FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:              February 24, 2010

Contact:         Cindy Rose

                        Public Relations & Hospitality Services Director

                        270-789-5814             

     Taylor Regional Hospital Acquires

Dr. Phil Aaron Medical Clinic

(CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY) – Taylor Regional Hospital has acquired the Dr. Phil Aaron Medical Clinic in Columbia, effective January 1, 2010 and will become known as Taylor Rural Health.  “The only thing that will change is the name,” says Jane Wheatley, CEO of Taylor Regional Hospital.  “Dr. Aaron will continue as the medical director of the clinic and his patients will continue to experience the excellent medical care they have come to expect from the clinic.  We know that Dr. Aaron has set the bar high for quality care and we intend to build upon the foundation that he has put into place.”  As this transition takes place, expanded laboratory and radiology services will become available in the clinic as well as other services which will be forthcoming in the future. 

“It is our goal to see that patients only experience positive changes from this joint venture,” says Dr. Phil Aaron.  “We have come to see Taylor Regional Hospital as the premier hospital in our region and that is why we chose to merge with them.  We have been referring patients to TRH for many years and have been pleased with their abilities to serve them.  This will enable us to offer expanded and enhanced services and know that our patients will be able to get the quality health care they need and deserve.  We are all looking forward to January 1^st and the beginning of this new partnership.” 

The Dr. Phil Aaron Medical Center is a licensed Rural Health Clinic which sees a large number of patients in classic provider/patient encounters (averaging 100 patients daily / with over 23,000 patient charts).  The Center is also very involved with the community as a whole, in the areas of education, safety, and general health issues.  

The practice currently includes one (1) Physician, Two (2) Nurse Practitioners, a CLIA Approved Laboratory, X-Ray having Teleradiography, a Medical Records Custodian, three (3) Receptionists, an Indigent Medication Counselor, an Administrator, and a Nursing Staff of five (5). These employees work in a new, state of the art, facility housed in the same facility as Columbia Pharmacy, adjacent to Community Medical Services, located across from the Columbia Post Office.           

            Taylor Regional Hospital already has one rural health clinic which is the former Urgent Care Center located on Campbellsville Highway in Greensburg.  The TRH Care Center became a rural health clinic in 2009 which means that, along with walk-ins, the center now accepts primary care patients. 

The rural health clinic (RHC) program was established in 1977 to address an inadequate supply of physicians who serve Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in rural areas. The purpose of the RHC program is improving access to primary care in underserved rural areas. RHCs are required to use a team approach of physicians and midlevel practitioners such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives to provide services. The clinic must be staffed at least 50% of the time with a midlevel practitioner. “We hope to meet the needs of all our local communities by offering rural health clinics,” says Jane Wheatley.  “These clinics enable patients to obtain health care near their communities which enable them to be close to home.”