Q1

Progress 2012

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology

reD Cross BLooD DrIVe

Submitted photo

The American Red Cross has blood drives at Shawnee State University every couple of months and in September 2011, the drive netted 52 pints of blood, seven pints more than anticipated, to help fill the shortage. The entire lobby at the University Center, shown above, was used for the blood drive.

Q2

Scioto County Cancer Center celebrates first yearThe Scioto County Can-

cer Center is celebrating its first year helping the citi-zens of the Portsmouth area and surrounding communi-ties. Throughout this past year Dr. Patel and his staff have worked hard to develop a sustained relationship with not only their patients, but the surrounding community. SCCC has contributed to the development of cancer and social awareness through charitable donations, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, and National Cancer Survivors Day cel-ebration in conjunction with Dr. Inoshita. The better-

ment of the community is the greatest benefit that can be afforded. The first step of this process is to turn cancer patients into cancer survi-vors. This is accomplished by utilizing state-of-the-art technology with an all board certified, compassionate, considerate, and caring staff.

Patients at the Scioto County Cancer Center ben-efit greatly from the imple-mentation of new technol-ogy and new techniques. SCCC is a cancer treatment center specializing in the treatment of various can-cers through the use of ex-ternal beam radiation. This

type of treatment is used to treat many different types of cancer from lung, brain, and lymphomas, to gyneco-logical, prostate, and breast cancers. External beam can be used as an attempt to cure a patient, or to ease the patient’s pain and suf-fering due to advanced dis-ease. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a form of external beam radiation therapy, which combines up to 70 smaller fields to precisely conform the radiation dose to the de-sired tumor area while spar-ing the surrounding normal structures. It has had one of

the biggest impacts on the increase in cancer survival rates over the past several years. This technique is uti-lized at SCCC as to ensure the tumor is treated correct-ly while minimizing the side effects the patient will ex-perience. IMRT is ideal for prostate cancer treatments where the dose has to curve around the prostate while sparing the treatment of the bladder and the rectum. It is also extremely beneficial in the treatment of head and neck cancers where there are a number of vital struc-tures and organs that need to be avoided. The dose dis-

tribution can be formed to virtually any shape desired. The true advantages of us-ing IMRT can only be en-sured when used in conjunc-tion with Cone Beam CT (CBCT). CBCT is a type of CT Scan which is attached to the treatment machine. With CBCT the therapists can use real time imaging to align the patient to within 1mm of accuracy. CBCT can be used with the treat-ment of virtually any can-cer, although it has proven to be absolutely necessary when treating prostate can-cers. With prostate cancers, depending on the patient’s

diet, bowel movements, and bladder capacity, the loca-tion of the prostate can vary from day to day. This varia-tion can be visualized and accounted for with CBCT, whereas without it, patients run the risk of being treated inconsistently. Dr. Patel was the first radiation oncolo-gist to introduce the newest Elekta CBCT technology in Southern and Western Ohio four years ago, and has been setting the field for the fu-ture of Radiation Oncology ever since. At the Scioto County Cancer Center, you get advanced technology with a personalized touch.

Experience the difference with HeartlandHeartland of Portsmouth, a leading provider

of advanced nursing and rehabilitation servic-es, welcomes you to experience the difference that excellence in quality of care and outcomes does make. Heartland of Portsmouth was re-cently surveyed by the Ohio Department of Health and was recognized as one of only 22 facilities in the state of Ohio to receive the impressive distinction of a deficiency-free sur-vey in December 2011. Our spacious Therapy department includes a fully functional kitchen (for Occupational Therapy), state-of-the-art equipment, and a staff with over 100 years of combined experience. Nursing staff includes 24-hour RN coverage and a full-time Nurse Practitioner. Socialization and recreation ac-tivities include: professionally planned daily activities to stimulate or reconnect to activi-ties once enjoyed, bi-weekly outings, and pet therapy. When you need post-hospital care, the staff at Heartland of Portsmouth invite you see for yourself what we’re talking about. To schedule a tour contact Belinda Leslie, Ad-missions Director or any A Team member at (740) 354-4505.

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology2 Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Portsmouth Daily Times

KDMC expands building, servicesBy WAYNE ALLENPDT Staff Writer

King’s Daughters Medical Cen-ter Medical Specialties of Ports-mouth is expanding services and building to meet the medical needs of the community.

In September, KDMC started construction on the third floor of the building along Scioto Trail in Portsmouth.

KDMC spokesman Tom Dearing said the new space will be used to expand current services.

“The services at the center in-clude family medicine, urgent care, cardiology, vascular surgeons who do followup work,” Dearing said. “We are going to have a new speciality at the center — endocri-nology — that will start in a few weeks. Also, starting April 2 the urgent care is going to expand to be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.”

He said when KDMC opened the urgent care in Portsmouth the hours were limited to week-ends and holidays. “Last fall we switched to 4 p.m. to midnight weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends. We have seen with our other family care centers

people really like urgent care. It serves as a bridge between your family doctor and going to the emergency room. The expanded hours will start on April 2,” Dear-ing said.

Some of the other services of-fered by KDMC in Portsmouth include CT scanning, MRI, heart, stress and echo testing.

“When we invested in Ports-mouth and brought that building there in 2007, we were welcomed warmly. When we opened we said this is only the start, what happens later will depend on how many people decide to choose us for their health care needs. A number of people have chosen us. As the doctors there get busier and the testing gets busier we were able to add more services. That’s how urgent care was a result, that’s how cardiology services came about,” Dearing said. “It’s a lot like the field of dreams, if we build it and people come, we will keep adding more to it.”

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.

