Feature

For Family Medicine resident Lessly Hernandez, MD, going into the medical field has been her dream since she was seven. Although a career in medicine was her clear path forward, she was unsure of what she wanted to pursue until she decided to enroll in the Trimble Tech High School EMT program.

In the EMT program, the students participated in ride-out shifts with MedStar for hands-on learning. Dr. Hernandez’s first ride-out brought her to JPS Health Network and the experience impacted her field of choice.

At John Peter Smith Hospital, we deliver about 4,000 babies a year. To help ensure that every child born at JPS has the best possible start in life, JPS provides all the necessary support for patients to exclusively breastfeed while they are in the hospital and after they go home.

The JPS Lactation Center has 15 breastfeeding experts who are International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. They focus on providing support, information, and education about breastfeeding for patients, which amounts to about 1,800 care encounters per month.

JPS Health Network has earned the Gold Level Go Clear Award™ for its achievement in eliminating hazardous smoke from its surgical procedures, protecting the health of patients and surgical team members.

JPS is the first hospital in Fort Worth to earn the Gold Level, the highest designation in the recognition program.

JPS Medical Home Southwest Tarrant, the next primary care medical clinic and the first major project of the JPS Bond Program, will be constructed at the intersection of Mesa Springs Drive and Granbury Road in Fort Worth.

The JPS Health Network Board of Managers on July 14 unanimously approved a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Kroger Texas for the property for the price of $4,050,000. Members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the agreement on July 12.

Ensuring timely access to exceptional trauma care

For more than a decade, JPS has served as a leader in trauma care. Our teams are always ready to provide life-saving care to all patients. And once again, JPS has proven that our care is among the best. JPS has been re-verified by American College of Surgeons and re-designated by Texas Department of State Health Services as a Level I Trauma Center.

JPS is the only Level I Trauma facility in Tarrant County and is one of just 20 designated facilities in Texas. Level I is the highest of four levels.

JPS is best in class for how well the Network serves its patients and communities

JPS Health Network has been named among the most socially responsible hospitals in the United States by the Lown Institute, and is among 15 hospitals that earned the designation while managing extraordinary challenges during the pandemic.

For Jonathan Demiar, the fact that JPS is a Level I Trauma Center was a big draw when he considered where to start his career. JPS has the first and only Level I Trauma Center in Tarrant County, allowing the hospital to treat the most critically injured and ill patients.

“I had family that worked here for years and I already knew that I wanted to work in a Level I Trauma Center,” he said. “I was drawn to work here because I wanted to work at a place that is able to provide comprehensive care to all of its patients, no matter how sick and injured they are.”

Priyambada Sitoula is on her way to becoming a nurse.

She is from Nepal and started working as a pharmacy technician in the JPS Inpatient Pharmacy at JPS about a year ago, preparing and delivering medications to hospital units. Along with working at JPS, she is a pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The former site of Hemphill Behavioral Health Center is being demolished to make room for additional team member parking on the southwest corner of the JPS Main Campus.

Triet M. La is an attending psychiatrist at JPS Health Network, caring for patients in the Psychiatric Emergency Center (PEC). It’s the only one of its kind in Tarrant County and works to meet the needs of patients experiencing crises.

He started his journey at JPS after completing medical school rotations in 2016, when he developed a strong passion for the PEC. “Because of this experience, I wanted to be a psychiatrist,” he said. He began his psychiatry residency at JPS in 2017.