Outpatient Areas Help Jasperites, Others
“There are so many people who don’t have access to health care,” Billie Jo Garcia, who works the registration desk at Jasper Memorial (JMH), shared. “I’m the first person someone sees when they come here needing help,” she shared of her job.
“They can be nervous when they get here and I don’t want them to feel ashamed or bad about needing help. I always want to make sure people coming here are heard. I can see a huge wave of relief on their faces when I hand them a hospital packet.”
Whether you’re an in-patient or one of the many outpatient visitors to the Laboratory, Radiology or Rehabilitation departments at JMH, you can’t get through the doors without talking to or meeting with one of the people who work at registration.
Billie Jo Garcia is one of those people. When she’s not hiking the Appalachian Trail or one of her favorite hikes at the Pisgah National Forest, Billie Jo can be found at the front desk in the JMH lobby.
A Monticello resident since 2002, her origins in health care stem from her work as an anesthesia tech, a position, she said she got burned out in while working during the worst of Covid onset. Garcia prefers working at JMH, explaining that the human aspect is lost at big hospitals and at JMH, the hospital is not only more in tune with its patients, it is also more in tune with the needs of their employees.
“The Blood Bank is probably one of the most important parts of the lab,” shared Tonya Dennis, a phlebotomist for 23 years. According to Dennis, the Blood Bank allows JMH to perform transfusions for life threatening emergencies like car wrecks or farm accidents or other injuries that require immediate blood transfusions for stabilization before transport to a larger emergency facility if needed. It also provides services for outpatients who might be undergoing dialysis, cancer treatment and other illnesses.
The lab is able to perform most testing on-site for blood, stool and urine tests, offering patients and their providers a quick turnaround of test results. It offers inpatient and outpatient services, with doctors orders, including pediatric services, allowing patients to have their tests performed locally, without having to travel out of county for lab work. When necessary, the lab uses off-site testing from both Quest and Lab Corps to further broaden the scope of their testing services.
Dennis, a several generation Jasper County native, has been working at JMH since a 2001 internship. “I like what I do. I like being able to help people,” she said of her work in the lab. And, when she’s not working, her favorite pasttime is traveling with family and friends, especially to two of her favorite destinations, Las Vegas and Miami.
For 14 years Tammy Lemaire-Harvey has been one of the seven people, full and part time, who works in the Radiology Department. Originally certified as an X-Ray technician, she has an Associates degree, is a registered Radiology Technician and is certified as a Computed Tomography (CT) Technologist. A Jasper County resident for 25 years, she is, in her own words, “thankful for this place (JMH). We stabilize and ship out,” she said, whether sending a patient home, to JMH or to a larger hospital if needed.
The Radiology Department provides several 24 hour diagnostic tests, including CT scans, X-rays, Ultrasounds, 3-D Mammograms, Echocardiograms and Bone Density tests. For many in Jasper County, these services aren’t just convenient, they are a life-saver, allowing tests that otherwise some might not be able to get. “I want to thank you,” said one man in the JMH waiting room lobby while I was interviewing Lemaire-Harvey. “I was feeling really bad when I came in on Sunday. You saved me,” he said gratefully.
The Rehabilitation Department at JMH offers in-patient, swing bed and outpatient services in Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Therapy (ST), providing a wide variety of evaluation and treatments for various needs. Their services include working with people who have had knee and hip surgeries, rotator cuff surgery, have experienced low back pain and other orthopedic issues. They work with people who have had strokes and have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. They work with cancer patients and others who have had life changing medical events occur in their lives.
The department uses stairs and a BioSway and putty and rubber bands. They help patients restore use in their hands, work with patients to help restore their balance, stability and strength and they work with patients with speech issues. They can focus on the shoulders to help restore shoulder use. They can help with acute and chronic pain issues, provide assessments for modified barium swallowing assessments and provide evaluation and treatment for neurological disorders. They can provide lymphedema therapy for cancer patients and others.
Marlena Waddell is one of the Rehabilitation Department team members. She is a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA), a Registered and Licensed OT and a Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT) who has worked at JMH for the past 13 years, the last five years full time. She has lived in the south most of her life and is a graduate from Georgia College and State University (when it was still known as Georgia College) with a degree in Biology. She enjoys pickleball and cycling with her husband when she isn’t working.
Waddell stressed that her job at JMH and the job of the Rehabilitation Department is to make sure patients are successful. “I work on giving patients the tools they need. The tools to handle issues and to be at home and to gain more control and independence,” she said. “I love it here. We can do things here we couldn’t do a larger place,” she said, telling a story of watching a patient struggling to get in and out of their car out in the parking lot. “Here, we can even help patients while they’re still outside in the parking lot. That’s not something you can do at a larger facility.”