Josh Richardson | Daily TimesKing’s Daughters Medical Center Medical Specialties of Portsmouth is expanding its services and has added a floor to its facility on Scioto Trail in Portsmouth to make room for it.

Ohio grandparents-to-be learn child-rearing tricksBy AMY SAUNDERSThe Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS — Anyone approaching the status of a grandparent clearly survived parenting the first time around. And babies are still babies.

Yet much has changed in the 30 or so years since many modern grandparents last cared for infants.

Babies sleep on their backs, not on their stom-achs. They eat whenever they want, not according to a schedule.

They have sleep sacks, fold-up playpens and mul-tiple car seats — and rubber duckies that measure the temperature of bath water.

Progress even applies to the important topic of dia-pers, parent educator Tobey Huntley recently explained to an Ohio class of grandpar-ents-to-be at the Elizabeth Blackwell Center at River-side Methodist Hospital in Columbus.

These days, cloth diapers are fastened with Velcro in-stead of safety pins. (“Wow!” exclaimed a class member, watching as Huntley held up the new product.)

Disposable diapers come with indicators that reveal when they have become wet.

(“That’s hilarious,” another said.) Oh, but they cost about $17 a pack, Huntley warned. (“Dang!” someone complained.)

A few such surprises contribute to the monthly GRAND!parenting class that OhioHealth, like other orga-nizations nationwide, offers to expectant grandparents in need of a remedial course.

The class evolved from conversations in support-group meetings during which new parents men-tioned that some of their mothers’ pearls of wisdom, though well-intentioned, no longer fit today’s rules.

Carla Armstrong of Patas-kala recently took the class after becoming a grand-mother for the fifth time. Her son and daughter-in-law suggested it after she put a blanket in the baby’s crib — which is no longer advised by pediatricians.

“I raised four boys, but that doesn’t matter,” Armstrong, 67, said of the parenting changes. “It’s too funny; it’s like you didn’t do it — and that’s because things are dif-ferent.”

Sleep rules constitute the biggest changes for grand-parents: Within the past two decades, the American

See TRICKS | 5

Q3

SOMC’s Arnett: Choice in care is healthyBy WAYNE ALLENPDT Staff Writer

In 2011, Southern Ohio Medi-cal Center experienced growth in a number of areas, including expand-ing services in under-served areas.

“We had growth in certain ser-vices last year. We saw growth in heart services, wound healing ar-eas, surgery, vascular surgery and growth in technology,” said Randy Arnett, SOMC president and CEO. “We did not see a lot of growth in admissions and testing because our population has been stable. “The average drop in admissions for hos-pitals across the country has been 10 percent on average. We did not drop that much, in fact we stayed flat in 2011. A lot of that had to do with the recession. The majority of our payers are government payers Medicare and Medicaid, the reces-

sion did not impact them a lot. It did impact commercial payers. I think people have put off some elec-tive surgeries because they were nervous about the economy. So, be-ing flat is pretty good.”

Regional hospitals have targeted southern Ohio in recent years, which has ratcheted up the compe-tition in the health care industry in the area. King’s Daughters Medical Center of Ashland, Ky., is now add-ing to its recently built facility on Scioto Trial in Portsmouth, while Adena Health System added Pike Community Hospital to its portfo-lio late last year. SOMC is also ex-panding in that market.

Arnett said he is pleased people have a choice.

“I am happy the people of the community have choices in health care now. People have the choice of where they want to go, that’s going

to make health care better, instead of reading about who is better they get to experience who might be better. I have no doubt we will win that,” Arnett said.

Officials with SOMC gathered July 19 to break ground for what will become Waverly Urgent Care. Officials said the facility should be open this year.

Once completed the facility will be located beside the Pike County YMCA. The facility will be 15,000 square feet and is expected to em-ploy 20 to 30 people full- and part-time.

Once open, the Waverly Urgent Care & Specialty Center Services Center will be open seven days a week, 12 hours a day. Outpatient lab and X-ray services will also be available seven days a week, 12 hours a day.

The specialists at the center will

rotate according to specialty and will be available by appointment only.

“Pike County has always been a portion of the people who have al-ways come here. Construction is on time. I’ve been told it’s a little ahead of schedule. We expected the build-ing to be finished in late summer and now they are telling me mid-summer. As we get closer to open-ing a lot more information will be coming out,” Arnett said.

When it comes to upcoming ex-pansion Arnett said SOMC is open-ing a medical home in Vanceburg, Ky.

“We’ve got two physicians and a nurse practitioner that will be there. A medical home is an expanded doctor’s office, that you can go and get your basic family doctor tests and speciality care along with out-patient testing. It’s kind of a one-

stop shop; it’s not an urgent care center. You can get a lot of things done there without having to travel a lot of places,” Arnett said.

Once open this will be SOMC’s first medical home. Arnett said they are looking to open more medical homes in other communities.

The Counseling Center adds services to battle addictionBy FRANK LEWISPDT Staff Writer

Lisa Roberts of the Scioto Coun-ty Prescription Drug Action Team said recently the new focus of the war on drugs is treatment for ad-diction.

Susan McComas, director of Resource Development for The Counseling Center says some new programs are being added to exist-ing programs to deal with a wider diversity of clients. Among those programs is the Stepping Stone House for women, in which clients can bring their children with them, up to age 12, which she says is unique. And there’s a new addition to that program.

“Stepping Stone House is start-ing a new program for opioid de-pendent pregnant women, which is a big step forward,” McComas said. “We’re calling it ‘Moms, Ba-bies & Recovery,’ which is medica-tion-assisted recovery for pregnant women.”

