The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Health

Hospital honors staff members

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The Medical Center of Trinity announced it has named Dr. Sudhir Agarwal, interventional cardiologist, as Physician of the Year, selected by the nurses of the hospital.

Dr. Agarwal is regarded as a passionate, open-minded physician with a deep respect for the patients.

The Nurse of the Year award, selected by the physicians of the hospital, was given to Shawna Mulherin, RN, BSN, CMS.

Mulherin’s nomination emphasized her caring attitude toward patients, and her ability to mentor and teach new nurses.

Carlo Rivera, RN, was awarded the New Nurse of the Year, selected by people on staff at hospital.

Rivera was recognized for his care, compassion and positive attitude shared with not only patients, but coworkers, too.

Dr. Sudhir Agarwal
Shawna Mulherin
Carlo Rivera

Health News 06/05/2019

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New CEO for AdventHealth
AdventHealth has named Denyse Bales-Chubb to the position of CEO for AdventHealth Tampa.

Bales-Chubb currently serves as CEO for AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, and will assume leadership of the Tampa hospital on July 1. She replaces Brian Adams, who is transitioning to senior vice president for new markets for AdventHealth Central Florida Division.

Denyse Bales-Chubbs

Bales-Chubb has served as CEO for AdventHealth Wesley Chapel since 2014.

During her tenure, the hospital has grown from 83 beds to 145 beds, and has expanded its services to include a multidisciplinary women’s center, neuro-spine surgical program, and wound care center.

The hospital opened AdventHealth Central Pasco ER; established a partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center to open an outpatient satellite center, and provide treatment, screenings and survivorship programs for local residents; and received numerous recognitions, locally and nationally.

Bales-Chubb earned a master’s degree in health care administration from Wichita State University, and bachelor degrees in medical technology and biology from Fort Hays State University.

She serves on the boards of the Pasco Economic Development Council, New Tampa Christian Academy and AdventHealth Zephyrhills.

Nursing units recognized
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has earned two 2018 Unit of Distinction Awards in an annual program that recognizes and rewards exemplary nursing units at HCA Healthcare facilities.

Approximately 1,200 HCA Healthcare nursing units participated in the 2018 program.

The Regional Medical units that earned distinction are:

  • Neuro/Spine & Orthopedics under the direction of Marjorie Freeman, Rn, BSN, CMSRN (certified medical/surgical registered nurse)
  • Trauma Stepdown Unit under the direction of Susan Cooper, MSN, BSN, RN-BC (registered nurse-board certified)

Recipients of the awards are considered to be in the top 5 percent of all HCA Healthcare medical-surgical, critical care, emergency services and surgical services nursing units.

Can human connection heal?

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Austin Eubanks remembered with clarity the tragic day that forever changed his life, and, ultimately claimed it.

His best friend was killed instantly in front of him.

Then Eubanks was shot twice, in the hand and knee.

Eubanks was just 17 years old when he experienced and survived the massacre inside the library of Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Columbine shooting survivor Austin Eubanks was the keynote speaker at the annual ‘Strengthening Our Communities Conference on Mental Health and Drug Prevention’ in Wesley Chapel. He passed away just days later at his home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at age 37. (Courtesy of AustinEubanks.com)

“I remember seeing my hand and knowing that I had been shot, but I couldn’t feel it,” Eubanks recalled. “I couldn’t connect to the emotion of it, or the physical pain of it, because I wasn’t present in my own body.”

That traumatic experience as a teen, as a survivor in the Columbine school shooting, was the catalyst to Eubanks’ painful journey through addiction and eventually into long-term recovery.

Eubanks put it like this: “I will never be the person I was on the morning of April 20, 1999. That boy did not walk out of the library that day. He was altered, forever.”

Eubanks shared his personal story as the keynote speaker at the annual “Strengthening Our Communities Conference on Mental Health and Drug Prevention,” held May 14 at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.

The conference, hosted by Pasco County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) and Baycare Behavioral Health, is designed to increase public awareness and inspire action on mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Just a few days after the conference, the speaker was found dead from a suspected drug overdose at his home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He was 37.

