etricities.com

Billed as the Tri-Cities RAM, the event will take place on Oct. 8-10 inside the speedway with dental, vision and medical services being provided at no cost to those who are present for care. There are no eligibility requirements for patients, and no health insurance information is required or requested. Organizers said they are in need of both volunteers and financial support from the public for what is expected to be a large event.

"This has been in the planning stages for the last year," said Helen Scott, chair of the Tri-Cities RAM committee. "It is a huge undertaking and has included major support from Bristol Motor Speedway, East Tennessee State University, Eastman, both regional healthcare systems, other local healthcare providers and more than 30 other faith-based and civic organizations aimed at helping those in need."

Scott said that while many groups are involved, the Tri-Cities RAM planning committee is turning to local residents to help cover the expense of holding such a clinic.

 "There are a variety of ways the community can become involved in this event," she said. "RAM clinics often provide more than $2 million worth of medical services to thousands of people in just a few days. But volunteers and patients must all be fed, supplies must be purchased and ground support expenses must be paid."

RAM clinics have been held in parts of the region for years, notably in Unicoi County (where RAM will be Aug. 14-15) as well as Grundy, Va., and Wise, Va., which is considered the largest such event in the nation with nearly 3,000 people receiving care over a three-day weekend. Patients often sleep in their vehicles awaiting treatment as lines grow into the hundreds. While Tri-Cities RAM and the Wise RAM event are both coordinated through the same Knoxville-based Remote Area Medical® organization, the Bristol event is separate from the Virginia clinic, with organization and fundraising coming largely from groups based in Washington and Sullivan counties in Tennessee, and as with all RAM clinics, operational support coming from RAM officials in Knoxville.

 "I have been involved in RAM clinics for many years and am very excited about the prospect of bringing this type of large-scale free healthcare event directly into the heart of the region," said Dr. Joe Smiddy, a pulmonologist who often brings his own portable X-ray machine to RAM clinics. "This year in Wise, we saw some very sick people, and I expect we will do the same at Bristol."

While offerings at RAM clinics often include medical offerings from general screenings to mammographies and chest X-rays, a vast majority of patients come for vision and dental care. Tri-Cities RAM officials said they will need volunteer vision specialists as well as dozens of volunteer dentists and hygienists to meet the expected needs.

Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System are providing financial and staff support for the event.

"Mountain States has long been a supporter of RAM, and we're proud to be a part of bringing this same type of care to the heart of the Tri-Cities," said Ed Herbert, MSHA vice president. "These clinics have a wonderful international reputation for taking care of some of the most underserved patients."

Bart Hove, president of Bristol Regional Medical Center – a hospital in the Wellmont Health System – said his organization was also happy to be involved in the clinic.

 "We are pleased to support this worthwhile endeavor," Hove said. "RAM is all about delivering high-quality health care with compassion, a mission we definitely support. We look forward to playing a role in improving the health of the patients who will be served by RAM."

ETSU has been a part of the planning from the beginning. The university is dedicating resources from across its many colleges to help ensure Tri-Cities RAM is a success.

"Service to the community is a central cornerstone of East Tennessee State University, so the opportunity to participate in the RAM clinic resonates throughout our campus," said Dr. Wilsie Bishop, vice president for health affairs and university chief operating officer. "With our Division of Health Sciences, we're fortunate in that ETSU can offer a wide range of expertise and services. Faculty, staff and student volunteers from the Quillen College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the College of Public Health and the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences will be participating. We consider it a privilege to work with others in the region to provide health care in this venue for those who need it."

Crossroads Medical Mission, based in Bristol, is serving as a financial steward for the event this initial year by accepting donations via Paypal, check or cash. The organization is placing those funds in a specific account to be used just for the clinic. Crossroads Executive Director Cindy Rockett is also serving on the Tri-Cities RAM committee as the organization's secretary.

"I would have never imagined the effort involved to organize and facilitate Tri-Cities RAM at BMS," Rockett said. "Health service organizations, charitable health and dental clinics, institutions of higher education, local businesses and congregations and hundreds of volunteers are joining hands in this effort. What a difference we can make."

For more information, go to www.tricitiesram.org or visit RAM USA's website at www.ramusa.org.

Cutline: l-r Tri-Cities RAM Committee Chair Helen Scott, Committee Chair-elect Dr. Joe Smiddy and RAM Founder Stan Brock speak at Friday's news conference.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         8/6/10

CONTACT:    Jim Wozniak

                        (423) 230-8237

VIRGINIA FRANK NAMED PRESIDENT

OF HOLSTON VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER

KINGSPORT – A veteran healthcare executive whose leadership experience includes oversight of a dedicated heart hospital has been named president of Holston Valley Medical Center.

Virginia Frank will assume her new duties at Holston Valley, Tennessee's No. 1 hospital for cardiology, on Sept. 7. She succeeds Blaine Douglas, who resigned in July to accept a position with Aspen Healthcare in Colorado.

Holston Valley, licensed for 505 beds, is the largest hospital in Wellmont Health System.

"Virginia's track record is exemplary, and the patients, physicians and staff of Holston Valley will benefit from her experience and talent," said Denny DeNarvaez, Wellmont's president and CEO, who has worked with Frank at hospitals in Missouri, Minnesota and Florida. "I am confident Holston Valley, under Virginia's leadership, will continue to build on its 75-year legacy as Kingsport's hospital of choice."

Since 2006, Frank has served as administrator of the Heart and Vascular Hospital, a 96-bed facility that is part of St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. She is also responsible for fiscal, strategic and operational leadership of all cardiovascular services on the campus of St. John's Mercy Medical Center and St. John's Mercy Hospital in Washington, Mo. Combined, those two hospitals have 1,166 beds.

Frank also serves as vice president of operations for St. John's Mercy Medical Center, with responsibility for the David C. Pratt Cancer Center, St. Louis Center and Breast Institute, imaging and pulmonary services, audiology, sleep medicine, wound care and behavioral health.

As administrator of the Heart and Vascular Hospital, Frank has brought stellar leadership in the area of door-to-balloon times for treatment of heart attacks. This time frame is measured from a patient's arrival at the emergency department to the clearing of a blocked artery. The national gold standard is 90 minutes, and Frank's heart hospital has beaten that time for 26 straight months.

Holston Valley and its sister tertiary referral center, Bristol Regional Medical Center, consistently beat the national standard, as well.

"Holston Valley's outstanding reputation speaks for itself," Frank said. "It's an honor to become part of a hospital recognized regionally and nationally for excellent patient care."

Frank previously served as vice president of operations for Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and as chief information officer for Florida Medical Center Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. She has also participated in the Global Leadership Development Program of the University of Michigan Business School.

"I am so pleased we will have an individual of Virginia's caliber to lead our hospital," said Dr. Marvin Cameron, chairman of the Holston Valley board of directors. "I'm confident Virginia will guide us on a path of sustained excellence.

"Our board members, physicians and employees look forward to working with her as we fulfill our mission to deliver superior care with compassion to the patients we serve."

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