McComas said the program treats alcohol and drugs, and uses Subutex which will be administered by an OB/GYN. It also includes par-enting and child care classes, pre-natal services and medical services, as well as The Counseling Center’s routine of evidence-based treatment curriculum and integration into the community’s 12-step program.

Occupational therapy will also be available to their children. The pro-gram is under the direction of Mary Irwin, who is the program director of the Stepping Stone House.

“The treatment is provided by a caring and professional staff, which includes a qualified group of resi-dential assistants, case managers, and licensed counselors,” Irwin said. “Our commitment to helping women recover is as strong today as it has ever been.”

Those involved with providing the program work with maternity nurses at Southern Ohio Medical Center so that everyone involved with the problem is in communica-tion with the other people working toward the same goals.

“The goal is to get women into services if they do have an addiction ASAP,” McComas said, because it will help interrupt illicit drug use by the mother, eliminating the fetal exposure. Dr. Darren Adams will be providing the treatment during the program.

McComas said Stepping Stone House has four buildings, which allow them to transition within the program, and “Moms, Babies & Recovery,” is a 16-bed facility that deals with detoxification for preg-nant women who have an addiction to heroin, Oxycontin, and other opi-ates.

The Counseling Center’s St. Lucy

program is for outpatients, offering sober living for women.

“A couple of years ago the Epis-copal community came forward to support this. And we even got a grant from the Procter Fund out of Cincinnati,” McComas said. “So we’ve grown from one house to three houses in two years. St. Lucy’s is to serve to get women basically off the streets, through self-referral or they have been referred by agen-cies or through the courts. They cannot bring their kids. They are an outpatient client, but we do provide residences for them.”

“There’s still a lot of work to do,” McComas said. “And that’s why the prevention program is so impor-tant. Kids need to know early in their lives that this is not good for them.”

Those involved in The Coun-seling Center’s programs are still lamenting the failure of the levy that would have brought more edu-cation to children in area schools. McComas was clear that pep ral-lies and ‘say no,’ programs are not working, and that it is important to begin educating children at the youngest level.

“They’re (children) living it,” Mc-Comas said. “They’re living with parents and siblings who are active addicts. It’s about building these children, and that is what the Sum-mer Outreach is about — build-

ing their esteem and giving them tools to be strong individuals.” The Counseling Center offers preven-tion and outreach services for 5- to 12-year-olds in the community.

McComas also talked about the Second Chance Center, funded by ODADAs (Ohio Department of Al-cohol & Drug Addiction Services), the ADAMHS (Association of Al-cohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services) Board, and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Com-mission.

“It is for treatment and job train-ing services for indigent men,” McComas said. “We received a grant back in November or De-cember from the Appalachian Re-gional Commission for commercial kitchen equipment. That’s being installed now. So that is going to be a training program that is available to those men. A lot of the skills that are learned in a commercial kitchen are transferable to other jobs which teaches teamwork, and includes math and customer service. So we’re excited about that getting off the ground.” The program which opened in June of 2011 is located at the former Juvenile Detention Cen-ter in Portsmouth. Jay Hash is the program director. It is considered under the Marsh House umbrella.

“They receive motivational inter-viewing and they have recreational activities, a wellness program, in-

troduction of a 12-step philosophy, self-esteem activities, and they learn a lot about community in-volvement,” McComas said. “They do a lot of volunteer work. And there’s a project on the west side for abused animals. They were volun-teering over there. They often offer their services as volunteers because its kind of difficult for them to build their resume while they’re there. So this is the next best thing.”

The Counseling Center also has Kindred Spirits residential treat-ment for young men on Rapp Mont-gomery Road in Lucasville. Kindred Spirits is a 16-bed residential facil-ity where young men experience traditional alcohol and drug treat-ment combined with life lessons learned by interacting with horses and caring for other animals on a farm setting.

There are several other programs as well. And it is obvious that a sim-ple four-word theme runs through all of the Counseling Center’s pro-grams, and permeates all of their ac-tivities and those who participate in both offering the services and par-taking of the services - “We believe in miracles.”

Frank lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com.

The Counseling Center: 30 years of treatment servicesThe Counseling Center,

Inc (TCC), a private non-profit organization, has been providing addiction treat-ment services for alcohol and other drugs for over 30 years. Since that time the agency has expanded services from providing outpatient counsel-ing to a broad range of addic-tion treatment and support services including residential treatment for men, women (and most unique- women may bring their children), primary health care, tran-sitional services including housing, job training/place-ment, equine assisted ther-apy for young men, mental health services, pediatric oc-cupational therapy, jail diver-sion, and outreach/preven-tion services for youth. TCC is staffed by professional li-censed counselors dedicated to the principles of recovery. The agency is certified by the Ohio Department of Al-cohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) and the Ohio Department of Mental Health, as well as the Com-mission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (C.A.R.F.).

TCC is always hopeful

that those in need of help for their addiction to alcohol and other drugs will choose treat-ment instead of incarceration or worse losing their lives, families or careers. TCC, re-spected throughout the state for a high standard of treat-ment services, will continue to be proactive in the field of addiction treatment through residential and outpatient services, prevention, addi-tional support services and programs to enhance the cli-ent’s experience and prepare them for a healthy life with their family and community. The Counseling Center be-lieves in miracles!

