CCH honors occupational therapists

In celebrating April Occupational Therapy Month, Castro County Healthcare has been honoring personnel who work in the field for Castro County.

Occupational therapists include Luis, Cruz, OTA, dedicated to helping the residents at Country View Living; and Mary Crow, OTR, MOT; and Christina Pantoja, OTA.

The Medical Center of Dimmitt is currently vaccinating anyone 18 and older. The clinic has both the Moderna (2 dose series) and the Johnson and Johnson (1 dose series). Call 806-647-2194 to schedule a time.

Peggy Birkenfeld, FNP-C announced her retirement, effective at the end of April. Birkenfeld has eight and half years of service at The Dimmitt Medical Center.

In April, Castro County Healthcare District (CCHD) welcomed Rita McDaniel, BSN, RN, to the team as the Chronic Care Manager. The Dimmitt native comes back to her roots with the purpose of providing CCHD’s patients with the best care possible for everyone involved in the patients care.

Chronic Care is defined as the non-face-to-face services provided by Medicare beneficiaries who have two or more significant, chronic conditions expecting to last 12 months. McDaniel helps chronic care patients coordinate their visits with their doctors and specialists, facilities, lab, radiology, or other testing that may be needed. She will also make sure that their primary care physician and any specialist know how each are handling the patient’s care.

There are multiple ways that McDaniel can assist those in the chronic care program including speaking to her patients on the phone about their symptoms, helping manage their medications, answering questions patients may have about their healthcare, and providing them with a care plan.

“My goal is to provide my patients with the best care possible,” said McDaniel. “To keep them out of the hospital and minimize costs and inconvenience to them due to unnecessary visits to the doctors, emergency rooms, labs, or hospitals. Their time and health are valuable to us [CCHD], because we care.”

McDaniel came to CCHD with years of experience in the field of nursing and medical care. She worked for Northwest Texas Healthcare Emergency Room in Amarillo for five years, the Amarillo Heart Group in the cath lab for one and half years, Hereford Regional Medical Center as a house supervisor and ER/ICU department manager for three years, Parmer Medical Center as the Assistant Director of Nurses and Informatician for their EMR for Nursing, Infection Control, and Employee Health. She has also been the Director of Nurses in two different nursing home facilities.

While in high school in Dimmitt, Texas, McDaniel worked at Plains Memorial Hospital as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and as a registered nurse (RN) on the floor. She received her Associate degree in Nursing in May of 2001 and then received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Angelo State University in December 2008. In her spare time, she enjoys being with her family and grandchildren, sewing, grooming the yard, and gardening.

“I came back to Castro County Healthcare as the Chronic Care Manager to utilize my nursing skills and knowledge to take care of patients in my community,” said McDaniel. “It is great to be able to work with people that I have known for a long time.”

As a patient with two or more chronic conditions, people may benefit from this program at Plains Memorial Hospital. For more information on examples of chronic conditions, cost, Medicare coverage, please contact 806-647-8729.