September 2000, Clay County Hospital joined the St.Vincent Health family and has experienced a renewed spirit of highly compassionate, high-level care. Although the hospital’s name changed, its location has stayed the same. Since that time, the hospital has become a Critical Access Hospital and has continued to expand with the addition of new ambulatory surgery and diagnostic departments in 2003. In the fall of 2004, the hospital also expanded the physical therapy services into a 3,000 square-foot facility that offers private physical therapy rooms and an area equipped specifically for children.  In addition the hospital has experienced growth in outpatient services including ambulatory surgery and emergency room visits.

In 2004, the hospital received the Press Ganey Compass Award. The award recognizes those facilities that showed the most improvement in their overall satisfaction scores. The hospital also participates in the Indiana Hospital and Health Association’s Hospital Quality Initiative. This program focuses on improving patient outcomes while enhancing patient safety.

The hospital is actively engaged in the community. SVCH currently sponsors a school-based Certified Athletic Trainer, and serves as the corporate sponsor for the Western Indiana Conference. SVCH also partners with the school corporation to offer health-related education such as job shadowing, CPR training and kindergarten tours. Other community-related activities include the Poverty Experience, Safe Sitter program, flu vaccination campaign and diabetes education. Health awareness and prevention is core to the community outreach of the hospital. The hospital participates in health awareness programs through the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and Susan G. Komen Foundation. The hospital also serves as a clinical site for both Indiana State University College of Nursing and IVY Tech.

“We are excited to be celebrating five years of growth and success with St. Vincent Health,” Jerry Laue, SVCH Administrator, said. “The relationship has generated the resources we need to continue to develop as the healthcare provider of choice in Clay County. Our associates and medical staff are core to our continued growth and we take great pride in providing them with the tools they need to provide high quality care in an environment whose focus is on patient safety.”

Over the last five years the affiliation with St.Vincent Health has provided stability and quality health care to the community while positioning the hospital for future growth opportunities.  In addition to a 24-hour physician staffed emergency department, the hospital has a 25-bed inpatient unit and ambulatory services including general and orthopedic surgery, endoscopy, CT scans, MRI, nuclear medicine, mammography,

ultrasound, laboratory, cardiology, pulmonary, bone density, physical and occupational therapy.

St.Vincent Clay Hospital’s mission is rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as healer. We commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Our Catholic health ministry is dedicated to spiritually-centered, holistic care, which sustains and improves the health of individuals and communities. We are advocates for a compassionate and just society through our actions and our words.