Compassionate Care. Close to home.

CH -F Services Reminder

            Community Hospital-Fairfax would like to remind patients about some of the important services it provides.

            According to the Center for Disease Control, colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States. The organization states that if everybody aged 50 or older had regular colonoscopy tests, as many as 60 percent of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented. Others who need to have regular tests include those with a family history of colorectal cancer.

            Dr. Aron Burke has performed colonoscopies for 10 years.

            “It’s a satisfying part of my practice to perform this service because it can mean preventing colon cancer for my patients,” Dr. Burke says.

            He also wants patients to know that a colonoscopy is a simple procedure that won’t intervene with their every-day lives.

            “Most patients come in around eight in the morning and are home in time for lunch,” he explains. He also pointed out that the medication used during the procedure allows the patient to feel no pain but wears off quickly enough that the patient can go back to their normal life shortly after the exam.

            Also on Community Hospital-Fairfax’s list of outpatient procedures are cataract surgeries and carpal tunnel releases.

            Cataract surgeries are what OR Nurse Manager Betty Goins calls “walk in, walk out” procedures. The very common procedure is done with local anesthetic; the patient is at the hospital for approximately two hours.

            Individuals should talk to their eye care provider about choosing Community Hospital-Fairfax for their cataract surgery. Fairfax citizen Pat Fisher chose to have her procedure done locally and was pleased with her experience at Community Hospital-Fairfax.

            “I love the convenience of being so close to home and I was comfortable because of the kind and compassionate care I received from the staff,” she says.

            A carpal tunnel release procedure is also done with local anesthetic and is short outpatient procedure that is common at Community Hospital-Fairfax. The procedure releases the carpal ligament to relieve the pressure on the nerve that causes numbness and pain.

            The condition is most common with people who perform repetitive motions with their hands.

            Goins explains that this procedure is also a very short outpatient surgery.

These services provided at Community Hospital-Fairfax are just some of the ways the hospital is bringing compassionate care close to home for the Northwest Missouri area.