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Kim Gilliland from Northport Medical Center was one of seven hospital employees from across Alabama honored as a 2011 Hospital Hero by the Alabama Hospital Association in February. AlaHA’s eighth annual statewide Hospital Heroes contest honors the dedica-tion of hospital employees and highlights health careers. “Troughout Alabama, our hospitals are flled with stories of he-roic acts by caregivers who go beyond the call of duty to make sure their facilities deliver the best-quality health care,” said J. Michael Horsley, FACHE, president of the Alabama Hospital Association. “Tis is a great time for our hospitals to celebrate the tremendous good that is in health care.”

Ms. Gilliland was one of fve DCH Health System employees who were among nine West Alabama hospital employees named regional Hospital Heroes. Te regional recipients from DCH are Mary Richardson, Walter Steeves and Janice Walker from DCH Regional Medical Center; Debbie Elmore from Pickens County Medical Center; and Ms. Gilliland.

Ms. Gilliland is a clinical education coordinator at Northport Medical Center. She began her health care career in 14 as a staf nurse and assistant nurse manager in the trauma surgical intensive care unit at DCH Regional Medical Center.

Ms. Gilliland serves on the board of directors for Caring Days, and she is also active in the American Heart Association, March of Dimes and American Cancer Society. She is a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Alabama.

A member of AlaHA’s Quality Education Task Force, Ms. Gilliland was featured as a state Hospital Hero by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in an issue of its newsletter in March. Working with local nursing schools, Ms. Gilliland helped identify appropriate places for an IHI educational program to be added to the nursing educa-tion curriculum.

AlaHA, based in Montgomery, is a statewide trade organization that represents more than 100 hospitals and numerous other health care providers in their eforts to provide quality health care.

Te DCH Medical Center Radiography Program graduating class of 2010 achieved a 100 percent frst-time pass rate on the national registry. “Tis placed the DCH Medical Center Radiography Pro-gram in the 72nd percentile in the nation,” said Deborah Shell, M.Ed., R.T.(R), Program Director.

“Nationally, 1,550 graduates took the exam, and the national average pass rate was 2 percent,” she said. “In addition, the DCH average score was two points higher than the national average score.”

Te DCH Medical Center Radiography Program ofers a 24-month, full-time program leading to certifcation in radiologic sciences. Graduates are prepared to be entry-level radiographers who are efficient and capable assistants to radiologists— physicians specializing in the reading and interpretation of X-rays and other medi-cal images.

Employment of radiologic technologists is expected to increase by about 17 percent from 200 to 201, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the last fve-year reporting period, graduates have been able to secure employment at the minimum rate of 0 percent within six months afer graduation.

“Although hospitals will remain the principal employer of radiologic technolo-gists, a number of new jobs will be found in ofces of physicians and diagnostic imaging centers,” Mrs. Shell said. “As technology advances, many methods of imaging are becoming less expensive and more possible to have in a physician’s ofce.”

For more information about the DCHMedical Center Radiography Program, call 205-750-55 or go to www.dchsystem.com and click on “DCH School of Radiologic Technology” under “Site Highlights” on the right side of the page.