A pick-me-up for those in service
Members of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club assembled 125 goodie bags filled with snacks and treats for the front-line workers serving the public at the University Mall COVID Vaccination Center.
New director named
Gulfside Healthcare Services has named Eduardo Puntonet as its director of clinical services.
In the new role, Puntonet will oversee the clinical nursing teams for the hospice division of the organization in Pasco County.
Puntonet graduated from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and then pursued graduate degrees in business administration, and nursing leadership and management.
“Having received outstanding hospice care in my own family, I know first-hand the meaningful difference that hospice care can make,” said Puntonet in a news release.
“That is why I feel an overwhelming responsibility to assure that every patient under Gulfside’s services receives the most adequate care, which meets the highest quality standards,” he said.
Dean speaks about vaccinations
The University of South Florida Dean of College of Pharmacy Dr. Kevin Sneed recently spoke during the Tampa Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.’s “Now You Know” virtual community forum.
Sneed spoke and answered questions on the COVID-19 vaccinations, to try to dispel some of the myths and skepticism the community may have in taking the vaccination, according to a news release.
Related topics included school-age children and the virus; children as possible carriers; side effects; and which vaccine to take.
“While there have been children who have been affected and died from the virus, overall children’s affection rate is lower than (adults),” Sneed said in the release.
On the vaccination side effects, Sneed said that fatigue and headaches are the main ones, and that few have had nausea, chills and fever.
“By and large, it’s not serious and most are gone within 24 hours,” Sneed said.
When discussing the different vaccines, he said that people should not “get caught up in the eye candy. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. It has proven to be 100% avoidance of death.”
Sneed said even if you get the shots, people must maintain CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendations for social distancing and wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible.
Overdose deaths increase
The Florida Department of Health in Pasco County (DOH-Pasco) is continuing its efforts to prevent opioid overdoses, which have increased in Pasco Cunty amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) reported a total of 1,491 overdoses in 2020, resulting in 268 deaths — an increase of 71% from 2019, according to a news release.
Pasco County in 2019 was awarded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Overdose Data to Action Grant for $638,400, to assist in decreasing the opioid epidemic in the area.
Partnering with the PCSO and Pasco County Schools, DOH-Pasco hired an opioid epidemiologist as part of the Florida Epidemic Intelligence Service (FL-EIS) Fellowship Program to combat the epidemic.
The partnership has allowed the PCSO Behavioral Health Intervention Team, which partners with BayCare Behavioral Health, to connect individuals to treatment services.
Schools also are able to offer additional prevention education to students.
The partnership also has implemented the CDC’s Rx Awareness Campaign, which will be on billboards and bus wraps throughout the county, to increase knowledge and awareness.
In addition, DOH-Pasco, the PCSO and the Alliance for Substance Addiction Prevention (ASAP) are working to host a virtual information town hall on opioid misuse and provide education on medication safety measures.
