Thursday July 7th, 2011- Jersey Community Hospital Gift Shop celebrates Grand Re-Opening event. The JCH Gift Shop recently expanded their shop to double in size. The gift shop is operated by the JCH Auxiliary, which are all volunteers.
Joan Hileman, Director of Volunteer Services welcomed the group and introduced Auxiliary Board Members; Jerseyville Mayor-Richard Perdun, JCH Board of Director President-Bill Rice, JCBA Director-Alan Gilmore, and JCBA President-Anne Sturgeon. A brief history of the auxiliary was given and Bill Rice, JCH Board President concluded the event by thanking McIntyre Construction for their work on the project and also thanking the Auxiliary for all their support over the years.
The auxiliary has been an active organization for 57 years, providing support for facility improvements and various projects. The hospital gift shop opened in May of 1977 at the new hospital on Maple Summit Road. The Auxiliary has contributed more than $250,000 to the hospital for various projects over the years and a major portion of that money was earned through gift shop sales. All income earned through the gift shop is returned to the community through hospital improvements. The Auxiliary just voted at their June meeting to donate an additional $100,000 to the JCH Emergency Department Expansion Project.
The current officers of the Auxiliary are: Mary Ann Pranger-President, Hazel Maag- Vice President, Alberta Miller-Secretary, Peggy Fessler-Treasurer, Earlene Miller and Gloria Strang- Co-Gift Shop Chairs.
The JCH Gift Shop is open Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. They have an expanded their baby line, adding more newborn clothing, sleep sacks, hats, etc. The floral line has become a focal point of the shop with many beautiful silk floral arrangements and wreaths. The shop also carries inspirational items including angels, crosses, rosaries and frames. Plush and singing character animals are always available along with JCH logo wear, sunglass readers, and Sidekick shoes. There is a great display of purses and billfolds along with garden chimes, birds and other ceramic animals. A convenience center has been added with necessities like combs, nail files, mirrors, toothpaste, batteries and cameras. Leanin Tree cards, books and candy are also available.
The JCH Gift Shop is open 6 days a week and is open to the public. The shop is operated by 35 volunteers of the JCH Auxiliary group. For more information contact the JCH Gift Shop at (618) 498-8521.
Let's work together to build a better ER!
Jersey Community Hospital needs a new Emergency Room to help service its growing community. We need to decrease patient wait times, increase privacy and help staff care for patients in a more efficient manner. Taking the steps to where we are today didn't happen overnight, however, we actually began thinking about expanding our ER in 2008, but plans were shelved due to the recession. To come up with our current plan, local architect John Shortal met with JCH ER staff to discover how the space could be adapted to help them be efficient, fast and safe. Floor plans were drawn and presented to the stakeholders, modified, and modified again. Each time they made it more user-friendly for staff as well as more private and comfortable for patients. While blueprints were being drafted and revised, efforts were also being made to reach our $1,000,000 fund raising goal. Our efforts have paid off, and we're halfway there, with $550,000 raised.
Jersey Community Hospital has been serving this community since 1954. Although many things have changed in healthcare over the years, our primary focus is still you. That's why over the last ten years, we've built our Wellness Center, set up a Sleep Disorder Center, completely renovated our obstetric department in the Women's Center, added a dedicated on-site MRI and multi-slice CT scanner, and continually recruited the best physicians, nurses, technicians, leadership and support staff. Recently, we've come to a crossroad with our emergency care. The present Emergency Department was newly constructed in 1994. At the time, the facility - containing six patient treatment areas - nicely met the needs of the 6,000 people who came for service during the year. But as time went on and our community continued to grow, patient visits have more than doubled. In 2010, our Emergency Department provided care to over 12,000 patients.
The new ER+ will be built in an "L" shape around the present emergency facility, allowing us to provide outstanding emergency medicine. It will also include the following unique advantages: 14 spacious patient care areas, Dedicated Urgent Care area, three separate waiting areas, added privacy and comfort for patients, ability to effectively triage patients to the ER or Urgent Care, expanded care team, addition of new RN and Nurse Practitioner, soundproof nurses' station for additional privacy and quiet, larger supply rooms and staff support facilities.
