Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and Family Medical Center Create Partnership; Physicians Provide Hospitalist Services at the Hospital

Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and the physicians of the Family Medical Center practice have joined together in welcoming back five physicians from the Smithville practice to begin providing hospitalist services at the local hospital . The hospitalists, Dr. Kevin Rhody; Dr. Jack Rhody; Dr. Steven Cooper; Dr. Doug Hooper; and Dr. William Sherwood, in addition to making regular rounds to see patients, will provide coverage at Saint Thomas DeKalb 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
“We’re excited to work with Family Medical Center physicians to provide high quality hospitalist care to our community,” said Andy Wachtel, Chief Executive Officer, President and CEO at Saint Thomas Stones River, Saint Thomas Highlands and Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospitals. “These physicians are longtime members of our community and of our medical staff. This new relationship will further strengthen those ties between our two organizations, and our friends and family in the community will be cared for by physicians they may likely know already.” Saint Thomas Health is a part of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic and non-profit health system.
Prior to this change, out of town medical staff served as hospitalists at Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital but many in the community didn’t embrace it and the result was declining census numbers and more patient transfers to other facilities creating a concern about the future of the hospital.
ABOUT SAINT THOMAS HEALTH
In Tennessee, Ascension’s Saint Thomas Health operates nine hospitals in addition to a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics and rehabilitation facilities that cover a 68-county area and employ more than 8,000 associates. Across the state, Saint Thomas Health provided more than $78 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2016. Serving Tennessee for 15 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, operating 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.sthealth.com.