Wamego Health Center Emergency Department receives Geriatric Accreditation

The Wamego Health Center Emergency Department has received a Level III accreditation by the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation program (GEDA), which along with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Emergency Nurses Association and American Geriatrics Society developed and released geriatric ED guidelines.

“We are very proud of this accreditation as it’s another step in showing our commitment to providing the absolute best possible care for our community members who look to our emergency department for exceptional care,” says Brian Howells, hospital administrator. “As part of our Mission, we want to care for those who are most vulnerable and we hope that this is a reassurance to the geriatric members of our community that we care about your specific medical needs and will continue to help Wamego Health Center be the best place to go in this community to receive care.”

The hospital’s full-service ER is staffed by physicians 24/7 and includes laboratory and radiology services with 5 exam rooms and additional treatment spaces. As part of their geriatric certification, a nurse and physician on staff completed specific geriatric training and serve as clinical champions for geriatric care in the ED.

This accreditation allows the Emergency Department to continue to provide high standards of close-to-home care to our community.

Brian Howells has been named as administrator for Wamego Health Center and will begin transitioning into his new role with Ascension Via Christi on March 20.

Howells, director of Rehabilitation Services for
Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan, has served on the Wamego Hospital Authority Board since 2017, so he is already familiar with the facility and the community it serves.

“Brian’s experience in business development, team building and collaboration, leadership education and physician relationships also will serve him and this community well,” said Bob Copple, president of Ascension Via Christi’s Manhattan hospital.

Howells, who has been “proud to call northeast Kansas home for the past 17 years,” joined Ascension Via Christi in 2005 as a physical therapist. He was promoted to a lead therapist two years later. In 2009 was promoted to supervisor of Rehabilitation Services and three years later was promoted to director of the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient therapy programs.

Under his leadership, aquatic therapy, driving simulation and FEES swallowing programs were added and the hospital’s outpatient therapy, pediatric services and cardiac rehabilitation programs were expanded. Additionally, he has served for the past six months as coordinator of the hospital’s developing oncology service line.

“I am honored and humbled to be called to serve alongside the dedicated and dynamic group caring for patients and families in Wamego,” said Howells, who earned his undergraduate degree in physical therapy from the University of Hartford in 2002 and his master’s in Healthcare Administration in 2009. He also is a 2017 graduate of the Ascension Management Formation program.

Prior to joining Ascension Via Christi, Howells worked for three years as a physical therapist at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York before making his way to Kansas. He and his wife, Amber, an Osborne, Kansas, native, are the proud parents of five children.

Wamego Health Center administrator to leave organization

Steve Land, Wamego Health Center’s senior administrator, has announced plans to leave the role that he has held since 2016.

Land, a licensed physical therapist who served as Wamego Health Center’s Heartland Rehabilitation director for four years prior to his current role, is returning to working in patient care as the Director of Rehab with Community HealthCare System in Onaga. 

“I am extremely proud of the team at Wamego Health Center for the growth that we have accomplished over these last five years and how they have met the challenges with COVID-19, most recently,” Land said. “I am very appreciative of the opportunities that have been offered to me over these past years at Wamego Health Center.” 

“This new opportunity to return to treating patients in need of physical therapy is something that I am really looking forward to,” he continued. “I am grateful for the experiences at Wamego Health Center and I am blessed to be able to return to something that I love to do.” 

During Land’s time leading the Wamego team, he has played a pivotal role in helping to ensure the residents of Wamego and the surrounding area have access to the care they need, said Bob Copple, president of Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan.

“Under his leadership, Steve and the Wamego team have made quality and service improvements, facilitated equipment upgrades and managed an extensive construction project that has positively impacted the patients and associates who work and live in and around Wamego,” he said.

Copple says he will be working with the team to develop and implement a transition plan as the search for a new hospital administrator takes place. In the interim, Copple will manage the facility until a replacement is found.

Mary Jane Damme, an occupational therapist at Wamego Health Center’s Heartland Rehabilitation, earned her Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) credential. The CHT credential is the highest recognition of competency in upper limb rehabilitation.

Damme, who grew up in Blaine, has been an occupational therapist at Wamego Health Center for 7 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of North Dakota and a master’s degree from North Dakota State University.

Damme said she began preparing for the certification in January 2018 and after her May 2020 exam was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, she took her exam in November.

“Mary Jane has been committed to patient care and quality for the entirety of her career,” said Steve Land, a physical therapist and administrator of Wamego Health Center. “Her willingness to expand on her education and therefore expand on the services provided to our community is greatly appreciated. The opportunity to offer a Certified Hand Therapist to the Wamego community is a specialty area that should be celebrated.”

In order to receive the certification, therapists must have at least three years of clinical experience as an occupational therapist, a minimum of 4,000 hours in direct practice in hand therapy, and successful completion of advanced clinical skills and theory in upper limb rehabilitation. There are approximately 6,200 individuals worldwide hold this marked designation. 

With Damme’s certification, she can now provide advanced therapy care to patients with injuries, work-related conditions, inflammation disorders, nerve injuries and compressions, tendon injuries/repairs, disorders and more. 

For more information about Heartland Rehabilitation, call 785-458-7211.

On Oct. 28, the Kansas Hospital Association recognized Dwight Faulkner as one of six “Exemplary Trustees” who provided exemplary contributions through leadership and governance. Trustees from across the state were nominated by their respective local hospitals. Those selected routinely went above and beyond the call of duty.

Dwight Faulkner has provided a combined 18 years of leadership on multiple Wamego Health Center (WHC) Board of Directors. Mr. Faulkner actively serves within the Wamego City Hospital (WCH) Board (8 years) that works with building related costs and the Wamego Hospital Association (WHA) Board (6 years) that is tasked with the operations of the organization.

Most recently, Mr. Faulkner has completed a four-year tenure on the Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan Board as a representative of Wamego Health Center within the larger organization board with our association with Ascension.

Dwight is recognized as a leader in our community as the Vice President of loans at Bank of the Flint Hills. His financial background has proven to be a valuable resource to each Board over his many years of committed service. Dwight’s ability to engage with appropriate financial questions provides needed oversight from an engaged board member.

Dwight served as WHA chair for three years overseeing the completion of an 11 million dollar renovation project during his tenure. Mr. Faulkner navigated many building related concerns over this 18 month project as well multiple organizational changes that occurred during this time frame.