The Counseling Center’s Family Health Care Center (FHCC) will be in the spot-light this year as plans lead-ing to increased access to healthcare for the commu-nity are shared. The Coun-seling Center believes that a holistic approach to commu-nity healing and improving the area’s future health will be a result of the program-ming direction of the Family Health Care Center. A care system to improve the social, physical, and mental health needs in our area is neces-

sary to move our community forward. The agency is apply-ing for a Federally Qualified Health Care (FQHC) status to assist with accomplishing this goal. Dr. Terry Johnson D. O. has joined the profes-sional staff as Medical Di-rector and service provider. In addition, Sonie Hash has joined The Counseling Cen-ter’s management staff as the Family Health Care Center’s first Program Director.

A national grant was re-ceived in 2011 from the Presbyterian Women Thank Offering making it possible to start a Pediatric Occupa-tional Therapy clinic at the Family Health Care Center and offer these important services to the community. The grant provided funding to purchase equipment and environment adaption which allow the Occupational Ther-apist to provide services. In addition to the community looking to the Family Health Care Center as a medical home, the FHCC offers Drug Free Workplace Safety drug testing services as well as Occupational Medicine.

The Second Chance Pro-gram established in June

2011 is a partnership of The Counseling Center Inc and The Scioto County Com-mission. The program is designed to help men re-cover from addiction, obtain employment, and return to their families and commu-nity to lead sober, happy, and self-sufficient lifestyles. The program is made possible through funding from the lo-cal Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board, the Ohio Department Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS), the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission (RSC), and the Scioto County Commission-ers. The county commission-ers generously offer the use of the facility that was the former Scioto County Juve-nile Detention Center. An Appalachian Regional Com-mission grant was received in late 2011 for commercial kitchen equipment, transpor-tation, and computers to be used for job training at the Second Chance Center.

The Club House, a project of Outpatient Services, con-tinues to support those in the recovery community by pro-viding a sober environment

in a recreational setting. The Club House following a “drop in” center concept will allow for those with an active addiction to seek help from others in recovery and find hope for their own recovery journey. The Club House provides a “step” to recov-ery. Many events are held at The Club House throughout the year including agency dinners, community dances, and a variety of recreational tournaments. Unique to The Club House is the opportuni-ty for families to spend time together as a children’s play area is provided. Many stop in for coffee, popcorn, fun, public computers, and con-versation.

The Stepping Stone House for women has initiated a new program: Moms, Babies and Recovery that will enable more women who are ad-dicted to give birth to babies without an addiction to Opi-ates. Stepping Stone House reported that 24 babies were born drug-free to Stepping Stone House clients while in residential addiction treat-ment services in 2011. The Counseling Center is now offering medication assisted

withdrawal and detoxifica-tion services for pregnant women who are addicted to Heroin, Oxycontin® and other Opiates. For more in-formation on this program and admissions please call 740-353-2184.

Resource Development at The Counseling Center continues to assist with the growth and development of the agency’s programs through grants, fundraisers, and donations. The Counsel-ing Center administration, board and staff would like the community to know how important individual contri-butions are to the agency re-gardless of the size of the gift. Two main events presented during the year for Preven-tion and Outreach programs are the Celebrity Dinner and Auction (which is scheduled for March 15, 2012 and the Natural High 5K Run/Walk in the fall.

For more information regarding The Counseling Center’s extensive addic-tion treatment and recovery support services please call: 740-354-6685 or visit our website: www.thecounseling-center.org

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology Portsmouth Daily Times Wednesday, February 29, 2012 3

In September 2011, PrimaryPlus, a non-profit federally qualified health center, headquartered in Vanceburg, Ky., opened its sixth family health center location in South Shore, Ky. (142 Depot Dr.). Since its opening four months ago, PrimaryPlus contin-ues to spread its mission of quality, advanced, afford-able healthcare to patients throughout the Ohio River Valley. PrimaryPlus-South Shore offers complete care for the entire family includ-ing family health, X-ray ser-vices and minor procedures through a friendly, compas-sionate medical team in-cluding James Ryan, APRN and Jim Yount, MPA-C. Also available are Amy Ca-nary, PA-C and hometown physician, Dr. Grant Ste-venson.

In addition to its new South Shore location, Pri-maryPlus operates five additional family health center locations in Vance-burg, Tollesboro, Maysville, Flemingsburg and Bracken County (Ky). They also have dental, women’s health, a wellness/occupa-tional medicine program entitled LEAP™ and on-site pharmacy services with discounted pricing at many

of their medical campuses. As a federally qualified health center, PrimaryPlus proudly works to keep healthcare as affordable as possible for its patients by offering a sliding fee scale for the uninsured/underin-sured that can provide up to a 75 percent discount on a their medical services while also accepting most insurance, Kentucky Medi-care, Kentucky Medicaid, CareSource and Molina. PrimaryPlus is always wel-coming new patients, you can learn more about their services, locations and mis-sion by visiting www.pri-maryplus.net or to schedule an appointment call Prima-ryPlus-South Shore at 606-932-2271.

PrimaryPlus invites you to get to know its medical team…

JAMES RYAN, APRN In January 2011, Prima-

ryPlus was thrilled to wel-come James Ryan, APRN to their medical team. James practices full-time as a Fam-ily Health Nurse Practitio-ner at PrimaryPlus-South Shore providing care to all ages. He believes in a pre-ventative and holistic ap-proach to medicine which he attributes to his experi-

ence and medical educa-tion at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Rich-mond, KY. James gradu-ated as a Registered Nurse in 2005 and while working as a nurse proceeded to earn his Masters in Nursing (nurse practitioner certifi-cation) from EKU.

James Ryan, APRN, his wife and 2 year old son live in South Portsmouth, KY. Conveniently living near the Ohio River, fishing has become one of James’ fa-vorite hobbies, along with spending time with family.

