System News: February 2025

Visitor Restrictions, Expanded Services, State Representative Tours

Atrium Medical Center

Premier Health supported the Middletown High School marching band and cheerleading squad as they traveled to Washington, D.C., to perform in the presidential inauguration parade. The health system provided travel essentials for students and chaperones. Mariah Woodward, a Premier Health athletic trainer, traveled with the students to offer medical support during the trip.

Caregivers with The Breast and Cervical Cancer Project shared information about early detection and screenings with Middletown residents as part of the city’s Walk With A Doc program.

Miami Valley Hospital

Wright State University Ascend Leadership Academy students toured Miami Valley Hospital in January.

Joann Ringer, Beth Esposito and Sharon White met with State Representative Rodney Creech to update him on SBHI services in Preble County and to get his insight into possible new funding opportunities of which the system might take advantage.

Premier Health expands MRI services at MVHS. For more than a year, the MVHS Imaging Team has led a $6 million-dollar plus project to expand MRI offerings to our patients. The project adds two new Magnetic Resonance Imaging Siemen Healthineers MAGNATOM magnets—a 1.5T and a 3T. The new devices will greatly reduce patient wait times for MRI imaging.

Training for staff on the new machines began in January, and the first patients have already received MRIs with the new devices. This addition will greatly alleviate wait times for patients across the Premier Health system. The expansion will allow MVHS to increase access for its outpatient population and decrease wait times for its inpatients. The new MRI systems have the latest technology and will allow MVHS to provide exams previously unavailable at this location.

Miami Valley Hospital will host a shoe and uniform sale on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27-28, in the main lobby. Sale hours are 7 am to 5 pm on Thursday, and 7 am to 1 pm on Friday. Attendees will have the opportunity to win a JBL speaker. Robert’s Medical Uniforms will permit payment via cash, credit card, and payroll deduction.

Upper Valley Medical Center

Applications are now being accepted for 2025 scholarship opportunities through Upper Valley Medical Center Foundation. These scholarships, made possible by the generosity of donors, support undergraduate students pursuing careers in health care. Scholarships are available to UVMC employees and their children who are pursing training or education beyond high school. The Foundation also has scholarships available for community members pursing a degree in the health care field (most scholarships are restricted to Miami County residents). The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. on March 24, 2025. For more information or to apply, please visit uvmcfoundation.org/scholarships.

New visitor restrictions for the respiratory season were posted at UVMC and all other GDAHA hospitals.

Andrew Murray, DO, UVMC interventional cardiologist, was interviewed on Troy Power 107.1 and WPTW radio about heart health in preparation for National Heart Month.

Lymphedema Physical Therapy services are now offered at UVMC Outpatient Care Center North in Piqua. Karen Heckman, PT, is a certified lymphedema therapist with 31 years of experience. She offers complete decongestive therapy, including skin care, remedial exercise, compression bandaging, and manual lymphatic drainage. She can also help patients acquire garments and pumps for long-term management.

Premier Health Foundations

Atrium Medical Center Foundation celebrated the opening of the newly expanded Infusion Center and Premier Blood and Cancer Center within the Compton Center. This significant milestone was made possible by the Kristin Cantrell Hill Memorial Endowment, established through the Foundation in honor of Kristin Renee Cantrell Hill, who passed away following a diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor. In tribute to Kristin, the entrance to the center has been named the Kristin Renee Cantrell Hill Welcome Center.

The Upper Valley Medical Center Foundation and UVMC Volunteers have partnered to offer free monthly health screenings at community locations across Miami County in 2025. The screenings include blood pressure and glucose checks provided by Premier Community Health nurses. A list of locations and dates/times is available at premierhealth.com.

Miami Valley Hospital Foundation received a generous grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation and Parkinson’s Support to provide exercise classes to patients with Parkinson’s disease and further educational opportunities for patients and their families.

A $6,500 grant from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to Good Samaritan Foundation-Dayton will benefit the Mothers Empowered program. Mothers Empowered, provided through Lifestages Centers for Women, offers group prenatal care at Miami Valley Hospital North. The program brings expectant mothers with similar due dates together to receive health assessments, education, and support in a collaborative setting.

The four Premier Health Hospital Foundations were awarded a $50,000 grant from Economy Linen and Towel Services, Inc. to support the Premier Community Health Mobile Clinic. The Mobile Clinic extends its reach across a 13-county region in Southwest Ohio, offering essential resources to underserved communities.

Miami Valley Hospital Foundation is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Champions of Hope ceremony. Your help is crucial in identifying exceptional people who inspire hope in the fight against cancer in our community. This event honors four individuals in the categories of cancer survivor, medical professional, caregiver, and person of inspiration. Nominations for this year's banquet, scheduled for the fall, are being accepted until noon on April 4. Take the opportunity to recognize your champion. Submit your Champions of Hope nomination. 

Premier Physician Network

In December 2024, PPN scored in the top decile for all eight of their NRC Patient Experience service measures. This represents the team's first achievement of a perfect patient experience scorecard! The eight measures comprise the eight questions patients answer on the NRC survey that’s texted and/or emailed to them shortly after their visit. Our teams know that everyone contributes daily to the patient experience. Every phone call, appointment reminder, MyChart use, check-in, waiting room experience, rooming, appointment, check-out, billing, tele-visit, after-visit summary, test result, and question answered leaves an impression on our patients. Congratulations to our team on this amazing accomplishment! Thanks for all you do to ensure our patients have a great experience.

PPN welcomed several new providers on December 18, 2024, during the PPN New Physician and APP Orientation! Please say hello to Lauren Helton-Francis, CNP, Clinical Neuroscience Institute – MVH; Autumn Schuh, CNP, Premier Health Primary Care – Beavercreek; Erin Yontz, CNP, Magnolia Women’s Health; Brandon Vermillion, CNP, Premier Health Urgent Care; Kayla Karpowicz, Au.D, Premier ENT Associates; and Sandra Laurent, CNP, Premier Vascular Surgeons.

Back to the February 2025 issue of Premier Pulse