Christus Health Southeast Texas, a Catholic nonprofit organization founded to provide healing services in the region, has continued to evolve since St. Elizabeth Hospital became part of the health system in 1999. President and CEO Paul Trevino said the current state of Christus is very strong.
“We continue to really grow and develop in our market, in our community,” he said. “We’re fully committed to continuing to provide our mission, that’s what everything starts from.”
Christus’ mission is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, according to the organization’s website, and one of the ways the organization spreads the “Good News” is through the charity care it provides, Trevino said. Each year, the hospital provides $35 to $38 million in the cost of care and it is predominately placed in their trauma program and emergency services.
Trevino emphasized that Christus has had the area’s only Level 3 trauma program for over 20 years. A Level 3 trauma program gives a hospital the tools to provide “prompt assessment, resuscitation, surgery, intensive care and stabilization of injured patients and emergency operations,” according to the American Trauma Society. Elements of the Level 3 program also include 24-hour immediate coverage by emergency medicine physicians, prompt availability of general surgeons and anesthesiologists, and a comprehensive quality assessment program. It has also developed transfer agreements for patients requiring more comprehensive care at a Level 1 or Level 2 Trauma Center, provides back-up care for rural and community hospitals, offers continued education of the nursing and allied health personnel or trauma team, along with prevention efforts and an active outreach program for its referring communities.
“That program, day in and day out, saves lives in just unbelievable ways,” Trevino said. “We’re blessed with three board certified trauma surgeons and a whole other host of clinical professionals that are ready to go around the clock, 24/7 if something happens in the community. Look at what happens on I-10, industrial plants and other trauma related areas. We’re here to serve those needs.”
Across the region, Christus has also expanded emergency services. Trevino reported its network of hospitals see over 400 patients in a single day, just in emergency services, and just in the Southeast Texas area.
“That’s people coming to us in dire need; they need help,” he said. “Teams are available 24/7, 365, to make sure that those services are available. We see those numbers continuing to grow, and that’s why we’ve taken emergency services out to the community, rather than just having people come to St. Elizabeth. We have emergency services in Mid-County, Orange, West Beaumont, and in Jasper.”
The Christus organization is constantly expanding outreach. For example, as schools in Southeast Texas began their game seasons, Christus Health opened a concussion and injury clinic to give student athletes and their families access to immediate, specialized care after Friday night football games.
The clinic requires a referral from an athletic trainer and is open every Saturday from 8-11 a.m. throughout football season at the Christus Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute, located inside Christus Southeast Texas-West Beaumont at 6025 Metropolitan Dr., according to a news release. The program is a partnership between the health system and athletic trainers from schools across the region.
A concussion specialist and an orthopedic surgeon will be on-site each Saturday to diagnose and treat head and body injuries. The physicians are prepared to treat concussions, sprains, fractures and any other sports-related injuries that may occur during Friday night games.
“Friday night football is a big thing in Southeast Texas, and when athletes get hurt, then they need to have immediate care,” Trevino said. “And that’s just not football, that includes volleyball, cheerleading ... It’s all those injuries that occur when our student-athletes are out there representing their schools.”
For more information about the Saturday concussion and injury clinic, contact the Christus Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute at (409) 236-9500.
Additionally, Trevino remarked that Christus will continue to focus on quality safety and services as they continue to develop across the region. He also highlighted the recent five-star rating Jasper Memorial received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), commemorating the team effort across the entire ministry that made it happen.
“One of the areas we spend a lot of time in is ensuring that we are attracting and retaining the highest quality clinical talent that we can find,” Trevino added. “We’re very blessed to have Lamar University in our community, and we work very closely with them… bringing in talent from the physician side, the nursing side, the nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and of course from all other clinical professionals, like nurses, respiratory therapists, laboratory technicians. Health care is a team sport, and it takes a wide variety of health care professionals to deliver the kind of care that we have to deliver in this community.”
Trevino said Christus, in its desire to expand, is looking at additional sites for emergency services and other hospital related services, whether it be Orange, Mid-County, West Beaumont or Jasper. The organization also recently completed a major surgical renovation at St. Elizabeth in its operating rooms, which was a multi-million dollar investment.
“We also invest in capital projects. That’s new buildings, new equipment, and new services. We also formed a robotics program, we’ve invested in circular surgical robotics over the last 10 years, and we have an extensive array of services in that area, whether it be orthopedics, neurosurgery, general surgery or chin surgery,” Trevio said. “We have a fleet of various robotics technologies that we can use to ensure that patients get the very best care possible, providing less pain, less blood loss, a faster recovery time, and higher physician and patient satisfaction.”
Health care is constantly changing, Trevino emphasized and, as a leading health organization in Southeast Texas, Christus and its staff have a stated commitment to work hard to be the very best in the community.
“That’s something that we’ve been committed to here for over 100 years,” he added. “But it’s really people that make that happen, and we can bring all these things. We’re very proud of our entire team. Christus is one of the best places to work, and has been named that throughout the state for many years. We really pride ourselves in creating a great work environment for our associates, because when we create a great environment for them, they’re able to do their job and do it well. It all starts with our people, and we want to continue to grow and develop and nurture our assistance in any way that we can.”
— Maddie Sims | Maddie@TheExaminer.com
