MDNews - San Antonio

Acuity Hospital of South Texas is pleased to announce the promotion of Melissa Low, RN, MSN, to Chief Executive Officer. Low joined Acuity Hospital in June 2017 as chief clinical officer, providing leadership, professional development and quality care and enhancing the compassionate culture of car - ing that Acuity Hospital of South Texas is known for. Low's career in San Antonio has centered on emer - gency department leadership and trauma program development. Previously, she served as director of adult emergency services for Methodist Hospital; interim chief nursing officer, administrative director of emergency and trauma services, and level III trauma director for North Central Baptist Hospital of San Antonio; and as the emergency department nurse manager and trauma program manager at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System in San Antonio. She has extensive experience as an intensive nurse specialist with Humana hospitals in Florida and San Antonio as well as Frye Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. Additionally, she served as the secretary for the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council's (STRAC) Executive Committee and held numerous leadership roles with STRAC's Emergency Management Committee, Cardiac Committee, and the Trauma and Emergency Services committees. She is an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association, American Nurses Association and the American Organization of Nurse Executives. Low has the certitude and a strategy to promote patient and family choice concerning discharge options. "Everyone has a right to make an educated choice concerning the discharge options available to them when discharging from the hospital," she says. She's in the process of transitioning Acuity medical staff to an "all-inclusive/open" medi - cal staff, which allows an increased number of physicians to continue to follow their patients at Acuity. "Physicians should be assured they'll get patients returned to their care when they discharge from any hospital setting. That currently isn't the case," Low says. "We're implementing a program to ensure physicians are able to monitor their patients' progress and that they'll be notified when a patient is discharged and to where. "Long-term acute care is a vital component to the patient care continuum," Low contin - ues. "Having worked in emergency services for many years, I witnessed how the flow of patients entering the hospital is linked to the ability to discharge patients to the appropriate level of care they require at that time. Acuity has the experience and expertise to provide quality care for medically complex patients allowing a longer period of time to heal in a caring and compassionate environment." Acuity Hospital of South Texas is a long-term acute care hospital, with 30 private licensed beds, located in downtown San Antonio. Acuity was awarded the AACN Beacon Award for Excellence — the only long-term acute care hospital in San Antonio to receive this recognition. Low grew up in the hill country near Llano and currently resides in San Antonio with her hus - band and two children who are in college. She holds a Master of Science degree in Nursing and Management from Walden University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas San Antonio, and she earned her Associate of Science in Nursing degree from Angelo State University. ■ T O W N A R O U ND 1 4 1 4A R O U N D T O W N

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