June/July 2024
SPIRIT is a Siskin Hospital e-newsletter for friends, supporters and patients
Siskin Hospital Renovations
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is more than a healthcare phrase. It is at the heart of what we do at Siskin Hospital. We are always evaluating our patient care, outcomes, technology, operations, and processes with a goal of benefitting our patients. Our improvements may be gradual or “breakthrough” in nature. They may be very visible, like the Healing Gardens, or unseen, like our new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system that improves our continuity of care and ultimately, care quality.
This spring, we began a fourth-floor renovation that will last throughout the balance of 2024. Like our second, third and fifth floor renovations, our work on the fourth floor will mean our patients and their guests are more comfortable. Our patient rooms are larger than rooms in most hospitals. In this renovation, beds are bigger, as are our patient bathrooms. Many of our bathrooms feature sliding doors, large walk-in showers and counters, and finishes similar to those you might find in a nice hotel.
What may not be immediately apparent is the planning that has gone into the lighting, colors, and technological improvements. LED fixtures offer ambient, reading, night and exam lighting. The materials and colors have been selected to help provide a relaxing environment that is focused on our patients’ health and recovery.
The new wall-mounted, adjustable TV monitors at the bedside provide ease of access for programming, training, and video conferencing with a touch screen display. These monitors allow our patients to FaceTime loved ones, view the Siskin Café menu, or watch their Netflix programs. Even our patient beds provide better security with sensors that alert nursing staff if a patient is about to fall.
We will also enlarge our associates’ breakroom and bathroom, and improve the overall aesthetics, just as we have done on every floor.
Other improvements are specific to the patient focus. If you’ve toured Siskin Hospital, you may know that patients on our second floor have general orthopedic needs. Our third floor focuses on patients who have suffered a stroke, and our fifth floor is for patients with a brain injury.
The fourth floor is being designed to meet the needs of patients who have a spinal cord injury. The unit will feature a Transitional Living Apartment that will be used for patients to practice daily tasks in a home like environment with their caregivers in preparation for discharge home. There will also be a therapy gym on the unit to give additional options for treatment space.
We are excited about the renovation of our fourth floor and the possibilities we will have to improve patient care.
Thank you for your charitable investment in Siskin Hospital and the hopes of the patients we serve.
Injured on Vacation & Desperate to get to Siskin Hospital
Mary Dykes was on her dream vacation with a friend to the Mediterranean. It was during their excursion to Naples that she fell on rocky terrain and fractured her femur.
Only three months before, Mary had total joint replacements of her left knee and left hip. When she sent her x-ray to her orthopedic surgeon, Kristopher Sanders, M.D., he insisted she could not travel on the broken bone.
Mary underwent surgery in Italy and had several medical challenges that resulted in her being restrained for six weeks. As a retired nurse, she knew she needed therapy; she needed to move.
“I kept thinking I’ve got to get home to Siskin.”
Mary had experience with Siskin Hospital. Fifteen years ago, she underwent bilateral total knee surgery and spent one week here. She knew she could improve if she made it home and could get therapy at Siskin Hospital.
“Before I got here, I wasn’t sure I would ever be myself,” Mary said. “I was very deconditioned,” she remarked, explaining she could barely turn over in bed.
According to Denice Eckler, PT, “When Mary arrived, she was fearful and depressed. She had significant issues with low blood pressure, which limited her ability to change positions and participate in therapy. She had significant weakness and general debility from being in bed for so long and required a hoyer lift for transfers the first few weeks.”
Denice continues, “After a few accomplishments and encouragement from her therapists, Mary started to dig deep and work really hard. She tried everything I asked of her, even if it was a complete failure. We were able to laugh together and move forward to the next task.”
According to Denice, Mary can now perform transfers with minimal assistance. She is not walking yet, but is ready to go home with a wheelchair level and continue with therapy as she rebuilds her strength and endurance.
“Mary was a joy to work with,” says Denice. “I am so proud of her progress.”
Mary says that a few physical therapists really “pulled me through,” including Denice, Jeannine, and Mike. “In fact, everyone has been so nice,” Mary added.
Mary, from everyone here, we’re so glad you made it home to Siskin Hospital!
Exploring the Connection of Two Chattanooga Giants
O.D. McKee as a child.
Often in poignant stories of success, you find hardship. For brothers Mose and Garrison Siskin, it was a tragic accident that nearly cost Garrison his leg. Because of that experience the brothers, who were already generous to many, became the philanthropists that ultimately touched millions of lives and counting.
For Oather Dorris McKee, known to many as O.D., the challenge was dyslexia. In 1912, when he was in first grade, this learning difference was not understood. His teachers thought he was not trying hard enough, so they punished him by putting him in the dunce corner and spanking him. School became a place of shame and embarrassment. Furthermore, O.D. stuttered–a frequent companion to dyslexia. O.D. was wrongly labeled as “stupid and dumb.” He was filled with shame and generally struggled in life.
Yet, as he grew, O.D. was tenacious, hardworking and a great problem solver – three attributes that would serve him well. His favorite saying was, “there is a better way, let’s find it.”
