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| Dr. Ash Gerges, one of several physicians providing ER Coverage from the Wapiti Medical Group |
"We made the change with our ER provider group effective September 1st. The new group, based out of South Dakota, is called Wapiti. They are also involved in other area hospitals providing ER coverage. The decision to go with Wapiti was based on their ability to provide more consistent, predictable coverage for our ER. They have a small, core group of physicians who cycle through our hospital and therefore provide better continuity of care to our patients and familiarity to our staff," said HMH CEO Chris Nichols.
"Patients and staff have been pleased with the change and note that the new doctors have a vested interest in our hospital and our patients. I have heard very positive comments both from staff and from patients on how they are treated by the new physicians. We have asked them to do additional work from a documentation and regulatory standpoint and they have cooperated fully. It feels like a true partnership, a much better relationship with us than our previous ER provider group," Nichols said.
"We recently acquired Horn Memorial Hospital and started staffing their ER. We rotate as a group of physicians from different parts of different states to cover the emergency room," said Dr. Gerges. "We fly in and spend several days here. We stay in the hospital so we are available 24/seven in-house to provide the best care to the community, together of course, with the dedicated and committed staff here. The administration has been quite helpful since we took over. "We get to know the staff and they get to know us and that makes for stability. The staff is very knowledgeable about the patients and about the community, and that definitely helps quite a bit in providing care for the patients as they know them on a personal level and a family level."
"They have five physicians that they routinely staff us with, so we get to know our physicians pretty well," said Jill Webb, HMH Outpatient Director. "I think, in general, practicing in a rural facility is challenging, so this makes a nice collaboration between staff and physicians."
Gerges said, "The difference between the big hospital and here is, if you don't deliver the quality of care the patient expects, you see them in the grocery store, at the gas station, and the restaurant. And, really, that makes a difference; they become a family to you, and that's why the staff goes out of its' way to deliver the best care, because their patients are part of the big family, and that's how we look at it as well. Big cities where I used to practice, you didn't see that very often. There's not that personal touch or that personal level of communication."
"I am excited that Horn Memorial Hospital has signed on with Wapiti to provide physicians for our emergency department coverage," said Webb. "There has been a noticeable change in the quality of care, professionalism, and commitment to our facility that these physicians have brought to our hospital."
Dr. Gerges was born in Egypt, where he received his formal education. He finished at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, where he did his training. He received his first board in family practice and his second in emergency medicine.
~ article and photo provided by Deb Loger, Ida County Courier
