Igh cny 184 apr15

in good On a Mission Nancy Rae Aureli, a registered nurse who worked with cancer patients, started Proxy Project of CNY two years ago. She now devotes time and energy to raise awareness for the importance of having a health care proxy

April 2015 • Issue 184

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CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

Supplements Under Attack Major retailers, including Wegmans and Walmart, asked to halt sales of certain diet and herbal supplements

Breastfeeding Cafe The Breastfeeding Cafe program in Syracuse offers support for moms and momsto-be

How Medicare Covers In-Home Care RSM Medicine is an all-female practice headed by founding partner Renee Melfi.

Pedaling with Purpose

Obamacare Excludes Pregnant Women Missing Enrollment

Kate Waltman pedals for a reason, melding her love of sports with her desire to do charity work in the community. She is now embarking on the 100mile Ride for Missing Children, a fundraiser for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

ACA coverage gap leaves women two choices: 1) pay for insurance premiums or care out of pocket —to the tune of $10,000 to $20,000 or 2) skip prenatal care Page 9

Preventing Bad Dog Behavior

Learn a few techniques to help train you and your dog

When my husband and I were first dating, he introduced me to a unique vegetable: fennel.

It was love at first bite!

Since then, I haven’t strayed. Find out why

Page 16

Meet Your Doctor Physician Antonio Culebras, a sleep disorder expert, talks about long naps, sleep apnea and the importance of a good night’s sleep

Page 15

Page 6 April 2015 •

One or two glasses of wine a day.

Remember when researchers said this was a good thing? Well, a new study says it isn’t so Page 21

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 1

Outstanding Nurses Is someone in your workplace an outstanding nurse? If so, recognize her or him with an ad in the May issue of In Good Health—CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper.

Edition will feature several nursingrelated stories to celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6-12). We design your ad at no charge.

315-342-1182

Flu Hospitalizations Soar Among Older Adults

T

his flu season has been particularly severe for older adults, with people in this age group experiencing the highest rate of hospitalizations in a decade, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since October, the rate of flu hospitalizations among U.S. adults ages 65 and over has been 258 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, the report found.

Previously, the highest rate was during the 2012 to 2013 flu season, when there were 183 flu hospitalizations per 100,000 people aged 65 and older, the report said. Health officials started keeping track of flu hospitalizations in 2005.

For the U.S. population as a whole,

the flu hospitalization rate this season was about 52 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, which is higher than the rates for the past three flu seasons, the report said.

One reason the flu is more severe this year could be the types of flu strains that are circulating. The most common strain of flu this season is H3N2, and health officials know that in years when this flu strain predominates, there tend to be more hospitalizations and deaths.

A study published earlier this year also found that this year’s flu vaccine is not very effective at preventing the flu, likely because the strains in the vaccine are not a good match to the strains in circulation.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

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Cancer: U.S. Spends More, Saves Fewer Lives than Western Europe for heart disease. Such findings have raised questions about the additional value of U.S. cancer care derived from the additional spending, in comparison to the situation in other high-income countries.

This study compared U.S. and Western European spending between 1982 and 2010 for 12 of the most common cancers.

Compared to Western Europe, the U.S averted 67,000 breast cancer deaths, 265,000 colorectal cancer deaths, and 60,000 prostate cancer deaths between 1982 and 2010. The U.S. experienced 1,120,000 excess lung cancer deaths in this study period compared to Western Europe. The ratio of incremental cost to quality-adjusted-life-years saved equaled $402,000 for breast cancer, $110,000 for colorectal cancer, and $1,979,000 for prostate cancer. These amounts exceed most accepted thresholds for cost-effective medical care. The U.S. lost quality-adjusted-life-years despite additional spending for lung cancer where the cost was negative $19,000 per quality-adjusted-life-year saved.

Heroin Overdose Deaths Quadrupled Since 2000

H

eroin overdose deaths have skyrocketed in recent years, quadrupling since 2000, U.S. health officials reported early March.

At the same time, poisoning deaths related to painkiller abuse have leveled off, even dropping slightly in recent years, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prescription drug addicts are turning to heroin due to successful efforts to curb narcotic painkiller abuse, said Kelly Dunn, an assistant professor in the behavioral pharmacology research unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

It’s now harder to obtain prescription narcotics, thanks to improved tracking and regulation of the drugs, Dunn said. In addition, manufacturers have changed the formulation of painkillers like OxyContin to make them more difficult to abuse.

“Heroin’s cheaper and easily available, and we’re seeing increases in places that traditionally haven’t had

CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

Apply to: St. Camillus RHCF, Personnel Office, 813 Fay Road Syracuse, N.Y. 13219 Fax: 315-468-2155 www.st-camillus.org

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Weekend Per Diem Therapists We are looking for weekend per diem Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, PTAs, & COTAs to join our rehabilitation team. Therapists will work in our subacute rehab unit on the weekend treating a variety of patients with orthopedic, neurological, cardiac, and general medical diagnoses. Successful candidates will be goal oriented, motivated team players with potential to contribute to the quality of rehab services at St. Camillus. This is an opportunity to join a progressive and dynamic group of dedicated individuals who make a difference in people’s lives.

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much heroin use,” Dunn said. “Once people are dependent on prescription drugs, it’s very rare for them to stop on their own with no treatment. If the drugs are suddenly less abusable, they will switch to something else that will alleviate withdrawal.”

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reports that between 2000 and 2013, the age-adjusted rate for overdose deaths involving heroin nearly quadrupled, rising from 0.7 deaths per 100,000 Americans in 2000 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2013.

One of the most recent high-profile deaths was that of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in February 2014 from a heroin overdose at age 46.

Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, noted that Hoffman had been in recovery for a long time. “Then he went back to using, and ended up dying from respiratory failure. Heroin is a respiratory depressant, and it shut down his respiratory system,” Pasierb said.

Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga and Madison Counties in good A monthly newspaper published by Local

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shift differential. Accountable for supervision of patient care within LTC / BI / Sub Acute units. Requires current NYS RN license and 2 years experience. BSN, CPR / AED certified preferred.

News, Inc. Distribution: 35,000 copies.

To request home delivery ($15 per year), call 315-342-1182.

In Good Health is published 12 times a year by Local News, Inc. © 2015 by Local News, Inc. All rights reserved. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 276, Oswego, NY 13126. • Phone: 315-342-1182 • Fax: 315-342-7776.

Editor & Publisher: Wagner Dotto • Associate Editor: Lou Sorendo Contributing Writers: Jim Miller, Eva Briggs, M.D., Gwenn Voelckers, Deborah Banikowski, George W. Chapman, Aaron Gifford, Deborah Sergeant, Anne Palumbo, Melissa Stefanec, Matthew Liptak, Chris Motola, Mary Beth Roach, Elizabeth Wagner Bozeman, MD Advertising: Amy Gagliano, Marsha K. Preston Design: Chris Crocker • Office Manager: Alice Davis No material may be reproduced in whole or in part from this publication without the express written permission of the publisher. The information in this publication is intended to complement—not to take the place of—the recommendations of your health provider.

Consult your physician before making major changes in your lifestyle or health care regimen.

Fax: 315-468-2155 • www.st-camillus.org • EOE

St. Camillus Home Care is expanding and looking for the following Home Care Professionals. New grads welcome to apply!

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Refuting previous studies, Soneji published his paper “New Analysis Reexamines the Value of Cancer Care in the United States Compared to Western Europe,” in the March issue of Health Affairs.

“Our results suggest that cancer care in the U.S. did not always avert deaths compared to Western Europe and, when it did avert deaths, it often did so at substantial cost,” explained Soneji.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 3

CALENDAR of

HEALTH EVENTS

April 11

Good Samaritan 5K run/ walk slated for Liverpool The Good Samaritan 5K Run/Walk will begin at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 11, at Long Branch Park in Liverpool. Event includes a Kids’ Sprint for ages 5-12 beginning at 9:30 a.m. and a “Buddy Racers” option for people with disabilities to participate with an assistant. Awards ceremony, concession stands, family-oriented activities, live music, and vendors are included with the event. All proceeds benefit Christian Health Service of Syracuse. Registration information can be obtained at goodsamaritanrun.org.

April 14, 21, and 28

Rochester workshop for women who live alone Do you live alone? Is it a challenge for you? ”Living Alone: How to Survive and Thrive on Your Own” is a three-part workshop offered for women who want to find joy again and gain the know-how to forge a meaningful and enriching life on their own.

You’ll meet others in similar situations and learn practical strategies to over-

come loneliness, rediscover your true self and socialize in a couples’ world.

The workshop takes place at House Content Bed & Breakfast in Mendon from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. on three consecutive Tuesdays: April 14, 21, and 28. The workshop fee of $145 includes a Living Alone binder, empowerment exercises, and helpful resources you can trust. To learn more, contact Gwenn Voelckers at 585-624-7887 or email gvoelckers@ rochester.rr.com

April 15 – 18

Church asks for help fighting hunger The Vineyard Church, which operates four sites in Central New York (Cicero, Syracuse, Auburn and Lakeland) will attempt to fill 2,000 two-hour volunteer shifts packing meals for Feed My Starving Children, April 15- April 18. If successful, the church will send more than 400,000 meals to starving, malnourished children in more than 50 countries around the globe.

The Vineyard Church started its partnership with Feed My Starving Children more than six years ago and have paid for, packaged and shipped more than 1.5

Continued on page 6

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Good Samaritans Samaritan Center soup kitchen soon to be relocated to larger quarters at former St. John the Evangelist Church

By Matthew Liptak

F

or almost 34 years, the Samaritan Center soup kitchen in Syracuse has been serving hungry residents in the basement of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at 310 Montgomery St. But things will soon be changing.

The center is expected to move a few blocks away into the former St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 215 N. State St., in late April.

Close to $1.5 million was raised to remodel the old church.

“The capacity of this very wonderful space has really reached its limit,” said Samaritan Center Executive Director Mary Beth Frey. “We’ve done what we can. St. Paul’s has been phenomenally gracious to allow us to be here as long as we have. We really needed to be looking at a larger and different space to address some of those limitations we saw.”

The center has grown immensely over the last few decades. It went from 30 brown bag lunches served on the first day it opened to over 122,000 meals served last year, Frey said.

The history of the St. John’s the Evangelist Church building is long and storied. The church was opened in the 1850s and its steeple has been a familiar site in the city since then. In 2010, it held its last mass due to the Syracuse

diocese consolidating parishes. It has been vacant in recent years.

“We bought the property at a wonderful price from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception,” Frey said.

“They owned it.”

The new space will have a number of advantages over the old. Seating capacity will go up by 60 chairs from 120 to 180, it will be handicapped accessible and have better ventilation, Frey said.

“We don’t have handicapped accessibility right now so the folks with wheelchairs or walkers can’t come down the stairs easily,” she said.

“We’ve had folks who have eaten in the alleyway because they can’t get down to be with people.”

The center will also have additional space for case management services.

The main goal of the Samaritan Center, other than feeding the hungry, has been to help people down on their luck get on their feet again.

Previously, the center’s space for this work was confined to a crowded desk in the foyer between the entrance and dining area. Now there will be space specifically oriented toward those services.

