Medical Center Weighs in Against Childhood Obesity
Published May 27, 2009
Nobody, of course, wants to have to go to the hospital. But people who live in the Hickory metro area have the comfort of knowing that if the need arises, they have one of the nation’s best public health-care providers in their backyard.
Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, the region’s largest nonprofit community hospital, has received numerous distinctions for its quality of care, including twice being selected as a magnet institution by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
In January 2008, CVMC was recognized by research firm J.D. Power and Associates as a Distinguished Hospital for an Outstanding In-Patient Experience, exceeding national benchmarks for overall satisfaction by a considerable amount. Only 20 percent of the nation’s hospitals qualified for that distinction.
The center has also been recognized recently for cancer treatments, which include cutting-edge technology such as RapidArc, which delivers radiotherapy to patients two to eight times faster than older technologies.
“Because we serve on the front lines every day, we are on a continual quest for better and better patient outcomes,” says J. Anthony Rose, CVMC president and CEO.
In 2008, state regulators approved the 258-bed hospital’s request for its first major capital expansion since a $32 million upgrade in 1992.
Subject to financing arrangements, the envisioned project would add nearly 100,000 square feet of space, including private medical beds, surgical beds, oncology beds and labor and delivery suites.
The estimated four-year project would also renovate 50,000 square feet of existing space at the hospital, upgrade nursery and surgical inpatient units, and enlarge operating rooms and support space.
As good as its services are, Catawba Valley Medical Center is also adopting innovative techniques to ensure young people don’t have to rely on them.
The rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the past 40 years at the same time complications from being overweight have become one of the nation’s leading causes of preventable death.
The epidemic particularly affects poor and minority children, who face socioeconomic barriers.
Between 2004 and 2006, the rate of obesity in Catawba County children ages 5 to 11 increased 7.4 percent, according to the hospital. For those ages 12 to 18, it increased 6 percent.
In response, Catawba Valley Medical Center has started Healthy House, turning an old home on its campus into the first regional facility dedicated to preventing and treating pediatric obesity.
The house offers a variety of programs from physical activity to nutritional guidance. In partnership with Catawba County’s Head Start, the program is open to all children and is overseen by Dr. Vondell Clark, medical director of the hospital’s weight solutions.
“The foundations of our Healthy House programs are built on family involvement,” Clark says. “A house as the site for our childhood obesity programs mirrors the program’s design and reflects an optimal healthy living environment for families.”
Story by Sam Scott
Photo by Ian Curcio
Current Weather Conditions In Hickory, NC (28603)
Clear, and 52 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
