PARKINS-GUZZARDO RECOGNIZED FOR SERVICE TO MDH BOARD

Paulette Parkins-Guzzardo of Macomb was recently recognized for her 15 years of service on the McDonough District Hospital Board of Directors.

Chairman of the MDH Board of Directors, Dr. Donald Dexter, and MDH President/CEO, Stephen R. Hopper, acknowledged Parkins-Guzzardo’s service at the December MDH Board meeting with a recognition plaque. She was first appointed to the board in 1995, serving consecutive terms through 2009. During her tenure she served on the Administrative Committee and the Professional Advisory Committee of the Home Health/Hospice Department.

Parkins-Guzzardo praised the hospital staff for providing a personal approach to providing medical services for a community with a range of demographics from the older aging population to younger residents.

“MDH has served both ends of the age spectrum well,” she said. “The challenge for the hospital is to continue to provide a wide range of services in a community that has not experienced much growth since the early 1980s.”

Looking back on her 15 years on the MDH Board she mentioned some of the service and facility changes. The Frensenius Medical Care Macomb/Dialysis Center, located just south of the hospital, next to the Westervelt Home, is a cooperative venture between MDH and the provider. The five-station center provides hemodialysis 12 hours a day, six days a week, and serves patients in need of cleansing blood because their kidneys no longer function properly. Until the center was located near MDH, the nearest service was located at least one hour from Macomb.

During her tenure, the Medical Arts building (formerly Passmore building) just east of the hospital was added to the MDH campus. The facility is now the current location for Home Health and Hospice services at MDH and is also used by visiting physicians. The sleep study clinic was established during her years of service and increases in charity care for those in need were provided by the hospital in recent years, she noted.

Prior to her appointment to the MDH Board, Parkins-Guzzardo served as a member of the McDonough County Board for six years, from 1988 until 1995.