october 2006
SOMC Pediatrics Staff Celebrates National Pediatric Nurse Week
October 30, 2007 » The Pediatrics staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center celebrated National Pediatric Nurse Week Oct. 9-15, with a special day of educational and celebratory sessions Oct. 11. The group reviewed clinical outcomes, discussed patient-centered best practices and celebrated the unit’s achievements. Guest speakers included SOMC’ Valerie DeCamp, director of Inpatient Services and Accreditation, and Marsha Williams, RN, MSN, C-NNP, a neonatal nurse practitioner from Cabell Huntington Hospital who discussed neonatal abstinence and drug-addicted babies. Shown are Nurse Manager Malissa Warrick with members of the staff.
SOMC Home Health Services Staff Receive Certification
October 26, 2006 » Nancy Hicks, RN (left) and Brenda Gayhart, RN, BSN, staff members of SOMC Home Health Services, have received certification from the Board of Advanced Medical Coding as Home Care Coding Specialists in Diagnosis. The national standards validate their knowledge and ability in assigning appropriate coding for patients in Southern Ohio Medical Center’s Home Health Services Program. Hicks and Gayhart were recently honored by their peers for this important distinction with a luncheon. SOMC Home Health Services is celebrating 40 years of service as the state’s oldest hospital-based home care program in 2006.
Newman, Khoury Receive OU Faculty Awards
October 26, 2006 » Robert E. Newman, MD, and Thomas L. Khoury, MD, physicians on staff at Southern Ohio Medical Center, recently accepted special honors from students in the Centers of Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) program through the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Nominated by OUCOM medical students based upon their experiences in clinical instruction with these physicians, Dr. Newman was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Family Practice Award and Dr. Khoury was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Specialty Award. Shown (l-r): fourth-year students Jesse Rhoads and Ron Miller; Aaron Adams, DO, SOMC Director of Medical Education; Dr. Newman; Dr. Khoury; Terry Johnson, DO, Director of Osteopathic Family Practice Residency at SOMC; third-year student Sheila Oehler.
SOMC Home Health Honors Caregiving Husband Vic Sherrick
October 24, 2006 » For decades people in Portsmouth have seen the charity work and community support Vic Sherrick has provided, but recently the former Lions Club President and retired serviceman was honored for his most important work of all, that of a caregiving husband.
Sherrick has been tending to the needs of his wife, Eleanor, who is challenged with diabetes and an ongoing infection and condition of the bones known as osteomyelitis. Brenda Fucci and Karen Thompson of SOMC Home Health Services, part of Southern Ohio Medical Center, nominated Sherrick for the Ohio Council of Home Care Caregiver Award.
Fucci is Eleanor’s case manager from SOMC.
“SOMC Home Health is very family-focused,” she explains. “When you have worked around home care and see what the caregiver goes through, it’s important to try to recognize the caregiver for that kind of selflessness.”
She says Vic is the perfect example of a caregiver. “He has been such a supporter of home care, and he’s it, 24-7, but never complains. He does everything to make sure her needs are met. He’s so attentive about getting the groceries, taking her places, buying her clothes, all the personal needs. He really does everything to make her life have a great state of normalcy.”
Fucci adds that Vic has also learned a great deal about the clinical side of caregiving during Eleanor’s medical issues and the last six years of regular home care.
“He has learned wound care and does it meticulously,” she says. “Vic and Eleanor really make it a joy to do your job. They are such good friends in addition to being husband and wife. In their relationship the love is so apparent and special.”
“I was worried to death I’d do something wrong in the beginning,” Vic admits. “And without SOMC Home Health Services she wouldn’t be here today.”
All around Vic and Eleanor’s home are the signs of his hard work. An elaborate wheelchair ramp, widened pathways, changes in furniture and other indications that Vic has made the home as easy and safe as possible for his wife.
Eleanor has struggled with her condition for years, faced surgeries, various wound healing therapies and the difficulties of using a wheelchair, but she is very clear about giving her husband the credit for getting through the challenges.
“He works so hard and does so much, he’s not like anyone else in the world,” she says.
While another nominee won the state honor, Vic did receive a certificate of acknowledgement for his work, but the real reward comes from the smile he sees from his Eleanor. Of course, if you ask Vic about all the attention he just shrugs. “I don’t know how I’ve done it.”
SOMC’s home care program is the oldest established hospital-based home care operation in the state. With more than 40 staff members seeing as many as 260 patients each month, these clinically specialized staff members provide much-needed medical care in the more comforting environment of the home.
SOMC Home Health Services celebrates 40 years of work caring for the people of the area in 2006. Celebration activities have ranged from holding special Medicare Part D Enrollment Events for community members to participating in SOMC community influenza immunizations. For more information about SOMC Home Health Services call 356-5600.
Dr. Chalonda Hill Welcomed at SOMC
October 20, 2006 » Chalonda K. Hill, MD, a specialist in occupational and environmental medicine, has been welcomed to the staff of Southern Ohio Medical Center.
Dr. Hill is a graduate of Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN and the University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, where she earned a masters of public health with an emphasis in environmental and occupational health science.
