baylor scott & white health
Health Care Reimagined
paramedicine for prevention
In 2014 Don Mashewske ’ s wife , Lona Re , had been hospitalized 11 times because of diabetes . Overcome with worry , Don ’ s weight dropped from 208 to 151 pounds . Both he and Lona Re needed help .
Lona Re ’ s health care team at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – McKinney referred her to the McKinney Fire Department paramedics for education about taking her insulin and adjusting her diet to avoid diabetic crises . The department began the Community Healthcare Paramedicine ( CHP ) program in 2013 in collaboration with the hospital to assist frequent 9-1-1 callers . During regularly scheduled home visits with patients , CHP personnel address health care issues and reinforce messages about managing illness , treatment and medications to help patients fully understand disease self-management . Baylor Scott & White – McKinney Emergency Services Medical Director Elizabeth Fagan , MD , helped create the program and serves as its associate medical director . She meets weekly with the paramedics to offer guidance on patient care .
The program is helping to improve patient outcomes and quality of life . Research shows that patients tend to make significantly fewer 9-1-1 calls , emergency department visits and hospital admissions six months after they begin participating in the CHP program than in the six months before they began .
Although Lona Re eventually succumbed to a stroke , the paramedics continued to visit Don because of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by more than 40 years of smoking . The paramedics challenged him to kick the habit . On New Year ’ s Eve , he placed 18 cigarettes , a lighter and an ashtray on the counter . The paramedics counted the 18 cigarettes on weekly visits . After 15 weeks , Mashewske confidently pitched them into the trash .
What helped him get through it was a memory of feeding his horse and dropping to his knees because he couldn ’ t breathe . “ I thought , ‘ I could die right here and no one would know about it ,’” he remembered . Because of his disability , he sometimes had to call a neighbor to feed his horse . Once housebound , he is proud of the fact that he ’ s “ now out buying my groceries and going to the feed store on my own .”
“ My health has been 100 percent better ( thanks to the paramedics ). I firmly believe I wouldn ’ t have lasted the year . They added a year to my wife ’ s life , too . I have utmost praise and respect for the paramedics . I thank God for the program . It ’ s going to impact a lot of people .”
— Don Mashewske
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