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Health

Health News 01/11/2017

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(Courtesy of Oak Hill Hospital)

Twins born in two different years
The Maternity Suites at Oak Hill Hospital announced the delivery of twins born in both 2016 and 2017. On Dec. 31, 2016 at 11:43 p.m., baby girl Yulliana came into the world. She was followed by her twin brother, Zane, on Jan. 1 at one minute after midnight. Both children were delivered by Dr. Mohammed Tabbaa. Cheryl Collito was the attending midwife. Mother, Geraldine Alexander, holds both her infants soon after their delivery.

 

 

 

New pregnancy center hours
Oasis Pregnancy Care Centers will now operate with new hours.

The Land O’ Lakes center at 3632 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Suite 108, will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Wesley Chapel center at 5854 Argerian Drive, Suite 102, will be open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For information, visit OasisPregnancyCenter.org.

Access Health Care recognizes employees
Access Health Care, with offices in Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Citrus and Pinellas counties, recognized its employees at its ACES Event (Access celebrates excellent service) at a gala on Dec. 9.

The winners of the ACES awards were nominated by fellow team members. Each winner received a certificate, a trophy and eight hours of paid time off.

The honored employees were: Leslie Lawler, best attitude; Julie Erickson, best co-worker; Yarelys Rodriguez, best skills; Alyson Johnson, dirty job; Bethann Hunt, HIPAA hero; Catherine Kohl, integrity; Deborah Haney, most dependable; Doreen Ruggiero, most hospitable; Sandra McMurchie, most humble; Debra Ludlow, most tactful; Nathan Glass, most teachable; Rose Fiore, participation; Tony Miranda, ray of sunshine; Joeline Watson, team player; and, Diane Dearing, unsung hero.

State college clears the air – of smoke

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The campuses of Pasco-Hernando State College will become smoke-free and tobacco-free zones effective Aug. 14, 2017.

The college’s District Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Nov. 15 to expand an existing policy that prohibits smoking in college buildings and “workplace” areas, but allows smoking in designated areas.

That means smoking and other forms of tobacco will be banned entirely on the college’s campuses, said Courtney Boettcher, assistant director of marketing and communications at PHSC.

The no-smoking, no-tobacco rule will apply to cigarettes, cigars, pipes, E-cigarettes and any vaporizing devices, such as hookah pipes. Snuff and chewing tobacco also will be prohibited. The rule applies to students, faculty, visitors, vendors and others who come on campus.

Trustees approved the campus-wide ban “to promote the health and wellness of its students and employees, as well as a safe, comfortable environment for all who work, study, conduct business, or visit the college,” according to college documents.

The coverage area includes all properties leased and owned by the college. The college’s fleet of vehicles also will be smoke-free and tobacco-free, whether on or off campus.

The ban goes along with a national trend among colleges and universities to create smoke-free and tobacco-free campuses.

Hillsborough Community College also has such a policy, and the University of South Florida adopted a no smoking policy in January 2016.

In 2011, there were more than 580 smoke-free colleges and universities in the nation, according to the Association for Nonsmokers Rights.

As of October 2016, the nonprofit reported more than 1,700 schools with smoking and tobacco bans.

About 1,400 of that total includes schools that also ban tobacco use of any kind, and more than 1,200 that ban E-cigarettes.

Officials at PHSC will help ease people into the new policy.

During the transition, an ad hoc committee of students, faculty, staff and administrators will help spread the word on the tougher policy.

Free smoking cessation programs also will be available before and after the transition for students, faculty, staff members and other employees.

Published January 4, 2017

Giving the gift of life

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A donor gives blood during an outreach blood donation camp in Jaipur, India.
(Courtesy of Access Healthcare)

Auroveda Integral Foundation in Jaipur, India, organized a blood donation camp on Dec. 3, during which camp youths donated 120 units of blood to be used cost-free in accidental, catastrophic and other medical cases. Auroveda Integral is a sister foundation of the Auroveda Foundation in the north Suncoast area and is funded by Access Healthcare, as well as global outreach by the local Auroveda Foundation.

The Auroveda Foundation is a charitable trust and is involved in a wide range of activities including The Auro Community Garden, The Kid’s Garden at Pine Grove Elementary School, and the Auroveda Community Outreach center.

