The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Mary Rathman

Dynamic Duo

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Lady Glitter Sparkles is a 2-year-old Shih Tzu/Pomeranian. Lady loves treats and squeaky toys. Pooka is a 10-year-old Snoodle (Schnauzer/poodle) that likes to take car rides and naps. Together, Lady and Pooka enjoy barking at doorbells, squirrels and lizards. Their proud owners are Greg, Maria, Eddie and Yana Greskowiak, of Land O’ Lakes.

A cardinal can mean good luck

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Nicole T. Magazu, of Land O’ Lakes, captured this cardinal perched upon a porch railing. Male cardinals are brilliant red all over, with a reddish bill and black face immediately around the bill. Females are pale brown overall with warm reddish tinges in the wings, tail and crest. Both have the same black face and red-orange bill.

Health News 01/09/2019

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(Courtesy of Patricia Serio)

Lighthouse receives club donation
GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club member Marsha Gibson (right), who is visually impaired, presented a donation check to Sylvia Perez, CEO of Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind-Pasco, Hernando and Citrus, on behalf of the club. The money will benefit the Pasco Lighthouse for the Blind Legacy Building Fund.

 

 

 

 

 

Florida Hospital now AdventHealth
Florida Hospital facilities, as well as hundreds of physician practices, urgent care centers and other medical sites across the country, are now officially known as AdventHealth, as part of a new consumer-centric brand launch.

Adventist Health System announced several months ago that the organization and its wholly owned hospitals and care sites would adopt the AdventHealth name.

AdventHealth is headquartered in Altamonte Springs and has nearly 50 hospitals and more than 80,000 team members in nearly a dozen states.

There are 30 AdventHealth hospitals and freestanding emergency departments in Florida, providing advanced health care to residents coast-to-coast.

Under one unified brand, consumers can easily identify and navigate the entire system of care.

New programs and initiatives will be launched throughout the year, as part of AdventHealth’s commitment to whole-person health, clinical excellence and making health care easier for consumers to navigate.

Patient reunion
The Heart Institute at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point hosted a TAVR reunion with many of its TAVR patients.

The get-together celebrated the hospital’s achievement of 121 TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) procedures.

This minimally invasive surgical procedure repairs the valve without removing the old, damaged valve. It instead wedges a replacement valve into the aortic valve’s place.

The surgery can be called TAVR or TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implementation).

Dr. Keshav Remireddy, medical director of the TAVR program, said in a release, “Things are happening rapidly in the field of cardiology and we’re not done yet.”

National honor for hospital
AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (formerly Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel) received the 2018 Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for achieving and sustaining excellence in the category of patient experience.

The award is measured through random, voluntary patient surveys, and the scores are measured against hundreds of hospitals across the country.

This is the third time the Wesley Chapel hospital has received the Guardian of Excellence for its inpatient services.

Best hospitals chosen by women
Six AdventHealth (formerly Florida Hospital) locations in the West Florida Division have been named America’s Best Hospitals by the 2019 Women’s Choice Award.

  • Wesley Chapel: best for obstetrics and patient safety
  • Zephyrhills: best for stroke centers, orthopedics, heart care and patient safety
  • Carrollwood: best for bariatric surgery, stroke centers and patient safety
  • Tampa: best for bariatric surgery and orthopedics
  • Heartland Medical Center: best for orthopedics, heart care and patient safety

For more information on America’s Best Hospitals, visit WomensChoiceAward.com/awarded/healthcare/.

Chalk Talk 01/09/2019

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(Courtesy of Benjamin Watters, Saint Leo University)

Puppies help curb exam stress
Saint Leo University’s Counseling Services offers ‘Puppies and Pizza’ twice a semester to offer stress-reducing effects to students during midterms and finals. Pet therapy can help lower blood pressure, releasing endorphins, which have a calming effect and can diminish physical pain. The event also lets the students know about the free and confidential counseling services should they need further assistance. At a recent event, Saint Leo student Michael Aldridge grabbed a slice a pizza and petted Lou (a Shih Tzu-Chihuahua mix), owned by Mary Eversmann.

Elementary school choice
The Pasco Pathways application window for elementary schools opened Jan. 8, and parents can apply through Jan. 18.

This will be the only opportunity for 2019-2020 elementary school students to apply.

  • Parents must have or set up a myStudent account, which will be used to complete school choice applications.
  • Families may enter up to three choices per child, and must be willing to accept any one of the options chosen. The system will offer enrollment only once per child.
  • To view the Pasco Pathways catalog of programs, visit Pasco.k13.fl.us/school_choice_catalog/catalog.

