Orthopedic Surgery Soon Available at Prowers Medical Center

Craig Loveless, Chief Executive Officer of Prowers Medical Center, told the Prowers County Commissioners during their meeting, Tuesday, January 15^th, that, “An agreement is in place,” to bring an orthopedic surgeon to the hospital sometime in February.  The exact date hasn’t been announced at this time, but following a training period with hospital staff and getting the surgical equipment in place, the new surgeon will perform orthopedic surgery one day a week, with an option for additional scheduling as demand and time warrant.

This has been a long-awaited development at Prowers Medical Center, based on the general health assessment in the hospital district. Patients in need of surgery would have to travel out of the area, adding extra costs and time to their treatments.  Loveless said the hospital will work through an arrangement with Rural Partners in Medicine, which offers a number of affiliates mainly through the states in Middle America and the Plains as well as Lamar, Yuma, Broomfield and Steamboat Springs in Colorado.

Another development will benefit patients through the purchase of a new MRI machine and the construction of a room which will have access from the inside of the hospital. Loveless explained that the current MRI is housed in an unattached trailer on the PMC property.  “People had to be taken to the unit in all kinds of weather throughout the year and that just wasn’t a process we wanted to see continued,” he said.  The new MRI unit itself will offer 12 times the current resolution of the current model for greater clarity and detail when making a diagnosis.  Working in part with local sub-contractors and a builder credentialed for hospital construction, Loveless said he expects the building to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year.
By Russ Baldwin