For information, call (352) 593-5920, or visit Auroveda.org.

Inspiring hope through origami cranes

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Tina So and Mia Thielbar were pre-International Baccalaureate freshman at Land O’ Lakes High School when they began a project they call “Cranes for Cancer.”

Now, more than three years later, they are seniors — and they are still involved with the project to handcraft paper origami cranes for people afflicted with cancer.

The goal is to instill hope, and the idea was spawned in August 2013.

Mia Thielbar, left, and Tina So handcraft origami paper cranes for cancer patients. The initiative, which began in 2013, seeks to inspire hope for those battling cancer.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

At the time, Marilyn Ling, a reading teacher at the high school, was battling ovarian cancer. As a show of empathy, So and Thielbar together assembled 1,000 paper cranes after their Inquiry Skills teacher, Angelle Damalos, relayed the gesture’s significance in class one day.

In Japanese culture, cranes are a traditional sign of long life and good fortune. Other cultures, meanwhile, fold 1,000 paper stars to make a wish.

The ambitious crane project took four months to complete.

They first used post-it notes, then progressed to traditional origami paper.

Cranes were also sculpted in an assortment of colors — pink, gold and blue.

“We had one that would flap,” So said, “and, we had one that just looks prettier because it has a stomach to it.”

It required some trial and error.

“At first, it took us a while,” So said. “Initially, we were not very good at it.”

Eventually, they improved.

“We worked consistently,” Thielbar said. “We did it everyday; whenever there was free time in class, we’d work on it.”

The pair never actually met Ling.

“(Ling) was sick, and she didn’t want us to see her in her condition,” So said.

Damalos, instead, presented the 1,000 cranes to her that December.

Ling passed away in April 2014.

The students, however, have continued their efforts.

They’ve since volunteered at Shriner’s Hospital in Tampa, where they distributed over 500 cranes to children surgical patients.

In multiple hospital visits, So and Thielbar taught patients the origami art form, and assisted them with crane decorations.

“It’s sort of a distraction for them,” Thielbar said, “so that they’re not as worried to…see the doctor.”

The pair, too, sold cranes at various Relay for Life events, helping to raise money for cancer-afflicted patients.

“We always have wanted to share cranes with people,” Thielbar said. “We make them whenever we can.”

The cranes, they believe, help cancer sufferers hold onto their faith during personal struggles.

“Positivity can change everything,” So said. “Even if it can’t cure you, it can prolong your life; you can enjoy that prolonged time.

“Without hope, it’s a losing battle.”

The philanthropic journey has been fulfilling — for both.

“I really enjoy reaching out to people like that,” So said, “and it has inspired me to be a better person, like evaluate my actions and values. Overall, it just really makes me feel really good to help people.”

“We just want to serve as more of an inspiration to our peers — to be more kind toward other people,” said Thielbar, “and respectful of the things they might be going through.”

In other words, expressing sympathy.

“That’s one of the values that I feel is being lost in our culture,” Thielbar said.

“A lot of people are losing empathy and compassion, and generosity towards other people.”

Besides “Cranes for Cancer,” the duo has other grandiose plans on the horizon.

“We still want to continue the efforts of helping people,” Thielbar said, “but, we want to make a bigger impact. We’re still working on what would that impact be — how to affect more people.”

That may include additional fundraising efforts for cancer patients.

“I feel like that would make a bigger impact financially for a lot of people, because I know that’s a big struggle,” said Thielbar.

“But, we also want to be like an inspiration to other people.”

They’ve already inspired Jeff Morgenstein, an assistant principal.

“Seeing Mia and Tina use their creativity and compassion in order to improve the lives of others is greatly in tune with our (school) mission statement,” Morgenstein said, via email.

He continued: “To say that I’m proud of them is an understatement. It is through these meaningful actions here in the community that they are truly changing the world.”

Beyond high school, Thielbar plans to study educational administration at the University of South Florida, and aspires to become a school principal, someday.

So is considering the University of Florida, where she would like to study psychology.

Published December 28, 2016

Burgess seeks state funding for veterans’ health

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Alternative therapies to treat post-traumatic stress or brain injuries are bringing relief to veterans who say more traditional approaches don’t work.

