By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Some 3,675 patients were admitted in fiscal year 2022 at INTEGRIS Canadian Valley Hospital as steady growth mirrors the community.
Another 71,305 outpatient patients were treated at the Yukon hospital, 1201 Health Center Parkway.
“We saw 25,184 ER (emergency room visits), we delivered 1,031 babies and we did 3,999 surgeries,” said Teresa Gray, ICVH’s chief hospital executive. “Last year, we did 12,057 CAT scans and our nurses dispensed more than 400,000 doses of medication.
“We saved 60 patients who had an active stroke when they arrived. And we did almost 300 appendix surgeries.”
Some 41,426 meals were served to ICVH patients in FY22.
INTEGRIS Canadian Valley has 399 employees/staff and 341 physicians with privileges at the hospital, Gray said during a March 21st presentation to the Yukon Rotary Club.
Yukon’s hospital is aptly named, serving people across the Canadian Valley region – many outside Canadian County’s municipalities.
“We see patients from Weatherford, Clinton, Hinton, Watonga, and Geary – all the Blaine County area,” Gray told Yukon Rotarians during their Tuesday lunch meeting at Louie’s Grill & Bar.
They’re now even treating patients from as far as Minco, Bridge Creek, Tuttle, Newcastle, and Blanchard.
ICVH is now licensed for 75 beds: 30 medical/surgical beds, 18 beds in the emergency department, 19 beds in the women’s center (nine labor and 10 post-partum), and eight beds in the intensive care unit.
“We have five surgical suites open today – we will soon have seven,” Gray said. “One of those is dedicated to C-sections only.”
The Yukon hospital has procedure rooms for pain management and gastrointestinal patients, a radiology suite, laboratory and rehabilitation services, aqua therapy, and more.
Gray became president at ICVH in October 2018, succeeding Rex Van Meter. She previously was vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer during her 14 years with INTEGRIS Health.
HERE WE GROW AGAIN
When INTEGRIS Canadian Valley opened on Nov. 9, 2001, the hospital did not have an intensive care unit and had just two emergency rooms.
“It was only built for 30 beds,” Gray said. “This hospital moved very, very quickly over the years.”
As part of an expansion in 2008, the Yukon hospital’s ER increased to 18 beds.
More than 25,000 patients – including low-level trauma victims – are treated annually in the emergency department.
The ICVH Foundation, with support from groups like the Yukon Rotary Club, helped fund the hospital’s helipad several years ago.
Previously, medical helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft carrying patients who needed life-saving care had to land in the parking lot or grass.
As part of the ’08 expansion, INTEGRIS Canadian Valley added four ICU beds and a third floor with 27 more beds.
With the hospital’s fast growth, a cardiac catheterization laboratory was added in 2016 and the recovery room was expanded.
This year, two more operating rooms are being finished along with the addition of five new pre-op rooms.
ICVH’s front hospital entrance also is being redesigned. Space in the medical office building is being renovated for a second CAT scan machine.
Plans are moving forward for a second medical office building – with 37,000 square feet and two stories – on the west side of the hospital. This would be for 10 more primary care physicians and 10 specialists/surgeons.
ICVH is still treating a few positive COVID-19 patients, and the staff looks forward to the day soon when facemasks will no longer be required at the hospital. A state of emergency declaration is due to expire May 11.
During the height of the pandemic, both the Yukon Rotary Club and Yukon Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors provided meals and snacks for ICVH nurses and other front-line healthcare heroes.
LARGEST OK HEALTH SYSTEM
INTEGRIS is the largest health system in Oklahoma, serving the state for more than 100 years.
About 60% of Oklahomans live within 30 miles of an INTEGRIS Health facility or physician.
“We have about 11,000 employees and nearly 700 physicians employed,” Gray said. “We partner with many, many more.”
INTEGRIS operates 18 hospitals and 166 clinics statewide.
Yukon has an orthopedic clinic, an ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinic and a specialty clinic with specialists who rotate daily.
Other clinics that service ICVH patients are in Mustang, Surrey Hills, Weatherford, and Hinton.
Meanwhile, INTEGRIS Health is building a new clinic at Mustang Road and S.W. 29th between Yukon and Mustang.
This large clinic is due to open for patients in September with rotating specialists and five primary care physicians.
Gray encouraged Yukon Rotarians to consider becoming part of the ICVH auxiliary.
The Yukon hospital has more than 100 volunteers who contributed 16,311 hours last year.