Reuse of existing space

Frey commended the work the architect did to reuse the space. The firm Dalpos Architects and Integrators of Syracuse was innovative in preserving the history of the old St. John’s while making the building functional for its new purpose.

For instance, the center did not like the look of the shiny stainless steel tray serving line in the context of the woodtrimmed interior of St. John’s. The solution? Add wainscoting made from reclaimed wood to the serving line.

There are curious consistencies in the design of the former church and new center too. The serving line will be near where the former communion rail was and a section of seating just for family dining is where families at St. John’s once gathered.

“There’s all these pieces that have been really thought through well,” Frey said. “I think when people walk into it for the first time, they’re going to be really impressed with how we’ve really honored what’s happened there and then look to be a part of what the future will be.”

The center has been a valued resource to people in the Syracuse area with low or no incomes. The Samaritan Center serves members of the public who come to its daily meals with no questions asked. The only requirement is the diners don’t cause a disturbance or threaten other guests. Those who break that rule are banned from the center.

Adrian is a 20-something Syracuse University physical therapy student who has gotten meals at the center for the last several months. He said coming for meals has saved him around $200 a month.

“Just by eating breakfast here and there it really helps me out,” he said.

“I’m a student over at SU. I tell a lot of my other buddies, come down here, there’s no questions asked. It’s better than eating Ramen noodles every day.”

Volunteers at core of center

Maryanne Grady, the center’s office manager and weekend supervisor, is looking forward to the coming move.

“It’s going to be a great space,” she said. “The biggest thing is going to be the windows, actually having windows, so we’ll be able to see what’s going on outside. It’ll be beautiful when the sun shines.”

The seven-member staff will be serving at the new center, but so will many volunteers. Grady said the center couldn’t run without them. There are over 400 volunteers a month.

Adrian said the positive energy volunteers and staff bring to the meals was apparent in the way they serve others. He expected to check out the new State Street location when it opened.

“I think the work of the Samaritan Center is really important, not only for the individuals it serves, but for the community as well,” he said. “You can tell they really enjoy doing what they do. People helping people — what’s better than that?”

The center was transitioning over March and April to its new home.

Equipment was to be sent out for refurbishment.

Diners were to be served prepared meals in St. Paul’s basement until normal operations resumed at the new site April 20.

The center serves meals from 7:308:30 a.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The center is also open from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Healthcare in a Minute

By George W. Chapman

New watch helps disclose personal health information

A

pple watch. Industry experts believe Apple will sell 30 million of these within weeks of release.

This “watch” is just the latest wearable device that could give insurers information about your vitals (pulse, calories used, steps taken, etc.). This creates “usage based” insurance where healthy behavior is encouraged and rewarded.

Supposedly, 90 percent of us are willing to disclose this real time personal health information if it will lead to more treatment options. Critics are worried that insurers could use the data for discriminatory pricing. In any event, most view these wearable devices positively if they get people to be more health conscious.

Medicare fraud. While the feds have stepped up efforts to reduce fraud, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported $60 billion, or 10 percent of all payments, were improper. The GAO issued four recommendations to reduce/eliminate Medicare fraud including, most importantly, removing social security numbers from Medicare cards. Not providing your social security number to your provider has been previously recommended here. They don’t need it.

Healthcare disparities plague U.S. system. A recent article in Forbes dis-

cusses how quality of care disparities due to race, income, gender and sexual orientation is one reason why the U.S. healthcare system ranks so poorly compared to other developed countries.

Expanded insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, community outreach efforts and provider education are aimed at eliminating the disparities and improving access to care and outcomes.

Blue Distinction Centers. Several surveys have highlighted the tremendous variances in costs among hospitals, even in the same market, for certain surgical procedures. For example, a knee replacement cost $11,317 in Montgomery, Ala. while the same costs $69,654 in New York City.

In Dallas, the costs range from $16,772 to $61,585. That’s a 267 percent differential depending on your hospital. To help consumers choose safe, high outcome, cost-effective hospitals, the Blues have identified Blue Distinction Centers for certain procedures.

There are 427 of these designated centers for hip and knee replacement across the U.S. with four being in Upstate New York: Arnot Ogden in Elmira, Bassett in Cooperstown, Faxton-St. Luke’s in Utica and Highland in Rochester.

King vs. Burwell. This is the case before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether or not the provision of federal tax subsidies for eligible ObamaCare recipients in those states that rely on the federal exchange are constitutional. The plaintiffs argue the federal subsidies would be legal in only the 13 states, including New York, that run their own marketplaces/exchanges. The government argues that this provision is key and the intention/ spirit of the law is to provide federal tax subsidies to eligible residents in all states. The problem is if the court decides to overturn this key provision, millions would lose their insurance and there is no backup plan. Hoping the court upholds this key provision of ObamaCare are the American Hospital Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the National Alliance of State Health Co-ops and the American Medical Association.

Price transparency. The Healthcare Cost Institute is working on a website that lists cost information for over 70 common health conditions and elective procedures. It will be called Guroo. com. Cost information is garnered from claims data from several national carriers. It is free and open to anyone regardless of insurance.

April 2015 •

Private exchanges growing. While all the media attention is on healthcare. gov and federal subsidies for care, about 2.5 million people are insured through private commercial exchanges. Industry experts predict that could grow by three times in 2015. A recent Price Waterhouse survey of employers revealed 47 percent of respondents are interested in private exchanges this year and 20 percent in 2016. Skeptics argue there is a big difference between showing interest and enrollment.

ObamaCare. As of this month, 16.4 million are enrolled including 3.4 million young adults aged 19-25. The percent of uninsured Americans has decreased from 20 percent in 2013 to 13 percent in March.

GEORGE W. CHAPMAN is a health consultant who operates GW Chapman Consulting in Upstate New York.

To reach him, email gwc@gwchapmanconsulting.com.