Danny Burgess

Rep. Danny Burgess is sponsoring a bill (the Alternative Treatment for Veterans Act) in the 2017 Florida legislative session to authorize the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs to provide state funding for alternative treatments offered by nonprofits and state university organizations, according to a news release from Burgess’ office.

It is similar to the national Cover Act (Creating Options for Veterans’ Expedited Recovery), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, which focuses on mental health care options, such as sports therapy and service dog therapy.

Such legislation “will help ensure the (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) finally recognizes that one size does not fit all when it comes to treating Veterans for physical and invisible wounds,” said Bilirakis, in a written statement in the press release.

According to Burgess, the state legislation will put “Florida in the lead of serving those who served us.”

Alternative therapies, including service dog therapy and hyperbaric oxygen treatment, “have saved my life,” said Brian Anderson, a retired Green Beret and founder of Veterans Alternative in Pasco County.

If approved, the state Veterans Alternative bill will open opportunities to help more veterans statewide, Anderson said.

For information on Anderson’s program, visit VeteransAlternative.org.

Published December 28, 2016

Health News 12/28/2016

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Hospital promotion
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, 14000 Fivay Road in Hudson, has appointed Elisabeth M. Ferguson as director of its Surgical/Trauma ICU/Trauma Stepdown Unit. The unit complements the hospital’s Level II Trauma Center.

Elisabeth Ferguson

Ferguson was promoted from her position as nurse manager of the Medical Oncology/Progressive Care Unit.

She has served since 2013 while also maintaining her reserve status. Ferguson is a U.S. Army veteran serving eight years as a combat medic with a forward surgical team. She was a noncommissioned officer in charge of advanced trauma life support, as well as a certified educator for the U.S. Army.

Ferguson has a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Phoenix and an associate of science degree in nursing from Harrison College in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in nursing through the University of Maryville, Missouri.

 

(Courtesy of Pasco County Tax Collector)

Moffitt Cancer Center receives $5,549
The Moffitt Cancer Center was the featured nonprofit organization for the month of November at the Pasco County Tax Collector’s offices, which teamed with Moffitt to raise funds and heighten awareness of the many cancers that exist, and to help fund research. Tax office customers were asked to purchase a license plate or make a cash donation to assist in advancing the work and research of the cancer center, and a check for $5,549.64 was presented to Moffitt. From left: Elizabeth Kehlenbeck, special events officer, Moffitt; Tammy Dziedzic, Land O’ Lakes manager; Linda McNally, Dade City manager; Michelle Vancuren, director of branch operations; Christine Sobel, strategic marketing coordinator, Moffitt; and, Greg Giordano, assistant tax collector.

Pasco OKs medical marijuana dispensaries

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The complete picture of the future of the medical marijuana industry remains hazy, but by spring – perhaps even sooner – Pasco County could have its first medical marijuana dispensaries.

The number of dispensaries that will be permitted remains unclear.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore wants to allow no more than six. One location and one permit each could be awarded to the six dispensary operators currently licensed by the state, if they apply.

“They may not all come,” Moore said, adding he doesn’t think all of them will.

A vote on an ordinance, which could include a six dispensary limit, is scheduled for Feb. 21 in New Port Richey. The county’s legal staff plans to research the issue for potential legal challenges.

However, at the Dec. 13 meeting in Dade City, county commissioners approved a separate ordinance allowing dispensaries within industrial districts, and establishing conditions for their operations. The vote was 4 to 1, with Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano the lone dissenter.

Mariano said access is important and confining dispensaries to industrial areas “is not good for us economically.”

However, the Dec. 13 vote opened the door for applicants to file for dispensary permits. The process generally takes 45 to 60 days, with a final vote needed by commissioners.

If approved, the medicinal shops would be dispensing the low-level form of medical marijuana, known as Charlotte’s web. This limited medical marijuana program is the result of a 2014 statewide referendum.

New regulations stemming from a Nov. 8 referendum that will increase the number of qualified patients, and allow stronger strains, are months away. They will be decided by the Florida Department of Health and state legislators.

In the interim, county commissioners also approved an ordinance for a one-year moratorium on the production, cultivation and distribution of cannabis, the product used to make medical marijuana. This replaces an existing moratorium that ends Dec. 31, and gives the county additional time to wait on what happens with the new amendment.