School-related personnel of the year
Katie Jeffcott, resource management associate at R.B. Stewart Middle School in Zephyrhills, was named Pasco County Schools SRP of the Year.

Jeffcott started her career with Pasco County Schools nine years ago as a food and nutrition assistant at John Long Middle School.

She has been at Stewart Middle for the last six years. Her primary responsibilities include all the inventory, distribution, maintenance and repair of the school’s technology.

Jeffcott also coaches cheerleading, boys and girls soccer, and track.

She volunteers at Stewart Middle, outside her coaching responsibilities, with the National Junior Honor Society, dances, and fundraising for school and community projects.

Jeffcott serves on several school committees, and has created and coordinated several programs, including alternative field day, intensive math rewards, carnivals, spirit week, pep rallies and book fairs.

The school district will nominate her for the Florida SRP of the Year.

Academy’s culture of kindness
The Hillel Academy staff and students created a Culture of Chesed (Kindness), through a strategic plan and curriculum created by a team of educators.

Throughout the school, value words like ‘Truthfulness’ adorn the doors and hallways as reminders to students about the virtue of the week. Teachers and students discuss virtues in class.

As part of the ‘kindness’ culture each month, students and staff collect goods for charities or groups in need, as part of its Tzedakah (Charity) Project. The year started off by collecting for Joshua House.

Last October, hundreds of pacifiers were collected for infants at St. Joseph Hospital, via Emmi Grace’s Angels; and in November, Panama City’s Holy Nativity Episcopal School, devastated by the impact of Hurricane Michael, received donations.

Students have been very receptive to the idea, said Allison Oakes, head of school, in a release.

Oakes explained that the students are there for one another and are understanding that doing good for others is what’s right.

“Learning this life lesson is an important part of our school culture as a whole,” Oakes said.

Hillel Academy is at 2020 W. Fletcher Ave., in Tampa, and can be reached at (813) 963-2242.

Step Up program benefits from donation
Globe Life made a $25,000 contribution to the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program for the 2018-2019 school year.

This is the first time Globe Life has supported the program.

The company’s donation funded three K-12 scholarships to help lower-income children attend schools that best meet their learning needs.

Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization that helps manage the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

Grant funds summer institute
The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay approved $40,000 in grant funds for Pasco County Schools, for a project that seeks to improve teacher and leader professional learning with the goal of greater student outcomes.

The grant will be used to plan and develop training materials for the 2019 Pasco Standards Summer Institute.

The institute will take place while schools are closed, so teachers can attend and begin to embed their deeper learning into their planning for the 2019-2020 school year.

Staying calm in a crisis

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Crisis situations seem to be growing rapidly in this time of change and uncertainty.

Emotional turmoil and negative behavior seems to be on the rise, spanning from verbal abuse to physical assault.

Schools and agencies are now required to intervene more often for the safety and protection of students, staff and clients, and have a responsibility to train staff to safely and effectively deal with reasonably foreseeable situations.

Handle With Care, a crisis intervention training program, offers the tips below when responding to someone who is becoming out of control.

Be attuned to signals of potential crisis behavior:

There is usually a change of behavior before physical aggression occurs, which can include:

  • Verbal clues: what is being said, such as insults or threats
  • Non-verbal clues: how something is being said, including voice, volume, rate of speech and tone
  • Body language, such as body tenseness, leaning forward, pacing, finger-pointing or hand-clenching

Reduce potential for conflict through these actions or words:

  • Remain calm and in control
  • Only one person should speak at a time
  • Respect personal space
  • Be aware of not only what you say, but how you say it
  • Keep natural eye contact and put in place a direct line of communication
  • In a team intervention, the team member with the best relationship should be the “talker”
  • Set clear, consistent and enforceable limits
  • Take immediate action in dangerous or life-threatening situations

Crisis programs can provide training for agencies, schools, hospitals, organizations and parents who care for children and people who have the potential of being aggressive, violent or out of control toward themselves and other.

Experts also can be available to talk about emotional trauma, feelings of insecurity or fear, and provide information about connecting to community resources.

Published January 2, 2019

Yoshi is playful

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Yoshi is a 9-year-old Yorkie poo. She was rescued from the Lakeland ASPC. Yoshi does many funny things. Her favorite pose is legs out front and her butt in the air. Yoshi’s proud owner is Brenda Harrelson, of Wesley Chapel.

