Lake Regional Health System

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Hospice care provides what the majority of Americans say they want at the end of life — the chance to spend their time at home with support for them and their family members. “Enrolling can feel like a step into the unknown, but so much good happens in hospice,” says Christine Livek, M.D., medical director of Lake Regional Hospice. “Families become profoundly grateful for the gift of hospice in their lives.” Do you struggle to imagine how life looks in hospice? These four facts will help you picture hospice life at https://lnkd.in/gWGrKKwC. #NationalHospiceMonth #hospiceandpalliativecaremonth

We are thrilled to announce that local business owners Terry and Jeffrey Myers have donated $40,000 to the Lake Regional’s Commitment to Caring in Lebanon campaign. This contribution is part of a $100,000 pledge aimed at establishing a new outpatient surgery center that will enhance health care services in our region. Jeffrey Myers, a respected financial advisor, highlighted the benefits of the Missouri Neighborhood Assistance Program, stating, “This program has allowed our tax dollars to be invested locally.” This new facility will bring advanced medical technology and improved healthcare options to Lebanon. For more information on how you can join this initiative, https://lnkd.in/gBuKki4C. Let's work together to support the health and wellbeing of our community!

Announcing our 2024 True Blue honorees … True Blue Physician Molly Johnson, M.D. True Blue Employee Amy Kempf, R.N. True Blue Leader Stacie Woodhouse, CPC See their video at lakeregional.com/C1. #cultureofone #trueblue #commitencouragecare

Lake Regional Health System announces the launch of new laboratory technology that is helping the hospital provide test results to patients more quickly, while also improving workflows for the lab team. “With this technology, we can reduce manual work in our lab by 60%, allowing our busy lab technicians to focus on other tasks that help our patients,” said Lake Regional CEO Kevin McRoberts, FACHE. “We are enabling our team to provide an even higher standard of care.” Read more at https://lnkd.in/gd29rT43.

Lake Regional Health System announces Valerie Morris, R.N., MSN, of Montreal, Missouri, has accepted the role of Critical Care director. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the Intensive Care Unit and Dialysis. “I am so proud to have grown up in this area,” said Morris, who is a Camdenton graduate. “It is an honor to serve my hometown community.” Morris has a long history with Lake Regional, beginning as a junior volunteer! She spent a few years in West Virginia, where she worked as an ICU nurse, and rejoined Lake Regional in 2019 as a cardiovascular ICU registered nurse. In 2022, she served as the first chair of the Global Shared Governance committee, which gives frontline staff a voice to continuously improve care. In 2023, Morris began serving as a critical care educator and was instrumental in supporting the overall performance of the unit. She became interim ICU director in May.

Lake Regional Health System is pleased to announce that?Parker Russell, M.D.,?and?Jacqueline Santamarina, M.D.,?have joined the Lake Regional hospitalist team. Hospitalists provide care to patients while they are in the hospital and help arrange the care they will need after going home. They do not take appointments. Drs. Russell and Santamarina are dual-trained in internal medicine and pediatrics and provide care to both adult and pediatric patients at Lake Regional Health System, including babies born at Lake Regional Family Birth Center. “As a hospitalist, I get to be with patients and their families in some of their times of greatest need,” Dr. Russell said. “I get to help them recover and set them up for the best chance of success out of the hospital.” “It’s important that patients understand why they are in the hospital and what we are doing to help them get better,” Dr. Santamarina said. “Oftentimes, there is more than one way to treat a medical condition. I encourage my patients to take part in their care by collaborating with me to come up with the best treatment plan for them.” Drs. Russell and Santamarina are husband and wife. They met during residency training at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dr. Parker Russell grew up in Eldon and is the son of longtime Lake Regional providers Trent Russell, M.D., and Julie Russell, FNP. He earned his medical degree from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia. Dr. Santamarina is originally from Miami, Florida, and is fluent in English and Spanish. She earned her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten. Drs. Russell and Santamarina live in Sunrise Beach and welcomed their first baby earlier this year. Lake Regional Health System is a nonprofit organization with more than 100 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who offer primary and specialty care for lake-area residents and visitors. For more information or to download a provider directory, visit?https://lnkd.in/gzyFqmSt.

The orthopedics team at Lake Regional Health System continues to grow.?Katherine Paul, D.O.,?has joined the team and cares for patients at?Lake Regional Orthopedics,?located at Lake Regional Imaging Center (Building 1), 1075 Nichols Road, Osage Beach. Dr. Paul is fellowship-trained in adult reconstruction, and she specializes in total hip, knee and shoulder procedures. She also provides surgical and nonsurgical repair of broken bones, dislocations, torn ligaments and cartilage, and other musculoskeletal injuries resulting from sports, work and various traumas. Dr. Paul fell in love with orthopedics early in life thanks to her father, who is also an orthopedic surgeon. Shadowing him, she saw how life-changing orthopedic surgery could be. “When patients aren’t able to move without pain, they aren’t able to do activities they love and their entire personalities and mood may change,” Dr. Paul said. “It is my goal to restore their mobility so they can be the person they were meant to be.” Success depends on trust, she continued. “My goal is to create a safe environment with open communication and mutual respect where each patient and I can come up with an individualized treatment plan that meets their specific goals,” she said. “I am careful to explain a patient’s diagnosis and treatment options in a way that the patient is comfortable making their own informed decisions about their health and treatment plan.” Dr. Paul earned her medical degree from Lincoln Memorial University–DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee. She completed an orthopedic residency at KCU-HCA Midwest Health in Kansas City, Missouri, and an adult reconstruction fellowship at Minnesota Center for Orthopaedics in Crosby, Minnesota. Born and raised in Liberty, Missouri, Dr. Paul has deep roots at the Lake of the Ozarks. Her family has long had a lake cabin, and they spend as much time as possible there together. She is a proud aunt to a new niece, and her hobbies include traveling, reading, kayaking, boating and swimming. Lake Regional Orthopedics has seven orthopedic surgeons: Jeff Anglen, M.D., FIOTA; Scott Hofer, D.O.; Jeff Jones, D.O; Curtis Mather, D.O.; Jeffrey Mutchler, D.O.; Katherine Paul, D.O., and Eric Varboncouer, M.D. Lake Regional’s orthopedics team also includes a foot and ankle surgeon, Cody Fox, DPM, FACFAS, and five physician assistants: Kathy Beckner, PA-C; John Gullage, PA-C; Erica Pelinski, PA-C; Camden Schmitz, PA-C; and Brian Swanson, PA-C. To schedule an appointment in Osage Beach, call Lake Regional Orthopedics at?573-302-3990. In Lebanon, call?417-532-3530. To learn more about orthopedic care at Lake Regional, visit?https://lnkd.in/gEFuC7ck.

