Sky Lakes Medical Center
Encyclopedia
Sky Lakes Medical Center (formerly Merle West Medical Center) is a 176-bed general medical and surgical hospital located in Klamath Falls, Oregon
, United States. Sky Lakes is also a teaching hospital
affiliated with Oregon Health & Science University
Medical School through the Cascades East Rural Family Medicine Residency Program. It is a community-owned medical center that serves the healthcare needs of an area of approximately 10000 square miles (25,899.9 km²) in Oregon
and northern California
. The hospital was founded in 1965 and incorporated in 1968.
Sky Lakes Medical Center provides a birthing center, Blood Bank
, Cardiac Catherization Lab
, General - Acute Care, Intensive Care Unit, Computerized Tomography Scan, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Mammography & Radiology/Diagnostic-Imaging/MRI/X-Ray, Nuclear Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Orthopedics
, Outpatient Services, Radiation Therapy
, Wellness/Health&Fitness Center. The hospital is equipped with a FAA LID: 9OR3 Heliport on its campus.
Besides patient care, Sky Lakes also carries out medical research and offers practicum positions for family medicine residents and nursing students through its affiliation with the Oregon Health & Science University
.
campus on a hill, which gently slopes from the east to the west, in the northeast part of Klamath Falls. The hill lies on the southeast shore of the Upper Klamath Lake
, accessed through U.S. Route 97
. The hospital has a parking structure and three parking lots, the main lot being served by a shuttle service that ferry patients and visitors between their vehicles and the medical center. The Hospital is served by two Basin Transit Service bus routes. It also has an ambulance bay and a helicopter landing pad
.
, though it wasn't until the 1970s, that the name was changed to Merle West Medical Center. The hospital changed its name to Sky Lakes Medical Center in May of 2007 with a new philosophy on the perceptions of the service of health care.
in 2010 for a total of 20,738 patient days and a 3.39 average length of stay
. That same year the hospital reported 6,741 surgical procedures and 23,248 emergency room visits.
Sky Lakes medical laboratory
reported 395,941 laboratory tests and assays in 2010, while the medical imaging
department reported 28,429 X-ray exams
, 8,872 ultrasound
s and 16,507 MRI
and CT scans. Physical therapy
reported 11,382 procedures in 2010 and the home health nursing
program reported 814 nursing episodes.
Through a financial assistance program at Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center, cancer patinets receive medication reinbursements for qualifying high-dollar treatments. The program researches grants and other available funds and prorams, based on diagnoses, to help patients better afford their treatment expenses.
Sky Lakes Medical Center sponsors several annual community health-related activities, including the "Living Well" community health fair with more than 50 exhibitors providing information and resources for the community, providing free eye, ear, blood glucose and cholesterl screenings, as well as blood pressure checks, body mass index readings and lung-function tests. The event usually provides car seat checks and medication evaluations also.
Sky Lakes also funds the "Casccade East" mobil clinic and the annual Lake of the Woods Races.
Sky Lakes provides direct financial support to dozens of local physician practices, helping ensure their stability and availability in the community.
(OHSU) education and research branches, providing internship and practicum positions for over 20 resident physicians in pursuit of their family medicine specialty. Sky Lakes produces a continuing investment in Cascades East Family Medicine residents' program. The hospital also works with OHSU, Oregon Institute of Technology
and Klamath Community College
faculties, supplementing their nursing programs with hands-on clinical expeosure.
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Klamath Falls is a city in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. Originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867, after the Link River on whose falls this city sat, although no falls currently exist; the name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1892...
, United States. Sky Lakes is also a teaching hospital
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
affiliated with Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...
Medical School through the Cascades East Rural Family Medicine Residency Program. It is a community-owned medical center that serves the healthcare needs of an area of approximately 10000 square miles (25,899.9 km²) in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The hospital was founded in 1965 and incorporated in 1968.
Sky Lakes Medical Center provides a birthing center, Blood Bank
Blood bank
A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper...
, Cardiac Catherization Lab
Coronary catheterization
A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. It is performed for both diagnostic and interventional purposes....
, General - Acute Care, Intensive Care Unit, Computerized Tomography Scan, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Mammography & Radiology/Diagnostic-Imaging/MRI/X-Ray, Nuclear Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Orthopedics
Orthopedics
Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. The Greek word 'ortho' means straight or correct and 'pedics' comes from the Greek 'pais' meaning children. For many centuries, orthopedists have been involved in the treatment of crippled children...
, Outpatient Services, Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...
, Wellness/Health&Fitness Center. The hospital is equipped with a FAA LID: 9OR3 Heliport on its campus.
Besides patient care, Sky Lakes also carries out medical research and offers practicum positions for family medicine residents and nursing students through its affiliation with the Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...
.
