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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Health

Health News 08/08/2018

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(Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

Neuroscience Center now open
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point hosted an open house at its Neuroscience Center. The center features a new digital x-ray imaging system to view extremely detailed, real time images of a patient’s head, neck and spin during stroke, and other neuro endovascular procedures that require exact precision. Dr. Rao Musunuru and Sharon Hayes, CEO Bayonet Point (center), cut the ribbon at the open house.

Hospital licensed as stroke center
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has been licensed as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Agency for Healthcare Administration.

It is one of the only 45 hospitals in the state, and the only one located in Pasco County, providing patients with 24/7 availability of immediate access to the full spectrum of neuroscience-related care, including the latest technologies in the detection, treatment and rehabilitation for strokes.

(Courtesy of Patricia Serio)

Comfort pillows help make a difference
Members of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club spent hours sewing, stuffing and delivering comfort pillows to area hospitals for breast cancer patients, post-surgery. More than 400 pillows were delivered to Moffitt Cancer Center, Hope Lodge and Florida Hospital. Barbara Booth dedicated much time and effort to sew 290 pillows by herself.

Pasco school district adopts new mental health plan

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The Pasco County School Board has approved a plan that allocates additional funding provided by the Florida Legislature to address youth mental health needs.

The Legislature’s decision to provide more money to address mental health issues came in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools

The Pasco school district was allocated slightly more than $1.7 million in mental health funding, according to Melissa Musselwhite, director of student support programs and services for the district.

Ninety percent of the funding must be spent to provide mental health services and 10 percent can be spent on prevention, she said.

So, the district has designated $1.4 million for services for at-risk youths and slightly more than $150,000 for prevention services. It also has allocated $123,000 for public charter schools.

The district’s plan calls for contracting with Central Florida Behavioral Network to help the district manage access to mental health services and help the district with data reporting.

It also will help the district with wraparound services for students.

“Many times we refer kids out and parents don’t go. We need to be sure that we’re diligent about tracking those kids and following up,” Musselwhite told the Pasco County School Board during a workshop on July 24.

The district’s plan, which required school board approval, was due to the state by Aug. 1.

Board members approved the plan at their evening meeting on July 24.

“There hasn’t be a comprehensive approach to referring kids out for services and support, and the follow-up and the wraparound with the family,” Musselwhite said, noting she would spend close to $100,000 in general fund money every year for a limited number of students.

By working with Central Behavioral Florida Network, the district will be expanding its reach to community resources that it didn’t know about before, Musselwhite said.

The mental health plan also includes:

  • Contracting with behavioral analysts to work one-on-one with students most at risk
  • Training in youth mental health first aid
  • Training in trauma-informed care
  • Training in Positive Behavior Intervention
  • Increased funding for alternatives to suspensions program
  • Additional adult assistance to help with students who are severely at risk for various reasons
  • Increased data collection to help the district make more informed decisions
  • Refining threat assessment procedures to be sure the law enforcement and district personnel are speaking the same language
  • Adding a high-performing school nurse, school psychologist and school social worker who will serve in a coaching/mentoring role for district staff

The district also plans to incorporate Social Emotional Learning across the curriculum, to help kids to learn how to effectively deal with anger, disappointment and difficult situations that arise.

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent, is a proponent of the approach.

Social Emotional Learning helps kids “deal with the emotions of maybe not being the best player on the team, or not being able to play nine innings every game, or maybe having to sit on the bench for the good of the team,” Gadd said.

“Those things are upsetting to some folks, but how do you learn to handle that because those things that happen in life.

“SEL is trying to help teachers understand how to help kids to build foundational skills so they learn to manage those troublesome behaviors,” Gadd said.

Musselwhite said the district is looking for ways to embed SEL across the curriculum, “so that it’s not something stand-alone, and that it can be holistically done throughout the district, not in one subject or during your time with your school counselor.”

Gadd put it like this: “What we need is more SEL and less people with guns. If I had my choice, I would have rather have seen the Legislature fund a lot of SEL programs all around the state to help kids build those foundational skills so they never get to a point where they want to shoot people.”

Also, the district plans to add another Crisis Intervention Team.

It has four teams and will be adding a fifth.

“There was a huge increase, a 46 percent increase, in our crisis callouts for the crisis intervention team over the last year,” Musselwhite said. “It was pretty taxing last year on the four teams that we had.”

