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A pair of veteran nurses will take more than 80 years of experience with them as they walk out the doors of JPS and into well-deserved retirement.

It’s a bittersweet time for Trudy Sanders, Vice President of Patient Care Services, and Lily Wong, Director of Nursing Support Services, as they leave behind jobs they love, colleagues they’ve worked alongside for decades to help build JPS into what it is today, and countless team members they've helped to develop to lead the health network into the future.

JPS Health Network team members are finding new ways to shoulder the load and handle all their responsibilities of taking care of patients, whether they have COVID-19, cancer, heart disease or a traumatic injury. This month, those adaptations included virtually completing a required stroke care certification.

Unhealthy eating habits, high blood pressure and an aging population are all contributing to an increase in vascular disease in Tarrant County and across the United States.

JPS Health Network has a pair of skilled vascular surgeons, Dr. Daisy Chou and Dr. Vikram Palkar, to bring the latest advancements in their field to patients and keep them healthy. They remove plaque and clots from blood vessels to decrease strain on the heart, reduce the likelihood of strokes and make sure the rest of the body has the blood supply it needs to perform as it should.

Since the beginning of the battle against COVID-19, we have heard how many people tested positive each day and how many of them require hospitalization.

But what happens to the people who aren’t hospitalized? Do they just go home and get back to normal in a few days? The truth is many of them have their health linger in limbo for weeks that turn into months. They live an isolated life in their home, worried about what every new symptom means while simultaneously wondering how they’ll pay their bills and who will bring them medicine and groceries.

JPS Health Network was named the best hospital in the United States, according to a new hospital evaluating system unveiled Tuesday by Washington Monthly Magazine. Ranking near the top of every category, it out-scored the most prestigious healthcare organizations in America. 

You might ask yourself, “how is it possible for a public safety-net hospital to out-rank the finest private hospitals across the United States?”

For the last decade, the JPS Health Network Research Symposium has grown in size and depth every year.

Melissa Acosta, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Clinical Research at the health network, said organizers and participants weren’t about to let current social distancing standards due to COVID-19 disrupt that positive momentum. The June 5, 2020 edition of the symposium, which will focus on healthcare inequities and how to eliminate them, will go online. It’s a move she hopes will pave the way for even more growth in the future.

Emergency Medical Technician. Professional saxophonist. Construction worker. They’re all jobs Fort Worth native John Starwalt has held.

But, at 43 years old, he’s finally earned the title he’s dreamed about through all the twists and turns of his life and career: Dr. John Starwalt, DO.

Surgery can often be the key to saving lives or making them better. A couple hours on the operating table and life-threatening issues could suddenly be a problem of the past.

But what if the patient isn’t prepared for their operation? Things like high blood pressure, complications of diabetes, smoking and obesity can sometimes make it too risky for the patient to undergo surgery. That’s where the JPS Surgical Optimization Clinic comes in.

Patients never see their faces. But they play a key role in helping people who need surgery get care at JPS Health Network.

Called patient care coordinators, their job is what the title implies: They’re responsible for choreographing the complicated ballet of making about 1,000 surgeries a month fit into the 13 operating rooms at JPS. 

A group of 10 aspiring JPS Health Network nurses will go to school for free thanks to Reach for the Stars scholarships.

Funded by an anonymous donor, the scholarships are awarded twice a year to JPS team members, according to Jodi Bell, Learning Projects Director in the JPS Human Resources Department. They’re earmarked for team members who want to become a nurse or those who already are nurses but want to enhance their education and abilities.