Latest news with #FreemanHealthSystem
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Freeman Health nurse grads sign contracts amid cheers
JOPLIN, Mo. — Almost thirty new nurses have been released into the world. Freeman Health System says it held a graduation ceremony for its nurses Tuesday night; a graduation ceremony officials say is unique to this area, resembling athletic signing day celebrations most often seen in high schools and universities. These graduate nurses have completed their two years of schooling but have yet to take their National Council Licensure Examinations (NCLEX) to become registered nurses. Freeman Health System officials say these graduating nurses signed their names on the dotted lines, loved ones looking on as it happened, while the cheers of their future Freeman co-workers were present to encourage them and celebrate their accomplishments over the past couple of years. 'I am very appreciative of those around me and how hard they've worked to become nurses,' said Camrie Davis, a graduate nurse who will work for Freeman orthopaedics. 'Anybody who you went to school with, they all become a sort of fellowship to you.' Freeman officials say nurses serve as 'linchpins to any functional hospital or healthcare system. 'A patient spends five percent of their time with a physician and about 95 percent of their time with a nurse or nurse tech. So, it is truly vital to us that we bring nurses into our system who are consistent with our mission, vision, values. I think we're confident today that everyone joining the team fits that bill,' said Freeman Health System & CEO Matt Fry. Heather Autry Megan Blair Shelby Blythe Madison Burkhart Dylan Byrd Brittney Clark Camrie Davis Mackenzie Droessler Jaylen Evans Jadyn Fox Karen Gonzalez Anistyn Honey Alexia Ingold Molly Kesler Esmeralda Martinez Mickayley McCluney Paige McIntire Amber Opel Jacob Pearce Danielle Russell Karleigh Schoenberger Victorea Stephenson Rylie Tyer Aiddenn Vanatta Adeline Vanderpool Amanda Weaver Blair Wilson Taylor Young To learn more about Freeman Health System's nursing programs, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Medical Focus: National EMS Week
ANDRESON, Mo. — This week has been National EMS Week – a chance to recognize the challenge of responding to any and all medical emergencies 24-7. 'Nobody ever really plans to need an ambulance that day, for the most part. And you know, there's a lot of situations that arise,' said Mike Ross, Freeman Ambulance Svc. Dir. For Mike Ross and his 40 plus years of experience, that's most often chest pains. 'I mean, we're able to do a 12-lead EKG on a patient to see if there is an acute mmediate need, you know, for the cath lab. And then in that instance, we coordinate with the cath lab to let them know that we're coming. We actually send them a copy of the 12-lead EKG so that the cardiologist can look and see what they're dealing with, and activate the cath lab if needed.' The response area for the Freeman Ambulance Service covers every corner of McDonald County – and comes with a unique set of challenges. Medical Focus: National EMS Week Mobile MU hospital simulation stops in Joplin to provide specialized training Freeman Health System celebrates National Nurses Week dedication Healthcare workers advocate mental health awareness in May Freeman Safe Sitter program trains middle schoolers in CPR and first aid skills 'We have no hospital, actually, in McDonald County, but we have a lot of resources around the county in Northwest Arkansas, Joplin, that type of thing. So transport times are long. Turnaround time from leaving the station to getting back to the station on a call that is out in the county that may go to Joplin would be two and a half hours.' Ross adds that while working in Emergency Medical Service is a job – that EMS team feels a lot more like family. 'I mean, you spend almost more time with people at work than you do with your own family. And I mean, we're here for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime, early morning, all times of the day. So there really and truly has to be a trust built and a camaraderie built for that type of thing.' And at the end of the day – it's all about a quick response and saving lives. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Community Blood Center of the Ozarks opens new Joplin location
The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks celebrated on Monday the grand opening of its new Joplin location at 2318 E. 32nd St., Suite D. The new location gives the center more space to collect a vital, lifesaving resource for the community. This is the center's fifth location in Joplin over the last 30 years. It previously operated out of a storefront at the Northpark Mall. The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is the sole supplier of blood for 45 area hospitals. It averaged 10 to 12 donors a day at its previous location at the mall. Anthony Roberts, executive director of the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, said staff members are now hoping to double donors at the new location. 'A lot of chambers of commerce like to say, 'Shop local,'' Roberts said. 'We always say, 'Local donors, local patients.' Our mission has always been centered on saving lives through the generosity of local blood donors. This beautiful new facility gives us even more opportunity to fulfill that mission in the Joplin area.' In its last location, the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks had 1,250 square feet and were basically running out of space, Roberts said. The organization has been looking for a new Joplin location for a couple of years. Roberts said the center found the perfect space on 32nd Street. It's highly visible with lots of traffic. It's also closer to Freeman Health System and Mercy Joplin Hospital, which presents a better opportunity for hospital employees and patient families to donate. 'If people have family members in the hospital and feel the need to come donate, we're very close, only five to seven minutes away,' Roberts said. 'This is a great opportunity here to donate.' The center has worked to make the new location donor-friendly, Roberts said. Donors can pull right up to the front door, unlike the mall. The extra space allows the center to expand from four beds to eight beds, and donors have generous space around them as they donate. Michael Rahn, senior director of building operations, helped design the new Joplin location. As donors walk in the new 3,700 square-foot center, they're greeted by a front desk. Medical history rooms line one wall, donor beds are in the center. There is an open floor plan in the main room. It makes it easy for donors to look around and for staff to see all of their donors at all times. 'It's important to have a welcoming, open space,' Rahn said. 'You don't want your donors to feel like this is a sterile, medical facility. Our donors are caring enough to come in and volunteer to do this on their own. That's an important part of wanting to make them comfortable.' People can make an appointment online to donate blood at the new Joplin center at It is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. Roberts said with the new location, the center is looking to expand into weekend morning hours this fall.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Matthew Fry taking over at Freeman Health System
