Healthcare Technology for Rural Communities; Gainesville, Tx

[music] I was here, probably right here, moving this thing back – and whenever it came off the side the Grainway. The terrain, was down and it tapped the corner of that Grainway, and I ended up kind of underneath the axle, and this here on top of me. And that was one of the things, my request to my grandson and my wife: 'Can't you all lift that thing off of me?' [laughs] The forward one is probably the one which hit me and knocked me in the coo-coo. A great-nephew happened to drive the ambulance that came here. And he picked up the call, when my wife called it in. And he recognized – 'County Rd 409-570' And he said: 'My Lord, that's Ray's house.' December 2006 I went for a mammogram. They said: 'There is something suspicious there.' The radiologist came out within minutes and he said: 'I think you need to have a biopsy done.' You have ductal carcinoma inside 2 – cancer in both ***. They caught it very, very, very early. >>Everyone – at some time in their life will become ill or injured and they are going to need a medical facility. It is something that is scary. It's something that you don't do everyday. So, the thing that makes that work for people is... those words of comfort: 'Don't worry.' 'The test will just take a few minutes and we have the top technology here to tell us, what we're looking for to get you to feel better.' >>Gainesville used to be a little spot on the river. There was a tale about someone finally throwing down a whiskey jug and saying: 'This is were Gainesville is going to be.' >>It's a rural community. It's about 70 to 80 miles north of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. If you walk around, it's a typical Texas community. You are going to see a lot of boots, you are going to see a lot of pickup trucks... >>We were born and bred from cotton, cattle and you know what? We live a little slower life, we are not in a big hurry, just more relaxing. Blood pressure is down. >>When I first started here at the hospital, it was an 80 bed facility. It was two stories, located in a residential area of Cook county. 2002 we went big. We decided we were going to build a brand new facility out there in the middle of a pasture in Gainesville, Texas, to serve our county. And we wanted the best technology, the best doctors – we were not going to stop, until we had that. >>I was going to Oklahoma to look at a couple places and was passing through. And I said: 'Let me stop by in Gainesville and look at the hospital.' And I was impressed, that for the small town of Gainesville – the equipment that they had – including the CAT scans, the ultrasounds, the nuclear medicine, I was impressed, that such a small town was able to provide all the technology. That's when I made up my mind that I was going to stay in Gainesville. >>The equipment they use here is the same equipment they use in Dallas, New York City, Los Angeles. Oftentimes in small towns such as Gainesville we may have better equipment, than we do at some of the larger hospitals, that we cover. >>It's just amazing – the quality of the images, that we get. It's like you are in surgery. It's like you have opened them up and you are looking at it. It's like Star Trek. >>This is a 64 slice Siemens CT scanner. In this day and time everyone is concerned about radiation doses. 64 slice CT scan allows you to take fewer repeat images due to less motion artefacts. Less repeats that means less radiation dose. >>The story with Siemens is very simple: You could have the best. There are companies that are willing to work with you and make it happen. >>We are probably the second oldest county in Texas. >>We do have an older population here and that brings special challenges to us. >>A lot of the people, that I see here, who get cardiac scans here, are 75 and 78 years old, who still working in farming everyday, 8 to 10 hours a day. >>For an elderly patient, which is a big part of our population, the comfort level, that we get through the Siemens equipment, that we have here, is great. >>We want to be able to see the image quickly, that gives us the information we need to take care of a patient. Sometimes it is not life and death. Sometimes it is, and the minutes do count. >>I think I was watching the Cowboy game and it was late at night, it was 11:30 and I fell in the bathroom and I hit my head on something and they did all the tests. The MRI came out and he said: 'You have a broken neck.' >>He had broken the C1, which is the first part of your vertebrae, which contains all nerves and what have you. They sent him to the trauma center. >>I am still doing well. >>Still doing puzzles. >>I am still doing puzzles, I am bowling again. [wife laughs] >>I was shaving and I noticed a lump in my throat, a minor lump. My wife constantly said: 'Hey, go to the doctor and get it checked.' And I said 'okay' and went to the doctor. He sent me to Texas North Medical Center. They did all the tests, all the scanning, needle aspiration, the sonograms and every kind of test you could have to check it. That was when it was diagnosed that I had cancer. And within the next day or two I had the cancer removed. >>There are some people that have the mindset, that people in small towns are stuck here. And if we could we would move somewhere else, but... I moved somewhere else and chose – to come back. >>'I love you.' >>'I love you, too.' Jackson is our first child. We had him on October 25th, 2007 at North Texas Medical Center. I felt we got very personalized care. They told us everything we needed to know. We came out unscathed. >>Providing medical care for the citizens of a smaller community – it's rewarding. The people, you see day-in and day-out, you see them around town. It feels good to be able to provide them a good quality imaging services. >>I have taken care of the grandparents, the parents, the children, and the grandchildren. So, that is the best part of our being in a small town: You get to know the whole family, not just one person out of the many. >>And people approach you: 'Do you remember my ultrasound, that you read?' 'What do you thing about those gallstones?' >>You talk about equipment, that does stuff, that blow your dress up. It's hard to imagine for an old person like me, who has been doing this for a long time and started out with different films in a tank... >>The grass is not greener always down the road. For a lot of small community hospitals might think they can't have the best. And we are here to show you that you can have the best. >>I have been cancer-free for 3 and a half years. We keep having positive test results and that's great. Every 6 months – as long as we keep getting that, we are very happy. >>There is a silver lining in every cloud. I have been trying to look for the bright side in everything. It's warm out here, but it could be worse. It could be raining on us. It could be hotter. [laughing] It's a beautiful way of life. I love the fade-out in the evening and just watch everything. It's just in me – I can't explain it.