CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Branching Out: PMC Expands Healthcare Reach with Telehealth Innovations

In keeping with national healthcare trends, Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) has embraced telehealth to extend patient access to specialized care, enhancing outcomes and convenience. PMC’s primary care clinic serves as the sturdy trunk of in-person patient care, from which technological advancements have sprouted telehealth branches to support patients in new and innovative ways. Technology has allowed some of our skilled and knowledgeable local providers to continue serving Petersburg even when life changes have put physical distance between them and the facility. 

Telehealth enables PMC to deliver healthcare services through digital communication, remote consultations, and coordinated care. Utilizing PMC’s advanced Cerner electronic medical record system fosters streamlined secure communication, facilitates transitions between primary care and specialty services, and ensures encrypted yet efficient information sharing, ultimately enhancing the quality of in-person care.

Dr. Jennifer Hyer, a seasoned primary care physician at PMC, has taken a leave of absence from her full-time role to embark on a global sailing adventure with her family. During this time, she finished a two-year fellowship in Integrative Medicine, which she now offers part-time as part of PMC's telehealth services. Dr. Hyer provides remote virtual consultations while traveling, combining conventional and complementary therapies to promote holistic patient wellness. Her personalized approach includes recommendations for nutrition, exercise, mind-body practices, and supplements, tailored to each patient's unique needs.

PMC’s commitment extends further with the inclusion of remote behavioral health clinician, Pat Sessa, LCSW, who integrates behavioral health into primary care, addressing the interconnectedness of mental and physical health in collaboration with primary care providers. Pat is also a resource available to all PMC staff.  Additional remote care team members, Amy Hollis, RN CDE Nurse Case Manager and Brandy Boggs, Patient Navigator, and Jen Ray, Patient Benefits Coordinator work remotely to help ensure patients are supported as they navigate complex medical conditions or need support in completing assistance applications or navigating complicated healthcare systems.

Despite physical distance, PMC’s dedicated specialists like physical therapist and wound care expert Kaitlin Duross continue to deliver expert care via telehealth, ensuring continuity of service and expertise for patients. These supplementary support services are connected through the intertwined root system of PMC – nourished through partnerships with primary care providers and made possible through technology. PMC’s telehealth initiatives are integral to elevating healthcare access and quality for Petersburg residents, connecting them with specialized services and innovative treatments while maintaining strong ties with their local healthcare team.

▲ Dr. Hyer with Dr. Andrew Weil at the completion of her two-year Integrative Medicine fellowship in Arizona.

▲ Thanks to telehealth, Brandy Boggs, Patient Navigator is able to continue to helping Petersburg residents navigate complex healthcare and assistance programs after relocating.

To schedule Integrative Health visit with Dr. Hyer contact her via email at jhyer@pmc-health.org. For Patient Navigator contact Home Health office at 907-772-5716 or bboggs@pmc-health.org, all other PMC services call the Joy Janssen Clinic 907-772-4291. 

DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT

Chemotherapy Department Ensures Comfort and Quality to Local Cancer Patients

For over 40 years PMC has been delivering life-saving chemotherapy to those diagnosed with cancer. Often those who are newly diagnosed are surprised to learn PMC has this capacity and are relieved to be able to remain at home during a very difficult time. Infusion is done as an outpatient service in a comfortable private room, one-on-one with our certified chemotherapy nurses.

Elizabeth Hart became a chemotherapy nurse in 2005 when she first became an RN. Jolyn Duddles has been a nurse at PMC since 2016 and got certified in chemotherapy in 2022. This dynamic team serve as the liaisons between oncology specialists at Bartlett, Swedish, Fred Hutchinson, and Virginia Mason and the primary care providers at PMC. Case management is also a big part of the job – following up with patients regularly, scheduling follow-up appointments, and much more. This small team works hard to ensure the best treatment possible for the handful of local chemotherapy patients, some with weekly or bi-weekly infusions.

It’s easy to get very close to patients, some of which receive treatment at PMC for several years. Elizabeth Hart, RN, shares “I attended the annual Cancer Survivors' Luncheon [hosted by Beat the Odds] where I knew everyone in the room and had administered chemo to many of them – just getting to be with all those survivors is so joyful, even a little overwhelming.”  Beat the Odds is a very generous partner to PMC’s Chemotherapy Department and has provided chemo chairs, continuing education opportunities for PMC nurses as well as many cancer resources to patients.

Elise Kubo, Pharmacy Nurse works with the team to ensure chemotherapy drugs are ordered, received, and kept at appropriate temperatures to ensure they can be administered on time—a critical part of ensuring the treatment works as intended. Before heading into the compounding room to mix chemotherapy drugs, nurses suit up in their personal protective equipment (PPE), including a full gown and double gloves. The USP 800 Compliant Compounding Room was upgraded in 2022 with a new chemo compounding hood to meet updated safety protocols for mixing chemotherapy drugs.

PMC’s chemo team makes a very difficult time for patients and their family a little easier by providing personalized care in the comfort of Petersburg. 

▲ Elizabeth Hart (RN) showing PMC's new chemo compounding hood, which allows the team to safely mix chemotherapy drugs before delivering them to patients.

▲Jolyn Duddles (RN) sits in the chemo chair donated by Beat the Odds. This reclining heated chair sits in a private outpatient treatment room.