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Article Category: Newsroom

Wellstar Kennestone Receives Georgia Oglethorpe Award for Organizational Excellence

Award-winning facility celebrates 70th anniversary

Published on June 11, 2020

Last updated 12:05 PM August 12, 2020

Kennestone Hospital at sunset

Wellstar Kennestone Hospital celebrates its 70th anniversary. The hospital was founded in 1950 to serve the needs of the Cobb County community.

Wellstar Health System, one of Georgia’s largest and most integrated healthcare systems, today announced Wellstar Kennestone Hospital was named the recipient of the prestigious Georgia Oglethorpe Award for 2020, Georgia’s highest level of recognition for organizational performance excellence. Presented by the Florida Sterling Council, the award recognizes organizations and businesses “that have successfully achieved performance excellence within their management and operations.” This award announcement falls on the 70th anniversary of the hospital—a significant milestone in community care.


Award Recipients Are Role Models for Excellence

Due to its high standard for excellence, the Georgia Oglethorpe Award represents one of the most significant levels of recognition an organization can receive. Recipients of the Georgia Oglethorpe Award are examples for excellence for other organizations.

This award is presented after rigorous evaluation to recognize organizations that have achieved management and operations performance excellence. Only 89 organizations have earned awards since 1992 from the Florida Sterling Council—the organization that orchestrates the Georgia Oglethorpe Award. The awards are “presented annually to high performing, role-model organizations, both private and public, that demonstrate superior management approaches and role model results,” according to the Florida Sterling Council.


Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Makes an Impact

Founded in 1950, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is a 633-bed hospital, anchoring the regional medical center located in Marietta, Georgia, and is part of the nationally recognized non-profit Wellstar Health System. The hospital serves hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and consistently demonstrates high performance levels across all metrics, including quality, safety, satisfaction, and operations.

Wellstar invests consistently in new innovations that help address vital healthcare needs, such as Georgia’s first CyberKnife®, TomoTherapy® and da Vinci® robotic surgical systems.

As one of only three Level II trauma centers in Metro Atlanta, and part of the state’s largest trauma network, Wellstar Kennestone operates the second busiest emergency department (ED) in Georgia and the eighth busiest ED in the U.S., caring for more than 138,000 patients per year. The new ED is slated to open late June 2020 and will be one of the top two largest and busiest EDs in the nation, serving up to 600 patients per day and 220,000 patients each year at full capacity, doubling the current trauma and emergency capacity. The 263,000-square-foot facility will include dedicated isolation and decontamination rooms that can be used for patients who present with infectious disease, behavioral health, or chemical contamination issues and multiple entrances for different levels of patient severity. Offering a dedicated pediatric ED and many industry-leading features and processes, the new ED dramatically enhances access for Georgians to vital healthcare needs and will be a model for best practices in emergency services, both for the region and nationally.


Celebrating 70 Years of Compassionate Care

Today, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is honored to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The hospital was founded in 1950 to serve the needs of the rapidly growing Cobb County community, which had tripled in the ten years prior. The May 21, 1950 edition of the Marietta Daily Journal stated the facilities “are said to be among the best available in hospital circles in the Southeast”—a fact that stands true today. For the last 70 years, the hospital has been a pinnacle in the Marietta community and is a destination hospital for North Georgia and neighboring states.

“Every birthday that we celebrate not only signifies our maturity in age but also our advancement in serving our community,” said Mary Chatman, executive vice president of Wellstar Health System and president of Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and Wellstar Windy Hill Hospital. “We, the more than 5,000 employees of Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, are proud to be the healthcare choice for many patients, from the beginning of life, when we celebrate birth, to the end of life, when we demonstrate dignity.”

The hospital’s longest-tenured team member and unofficial historian, Joyce McMurrain, has worked at Kennestone for almost 55 years. Joyce began her career as a staff nurse in the maternity unit and has served in many roles. McMurrain is currently the nurse manager for professional practice and helps to guide rising senior nursing students. “One of my proudest accomplishments is helping Wellstar to re-shape and re-structure women's health services,” said McMurrain. “The hospital moved from a traditional maternity model to a modern family-centered approach that provides women greater access, support, decision-making in the delivery process, childbirth, and care.” She credits her longevity to her credo of believing that we are all connected and that service makes a significant difference in people's lives.

