The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Health

Funds will help combat addiction

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Congressman Gus Bilirakis has announced that recent efforts to increase funding for the Drug Free Communities program, and advocacy on behalf of a local Drug Prevention Coalition’s application for continued federal funding, has helped secure $125,000 for Pasco County.

These dollars, allocated to the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), will be used to support coordinated efforts to address addiction in the community, with a targeted emphasis on prevention among youth.

As one strategy in a comprehensive response to the public health crisis created by addiction, Bilirakis supported an increase to the Drug Free Communities program in this year’s budget.

In total, $90.9 million was allocated to drug prevention coalitions across the nation.

The funds will help provide local community coalitions with resources to prevent youth substance abuse, including prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco and alcohol.

Health News 09/19/2018

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Cardiologist joins Premier Heart center
Premier Heart and Vascular Center has announced that Dr. Huy Khuu has joined its growing practice. Khuu will be the center’s ninth interventional cardiologist and 19th practitioner.

Dr. Huy Khuu

Khuu comes to Premier Heart with more than 18 years of interventional cardiology experience. He most recently served as cardiac catheterization lab director at Florida Hospital Dade City and as a board member of the medical executive committee.

Khuu was instrumental in the creation of the STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program at Florida Hospital Dade City.

He previously served as assistant professor of medicine, cardiology division, at the University of South Florida, Tampa General Hospital.

His areas of expertise include coronary artery disease; stenting, pacemakers and defibrillators; and peripheral arterial disease.

Khuu is board certified in interventional cardiology and general cardiology.

Rx Express announces new packaging
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, medication is not taken as prescribed 50 percent of the time, and the non-adherence causes more than 30 percent of chronic disease failures, according to a new release from Rx Express Pharmacy and Compounding Center, in Lutz.

To address the issue, the pharmacy has announced its new Dispill Medication Packaging Program, a personalized program designed to help patients take the right medications at the right time.

For information, call (813) 948-4321.

Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month
According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, each year, brain aneurysms cause nearly 500,000 deaths worldwide.

During the month of September, The Trinity Love Hoblit Foundation is hoping to increase public awareness of this devastating and often-fatal condition.

The Hoblit Foundation also provides support and funding for neuroscience research for brain aneurysms with the goal of advancing treatment options, and reducing the time between treatment and signs/symptoms to ensure better outcomes.

Aneurysm risk factors include: smoking, high blood pressure, family history, age 40 and older, female, person of color, and drug use (particularly cocaine).

Sudden symptoms include: loss of consciousness, confusion, seizure, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, numbness or weakness, and pain behind the eye.

For information about the organization, or to donate, visit TrinityHoblit.org.

Cheaper EpiPen efforts

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Congressman Gus Bilirakis has been working to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for several years. He has authored multiple provisions within H.R. 2430, which was signed into law last August.

One of the provisions created an expedited approval process for generic drugs when no competitor exists on the market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that it approved the first generic drug through this new process.

The second Bilirakis provision reformed the FDA Office of Combination Products, as a result of an exchange with FDA officials. This office manages the approval of Complex drug-device combination products, such as auto-injectors and metered-dose inhalers.

The EpiPen is an example of a combination product.

The company that manufactures the EpiPen – Mylan Pharmaceuticals – raised the cost of the EpiPen by 400 percent, making it unaffordable for many families.

Traditionally, there has not been a generic version of the EpiPen available on the market.

However, with the reforms, the FDA has announced that it has approved the first generic version of the EpiPen, used to treat allergic reactions.

Health News 08/29/2018

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(Courtesy of the Pasco County Tax Collector)

Stepping up for seniors
CARES (Community Aging & Retirement Services) was the recipient of monies raised by the Pasco County Tax Collector’s five offices through its monthly charitable giving program. CARES is a Pasco County-based organization that provides services to seniors to keep them in their homes and be independent. The community stepped up in a big way to assist in the CARES Senior Health Clinic’s daily operations. The clinic is staffed by volunteer medical professionals devoted to helping low-income people ages 55 and older who need health care services. Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano (far right) and staff members present a check for $6,749.88 to Jemith Rosa, CARES president and CEO (holding sign, right).

