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Bridgeport Hospital named one of the “100 Great Places to Work in Healthcare”

Thursday, May 2, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Becker’s Hospital Review has put Bridgeport Hospital on its 2013 list of “100 Great Places to Work in Healthcare.”

Becker’s publishes the list annually and selects facilities through nominations and editorial research. The chosen organizations are picked for “their robust benefits, wellness initiatives, professional development opportunities and work environments that promote employee collaboration and satisfaction.” Bridgeport, which appears to be the only Connecticut facility on the list, earned its spot due largely to its benefits package, which includes tuition reimbursement for full- and part-time employees, and a wellness reimbursement program that  provides $200 annually if employees visit a fitness center for one year or participate in scheduled fitness classes.

Other employers on the list included Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Becker’s is a publication of ASC Communications, which provides business and legal information for hospital and health system leaders, owners and operators of ambulatory surgery centers and leaders of orthopedic and spine practices. ASC Communications takes advantage of multiple channels to reach these decision-makers of the hospital and outpatient surgical community, including: print magazines (Becker’s Hospital Review, Becker’s ASC Review and Becker’s Orthopedic & Spine Review); two industry-leading ASC conferences and a new hospital and health system conference; regularly delivered e-newsletters; as well as www.BeckersHospitalReview.com, www.BeckersASC.com, www.BeckersOrthopedicandSpine.com and a variety of webinars and teleconferences.

Categories: Bridgeport, General, health

Study: Brain scans can warn of alcoholic relapse

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Even the most experienced counselors have difficultly spotting a recovering alcoholic in danger of relapse, but a new study from Yale University researchers shows that brain scans might be able to spot a backslide before it happens.

According to a press a release from Yale, the research showed that alcoholics with abnormal activity in areas of the brain that control emotions and desires are eight times more likely to relapse and drink heavily than alcoholics with more normal patterns of activity or healthy individuals. The study was published May 1 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

“These areas in the prefrontal cortex are involved in regulating emotion and in controlling responses to reward,” said Rajita Sinha, the Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and professor in the Child Study Center and of Department of Neurobiology in the release. “They are damaged by high levels of alcohol and stress and just do not function well.”

Ironically, the damage shows up on scans when alcoholics imagine being in their own most relaxing scenarios, like sitting at the beach listening to the waves, or taking a bubble bath. In non-alcoholics, these brain regions regulating emotion show markedly reduced activity during relaxing imagery, as anticipated. However, in alcoholics most likely to relapse, those brain regions remain hyperactive. On the other hand, when recovering alcoholics imagine their own recent stressful events, these control regions of the brain show little change, while in non-alcoholics, they show marked activation in response to stress. Such disrupted responses in areas of the brain governing emotions and reward lead to high cravings in the recovering alcoholic and an increased likelihood of subsequent relapse.

These brain scans in the future might serve as a diagnostic test to help professionals identify those most at risk of relapsing and suggest specific interventions to normalize brain function and prevent high rates of alcohol relapse, Sinha said.

“The findings show the prefrontal region is important for maintaining recovery for alcoholism,” Sinha said. “The brain physiology and function has changed due to chronic alcohol use and such changes jeopardize recovery even after initiating standard treatment.”

The research is funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health.

 

Categories: alcohol, General, health

Yale researchers find out how new arteries form after a heart attack

Monday, April 29, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Scientific collaborators from Yale School of Medicine and University College London (UCL) have uncovered the molecular pathway by which new arteries may form after heart attacks, strokes and other acute illnesses,  bypassing arteries that are blocked. The study appears in the April 29 issue of Developmental Cell.

According to a press release put out Monday by Yale, arteries form in utero and during development, but can also form in adults when organs become deprived of oxygen — for example, after a heart attack. The organs release a molecular signal called VEGF. Working with mice, the Yale-UCL team discovered that in order for VEGF-driven artery formation to occur, VEGF must bind with two molecules known as VEGFR2 and NRP1, and all three must work as a team.

The researchers examined mice that were lacking a particular part of the NRP1 molecule that transports VEGF and VEGFR2 to a signaling center inside blood vessel walls. They observed that the internal organs of these mice contained poorly constructed arterial branches. Further, the mice where unable to efficiently repair blood vessel blockage through the formation of new arteries.

“We have identified an important new mechanism that regulates VEGFR2 transport in vascular cells,” said corresponding author Michael Simons, director of the cardiovascular research center at Yale School of Medicine, in the press release. “This opens new therapeutic opportunities for developing drugs that would either stimulate or inhibit blood vessel formation — important goals in cardiovascular and anti-cancer therapies, respectively.”

The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL62289) and a Wellcome Trust Junior Investigator award.

Categories: General, health, heart disease, New Haven, stroke

$1.5 million pledged for new Stamford Hospital pediatric unit

Thursday, April 25, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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From left to right: Dr. Gerald Rakos, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Stamford Hospital; Kathy LiVolisi, RN, Director, Maternal-Child Health, Stamford Hospital; Jay Sandak, President of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; Ernest Abate, a Director of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; Mary Sommer, a Director of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; and Chris Riendeau, Senior Vice President, Fund Development, Stamford Hospital Foundation.

