What you need to know about the flu.

As with all of North Texas, flu is now widespread in the Azle community. At the hospital, we have seen an increase in patients coming to the Emergency Department with flu-like symptoms. In addition to triaging and separating patients in the waiting area, we have implemented processes to protect our patients and staff. We have had many inquiries about the flu – so here are a few of the most frequently asked questions:

Q: Does the hospital have any H1N1 flu vaccine available for the public?

A: At this time, THAZ does not have any H1N1 flu vaccine, but we do expect to receive some in the coming weeks. We will prioritize the doses we receive so that direct patient care givers receive the vaccine first. We do not anticipate having enough vaccine for the general public.

Q: What should I do if I get sick?

A: You should stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone. Drink clear fluids and take medicine as directed by your physician. Over the counter medicine can be used to help with pain, fever or cough.

Q: When do I need to come to the hospital if I have the flu?

A: Individuals with flu-like symptoms (body aches, fever of 101 degrees, coughing) rarely need to go to the hospital. These symptoms, however, may indicate the need for hospital/ER evaluation:

• Feeling confused or unable to stay awake

• Difficulty breathing or breathing to fast

• Pregant women

• Anyone suffering from organ disease

• Immuno-compromised patients (HIV, organ transplant recipients)

• Elderly patients (65 years or older)

• Anyone who feels sicker than they usually do with the flu

It is important that children and individuals who are sick refrain from visiting loved ones in the hospital. During this time, you may be asked to wear a mask when visiting patients.

Remember – the best way to prevent the flu is to use good health habits as mentioned in the last post. So keep washing those hands and coughing into your sleeve!

As always, we will keep you updated on flu issues in the community. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by commenting on this blog or via our website at www.texashealth.org.

 - Winjie Tang Miao

Flu Update from Texas Health Azle

I know that flu is on many people's minds, and I wanted to share the latest from Marsha Shumate, our Infection Control Coordinator:

Texas Health Azle has already seen an increase in flu-like symptoms and patients who have tested positive for flu in the community. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to monitor all aspects of the flu season, including vaccine availability and recommendations for those with flu-like symptoms. Remember, remember, the best way to stop the spread of flu is through prevention:

• Cover mouth and nose when sneezing.
• Sneeze into your elbow.
• Wash your hands often.
• Practice healthy habits (get plenty of sleep, eat nutritiously, and drink plenty of fluid)
• Get the seasonal flu vaccine (and the H1N1 vaccine if appropriate)

For a list of the complete recommendations complete recommendations from the CDC, please visit their website, but clicking here.

If you do experience flu-like symptoms, the CDC urges you to stay home if you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness by limiting contact with others until 24 hours after your fever breaks.

Here in Azle, the hospital continues to monitor flu activity in the community and the hospital, and we have plans in place to accommodate flu patients who need additional medical care. We will continue to monitor the prevalence of flu in the area using reports generated through the Tarrant County health department and online tools that are tracking reported flu cases seen below.


We are providing these links so that you can stay updated on the latest flu information to protect you and your family. If there is any other information you would like us to provide to you, please comment and we will try to accommodate your requests. As always, the goal at Texas Health Azle is to provide information and tools to help keep our community healthy.

Let's Break Ground!

I would like to introduce Marsha Ingle, community education specialist as one of our guest bloggers. Marsha - take it away...

On a hot Thursday evening, the community celebrated the groundbreaking for Texas Health Azle’s new Outpatient Services and Education Building. There were carnival games, food, prizes and even a text messaging contests. Many families were also able to pick up some school supplies for the new school year. As we celebrated on the dirt where a building stood just a few weeks ago, I had to reflect a bit about the past.

The old Lester’s building is gone and some small part of me is sad to see it go. During the last nine years, I have many fond memories of working and teaching in this one of a kind place. I would like to list a few things I will miss about the dearly departed building. First are the many poles. As many know, these poles support the ceiling since there were not many walls. While teaching exercise or line dancing classes, it was always fun to “dance around the poles.”

