A look back at 2023: multiple milestones achieved at MCMH

Montgomery County Memorial Hospital saw many new expansions, acquisitions, and new features in 2023.
On July 17, MCMH announced the acquisition of the Methodist Physicians Clinic located in the Physician Center on the MCMH Medical Campus.
With the transition of new ownership under MCMH, Methodist Physicians Clinic is now known as Red Oak Family Medicine (ROFM).
Red Oak Family Medicine providers remained as the same friendly faces of Dr. William Butz, Dr. Brian Couse, Dr. Warren Hayes, Claudia Balta, PA-C, Liz Johnson, ARNP, as well as the nurses and all of the support staff in the clinic.  
At the end of August, MCMH announced its decision to bring all emergency department (ED) providers under its direct employment.
In a significant move, the hospital on-boarded six new providers, comprised of medical doctors and advanced practice providers.
This assembled an eight-member team of experienced emergency medicine providers. These providers are seamlessly integrated into the MCMH medical staff, embodying a dedication to providing top-tier care to its patients.  
Under the leadership of Dr. Angela Kerchner, Medical Director of Inpatient & Emergency Medicine, the newly formed team contained both familiar faces and new faces, all of whom bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the ED: Angela Kerchner, MD; Scott Hoffman, DO; Steve Lapke, MD; Chris Lindgren, MD; Tu Anh Luong, MD; David Owens, MS, ARNP (Lead Hospitalist & Emergency Medicine); Leah Rowell, PA-C, and Tom Schmadeke, PA-C (Primary Care & Emergency Medicine).
In mid-September, MCMH announced the acquisition of Red Oak Pharmacy and Medicap Pharmacy, signifying an exciting milestone in the organization’s ongoing efforts to enrich patient care and foster innovation within their health care system.
MCMH is operating the pharmacies under the name MCMH Pharmacy with the tagline of “Improving Community Health, Every Prescription, Every Time.”
The new MCMH Pharmacy is at 600 Senate Ave. in Red Oak, which is the former Medicap Pharmacy location.
MCMH Pharmacy has plans for regular courier services for the benefit of both patients and employees. The acquisitions was backed by strong support from Dave Post, pharmacist and owner of Red Oak Pharmacy, and Masoode (Mo) Nikseresht, pharmacist and owner of Medicap Pharmacy, who both retired. The last day of operation at Red Oak Pharmacy was Dec. 5, and Dec. 6 marked the closure of Medicap. MCMH Pharmacy opened its doors on Dec. 12.
On Oct. 17, during a special open house ceremony, the hospital’s new dedicated MRI machine was lowered to its permanent location through the hospital’s roof.
MCMH + Clinics director of Imaging Karen Stirek said this is the first time they’ll be able to offer the service in house. Stirek said MCMH + Clinics felt the time was right to purchase a machine.
“We’ve talked about it over the years, and Shared Services, who we have been getting our MRI truck from, have been very accommodating. Also, we had to look at the expenditures, as it’s very expensive to put in an MRI. However, it has become a need for the hospital,” Stirek explained. “We have a lot of MRIs that are scheduled anymore, in part because as doctors exams have changed over the years, and as some modalities have faded away, others have become more popular, and the MRI is one of them. We are so booked out that having our own MRI machine was a necessity to accommodate our patients. Also, it’s not just us that’s booked out, our fellow towns are booked out as well. The mobile MRI is just not as convenient for patients as it once was.”
Stirek said they’ll be able to schedule patients for MRI’s every day of the week.
“It will be available Monday through Friday during business hours. We have hired an MRI tech, and we have three in-house employees that will go over and cross train in the MRI. Our plans are to run the MRI for 40 hours per week,” commented Stirek.
Stirek is hopeful that once the MRI is fully operational and accepting patients, they’ll be pleased with the reduced wait times.
MCMH Director of director of support services Peter Wemhoff stated he is also extremely excited to have an MRI machine in-house.
“This is going to be a great service for the people of our area. “It’s taken a lot of meetings and a lot of work, by many people,” stated Wemhoff. “We’re here to serve our patients, and what a great service for our area. We will be able to do more exams with an in-house MRI than we could on the mobile MRI truck.”
Stirek said she is also pleased that MCMH + Clinics is currently the only facility in the county with dedicated MRI services.
“We are really proud of our new MRI,” stated Stirek. “It is the largest, quietest and newest in the area. We know it will make a difference for our patients who will no longer have to travel out of the county. We’ve purchased several very specialized coils also, including breast, and several orthopedic coils that will allow us to perform for specialized MRI’s that we weren’t able to complete before. This is an impressive piece of medical technology, and we are excited for our patients to benefit from it.”