Jim Yount, MPA-CJim Yount, MPA-C is the

newest member of the Pri-maryPlus family, joining the South Shore staff full-time

this month as a Physician Assistant. Although he is new to PrimaryPlus, he has been involved within the healthcare industry for over 32 years and has practiced as a Physician Assistant since 1996. Throughout his years of experience, Jim believes in providing a proactive and preventa-tive approach to medicine. Jim received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Franklin University (OH). He continued his education and earned a Physician As-sistant Studies degree from Kettering College of Medi-cal Arts (OH) and then a Masters in Physician As-sistant Studies at the Uni-versity of Nebraska Medi-cal Center in 2001. He is a

proud member of the Ohio Association of Physician Assistants (OAPA) and the Academy of Physician As-sistants (AAPA).

Both Jim and his wife are active in the medical field; she serves as both a flight nurse and as an ER nurse. Although medicine is his interest first and foremost, he also enjoys hunting and skiing in his spare time.

Amy Canary, PA-CAmy Canary, PA-C has

been part of the Primary-Plus family of medical pro-viders since the beginning of her medical career, 16 years ago. She earned her Bachelor Degree from the University of Kentucky’s College of Health Science, Physician Assistant Studies

Program. Amy is a proud member of the American Academy of Physician As-sistants (AAPA) and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. As a provider, Amy believes in providing reliable family health care for all ages which holds strong with the Primary-Plus mission.

Amy, her husband and two children reside in Wheelersburg, OH, where they love spending time with friends and family. PrimaryPlus-South Shore is happy to have Amy Canary, PA-C every Wednesday. She also offers office hours at PrimaryPlus-Vanceburg.

NOTE: Dr. Grant Ste-venson is also available to perform minor procedures at PrimaryPlus-South Shore (schedule varies).

PrimaryPlus- South Shore is located at 142 De-pot Dr. in South Shore, Ky. (next to the Family Dollar). To learn more or to sched-ule an appointment, call 606-932-2271.

Home Health Services of Southern Ohio Medi-cal Center recently an-nounced their inclusion in the 2011 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful home care providers in the United States.

Now in its sixth year, the HomeCare Elite iden-tifies the top 25 percent of home health agencies across the country. Win-ners are ranked by an

analysis of performance measures in quality out-comes, process measure implementation, and fi-nancial performance.

“As Ohio’s oldest hos-pital-based home care service, we are honored to once again be a part of this prestigious list,” SOMC Home Care Direc-tor Karen Thompson said. “Our program is dedicated to maintaining leadership status in best practices

and performance, and we have made an ultimate commitment to provide excellent care to those we serve. This designation only further verifies our success and is a humbling validation of the excellent care our nurses, therapists and aides provide.”

SOMC Home Health has maintained recognition as one of Ohio’s most well-es-tablished and experienced home care programs since

its inception in 1966. This is the fourth time the pro-gram has been named to the Elite list since 2006.

“The HomeCare Elite program continues to identify excellence and recognize home health care agencies that perform at the highest level,” said Amanda Twiss, CEO of Outcome Concept Sys-tems Homecare and My InnerView. “We congratu-late the 2011 HomeCare

Elite for their continued success and commitment to a high quality of care.”

The 2011 HomeCare Elite is the only perfor-mance recognition of its kind in the home health in-dustry. The 2011 HomeC-are Elite is brought to the industry by OCS HomeC-are, the leading provider of homecare information, and DecisionHealth, pub-lisher of the industry’s most respected indepen-

dent newsletter Home Health Line and the Com-plete Home Health ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Coding Manual. The data used for this analysis were compile from publicly available information. The entire list of the 2011 HomeC-are Elite agencies can be viewed by visiting the OCS HomeCare website at www.ocshomecare.com.

Source: SOMC

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Q4

Discover quality care at PrimaryPlus’ new South Shore location

SOMC Home Health Services earns national honor

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology4 Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Portsmouth Daily Times

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Q5

Able donated to Cancer Center

Submitted photoAble Ambulance recently donated to the SOMC Cancer Center a portrait honoring breast cancer survivors. The portrait, which depicts a woman wearing a pink and red dress, was hand-painted and features the word “survivor” in the lower left corner. It will be displayed in the Cancer Center. On hand for the presentation, from left to right, were Brian Jenkins, Fred Barney, SOMC Administrative Director of Cancer Services Wendi Waugh, Traci Boland, Michael White, Vic Justice and Joe Wood.

SOMC donates to Waverly City Schools

Submitted photoSouthern Ohio Medical Center recently presented Waverly City Schools with a $5,000 dona-tion. The funds will help purchase minor exercise equipment for the school’s new fitness room, which will be used to host an elective Advanced P.E./Fitness class. The donation will not only help promote healthy living, but will also provide a fitness initiative that would oth-erwise be unavailable at Waverly High School. Shown at the presentation are Elvis Walters, nurse manager of the SOMC Waverly Urgent Care and Specialty Center, Waverly High School principal Bill Hoover, Waverly School Board President Josh Hobbs and Waverly High School Athletic Director Bo Arnett.

Best Care adds therapy center, several other improvementsThere have been a num-

ber of changes at Best Care over the past year that has benefited each resident in the facility. In 2011, con-struction was started on a 2,000-square-foot Therapy Center, which was com-pleted in January 2012. This area was added to en-hance our In Patient/Out

Patient therapy services. Best Care has a full comple-ment of therapists on site, which includes physical, occupational and speech therapy services.

The Life Steps Reha-bilitation Unit offers 27 spacious private suites. The rehabilitation suites offer private rooms with

televisions, telephone and refrigerators. Marcia Pars-ley serves as Director of Guests Relations on Life Steps Unit to handle spe-cial requests of short-term rehabilitation patients.