The teams are voluntary and are made up of student services team members and school counselors, who receive additional training to respond to crisis situations throughout the district.

Published August 1, 2018

Residents receive recognition at poster exhibit

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Two residents at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point received recognition at the HCA West Florida Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium Poster Exhibition.

Dr. Anthony Salibi with his People’s Choice Award trophy and Dr. Ravi Chari, president HCA West Florida
(Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

Dr. Anthony Salibi, internal medicine, was awarded the People’s Choice Award with his poster entitled, “Early Recognition of Sepsis and Goal Directed Therapy Resulting in Reduced Hospital Mortality.”

Dr. Nicholas Kolinsky, internal medicine, received the Inter-Professional Award for his poster entitled, “Left Main Coronary Artery Dissection and Aortic Insufficiency Following Blunt Chest Trauma.”

The awards were presented at the second annual exhibition at the University of South Florida, Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation.

Each of the HCA West Florida GME hospitals presented posters showcasing the research, scholarly activity and quality initiatives being performed by the residents and fellows across all GME programs.

Scholarships awarded

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Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point’s Volunteer Association, in conjunction with the Suncoast Health & Education Foundation, presented six $2,000 scholarships to graduating seniors in Pasco County. The recipients were, from left to right: Brennon Chruscial, Anna Boglino, Marissa Sanders, Michaela Barney, Ryan Aing and Luke Detlor. (Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

Enjoy the summer, but heed these tips

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As the summer temperatures increase, so do the calls to poison control across the state.

More people are outdoors and kids are out of school, which can lead to an increased number of poison exposures, including pool chemical accidents; snake, spider and insect bites, and aquatic stings.

The Florida/USVI Poison Information Center in Jacksonville offers tips to keep Floridians safe this summer.

Pool Chemical Safety:

  • Be sure that you are in a well-ventilated area when using pool chemicals.
  • Follow product instructions carefully.
  • Do not store chemicals where flammable items may mix with them.
  • Never mix pool chemicals because that can create a toxic gas.
  • Always keep pool chemicals stored up and away from children.

Inspect Repellent Usage:

  • Read and follow product instructions carefully, as some repellents are not meant to be applied to the skin.
  • Do not use on a child’s hands, eyes, mouth or cut/irritated ski; spray repellent onto adult’s hands and then apply to child’s face.
  • Consumers also should not use a combination of sunscreen and insect repellent, as sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours, and repellent should not be reapplied.
  • DEET should not be used on children younger than 2 months old.
  • Always wash treated skin with soap and water after returning to the indoors.

Snake and Spider Bites:

  • If bitten by a snake, remove jewelry and tight clothes, immobilize the extremity if possible, keep affected area at or below the heart, and wash the area gently.
  • Do not feed the victim, make cuts or place ice on the bitten extremity, or apply a tourniquet.
  • If bitten by a spider, call the poison control center immediately.
  • If believed to have been bitten by one of the six venomous snakes in Florida, call poison control at (800) 222-1222, or 911, if victim cannot be aroused, is convulsing or has stopped breathing. Venomous snakes include the coral snake, cottonmouth/water moccasin, Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, copperhead or canebrake (timber) rattlesnake.

Outdoor Hazards:

  • Jellyfish and other aquatic life can bite and sting. Have a spray bottle with vinegar available at the beach for jellyfish stings. Call poison control for specific treatment advice.
  • Treat all wild mushrooms as poisonous, unless you are absolutely certain they are safe.
  • Initially, apply a baking soda paste to insect stings, including fire ants, bees, wasps and caterpillars. Then call poison control for specific treatment.

Pesticides also should be used according to the product instructions, and properly stored and disposed of according to the label. All pesticides should be kept in their original containers.

Consumers should avoid using produce that require leaving powder or pellets in areas where children or pets have access.

The Poison Help Hotline can be reached at (800) 222-1222 and provides free, confidential medical advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year-round, from toxicology specialists, such as nurses, pharmacists, physicians and poison information providers.

Published July 18, 2018

Health News 07/18/2018

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Shelli Ginther

Humanitarian award winner
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has recognized Shelli Ginther as this year’s Frist Volunteer Humanitarian Award winner. In addition to volunteering at the hospital, Ginther is active in the United Methodist Church as an organist, choir member and in volunteer services. She also is a certified lay servant and lay delegate to the Methodist Conference, and is a member in the Native Plant Society, as well as the New Port Richey Garden Club and the Spring Hill Garden Club.