Location
Sky Lakes Medical Center is located adyacent to the Oregon Institute of TechnologyOregon Institute of Technology
Oregon Institute of Technology, also known as Oregon Tech or OIT, is an accredited university in the Oregon University System, and the only public institute of technology in the northwest United States. Located in Klamath Falls, Oregon, it provides undergraduate and graduate degrees in many...
campus on a hill, which gently slopes from the east to the west, in the northeast part of Klamath Falls. The hill lies on the southeast shore of the Upper Klamath Lake
Upper Klamath Lake
Upper Klamath Lake is a large, shallow freshwater lake east of the Cascade Range in south central Oregon in the United States. The largest freshwater body in Oregon, it is approximately 20 mi long and 8 mi wide and extends northwest from the city of Klamath Falls...
, accessed through U.S. Route 97
U.S. Route 97 in Oregon
In the U.S. state of Oregon, U.S. Route 97 is a major north–south United States highway which runs through the state of Oregon . In Oregon, it runs from the Oregon-California border, south of Klamath Falls, to the Oregon-Washington border on the Columbia River, between Biggs Junction, Oregon and...
. The hospital has a parking structure and three parking lots, the main lot being served by a shuttle service that ferry patients and visitors between their vehicles and the medical center. The Hospital is served by two Basin Transit Service bus routes. It also has an ambulance bay and a helicopter landing pad
Helipad
Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...
.
History
In the late 1950s a citizen task force in Klamath County outlined the future healthcare needs of the region and with a successful fund-drive constructed what is now Sky Lakes Medical Center, opening in October of 1965. In 1968, the hospital became a member of the American Hospital AssociationAmerican Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association is an organization that promotes the quality provision of health care by hospitals and health care networks through such efforts as promoting effective public policy and providing information related to health care and health administration to health care...
, though it wasn't until the 1970s, that the name was changed to Merle West Medical Center. The hospital changed its name to Sky Lakes Medical Center in May of 2007 with a new philosophy on the perceptions of the service of health care.
Services
Patients are usually referred to the hospital by their doctors or clinics for specialized care, but may also be admitted through the emergency department. Sky Lakes Medical Center reported 6,112 acute admissionsAdmission note
An admission note is part of a medical record that documents the patient's status, reasons why the patient is being admitted for inpatient care to a hospital or other facility, and the initial instructions for that patient's care...
in 2010 for a total of 20,738 patient days and a 3.39 average length of stay
Length of stay
Length of stay is a term commonly used to measure the duration of a single episode of hospitalization. Inpatient days are calculated by subtracting day of admission from day of discharge. However, persons entering and leaving a hospital on the same day have a length of stay of one...
. That same year the hospital reported 6,741 surgical procedures and 23,248 emergency room visits.
Sky Lakes medical laboratory
Medical laboratory
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done on clinical specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient as pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.-Departments:...
reported 395,941 laboratory tests and assays in 2010, while the medical imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
department reported 28,429 X-ray exams
Radiography
Radiography is the use of X-rays to view a non-uniformly composed material such as the human body. By using the physical properties of the ray an image can be developed which displays areas of different density and composition....
, 8,872 ultrasound
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
s and 16,507 MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
and CT scans. Physical therapy
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
reported 11,382 procedures in 2010 and the home health nursing
Home health nursing
Home health nursing is a nursing specialty in which registered nurses provide home care to patients. Home health nurses also supervise home health aides. The professional nursing organization for home health nurses is the Home Healthcare Nurses Association ....
program reported 814 nursing episodes.
Through a financial assistance program at Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center, cancer patinets receive medication reinbursements for qualifying high-dollar treatments. The program researches grants and other available funds and prorams, based on diagnoses, to help patients better afford their treatment expenses.
Sky Lakes Medical Center sponsors several annual community health-related activities, including the "Living Well" community health fair with more than 50 exhibitors providing information and resources for the community, providing free eye, ear, blood glucose and cholesterl screenings, as well as blood pressure checks, body mass index readings and lung-function tests. The event usually provides car seat checks and medication evaluations also.
Sky Lakes also funds the "Casccade East" mobil clinic and the annual Lake of the Woods Races.
Funding
Sky Lakes Medical Center is managed and funded by the Sky Lakes Medical Center Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 that adheres to the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy standards of professional ethics. The Sky Lakes Medical Center Foundation is the primary fundraising organization for the hospital, which receives donations by benefactors including former patients, other foundations and local business leaders.Sky Lakes provides direct financial support to dozens of local physician practices, helping ensure their stability and availability in the community.
Education
Sky Lakes Medical Center is affiliated with the Oregon Health & Science UniversityOregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...
(OHSU) education and research branches, providing internship and practicum positions for over 20 resident physicians in pursuit of their family medicine specialty. Sky Lakes produces a continuing investment in Cascades East Family Medicine residents' program. The hospital also works with OHSU, Oregon Institute of Technology
Oregon Institute of Technology
Oregon Institute of Technology, also known as Oregon Tech or OIT, is an accredited university in the Oregon University System, and the only public institute of technology in the northwest United States. Located in Klamath Falls, Oregon, it provides undergraduate and graduate degrees in many...
and Klamath Community College
Klamath Community College
Klamath Community College is a two-year college located in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Enrollment as of 2008-09 was 1,619 full-time equivalent students.-History:A community college service district was established by the voters of Klamath County in 1996...
faculties, supplementing their nursing programs with hands-on clinical expeosure.