~ Tamra West Leadership Award (SC): Mrs. West was The Carolina Centers (TCC) South Carolina Program Director for over 11 years. She was recognized as a hospice leader in South Carolina and was a true leader for TCC. The recipient of this award will be someone who works to form strategic partnerships with others entities in the community, a fierce leader and a strong advocate - all the characteristics that Mrs. West possessed.

Nominees for each Leadership Award must:

• Have devoted significant time to promoting hospice care

• Have vision and be forward thinking

• Have been involved in hospice care throughout NC or SC

• Be involved in fostering relationships with strategic partners

Dr. Compton is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He graduated from University of Virginia School of Engineering and then finished his medical degree in 1976 at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. After a three year Internal Medicine Residency at the University of South Florida he entered United States Public Health Service and served in the National Health Service Corps for two years. After leaving the service he went into private practice in his hometown of Laurel, Maryland.

His practice has involved office, hospital and nursing home medicine. He is an AMDA certified medical director.

Palliative Medicine has always been a large portion of his geriatric practice going back to the days prior to when it was not considered a specialty. He has served as a Hospice Medical Director continuously since 1986.

His current practice is inpatient and outpatient Palliative Medicine at Trident and Summerville Medical Centers under the aegis of Agape Senior and Physicians Care. Dr. Compton also serves on the MUSC Ethics Committee and is the chair of the Trident/Summerville Ethics Committee, and Cancer Committee.

When he is not practicing medicine, he enjoys time with his family, grandkids, playing golf, and participating in outdoor activities.

Dr. Thomas Brandt

I want to tell you about my experience with Dr. Brandt over the past several months. About 12 years ago I was in a bad car accident and fractured my lower back; I was younger so it did not bother me as much at the time. During this last year I started to experience more pain and tried to find relief with a Chiropractor and also an orthopedic doctor but the chronic pain could not be reduced.

Janet Trivette recommended that I see Dr. Brandt who is a pain specialist for Agapé Physicians Care in Cayce. I had my first appointment in July and was impressed with how thorough he was and how much time he took to really listen to my issues. Dr. Brandt recommended some medicine to help with the back spasms I was experiencing, I do not like to take medication but he assured me it was mild and designed to help break the pain cycle. The medication really helped!.

Recently I went to my follow-up appointment I was experiencing a higher than normal level of pain, Dr. Brandt was able to make me feel like a new person by the end of the appointment. I am not exactly sure what he called it but he was able to do an adjustment on my shoulders, back and body that seemed to put me back into balance and took the pain and pressure down over 80% from when I had first walked into the office. I was amazed at how good I felt.

I will recommend Dr. Brandt to anyone who is experiencing chronic pain. Not only is he a great doctor he is also very good at what he does.

Thank you so much for recommending him to me.

Katie.

Contact Information

Welcome Dr. Mae Jean Englee to Agape Primary Care in Aiken. She brings many years of experience caring for people with many of those years being here in Aiken, SC. This partnership will start soon and she will be ready to assist patients in the coimng days/weeks. If you have any quesitons or want to learn more about Agape Primary Care in Aiken, please call our office at, 803*226*0460.

Why Having a Good Primary Care Physician Makes Sense.

Most businesses want your frequent return business. Hospitals, however, do not, at least not within 30 days of your discharge.  So, Hospitals across the country and here in South Carolina are scrambling to find ways to decrease readmission rates.  There are now penalties imposed through Medicare that include a reduction in the amount they will pay for hospital services if the patient is readmitted within the first 30 days after discharge.  These reductions could be significant for any hospital that has a high rate of readmissions.

So,what causes discharged patients to have to go back to the hospital?  A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Stephen F. Jencks M.D. found that one of the major contributors causing readmissions within that 30 day window was the lack of adequate follow up for the patient with a primary care physician.

The majority of patients discharged from hospitals go back to their homes and depending on the support available in the home and the nature of the illness or injury have varying degrees of success for staying out of the hospital.  The report characterized the patient’s ability to obtain adequate follow up as an area with a lot of opportunity for improvement.  The report summarizes those findings below:

The absence of a bill for an outpatient physician visit in the case of more than half of the patients with a medical condition who were readmitted within 30 days after discharge to the community is of great concern and suggests a considerable opportunity for improvement. Our concern is heightened by the same finding among patients with heart failure, who are known to have a response to intensified care Hospitals and physicians may need to collaborate to improve the promptness and reliability of follow-up care.