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

•

Page 5

Meet

Your Doctor

By Chris Motola

Antonio Culebras, M.D. Sleep disorder expert talks about long naps, sleep apnea and the importance of a good night’s sleep Q: Describe your role at the Upstate Sleep Center.

A: I am a consultant in sleep disorders and have been since 1987, back when it was a part of Community General Hospital. I am board-certified in neurology and, independently, in neurology and sleep disorders. My sleep clinic at University Hospital sees patients with all kinds of sleep disorders, including non-neurological sleep disorders like sleep apnea, which is the most common one. I’m also a stroke specialist.

Q: What are the most common neurological sleep disorders?

A: Narcolepsy and parasomnias.

Narcolepsy is relatively common, affecting about one in 2,000 people.

This leads to excessive daytime sleepiness, causing dysfunction throughout the day. It can also lead to a condition called cataplexy, which is a sudden loss of muscle tone and can lead to falling. Fortunately, not all patients with narcolepsy develop cataplexy, but even without that it can be very incapacitating and diminish the quality of life.

It can increase the likelihood of motor vehicle accidents.

Q: Culturally, do we value sleep as much as we should?

A: The education has improved, but it’s still at a low level. Many people don’t have respect for a good night’s sleep and consider it a waste of time. It’s one of the pillars of good health along with exercise and a balanced diet.

Sleep apnea is very prevalent. Perhaps 17 percent of men and 9 percent of women have it. It can lead to stroke, high-blood pressure and heart attacks.

So even though it’s not technically a neurological problem, we neurologists are very interested in sleep apnea.

I’m glad to say that treatments for it are very effective if it is diagnosed.

day is unhealthy. Why is that?

A: Napping for more than 45 minutes could steal sleep from the following night and cause insomnia.

So my recommendation is not to nap more than 45 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with napping, but the best time is in the early afternoon and shouldn’t exceed 45 minutes.

Q: What factors affect the quality of sleep?

A: There are several factors. One is continuity — it should be seamless without interruptions. It should be deep enough to achieve all stages of sleep. And duration. It should be somewhere between seven and nine hours.

Much more or less often implies insomnia or a sleep disorder.

Q: How important is positioning?

A: A normal person can sleep in any position, but patients with sleep apnea should avoid sleeping on their back because it increases the episodes of gasping for air and increases the loudness of snoring. ed?

Q: How are sleep disorders treatA: The first thing that should be entertained is a referral to a sleep specialist who will determine whether a sleep study is required and what type of protocol should be applied during the sleep study.

Once the diagnosis has been made, then the treatment follows. In cases of sleep apnea, we have devices that assist ventilation during the night.

Q: The university put out a press release saying that napping more than 45 minutes a Page 6

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Q: Can you go into more detail about the link between sleep apnea and stroke?

A: Sleep apnea means the person is not breathing correctly at night because of an obstruction to their airway. This is generally observed in patients who are overweight, obese or children with large tonsils. These patients have to put out a lot of effort to breathe during the night, often waking up for 30 secondor-less intervals, often hundreds of times at night. That, of course, affects the continuity of sleep. In addition to that, patients have low oxygen saturation during the night, which can affect the function of the brain and heart. Patients with sleep apnea have a tendency to develop a condition called atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular rhythm of the heart that can lead to stroke. These strokes can be prevented if the condition can be diagnosed appropriately. So it is very pervasive and can lead to major problems, but it can be treated effectively. Over the long run patients with sleep apnea can also develop dementia due to chronic damage to the brain.

Q: I assume many patients with sleep apnea have an idea that something is wrong with their sleep, but are there early warning signs?

A: Yes, the red flags are loud snoring, gasping for air at night and excessive fatigue and sleepiness the following day, especially if they are an adult over 40 and obese.

Q: Why is sleep apnea more common in men?

A: Men may have a higher tendency to develop the obstruction, perhaps because of a higher likelihood of fat deposits in the area or muscle thickness, including that of the tongue. There could be other reasons that currently escape us.

Q: How did you become interested in both neurology and sleep medicine?

A: I’ve been interested in neurology since medical school. In my school, there was a lot of recognition of the work of [Santiago Ramon] Cajal, a Nobel Prize winner who studied the structure of the nervous system in the early 20th century and really laid the groundwork for the specialty. Then when I came to the states, I became interested in sleep disorders at Boston University when I noticed patients with myotonic dystrophy had a lot of degeneration of parts of the brain associated with sleep. And indeed, many patients with myotonic dystrophy have sleep disorders. That led to my interest in sleep disorders.

CALENDAR of

HEALTH EVENTS

Continued from page 4 million meals to other countries in that time. Interested parties can call Gwen Elmer at 315-407-8463 and schedule their group for a two-hour shift or visit www. vineyardny.org/fmsc for more information and time slots.

April 16

Open house at Crouse’s nursing school The Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital will welcome prospective students who want to learn more about pursuing a degree and eventual career in nursing during an open house from 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, April 16, in the Marley Education Center, 765 Irving Ave. Faculty will be on hand to provide information and answer questions, and attendees will be able to tour the college, labs and dorms as well as speak with current and former students. Refreshments will be provided, and free parking is available in the Marley Education Center garage. More information can be obtained by calling 470-7481, but reservations are not required.

April 17

Office for Aging looking for nominations To celebrate Older Americans Month in May the Onondaga County Office for Aging is inviting the public to nominate two outstanding Onondaga County community members for: • Senior Services Professional: This award honors an individual, aged 60 or older, either currently employed or retired, who has made significant contributons in a career field that serves older people.

• Flanders Memorial Caregiver of the Year: This awards recognizes an individual who provides care for an older person and whose actions, philosophy and coordination of services serve as a model and inspiration to other caregivers.