From left to right: Dr. Gerald Rakos, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Stamford Hospital; Kathy LiVolisi, RN, Director, Maternal-Child Health, Stamford Hospital; Jay Sandak, President of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; Ernest Abate, a Director of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; Mary Sommer, a Director of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation; and Chris Riendeau, Senior Vice President, Fund Development, Stamford Hospital Foundation.

Stamford Hospital has received a $1.5 million charitable grant from The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation. The grant will fund The Herbert and Nell Singer Pediatric Advanced Care Unit, four specialized care rooms dedicated within the pediatric unit planned for the new Stamford Hospital. The advanced care rooms, with state-of-the-art equipment including monitoring and respiratory devices, will allow the hospital to provide more specialized care for pediatric patients who may require a longer stay.

The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation was incorporated in New York in 1982 by the late Herbert and Nell Singer. Singer had always been very philanthropically inclined, and believed it to be important to support causes where there is an established need and where people would not necessarily otherwise benefit. The Foundation has been supporting medical and other organizations for over 30 years. The Singers were New York residents, but also had a home in Stamford for over 40 years prior to their passing.

“It is part of the Foundation’s mission to address the needs of children medically, socially and educationally in order to provide a balanced opportunity for kids worldwide,” said Jay Sandak, President of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation in a press release. “As plans for the new Stamford Hospital continue to evolve, we saw an opportunity to supplement a recent and very generous gift from The Steven A. and Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation for the new pediatric unit, and thought the creation of acute care rooms would directly benefit the children treated there.”

The new pediatric unit will be in the Whittingham Pavilion adjacent to the current Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to centralize mother-child services. It will include 11 beds, plus the four acute care rooms, and each room will be private and offer comfortable overnight accommodations for parents. The unit will also include a playroom, as well as a separate treatment room for procedures.

“We are proud to support and help grow many worthy causes in our community, some of which our founders were involved with years ago, and continue to provide a beneficial social service,” said Ernest Abate, a Director of The Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation.

The new Stamford Hospital is scheduled to be completed in 2016. In addition to the new Pediatric Unit, some of the key features of the new hospital include:

  • New patient care units with all private rooms and private bathrooms, as well as centralized nurses’ stations for more flexible care delivery and two family lounges per floor.

 

  • An Emergency Department with separate treatment areas for trauma, cardiac, urgent, behavioral health and pediatric patients, more than doubling the number and size of exam rooms. In addition, there will be dedicated and easily accessible parking, along with individual points of entry for walk-in and ambulance arrivals.

 

  • Significantly larger surgical suites to accommodate the latest technology.

 

  • An expansion of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) emphasizing the Hospital’s commitment to critical care and tertiary services.

 

  • A central location for all Heart & Vascular Institute services, including Electrophysiology, Catheterization and Interventional Labs.

To learn more about Stamford Hospital, please visit www.stamfordhospital.org.

Categories: General, health, pediatrics

Survey: Patients want a cure for doctors’ vagueness

Thursday, April 25, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Everyone knows there are still lots of problems with the nation’s health care system — high costs, short visits, a dearth of good waiting room reading material — but the thing that really sets patients’ teeth on edge about medical care is when doctors don’t clearly explain medical problems. That’s according to results of a survey released today by Consumer Reports National Research Center. The survey asked a thousand Americans to rate 16 complaints about medical care on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 meaning “you are not bothered at all” and 10 meaning “you are bothered tremendously.”

With an average rating of 8.1, “unclear explanation of problem” ranked as the biggest beef with the medical industry. Other top complaints included “test results not communicated fast” (with a rating of 7.9), and  “billing disputes hard to resolve,” “hard to get quick appointment when sick” and “rushed during office visit”  (which all had an average rating of 7.8).

Going by demographics, women were more bothered than men about private discussions taking place within earshot of other patients, rushed office visits, too-early release of hospital patients and inconvenient office hours. They were also more likely than men to dislike it when doctors took notes on an electronic device, instead of discussing issues face to face.

Meanwhile, Americans age 65 and older were more likely to be miffed by filling out long forms than their younger counterparts.

For more on the survey, go to ConsumerReports.org and click on “Health,” then on “Doctors and Hospitals” in the upper bar.

Categories: General

The Cinnamon Challenge isn’t child’s play

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Cinnamon (pictured above) might be delicious in small doses, but ingesting too much at once, as in the Cinnamon Challenge, can carry risks.

Cinnamon (pictured above) might be delicious in small doses, but ingesting too much at once, as in the Cinnamon Challenge, can carry risks.

If you’re like me, maybe you’ve heard in passing about the “cinnamon challenge,” which entails swallowing a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without drinking any liquid.  The stunt has caught on with many young people, and has even spawned a series of harrowing YouTube videos featuring teens and tween tentatively putting spoons of cinnamon in their mouths, then gagging and  spitting huge brown spice clouds at the camera.