Leadership of Joplin's largest employer traded hands Monday as Paula Baker, president and CEO of Freeman Health System for the past 14 years, passed the torch to her successor, Matt Fry. Fry, who last served as president and CEO of St. John's Hospital and St. John's Children's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, assumes leadership duties at Freeman on Tuesday. 'I feel great. I'm ready for tomorrow,' Fry said Monday. 'I have quite a bit of energy, so I'm really looking forward to joining this system, and I think we have tremendous potential. It's already a storied enterprise with 100 years of legacy, and I think we have a ton of potential to take this to new heights.' Fry said he has spent the past month since moving to Joplin meeting with Freeman officials and physicians as well as working with Baker to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible. 'If I showed you my phone, you'd see a list of top initiatives about 20 deep right now,' Fry said. 'Really, what it comes down to is the first 30 days about meeting the team, getting out, meeting the physicians, getting immersed in the community, learning as much history as I can about the organization — warts and all — so we can better understand how we strategize going forward. I think over the course of the next couple of months, we'll want to sit down and formulate a strategic plan and that will invariably lead to other subgroup strategic plans that we'll draft together as a team.' Baker took a farewell tour of Freeman Hospital West on Friday. 'Today is an amazing day for me, and it's bittersweet,' she said. 'Although I'm very excited about a new chapter in my life, I find it very difficult to say goodbye at the same time. All the people at Freeman who have been so wonderful to work with over the past 14 years, it's really difficult to say goodbye to them. But it won't be goodbye because I'll still be around and I'll be so excited to see all the accomplishments yet to come at Freeman Health System.' Baker said she has countless memories from her time at Freeman, but some stand out: 'One was when we opened the (Bill and Virginia Leffen) Autism Center (in 2007) and we began that transformation in the lives of children living on the spectrum, and seeing those children come as well as their families, and after a period of time seeing their development and progress,' Baker said. 'That will forever be a big part of my heart. 'Then secondly, although it's not a real positive thing, but our staff's response both to the tornado (in 2011) and to the COVID-19 pandemic (in 2020). Those were difficult times — both uncharted waters — but I have always been and will always be immensely proud of the way the staff stepped forward to take care of those issues for our community and region.' On Monday, Fry said he's already learned firsthand the care that hospital staff, physicians and technicians put into the patients who come through Freeman's doors. He also noted that a relative who moved to Joplin with his family had to be admitted to Freeman Hospital West through the emergency department last week and was still in the hospital as of Monday. That experience gave him great insight to 'the inner workings' of Freeman. 'They don't know who I am, they don't know what I'm here for,' Fry said. 'But if every patient in Joplin and the surrounding communities who comes to Freeman gets this level of care, I feel really, really good about where this organization is.'
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freeman breaks ground on 50-bed hospital in Southeast Kansas
FRONTENAC, Kan. — Freeman Health System broke ground Friday on a hospital being built on the north side of East 600th Avenue and the east side of U.S. Highway 69. Freeman President and CEO Paula Baker called it a historical event for both the Joplin-based health care system and for Southeast Kansas. 'You're going to see soon, construction crews are going to begin transforming this 55-acre soybean field into Freeman's newest full-service hospital,' Baker told the crowd of about 75 people in a small gravel parking lot. 'Located just minutes from downtown Pittsburg, our new 50-bed hospital will cover 170,000 square feet. Freeman's investment in this project is conservatively $168 million. Additionally we expect the hospital to create 500 to 1,000 new jobs in the Pittsburg and Frontenac areas. That's going to be a very big boost for the economy.' Baker said Freeman already has a 'robust presence' in Southeast Kansas. 'We already have several primary care clinics, an outpatient surgery center, a freestanding MRI, a comprehensive oncology program, a specialty clinic with over a dozen physicians represented, a physical rehab center and more,' Baker said. 'We also currently are very proud that we have clinics right here in Frontenac. All of these services have been established so that residents of Southeast Kansas have access to the medical care that they so richly deserve. I'm so excited just thinking about the new hospital and all that it will contain.' Freeman announced plans for its Freeman Southeast Kansas Hospital in August 2023 and announced the location last summer. Since then, the city of Frontenac and engineers for the hospital have been working on getting utilities to the site and other steps needed to start construction. 'The construction process will take place over approximately 24 months in three simultaneous phases,' Baker said. 'The first phase, site development, utilities and roadways, and you see a lot of evidence of that today when you look over the field. The second phase will be construction of an ambulatory surgery center and on the second floor we'll have a medical office building for our physicians. Then the third part is construction of the main hospital structure. But keep in mind these will be done simultaneously so you'll see many things coming together at once.' The hospital also will support the soon-to-open Freeman Fort Scott emergency room and 10-bed inpatient facility. Baker commended Frontenac city officials including Mayor Steve Morrison and City Manager John Zafuta for their foresight in planning the utility upgrades needed to provide water, sewer and other services the hospital needs. Morrison said the city started tearing down its historic 1908, 75,000-gallon 'Home of the Raiders' water tower on Thursday, which will be replaced by a much larger water tower to better serve the area. 'We already have the water and sewer lines out there for development,' Morrison said Friday. 'For the hospital, we'll have to bring out more water and sewer lines to facilitate the hospital but it's nothing we can't handle. The plans have been in the works for years to incorporate this area into the community. So it's well positioned to have the hospital meet with our infrastructure.' Morrison said excitement is 'very high' among Frontenac residents. 'They're welcoming it, they're embracing it and it's a very great thing for this area of Frontenac,' he said. 'We also have a housing district that's going to be built out here and the houses will be very close to the hospital. The ability to have someone go away to school then come back home and have a job here is something we're really looking forward to.'
