A letter to the BOD of Bath Community Hospital: In 1988, as a new graduate of Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. James Redington came to Bath County, a beautiful but isolated rural area in western Virginia. Nestled in the mountains of the Alleghany Highlands, here was a population of 5000 people, with a 25-bed hospital and a full time Emergency Room. Dr. Redington saw a great need for health care here, committed his professional life to caring for those 5000 people, and for the last 26 years has never wavered in that commitment. Dr. Redington is uniquely educated and qualified to provide health care in a rural area. • He is triple board certified in family medicine, emergency medicine, and geriatrics. • He was the solo primary care provider in his Bath County Family Practice from 1988 until 1995 when he added a nurse practitioner to his busy office practice. • He has been the Chief of Staff at Bath Community Hospital for many years. Early on, he shared in-patient care at the hospital with other local physicians. But as these physicians retired or moved away, Dr. Redington became the sole provider of in-patient care at Bath Community Hospital. • Initially he was trained in family medicine but also became educated and excels at emergency care. He has provided ER coverage 2-4 days per week since 1988, and Dr. Redington has been ER Director since the 1990’s . • He has always had an interest in geriatric medicine, and attended his patients as they aged and moved into long term care at the local nursing home. For a time he served as Medical Director of Springs Nursing Center, attending not only his own patients, but also the other residents as well. • Forensics Medicine is another interest and he serves as the Medical Examiner for Bath County. • He has been a member of the Hospital Board of Directors for many years. • He was a member of the Bath Alleghany Medical Society and served as its president . • He has made many house calls over the years as the need arises. • Dr. Redington was recognized in 2002 by Eastern Virginia Medical School for his outstanding fulfilment of the school’s founding mission of training physicians who would then stay in Virginia and practice in underserved areas. • He was also named Family Physician of the Year by the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians in 2003. Dr. Redington has always stood for excellence in medical care, and inspires that goal of excellence in the rest of the staff of Bath Community Hospital. • He has taught multiple classes to the hospital staff and local Rescue Squad members. • He has organized courses and classes taught by other outside experts. When he learns of a new technology or technique, he is eager to share that knowledge with staff or squad members. • He has been involved in several research studies, including ISIS 3 and ISIS 4 which were published in Lancet. • He was an early proponent of electronic medical records and his office practice became paperless and met all the standards by 2011. • Dr. Redington is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, and has presented lectures there. • He serves as a Preceptor for Medical College of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University medical students, and has shared many hours of his experiences and expertise to countless future physicians. • In collaboration with his nurse practitioner, he served as preceptor for nurse practitioner students from the University of Virginia and Radford University. Dr. Redington has always been forward thinking and was instrumental in bringing advanced services to our rural area. • In 1998, Dr. Redington established the Bath County division of the Alleghany Highlands Free Clinic, and served on the Free Clinic’s Advisory Board. His vision of a clinic-without-walls was quite successful, with free clinic patients seamlessly and confidentially blending into his Bath County Family Practice office. • He assisted in the establishment of both Hospice and Home Health at Bath Community Hospital and served as Medical Director of both. • When it became apparent in 1995 that there was an unfilled need for more health care providers here, he brought Bath County’s first nurse practitioner to the area, and helped to ensure acceptance by the community as well as the medical staff. • When the need for quick efficient transfer of patients to another facility for advanced care became a problem, Dr. Redington was instrumental in establishing the Ambulance Transport Unit at Bath Community Hospital, and provides medical support for team members. • When the need for cardiac and pulmonary rehab was recognized, he worked to establish both. • He assisted in the development of a Stroke Protocol in conjunction with the UVA Neurology Department which provides for the timely diagnosis, treatment, and transfer of stroke patients. • The hospital and clinic are presently undergoing an update/remodel/rebuild. Dr. Redington’s has been offering his insights and counsel frequently since the inception of the planning phase and during the building process. Dr. Redington’s vision was to provide health care to Bath County citizens “from cradle to grave”, and indeed his patients range from newborn to the oldest county resident. He was a proponent of preventative care long before it was mandated, with a goal of 100% enrollment in a health care system, with patients receiving 100% of the recommended immunizations, cancer screenings, and routine testing for chronic health conditions. His concept of Bath Community Hospital becoming the home base for all of the health care needs of county citizens was presented to the hospital’s Board of Directors many years before “medical home” became a popular buzz word in healthcare. Dr. Redington is committed to Bath County citizens not only professionally but also through community involvement. • He has coached Little League basketball, and served as assistant track coach for Bath County High School. • Dr. Redington is Scoutmaster for local Troop 95, seeing several Boy Scouts through the rank of Eagle Scout. Once during a hike on the Appalachian Trail, he even sutured a laceration suffered by a young scout many miles from home. • He regularly attends football games, and provides medical care on the field in the event of injuries. For many years he provided free pre-participation sports physicals for young Bath County High School athletes and Scouts. • He posts pictures of the high school sports teams in his office, and peruses the local paper for news, accomplishments, births, or deaths of those he has cared for. • After the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Dr. Redington organized and led a medical mission team to help in the aftermath of that disaster. In addition to all his on-duty activities, he is always willing to come in after hours to assist at the request of any other physician for challenging cases or situations. During his rare vacations, he usually calls in daily “to check on things”. There have been countless instances over the years when his expertise has prevented death or disability of our fellow Bath Countians. I was privileged to work with Dr. Redington, initially as a critical care RN at Bath Community Hospital. When I was a nurse, Dr. Redington was well known for his great skill and compassion, the one we all hoped to be working with during a code or trauma in the ER, the one we hoped would be working if a family member required hospital care. Later I would become a nurse practitioner, and worked with Dr. Redington in the primary care office setting for 18 years. As a nurse practitioner, I experienced the highest level of collaboration and support, and was very proud to be associated with Bath County Family Practice, which was well known in the community for excellence in medical care. The requirements and responsibilities of a country doctor are taxing and unique. In spite of the remote and isolated section of the country in which Dr. Redington has chosen to practice, he has shaped a career of excellence to provide a level of health care in rural Bath County Virginia which is second to none. Over the years, countless numbers of us have been touched by his caring and devotion to his profession. It is unimaginable that a skilled physician so devoted to Bath County citizens and their health care needs would be refused the privilege of practicing medicine in his own home town. I have served on the Board of Directors with many of you over the years. I respectfully ask that you reconsider your decision, do what is best for the health and welfare of this county that we all love, reverse your decision, and allow Dr. Redington to continue the level of care we have come to expect and rely on. Barbara Howell RN, FNP
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:25:56 +0000
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