Deadline for nomination is April 17.

Nomination forms and more information can be obtained by calling 435-2362 or emailing EllenMcCauley@ongov.net.

A luncheon at the CNY Regional Market is scheduled at 11 a.m., May 21.

April 26

Lifelines

Fair in Oswego to highlight substance abuse

Position: Neurology consultant for Upstate Sleep Center, Professor of Neurology at Upstate Medical University Hometown: Madrid, Spain Education: University Complutense De Madrid, Fac De Med (medical), Cleveland Clinic Foundation (residency), Boston University (fellowship) Affiliations: SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital Organizations: American Academy of Neurology, American Stroke Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, World Stroke Federation Family: Married, two daughters, two grandchildren Hobbies: Enjoying waterfront activities in Spain

The Second Annual Oswego County S.A.F.E. Fair (Substance Awareness Family Education) will be held from 12 noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, April 26, at the Elks Lodge in Oswego. Health information and education from many organizations will be provided during the safe, drug and alcohol free event.

This is a free family event and will include entertainment, poster contests, music, prizes, raffles, food and much more.

This event is hosted by the VOW Foundation and the Coalition to Combat Adolescent Substance Abuse in Oswego County. More information can be found on the Facebook event page or by contacting Teresa Woolson, president of the VOW Foundation, at 315-402-6119.

Supplements Under Attack State attorney general bans the sale of some diet and herbal supplements raising question about their effectiveness

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

t seems that supplements are under attack lately. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has set his sights on diet and herbal supplements, forcing major retailers to stop selling certain formulas, claiming several do not contain the properties advertised on their labels.

Feb. 2, Schneiderman sent cease and desist letters to GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart because most store brand supplements contained ingredients unlisted on the labels and only 21 percent of the supplement tests identified DNA from the plants the labels listed.

Products included Echinacea, ginseng, St. John’s wort, and others. In addition to pulling the products from the shelves, Schneiderman requested that the businesses send documentation on how the products are made and tested for quality.

Schneiderman’s report stated that Wal-Mart’s store brand represented the weakest products, containing only 4 percent of its listed plant ingredients.

While consumers expect herbal blends to contain several ingredients, those not listed on the label are considered contaminants. Schneiderman’s investigation revealed unlisted ingredients such as rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant, and wild carrot.

“This investigation makes one thing abundantly clear: the old adage ‘buyer beware’ may be especially true for consumers of herbal supplements,” Schneiderman said in a statement Feb. 3.

Currently, the FDA requires supplement manufacturers only to confirm that their products are safe and bear an accurate ingredient list, but not efficacy and side effects.

James A. Schulte, II of Clarkson University in Potsdam, performed the testing using barcodes to avoid brand bias. Schulte used a few samples of each supplement from each store. He tested each sample five times, equaling 390 tests from 78 samples.

For details on the outcomes of each sample at each store, visit www.ag.ny. gov/press-release.

Schneiderman’s study sourced products from stores in Binghamton, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Harlem, Nassau County, Plattsburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Suffolk County, Syracuse, Utica, Watertown, and Westchester County.

Local expert Lisa Thomas shares some of Schneiderman’s caution about

Excellus embraces ‘Choosing Wisely’ Initiative to partner with Consumer Reports designed to reduce unnecessary care

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supplements.

A registered dietitian and owner of LG Nutritional Counseling in Syracuse, Thomas recommends only vitamin D3 and iron for her clients who exhibit deficiency in these.

“Other than this, I have people add particular foods [to their diets] as opposed to supplements,” she said.

“There are synergistic aspects associated with obtaining nutrients from foods that could not possibly be replicated in supplements.

“These synergistic relationships may aid in increased absorption, and effectiveness within the body. We may not even yet be aware of some of these relationships and often wonder about the things we may learn in the future.”

But she doesn’t discourage clients who want to take a multi-vitamin for a back-up.

Considering Schneiderman and Schulte’s attacks on supplements, how can one find products that offer benefits?

Rebecca Lewis, naturopath at Green Planet Grocery in Oswego and Fairmount, advises clients to seek a supplement produced by a well reputable company.

“Lots of company reputations are based on Consumer Reports,” Lewis said. “A lot of good companies do third party testing and have it verified.

There’s a whole professional line of

supplements that do that as well. A lot of the big brands do that so you know what you’re getting.”

Supplements fall into two categories: nutritional supplements and herbal supplements based on ancient traditions. Schneiderman’s investigation focused on manufactured herbals products; Nissen directed his comments more towards nutritional supplements (vitamins and minerals).

Bottled herbal preparations such as those in Schneiderman’s investigation may affect people with food allergies.

These preparations may contain wheat, for example, that could sicken someone with celiac disease.

“You lots of times have to use a binder [in supplements], but good quality brands use non-allergenic fillers,” Lewis said. “You have to go with companies with a good reputation and known to have good quality. Some times better quality are more expensive but you get what you pay for.”

As Schneiderman presses for tighter regulations, it may seem as though FDA regulation of supplements represents a next step. Lewis isn’t sure this may happen, but “it’s been in the works for a long time,” she said. “They keep saying it might happen. Talk like this has been going on for years and years.”

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In Good Health • 315-342-1192 April 2015 •

xcellus BlueCross BlueShield announced it became one of just a few health plans across the country to partner with Consumer Reports on Choosing Wisely, a nationwide initiative to promote shared decision-making between patients and doctors to improve the quality of care, and reduce unnecessary spending on services that have little or no proven benefit.

As a result of the partnership, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield will be better equipped to develop new approaches to care with area physicians, hospitals and health care facilities, and innovative wellness programs to the health plan’s members and employer group clients.