For some time, experts have warned that the challenge carries serious health risks and, this week, an article in the journal “Pediatrics” offered further proof that the Cinnamon Challenge  isn’t child’s play. The article states that swallowing a large quantity of cinnamon can lead to choking, aspiration or lung damage. “In humans, the fibers and other components of cinnamon can … cause allergic and irritant reactions, including acute symptoms and temporary, if not permanent, lung function changes,” the report reads.

Locally, experts echoed the idea that the Cinnamon Challenge is a strange and scary phenomenon with real potential consequences. Though Dr. Jacob Hen, Jr., chief of pediatric pulmonology at Bridgeport Hospital, hasn’t treated any kids for challenge-related problems, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if he starts seeing cases at some point. “We deal with kids trying all sorts of crazy things,” he said. “We’re well aware of this as a long-term and short-term health problem.”

He said, even if kids spit up the cinnamon, they inhale a decent quantity of it, which can have serious consequences. In addition to lung damage, possible health risks from the Cinnamon Challenge include  inflammation, acute asthma symptoms and scarring. “Cinnamon is an irritant,” Hen said. “I personally love cinnamon, but I have too much of it, it burns.”

The Pediatrics article goes on to say that a rising number of “challengers” required some help after their adventure. In 2011, the American Association of Poison Control Center received 51 calls related to the Cinnamon Challenge. In the first six months of 2012, there were 178 such calls and about 30 of them required medical attention. The surge in calls between 2011 and 2012 coincided with a rise in Cinnamon Challenge videos on YouTube.

So why would kids latch onto this as a craze? The experts are at a loss.  “It does seem strange,” said Victoria Richards, assistant professor of medical science at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.  “I don’t understand a lot of things kids do for attention.”

However, she, like other experts, knows that gobbling a significant quantity of a caustic spice is not a good idea. “Spices weren’t meant to be inhaled or ingested in a certain way,” Richards said.

Categories: General, health, injuries, respiratory care, safety

Griffin Hospital program sponsor’s Father’s Day contest

Monday, April 22, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Griffin Hospital’s Health Initiative for Men (HiM) is holding a Valley-wide Father’s Day art contest to design the front of its 2013 Father’s Day Card.

According to a press release sent out by Griffin on Monday, the contest is open to Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, and Shelton students from elementary school to 12th grade. Entries will be split into an Elementary School Division (up to 6th grade) and a Middle School/High School Division (7th-12th grade). Winners will receive U.S. savings bonds and their art will be featured on Father’s Day cards distributed throughout the Valley.

Design entries should include the depiction of the love between a father and child/children, and a Father’s Day wish encouraging fathers to be aware of/take charge of their own health.

Division winners from each Valley town will receive $500 savings bonds and second-place winners will be awarded $250 saving bonds. The Valley Arts Council will select the overall winners in each division and the grand prize of a $1,000 savings bond will be awarded to the winners.

Applications are available at each Valley public school. Submissions must be sent to the high school art department where the contestant lives by Tuesday, April 30. For more information, contact Francis H. Michaud, Jr. at 203-732-2311 or fmichaud@macpas.net.

Categories: Derby, General, health

Family, therapist of Sandusky victim to speak at fundraiser for domestic violence shelter

Friday, April 19, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Dawn Daniels, mother of Jerry Sandusky’s first victim, Aaron Fisher, and Michael Gillum, Fisher’s therapist, will be guest speakers at Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, Saturday, April 27. The event is sponsored by the White Ribbon Campaign of The Center for Women and Families of Eastern Fairfield County, and proceeds from the walk will go to help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

 Daniels, Gillum and Fisher are authors of the recently released book: “Silent No More: Victim No. 1’s Fight For Justice Against Jerry Sandusky,” in which they relate Fisher’s harrowing quest to bring Sandusky’s crimes to light, his tale of abuse and his fight to expose the truth.

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes events include:

  • ·Registration at 8:3 0 a.m. in the parking lot of the Fairfield Train Station (westbound, into Grand Central).
  • ·The walk begins at 9:15 a.m. Walkers will exit the train station on Mill Plain Road, turn left on the Post Road, and right on Old Post Road. The walk will finish on the lawn in front of Town Hall.
  • ·The program begins around 10:15 a.m. Speakers include Daniels and Gillum; a victim turned survivor; Debra Greenwood, president and CEO of The Center; and Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara, who is organizing the walk and is chair of the White Ribbon Campaign, an organization of men dedicated to ending violence against women.
  • ·In addition to the speakers, there will be informational booths, music and food.

 

The event is free; donations will gladly be accepted. Visit walkamilefairfield.eventbrite.com/ to sign up for the event and download a pledge sheet.

Before the walk, any man or boy can join the White Ribbon Campaign by simply logging onto www.cwfefc.org and pledging their support to end domestic violence. The pledge button is prominently displayed on the left side of The Center’s home page.

Categories: domestic violence, General, health
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