The hospital CEO says a third general surgeon closed a coverage gap while HMH plans for ICU growth and a physician pipeline.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas. Huntsville Memorial Hospital now has general surgery call coverage every day of the year after adding another surgeon to its medical staff, CEO Terry Scoggin said. The change is intended to reduce transfers for urgent surgical conditions that the hospital can treat in Huntsville.
Scoggin said Dr. Dennis Fernandez began seeing patients Aug. 1 and joined Dr. Urmil Shukla and Dr. Stavan Parmar in the hospital's general surgery program. He described continuous call coverage as a basic function for a community hospital serving Walker County and surrounding rural areas.
"We have 365 call for general surgery now," Scoggin said during a Sept. 4 Good Morning Huntsville discussion. He cited appendicitis and acute gallbladder problems as examples of conditions that may require timely surgery.
The addition gives the surgeons a rotation that can cover nights throughout the year. Scoggin said the hospital previously had two general surgeons who could not reasonably take call every day. The expanded team gives emergency department clinicians another option when deciding whether a patient can remain at HMH or must be transferred.
Six-bed ICU often reaches capacity
Scoggin also identified intensive care capacity as a continuing constraint. HMH currently operates a six-bed intensive care unit, a number that has appeared in the hospital's public planning for a replacement facility.
"We have a six-bed ICU and we're full almost all the time," Scoggin said. He said the hospital needs more intensive care space because transferring patients south can create added strain for families, especially when transportation is difficult.
HMH leaders have previously presented plans for a new hospital that would increase intensive care capacity from six beds to 12. Those plans also call for a larger emergency department and private patient rooms. The hospital's governing board and local officials have discussed the project as a long-term response to aging facilities and capacity limits.
Scoggin said decisions about services require the hospital to focus limited resources on core needs. He named stroke care, heart care, primary care and intensive care among those priorities. His comments did not announce a construction schedule or a new financing decision for the proposed facility.
The CEO also said HMH is working to recruit another orthopedic surgeon. He did not identify the physician and said the recruitment process was still being completed. Because the arrangement is pending, the hospital has not publicly released additional details.
Residency program builds a physician pipeline
Beyond specialty recruitment, HMH is working with Sam Houston State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine on a family medicine residency program. Scoggin said the program has 12 residents organized into three classes of four physicians.
Residency is the period of supervised clinical training that follows medical school. A community-based program places new physicians in the hospital, clinics and other care settings where they learn while treating patients. It can also introduce physicians and their families to the area before they choose where to practice long term.
Scoggin said the hospital hopes to retain an average of about one to one and a half physicians from each class. Even a small number of residents staying in the area each year could create a steady source of primary care doctors over time. He said recruitment is harder when a community waits until it has an immediate vacancy and begins searching from scratch.
The partnership also connects the hospital with SHSU's medical school, one of the institutions Scoggin listed as central to HMH's relationships in Huntsville. He also cited cooperation with Walker County, the city, Walker County EMS and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Scoggin moves from interim role to CEO
HMH appointed Scoggin chief executive officer effective June 15 after he had served as interim CEO since January. The hospital said his background includes more than 15 years leading rural and independent health systems.
Before coming to Huntsville, Scoggin served as CEO of Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant. He also worked as an interim CEO through the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals. That experience included hospitals facing financial and operational pressure in smaller communities.
Scoggin said HMH has a foundation of physicians, staff and public partners on which to build. His near-term examples centered on filling coverage gaps and deciding where current demand justifies more capacity. Year-round general surgery coverage is one completed change. ICU expansion and continued physician recruitment remain part of the hospital's longer planning.
Patients seeking information about HMH services and physicians can visit the hospital's website or contact the hospital directly. Emergency conditions should be evaluated through appropriate emergency services.
A transfer can require coordination among the emergency department, an accepting physician, an available bed and transportation. Keeping an appropriate case in Huntsville can shorten that chain while allowing relatives to remain closer to the patient. Scoggin did not say every surgical emergency would stay at HMH. The patient’s condition and the services required still guide that decision.
More About Huntsville Memorial Hospital
For nearly a century, Huntsville Memorial Hospital has been part of the fabric of Huntsville and Walker County, caring for generations of local families through some of life’s most important moments.
Founded in 1927, HMH is an accredited, not-for-profit acute care community hospital committed to providing quality healthcare close to home. Today, HMH combines advanced technology and an experienced medical staff with something equally important: the personal, compassionate care you expect from your hometown hospital.
HMH offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, including 24-hour emergency care, heart and vascular services, surgery, orthopedics and sports medicine, women’s health, radiology and imaging, therapy and rehabilitation, infusion therapy and more. Through HMH clinics, patients also have convenient access to primary and specialty care for the entire family.
But HMH’s commitment extends beyond the walls of the hospital. Through community health education, screenings, outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations, HMH works every day to improve the health and well-being of the communities it serves.
For almost 100 years, Huntsville Memorial Hospital has been here when our community needed care. And as HMH continues to grow, invest and move healthcare forward, that commitment remains the same: to care for our community with compassion, integrity and excellence.
Huntsville Memorial Hospital — Professional. Personal. Close to home.
Wach the full interview with Terry Scoggin below.