Choosing Wisely is a physician-led initiative developed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. Together, more than 60 medical societies have contributed more than 300 care recommendations that the Choosing Wisely initiative seeks to promote.

“Our analysis of regional health care data will guide us to the Choosing Wisely recommendations that we know will have an immediate and positive impact on the quality of care in Upstate New York,” said physician Matthew Bartels, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield medical director for clinical quality.

According to Bartels, unnecessary care and waste have been well documented in the medical literature. A 2012 report from the Institute of Medicine calculated that about 30 percent of health spending was wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud and other problems. Moreover, inefficiencies cause needless suffering. By one estimate referenced by the IOM, roughly 75,000 deaths might have been averted in 2005 if every state had delivered care at the quality level of the best performing state.

With Choosing Wisely, doctors are encouraged to initiate open and honest conversations about options for care, tests and procedures, so that the treatment ultimately chosen is evidence based, doesn’t duplicate other tests or procedures, is safe and is truly necessary. As the consumer communicator of the Choosing Wisely campaign, Consumer Reports publishes resources such as consumer-friendly magazine articles, brochures and web stories to help explain the Choosing Wisely recommendations put forth by the medical societies. More details about the campaign are available online at ConsumerHealthChoices.org.

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Live Alone & Thrive

By Gwenn Voelckers

Practical tips, advice and hope for those who live alone

April showers can bring more than May flowers

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or me, the month of April is all about anticipation. I am eagerly awaiting the early arrival of crocus and daffodils. And I can’t wait for the butter-yellow forsythia to burst into color. The garlic in my vegetable garden is already poking through the frosty soil and I’m seeing other signs of spring all around me After this incredibly harsh winter, there’s nothing like the promise of a light at the end of the tunnel to help us endure this last rainy patch until the sunshine warms us on a more permanent basis.

As spring approaches, I can feel the anticipation in the air. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the change of season.

Anticipation is not the same as just waiting for something to happen. It’s not just letting time pass. I’ve discovered that intentional anticipation can be incredibly powerful and moving. It can spur us into action, awaken a longlost passion and inspire great “May flower” joy.

I’m a believer that anticipation itself can transform a possibility into a reality, and so I build it into my daily

routines. In doing so, I have made living alone more of an adventure than a carefully planned existence. I encourage you to join me and incorporate a little expectancy and suspense into your world.

Below are a few strategies that have worked for me. Perhaps they’ll work for you, too!

Fill your future with fun.

It could be concert tickets, a vacation, dinner with friends or a new class. I have tickets to see singer Michael Feinstein at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in May. Whenever the doldrums set in, I put on his latest CD and imagine the good time I’m going to have with my sister Anne. She loves him, too!

I enjoy being uplifted by the anticipation of Michael’s performance and a fun night out with my best friend.

Plan ahead and look forward to holidays. Memorial Day is on the horizon.

Consider hosting a small get-together at your place. This “official start of summer” offers a great opportunity to bring people together for some good food and fun, in honor of veterans and soldiers both overseas and here at home.

Why not embrace the holiday, make plans, and look forward to sharing this national day of remembrance with friends and family?

Order something from a catalog or online store. I make good use of this simple strategy, perhaps more than I should (smile)! But, I like looking forward to a package waiting for me on my front porch.

I enjoy anticipating the arrival of a good book in the mail, or a new blouse, or home accessory. It makes coming home after a long day a little more fun and interesting.

Join Facebook, LinkedIn, or an online dating service. Make it possible for people to find you and for you to reach out

Do you live alone?

KIDS Corner

Living alone can be a challenge, especially for women in mid-life who are divorced or widowed. But it can also be the start of a rich and meaningful chapter in your life. Need a jump start?

Living Alone: How to Survive and Thrive on Your Own

Tuesday, April 14, 21 and 28 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm House Content B&B, Mendon, NY (10 minutes from fxit 45 on I-90) In the workshop led by Gwenn Voelckers — a women who’s “been there” — you’ll discover how to overcome loneliness and other emotional pitfalls, rediscover your true self, and socialize in a couples’ world. $145 fee includes manual, empowerment exercises and lots of helpful resources.

For more information, call (585) 624-7887 or email gvoelckers@rochester.rr.com

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

to others. You might be surprised by what you discover — a new friend, an old heart throb, a childhood buddy, or an unexpected opportunity to socialize.

Who knows what might arrive in your inbox?! The anticipation of a “hello” or “wink” can turn a dreary day into one filled with surprises.

• Schedule a “day off” a ways off just for you. I do this throughout the year. Monday is my preferred day off.

I pick a Monday about four weeks out and look forward to filling it with activities I love.

I choose Mondays because when the weekend is over, it’s not over for me! My special day is still out there ahead of me, yet to be experienced and enjoyed.

Plant a seed for the future, literally. Just for the fun of it, I’ve purchased a container and “starter” seeds for kitchen herbs. It sits on the sunny ledge above my sink, and I just love tending it and waiting for the tiny tips to make their appearance. Consider growing a few plants from seed to harvest. It’s such a simple joy, and a reminder of the profound power of anticipating future positive events.

I anticipate good things ahead for all of you who adopt some of these strategies. And I invite you to share your experience with me. email me at the address below and I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Gwenn Voelckers is the founder and facilitator of Live Alone and Thrive, empowerment workshops for women held throughout the year in Mendon, New York. For information about her upcoming workshops or to invite Gwenn to speak, call 585-6247887 or email: gvoelckers@rochester.rr.com.

Raise Legal Smoking Age to 21, U.S. Expert Panel Says

R

aising the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 would save hundreds of thousands of lives and substantially reduce the number of smokers in the United States, a new report finds.

