News From SIH

SIH’s team of infectious disease and infection prevention specialists and emergency preparedness personnel continue to collaborate with local, state and federal officials regarding COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) prevention and response. While COVID-19 is new, preparing for responses to potential epidemics and pandemics (e.g., H1N1, Swine Flu, MERS, SARS, Ebola) isn’t. In Southern Illinois, a dedicated, multidisciplinary group of professionals and community partners are in regular communication on how to provide safe, effective care for our regional community.

MURPHYSBORO, IL — A new outpatient heart failure clinic in southern Illinois will allow folks in the community to receive care closer to home and reduce hospital stays. Heart failure impacts more than 6 million people. One of them is Terry Burns. In 2008, a virus attacked Burns' heart, which led to heart failure and eventually a heart transplant.

Dr. Muhammad Khan, cardiologist with SIH Prairie Heart Institute, and Terry Burns of Marion, a heart failure patient and heart transplant recipient, spoke Wednesday at SIH St. Joseph Memorial Hospital as part of grand opening festivities for a new outpatient heart failure clinic at the hospital in Murphysboro. It is the second such clinic in the SIH family.

MURPHYSBORO (WSIL) -- Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) has a new facility for patients with congestive heart failure. The new clinic opened Wednesday at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro. Dr. Muhammad Khan, a cardiologist from Prairie Cardiovascular, says the idea for a second location has been in the works for about a year.

CARBONDALE,IL — Southern Illinois Healthcare said in recent years nearly 800 patients initially treated at SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale were transferred to trauma centers in St. Louis and Evansville, Indiana. But on Monday, the hospital will officially be a Level II trauma center, making it the only trauma center in Illinois south of Springfield.

CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- Memorial Hospital of Carbondale will become the first hospital in southern Illinois to be designated as a trauma center. In a release, SIH announced the hospital's Level II trauma center designation will go live at 7 a.m. Monday, November 4, a result that stems from five years of hard work and meticulous planning behind the scenes.

SIH Memorial Hospital plans to end the “trauma desert” in the southern Illinois region when their Level II Trauma Center designation goes live. After nearly five years of behind the scenes work, a watershed moment will occur on 7 a.m. on Nov. 4, according to the SIH press release. SIH President and CEO Rex Budde said the endeavor was a collaboration with plans first beginning in 2015.

After nearly five years of behind-the-scenes work, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale went live this week with Level II Trauma Center designation, becoming the only trauma center in Illinois south of Springfield.