Hospital News

Alton Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline^® EMS Silver Plus Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients who suffer severe heart attacks. 

Natashia Womack took over as the Occupational Health nurse at Alton Memorial Hospital in late 2019. A few months later, her daughter, Brittany Nicholson, joined her in the department. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been at the forefront as the hospital navigates its way through.

Billy Welch almost came full circle recently during a short-term stay at Alton Memorial Rehabilitation & Therapy. The former Eunice Smith Home is less than a mile from Alton Memorial Hospital, where on Nov. 15, 1937, Billy was the very first baby born at the hospital, delivered by Dr. D.M. Roberts and weighing in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces. That was the same day the hospital opened to welcome its first patients.

Alton Memorial Hospital has added seven new physicians to its staff this summer. They are Dr. Jaffer Asif and Dr. Paul Eckerle (pulmonology), Dr. Christine Taylor and Dr. Megan Sauer (OB/GYN), Dr. Jaleesa Gilbert-Gortman and Dr. Raffy Gutman (internal medicine) and Dr. Shoichiro Tanaka (plastic surgeon).

Paramedic Madison Roam and EMT Zach Botterbush of Alton Memorial Hospital’s EMS team made a call this spring that earned them a Heart Heroes Award for the second quarter. The Heart Watch/STEMI Team at AMH and Christian Hospital, which includes AMH stroke coordinator Jeremy Brown, have monthly nominations for the Heart Heroes, and select a quarterly winner from those three months.

The first residents of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Alton Family Medicine Residency Program began their three-year training at Alton Memorial Hospital on July 1.  A ribbon cutting was held July 2 in the program’s new offices on the first floor of Medical Office Building B on the AMH campus. Representatives from AMH, BJC, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (SIHF) and SIU School of Medicine attended.

Read on to learn more about the first six residents of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Family Residency Program at Alton Memorial Hospital.

Paul Waters of Bunker Hill, Ill., was the first patient to go through the Bariatrics program at Alton Memorial Hospital, and he is very satisfied with the care he received in his journey to drop more than 60 pounds in the past year.

Although Alton Memorial Hospital was unable to hold its annual Employee Awards Banquet this year because of the pandemic, the hospital was still able to honor several of its top staff members during the recent Health Care Week. Amy Schuler, manager of Performance Improvement, won the 2020 Leadership Award. Natashia Womack of Occupational Health won the 2020 Employee of the Year. The Readmission Team won the 2020 Virginia Ilch Excellence in Quality Team Award.

Valet services resumed at Alton Memorial Hospital on Monday, June 7. The free service from Clayton Valet is available from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.