Safety tips for trick or treating
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers these steps to take when trick or treating:
- Avoid direct contact with trick-or-treaters, and keep your distance. Stay at least 6 feet away from others who do not live with you. Indoors and outdoors, it is more likely someone can get or spread COVID-19 when in close contact with others for a long time.
- Give out treats outdoors, if possible.
- Set up a station with individually bagged treats for kids to take.
- Wash hands before handling treats. Bring hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol) with you and use it after touching objects or people. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds when you get home and before you eat any treats.
- Wear a mask: Make your cloth mask part of your costume. A costume mask is not a substitute for a cloth mask. Do not wear a costume mask over a cloth mask, as it can make breathing more difficult. Masks should not be worn by children under the age of 2 or by anyone who has difficulty breathing.
For more information, visit CDC.gov/coronavirus.
Hospital earns platinum recognition
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has earned platinum-level recognition for its work and dedication in support of organ, eye and tissue donation and public health, while serving on the front lines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between October 2019 and April 2020, Bayonet Point participated in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Workplace Partnership for Life program.
The program challenged hospitals and health care organizations to team up with local organ procurement organizations, in this area LifeLink of Florida, to “let life bloom” by educating hospital staff, patients, visitors and surrounding communities about the critical need for organ, eye and tissue donation, and by offering the opportunity to register as a donor.
Bayonet Point worked with LifeLink of Florida, and during the campaign cycle was able to procure 151 donor registrations.
For information about the hospital campaign, visit OrganDonor.gov/hospitals.
For more on how to become an organ donor, visit DonateLifeFlorida.org.
Lutz makes fit city list
BarBend.com, a strength training resource and news outlet, has compiled a comprehensive list of the top fittest cities across Florida, according to a news release.
BarBend used data backed by studies based on a variety of factors that was combined to create an overall fitness score out of 100 for each city on the list.
Fitness factors in the study include exercise opportunities, access to healthy food, air pollution, drinking water violations, physical inactivity, obesity and smoking, among others.
Lutz emerged in the 264th position with an overall fitness score of 75.25.
The town was found to have a high rate of exercise opportunities at 920 (per 1,000 people), which suggests that the surrounding environment can play a key role in determining people’s fitness level.
Residents who live in neighborhoods with access to grocery stores where fresh fruit and vegetables are offered are more likely to have healthier diets.
The climate of Florida also creates a backdrop for outdoor pursuits, such as scenic trails and walks along the coast.
Additionally, Lutz was found to have comparatively low levels of air pollution, and low rates of physical inactivity, obesity and smoking.
To see the full list of Florida cities, visit BarBend.com/fit-cities-florida/.
Women’s services expanded
AdventHealth has signed an agreement to acquire Tampa Bay’s leading provider of comprehensive women’s services, Exodus Women’s Center, and its affiliated entities, according to an AdventHealth news release.
The agreement includes the purchase, or lease, of all 12 medical office locations in Hillsborough and Polk Counties, as well as an administrative office.
Clinical operations under AdventHealth are expected to begin in early 2021, and once final, all Exodus Women’s Center clinical locations will become part of the AdventHealth West Florida Division.
The West Florida Division continues to grow its network of care in response to the needs of the communities it serves.
The division also recently announced its partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center to expand cancer services in Wesley Chapel, and opened an outpatient imaging center and expanded physician locations in Brandon.
In addition, the AdventHealth West Florida Division network of care includes 10 hospitals, four freestanding emergency rooms, one long-term care facility, urgent care centers, express care clinics, mobile mammography services, hundreds of physician practices and a clinically integrated network.
Exodus Women’s Center has provided the community with women’s health care services since 1992, and specializes in low and high-risk obstetrics, gynecology, fertility, pediatric and adolescent gynecology, and menopause.