 

 

New director appointed
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has appointed Jennifer Aceituno-Cardona as hospital administrative director of graduate medical education and program support for the hospital’s newly ACGME-accredited general surgery residency program.

Prior to joining Regional Medical, Aceituno-Cardona recently served as administrative director for graduate medical education at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of Stony Brook University in New York.

In addition to her role at Mather, she worked as the graduate medical education specialist in the GME office at Stony Brook and as a fellowship coordinator at Southampton Hospital, giving her experience with both osteopathic and allopathic programs.

Aceituno-Cardona has a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Stony Brook University.

Autism specialty plate
Every year, the Florida Support Autism Programs Specialty License Plate generates funds that support nonprofit organizations providing direct services for individuals with autism and related disabilities in Florida. In 2017, nearly $80,000 was awarded.

All nonprofit organizations with a current Internal Revenue Service designation as a 501(c)(3) exempt organization and a current State of Florida Charitable Solicitation Registration number that are providing services to individuals with autism and related disabilities in Florida are eligible to apply.

Proposals are due by July 31, by visiting AutismLicensePlate.com/grants.

New chief nursing officer
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has announced the appointment of Melanie Wetmore as chief nursing officer.

Wetmore comes to Bayonet Point from Oak Hill Hospital, where she served as assistant chief nursing officer. Prior to Oak Hill, she was employed at Memorial Hospital of Tampa.

Wetmore has more than 20 years of experience in emergency care and nursing leadership. She began her career in Rochester, New York, and served in emergency nursing in Torrance, California; Tucson, Arizona; and Tampa.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the State University of New York College at Brockport.

Wetmore also has a Master of Science degree in nursing leadership from Jacksonville University and is in the process of completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Walden University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She also is a board-certified nurse executive, certified emergency room nurse, and holds certification in advanced cardiac life support, basic life support and pediatric advanced life support.

Wetmore also is a trauma nursing course educator.

Health News 07/11/2018

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(Courtesy of Alzheimer’s Family Organization)

Project aims to help ease frustration
Members of the Brooksville Girl Scout Troop 24302 earned their sewing badges by creating Fidget Mats for the Alzheimer’s Family Organization. The mats may help sooth the agitated fidgeting of those with dementia. The West Hernando Branch of the Hernando County Library donated the space and provided free introductory sewing lessons for the project, and the scouts completed 10 fidget mats. Members of the troop are Alexa Brook, Isabel Shelby, Madeline Grob, Hannah Opyoke and Ami Rodriguez, under the leadership of Sarah Shelby and Angela Brook.

Adult day center honored
Jaime’s Adult Day Centers, of Lutz, has been recognized by the National Adult Day Services Association as an Adult Day Services Center of Distinction for its outstanding service and unique activities for its members.

The center’s monthly programming is developed by a certified recreation therapist and encompasses social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical activities.

Social wellness considers satisfaction in personal relationships with family and friends, and participation in the community

Emotional wellness considers one’s ability to recognize, accept and manage feelings, strengths and limitations.

Spiritual health considers the connection with a higher being.

Intellectual wellness looks at skills and knowledge within the individual.

And, physical well-being considers activities, such as exercise and a balanced diet.

Activities at Jaime’s range from themed parties to pet therapy with teacup goats. There also are Zumba Gold classes, resistance training and yoga; expressive arts and music therapy; daily prayer, and more.

For information, call (813) 527-6315.

Hospital adds new ER department
Morton Plant North Bay Hospital has completed the final phase of its emergency department, continuing to improve care for the West Pasco community.

Morton Plant’s new emergency department opened last December for patient care, featuring private treatment rooms, a spacious waiting area, nature-inspired artwork and contemporary design touches.

The final phase added a 15-bed unit for those requiring more observation or monitoring and four additional treatment rooms, bring the total to 28 private treatment rooms.

The permanent ambulance entrance also has opened.

The hospital is at 6600 Madison St., in New Port Richey.

 

St. Joseph’s Hospital-North undergoing $75 million expansion

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St. Joseph’s Hospital-North is the midst of a $75 million expansion that will double the hospital’s capacity and support additional services.

Crews are currently working to build out four additional operating suites, in shelled spaces that were included during the original construction in anticipation of future need.

Ryan Bittner, project superintendent on a $75 million expansion project at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, explains the complexity of the construction drawings needed for the project.
(B.C. Manion)

The operating suites are expected to be completed in September, said Sara Dodds, director of operations.

