A Grand Opening in Ooltewah

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Writer: Dan Wisenhunt

This month, the Memorial Health Care system moves into the rural reaches of one of Hamilton County’s fastest-growing communities.

The hospital’s new treatment center, decorated inside in yellow and red, feels more like a hotel lobby than a medical facility. On a recent tour, patients roamed the building’s wide halls and saw sterile white behemoths used to photograph the human body inside and out, all tucked into an unassuming brick building on Mountain View Road in Ooltewah.

On June 1, the Ooltewah community welcomed the Memorial Ooltewah Medical Offi ce Plaza and Imaging Center, off ering residents family doctors and medical scans only two miles from Exit 11 off Interstate 75. Kurt Schley, the administrator of the imaging center, says the plaza will be headquarters for eight physicians. The imaging center features top-of-the line equipment used to scan, photograph and measure the health of patients.

“It’s more accessible,” says Schley. “You park your car, you’re registered, and you’re on your way very quickly. Often hospitals are large, spread-out spaces.” Schley says the new facility fulfills the hospital’s mission to put the patient at the center of everything it does.

It may look small now, just another office on a road where developers are building subdivisions and retail stores, but Chief Executive Jim Hobson says the new facility currently occupies only a few acres on a 52-acre spread. “We’re going to continue to allow this facility to develop,” he says. “We anticipate the campus will grow over the next five to 15 years.”

Memorial Hospital, a non-profi t that’s part of the Catholic Health Initiatives, spent more than $19 million constructing its toe-hold in the eastern part of the county. The imaging center consists of 14,000 square feet and the physician’s offices occupy 11,000 square feet.

Hobson says the hospital didn’t have to raise any additional money to build in Ooltewah, noting the facility was supported entirely with Memorial Foundation money.

The medical plaza was expected to operate at full capacity from opening day. “We feel like we’re coming to a part of town that’s been asking for a facility that has a staff committed to taking care of the patients,” says Schley. “We really were responding to the community’s request for the hospital to start moving services to Ooltewah. A large part of the admissions are from the Hixson, Collegedale and Cleveland, (Tenn.) areas.”

Memorial Hospital opened in 1952 after the community raised $3 million for its construction, according to Memorial.org. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and consists of the original hospital off Glenwood Drive and Memorial North Park in Hixson, which opened in 1998. Memorial Health Care System employs approximately 4,000 area residents. Last year, Memorial treated 227,383 patients and admitted 24,461 to the hospital, according to hospital spokesman Brian Lazenby.

The hospital recently won eight National Healthcare Advertising Awards and is recognized by Thomson Reuters as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals.

According to Thomsonreuters.com, the company based its rankings on the hospital’s overall organizational performance in 10 categories including mortality, medical complications, average length of stay and patient satisfaction.

Dr. Sue Gouge has moved to the medical plaza with her partner, Dr. David Winters. Th e two were practicing medicine at the Collegedale Medical Center, which has been in the community for about 30 years, says Gouge.

“One of the reasons we considered moving was the imaging available to us and the convenience of being able to do that,” she notes.

She says her new office is well-designed with patients in mind and the facility does not feel like a large medical complex.

“It’s designed to be as convenient as possible for our patients who might have limited walking ability,” says Gouge. “Each hall has two physicians. Once patients get past the waiting room, they’ll be familiar with those physicians and nurses. It’s not a huge, great hall with multiple doctors and patients running around.”

Gouge’s office began notifying patients of the move several weeks ago. Her patients are excited for the most part, she says, though a few wonder if things will be the same. She calls the move “the end of an era.”

But it’s also the beginning of something good, she adds.

“We’re excited about it and we’re excited about continuing to take excellent care of our patients,” she says.

Lynda Vincent, practice manager for the new facility, says the plaza actually combines three different practices affiliated with Memorial: Collegedale Medical Center, Lakeside Medical Center and Memorial Family Medicine. During a May preview, Vincent and assistant manager Debbie Coffman beamed as they walked guests through the exam rooms and reception area.

“We’ve all come from older, more established offices,” says Vincent. “But everything here is modern and new.”

“This is the place to be,” adds Coffman.

Dr. Don Caughran, the site’s radiologist, says the $6 million worth of medical equipment in the new building excites him. “It’s hard to find these different high-tech instruments under one roof,” he says, noting the new equipment will help physicians identify problems quickly and accurately. “When it comes to testing, you’re going to see me now, or see me later.”

Stacie McPherson, a registered X-ray technologist at the center, is proud of the large RF (Radiography and Fluoroscopy) machine that helps doctors peer at moving pictures of the body. “I’m absolutely excited,” she says of the new facility. “It’s something I really wanted to be a part of.” Larry Howard, a local doctor specializing in internal medicine, says he was impressed with what he saw during the May preview. “The MRI they have is great,” he says.

“The key is to provide services that don’t necessarily require the support of a medical center,” says CEO Hobson. “Ease of access is really a driver behind bringing this kind of service. We are really responding to a community need.”

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