Mental health education
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Pasco County offers free education classes to those diagnosed with a mental illness, and families and friends.

The Peer-to-Peer Class is a 10-session educational program for adults with mental illness who are looking to better understand their condition and journey toward recovery.

The Family-to-Family program is 12 sessions for family, significant other and friends of people living with mental illness. It is an evidence-based program.

Research shows that it can significantly improve the coping and problem-solving abilities of the people closest to an individual living with a mental health condition.

Classes are taught by a trained team of people who have been there, and includes presentations, discussions and interactive exercises. Everything is confidential. NAMI does not recommend a specific medical therapy or treatment approach.

Programs are offered in East and West Pasco.

Visit NAMIPasco.org to check the calendar for locations and times.

For information, call the NAMI Pasco information line at (727) 992-9653.

Robotic guidance system
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel is the first hospital in the Tampa Bay area, and only the second in Florida, to offer the Globus ExcelsiusGPS surgical robotic guidance system through its neurospine program.

The system is the first and only robotic platform for spine surgery that combines surgical navigation and robotic guidance, and improve accuracy and patient care for precise minimally invasive spine surgeries by using robotics and navigation.

The system provides real time imaging to physicians for increased safety and accuracy; more precise positioning of screws during surgery, less exposure to radiation; and potentially shorter surgery and recovery time for patients.

The hospital’s neurospine program launched in October 2017 in response for a growing need from the community and a desire for patients to have a long-term solution for spinal pain.

Florida Hospital gets name change
Florida Hospital and its parent company, Adventist Health System, will be renamed AdventHealth effective Jan. 2, according to a news release from the hospital’s parent company, Adventist Health System.

There will be no change in ownership.

The rebrand will make it easier for customers to distinguish AdventHealth’s care locations and service, the news release stated.

Nearly 50 hospital campuses, with more than 80,000 employees, will be unified under the single name.

“Becoming AdventHealth allows us to be a fully integrated and distinguishable health system across all aspects of the care continuum, while also speaking to our Christian healing ministry, message of wholeness and our rich Seventh-day Adventist roots,” Terry Shaw, president and chief executive officer of Advent Health System, the hospital’s parent company, said in the news release.

A transition campaign with television and print advertisements will be featured in September, in various media markets nationwide.

Signs and other visual elements at hospitals and other care facilities will be changed in January.

Hillsborough County files ‘opioid’ lawsuit

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Hillsborough County has filed a lawsuit in the 13th judicial circuit court in Hillsborough County against 14 manufacturers and distributors alleging they have played a role in the opioid epidemic in the county.

The county has hired a national team of lawyers to represent them in the lawsuit, with attorney Mike Moore as the lead litigant. Moore, a former Mississippi attorney general, is now handling a number of similar suits on behalf of local and state governments nationwide.

Hillsborough County Commission Chairwoman Sandra Murman

The list of defendants in the county’s lawsuit includes Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, McKesson Corporation, CVS Health Corporation, Walgreens and nine others.

At a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Hillsborough County Commission Chairwoman Sandra Murman said, “Today is an important day, but today is just like every day in Hillsborough County. There’s a baby being born that’s substance exposed because the mother was on drugs. We have many children every single day being removed from their homes, put in foster care because their parents are substance exposed and addicts.

“We have young people every day that are dying of opioid overdose,” Murman said.

The county’s lawsuit “alleges that manufacturers of these drugs misrepresented the risk of opioids and marketed the drugs for chronic pain, when in fact, there’s not one single valid scientific study that supports the use of opioids for treatment of long-term chronic pain, Murman said.

The county intends to prove that drug distributors shipped excessive amounts of pain pills into the community, flooding county streets with pain pills, the commission chairwoman added.

The opioid epidemic is widespread, crossing socioeconomic boundaries, she said.

“It affects our seniors. It affects adolescents. Children. Families,” she said.

There have been 1,072 opioid overdose deaths in Hillsborough County since 2012, Murman said. The county also has seen a 24 percent increase in opioids over a period of five years.

“That’s a direct result of the fraudulent marketing of the drugs and the excessive amounts of drugs shipped into our county by these defendants,” Murman said.