The sticking point for county commissioners is where to place dispensaries – in industrial or commercial districts.

“I would rather be open for business,” said Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells. “I want to make sure we’re open to this when it comes time for the legislature to make decisions …or we’re going to miss the boat. I don’t see why we limit it.”

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey had reservations. “If we don’t limit it, and we allow it in any zoning, they could be everywhere,” she said.

County staff members presented a map, pinpointing up to 20 locations in the county that would meet the county’s requirement of a one-mile separation between facilities. However, they estimated fewer than 10 dispensaries would open.

Other restrictions require that dispensaries be at least 1,000 feet from such facilities as schools, day care centers and drug treatment centers. Buffering and adequate setbacks are required between a dispensary and any residential property.

Applicants must show they are licensed by the state to operate a dispensary, as well as meeting the county’s zoning conditions for permitting.

Some residents who spoke during public comment urged county commissioners to make dispensaries as accessible as possible.

Industrial areas often are isolated and not safe, said Kelly Miller, who lives in Holiday.

While no one wants dispensaries on every corner, she said, “My concern is we are shaming people to go into these (industrial) areas. What happens is, you’re limiting people to the access. How are you going to get a bus if you have glaucoma? If you’re suffering from cancer? Are you going to take a cab out to the middle of nowhere?”

Todd Pressman, a Palm Harbor-based land use attorney, told commissioners to “err on the side of caution. You don’t have complete control over conditional use (permits), and there will be challenges. You know that.”

Hudson resident Michelle Flood said, the Nov. 8 referendum sent a clear message that people want dispensaries.

“I know people personally who get their medicine from Hillsborough (County) and Pinellas (County), and they are being delivered into Pasco County,” she said. “It’s coming. You’re not going to be able to stop it.”

Published December 21, 2016

Celebrating the gift of life, at Christmas

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Joan Hamm was asleep when she felt an incredible pain in her chest.

She woke up, called 9-1-1 and unlocked her front door.

Emergency personnel found her, when they arrived, and set into motion a series of actions to save the 77-year-old Dade City woman’s life.

Joan Hamm of Dade City, March 2016 patient, with Amanda Martin, Monica Anderson and Wayne Ruppert.
(Photos courtesy of Richard K. Riley)

Armando Lopez Jr., was watching television in his Hernando County home when suddenly he blacked out.

He recalls parts of what happened next: His son administering CPR, his wife calling 9-1-1, and emergency crews taking him to the hospital.

But, he said his memory is spotty because he was in and out of consciousness.

Both Hamm and Lopez were among surviving patients invited to Bayfront Health Dade City’s fourth annual Lifesaver’s Awards banquet.

About 65 people attended the event, which included hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, a catered meal and an awards presentation. Those recognized during the event each received a citation of meritorious performance.

The banquet recognizes the work of emergency personnel, physicians and the Bayfront Health Dade City associates who successfully revived patients whose hearts stopped beating and who were “clinically dead.”

“With Lifesavers, we reunite the patient with their family and everybody who helped take care of them,” said Wayne Ruppert Jr., master of ceremonies for the awards banquet. He is the hospital’s cardiovascular care coordinator. He also received an award during the ceremony.

Hamm was pleased to be there, accompanied by members of her family.

She characterized the banquet as “uplifting and inspiring.

Back row, left to right: Wayne Ruppert, Monica Andersen, Nicholas Jordan-Topp, Fakhreddin Fard, John Kinzie, Raul Cruz and Amanda Martin.
Front row, left to right: Suzanne Green Lopez, Armando D. Lopez III, Armando Lopez Jr. (the patient who was saved) and Nancy M. Lopez.

Hamm added: “I am so happy that somebody thanks these people for what they do.

“So many times, the EMTs never know what happens to the person.

“All of those people were so nice to me. My brothers were here and my stepdaughter. They just couldn’t say enough good things. They said, ‘I’ve never seen people so nice and so concerned, and so helpful as they were, at the hospital here,” Hamm said.

The Dade City woman said she doesn’t’ recall much of what happened to her, but she has a report that provides a minute-by-minute account.

