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Oil Boom's Impact on Medical Industry, Part 3

By: Mycah Glover
Updated: February 14, 2013
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Stanton -- Reggie Franklin, owner of Franklin & Son, has lived in Stanton his entire life. He says the recent oilfield growth they've experienced has been great for his family-owned business.

"We've seen a lot of growth over the past few years and stretching us out into the oil patch, and so it's been good for us," said Franklin.
   
Another thing that Martin County residents are thankful for is their brand new, state-of-the-art hospital.

"The old hospital was 63 years old. It had out lived it's use. It was wore out," said Paul McKinney, CEO of Martin County Hospital District.
   
McKinney says the new hospital is four times the size of the old one, which couldn't have come at a better time considering all the recent growth and traffic from the oilfield.

"Our ER has doubled since we moved from the old hospital," he said. "We were averaging about 180 a month. The last couple of months, we're hitting around 350 to 360."
   
Many of those patients coming in with oilfield-related injuries.

"We've had falls. We've had hand injuries...just being mashed. We've had electrocutions. We've had some really major traumas come in," said chief nursing officer Rance Ramsey.   

One of which, according to McKinney, won't soon be forgotten.

"We had a young man who was working on a rig and was having chest pains during the day and finally walked off the sight to find help. He was on Interstate 20. He saw our signs. He exited off the interstate and onto the access road and turned on the road next to the hospital. When he turned, he actually had a heart attack," said McKinney.
   
The man ended up smashing into the hospital at 30 miles an hour and was actually dead when he was found outside.

"They did CPR on him right there. Got him back alive. Brought him into the ER and worked with him and he died a second time. Then they kept working him. They don't give up, and he died the third time. We worked him and worked him some more and got him stable enough where we could airlift him to Odessa," explained McKinney.
   
After spending a few days in the ICU, the man walked out of the hospital and is alive and well today.

"He came back to see us in September to thank the staff for saving his life," said McKinney.
   
It's a story that could've had a very different ending if it weren't for the new location, the staff, and the new resources Martin County Hospital now has at it's disposal.

"It just means this was built for a purpose," added McKinney.

If you live or work in the Stanton area and would like to learn more about the hospital, you can find more information by calling (432) 607-3200.

For more energy news, follow Mycah Glover on Facebook and Twitter.

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