In a statement, his family said Eubanks “lost the battle with the very disease he fought so hard to help others face. Helping to build a community of support is what meant the most to Austin, and we plan to continue his work.”

ASAP also expressed its sympathy on Eubanks’ passing in a released statement: “We extend our thoughts and prayers to Austin’s family and friends. Although he has passed too early, his voice will echo in our memories and actions forever.”

Before his untimely death, Eubanks addressed a crowd of nearly 500 people, to discuss the intersection of trauma, mental illness and addiction.

‘An emotional robot’
Shortly after the school shooting, Eubanks was prescribed opiates, benzodiazepines and stimulants for his physical injuries. He soon found the drugs helped him in other ways.

“From the moment I was medicated, that emotion (from Columbine) completely shut off. It was like somebody turned off a faucet,” Eubanks explained.

Nearly 500 people attended the annual ‘Strengthening Our Communities Conference on Mental Health and Drug Prevention,’ hosted by Pasco County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) and Baycare Behavioral Health. Columbine school shooting survivor Austin Eubanks was the keynote speaker at the May 14 event, at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel. (Kevin Weiss)

“I learned very quickly how to turn myself into an emotional robot, with the combination of those three substances. I thought that I had found the answer, I never had to feel anything. I was taught how to seek the fast road to relief.”

Years later, at the height of his addiction, Eubanks said he was using upwards of 400 milligrams of the painkiller OxyContin per day, plus a host of other recreational drugs.

His drug of choice, he admitted, was “just more.”

Emotional healing through human connection
After a decade more of undergoing a cycle of addiction and relapse, Eubanks said he finally received the help he needed, at a long-term treatment center in Denver that accepted him free of charge.

It’s there he found the prescription he needed most: authentic human connection.

The treatment center helped him navigate the stages of grief through meaningful, personal relationships with others with similar, lived experiences.

“With emotional pain, in order to heal it, you have to feel it. It is essential to recovery,” Eubanks said.

He added: “What is so essential for emotional healing for all of us, is relying on others from a place of vulnerability and authenticity and transparency.”

The environment also provided him with structure and accountability, too, he said.

Eubanks said, “I had to finally admit that I knew nothing, and I had to trust somebody else enough to believe that they did, and I did everything that they told me to for long enough to where it became a pattern.”

Eubanks explained that after Columbine he didn’t return to school for his senior year, instead relied on a private tutor from home in order to graduate. The decision isolated himself from others, leaving him to rely on substances to cope with his emotional pain.

“I withdrew from human connection entirely. If you can create a better petri dish for addiction, I don’t know what it is,” the speaker said.

“I missed out on a lot of the collaborative, connected healing that many of my classmates experienced in our senior year, because I withdrew from that community entirely.”

Prevention and rehabilitation reforms needed
Eubanks discussed his ideas to combat the nation’s addiction crisis, which he blamed partly on increased accessibility, acceptability and toxicity of various substances.

The speaker called for greater efforts in implementing more systems of prevention and rehabilitation to curtail the demand for drugs.

He challenged the medical community to do a better job of integrating physical health and mental health. He also challenged the education community to put more focus on nurturing emotional intelligence in early childhood education, to increase the ability to relate to other people.

Eubanks then called for greater accessibility to long-term treatment for those who cannot afford its services. He also said the criminal justice system needs to place more emphasis on rehabilitation programs, specifically, by providing inmates a therapeutic continuum of care and teaching them pro-social behaviors.

Said Eubanks, “Drugs are always going to exist. We cannot eradicate these issues by combating them on the supply side. We have to curtail the demand.”

In addition to Eubanks, the conference featured presentations from Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco; Gail Ryder, Baycare Health Systems vice president of behavioral health; and Roderick Cunningham, Drug Enforcement Agency outreach program manager.

There was also a series of breakout sessions that focused on substance abuse prevention and recovery efforts, among other topics.