The second thing I will miss about Lester’s is the really cool basements. There were doors in the floor which lead to a staircase into the basement. It was always fun to carry items up and down the stairs wondering if I secured the doors so they would not fall. Of course, after the first time of NOT securing the doors, it was much easier to remember!


In light of all the many things I will miss about the old building, I try to comfort myself with thoughts of what I will be gaining. There will be three classrooms instead of one. With more space, we can offer more options such as support groups. Organizations, such as the Alzheimer’s Association, have already been in contact to discuss future endeavors. What a comfort it must be to know there is support available if someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia related illness. Support groups can not only help the affected person, but also the family and the caregivers. What a wonderful service to offer the community of Azle.

In addition to the new classes, there will be the latest in audio visual aids. Of course, it will be hard to retire the overhead projector. It is also time to retire the VCR. This may not mean much to most people, but it was getting very difficult to find VCR tapes. It is even tougher to find cassette tapes. Recently, I was talking to a sales person about music for my line dancing class. I asked it the music was available in the cassette tapes. He asked, “Available in what?”

I could go on and on. I could even talk about the additional parking when the project is complete. Imagine coming to the hospital and NOT circling several times for a parking spot. I cannot fit into one article all of the many great things about the new building. So, I will just leave you with the best thing about the new building. With more space and better equipment, we can teach more people how to have better health. What better investment can there be.



- Marsha Ingle

Texas Health Azle receives quality award

I am very excited to let you know that Texas Health Azle has been recognized by the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Awards program. Our hospital has received the highest award possible, the Award of Excellence. Out of 227 participating Texas hospitals, only 27 were presented with the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award of Excellence! The award recognizes hospitals that are active in quality improvement and have an outstanding appropriate care measure (ACM). For acute care hospitals, the ACM consists of 24 quality indicators: eight AMI, four heart failure, seven pneumonia and five surgical care measures.

To earn the Award of Excellence, a hospital had to achieve or maintain performance between 90 and 100 percent on the Appropriate Care Measure, and to have met all other awards requirements. These included passing validation of three quarters of data (quarters 1-3, 2008), having mortality scores within the projected range and submitting the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS) data.

I especially would like to thank each staff member for their personal contributions – whether it was ensuring that aspirin was given to a heart attack patient on arrival, completing smoking cessation education prior to discharge or giving prophylactic antibiotics to surgery patients, their hard work has not gone unnoticed. It is because of their collective efforts that we have been recognized for demonstrating excellence in health care quality through our improved performance on national quality measures.

Even better than the award, however, is the knowledge that we provide outstanding quality patient care. When the national quality measures of the awards program are implemented 100 percent of the time, patients’ lives are improved and may even be saved.

I am proud to be a part of this wonderful healthcare team and have a great deal of pride for what we have accomplished!

Snakes on the Rise in Azle

Snakes bites have been on the rise this year. Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle has seen 9 snake bites so far in 2009 compared to a total of 8 for the entire year of 2008. All of the poisonous snake bites we have treated this year have been from Copperheads. 3 of the 9 from this year have been children under the age of 10. Snakes are most active this time of year and the majority of the bites we have seen have resulted from individuals working in gardens or around brush piles. The snake antivenin is used to treat snakebites from rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins. It is derived from sheep and is generally well tolerated. It is important to know that approximately half of all bits are considered “dry bites.” This means the snake has not injected venom into its victim. These bites can generally be treated with antibiotics and supportive care. The care for a snake bite is to clean the bite area with soap and water and then go to the nearest emergency department for evaluation and treatment if necessary.
Check out the article in this week's Azle News about snakes in Azle.

- Charlie Snead Pharm.D.
Pharmacy Manager, Texas Health Azle

Guest Bloggers

I am happy to announce that from time to time, we will have different hospital staff writing about what is important to them. But, we also want to know what is important to you! So, let us know if there is something you would like to know about - in fact, the blog post about time outs came from patient comments on our satisfaction surveys.

