patient care

Andy Barnes, APRN, will be joining Community HealthCare System full-time in February 2021. Barnes previously worked on an as-needed basis and provided care in the Emergency Department and family practice clinics at CHCS for two and a half years and continues with Stormont Vail Emergency Room, where he has been for more than 15 years. In his new role at CHCS, Barnes will work three days a week in Centralia Clinic and Onaga Clinic, plus continue to be on call one weekend per month.

“We...

The surge in COVID-19 cases in Kansas has been well documented in the news, and many have heard about full hospitals in Topeka, Wichita, and Kansas City. But rural hospitals are feeling the pinch, too. In northeast Kansas, Community HealthCare System hospitals and clinics have felt the impact, sometimes in ways that are not readily visible to the public.

Testing increasing numbers of patients for COVID-19, experiencing busy emergency rooms, and admitting more COVID-19 patients to the...

Medical bills often look complicated and can be difficult to understand. Community HealthCare System patients have requested bills that list visits and services for all family members on one bill, also known as family billing. We are happy to announce that family billing is coming soon!

Family billing will be available for service dates after December 11, 2020. The bill will show services and payments for each patient in the family on one statement that will be sent...

A project that began with a fundraising gala sponsored by the Caring Community Foundation in 2017 will come to fruition in early 2021.

At the September Community HealthCare System Board of Directors meeting, a bid for construction of an infusion room was awarded to Kendall Construction from Topeka. Construction on the project will begin in late October or early November, and the project should be completed in March.

The purpose of the room is to provide a quiet space for infusion...

If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or heart rhythm problems, your doctor may order a cardiac stress test to find out how well your heart pumps.

The test takes several hours and involves injecting a tracer and collecting images of the heart at rest, then collecting another image of the heart while it’s pumping vigorously. The images help a doctor determine whether blockages are causing problems and what treatments patients need.

Patients must fast for 12 hours...