To work in Respiratory Care at the Community Health Center of Branch County takes teamwork, positive work ethic, and hard work. Gwen Berry exemplifies those traits and has been rewarded by being named the CHC Employee of the Month for June.

Gwen was hired in October of 2000 as a Certified Respiratory Therapist.  According to her nominator, “Gwen is an extremely knowledgeable person in Respiratory.  She takes new employees under her wing and helps them with anything that they don’t know about.  She has been a mentor to many therapists along the way.  She has excellent experience with pulmonary care and is more accomplished in her respiratory skills than most any therapist I know.  She has been a great asset to CHC and continues to add to the department in skills, dedication, knowledge, and patient commitment.  A great candidate for the employee of the month award!”

Gwen graduated high school in Indianapolis and went on to attend Ball State University.  She received her Certificate in Respiratory from KVCC.  Gwen previously worked at CHC from 1975-1984 and then owned her own business for four years.  She worked for Battle Creek Health Systems from 1988-2000 and is still on a casual basis there. 

Gwen is married to husband Quinn.  He is a District Merchandiser for Spartan Stores.  Together they have three grown children.  Morgan is married to Jason and they have a son named Finn; Trevor is married to Tricia and they have a dog; and her daughter, Lerin has a cat.  They all live in Coldwater.  Gwen enjoys re-finishing furniture, hanging out by the pool, and going on warm vacations in the winter.

CHC Cardiopulmonary and Respiratory Services

Your lungs and heart work as a team. The lungs bring oxygen into the blood and the heart pumps the oxygen rich blood to all parts of the body. When either the lungs or the heart have difficulties, CHC Cardiopulmonary is available, 24 hours a day, to help.
Cardiopulmonary offers a wide variety of services designed to treat and relieve symptoms of acute respiratory problems. CHC’s professional staff provides care for patients on every clinical unit in the hospital, and for all ages of patients from newborns through the eldest generation. Both inpatients and outpatients benefit from their services.
Respiratory therapists provide medications and therapy, ordered by the doctor, to ease the work of breathing and help clear up the lungs. Dependent on the patient's special needs, therapy can be as often as every hour or may be every four to six hours. The level of intensity of therapy is based on the patient's symptoms and illness.  CHC’s exceptional Respiratory Therapists are prepared to provide therapy services ranging from oxygen administration to ventilator and life support therapy.
The professional cardiopulmonary staff, utilizing current technology and nationally accepted practices and standards, also provides a wide variety of diagnostic testing which includes:
-cardiac stress testing
-electrocardiograms
-24-hour heart monitors
-ultrasound studies of the heart
-pulmonary function testing
This testing is specifically designed to provide the patient’s doctor with information that assists him in diagnosing lung and heart problems.
Additionally, the Cardiopulmonary Department offers education related to your illness and provides techniques that will help patients cope with problems of living with respiratory diseases. All staff’s efforts are focused on improving the quality of life for those suffering from acute and chronic respiratory or cardiac illnesses.
Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle
-Stop smoking. The Cardiopulmonary Department can provide information and resources to help quit smoking.
-Don't smoke around children. They don't have a choice as to what air they breathe, the smoker makes the choice for them.
-Have regular physician check-ups.
-Exercise three times per week.
-Eat for a healthy heart by reducing the amount of saturated fat and increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in diets.

The Community Health Center of Branch County is a non-profit acute care hospital providing access to safe, comprehensive, high quality healthcare services and accredited by The Joint Commission.  For more information about CHC, please call the CHC Marketing Department at 517-279-5282 or visit the CHC website at www.chcbc.com or health website at myhealth.chcbc.com.