New England Journal of Medicine

What does this mean?  It means that many patients who are discharged from the hospital to home either do not have a primary care physician or they fail to follow-up with their primary care physician in the first few days after getting home.  The discharged patient then does not get the adequate follow-up care required and within 30 days experience another acute medical episode which requires a visit to the emergency room and possible readmission to the hospital.  The ER visit and hospital readmission obviously costs more to Medicare then what a follow-up visit to a primary care physician would cost.      

 It is important for your loved one to be seen during the first week after discharge from a post-acute care center or hospital and you should make sure that if the patient is in an assisted living that physician services are provided in the community at least on a weekly basis.

The bottom line seems to be that having a good primary care doctor that can monitor and coordinate your care after an illness or injury is a critical component in staying out of the hospital. The sweet spot in the study indicated that if a person was able to follow up with their physician within seven days from discharge the likelihood of being readmitted decreased drastically.

David H. Hammett, M.D.

Dr. Hammett is a South Carolina native, originally from Spartanburg. He graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University, where he won Track & Field All-ACC academic team honors and was elected to the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society as a junior. He finished medical school at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University.

Dr. Hammett did his residency training in Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. This was followed by a clinical fellowship in Vascular Neurology, also at Vanderbilt. In 2006, Dr. Hammett moved to Columbia to join the faculty at the USC School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Neurology. After four years in academics, he has been in private practice since 2010. He joined Agapé in the fall of 2013 as their first specialist physician.

Dr. Hammett’s particular clinical interests include comprehensive headache management, stroke, movement disorders, and a variety of procedure-based treatments, including medical/therapeutic uses of Botox. He lives in Columbia with his wife, Sarah, and their daughter, Caraway.

Agape Primary Care- Northeast Columbia

At Agapé Primary Care, we understand the importance of choosing the right primary care physician who can meet you and your family's needs now and in the future.That’s why our physicians’ practice is designed around the needs of today's patients with easy access for making appointments, obtaining medication re-fills, reviewing lab results, and more. Blythewood, Lugoff, Elgin, Camden, Ridgeway, Lake Wateree.

James O Williams, Jr., M.D.

With family always in mind at Agapé Primary Care, Dr. James O. Williams, Jr.’s specialty in Family Medicine brings an unprecedented focus to the family spirit that fuels patient relationships at Agapé. Additionally, Dr. Williams is an advocate for advancing technology to enhance the efficiency, quality, and access in sharing information to improve patient care.

Born and raised in West Columbia, Dr. Williams studied at the University of South Carolina and attended the USC School of Medicine where he would become Chief Resident President.

Still living in West Columbia, Dr. Williams enjoys playing handbells and attending church with his wife, Mindy and their daughters Hannah and Olivia.

AgapePrimary Care-Lexington, SC

At Agapé Primary Care, we understand the importance of choosing the right primary care physician who can meet you and your family's needs now and in the future.That’s why our physicians’ practice is designed around the needs of today's patients with easy access for making appointments, obtaining medication re-fills, reviewing lab results, and more. Lexington, West Columbia, Cayce, Gilbert, Pelion, Batesburg, Leesville, Irmo.

Agape Primary Care of the North East has partnered with Wildewood Downs Skilled Nursing facility/ Rehab and their Assisted Living facility.

Agape Primary Care's own Dr. Margait makes rounds several times a week and our Nurse practitioner Shelia is making rounds 5 days a week, as this has become a great partnership allowing great helath and wellness for the residents.

We are excited about Agape Primary Care's brand new office opening right in the North East area located at Hard Scrabble & Clemson Rd.

Kay Mathews, an Agape Primary Care nurse practitioner in Florence, SC meets with Kathryn Wilcox the administrator of The Carolinian Assisted Living Facility during a Valentine's Day celebration. 

Taylor and Amanda Helms enjoyed the evening on March 8th for the Florence County Heart Ball.  Agape Hospice and Agape Medical Service both particpated in the fun-filled evening benefiting the American Heart Association.

Agape Senior supports Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge Open House and “Circle of Health” community event. There will be approximately 1300 people from the community to assist with the “Circle of Health” on March 1st at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will all join hands at 10 a.m. around the hospital grounds in a show of unity. They will be offering hospital tours; samples of fresh, local food, musical entertainment, a personal gift to remember the event, and more. Come out and enjoy this special celebration and “welcome to your new hospital”.