So, stayed tuned for guest writers like Charlie, in our pharmacy. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the writing!

Taking a Time Out

Cue cheesy music...Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name…

We all like familiarity. Whether it’s your favorite restaurant, hair salon, or bank, there is a sense of comfort that comes with personal recognition. So, I can understand when patients and families become concerned when they enter a hospital for care and are repeatedly asked to verify their personal information. Why do hospitals do this? Does the nurse really forget who you are in a span of ten minutes?

The obvious answer is no, but a more truthful answer is sometimes, yes.

Just like an airline crew or a sports team, each health care team member has a specific role. Each has been well-trained with a very specific set of skills and working together, they take care of many patients very efficiently and effectively on a daily basis. This team of experts works together so much that they can anticipate each other’s next steps. Just watch a general surgeon and OR circulator during surgery – they function like a well-oiled machine. So with all of the stringent processes and precise performance, why do we still stop and ask you who you are and verify what we are about to do for you? Well, let’s take a look at some of the most successful team in the history of sports…

Many of you know that I am a big basketball fan. I attribute it to growing up in Illinois during the early 90s when it was a wonderful time to be a fan of the Chicago Bulls. Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin, and yes, even Dennis Rodman, all knew their roles and were able to have repeated success over a decade. They practiced together for hours each day, could anticipate each others moves and knew where the ball was going to end up before it left the passer’s hands. They understood each others strengths and helped cover each others weaknesses. After years of playing together, they knew what the next called play was going to be and in any given situation, the best way to beat their opponents.

So, in close games, why did coach Phil Jackson call time outs? If the team was really a fine-tuned machine firing on all cylinders, why would they need to stop? Each member of the team had been in this situation before and knew exactly what was going to happen. So why break the momentum?

Because Coach Jackson knew that during the intensity of the moment and everything going on around them, it was imperative for his team to pause and communicate. It was his job to ensure that everyone on the team was on the same page. While fans are being entertained during a time out, players are huddled around the coach and exchanging information – they are revealing what they have learned about the opposing team and the coach is giving his observations. Each situation has unique circumstances. And given the information, they determine the correct play to run. The time out ensures that they execute the best play possible to give them the best chance to win.

In fact, think about the reaction from players and fans if Phil Jackson didn’t call time outs during close games. If the Bulls ended up losing and there was no time-out called, wouldn’t every sports commentator have questioned the coach’s judgment? Wouldn’t there have been fan outrage?

The same principles apply when you seek care at a hospital. We have highly talented team members who perform well-choreographed tasks and processes. But, we want to ensure that everyone is on the same page prior to providing you care. This is why each person who enters a patient’s room verifies who you are and what they are in the room to do. Our time out ensures that we give you, our most important team member, the best care possible.

So, while none of our team members are endorsing sports drinks, and we don’t have a bartender who was a former major league baseball pitcher, know that we are always glad you came and that you will always get superstar treatment.

Demolition Derby

Progress continues on the campus of Texas Health Azle!

As many of you may have noticed, there has been increased activity near the Lester’s Education building on campus. For the past several weeks, the hospital has been preparing the building for a safe demolition. That day is finally here!

On Monday, July 13th, the demolition of the Lester’s building will begin. Once this work commences, the parking spaces around the building will be closed and pedestrian traffic will no longer be allowed in this area. This is to ensure the safety of the hospital staff, patients and visitors to the campus. Hospital staff are requested to park in the Medical Arts Plaza parking lot in the spots closest to the helipad. Patient and guest parking should not be impacted by the construction.

In August, we will start construction on the parking expansion to the Texas Health Azle campus. Over 40 new parking spaces will be added to the existing Medical Arts Plaza parking lot. These new spaces will be primarily used for hospital staff parking and are expected to be completed by the end of September.

