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May 29 , 2008

Birch named HRMC Emergency Department director

Hailing originally from Denver, Colo., Jeff Birch has been named interim Emergency Department Director at Haywood Regional Medical Center.

Birch, who now resides in Greenwood, S.C. and has a temporary residence in Haywood County, assumed his new job position May 26. Employed by the Compass Group consulting firm, Birch will serve as interim Emergency Department Director until a new director is hired.

“This is a beautiful facility, well laid out and with a very dedicated staff,” said Birch, who has worked at numerous hospitals throughout the United States.

“I’m very familiar with the area because I come up and go backpacking all the time. I love the people here,” he said.

In addition to Birch’s experience with emergency departments, he also has worked in neonatal intensive care units, transfer teams, adult and pediatric medical/surgical units.

One of Birch’s primary responsibilities, in addition to operating an efficient emergency department, is to recruit and properly train nurses for that department.

“Once you get a great team together and they get to a higher level of efficiency, nurses tend to want to stay in the Emergency Department,” he said.

To that end, Birch said he plans to develop an orientation program for those nurses.

“Our goal, as a hospital, is to provide the community with the best possible service. We are constantly looking at ways to do that,” he said.