Published May 29, 2019

BayCare’s plans for new Pasco hospital are uncertain

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The Florida Legislature’s decision to drop the requirement for a Certificate of Need review for new hospitals is causing BayCare Health System to reconsider its plans for a hospital in Pasco County.

The hospital chain had received a preliminary OK on its Certificate of Need request for a 60-bed hospital on a 111-acre site at the northeast quadrant of Interstate 75 and Overpass Road.

It was pushing ahead with planning for the new facility, despite a challenge filed by AdventHealth’s hospitals in Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and Dade City.

A hearing on the appeal had been set for August.

But, the repeal of the requirement for a Certificate of Need has created a wide open market for the establishment of hospitals.

The repeal is causing BayCare to take another look at its plans, said BayCare spokeswoman Lisa Razler.

It’s still too early to say how the change will affect the health care system’s plans, Razler said.

“We have a whole new lens to look through,” Razler said. “We’re going to have to take a step back and re-evaluate because with that new legislation, anyone can put a hospital anywhere.”

The health care system was disappointed by the Legislature’s action, Razler said.

“We believed in the planning process,” she said.

Proponents for axing the Certificate of Need requirement said the repeal would promote more competition.

Razler said the issue is more complicated.

“It’s not straight up supply and demand, when it comes to health care, because of all of nuances involved,” Razler said.

BayCare will need to review its plans “to determine what’s the best option, given the new landscape,” the hospital spokeswoman said.

BayCare had been pursuing the hospital in Pasco because of the dramatic population growth and increasing demand for health services.

The construction of the hospital was expected to create 300 jobs, and once it became fully operational, it would need about 300 team members, hospital officials told The Laker/Lutz News in previous interviews.

BayCare had planned to provide these services at the new hospital:

  • Emergency services for adults and children
  • Intensive care services
  • Obstetrical care services
  • Diagnostic lab imaging
  • Physical rehabilitation
  • Behavioral support services

Hospital officials previously said it typically takes about three years from the time a hospital is approved until the physical structure is operating.

At this point, it remains unclear, whether those plans will be pursued.

Published May 29, 2019

Moffitt Cancer to open Wesley Chapel treatment center

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Moffitt Cancer Center and AdventHealth have announced they are working together to open an outpatient cancer center on the campus of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, located next to the hospital on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The outpatient center is expected to open in the fall of 2020.

Rendering of Moffitt Cancer’s planned treatment facility in Wesley Chapel. (Courtesy of AdventHealth West Florida Division)

“We strive to provide world-class cancer care close to where people live and work,” said Alan F. List, MD, president and chief executive officer of Moffitt Cancer Center. “Expanding Moffitt’s brand of oncology care, treatment and research in Pasco County helps us accomplish this goal. Moffitt also is responding to the growing incidence of cancer in Florida, as the state’s population continues to grow and age.”

The new Moffitt outpatient center at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel will provide medical and radiation oncology service. It is being designed to accommodate 20 exam rooms, 22 infusion stations and two linear accelerators. Cancer screenings and survivorship programs geared toward patients who are post-treatment and in remission will also be available.

“This is just the beginning of our partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center and our joint commitment to finding new ways to bring innovative cancer care to the Pasco community,”  said Mike Schultz, president and chief executive officer of AdventHealth West Florida Division.

“Our partnership allows us to strengthen our network of care by expanding the type of health care services we can provide to our communities, and gives cancer patients greater access to the country’s leading-edge research, clinical trials and cancer treatments at Moffitt,” he said.

Moffitt Cancer Center is a Tampa-based facility and is one of only 50 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education.

AdventHealth is a faith-based, nonprofit health care system that uses leading edge technology and innovation to deliver its brand of whole-person care. Pasco facilities include AdventHealth Connerton, AdventHealth Dade City, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and AdventHealth Central Pasco ER.

