Gila Regional Medical Center | Wellness Companion | Winter 2018

MEET Marvin White, the new physician assistant (PA) at the Gila Regional Cancer Center. White was born in Keary, Arizona, but moved to Silver City as a child. He graduated from Cobre High School in 1987 and earned a degree in cell and molecular biology at Western New Mexico University (WNMU). He later attended University of New Mexico (UNM) for a bachelor’s degree in science, and he served as a PA at Silver Health Care for six years. “I like being at Gila Regional and working with the patients,” White says. “One of the reasons I accepted the position was for them. During the transition to UNM, the patients needed local care. Traveling to Las Cruces, El Paso, Arizona or Albuquerque was hard on them. Some were even stopping their treat- ments because of the travel distance. They needed someone to step in, so I did.” Oncology services are now restored with White as the PA at the Cancer Center. Pa- tients are seen on Fridays by oncologists from UNM, and their treatments are overseen by White throughout the week. A full-time oncologist is in the process of being recruited and will move to Silver City to serve the GRMC Cancer Center patients Monday through Friday. “Patients now have access to many UNM resources,” adds White. “They can expect a continuance of high-quality, compassionate care in a state-of-the-art cancer center.” Cancer Center welcomes Marvin White, PA H E A L T H I N S I G H T Q U A L I T Y A W A R D New Mexico in TOP HOSPITAL GRMC named a Taffy Arias, CEO of GRMC, accepting the HealthInsight Quality Award. The 2017 award recipients are: w  w Gila Regional Medical Center— Silver City. w  w Holy Cross Hospital—Taos. w  w Lea Regional Medical Center—Hobbs. w  w Presbyterian Española Hospital—Española. w  w University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center— Rio Rancho. How the top five hospitals are chosen HealthInsight Quality Award hos- pital recipients were selected based on their national rankings in four categories: 1 Health care-associated infections. 2 The results of the Hospital Con- sumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, which is a national survey of patients’ experience of hospital care. 3 30-day hospitalwide readmissions. 4 Mortality measures. The individual category ranks were combined into a single, weighted composite ranking. Hospitals at or above the 75th percentile nationally on this combined ranking received the award. GILA Regional Medical Center (GRMC) has been named one of the top five New Mexico hospitals recognized for high performance on quality of care outcome measures and patient satisfaction. The HealthInsight Quality Award Program promotes transparency in health care. Since 2004, the program has recognized nursing homes, hos- pitals, home health agencies, outpa- tient medical practices and clinics in Utah and Nevada. This year, HealthInsight New Mexico and the New Mexico Hospital Association partnered to launch the program in our state. The inaugural hospital awards were presented at the New Mexico Hospital Asso- ciation’s 72nd Annual Meeting on Sept. 27, in Albuquerque.