Such a change would result in 249,000 fewer premature deaths among people born between 2000 and 2019, and 12 percent fewer smokers by 2100, according to the report released in March by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

“The public health benefits of raising the age to 21 are substantially greater than raising it to 19,” said Richard Bonnie, chairman of the IOM committee that wrote the report, and a professor of medicine and law at the University of Virginia.

The IOM is an independent panel of experts that advises the federal government on public health issues.

According to the report, increasing the minimum age to 21 would prevent

or delay 15- to 17-year-olds from taking up the smoking habit. The report specifically looked at the benefits of raising the age to 19, 21 and 25, Bonnie said.

Bonnie explained that younger teens often get older teens to buy cigarettes for them — and they may know a lot of friends who are 18 and 19.

However, they are unlikely to have as many 21-year-old friends. That’s why raising the age to 21 seems to have the most public health benefit, he said.

Raising the age to 25 has some additional value, but a smaller one because there is already a lot of social overlap among 21-year-olds and 25-year-olds, Bonnie said.

The committee found that there would be about 3 percent fewer smokers by 2100 if the age were raised to 19, and 16 percent fewer smokers if the age were increased to 25.

If someone is not using tobacco by age 26, it is highly unlikely they ever will, the panel added.

Women’s issues Obamacare Excludes Pregnant Women Missing Enrollment ACA coverage gap leaves women two choices: 1) pay for insurance premiums or care out of pocket (to the tune of $10,000 to $20,000) or 2) skip prenatal care

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

U

ninsured women who missed the three-month open enrollment period have few options for pregnancy medical expenses.

Though the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, doesn’t classify pregnancy as a pre-existing condition for women when they sign up, health benefits won’t kick in for women until after delivery if they sign up outside of the open enrollment period.

This ACA coverage gaps leave women two choices: 1) pay for insurance premiums or care out of pocket (to the tune of $10,000 to $20,000) or 2) skip prenatal care. The March of Dimes states that 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned. Of course, some pregnant women caught in the ACA coverage gap may qualify for Medicaid.

But many of those making too much money may still find paying for their pregnancy expenses daunting.

Consider a family of three in which one parent stays home with the child and the breadwinner earns an income greater than $39,779. If the wife becomes pregnant, they won’t qualify for Medicaid, yet could find purchasing their own insurance out-of-pocket devastating to their budget. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s individual plans all cover prenatal care and delivery and start at $418.64. This entry-level plan includes a $3,000 deductible that must

be met out-of-pocket before the plan covers prenatal care and most other services.

For the baby’s delivery, this plan requires 50 percent co-insurance, which for many deliveries is sizeable. Paying $6,767 ($752 a month, between outof-pocket deductible expenses and premiums) is outside of many families’ reach. Plus, the family must pay the 50 percent co-pay for delivery and post-natal care.

Some advocacy groups such as Young Invincibles (www.younginvincibles.org) want a special enrollment period for women caught in the ACA coverage gap by classifying pregnancy as a qualifying life event (QLE).

Approved QLEs permit people to sign up outside of a standard enrollment period.

Women’s health professionals agree that prenatal care promotes healthy pregnancies. Chris Goldman, a certified birth doula and owner of Doulas of CNY, helps moms ready for a healthy and safe delivery.

“It’s important to prepare yourself for the time ahead and be healthy during pregnancy and prepare for what will happen during the stages of labor,” Goldman said.

Regular prenatal doctor visits comprise the most important medical part of preparing for birth.

“It’s number one,” Goldman said. “The care provider is the part of the birthing team who offers medical care. The education they give, such as about nutrition, taking prenatal vitamins and the other facets of caring for your body and baby are so important.”

One of the objectives of March of Dimes is to remove barriers to receiving prenatal care because it’s so important. Darcy Dreyer, associate director of program services for March of Dimes Central New York, Genesee Valley, Finger Lakes & Western Divisions, listed barriers such as finances, inadequate system capacity, long waits to get appointments and personal factors.

“The ACA gap would certainly affect [some women’s] ability to get care,” Dreyer said.

March of Dimes advises mothers who cannot afford medical care and don’t qualify for Medicaid to seek clinics that offer sliding fees or to see what services community clinics can provide.

Goldman recommended Christian Health Service of Syracuse as one example. The organization provides state-licensed primary care to people of

any or no faith.

In the meantime, basic questions (Is coffee okay? Should I skip alcohol?) may be answered on pregnancy websites. Dreyer said that www.Marchofdimes.org, babycenter.com, and kellymom.com offer accurate information.

“Look for sites that are evidence-based,” she added.

In general, avoid sites selling things.

“Pregnancy information changes all the time, so if you have a prenatal provider, take the questions to your provider,” Dreyer said.

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Our physicians are faculty of the Upstate Medical University We are the only group with the Academic Difference Most insurances accepted www.upstate.edu/obgyn April 2015 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Women’s issues Incontinence: When Urgency Means Seeing a Doctor

By Elizabeth Wagner Bozeman, MD

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ore than 40 million Americans suffer from urinary incontinence (UI). Despite the alarming statistics, many patients feel uncomfortable talking about it, even with their physician. For those who suffer from UI, it can be embarrassing and often debilitating. It is not a condition, however, you must simply “put up with.”

In fact, it is advisable to consult with a urologist because UI can be symptomatic of another underlying concern. Urology health has come a long way in the last decade, and in many cases, UI can be managed in a non-invasive way. These treatment options can relieve the physical and emotional stress of UI. Bozeman Almost half of all women will experience some urinary incontinence in her lifetime. Childbirth and menopause can be contributing factors. Men are also subject to incontinence, especially those who have prostate issues or have had prostatic cancer surgery. Other culprits include neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, a

stroke, and obstetric problems.

