More than a dozen people work in the Imaging Department at Great Bend Regional Hospital, serving thousands of patients each year. The physician-owned hospital offers six different modalities in Radiology, with each modality requiring the technologists to learn different physics, plus special anatomy features. While difficult, this doesn’t stop the hospital’s staff from pursuing continuing education whenever possible.
“In the past year, we have had many of our technologists pass new Board exams, which allows them to register in multiple modalities,” says Bill Henderson, Imaging Department Supervisor. “The advantage of working in a rural hospital like ours is that these technologists are more highly trained and have a more diverse range of experience. It means that the patients who are seen here are in the best possible hands in one of the most cross-trained imaging departments around.”
Tammy Field-Kempton recently passed her Computed Tomography (CT) Boards, and her colleague Jessica Kelly also passed the CT Boards after passing her MRI Boards less than six months ago. “It takes a lot of time and dedication to study and pass a new Board exam,” Henderson says. “We are proud of our department and the employees who go above and beyond to better themselves professionally.”
While there are hundreds of healthcare facilities around the Midwest with thousands of radiologic technologists, there are only a select few people who are registered as a Bone Densitometry (BD) Technologist. GBRH employee Nicole Staudinger recently passed her BD Boards, making her one of only 33 in Kansas registered to perform Dexa scans. These precision tests are used to test bone density and strength.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at six years old, so I’ve been involved in healthcare since I was a child. I always knew I had a passion to help other people in the medical field, and furthering my education allows me to help more patients,” Staudinger says. Nicole lives in Hoisington with her husband and their 4-year-old son, Colton, who was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the last few months. Nicole has worked at Great Bend Regional Hospital for six years.
“Dexa scans require a lot of accuracy and precision so that the software can take consistent measurements of the patient’s bones,” Staudinger says. “I am a very detail-oriented person, so Dexa scans came naturally to me. I am also working on passing my CT Boards.”
Other diagnostic tests available at Great Bend Regional Hospital include MRI, CT, Digital X-Ray and Mammography, Ultrasound, and Nuclear Medicine. In 2015, the Imaging Department performed nearly 20,000 imaging tests, which was up from the previous year.
Imaging Department Employees & Certifications
Beagley, Jessica R.T. (R)(CT) RDMS (AB)(BR)(OBGYN) RVT (VT)
Dreiling, Ashley R.T. (R)(CT)(MR)
Field-Kempton, Tammy R.T. (R)(CT)
Harders, Tiffany R.T. (R)(M)(CT)
Henderson, Bill R.T. (R)(CT)
Kelly, Jessica R.T.(R)(CT)(MR)
Klepper, Lisa RDMS (AB)(OBGYN) RVT (VT)
Polaikis, Rachel R.T. (R)
Munz, Debbie R.T. (R) RDMS (OBGYN) RDCS (AE)
Ramirez, Daniel R.T. (R)(CT) CNMT
Schwamborn, Crystal R.T. (R)
Staudinger, Nicole R.T. (R)(BD)
Stewart, Clay R.T. (R) RDMS (AB)(BR)(NE)(OBGYN) RVT (VT) RDCS (AE)(PE)
Werth, Mahlia R.T. (R)
About Great Bend Regional Hospital
Great Bend Regional Hospital is a state-of-the-art 33-bed physician owned hospital offering emergency and urgent care services, orthopedics and general surgery, obstetrics and pediatrics, imaging and diagnostics, respiratory therapy, physical and occupational therapy, an in-house laboratory, and more. Learn more at www.gbregional.com. And be sure to like the Great Bend Regional Hospital page on Facebook. “Committed to and caring for the community!”