The Lighthouse Mem-ory Care Unit opened in September of 2010. This 28-bed secure unit with

secure patio is specifically designed for those with Alzheimer’s and other de-mentia-related disorders. The Lighthouse has family-style dining with all the residents coming into The Day Room to enjoy daily activities and their meals. This unit has a higher staff-to-resident ratio to better

meet the needs of the resi-dents on this unit.

Marty Newman is Best Care’s Adult Day Care Coordinator and can be reached at (740) 574-1271. Newman and her staff are on site five days a week, 10 hours per day. They offer a full range of activities, snacks and noon

meal for their clients.Best Care Nursing and

Rehabilitation Center is a part of Advocat/Diver-sicare Management Ser-vices with the corporate offices located in Brent-wood, Tenn. For more in-formation, visit www.best-carenursingandrehab.com or call (740) 574-2558.

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology Portsmouth Daily Times Wednesday, February 29, 2012 5

Academy of Pediatrics has recom-mended that babies sleep on their backs in cribs free of any toys or blankets to reduce the risk of sud-den infant death syndrome.

Among other health and safe-ty developments covered in the class: sleep sacks to replace crib blankets, an increased number of doctor visits and vaccinations, and car seats that should be in-spected by professionals and used on the drive home from the hos-pital.

“I came home in a basket in the front seat in the ’60s,” Huntley

said with a smile. “Times have changed, you know?”

Grandparents could also use a refresher on situations they might have faced decades ago, Huntley figures. Handing her students a flip book of photos, she shared a series of cheerful reminders about common newborn characteristics that can incite panic in new par-ents.

“Remember that the feet can be bluish for the first day or so?”

“Remember all that soft baby fuzz on their face?”

The little white bumps on the baby’s face? The dry, peeling skin?

The scaly “cradle cap”? How the baby’s head might be alarmingly cone-shaped at first?

“Remember being so worried about all those little things?” she asked the seven grandparents-to-be as they took notes inside a class-room at the center.

When the time came to study cir-cumcision recovery photos, the lone grandpa in the room turned red, ex-plaining that he can’t even stomach medical TV shows.

“It looks like the movie Saw,” he whispered to his wife, disturbed.

Once, one of the participants did pass out during the class, Huntley

noted. But most are excited.Huntley devotes a portion of the

class to discussing the modern role of a grandparent, now that they’re often daytime caregivers or at least more involved in the baby’s care than were their own parents.

She reminded them to be helpful without assuming control: No rear-ranging the kitchen without the new parents’ permission, she said, or ar-guing, “But you turned out fine.”

“They’re not actually the parents, and sometimes it’s hard to rein that in,” Huntley said of her students. “They’re going to see their own child differently; sometimes, that’s some-

thing they haven’t even thought about.”

Grandmother-to-be Toni Hill of Columbus recently disagreed with her daughter over using a “safety duck” that gauges the temperature of bath water. Hill, 57, advocated in-stead for using an old-fashioned test: the elbow.

She attended the class with the stepmom of the baby’s father so that the family has the same ideas about caring for her.

“I have to realize that they’re the parents and let them do things on their own,” Hill said. “But if they need us, we’re here for them.”

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Q6

Interim HealthCare builds on decades of caringInterim HealthCare, a lead-

ing provider of home health care services since 1966, is located at 4130 Gallia Street, New Boston, Ohio. Interim HealthCare is a lo-cally owned franchise that is part of a national network of more than 300 franchise offices. Our fran-chise provides services in eight counties in the Southeastern part of Ohio: Scioto, Lawrence, Pike, Adams, Highland, Brown, Jack-son and Gallia.

With an extensive staff of RNs, LPNs, Home Health Aides and Physical/Occupational Therapist, Interim HealthCare provides home care services, including skilled health care for individuals recovering from illness and non-medical care for seniors who need assistance in daily living.

Our professional staff provides clinical intervention such as wound care, intravenous therapy, assistance with medication man-agement, educating you on your diagnosis, helping you regain strength/mobility and teaching patients/families self-management of disease processes.

The vast majority of people faced with disability or illness ob-viously prefer to remain at home instead of staying in a hospital or institution. Interim Home Care professionals provide the high quality health care and the close, personal contact that allow peo-ple to receive care where they’re most comfortable…”in their own homes”.

One of the unique qualities that set Interim apart from other home health agencies is the Spe-cialty Disease Programs that we implement according to the pa-

tients primary diagnosis. These programs include: Heart Failure (CHF), Diabetes, Chronic Ob-structive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Hip/Knee related to orthopedic surgeries. All of our programs are more than about the excellent care Interim staff provides, it is focused on teaching the patient how to make changes to be able to cope with their ill-ness independently, empowering the patient to take care of their chronic condition and reducing the number and/or frequency of unwanted events or hospitaliza-tions. The most recent program introduced in 2011was for Coro-nary Artery Disease (CAD).

Interim also differentiates themselves by extending the new-est technology to the patients they service. Interim was one of the first in Southern Ohio to bring Tele-Monitoring into patient’s homes in our community. The monitor helps our clinicians see trends in patient conditions that can be reversed and ER visit and hospital admissions avoided with timely nursing intervention. The monitor can also assist the pa-tients and family to self-monitor and self manage their condition. The monitor measures the pa-tient’s vital signs and nurses can view the results from the office and follow up with the physician if indicated.

