Newsroom Archive

When Mary Starr started working at JPS in 1954, her job was to flip burgers in the snack bar.

It didn’t take long before her career was the thing that was turned upside down, however. After only six months on the job she left her spatula and apron behind to become a nurse’s aide.

JPS Health Network has joined with pharmaceutical company NeuroRX to conduct clinical trials of a drug program that has the potential to greatly reduce the number suicides among people struggling with bipolar disorder.

According to Dr. Cynthia Claassen, Director of Research and Education at the health network, the work is groundbreaking because there is currently no indicated drug therapy specifically for people with bipolar depression including suicidal inclinations. Suicide has become a nationwide problem, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area is no exception.

The efforts of a JPS Health Network social worker have made all the difference for one homeless Fort Worth resident who, until recently, just couldn’t seem to stay out of the hospital.

Organizers are hopeful a June blood drive at JPS health Network will draw a big crowd of donors, building up vital reserves to last through the summer months.

The time of year when kids are out of school is the time when collecting blood is the most difficult, according to Vickie Carpenter, Operation Manager of Recruitment at Dallas-Fort Worth blood bank Carter BloodCare. It’s also the time when blood is the most needed because people are traveling and moving about, increasing the number of traumatic accidents that occur on area roadways.

JPS Health Network residents – as well as representatives from nine other healthcare organizations across the Dallas-Fort Worth region – got together June 7 to inspire and challenge each other to new heights.

It was all part of the JPS Research Symposium which this year featured 115 presenters, about double the total from the previous year. The theme was “Fostering Health Equity through Research and Practice,” according to Tricia Elliott, Senior Vice President for Medical, Academic and Research Affairs

Arlington resident Jerry Bitner is a very fortunate man – although it didn’t seem like it when he arrived at JPS Health Network in January with his body covered in painful sores.

When patients have questions about seizures, nerve issues or breathing problems, the team in the JPS Health Network Neurodiagnostic Testing Department is dedicated to finding the answers their doctors need to make them better.

Machines operated by experienced physicians and technicians can track down the source of the troubles, helping to fine tune medication or, in some cases, directing surgeons where to work to give the patient relief.

Dr. Linda Siy, a physician based at JPS Health Network’s Medical Home Northeast Tarrant, has been honored for her work mentoring medical students.

The Texas Medical Association’s (TMA) Medical Student Section presented Siy with the 2019 C. Frank Webber, MD, Award during the organization’s annual conference, TexMed, which was held in Dallas.

“I’ve always taught third-year medical students for as long as I can remember and it’s something I enjoy,” Siy said. “To be recognized for something I truly enjoy is a gift.”

As record numbers of patients flood the John Peter Smith Hospital Emergency Department, JPS Health Network leaders have, for the second time in a month, declared a Code Yellow emergency situation.

“We are on pace to see 10,750 patients this month,” said Jesse DeWaard, Executive Director of Emergency Management Services at JPS. “This would be the most ever. Our biggest number of visits in one day stands at 427. In addition, our Psychiatric Emergency Center is seeing record numbers.”

No one wants to have to receive chemotherapy treatments.

But patients at the new JPS Health Network Oncology and Infusion Center said on its opening day they’re excited the improved facilities will make getting care a whole lot easier and more comfortable.