The demolition of Lester’s marks a milestone in the construction of the new Community Education and Outpatient Building. The pace of construction will continue to quicken, resulting in more construction vehicles and personnel on campus. Please use patience when driving on campus and follow flagmen instructions when appropriate. As always, thank you for your continued support as we build the future of Texas Health Azle together!

Extreme Makeover - Texas Health Azle Style

As you may already know, Texas Health Azle (THAZ) is building a $2 million expansion on our existing campus. When finished, the hospital will have added over 70 parking spaces and a 5,000 square foot building. This will be accomplished through the demolition of the Annex and Lester’s buildings. (Ty Pennington’s agent hasn’t returned our calls yet, but we are still holding out hope!)

Over the past year, we have continued to add new services to the facility – including digital mammography, pain management, pulmonary services, childbirth education and women’s rehabilitation programs. In fact, the number of people using our outpatient services has increased almost 40% in the past three years! With all this growth, we are out of space and need to grow in order to continue to offer new services to the community.

We are currently completing the design phase which has involved hospital staff giving their input into the functionality and “look” of the new building. It has been a great deal of fun watching the staff get excited about the new building and how it will better serve our patients and staff.

For example:

Marsha Ingle (our community education extraordinaire) has been designing classrooms that will serve those who come for education classes – including our senior program (known as Better L.I.F.E.), CPR to the community, childbirth education and more. The new classrooms will also provide a space for something the community has requested the hospital provide – support groups.

Carole Dufresne (our information system guru) is making sure that all of the information systems and training classrooms are adequate for our patients and staff. The new building will have wireless access throughout and provide technologically-advanced equipment for training and education.

Mary Fonville and Buster Doherty (our mistress and master of facilities) are ensuring that the building is safe and operates efficiently. Most people who enter the new building will never give the air handling system a second thought, but know that Mary and Buster have thought long and hard about these issues so that you don’t have to.

The Hospital Auxiliary choosing to raise funds for a healing garden for both patients and staff to enjoy. (Stay tuned for more details on their event!)

There are too many individuals on the team to mention them all, but they have all contributed to every square inch of the new building already – and we haven’t even started construction!

So when are we starting construction?

We hope to begin work on the parking lot near the Medical Arts Plaza this summer. Once that is complete, we will move the employee parking to that area and begin demolition of the Lester’s building and construct the new building. The staff from the Annex will then move to the new building and we will demolish the Annex and complete the parking in front of the hospital. All of this should be complete by May of next year.

It is an exciting time for us at Texas Health Azle and we owe it to the members of this community who continue to support the facility and contribute to our growth. To follow our progress (and keep up-to-date on other hospital happenings), keep following this blog… and don’t be too shy to leave a comment. We love to hear from you!

A blank page and a fresh start

A blank page. It isn’t often that one gets a fresh start. But, here I am, at the first entry of a new blog. Now, I am definitely a latecomer to the blogosphere – there are many A-list bloggers who have been doing this for years. So, you may ask, why am I starting now?

The truth of the matter is that I am always looking for ways to be better. And I believe that having this forum to communicate with all of the different people who are connected to Texas Health Azle will help me and the hospital better serve our patients, staff, physicians and the community. Now, I could be wrong – in which case, I may have the shortest blogging career in history – but Edward de Bono once wrote “It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.”

I am starting this with no preconceived agenda, and a few modest goals:

1. To communicate what is going on at the hospital to those who are interested – Obviously all official news can still be found at http://www.texashealth.org/, but you can find the information (and more!) here as well.

2. To bring relevant healthcare issues to the table and describe how they might impact us on a local level.

3. To provide an opportunity for all members of the Texas Health Azle community to interact and discuss relevant issues.

4. To allow us to get quick relevant feedback on what is on your mind and how we can do better.

Is there something you want to read about? Questions that you would like addressed? Feel free to email me or comment on the site and I will respond. In the meantime, check back to read about one of our great employees, why we ask your name so many times when you come and visit and where we are in the construction process on a new $2 million expansion of the hospital campus.