Published  May 29, 2019

Hundreds walk for a meaningful cause

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Hundreds gathered at The Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive in Wesley Chapel, for the March of Dimes’ biggest annual fundraiser event on May 11. The Suncoast March for Babies, a 3-mile walk through The Shops at Wiregrass, raised more than $40,000 for the March of Dimes. This year’s ambassador was Chloe Rose Gray, a 4-year-old Tampa Bay girl who was born prematurely at 28 weeks, and spent 96 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. Funds raised from the walk help the March of Dimes on their mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Walkers make their way down Paseo Drive at The Shops at Wiregrass, during the March of Dimes’ biggest annual fundraiser event, the March for Babies. (Christine Holtzman)
Wearing a superhero cape, 1-year-old Isaac Coutant, of Lutz, walks with his mother Brittany Tremblay, left, and father Steven Coutant, during the March for Babies event. The walk is special to the family because when Brittany was 32-weeks pregnant, she gave birth to Isaac following a traffic accident. The youngster spent the first 35 days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit.
A butterfly memorial garden table offered a packet of seeds to anyone who had lost a baby, to ceremoniously plant a ‘butterfly flower’ in their memory.

Health News 05/29/2019

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Frist humanitarians
The Medical Center of Trinity has awarded the Frist Employee Humanitarian Award to Kaitlin Dilluvio, RN.

Kaitlin Dilluvio, RN

Dilluvio has been with the hospital for three years. In addition to the care of her patients, she volunteers at the Good Samaritan Clinic, which helps provide free care to residents of Pasco County. She also volunteers as a grief support counselor through weekend retreats.

Dilluvio helped facilitate the hospital’s donation drive for the Panhandle Post-Hurricane Michael Relief Fund and helps the hospital with its back-to-school program.

Dr. Alene Wright was recognized with the Frist Physician Humanitarian Award.

Wright has been a member of the hospital’s medical staff for more than seven years. She is board certified in generally surgery and specializes in breast surgery.

Dr. Alene Wright

Wright also is an active participant in the Cancer Conference, which brings cases for review and discussions among committee members.

She also serves as a faculty member in HCA’s Graduate Medical Education Program, and partners with the Pasco County Health Department’s Breast and Cervical Cancer program.

Wright is a board member of the Good Samaritan Health Clinic.

In addition, The Frist Volunteer Humanitarian Award was given to Judi Geller, who has been a volunteer at the hospital for more than seven years and has provided more than 4,660 hours of service to the patients and staff.

Geller was elected by her peers to the Board of the Medical Center of Trinity Volunteers Inc. She has been the organization’s fundraiser for the last three years, helping to raise more than $10,000 in scholarships, and assists with the Special Olympics program.

Volunteers of the year
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has selected Diane Ricca as the 2018 Female Volunteer of the Year and Jose Pasqual as the 2018 Male Volunteer of the Year.

Ricca has been volunteering at the hospital for more than 12 years and has accumulated 42,500 hours of service. She has served as chairperson for the volunteer gift shop, sits on a variety of committees for the Volunteer Association, and has served as the secretary of the Suncoast Health & Education Foundation. Ricca also received the Frist Volunteer Humanitarian Award in 2014.

Pasqual has been a courier at Bayonet Point for more than eight years with over 4,000 hours of service. Beyond his courier assignment, he serves on the volunteer awards committee and was the recipient of a Star Award in 2014.

New technology engages patients
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, in collaboration with Bioscape Digital, has launched an interactive, bedside, tablet solution to further engage patients during a hospital stay.

On the tablets, patients will have the ability to:

  • Educate themselves on relevant health educational content
  • Provide real-time feedback about their visit
  • Schedule an outpatient physician appointment
  • Access the patient portal
  • Stay entertained by playing games and listening to music
  • Sign up for various hospital services.

Bioscape collaborates with health systems to empower patients, staff, and doctors at the point of care.

 

Going green for mental health

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The Medical Center of Trinity celebrated May as Mental Health Awareness Month by turning its Behavioral Health Center the color green for the month.

The hospital is using the month of May to call awareness to the many symptoms of deteriorating mental health, which include:

  • Changes in energy level and sleep patterns
  • Changes in appetite, eating habits or weight
  • Frequent thoughts of death or suicide
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in activities
  • Noticeable restlessness or irritability
  • Feeling sad, empty, hopeless, worthless or guilty
  • Difficulties with concentration or decision-making

The Medical Center of Trinity also has opened its new Senior Behavioral Health Program dedicated to helping older adults with mental health concerns receive the skills they need for a strong foundation of recovery.