Women’s health care is growing at Lake Regional. Five providers have joined?Lake Regional Obstetrics and Gynecology?in 2024 to provide women’s health care appointments in Eldon, Lebanon and Osage Beach. All of the new team members provide routine gynecological services, screenings and pregnancy support. In addition, Michael Kirkover, M.D.; Dallas Thompson, D.O.; and Robyn V. McHugh, APRN, MSN, CNM, deliver personalized birth experiences at?Lake Regional Family Birth Center. Michael Kirkover, M.D.,?provides women’s health care at Lake Regional OB-GYN in Osage Beach and at Lake Regional Clinic – Lebanon. He is board certified in family medicine obstetrics. Dallas Thompson, D.O.,?is a board-certified OB-GYN who provides women’s health care at Lake Regional OB-GYN in Osage Beach. Robyn V. McHugh, APRN, MSN, CNM,?provides women’s health care at Lake Regional OB-GYN in Osage Beach and at Lake Regional Clinic – Eldon. She is Lake Regional’s first certified nurse midwife. Kiarra Pearcy, FNP-BC,?will provide women’s health care at Lake Regional Clinic – Lebanon. She previously cared for patients at Lake Regional Express Care - Camdenton. Wendy Trimmer, APRN, MSN, FNP-C,?provides women’s health care services primarily at Lake Regional OB-GYN in Osage Beach. She also cares for women at Lake Regional Clinic – Eldon. Lake Regional Health System is a nonprofit organization with more than 100 physicians and nurse practitioners who offer primary and specialty care for lake-area residents and visitors. Find providers and review unfiltered star ratings using our interactive directory at?https://lnkd.in/gzyFqmSt.

Lake Regional Neurology?welcomes?Angela Ullrich, FNP-C,?to the care team. Ullrich, a Lake of the Ozarks native, began her career at Lake Regional in 2000 and recently advanced her education to become a nurse practitioner. “I was drawn to nursing because I wanted to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives,” Ullrich said. “In neurology, there are many ways we help patients regain function and improve their quality of life. For example, we may help a patient quiet a tremor so they can continue to sew, or we may help a patient with Parkinson’s improve their balance and lessen their risk for falls. It is incredibly rewarding when a patient returns to the clinic pleased with their care, and we know we have helped them be safe and happy.” Read more about Angela Ullrich at lakeregional.com/Ullrich.

The Lake Regional Health System?Board of Directors?welcomes community members Caren Busen and Randy Dickerson to two of its committees. Busen has volunteered to serve on the Quality Committee, and Dickerson, the Finance Committee. “As an independent, nonprofit hospital, Lake Regional is committed to meeting the needs of our local residents and visitors,” said Lake Regional CEO Kevin McRoberts, FACHE. “Including community members such as Caren and Randy on our committees helps ensure our board makes well-informed decisions about our services. We thank them for their service.” Busen is a retired registered nurse. She served 35 years in maternal care before transitioning to management roles, and she brings clinical and leadership experience to the Quality Committee. Her family has visited the Lake of the Ozarks area for more than 40 years and moved here full-time in 2021. Her children and grandchildren also live at the lake. “Several members of my family have received excellent care at Lake Regional Health System, and it is a privilege to be a part of that excellence,” she said. Dickerson is the president of Innovative Procurement, which focuses on product development and importing and distributing sporting goods. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Accounting from the University of Missouri in Columbia, and he brings more than 30 years of business leadership to the Finance Committee. Dickerson is a fourth-generation Lake of the Ozarks-area resident who graduated from Camdenton. He and his wife, Carolyn, also raised their family here. “During my early years, the closest emergency room was Springfield or Jefferson City,” he said. “It has been amazing to watch Lake Regional grow through the years. Our community is very fortunate to have excellent care available.” Lake Regional Health System is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive health care services to residents and visitors throughout the mid-Missouri region. The hospital is a Level II Stroke Center, Level II STEMI (heart attack) Center and Level III Trauma Center. Lake Regional also provides a wide range of specialties, including cancer care, heart care, orthopedics and women’s health. Plus, Lake Regional operates primary care clinics, Express Care clinics, rehab therapy clinics, programs for home health and hospice, and retail pharmacies. See a full list of services at?lakeregional.com/Locations.