October 17, 2008
24-Hour Clinic, CT Scan Ready

By MIKE BROWN
Reporter Editor

Richards Memorial Hospital’s “new” 24-hour clinic is open for business and is sharing its quarters with a state-of-the-art 64-slice CT-scan.  The clinic concept isn’t new, of course. It’s been one of the big success stories as RMH has made a stunning turnaround from serious financial problems to a robust Central Texas healthcare provider.  But it has moved from extremely cramped quarters in the main RMH building into a new modular complex that doesn’t look modular at all.  The complex, which features classy exteriors and all-new furniture is located just east of the main building. Entrance to the new 24-hour clinic is only a few steps from the old entrance. But the inside is light years away. The large, spacious lobby is a far cry from conditions in the former lobby, which was actually the converted end of a hospital hallway. The new era is also allowing for some changes which hospital officials hope will shorten waits for patients. “We’ll no longer have a doctor sharing time between the clinic and the emergency room,” Dr. John M. Weed III, president of the Rockdale Hospital District board, said. “Patients will longer have to wait while the clinic doctor leaves to look at someone in the emergency room,” he said.

CT-scan
The hospital’s long awaited 64-slice CT-scan dramatically increases RMH’s diagnostic capabilities, especially in the realm of heart disease. Sixty-four electronic detectors “slice” the human body into visual images so fine that soft and hard plaque can be detected in arteries long before any symptoms of heart disease appear. “This is going to enable us to identify people before they have heart attacks or even symptoms,” Dr. Weed said. The new CT-scan is already in use and can handle about seven scans daily.