During those years, Robert Siskin, father of Mose and Garrison, left the peddler business with $7 worth of scrap iron and set up a scrap yard on Chestnut Street. Mose and Garrison joined the enterprise. By 1920, they built the reputation of “no other junk yard in Chattanooga was better equipped than Siskin.”
As the business began to prosper, Robert Siskin bruised his foot while descending from a taxi. The bruise developed into blood poisoning causing him to die in a Chattanooga hospital. Mose and Garrison Siskin proceeded to take over the company and build it into one of the city’s leading industries. They began selling steel as well as continuing with the scrap business.
O.D. had several jobs in the 1930’s following the stock market crash. At different times he sold cars, managed a sanatorium, and served as a caretaker for a large farm. In 1934, during the height of the Great Depression, O.D. began selling 5-cent snack cakes from the back of his car. Soon after, he and his wife, Ruth, bought a small bakery, using the family car as collateral. During this time, O.D. demonstrated operational skills by streamlining and automating manufacturing.
According to the book Sweet Success by C.A. (Bill) Oliphant, O.D. attacked inefficiencies in his new business. In one instance, he became tired of the hand cranked cookie dough cutter and “went to a junk yard where he bought a washing machine worm gear and a small electric motor. In a few days, he had the cookie cutter powered by electricity.”
That “junk yard?” It was the Siskin Salvage Yard! The parts O.D purchased, along with his creative drive, passion and ingenuity, put the company on an upward trajectory. In 1960, O.D. McKee founded the Little Debbie Brand and began to commercially package the Oatmeal Cream Pie he had developed in 1935, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thank you to our friend, Jack McKee, for bringing this story to our attention. We love the history of these great industrial pioneers and the legacies they left that better our community.
Mose and Garrison Siskin, who along with their dad Robert owned the Siskin Salvage Yard.
Early days at the McKee Foods Factory.
From Therapist to Survivor
For the past 30 years, stroke rates for Americans under the age of 49 have continued to rise. One Siskin Outpatient Therapy associate, a newer member to our team, has first-hand experience on how quickly life can change due to a stroke.
Stephanie Hopwood, PT, DPT, CSRS, was a decade into her career as a physical therapist and only 40-years-old when her life was altered dramatically by a stroke. During her normal evening routine, she noticed a line in her vision and weakness in her left side. Her husband, knowing the signs of a stroke, acted quickly and took her to the emergency room where they confirmed his fear.
Earlier that day, Stephanie had popped her neck resulting in a torn right carotid artery and subsequent blood clots in the right side of her brain. After emergency surgery where they removed multiple clots and placed a stent to repair the damage to her carotid, she began intensive rehabilitation therapy including physical, occupational and speech therapies.
“It was weird being on the other side of therapy and it was hard. Especially speech and occupational therapy as my brain did not have the same organizational skills as it did before the stroke,” says Stephanie.
She returned to work part-time only six weeks after her stroke. She believes if it weren’t for her husband’s fast response, she would not have been able to continue being a physical therapist, but she still had to build up her strength.
“I saw two patients my first day back and was utterly mentally exhausted,” says Stephanie.
During this transitional phase, she began writing down her experiences to help her remember in the future and realized sharing her story might help others facing similar situations.
“I didn’t want it to be a ‘how-to’ on post-stroke exercises. I focused more on having a good mindset throughout the recovery process,” says Stephanie.
She says that the people who have the best outcomes are those with the best mindset. Not only positive thinking, but also the determination and willingness to do whatever it takes to get better. That belief inspired her to write “Stroke Recovery Momentum: How to Keep Moving Forward.”
During her research for clinics and organizations that can also be a support for stroke patients, she discovered Post Stroke a local non-profit, founded by Elyse Newland, OT. Post Stroke aims to reach patients in their homes through the power of social media, providing short, easy-to-understand exercises geared toward stroke recovery.
Her ultimate goal for the book is to help those who have also suffered from a stroke and has decided one way of doing so is partnering with Newland to support Post Stroke. Those who donate to Post Stroke will receive a complimentary copy of her book. The accompanying workbook for “Stroke Recovery Momentum: How to Keep Moving Forward” is now available for free by emailing stroke.recovery.momentum@gmail.com.
While Stephanie has only been a Chattanooga resident and Siskin Hospital team member for a short time, she has already had a tremendous impact on her patients and our greater community.
Outpatient Therapy is Expanding
Our sixth outpatient therapy clinic is officially open in Ringgold, Georgia. This is the first out-of-state Siskin Outpatient Therapy clinic which provides better access to patients living in the North Georgia region. Currently offering physical therapy and occupational therapy, patients can expect to receive the same high-quality care found across all of our locations.
The majority of Siskin Outpatient Therapy patients receive one-on-one care with their therapist, which allows for a customized care plan. We are excited to see how the
Ringgold clinic will flourish and support our patients in the North Georgia region!
Siskin Outpatient Therapy has five other convenient locations:
Cleveland
Downtown Chattanooga
East Brainer
Hixson
North River YMCA
Ringgold, Georgia clinic located on Battlefield Pkwy.