Over the past year Interim HealthCare has continued to re-ceive awards of “excellence” that reflects the quality of care we provide our patients. Interim has been one of the top agencies in the United States via Home Care Elite. Interim also remains in the

top 20% of Medicare agencies sustaining excellence in diverse areas in Home Health Compare. In 2011 Interim was again voted #1 Home Health Agency and #2 Employer in Readers Choice for Scioto County. Within the Interim HealthCare Corporation in 2011,

our franchise was recognized with Market Development Awards and Deficiency Free State Surveys.

Over the past years, the home care industry has gone through many changes. During this time, we have experienced consistent growth fueled by our consistency

at providing excellent care for all our patients. Based on our proud history and strong foundation of service, in 2012 we look forward to continuing to provide our cli-ents with the high quality care they have come to expect from us.

Source: Donna Southworth

Submitted photoMelissa Williams, RN, BSN, Administrator of Interim Healthcare, reviews the past and plans the future.

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology6 Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Portsmouth Daily Times

Student presents research with SOMC docBy RYAN SCOTT OTTNEYPDT Staff Writer

Getting accepted into medical school can be dif-ficult for even the best stu-dents. Dr. Thomas Khoury at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth is helping a few by offering them a chance to publish their names on peer-re-viewed clinical research

studies.Graham Purdy of George-

town, Ohio, is a senior at Shawnee State University completing his bachelor’s in athletic training and medi-cal sciences. Last year he started a job shadowing program with Dr. Khoury, even standing in to watch vascular surgeries.

At the end of his pro-gram, Purdy asked Khoury

for advice on how to make his medical school applica-tion even stronger and the doctor presented him with an exciting opportunity to work on a research project.

“I felt that Graham was very devoted and dedicated to a goal, and I felt that I needed to see what I could do to help him out. Medical school is very competitive, and knowing that you’re

coming from a small town and going to a small uni-versity, you need something besides grades to make you more competitive than the other students that have the similar average that you have. That would be an op-portunity of this nature,” Khoury said.

He asked Purdy to help him compile research from 52 patient studies between 2000 and 2010.

“The research project that we’re doing is over a certain amount of patients that sustained pulmonary embolism. That’s a blood clot in the lungs. The ther-apy that they underwent, we evaluated the short-term and long-term effects and if there are any complica-tions,” Purdy said.

Their research found that patients responded well to thrombolytic therapy treat-ment.

“That’s not really in ques-tion, it’s more or less still under research because there are so few amount of clinical trials,” Purdy ex-plained.

Khoury said this treat-ment is minimally invasive and allows significant pa-tient improvement within 24 hours.

The research abstract was presented to the Amer-ican Venous Forum, in co-operation with the Journal for Vascular Surgery, for peer review. His project was accepted, and Khoury and Purdy were invited to present their research at a national conference Feb. 11 in Orlando, Fla. Purdy said

he’s excited, but also very nervous.

“I’m not really the great-est at giving presentations. I’m better at one-on-one things. I get real anxious when it’s much over 20 peo-ple. But last semester I had a bunch of presentations to give for classes and that helped. Dr. Khoury also set me up to give a presenta-tion last December and that kind of helped a little bit,” Purdy said.

He also is working on a research project with Dr. Scott Oliver at Shawnee State University. After graduation from Shawnee this spring, Purdy hopes to attend medical school at either Ohio University, The Ohio State University, or Wake Forest.

Khoury said he has been very impressed by Purdy, whom in many ways re-minds the doctor of himself as a pre-med student.

“Being a very busy prac-titioner, I always am look-ing for potential candidates — whether it’s graduate or

undergraduate — who re-ally have what it takes to be very focused and reach a higher standard of work ethic,” Khoury said. “Gra-ham actually is the first senior from Shawnee that is interested in going into medicine that has come in and done a shadowing rota-tion.”

Khoury is also working with two medical students from Ohio University. One will present another medi-cal research project at the Society of Clinical Vascular Surgery conference in Las Vegas in March; and anoth-er is awaiting approval to submit at another national meeting in June.

“We have a wealth of pa-thology here. We have very good results and we provide an avenue for interested and eager medical students and residents to further their experience with research projects,” Khoury said.

Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.

PURDY KHOURY

Dr. Khoury begins new procedure at SOMC

General Vascular Surgeon Dr. Thomas Khoury is now offering a new procedure, Radiofrequency Esophageal Ablation, at Southern Ohio Medical Center. This minimally invasive procedure treats Bar-rett’s Esophagus, a disorder that can lead to dysplasia and even increase the risk of esophageal cancer.

Dr. Khoury is the only physician in the area offering this procedure.

Barrett’s esophagus is a condition in which the lower cells of the esophagus become damaged, often as the result of re-peated exposure to stomach acid. Barrett’s esophagus is most frequently diagnosed in people with long-term gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), also commonly known as ‘reflux,’ which is a chronic re-gurgitation of stomach acid into the lower esophagus.

Radiofrequency Esophageal Ablation treats the condition by removing the dam-aged cells.

“This is a complete therapy for Barrett’s, which also includes stopping the reflux by surgically correcting the hiatal hernia or weak lower esophageal sphincter,” Dr.

Khoury said. “So we kill the Barrett’s and stop the reflux.

“The procedure is very minimally in-vasive and very superficial,” Dr. Khoury added. “We basically heat the tissue of the esophagus and kill the damaged cells. The treatment takes between 30 and 40 min-utes to do, and then the patient goes on with his or her life.”

Patients generally need to go through between one to three treatments. During the treatment, an endoscope with a small balloon attached to it is inserted into the esophagus. Controlled energy from ra-dio waves is then delivered through the balloon, burning the damaged cells with which it makes contact.

“Patients that have these abnormal cells are at risk of developing esophageal can-cer. Our goal is to address that risk by eliminating those cells,” Dr. Khoury said.

