JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On Wednesday morning, Dec. 20, Ballad Health was notified of a chemical leak at La Quesera Mexicana in Greeneville, with multiple patients expected to arrive at Greeneville Community Hospital. By 11 a.m., the health system received reports of potentially dozens of patients who would need care. Incident Command Centers were established at both Greeneville Community Hospital and Johnson City Medical Center to allow teams to best allocate resources and utilize the Ballad Health Trauma Network. In total, the system received 25 patients from the incident. As of 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Ballad Health ceased operations at its Incident Command Center at Johnson City Medical Center, and the command center at Greeneville Community Hospital followed suit at 4 p.m. Throughout, Ballad Health was able to maintain sufficient clinical coverage on staff and on standby to treat the influx of patients. All patients were in stable condition, and most were able to be…

In an effort to promote handwashing and infection prevention protocols across Ballad Health, we’ll be hosting our final game of “SPLAT!” on Wednesday, Dec. 20. It’s a fun way to reinforce the lessons learned at recent hand hygiene review sessions. We also held SPLAT! days in October and November. WHO: The campaign is for all clinical team members at Ballad Health inpatient facilities and long-term care areas (but not outpatient clinics). WHEN: Our final SPLAT day of 2023 is Wednesday, Dec. 20. PRIZES: Participants can win prizes, including Dollywood tickets, Barter Theatre tickets and the grand prize of an Apple Watch Series 8. How does it work? This kind of campaign has been used successfully at various health systems around the country and has been featured by the American Nurses Association, the American Journal of Infection Control and other organizations. Each clinical team member will be given three cards on the designated day. Throughout the…

Ballad Health welcomes Rogersville native Hunter Hamilton as the next administrator of Hancock County Hospital and Hawkins County Memorial Hospital as Regina Day, the facilities’ current administrator retires after five years of successful leadership. Regina Day concluded her 22-year in healthcare on Friday, Dec. 15, after a tenure that began in 2002 as an accountant at St. Mary’s Hospital in Norton, Virginia, which would eventually become Norton Community Hospital. She was responsible for finance management for seven Ballad Health’s facilities, including Hawkins County Memorial Hospital and Hancock County Hospital, until 2018, when she accepted the role as administrator for those two facilities. Under Day’s leadership, both facilities have earned several awards and accolades. Hawkins County Memorial Hospital earned national recognition as an IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospital for three consecutive years, and Hancock County Hospital was named by the National Rural Health Association as a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital for best practice in…

The latest Ballad Proud Collection t-shirts are ready to be ordered! The shirts are available for purchase online at the Ballad Health Store, and can be pre-ordered starting Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 8 a.m. through Friday, Dec. 22, at 5 p.m. Click here to visit the Ballad Health Store. Ballad Proud Collection shirts, along with other Ballad Health-branded apparel, are suitable for wearing to work on Fridays, as per our Ballad Health dress code policy. (NOTE: You must be on a Ballad Health network device to access our Policy Manager.) Order and delivery To view the new shirts or place an order, visit the Ballad Health Store at www.balladhealth.store, accessible from any device. (The online store can be accessed through the Ballad Health intranet under “Quick Links,” but the site itself is not located on the intranet). The cost for the Ballad Proud T-shirts is $17 (plus tax), which includes shipping to your home. (Additional charge for…

Delta Dental of Tennessee is giving away $75,000 to children’s hospitals in Tennessee through its Holiday Smiles Campaign, and the public is invited to vote for the hospital of their choice – including for Niswonger Children’s Hospital. The more votes a hospital gets, the greater the portion of the $75,000 it receives from the Holiday Smiles Campaign. We encourage everyone to support Niswonger Children’s Hospital by casting a vote. Voting ends Sunday, Dec. 31. Click this link to choose your hospital and cast a vote! You can cast additional votes on Delta Dental’s social media channels! That’s right, the social sharing component gives every hospital the chance to earn more. Each hospital has a special post on Delta Dental of Tennessee’s LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram channels. Check it out at @DeltaDentalTN on each channel; each like, share, comment and retweet counts as one vote. Please take a moment to engage with Delta…

Team members are invited to attend the annual Niswonger Children’s Hospital Christmas tree lighting and festivities, set for Monday, Dec. 4, at 5:30 p.m. It will take place in the hospital lobby. Niswonger Children’s Hospital holiday shirts will also be on sale for adults and children.

In an effort to promote handwashing and infection prevention protocols across Ballad Health, we’ll be hosting our next game of “SPLAT!” on Tuesday, Nov. 21. It’s a fun way to reinforce the lessons learned at recent hand hygiene review sessions. We held our first of three SPLAT! days in October, with another one coming up in December. Who: The campaign is for all clinical team members at Ballad Health inpatient facilities and long-term care areas (but not outpatient clinics). When: SPLAT! days are Oct. 31, Nov. 21 and Dec. 20. Prizes: Participants can win prizes, including Dollywood tickets, Barter Theatre tickets and the grand prize of an Apple Watch Series 8. How does it work? This kind of campaign has been used successfully at various health systems around the country and has been featured by the American Nurses Association, the American Journal of Infection Control and other organizations. Each clinical team member will be given…

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Marsh Regional Blood Center is teaming up with the Tri-Cities Military Affairs Council for a blood drive event on Friday, Nov. 10, that will honor American heroes. National Wreaths Across America Day is a nationwide event that celebrates the lives of veterans with ceremonies held at more than 2,500 cemeteries across all 50 states, including Mountain Home National Cemetery in Johnson City. Sponsorships and volunteer work are the backbone of the annual ceremony, which manages the laying of wreaths at every headstone in the cemetery. For this year’s ceremony, Marsh Regional will sponsor one wreath for every unit of blood donated on Nov. 10, in honor of Veterans Day. “Our veterans are some of the most selfless individuals in our society, and Marsh Regional is honored to work with the Tri-Cities Military Council on an event that not only helps save the lives of people in our community, but at the…

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Ballad Health is partnering with the American Cancer Society to host a special lung cancer screening event in honor of National Lung Cancer Screening Day, to increase the community’s access to care. The event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 8 a.m. until noon at the Holston Valley Medical Center Imaging Center, 103 W. Stone Drive in Kingsport, and will provide low-dose computed tomography scans (also called a low-dose CT scan, or LDCT) to individuals who might not have the opportunity to undergo tests during regular workdays. “Early detection is crucial in the fight against lung cancer, and we’re committed to making these screenings more accessible to a wider range of individuals,” said Tony Dotson, vice president of oncology for Ballad Health. “This event is an opportunity for community members to take a proactive approach to their health and potentially receive a lifesaving test by having lung cancer detected at…

Happy Halloween from our Ballad Health team! All throughout the region, spooky spirit filled our facilities. Pumpkin-decorating, trunk-or-treating and fun costumes delighted our team members and patients. Take a look at the photo gallery below for some of the unique ways we celebrated the holiday!

Ballad Health will transition patient bed management to a centralized location, facilitated by the Patient Flow Center team within the Clinical Command Center, effective Wednesday, Nov. 1. With this change, we will manage patient placement and bed availability in real time. NOTE: The go-live was initially scheduled for Oct. 17 but was rescheduled to Nov. 1. Our health system, like others nationwide, has been struggling with severe staffing shortages. To help ensure these challenges don’t affect the quality and safety of patient care, we have streamlined key processes to better manage them through a centralized, more efficient and uniform approach. This helps us manage bed supply to identify bottlenecks and act quickly to place patients in the most appropriate care setting based on their acuity and needs. It will ensure we make the best use of our resources, such as beds and staffing. This will give the health system a more direct line of sight…