Dr. Hill sees patients in the SOMC Center for Occupational Medicine, 1248 Kinneys Lane, Building C, near the corner of Oakland Avenue. For an appointment, call (740) 356-7685.
SOMC Receives Healthy Ohioans Worksite Silver Award
October 20, 2006 » Southern Ohio Medical Center recently received the Healthy Ohioans Worksite Silver Award from the Ohio Department of Health and Governor Bob Taft. SOMC received the honor during a ceremony Aug. 4 for working with local businesses to screen and educate employees regarding health risk factors and healthy lifestyle choices. SOMC was among 22 recipients of the award statewide. Wellness Specialist Regina Tipton represented SOMC at the ceremony.
Healthy Ohioans encourages participation in personal fitness and wellness activities in multiple settings where Ohioans already gather—in their work place, schools, social groups or community. The Governor’s Healthy Ohioans Business Council is a leadership group of 16 businesses appointed by Governor Taft to work with and encourage other Ohio businesses to adopt health and wellness programs for their employees.
New Treatments Available To Fight Breast Cancer
October 20, 2006 » Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and Li-Fen L. Chang, MD, Senior Medical Director of Radiation Oncology Services at Southern Ohio Medical Center, says this year, 213,000 women and 1,700 men will learn they have the disease. If caught early, breast cancer can be readily treated and often cured.
“Years ago, the only treatment for breast cancer was surgical removal of the entire breast (mastectomy),” Dr. Chang says. “Now, doctors can allow most women with early-stage cancer to keep their breasts by performing a lumpectomy (surgical removal of the tumor) and following up with radiation therapy and sometimes chemotherapy. Studies have shown that lumpectomy plus radiation therapy is just as good as a mastectomy and may be preferred by many women.”
After a lumpectomy, most patients will undergo external beam radiation therapy, which involves a series of daily outpatient treatments to accurately deliver radiation to the entire breast. Each treatment lasts less than 30 minutes; treatments are given five days a week for five to seven weeks.
At the SOMC Radiation Oncology department, the special IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) technology is used. IMRT can deliver homogeneous radiation dose to the risk area without any dose divergent or scatter into internal organs such as lung or heart.
Patients usually experience little or no side effects from radiation therapy and are able to continue normal routines. Possible side effects can include skin irritation, similar to a sunburn, breast swelling and fatigue.
In a few parts of the country, doctors are testing ways to deliver radiation to only the part of the breast where the tumor was removed. Breast brachytherapy involves placing flexible plastic catheters or a balloon into the breast. Over the course of one to five days, the catheters or balloons are connected to a machine that briefly delivers high doses of radiation to the affected area of the breast.
Radiation oncologists also are testing ways to deliver external beam radiation to only part of the breast or to give radiation during surgery. These new treatments are still being studied and are not recommended for everyone. Talk to your radiation oncologist for more information or to see how you can take part in a clinical trial studying these techniques.
Before undergoing any treatment for breast cancer, talk with several cancer specialists, including a radiation oncologist, to find out what treatments are available for you.
For more information on breast cancer, visit www.rtanswers.org or www.somccancer.org
SOMC Employee Earns 50th Award
October 18, 2006 » Vicki Rockwell, RN, (right) a nurse on staff at Southern Ohio Medical Center, was recently honored by SOMC CEO Randy Arnett (left) and the Administrative Staff of the hospital for earning her 50th Globe Award. SOMC employees receive globe awards nominated by their peers for work above and beyond normal duties and expectations, aligned with the organization’s values of safety, quality, service, relationships, and performance. For her achievement, Vicki received a $1,000 gift certificate useable at area stores.
Space Available For ‘Mixed Up Files’
October 13, 2006 » Space is still available for both performances of The Portsmouth Area Arts Council’s presentation of the award-winning book "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."
A public show will be at 12 p.m. Oct. 23 at Shawnee State University’s Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. A show for area students will precede the public showing at 10 a.m. and school teachers or administrators should make advance reservations for their classes immediately. School classes are also welcome to reserve for the 12 p.m. show.
Reservations for either show may be made by contacting Arts Council Director DeLynn Coppoletti at (740) 351-3642 or emailing her at dcoppoletti@shawnee.edu. Admission is $3 per person.
The musical staged by ArtsPower is for students in grades 3 – 5. It follows Claudia Kincaid and her brother Jamie up the stone steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and right into the middle of a fascinating mystery that could forever change their lives. Links to study guides for the production are available on PAAC’s website at www.portsmouthareaartscouncil.org.
Scioto Guild Presents $10,000 to Inpatient Hospice
October 11, 2006 » The Scioto Guild, part of the Friends of Southern Ohio Medical Center, presented a donation of $10,000 to the campaign for the Hospice of Southern Ohio Inpatient Center. The funds were raised from the guild’s annual flower sales. Shown, Guild Vice President Garnet Fisher (front left) is joined by other guild members as she presents the donation to Hospice Director Teresa Ruby and Inpatient Center Nurse Manager Donna Holcomb. The Hospice Center is expected to open in early 2007 as a facility to care for the terminally ill.
