| Chamber
tours Cullman Regional Medical Center |
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Cullman Regional Medical Center,
located on Alabama Highway 157 in Cullman, is more than just a hospital,
as members of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Existing Business and
Industry Committee tour group recently learned. |
 Cullman Regional Medical Center's Director of Diagnostic Imaging Charles Phurrough explains the use of the hospital's MRI to the Chamber tour group. |
| The tour began at CRMC's Professional Office Building II and then moved on to Diagnostic Imaging, where DI Director Charles Phurrough showed the group the functions of CRMC's magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI) and explained how it is used by radiologists and other physicians to diagnose patients' illnesses. | |
| Following
Diagnostic Imaging, the tour group visited the Trauma/Resuscitation area
and the Emergency Room, which includes the triage station for preliminary
screening of ER patients. ER Director Mary Jones said that although CRMC has always been state-of-the-art when it comes to equipment, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade center and the subsequent anthrax threat have prompted CRMC and other hospitals to obtain even more equipment and advanced training, some of which is related to biochemical agents. Jones also added that CRMC's emergency services area also contains specialized pediatric equipment made necessary by the fact that 28-percent of ER patients in Cullman County are children. |
 Emergency Room director Mary Jones discusses ER statistics and pediatric care in CRMC's trauma/resuscitation unit with the Chamber tour group. |
| The next stop for the tour group was the rehabilitation center and occupational medicine areas of the hospital. | |
 CRMC's Terri Lavender leads the tour group through CRMC's Professional Office Building II, pointing out the many conference and banquet rooms available for use by local civic organizations and private individuals. |
The
SportsFirst rehabilitation center contains a heated pool as well as a
fully-stocked gymnasium complete with Cybex and Nautilus strength
machines, freeweights, a running/walking track, and other aerobic exercise
equipment such as treadmills and stationary bicycles. CRMC's WorkFirst program is also based out of the rehabilitation center. Geared toward job-related injuries, the occupational therapy center contains equipment that accurately simulates on-the-job activities such as shoveling and lifting weighted steel drums so that therapists may make a more correct diagnosis concerning a patient's degree of progress toward returning to the workplace. Occupational therapists also do on-site rehabilitation as well. "I really did enjoy these departments," said the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Existing Industry Committee Chairman Rich Bunis. "It's a fantastic facility. I'd like to thank CRMC for their hospitality. We are very blessed to have this facility." |
In addition to the areas of diagnostic imaging, the emergency room, rehabilitation and occupational therapy toured by the Chamber group, Cullman Regional Medical Center offers a wide range of services to its patients and to the community. As a tour of all areas of the hospital would have been logistically impossible, a complete list of CRMC's services is included below. |
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 CRMC Physical Therapist Perry St. John explains the benefits of the Balance Master equipment to the Chamber of tour group. The machine is designed to help stroke victims and those with inner ear problems to regain their balance. |
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 CRMC's Jason Doty shows the tour group the rehabilitation center's heated pool, used for several types of physical therapy. |
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| Cullman Regional
Medical Center is owned and operated through a joint venture of the Health
Care Authority of Cullman County and the Baptist
Health System. For more information on Cullman Regional Medical
Center, check out their website at http://www.bhsala.com/cullman/,
which includes a listing of classes offered at CRMC and details on job
opportunities. CRMC is located at 1912 Alabama Highway 157, Cullman, AL 35058.
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Exterior views of Cullman Regional Medical Center. |