The new program allows seniors to work in partnership with caregivers, hospital staff and clinicians to receive high-quality care tailored to the senior’s needs.

Expert: Vaccination prevents measles

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Measles is back in the news again — in a big way.

From Jan. 1 to May 3, there were 764 individual cases reported in 23 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

And, as of May 9, Florida had two reported cases, according to the Florida Department of Health.

It’s important to stay aware, said Suzanne Chandler, system director of Infection Prevention and Control for Baycare Health System.

Suzanne Chandler is system director of Infection Prevention and Control for Baycare Health System.

Media coverage of new outbreaks has ramped up concerns, she said.

“With the hype of the media, we’re getting a lot of calls, even from providers. So, it’s not only just the public. It’s even the health care worker,” she said.

And, because Florida is such a big tourist state — attracting people from so many places, an outbreak could occur potentially anytime, she said.

“So, we do need to be on the alert. But, there’s no need to panic,” she said.

The best protection against the measles is vaccination, she added.

Health care providers and county health departments offer the MMR vaccine, which prevents measles, mumps and rubella.

“If you had the (vaccination) series as a child, typically, you should be protected,” Chandler said. For those who are unsure of that protection, there is a blood test that can be done to determine the level of protection. In some cases, a new vaccination may be needed.

It’s a highly contagious disease and it spreads via the air. People who have not been vaccinated are highly likely to get it.

The important thing to remember is that someone with measles is highly contagious for four days before the rash develops and four days after it, she said.

Symptoms of measles typically begin as an upper respiratory type of infection, including a runny nose.

Often, there will be conjunctivitis-type symptoms, where the eyes are running.

A cough and fever are common, and occasionally there will be little white spots inside of the mouth — but not everyone gets those.

“The rash will come later. The rash usually starts at the top and works its way down, the head and face and neck,” Chandler said. “It covers the body.”

People sometimes mistake another respiratory virus for the measles, she said.

“Honestly, there’s a lot of respiratory viruses out there and a lot of them do cause rashes,” she said.

As a result, “a lot of these people have flocked into their pediatricians or their doctor’s offices. It turns out not to be measles, but people are still concerned because they’ve had similar symptoms,” she said.

If a parent with more than one child discovers that one of the children has a case of the measles, the other children should be vaccinated and kept away from where the ill child is staying, she said.

Keep the healthy children out of the house, she advised.

Measles is so contagious that it can travel through air vents, she explained.

If a patient suspected of having measles arrives at the hospital, the patient is placed in a negative pressure room —an isolation technique used in hospitals to avoid cross-contamination.

Those caring for the patient would wear special masks, she added.

If a parent suspects their child has measles, they should get in touch with medical staff before taking them into a doctor’s office or emergency room — and to be sure the child has a mask on before entering the facility.

Without the mask, “everybody gets exposed because it’s so highly contagious. Everybody that’s in that emergency room waiting could potentially be exposed,” Chandler said.

Complications from measles can include ear infections, and in rare instances, deafness, she said.

“Younger children can get pneumonia and croup, which also are viral in nature,” she said.

Extreme complications would be encephalitis or blindness, she added.

“The fact that we have a fair number of unvaccinated people in the U.S. right now is why we are seeing the measles outbreak,” Chandler said. “We went for 25 years; it was gone. We just didn’t see it at all. Now, it’s back again. In that time period, a lot of folks chose not to vaccinate their children for various reasons.”

Symptoms of measles
These symptoms appear typically 7 days to 14 days after infection:

  • High fever
  • Cough
  • Red, watery eyes
  • Within three days to five days a rash often develops on the face and neck, and can spread to the rest of the body.

What to do if you think you or a loved one has measles?
First, call your health care provider or facility, or county health department and report your concerns. Do not go directly to a health care provider’s office or facility, or the county health department.