Meanwhile, work is underway to prepare for a two-floor expansion.

That portion of the project is expected to begin in July, said Ryan Bittner, who works for Barton Malow and is the project superintendent for the hospital’s expansion.

“We’ll start with the concrete sheer walls first, like the stairwells, the structural concrete portions that we’ll tie all the steel into. Once that’s up, our steel contractor will come in and erect. That’s when you’ll see the biggest change because you’ll see all of the steel framing go up, the floors being installed, all of the decking,” he said.

The additional floors, which will each have 54 patient rooms, are scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2020, Dodds said.

Although the expansion of the facility at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz, was always planned, the need came faster than initially expected, Dodds said.

“The growth rate around us is higher than the state of Florida and higher than the nation. If you drive around, there’s more than 1,000 homes and apartments going up, just within 1 mile of us,” she said, adding, “we are regularly now running at capacity.”

Sara Dodds, operations director for St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, is overseeing the expansion of the hospital, which she said was anticipated when the hospital opened in 2010, but came faster than expected because of area growth.

When the expansion is completed and the patient rooms are full, the hospital expects to add around 200 positions, including clinical staff and support services.

The expansion will allow the hospital to double the number of beds it has in its intensive care unit from 12 to 24, by converting 12 existing progressive care beds into intensive care beds.

The 108 beds being added will consist of 48 beds for patients receiving progressive care and 60 beds for those receiving medical surgical care.

Progressive care beds are for patients who are not typically as ill as those needing critical care, but require more specialized attention than a general patient recovering from surgery.

When the expansion is completed, the hospital will have 12 dedicated private rooms for infusion services, Dodds said. Currently, those services are provided in a shared space.

Before work began, the hospital reached out to its neighbors to share its plans, Dodds said.

“One of the things that there was concern about was the path of the deliveries and the construction crews, and we addressed that,” Dodds said, noting those deliveries and crews will not be cutting through residential areas.

The construction team will do what it can to minimize noise, but there will be noise, Dodds said.

“We’ll work with every patient that comes to make sure they understand there may be some noise,” she said, adding that the hospital will give patients earplugs, if they need them.

Crews are preparing to do the framing for the ceiling in four operating suites that are being built out at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North. The shells for the rooms were included in the original construction, in anticipation of future need.

“Whenever possible, we will minimize whatever work needs to be done at night,” she added.

If the project is finished on time, it will roughly coincide with the hospital’s 10-year anniversary.

When it opened, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North was the first new hospital that had been built in Hillsborough County for 30 years. Before that, area residents had to drive for miles to get to the nearest hospital.

Dodds vividly recalls opening day on Feb. 15, 2010.

She was a charge nurse at the time and remembers gazing out of the third-story window to see the hospital’s first patient approaching the building. It had 2,918 discharges that first year.

In 2011, its first full year of operation, the hospital had 4,831 discharges. That compares to 7,814 last year, which is a 61 percent increase since 2011, hospital officials note.

The larger hospital will address the community’s growing needs, Dodds said.

St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, by the numbers

  • 7,814 discharges
  • 404 births
  • 4,467 outpatient surgeries
  • 42,869 emergency department visits
  • 463,414 lab tests
  • 799 team members
  • 156 physicians

These figures are for 2017, the last complete year that statistics are available.

Published July 4, 2018

Health News 07/04/2018

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Dr. Rao Musunuru spends time with ‘Superman’ at a 20th anniversary celebration of Kids at the Point. (Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

Center celebrates milestone
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point proudly celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kids at the Point, a center that has been caring and educating young children on the hospital campus since 1997.

Kids at the Point was the idea of Dr. Rao Musunuru and others who believed that employees who worked at the hospital should be able to have needed child care close-by and convenient for both themselves and their little ones.

A week of activities was dedicated to the children’s concepts of a superhero, and included creating superhero masks, watching “The Incredibles” movie, wearing superhero pajamas and having a superhero decorating contest.

Red Cross Angels
Officers of the Red Cross Angels, a support group for the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross, were installed at a recent luncheon.

New officers for the 2018-2019 year are Al Van Voris, president; Glenda Barlow, vice president; Mary Jo Shenk, recording secretary; Nancy Watkins, corresponding secretary; and, Sandy Hill, treasurer.