Health News 01/02/2019

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(Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

Pharmacists awarded certification
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point announced that, from left: Brittany Petrosky, Pharm.D., BCCCP; Nicholas K. Rigopoulous, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCGP; Kris Miley, Pharm.D., BCPS; and Erika Mooney, Pharm.D., BCPS and have received National Board Certifications by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). All four passed a rigorous certification exam by the board.

 


Hospital receives award for organ donation awareness
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has been recognized by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services with a Platinum Award for its activities to increase enrollment in the state registry as organ, eye and tissue donors.

Regional Medical was informed by LifeLink of Florida that the award was in recognition of Bayonet Point’s organ donor registration efforts between Oct. 1, 2017 and April 30, 2018.

The hospital hosted various donor registry events in high traffic areas of the hospital, had a donation flag raising ceremony for its staff and the community, and ran a campaign of hospital public service announcements on its internal cable channel.

Presentations about organ, eye and tissue donations also were made, and posters were displayed throughout the facility.

The hospital even joined with an organ recipient who showed appreciation for staff efforts regarding the donation process.

Bilirakis bill to help heart patients
The Congenital Heart Future Reauthorization Act sponsored by Congressman Gus Bilirakis has been signed into law.

This legislation addresses the need to invest in continued research to assist the millions of Americans living with congenital heart disease (CHD).

The legislation seeks to build upon the success by ensuring continued investment in surveillance research to assess the lifelong needs of individuals with CHD.

Emphasis also is placed upon the need for continued biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of CHD.

This is the 26th bill authored by Bilirakis to become law since 2015.

Robotic breast reconstruction
Women who undergo a mastectomy to remove cancerous tissue or as a preventive measure because of a heightened genetic risk of breast cancer may choose reconstructive surgery.

One option is to use their own tissue for the reconstruction, which can achieve a more natural appearance and is a more permanent solution, compared with implant-based reconstructive surgeries.

According to a news release, surgeons from the University of Pennsylvania are the first in the world to use a surgical robot to assist with a bilateral free flap breast reconstruction, a procedure in which tissue is taken from the lower abdomen (similar to a tummy tuck), and used to rebuild the breast.

The technique enables surgeons to make a much smaller incision into the abdominal wall muscles, allowing patients to recover and to be discharged quicker, without the use of addictive narcotic painkillers.

For information, visit PennToday.upenn.edu, and click on the Health Sciences link.

 

 

 

Chalk Talk 01/02/2019

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(Courtesy of Melonie Monson)

Students receive citizen honors
The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce has awarded its December Citizens of the Month. Students are chosen by teachers and administration of their schools for exemplary effort, achievement and contribution to their school, family and community. Students receiving the recognition were: Griffin Buchanan, The Academy of Spectrum Diversity; Cody Ramsey, The Broach School; Riley Flanary, Chester Taylor Elementary School; Ethan Joseph, East Pasco Adventist Academy; Isaiah Denison, Heritage Academy; Tatiana Torres-Marquez, Raymond B. Stewart Middle School; Elizabeth Light, West Zephyrhills Elementary School; Lanaiya Vega, Woodland Elementary School; and Peyton Lebron, Zephyrhills High School.

Student achievements

  • Jonathan K. Doyon, of Lutz, graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Doctor of Philosophy
  • Erin Louise Hale, of Lutz, was named to the fall Dean’s List at Missouri Valley College, in the studies of criminal justice
  • Adriana Matallana, of Lutz, received a Master of Arts from the Office of Graduate Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Alwina Mohammadali, of Lutz, graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee
  • Summer Renee Solovitch, of Dade City, was named to the fall Dean’s List at Missouri Valley College, in the studies of exercise science

Fine arts grant recipients
The First National Bank of Pasco and the Pasco County School Board announced the first fine arts grant recipients as a result of a public-private collaboration between the board and the bank, in a program called ArtsFirst.

The ArtsFirst grant applications were submitted by Pasco fine arts teachers, and awarded by FNBP based upon the grant’s likelihood of improving student achievement and opportunity.

The schools that received ArtsFirst grants in the first quarter include Centennial Elementary, Countryside Montessori, Odessa Elementary, San Antonio Elementary and Thomas Weightman Middle School.

The ArtsFirst initiative will assist fine arts classroom teachers with much-needed supplies, training and tools to help ensure a successful fine arts experience for students.

Recipients can use the grant to purchase anything from instruments to technology to art supplies.

Donald Scott, band director for Thomas Weightman Middle School, will use grant dollars to purchase a new instrument, as well as bolster the jazz band.

Employee of the Year
Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning announced that Mike Witfoth, maintenance area specialist, is the Pasco County Schools Non-Instructional Non-Bargaining (NNB) Employee of the Year.

