Sweeny Hospital

Trina St. John, Emergency Department Manager at Sweeny Community Hospital, has been appointed to the Policy Committee on Trauma and Emergency Services for the Texas Hospital Association. The Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care systems. One of the largest hospital associations in the country, THA represents more than 85 percent of the state’s hospitals and health care systems. Policy committees at the THA are composed of hospital technical experts, who provide input and guidance to the Council on Policy Development on public policy issues and make recommendations to the THA Board for policy development to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. Ms. St. John was chosen from a pool of candidates for this honor based on her extensive knowledge of trauma and emergency medicine. An emergency nurse for over 25 years, Ms. St. John is a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, a member of the Emergency Nurses Association, the International Association of Forensic Nurses, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, and the East Texas Gulf Coast Trauma Service Area (RAC-R). At Sweeny Community Hospital, she serves as the Trauma Coordinator and has been instrumental in enhancing critical care services available to the West of the Brazos community through adoption of new monitoring and infusion technologies. William Barnes, Administrator of Sweeny Community Hospital states, “Ms. St. John’s appointment to this state committee reflects her ongoing dedication to improving emergency and trauma response for the citizens of Brazoria County. Her experience in rural emergency medicine is a strong asset to our local community, and she will serve as an advocate for continued improvements in critical care access to citizens in rural areas of Texas.” The appointment to this prestigious committee is for one calendar year.

On Tuesday, October 20th Stuart Butler, IT Director at Sweeny Community Hospital received the 2009 Rural Health IT Leadership Award from the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals. This award was based on his IT accomplishments, commitment to providing IT assistance to hospital staff and overall dedication to furthering the IT advancement of the hospital. Stuart has been instrumental in the implementation of the radiology department’s Picture Archiving And Communications System (PACS). The PACS allows all images to be viewed digitally and allows physicians to see X-rays in their offices within minutes of the X-ray being taken. Stuart is also instrumental in the implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) at the hospital. The EHR is critical to the  compliance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provisions, which detail guidelines for payment based on meaningful use of information technology in healthcare institutions. Thanks to Stuart’s contributions, Sweeny Community Hospital will be ready to meet the demands of healthcare IT advances head-on.