“Hillsborough County is leading the state in the number of babies born addicted to opioids,” Murman said. “That is totally unacceptable.”

There were 579 cases of babies addicted to opioids reported in Hillsborough County in 2015, she said.

“For me, it’s personal.,” Murman said. “My sister, who was addicted to painkillers, committed suicide.”

At the news conference, Moore said he was involved in helping to resolve the BP oil spill.

“What we have here is a pill spill,” Moore said. “Close to 40,000 people in your county are opioid addicts.”

Moore characterized the problem as a “ticking, ticking time bomb.”

“We want these companies to pay to clean the pill spill,’ Moore said.

Moore challenged a perception that some may have about the types of people who die from opioid abuse. It’s not just a problem faced by people who live on the streets, he said.

“It’s somebody’s 19-year-old college student.

“It’s a 35-year-old lawyer.

“It’s a housewife,” Moore said.

State attorney Andrew Warren, who also spoke at the news conference, agreed: “It’s a public health crisis. It does not discriminate.”

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, weighed in, as well. He put it like this: “We must dry up the supply. This is not an epidemic we’re going to arrest our way out of.”

Hillsborough’s lawsuit follows a national trend for local governments to fight against the distributors and manufacturers of opioid medications.

The Pasco County Commission voted in January to become one of several plaintiffs in litigation that seeks to replicate the kind of payouts attorneys won in the late 1990s against the tobacco industry.

Pensacola-based Levin Papantonio is representing Pasco County. The law firm is part of a consortium that is pursuing lawsuits in several states including West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

In 2016, Pasco County had 165 drug overdose deaths, and 120 were related to opioids.

Published August 22, 2018

Health News 08/22/2018

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(Courtesy of Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida)

Sertoma launches new mobile audiology services
The Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida had a ribbon-cutting at Country Way Village Child Care in Tampa, with a presentation of its new mobile audiology services van.

The van will provide pediatric hearing screenings and evaluations, along with fitting and dispensing hearing aids. The foundation’s focus is rural and under-served communities.

From left: Kathy Spurling, assistant outreach coordinator at Sertoma; Jesse Brown, district governor of Central Florida Sertoma District; Taylor, a Country Way Village Child Care employee; and Emylee Baumann, outreach coordinator at Sertoma. For information, call (727) 312-3881.

Hospital ranks in top 100
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health.

The study, conducted by IBM Watson spotlights the top-performing hospitals in the United States based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data.

The hospital also was named one of the 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience by the Women’s Choice Award.

Since opening nearly six years ago Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has established itself as a national leader, earning recognition from a variety of industry leaders for patient care, safety and satisfaction.

The hospital continues to grow and expand its services, most recently opening an offsite Emergency Room in Land O’ Lakes

It also opened Inspiration Place – a comprehensive women’s health center that offers concierge care with female physicians, women’s imaging services and women’s physical therapy services, located together with a boutique spa.

A wound-healing institute also is under construction

Florida KidCare
Florida KidCare and its partners are reminding parents to take advantage of their child’s health care benefits or to sign them up for health and dental coverage.

Through Florida KidCare, sports physicals, vision and hearing tests, routine dental cleanings and pediatric checkups are all covered.

To offer families more local opportunities to learn about and apply for Florida KidCare, the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation has awarded nine back-to-school grants to community organizations across the state.

For those interested in applying for Florida KidCare, the corporation has debuted a free online eligibility calculator. The calculator can be accessed at tinyurl.com/ybgleael.

Enrollment is open year-round, and the application is free.

To learn more or to apply, visit FloridaKidCare.org.

St. Joseph’s garners two awards
For the second year in a row, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North has received two awards for quality acute care from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association: Mission: Lifeline STEMI Receiving Center.

The Gold Achievement Award and the Get With the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Elite Quality Achievement Award both recognize the hospital’s efforts in implementing specific quality improvement measures for the treatment of severe heart attacks and stroke.

The Mission: Lifeline program is a coordinated proactive system of care that turns first responders, hospitals and other health care providers into a team that uses proven guidelines and best practices to treat patients suffering from STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction).