Glenda Barlow was recognized as the Angel of the Year for her work as chairwoman of the Red Cross Angels Silver Coffee, which raised almost $40,000 for the Tampa Bay chapter.

This year’s Silver Coffee will take place Nov. 8 at a location yet to be determined.

For information about the Angels, which resume meetings in September, call (813) 348-4820.

Wound care excellence
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point was recognized with the Center of Distinction Award, which was given to the hospital’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine by Healogics.

The center achieved outstanding clinical outcomes for 12 consecutive months, including patient satisfaction higher than 92 percent, and a minimum wound healing rate of at least 91 percent within 30 median days to heal.

There were 635 centers eligible for the award, but only 427 achieved the honor.

For more information about Healogics and the distinction award, visit Healogics.com/2017-Center-of-Excellence-Winners.

Nursing awards
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point recognized its staff with excellence in nursing awards.

Gwenn Hartley was the recipient of the Excellence in Nursing Compassionate Care Award, which is given to a nurse who demonstrates exceptional nursing knowledge and expert skills, and consistently applies both with compassion and integrity.

Crystal Drilea earned the Excellence in Nursing Professional Mentoring Award, given to a nurse who advances nursing practice in any clinical setting or nursing specialty by guiding or supporting career development for individuals or groups of nurses.

The Nurse of the Year award was given to Lezonie Burney at the 12th annual Good Samaritan Health Clinic Nurses’ Gala Bayonet Point.

A secret selection committee chose Burney upon information submitted by her nominator.

She will reign for one year and make community appearances.

Also nominated for the award was Brooke Dupont, who has been employed at Regional Medical for 13 years. She currently works in the Medical Intensive Care Unit.

Patient safety recognized
Oak Hill Hospital, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and the Medical Center of Trinity each received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award, a designation that recognizes superior performance of hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays.

The distinction places all three hospitals among the top 10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades.

During the 2014 to 2016 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

  • 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care
  • 52.4 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest
  • 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital
  • 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital

Health News 06/20/2018

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(Courtesy of Oak Hill Hospital)

Quilts provide some extra care
The ‘Quilting With Grace’ group, from Grace Presbyterian Church in Spring Hill, presented Oak Hill Hospital’s Pediatric ER with four handmade quilts to be given to young children in need who are experiencing a traumatic event and need some additional tender loving care. Members of the group share the quilts with Kim Loucks, ER and Pediatric ER director (right).

 

(Courtesy of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

President’s Service Award
Harriet Prager, a volunteer at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, received the President’s Call to Service Award Certificate, from the office of the President of the United States. Prager began volunteering in 1999 and has more than 17,000 hours of service. She currently volunteers at the post-anesthesia care unit and is serving on the awards committee for the Volunteer Association. Prager also served on the association’s scholarship committee, helped with special projects, was on the board of directors for the Volunteer Association, and a board member of Suncoast Health & Education Foundation.

 

 

 

Club makes comfort pillows
The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club had a “Stuffing Party” to finish its assembly line project of cutting, sewing and finishing 160 comfort pillows for women recuperating after breast cancer surgery.

The pillows were delivered by Margee Carpenter, project chair, to the Women’s Center at Florida Hospital.

For information on the club, visit GFWCLutzLandOLakesWomansClub.org.

Access Health opens new office
Access Health Care Physicians has opened a new office in Zephyrhills for cardiology services, at 7323 Green Slope Drive.

Dr. Vinod Raxwal is board certified in cardiology, interventional cardiology, echocardiography and nuclear cardiology. He specializes in interventional cardiology.

Raxwal also has locations in Hudson and New Port Richey.

For information, call (813) 333-5754.

Hospital hands out awards
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point recently handed out the following awards:

  • Joe D’Amari: 2017 Male Volunteer of the Year
  • Carol Del Santo: 2017 Female Volunteer of the Year
  • Adrian Borel: Quarter of a Century of Service (27 years)
  • Al Del Santo: Quarter of a Century of Service (27 years)
  • Carol Del Santo: Quarter of a Century of Service (28 years)
  • Shirley Stibal: Quarter of a Century of Service (29 years)
  • Charlotte Craven: Volunteer Star Award, first quarter 2018
  • Janet Day: Volunteer Star Award, first quarter 2018
  • Sharon McTeer: Volunteer Star Award, first quarter 2018
  • Crystal Drilea: Excellence in Nursing Professional Mentoring
  • Gwenn Hartley: Excellence in Nursing Compassionate Care