Ascension Seton Bastrop offers 24/7 emergency care with diagnostic imaging and support for cardiac evaluations, obstetrics, wound care, central line placement and ophthalmology. (Courtesy Ascension Seton)
Editor's note: This article was edited after publication to reflect Heart Hospital of Austin's name change May 28 to St. David's Heart Hospital of Austin.
Three Bastrop-area medical facilities recently announced updates, including new leadership, expanded imaging technology and a federal designation aimed at supporting rural health care access.
Megan Drake was appointed president of Ascension Seton Bastrop on April 15, as previously reported by Community Impact. She brings seven years of experience as chief operating officer for St. David’s HealthCare and recently served at the St. David’s South Austin Medical Center. Also in April, the facility added a high-resolution ultrasound system to support a range of medical services, including emergency care, cardiac evaluations, central line placement, obstetrics, wound care and ophthalmology.
Ascension Seton Bastrop offers 24/7 emergency care with diagnostic imaging and support for cardiac evaluations, obstetrics, wound care, central line placement and ophthalmology. (Community Impact staff)
The Level IV trauma center received a designation of Critical Access Hospital from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in December. Officials said the designation is part of a federal program designed to keep essential services in rural areas by providing enhanced Medicare reimbursement. This status helps smaller, rural hospitals improve their financial stability and maintain services that might otherwise be at risk, Dawes said.
Ascension Seton Smithville Hospital offers Level IV trauma care and maintains essential rural health services as a federally designated Critical Access Hospital. (Courtesy Ascension Seton)
The facility recently became the first in Central Texas to offer a cutting-edge photon-counting computed tomography, or CT, scanner designed to generate high-resolution images with greater diagnostic consistency for physicians treating pulmonary and cardiology patients, according to a news release. The technology converts X-ray photons directly into electrical signals without information loss, producing ultra-high-resolution imaging beyond what a conventional CT can do and allowing physicians to obtain all relevant CT data in a single scan.
The new CT scanner at St. David's Heart Hospital of Austin is designed to generate high-resolution images with greater diagnostic consistency. (Courtesy St. David's Heart Hospital of Austin)
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