Chatman and McMurrain join Wellstar Kennestone Hospital team members in celebrating this significant milestone 70th anniversary, knowing that the hospital will continue to provide compassionate care for the communities it serves for years to come.

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Ashley was able to recover from cardiac arrest and walk down the aisle.

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In March of 2021, Ashley Martin suffered cardiac arrest, which kills about 90% of people when it happens outside of a hospital. Thankfully, she was already at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center receiving the compassionate care she’d been seeking to address a long list of symptoms.

Everything began at a hectic time in Ashley’s life. She was 30 and had just gotten engaged. Wedding planning had started with the help of her fiancé and their two young boys. The hope had been to have the wedding toward the end of 2021. But the unexpected happened.

“I was always healthy,” she said. “I grew up playing sports. I was a runner. I used to get headaches, but that was the extent of my medical history.”

Finding the right care when there is more than one symptom

Symptoms of what would ultimately be diagnosed as Guillain-Barré syndrome began in February of 2021. This rare neurological disorder causes the body’s immune system to attack the nerves. 

Ashley started experiencing tingling in the tips of her hands and feet, which moved up her legs and arms as days passed. When intermittent numbness became a symptom, Ashley went to a hospital near her Peachtree City home. A clean CT and MRI meant she went home with plans to see a rheumatologist.

As she waited for her first appointment, she started feeling numbness in her feet.

“At one point, I took a step down the stairs and went tumbling down to the concrete floor,” Ashley said. 

On another trip to the hospital near her home, Ashley was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, but treatment was unsuccessful. The numbness continued, spreading to her face. She began using a walker and, soon after, a wheelchair.

“The paralysis had moved to my abdomen,” Ashley said. “I went to sleep one night and woke up abruptly gasping for air.”

Compassionate medical care at a pivotal point

 Later that night, an ambulance brought Ashley to Wellstar Kennestone, where she would finally get the specialized neuro care she desperately needed. She was admitted to the Neurocritical Care unit, staffed by physicians, nurses and a medical team with specialized training in neurological conditions.

Upon arrival, she underwent respiratory failure due to paralysis spreading to her diaphragm. She was stabilized, but shortly after that, she experienced sudden cardiac arrest — the abrupt loss of heart function that stops blood flow to the body.

After a critical care nurse administered CPR, Ashley’s heart started beating again. Life support medications were given to keep her heart pumping.

“The neuro ICU nurses and doctors saved my life,” she said.

Later, her attending neurologist explained that the stress of her nervous system and immune system fighting, paired with respiratory failure, caused such high stress that she had a cardiac arrest.

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Exterior photo of Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center. Wellstar and Joint Commission logos.

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Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center Receives Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification

Wellstar Health System announced today that The Joint Commission recognized Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, the most demanding stroke certification recognizing hospitals that have specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases. With two of the eight Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Georgia, Wellstar Health System now offers stroke patients greater access to the highest level of stroke and aneurysm care. Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center is also Joint Commission certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center.

“For years, we have provided world-class stroke care for each and every patient when they need it most. This designation represents how hard we have worked to provide the very best quality care for patients in North Fulton County and across Georgia. We’re proud that our work and subsequent positive patient outcomes are being recognized,” said Dr. Michael Mendoza, medical director of the Stroke Program at Wellstar North Fulton.

Wellstar North Fulton’s certification allows more Georgians to have access to the most advance diagnostics and treatments for cerebrovascular disease such as stroke. This is important because Georgia is located in the Stroke Belt, which is comprised of 11 states in the Southeast where the associated mortality rate for stroke patients is 10 percent above the national average.