It allows all of the components of care – from the onset of the emergency all the way through hospital discharge and the start of secondary prevention – to work quickly and seamlessly.

St. Joseph’s Hospital-North is at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel plans to add more services

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Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel plans to expand the services it offers, as well as building additional parking and a new three-story medical office building.

The hospital, at 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., also plans to add a wound care center that’s expected to open soon.

Those initiatives are in addition to an offsite Emergency Room the hospital has opened in Land O’ Lakes and the addition of Inspiration Place it opened last year. Inspiration Place is a 12,000-square-foot concierge health facility geared specifically for women, complete with female physicians, women’s imaging services and other services tailored to women’s needs.

Denyse Bales-Chubb is president and CEO of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. (Courtesy of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel)

In addition to these new activities, the hospital also has garnered national recognition for its performance.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel recently appeared in Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals. It is the only hospital in The Laker/Lutz News coverage area to receive this distinction.

The selection was based on a study conducted by IBM Watson Health, which spotlights the top-performing hospitals based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel also was named as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience by the Women’s Choice Award. That award evaluates specific survey results, along with primary research about women’s health care preferences.

Denyse Bales-Chubb, the hospital’s president and CEO, said she “almost jumped for joy” when she learned about the Watson award.

She considers the Watson award one of the top honors a hospital can receive. “They’re looking nationwide, and they’re selecting the top 100 hospitals,” she said.

“To be listed in the Modern Healthcare Watson Top 100 Hospitals is quite an accomplishment. It’s one of those things you always have as your goal. You’re not sure if you’re ever going to get there,” she said.

The award, Bales-Chubb noted, “actually looks at your financial outcomes, how fiscally responsible you are and how viable.”

Inspiration Place, opened last year at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, is a 12,000-square-foot concierge health facility geared specifically for women, complete with female physicians, women’s imaging services and other services tailored to women’s needs.

The Women’s Choice Award considers patient satisfaction, patient outcomes and other criteria.

Much of the hospital’s success stems from the hiring procedures it uses, Bales-Chubb said.

When hiring, it looks at whether the candidate possesses the proper skills and will be a good fit, and also evaluates the candidate’s potential to grow into other roles in the future.

“It’s so important for employees to feel that ‘This is an organization that I want to stay with’ —because loyalty is really big in making sure they are engaged in wanting the success of the organization,” Bales-Chubb said.

The hospital also has an incentive program to promote employee referrals, and has tuition reimbursement to encourage staff to continue building their skills, she said.

When the hospital opened, it was bringing services to residents who had been accustomed to driving for miles to receive medical care.

Since opening, it has expanded in both its number of beds and its array of services.

Inspiration Place, added last year, gave women a single place where they go for the major health care screenings and care, Bales-Chubb said.

The wound care center, which will open soon, will give Wesley Chapel residents a local place to get wound care services. Residents have had to drive 12 miles to get those services, in either Zephyrhills or Tampa, the hospital executive said.

Other planned changes include additional parking and a new three-story medical office building. The new medical office building will mirror the hospital’s Wellness Plaza, and will be built on the land now occupied by a parking lot used for the hospital’s emergency department. The medical building will house specialists, rather than primary care physicians.

“It’s going to be brand new services that have not been provided in the Wesley Chapel area,” Bales-Chubb said, saving patients the need to drive out of the community for services.

As the hospital continues to expand to meet growing needs, the community of Wesley Chapel has been supportive, Bales-Chubb said.

“This community is just so full of people who are so engaging and welcoming, and so innovative. Everybody is looking for how they can make this community better.

“It’s a great place to be,” Bales-Chubb said.

Published August 15, 2018

Health News 08/15/2018

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(Courtesy of Florida Hospital Tampa_

Moon Lake gets needed school supplies
Team members from Florida Hospital at Connerton Long Term Acute Care delivered much-needed school supplies to Moon Lake Elementary in New Port Richey. The donations will help students successfully kick off the school year. This is the fifth year the LTAC team has provided the supplies.

 

 

 

New robotic technology
The Medical Center of Trinity has acquired the latest enhance technology in robotic-assisted surgery, which will enable doctors to operate with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control.