A health care provider or a county health department official will give you instructions on getting seen in a timely manner, and how you can avoid exposing other people to measles.

Source: Florida Department of Health

Published May 15, 2019

A new home health division at Gulfside

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Talk about having a good week.

Last Wednesday, after months of organizational work, Gulfside Home Health accepted its first patient. And on Thursday, it celebrated the grand opening of its new Land O’ Lakes office with a chamber of commerce ribbon cutting.

A ribbon cutting was held last week for Gulfside Home Health, a new division of Gulfside Health Services that provides skilled home nursing and therapies ordered by a physician. Celebrating with the ribbon held high is Gulfside President Linda Ward; holding the scissors is Cheryl-Ann Benn, administrator for Gulfside Home Health.

“It’s exciting to be growing and offering new services to our community,” said Linda Ward, president and chief executive officer of the agency. “Providing skilled home care to patients is a perfect complement to our hospice and palliative care services that we have been providing for a long time.”

With the launch of its home health division, the nonprofit has changed its name to Gulfside Healthcare Services, with three distinct divisions — Gulfside Home Health, Gulfside Hospice and Gulfside Palliative Care.

“Gulfside has served Pasco residents since 1988, and we are well-known for our quality care and community focus for hospice and palliative care. We are bringing this same dedication to home health, and look forward to providing this much-needed service to our community,” said Ward.

Gulfside Home Health is offering skilled home health services that are ordered by a patient’s doctors, including nursing, therapy and patient education.

Gulfside’s nursing staff provides wound care, injections, IV infusions, pain management and medication oversight. And, its licensed therapists offer physical, occupational and speech therapies. All services and treatments are done in a patient’s home.

“There are many advantages of taking care of someone in their home instead of in a hospital or rehab center,” said Cheryl-Ann Benn, who heads up Gulfside Home Health as its administrator.

“Patients are more comfortable at home, family is there for support, and no transportation is needed because our health care providers come to them.”

Benn adds that home care especially helps with patients who easily get confused in unfamiliar places, which is common toward the end of day when people with memory problems suffer from sun-downing effects.

“We plan our visits around a client’s schedule, right down to avoiding a favorite television show,” said Benn. “Families can choose the time that is best for them.”

Most appointments are scheduled between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and only skilled care ordered by a physician is provided. Patients are not charged directly for the care they receive — Gulfside bills Medicare or private insurance, not its patients.

Benn clarifies that Gulfside’s service line features skilled nursing care and various therapies, unlike many other companies that simply offer companion care, bathing or assistance with meals and shopping.

“Our team specializes in the advanced care that must be done by a nurse or professional,” said Benn. “There are many private companies that offer non-medical services that do not qualify for payment under Medicare of private insurance.”

Benn joined Gulfside Home Health in February to prepare for Joint Commission Accreditation, to hire staff and get the office ready next to Gulfside’s thrift shop on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

Gulfside Home Health received its license on April 5 for Pasco and Pinellas counties, and since then has hired RN and LPN nurses, home health aides, a social worker and physical therapist, as well as contracting for occupational and speech therapists.

“We have an outstanding staff with many years of experience — I couldn’t be happier with the team we’ve put together,” said Benn.

Patient referrals come from hospitals, rehab facilities and doctors’ offices, and patients can choose which home health service best meets their needs.

Benn and Ward believe many families will chose Gulfside Home Health because of the stellar reputation of Gulfside’s hospice and palliative care services, and because it is a nonprofit.

“Being a nonprofit allows us to create programs for clients and their families they are not reimbursed for through Medicare or private insurance,” explained Ward. “We can host community events to raise funds for additional services, and are looking at developing programs on COPD, diabetic meals and foot care, caregiver support, and many others,” said Benn.

Ward added that offering home health services is taking Gulfside to a higher service level and is a logical next step. In the first few months, Gulfside Home Health expects to serve 30 to 50 patients, and then grow to over 120.

“We want to offer a continuum of service, while remaining community-based,” said Ward.

Published May 15, 2019