DEMOPOLIS &8212; A.G. McCampbell, state representative for District 71, was present at Thursday&8217;s hospital board meeting to congratulate the Tombigbee Healthcare System on receiving the 2007 Johnson&Johnson Community Healthcare Award.

According to the Johnson&Johnson website, &8220;the award is presented annually to organizations that demonstrate excellence in providing innovative community health-based services that meet the needs of the medically underserved. Award recipients will be given a two-year grant as well as sustainability-enhancing support services from doctoral students affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.&8221; The award was given in recognition of the work the hospital has done to cope with refugees of Hurricane Katrina.

In addition to this national recognition, the hospital will be featured in next month&8217;s edition of Health Executive magazine. The publication chooses a facility to profile each month, and they have chosen to feature Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital for their June issue.

Mike Marshall, CEO and administrator for BWWMH, reports that overall April was a very good month for the hospital. &8220;Our revenues and expenses are where they need to be,&8221; he said.

They have also been working diligently to recruit some new physicians to come to BWWMH. Those under consideration are Dr. Clifford Game, a radiologist that currently practices in Scottsboro and Dr. Stacey Good, a family practitioner that received her medical degree from the University of South Alabama. They have also begun the search for a new pediatrician.

Marshall also announced that they will be taking over operations at a facility in Druid City, which will save the hospital approximately $80,000 this month. He projects that the decision could produce a projected yearly savings of approximately $1.2 million.

Marshall also reports that the orthopedics division has been able to make use of the recently acquired hip and knee arthroplasty table, which enables the surgeon to replace the hip through a single incision. They are one of only two facilities in the state that can perform this procedure for hip replacement surgery. The other is at the South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley.

The hospital has also recently purchased a system of interpretation phones. These phones can be used to help with patients that do not speak English by connecting with an interpreter immediately. The phones have interpreters for 150 languages.

Other projects underway for the hospital include:

Injury camps in the fall aimed at football related injuries on Friday nights.

12 different pending grant proposals.

A research study partnering with a UAB doctoral student that focuses on the caretaking of aging rural citizens.