At Wellstar North Fulton and Wellstar Kennestone, patients have access to advanced diagnostics and therapies to care for even the most complicated strokes faster and more effectively. These include:

  • Neuro Intensive Care Units –  A multidisciplinary team of physicians and nurses who specialize in neurocritical care.
  • Minimally-invasive treatment – Wellstar is one of only four programs in the state that offer neuroendovascular treatment, such as minimally-invasive clot retrieval, patients can be provided with a much less invasive treatment technique.
  • Cutting-edge imaging – Neurointerventional biplane imaging shows detailed, 3D views of blood vessels in the brain. This allows neurosurgeons to flip neuroendovascular cases to an open neurosurgical case when needed.
  • Pioneering technology – Wellstar North Fulton was among the first hospitals in the country to use the groundbreaking Artemis Neuro Evacuation device to treat brain bleeds, a condition that was nearly impossible to treat in the past.
  • Around-the-clock care – Artificial intelligence such as VizAi allows quicker identification of patients who are candidates for thrombectomy and organizes care in a connected system by quicker response to identify and provide care as quickly as possible.

“Our team of neurosurgeons, neurocritical care physicians, neuroradiologists, advanced practice practitioners and nurses work together to perform world-class thrombectomies, aneurysm treatments, carotid surgeries and cerebral bypass procedures so that patients can regain their best quality of life. Additionally, our dedicated hybrid neurovascular suite is equipped with innovative bi-plane technology. This allows neurosurgeons to view highly detailed images of brain vessels, so we as a team can customize treatments in real time,” said Dr. Arthur Grigorian, neurosurgeon, Wellstar North Fulton.

“When you have a stroke, every second counts. Getting fast, expert stroke care can mean the difference between life, death, or lasting brain damage. We are proud to receive this prestigious certification at Wellstar North Fulton, informing the surrounding community that they don’t have to go far to receive the best treatment possible. We will continue to work hard to provide an interdisciplinary, innovative, and compassionate approach to safe and quality comprehensive stroke care to all the communities we serve,” said Jon-Paul Croom, president, Wellstar North Fulton and senior vice president, Wellstar Health System.

Wellstar is a leading provider of stroke and aneurysm services in Georgia and performs one of the highest numbers of thrombectomy and aneurysm treatments in the country. The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit organization that accredits more than 22,000 healthcare organizations and programs.

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Doing good CPR is critical to save someone from cardiac arrest.

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There aren’t many people out there who can say they survived cardiac arrest at 30. Kevin Miskewicz can.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 90% of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. Those who survive often have permanent neurological disabilities. But Kevin’s story has an incredibly fortunate ending, thanks to the highly coordinated work of his medical experts at Wellstar.

Recovering from cardiac arrest is something Kevin will never forget. It lives forever as a piece of his health history — one that includes a dedicated healthcare team — and his wife, who was the first to save his life.

There aren’t many people out there who can say they survived cardiac arrest at 30. Kevin can.

CPR to the rescue

Kevin woke up on Labor Day 2017 at 5:30 a.m. to take the dog out. Pausing to adjust the thermostat as he came in, he fell, knocking over a lamp.

He was in cardiac arrest.

With no symptoms and no known pre-existing condition, this was unexpected, but that didn’t stop his wife, Andrea, from jumping into action.

“If it weren’t for me knocking over a lamp when I passed out,” said Kevin, “she would have never woken up and saved my life.”

In addition to calling 911 and unlocking the door for the paramedics, Andrea performed CPR for 10 minutes.

“Kevin’s wife doing good CPR was critical,” said Dr. Arthur Reitman, the interventional cardiologist who was a vital part of Kevin’s treatment team at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center. “More than five minutes of poor blood flow to the brain can result in permanent irreparable injury from which a patient is unable to recover.”

Coordinating multidisciplinary care to save a life

When paramedics arrived at Kevin’s home, he had no pulse and was not breathing. As the paramedics performed their lifesaving work, he technically died two times.

The ambulance took him to Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center, where he was initially assessed and treated by Dr. David Jacoboff. The interventional cardiologist implanted an intra-aortic balloon pump to stabilize him. Then, he transferred Kevin to Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center for highly specialized heart care.

When Kevin arrived at Kennestone by helicopter, his heart function wasn’t strong enough to support his body. Dr. Reitman and a team of doctors including a cardiologist, a pulmonologist and critical care doctors worked in tandem to put Kevin on an advanced life support system called veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Better known as VA-ECMO, it took the heart “offline” so it could heal. The technology removed unoxygenated blood from his body, oxygenated it and pumped it back in for the next three days.

“Very few places in the state — only four or five hospitals — have the technology and specialized training to put a patient on ECMO,” Dr. Reitman explained.

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