The high-definition 3D vision system allows surgeons to see key anatomy with immense depth and clarity.

The specially trained surgeons who perform the procedures at the hospital control the robotic-assisted surgical system, which translates his or her hand movements into small, more precise movements of tiny instruments inside the body.

Robotic-assisted surgery allows the doctor to perform complex procedures through just a few tiny openings.

For patients, this may mean less trauma and pain, minimal scarring, decreased blood loss, and faster recovery.

The new technology is guided hands-on at all times by a board-certified physician.

Procedures are now performed in general surgery (gall bladder, appendectomy, hernia), colorectal, gynecology, thoracic, urology and urogynecology.

For more information on minimally invasive surgical options and physicians who perform robotic-assisted surgery at Medical Center of Trinity, call (727) 834-5630, or visit MedicalCenterTrinity.com.

Panel offers formula to help struggling teens: Judge less, listen more

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Those working in the front lines of mental health, drug prevention, drug addiction and recovery heard firsthand last week from a panel of youths about strategies that can help young people who need help in those areas.

The panel made up of members of STAND (Safe Teens AgaiNst Drugs) convened at the community center at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, under the auspices of the monthly coalition meeting of the Pasco Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.

A panel of youths recently shared suggestions about taking aim to reduce drug abuse and mental health problems. For starters, they said, it would help to have more counselors on campus who have time to listen to them. From left: Ormand Derrick, panel moderator, and panelists Mariah Morales, Ariana Santillana, Mia Cuasey and Annabelle Durff. (B.C. Manion)

The room was filled with professionals, and the youths— who have experienced firsthand the issues of addiction, attempted suicide, losing a loved one to drug abuse or being shuffled between foster homes —  had plenty of ideas to share.

There needs to be better access to help, said panelist Annabelle Durff.

Services are available sometimes, but they’re across town, she said.

“That’s not going to help. It’s too far away,” Durff said, noting many students don’t drive or have a way to get a ride.

Paying for therapy is another issue, she said.

Lack of parental support is a problem, too, she said, noting that some parents refuse to help their kids get help.

“I think if you have more school programs that are right (there), direct for the kids, that’s going to help,” Durff said.

It’s not enough to simply have counselors available, the staffing needs to be adequate, panelists added.

There are guidance counselors on campus, but they are pulled in too many directions.

“If I’m having an issue, or a mental breakdown, I have to wait until next week because they (other students) want to talk about their test scores.

“There’s nobody there just for the students to talk to,” she said.

More creative approaches are needed to teach young people to avoid using drugs and alcohol, said panelist Ariana Santillana.

She thinks that people tend to minimize the dangers of alcohol abuse. In her opinion, it’s the biggest substance abuse problem in Pasco County.

“I feel like it’s been so normalized. Nobody really thinks it’s a big deal,” she said. Plus, it’s easily available in many homes.

She advocates coming up with new strategies to reach kids, instead of simply pulling out a Power Point presentation and repeating the common refrain “drugs are bad, don’t do them,” she said.

There needs to be a new attitude when helping people who have substance abuse or mental health illnesses, panelists said.

“Offer your support, instead of punishment,” Santillana said.

Panelist Mia Causey agreed: “We need to show kids we are here for them. If they need help, we’re there to help them, instead of passing them off to somebody else.”

Drug prevention efforts usually last for about a week and generally involve free pencils, wrist bands, stickers and posters, the panelists said.

Durff asked: “What about the kids that are already doing drugs?”

She added: “What about kids (whose) parents are already doped up?”

It doesn’t help to tell people that drugs are bad, she said.

“They probably already know that, but they don’t have the strength to stop it themselves,” Durff said.

Talk about issues, don’t hide them, panelists say
Mental illness, substance abuse and suicide are issues that need to become part of the public conversation, panelists said.

“The thing about STAND is that we’re not afraid to bring light to the problem,” Causey said. “How do you expect to solve the problem, if we don’t bring light to it?”

Getting help to end drug use or to cope with mental health issues shouldn’t be taboo topics, she added.

An appointment for a therapy session should be viewed in the same light as going to the doctor for an ankle injury or to treat a cold, Causey added. “It should be a normalized thing.”

