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MERITUS STORIES
Meritus employees among group who brought man ‘back to life’
When a Falling Waters, WV, man suffered a heart attack, training kicked in for the medical professionals Scotty Bair had just planned on going to the Williamsport Red Men Tribe 84 that Wednesday night for a drawing and to get something to eat. It turned into a harrowing experience that, if not for the presence of several medial professionals that included two Meritus Medical Center clinical educators, could have ended in the Falling Waters, West Virginia, man’s death. “You don’t think about who is where you’re at and why,” Bair said, days later from his room in the Meritus Intensive Care Unit. “But I know one thing. They brought me back to life.” Theda Dofflemyer and Shannon Crilly, both registered nurses who have obtained advanced degrees that allow them to teach nursing curricula, were at the Red Men separately that night, along with an off-duty paramedic and a few other medical professionals. Bair said he doesn’t remember much from the evening, but Crilly said Bair had fallen out of his chair. “He just went down,” Dofflemyer said, adding later that she learned Bair wasn’t having any pain or shortness of breath before the incident. The nurses and medical professionals made their way to him individually and found he didn’t have a pulse. Training kicked in, and each medical professional took on a role in helping to revive Bair. “It was just a calm experience,” Crilly said. “Everyone was calm. We’ve all had experience doing this. We all knew our roles.” Dofflemyer said she asked a waitress if the club had an automated external defibrillator, or AED, which gives electric shocks to the heart to restore its normal rhythm. Moments later, the waitress returned from the kitchen carrying the device. After doing chest compressions and using the AED, they felt a pulse and Bair began to come around. All told, it was about six minutes they worked on Bair. An ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital. “It was like divine intervention that we were all there,” Crilly said. Bair, who said he was to get a pacemaker for his heart after the incident, agreed. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am that even one of them was there,” he said. “Thank goodness they were. They did a good job.” Dofflemyer was glad to hear that Bair was doing better, but said she didn’t feel special for what she did. “I don’t think I did anything that anyone else wouldn’t have done in that situation,” she said.
NEWS & UPDATES
Dr. Maulik Interview with News Talk 103.7 FM
In case you missed it, Meritus President and CEO Maulik Joshi was on 103.7 FM's Drive at 5 with Allison Trobaugh on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. They talked about what Meritus Health has done over the past five years to better serve patients across the community. They also spoke about what's to come in the next five years. Visit https://soundcloud.com/newstalk1037fm/14-january-2025-dr-maulik-joshi-and-meritus-health to hear the interview.
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Family Birthing Center at Meritus strives to ensure healthy baby, mom
The Family Birthing Center at Meritus Medical Center welcomed 1,997 babies in 2024. That’s an almost 11 percent increase from the 1,801 babies birthed at the hospital in 2023. And U.S. News & World Report recently named Meritus a High Performing hospital in Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) for 2024. “I think our Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum unit is special,” said Ellen Curry, clinical manager of the Family Birthing Center. “Our staff is phenomenal. I think it’s about the environment, support and respect we give our moms.” Proper support is important for moms and infants, especially in the child’s first few days of life. The World Health Organization notes that babies who are protected from injury and infection, are able to breathe normally, and are properly warm and fed are less likely to have other health issues during the first month of life. The Family Birthing Center at Meritus has been designed to provide that good start. For example, many other hospitals have two units — labor, delivery and recovery, and postpartum. At Meritus, the mother stays in one room the entire time. Her baby stays in the room with her after birth, and select family, like fathers, can stay as well. The birthing center has 20 LDRP rooms, plus 12 other rooms that can be used for consultations or performing C-sections. Additionally, Curry said 90 percent of vaginal deliveries at the hospital are attended by midwives. “That’s unique,” she said. “A midwife’s training is, compared to physicians and surgeons, as birth experts.” That’s not to say that physicians and surgeons aren’t experts in their field, she noted. “Midwives have a different approach,” Curry said, adding that physicians are at the ready should the need arise for more help. That has been especially important as more pregnant mothers coming to the hospital with certain acuities — for example, high blood pressure or diabetes. The birthing center also has expert care at the ready should the newborn need it. The Special Care Nursery, a level two neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, can treat many conditions seen in infants in their first days of life. This eliminates the need to travel outside the area, Curry said. Caring for patients isn’t limited to inside the hospital. Because breastfeeding provides numerous benefits to both child and mother, the birthing center has lactation consultants available 24 hours a day, regardless of whether the patients are still in the hospital. And before patients even come to the hospital, a staff nurse goes into the community through different organizations to build relationships, especially with those who are coming from a disadvantaged background. “We try to meet people where they are,” Curry said. “We respect people, their cultures and backgrounds, who they are as people and what kind of care they need to make them healthy. Doing so improves the chances of having a healthy pregnancy, healthy delivery and healthy baby.”
Heather Markell named Meritus chief nursing officer
Washington County native brings 20 years of experience to position Heather Markell, MSN, RN, CEN, has been named Meritus Medical Center chief nursing officer effective Jan. 6. Markell, who served as interim CNO for the past few months, brings more than 20 years of diverse clinical and leadership experience to the role. “I am thrilled to announce Heather as our new chief nursing officer,” said Meritus Chief Operating Officer Carrie Adams, Pharm.D. “She has demonstrated her leadership through a variety of roles in the nursing division dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration and continuous improvement throughout the organization.” With a clinical background in emergency nursing, operations and leadership, Markell most recently held the roles of director of clinical operations for the Division of Nursing as well as director of emergency services, trauma and forensics. Markell holds a Master of Science in nursing with a focus in executive nurse leadership and holds clinical certification in emergency nursing. “I am proud to be chief nursing officer of Meritus Medical Center, a place where I’ve spent most of my career,” said Markell, a Boonsboro High School graduate. “I am committed to our nursing staff and our patients, driving innovative strategies that work toward the organization’s mission of improving the health of the community.”
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