One thing is certain, Hamm said: It never was a sure thing that she’d walk away from the hospital, especially without deficits.

“For several days, they didn’t know which way it was going to go,” Hamm said.

She was in the hospital for about a week and then at a nursing home for a couple of more before returning home.

“I did my physical therapy. I did a lot better than they thought I would do. They just said they never dreamed it would all end up so good,” Hamm said.

Lopez, a retired postal worker, appreciates the outstanding care that he received.

“I just wanted to mention that the care that I received at Bayfront Health Dade City was excellent. It’s a small hospital, but it’s really great.”

“I’m very grateful to the fire rescue and Bayfront Health (Dade City) for saving my life,” Lopez added. “I can’t thank them enough.”

He especially appreciates the additional time he’s been able to spend with his family.

Ruppert, who had spent most of his career working for St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa and St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, joined the Bayfront Health Dade City’s staff four years ago.

He was immediately impressed by the skills he saw exhibited by emergency responders and hospital personnel.

“Performance is gauged in the cath lab, by door to balloon,” Ruppert said.

“When a patient comes in the door having a heart attack — how fast do you get them on the cath lab table, get a balloon in their heart, and balloon open the blockage and put a stent in?

“That’s when the heart attack stops.

“So, the stop watch begins when they come in the front door, and it ends when you restore blood flow to the part of the heart where the blockage was blocking blood flow,” he said.

“The statistical survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is around 7 percent, and that’s according to a recent Heart Association American College of Cardiology Journal paper,” Ruppert said. “BayFront Health Dade City, typically, every year is two to three times that amount.”

Two of the patients who were invited to the banquet had experienced prolonged down times, Ruppert said.

If CPR isn’t started within 4 minutes to 6 minutes, brain cells begin to die, he said, and historically the survival rate for those patients is low.

There is a therapy called Therapeutic Hypothermia that can be used to cool down the patient’s core body temperature to chill the temperature of the brain to preserve brain cells, Ruppert said, and that was used on two patients who had prolonged down times.

Due to that treatment and the good care they received, Ruppert said, “they walked out of the hospital with no deficit. They’re totally normal.”

Hamm was one of those patients.

“I feel very blessed,” she said.

Published December 21, 2016

Health News 12/21/2016

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New medical staff members
The staff of the Medical Center of Trinity, 9330 State Road 54, has appointed Dr. Mahesh Bhambore as chairman of the Department of Medicine and Dr. Jigneshkumar Patel as vice chairman of the Department of Medicine.

Also appointed: Dr. Keith Chisholm, chairman of the Department of Surgery, and Dr. Stephen Hanff as vice chairman of the Department of Surgery.

The doctors will be installed at the medical staff’s annual meeting in January.

Five-star recipient
Oak Hill Hospital, 11375 Cortez Blvd., in Brooksville, has achieved five stars for its performance in treatment of heart failure, carotid surgery and treatment of bowel obstruction from Healthgrades, the leading online resource to help consumers make informed decisions to find the right doctor and the right hospital for the right care.

Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions.

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide, assessing hospital performance relative to each of 32 common conditions and procedures, as well as an evaluation of comparative outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery.

Hospital aims to enhance breast-feeding
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel has taken baby steps to becoming baby-friendly, to promote the increase of early breast-feeding.

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program through the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing facilities that offer the finest care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.

The Florida Department of Health has collaborated with 42 Florida hospitals from 26 counties to carry out the “Baby Steps to Baby Friendly” project.

Oak Hill Hospital promotions
Oak Hill Hospital, 11375 Cortez Blvd., in Brooksville, has announced the following promotions:

  • Raquel Ferreira as director of women’s services. Ferreira has been serving as interim director of the unit since July. She has a diverse clinical and management background in labor/delivery and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Ferreira obtained her master’s degree in nursing leadership and administration in June and is board certified in neonatal intensive care nursing.
  • Susan Cooper as vice president of cardiac services. Cooper was promoted from a previous leadership position as director of the neuro/tele unit and newly formed Clinical Decision Unit. She has a Master of Science degree in nursing leadership from Walden University and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of South Florida. Cooper is board certified in cardiovascular nursing.