Over 90 percent of patients, in most tri-als, have experienced complete Barrett’s eradication after undergoing treatment.

By RYAN SCOTT OTTNEYPDT Staff Writer

Along with emergency first responders, the Ameri-can Red Cross is often among the first to arrive at the scene of a disaster offering food, clothes, and — when needed — even shelter.

Arnzen said the local or-ganization provided disas-ter services after 101 local fires, affecting 345 people, at a cost to the chapter of more than $52,000. That is up 10 percent from 2010.

“Every community has a Red Cross chapter, and it’s the responsibility of that community to support that chapter. That’s why we need to do these fundraiser events, to raise money to support our neighbors. When you help us, you help your neighbor,” said Mary Arnzen, executive director of the Ohio River Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross in Portsmouth,

The Red Cross also gives offers regular health and safety classes to give people the tools themselves to help others during a disaster. Nearly 900 people enrolled in these classes in 2011, and Arnzen hopes to have even more this year.

“We offered things from first aid and CPR, to life guarding, to babysitter training. That will all make our community a safer place to live,” Arnzen said. “If you’re in a situation, like the ice storm, and you can’t get out and nobody can get into help you, you want to be prepared.”

The chapter offers about four classes every month. Anyone interested in partic-ipating can sign up online

at www.ohiorivervalley.red-cross.org, or at the Ports-mouth Red Cross office located at 1801 Robinson Avenue — and by phone at 740-354-3293.

“If any group needs speakers, like Kiwanis or church groups, I would gladly come in and talk to them about home prepared-ness,” she said.

The Marting’s Founda-tion last year helped the Portsmouth chapter go even further with its emer-gency training by partner-ing to offer classes to 6,000 school children in our com-munity.

“We taught them how to prepare an emergency home kit and also we taught them how to assist a chok-ing victim,” Arnzen said. “If you get the kids excited about preparedness a lot of times you’ll get the parents excited, and we’re hoping it will become a home proj-ect.”

Through local blood drives, Arnzen said the lo-cal Red Cross collected more than 3,500 units of blood at 121 drives. All the blood donated in our area is tested and then sent back to our area to help people in this community. If there is a major disaster in the United States, excess blood supply can be sent to that area.

“A lot of these are high school drives, which is real-ly great because the kids are really generous to donate blood and they can earn scholarship money from the Red Cross,” Arnzen said.

The Portsmouth Red Cross also helped notify more than 70 military per-sonnel when disasters struck at home.

“It’s that official word

from the Red Cross that they need to help get them on that plane back here,” Arnzen said.

Last year’s blood drive at Christ Community Church in Portsmouth in memory of Storm Bratchett was a major success, and this year’s drive on March 1-2 promises to be even bet-ter. Arnzen said organizers have set a goal of collecting 300 units. Anyone inter-ested can show up at the church between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 2.

On March 23 is the chap-ter’s annual Disaster Blast-er fundraiser at the South-ern Ohio Medical Center Friends Center. The night will offer a reverse raffle, along with comedy by Bob Batch and music by the Shane Runyon Band. Tick-ets are $50 to admit two people, and are available now at the Portsmouth Red Cross office on Robinson Avenue.

Following later this year, in August, will be the an-nual Red Cross Evening of Heroes honoring local he-roes from the community. The special guest speaker this year is Michael Hing-son, who has been blind since birth and is a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

“He talks about his ability to live like a normal person, and not letting (his blind-ness) get in his way,” Arn-zen said.

Hingson will also talk about his experience inside the tower, and how his ser-vice dog saved his life that day.

Looking ahead at 2012, Arnzen thanked the com-munity for its continued support to the lcoal chapter.

“The community has been great to us, and if any-body wants to make a dona-

tion they certainly can send it to us ar 1801 Robinson Avenue, in Portsmouth,” she said.

For more information about the American Red Cross and the local chapter,

visit them online at www.ohiorivervalley.redcross.org.

Ryan Scott Ottney cna be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.

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Q7

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology Portsmouth Daily Times Wednesday, February 29, 2012 7

Red Cross serves community in times of disaster

Submitted photoShelby Powell (Coordinator of the Community Drive) and Red Cross Mascot Buddy the Blood Drop promoting our Community Blood drive, which occurs the last Tuesday of every month at All Saints Church at the corner of Fourth and Court streets in Portsmouth, from noon to 6 p.m. Call the chapter at 740-354-3293 to make an appointment!

A room at BridgePort Healthcare Center.

BridgePort: Rehab designed to get patient home fasterApril 2011 was a very

exciting time for the com-munity, with Golden Years evolving into BridgePort Healthcare Center — Home of Advance 360. Advance 360 is a progres-sive rehabilitation center that is unique to the area. It offers full-service, post-

hospital rehabilitation and is designed to get you home faster following your surgery or illness. Advance 360 offers 26 private rooms that feature LCD flat-screen televisions, cable service, wireless internet access and private phone lines. The therapy gym is very

spacious and offers state-of -the-art equipment. Other featured amenities include: Spa and Salon, Wii Thera-py, Wii Cinema and WiFi Café.

The entire Advance 360 staff is focused on getting you home. Aside from de-livering clinical excellence,

the team at Advance 360 truly cares about you as a person. We all have family, and you will be treated as

a member of ours during your short stay with us.

Call or visit us to experi-ence the future in post-sur-

gical rehabilitative care. We are located at 2125 Royce St., Portsmouth. Call 740-354-6635.

Submitted photosBridgePort Healthcare Center, home of Advance 360.

Q8

HealtH, Wellness & tecHnology8 Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Portsmouth Daily Times