Helping kids find their passions and a positive outlet could go a long way in reducing drug use and promoting positive mental health, panelists added.

Causey: “If you have passion for something, take what you already know and take your already given talents and apply it to that. I love talking. I also am really good at writing poetry, so I do spoken word. I speak at all sorts of different events.”

Santillana noted: “Schools offer sports and band. I’m in band, and I’ve got a zillion things to do every day, so what time do I have for drugs?”

Mariah Morales, another panelist, said she immerses herself in art. “That has really helped me through everything I’ve been through. Art is my way of getting out my feelings and expressing myself. It really does help.”

The panelists also said they believe having a 12-step program in schools would be helpful.

Finally, they believe that sharing their stories can help other youths who are going through challenging times.

“We need to step up, and talk about it and say, ‘If you are going through these things, I got past it. I got through it, and it’s not the end,” Durff said.

Causey agreed: “Saying ‘No’ for yourself is the first step. Helping somebody else say ‘No’ is the next step.”

Safe Teens AgaiNst Drugs (STAND) is a team of youth leaders determined to end youth substance abuse in Pasco County by providing education to teachers, police, businesses and other community members.

Priority Issues:

  • Change youth perspective of drugs
  • Reduce accessibility of drugs
  • Reduce marketing of drugs to young people
  • Create an environment where young people in recovery can thrive

Published August 8, 2018

Summer volunteer job helps teen chase bigger dreams

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At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much remotely related between a teenager’s ambition to work in forensic nursing and her volunteer role in the Mom/Baby Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North.

But, Sherika Edwards has a plan, and her volunteer stint at the hospital in Lutz figures into it.

The 17-year-old, from Lutz, said she’s always been interested in criminal justice and that other members of her family work in medical careers.

Sherika Edwards spent part of her summer vacation working as a volunteer at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North. She aspires to become a forensic nurse and said having the opportunity to work at a medical facility while she is still in high school was a valuable experience.
(B.C. Manion)

So, the idea of becoming a forensic nurse and tracing evidence to help bring justice to the victims of crime makes perfect sense to Edwards, entering her senior year at Steinbrenner High School.

She said she eagerly signed on when she had the chance to become a volunteer at the hospital, which enabled her to get some exposure to the life that goes on inside of a medical facility.

She wrapped up her summer commitment last week.

During her volunteer stint, she handled a variety of chores.

She answered call lights to find out what patients needed. Sometimes, they just wanted a snack, or a cup of juice or ice, which Edwards would get for them.

She also helped to organize file cabinets and to assemble information folders for patients at the hospital to deliver babies, or to have surgical procedures, Edwards said.

The types of information the patient receives depends on their needs, she explained.

Edwards also helped put together kits containing supplies that a patient might need.

One of the highpoints during her volunteer time at the hospital was having the opportunity to witness a live birth, she said.

Edwards said she was happy to pitch in.

“I like being able to help out the nurses with simple tasks,” she said.

Over the course of the summer Edwards earned 72 volunteer hours toward the community service hours she needs for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

In addition to getting exposure to the variety of jobs that are done within the hospital, the volunteer work gives the youths a chance to be mentored by adults, said Tiffany Scalone, Media Relations Coordinator for St. Joseph’s Hospitals BayCare Health System.

“They’re learning about responsibility, commitment, things like that, as well,” Scalone said.

Edwards was among 21 participants at the hospital’s Volunteen program at St. Joseph’s Hospital–North over the summer. The program on that campus is open only to children of hospital employees at this point, but is expected to be expanded in the future, Scalone said.

Edwards’ mom, Dian Creighton, is a patient care technician in the medical/surgical unit at the hospital in Lutz.

The teen volunteers are well-received by patients and staff, Scalone said.

“All of the team members and the patients just love the Volunteens. They love the energy that they bring, and just the unique perspective that they have. Being fresh and go-getters,” Scalone said.

Edwards said she’s glad she did the volunteer work.

“I think it’s a good opportunity, especially if you want to be in the medical field,” said the young woman, who has not yet decided where she will study nursing.

Published August 8, 2018