Commissioners study up on medical marijuana

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A 22-year-old patient with debilitating seizures proved to Dr. Ron Aung-Din that medical marijuana is a useful, plant-based treatment for a wide array of illnesses.

The active ingredients in the marijuana plant – known as cannabinoids – significantly reduced his patient’s seizures.

“That was the beginning of my era of enlightenment,” said Aung-Din, a neurologist in Sarasota.

Aung-Din was among a panel of experts to share his experiences with medical marijuana with Pasco County commissioners during a two-hour workshop on Dec. 6 in Dade City.

Other speakers were Megan Stone, owner of The High Road Design Studio in Arizona; Chris Dunn, owner of Global Operations for Covered 6; Mark Janotti, an architect who designs dispensaries; Kim Rivers, chief executive officer of Trulieve, which was the first to open a Florida dispensary; and Ben Atkins, operations manager of Trulieve.

Stone, Dunn and Rivers participated via phone calls.

County commissioners are grappling with how to implement local regulations on medical marijuana.

Voters statewide overwhelmingly approved a Nov. 8 referendum to expand an existing medical marijuana program. Currently, a low-level form of medical marijuana, known as Charlotte’s web, is available to some patients with seizure disorders or late-stage cancer.

Within six months, the Florida Department of Health is expected to issue regulations that will allow treatment for more illnesses, and also allow more potent strains.

County commissioners were scheduled to have public hearings, and final votes, on three ordinances related to medical marijuana on Dec. 13, before The Laker/Lutz News’ press deadline.

They would restrict dispensaries to industrially zoned districts; set operating regulations for dispensaries; and, extend by one year an existing moratorium on the cultivation, production and dispensing of cannabis, the product used to make medical marijuana.

The current moratorium expires Dec. 31.

The workshop was part of ongoing efforts by commissioners to be schooled on all aspects of the medical marijuana industry.

There is a lot of misinformation about the subject, Aung-Din said.

Until 1937 when marijuana became illegal, the neurologist said, “Cannabis was very much part of traditional American medicine.”

The difference now, he said, is that “people are not getting their needs met (with traditional medicine).”

Stone offered commissioners insight into how dispensaries are operated. Her company has designed dispensaries including The Healing Center in San Diego and Minerva Canna Group in Albuquerque.

The Healing Center is a small storefront inside a medical building. Minerva Canna Group is one of several retail shops.

Their designs are upscale, sophisticated and professional.

“People are just dispensing medicine,” Stone said. “There is none of the drug culture element. We are serving all demographics. The shelves are not lined with joints.”

Stone said employees at these dispensaries typically would earn $13, $14 or $15 an hour.

That seemed like a high wage to Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore.

“They are not going to pay $15 an hour for those jobs in Florida,” he said.

Dunn gave commissioners perspective on security at dispensaries. He is a former undercover narcotics officer.

“The cash is always an issue,” he said.

Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, most banks don’t want to run afoul of federal regulations and won’t open accounts or make loans to people working in the marijuana industry.

That means most dispensaries operate with cash-only, which raises concerns for some about robberies and increased crime.

But, Dunn said, “The biggest problem is mainly internal theft.”

Nine out of 10 times, theft comes from inside the business, he added.

Trulieve was the first company to open dispensaries in Florida with one each in Tallahassee and Clearwater. The first medical marijuana delivery went to a resident of Hudson.

Rivers said she anticipated Trulieve would open five additional locations in the next months. Medical marijuana is available in capsules, tinctures (in liquid form), oral syringes and two types of vaporizers.

A topical specifically for skin cancer patients might be added in the future, she said.

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey had concerns about people illegally obtaining identification cards to receive medical marijuana. She recounted stories from two people who visited California who said they were approached by strangers selling medical marijuana cards.

Atkins said Florida law makes it unlikely that could happen. The program is strictly regulated through the state’s electronic registry. Besides the doctor, only the dispensary and police officers can access the registry, he said.

Dosages expire after 45 days. Currently there are about 200 doctors who have qualified to approve medical marijuana, Atkins said.

“We don’t see that growing very much,” he added.

However, county commissioners expressed concerns about how to limit the number of dispensaries in Pasco.

“I’d hate to see these just everywhere,” said Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley.

Published December 14, 2016