Witfoth was recognized with 20 of his Maintenance Services Department colleagues for volunteering to spend a week in Bay County helping Bay District Schools recover from Hurricane  Michael. The group was recognized with the Superintendent’s Teamwork Award.

Witfoth has lived in Pasco County all his life and graduated from River Ridge High School.

After graduation, he started his 17-year career with Pasco County Schools as a maintenance assistant at the Northwest Bus Garage.

He then went on to work in maintenance, learning the trades of fencing, flooring and welding.

After earning his certification as a master custodian, he was hired as assistant plant manager at Pine View Elementary School.

A year later, Witfoth was promoted to plant manager and helped open Connor Elementary.

Six years later, within the Maintenance Services Department, he was promoted to his current position of custodial area specialist.

He oversees 25 elementary school plant managers.

Witfoth will be honored with other employees of the year at a dinner in February.

The district also will nominate him for Florida NNB of the Year.

Best college cities
The personal finance website, WalletHub, released its report on 2019’s Best & Worst College Towns & Cities in America.

To help college-bound high school seniors determine their future home for the next several years, WalletHub compared more than 400 U.S. cities, also group by city size, based on 30 key indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential.

The data set ranges from cost of living to quality of higher education to crime rate.

According to the reports, the top five Best Large College Cities are: No. 1-Austin, Texas; No. 2- Tampa; No. 3-Las Vegas, Nevada; No. 4-Seattle, Washington; and No. 5-Los Angeles, California.

The top five Best Midsize College Cities are: No. 1-Orlando; No. 2-Scottsdale, Arizona; No. 3-Gainesville; No. 4-Salt Lake City, Utah; and No. 5-Madison, Wisconsin.

Florida was not listed in the top 10 for Best Small College Cities.

To view a full report of the top 10, visit WalletHub.com/edu.

Tiny, but mighty

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This little turtle, no bigger than a quarter, was by Sharon Thompson’s koi pond, in Wesley Chapel. Thompson believes it is a Suwannee Cooter turtle.

Health News 12/26/2018

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New MADD national president
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has announced Helen Witty as its new national president, effective Jan. 1.

Witty joined MADD in 2000, after her 16-year-old daughter, Helen Marie, was killed by a drunk and drugged driver while rollerblading on a designated bike path near the family’s home.

As president, Witty will serve as national spokesperson and chief advocate for MADD, which grew from a grassroots movement started up by a grieving mother in 1980 to one of the most influential and effective organizations in history.

In addition to her work with MADD, Witty spent nine years as a Delta Air Lines employee and eight years as a college advisor in Miami-Dade Public Schools.

Helping kids have a happy holiday
Florida Hospital at Connerton Long Term Acute Care in Land O’ Lakes has been collecting gifts for children within the Eckerd Youth Foster Angel Program.

More than 130 gifts were delivered to 20 children, in an effort to ensure they have a happy holiday.

Surgery expansion
Following the opening of Pasco County’s first Neuro Interventional program and Comprehensive Stroke Center, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point will undertake a major renovation and expansion of the hospital’s surgical services.

The project includes enlarging and updating the hospital’s existing operating rooms, construction of a new Sterile Processing Department and an expansion of the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).

The 19,000-square-foot venture involves the internal renovation of operating rooms and PACU at a projected cost of $14.7 million.

New construction will be at the south end of the hospital — the opposite end of the hospital’s emergency room. The build out will not impact existing roads or visitor parking.

The expansion and renovation is expected to take approximately 14 months to complete.

Straight As for patient safety
Florida Hospital West Florida Division once again earned the highest marks possible for patient safety and quality.

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, announced the Top Hospitals in the country, and Florida Hospital Carrollwood, Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center Sebring, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and Florida Hospital Zephyrhills all received the Top General Hospital award.

This is the second top designation for Florida Hospital Carrollwood, and the first for Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and Florida Hospital Zephyrhills.

Gulfside is expanding
Gulfside Hospice & Pasco Palliative Care announced plans to expand the company’s care options by becoming Gulfside Healthcare Services.

With the expansion, Gulfside Healthcare will now offer an option for skilled home health, furthering its mission to provide a comprehensive circle of personalized care.

The option of skilled home health services will encourage patients and their loved ones to participate in the healing process side-by-side, in the comfort of their own home.

Beginning in March, the home health services will be offered in Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, alongside its current hospice services in Pasco County and palliative services in Pasco and Hillsborough.

For information, visit GHPPC.org.