As we age, muscle loss and weakness occur throughout the body, and the urinary tract is no different. Many medications can be associated with incontinence, including diuretics, benzodiazepines, tranquilizers, antidepressants, hypnotics and laxatives.

It may also result from different health conditions, such as diabetes, stroke, hypertension, back problems, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, pulmonary disorders, and smoking.

There are two major categories of urinary incontinence. Stress incontinence results from a weak urinary sphincter or bladder neck, and is described as leakage when there is an increase in abdominal pressure such as with cough, sneeze or exercise. Urge incontinence usually happens at unexpected times and sometimes results in incomplete emptying of the bladder.

Some people suffer from both urge and stress incontinence, which is referred to as mixed incontinence.

During an exam, your urologist will ask about your symptoms, patterns of urination, and your medical history. He or she will check your urine and make sure you empty your bladder to rule out other urologic issues, such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and kidney stones. Urologists will initially try to help you with your inconti-

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

nence conservatively with medications, pelvic floor exercises, and perhaps even dietary changes.

We also have the ability to do pelvic floor therapy with biofeedback to teach patients how to improve pelvic floor strength. This is a frontline treatment for patients, including men.

Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles is like strengthening your core muscles.

In biofeedback, we use an electrical sensor to provide a visualization of how one controls certain muscles.

This feedback is an effective way to gain better control over the muscles involved in urination. Our ultimate goal is to get patients to be able to perform urinary muscle control exercises on their own.

We also commonly use medications to help manage incontinence. It is generally urge incontinence that best responds to medication. We use drugs called anticholinergics and a newer class of beta-3 agonists, which both work to block urinary nerve receptors and allow the bladder to store more urine, helping control urgency and urge incontinence.

If medications are unsuccessful, there are some minimally invasive procedures that can help.

For urge incontinence, we know stimulating the sacral nerve can help patients regain control. We can do this

with office treatments called Urgent PC. For a more permanent solution, we implant an electrode to stimulate the nerve to the bladder — a treatment called Interstim. The newest therapy for urge incontinence is Botox injection, which is used to relax the bladder muscle. Depending on a patient’s need — when appropriately prescribed — all of these therapies work extremely well.

Minimally invasive procedures for stress incontinence are expanding as well. Many patients can see an improvement with an office procedure called bulking. Your urologist can inject an agent such as Contigen or Macroplastique in the area of the bladder neck that can control your incontinence for years. And there are multiple sling procedures that can be performed as an outpatient can correct any stress incontinence. These procedures can be done with mesh, a biologic material, or even a patient’s own tissue.

The first step in getting control of your leakage is making an appointment to discuss your symptoms.

Physician Elizabeth Wagner Bozeman is a board certified urologist who works at A.M.P. — American Medical Professionals (www.ampofny.com). She sees patients in Oswego and Onondaga counties.

Women’s issues Breastfeeding Cafe Offers Support for Moms and Babies

By Matthew Liptak

A

re you a mother or mother-tobe who is unsure whether you want to breastfeed? While this is a very personal choice, a program in Syracuse may be able to help if you decide to go for it.

The Breastfeeding Cafe support program on the second floor of Reach CNY at 1010 James St. offers support from professionals as well as other moms.

The cafe offers a free light lunch and is a source of information on the ins and outs of breastfeeding. It meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“The Breastfeeding Cafe was developed for moms who live in the city,” said Selina Lazarus, Reach’s Healthy Start Consortium coordinator and head of the cafe.

“They can come to our support group. It helps because you have some moms who are struggling, some moms who aren’t, people sharing their experiences with each other, talking about what works for them, what didn’t work for them. We also talk about other things that might come up if you have an issue, any baby-related issue. You have a support group right there to be able to share your concerns and talk about what’s going on with you.”

Lazarus isn’t critical of moms who choose formula for their babies. She acknowledges that there are a number of personal and medical factors that can come into play when a mother makes the decision on how to nourish her baby. But she does think women should seriously consider the benefits of breastfeeding.

“I don’t want to say formula is bad, but breastfeeding outweighs the use of formula,” she said.

The federal government agrees with her position. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists a number of the benefits of breastfeeding on its womenshealth.gov website.

Among them are a special closeness and bonding between mother and child; excellent nutrition for the baby; cost savings and health benefits.

There are benefits for the mother too. Women who nurse have a lower risk of getting Type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer and certain types of breast cancer.

Lazarus has had three children. She breastfed all of them and can attest to the benefits.

“Honestly, my kids rarely ever get sick with colds and stuff,” she said.

The Breastfeeding Cafe group started in 2007 and was originally called

Doula Aimme Brill, Breastfeeding Cafe Director Selina Lazarus and lactation consultant Asteir Bey. These are some of the women who run the Breastfeeding Cafe program in Syracuse. The group helps women who want to breastfeed.

Officials at Breastfeeding Café say breastfeeding rates among African American women are lower. They want to reverse that trend.

“Eat at Mom’s.” In 2012 the group changed its name.

Asteir Bey is a Breastfeeding Cafe member and also a nurse and an international board-certified lactation consultant. She is very supportive of the cafe and also volunteers to counsel mothers on breastfeeding.

“It’s just a place where women can build community around breastfeeding,” Bey said. “We know that not just in Syracuse, but all over nationally, resources for women that don’t have access to optimal health care — sometimes their breastfeeding rates are lower.

“We also know that breastfeeding rates are lower for African-American women and women of color. Healthy Start serves a lot of low-income women, but it also serves a lot of women who are [from] families from all over.

They serve Latino women. They also serve a very large refugee population.”

Lazarus and Bey also work to combat the myths and stigma of breastfeeding.

Lazarus said that breastfeeding is too often sexualized in society. She also refuted myths, saying that it does not hurt to nurse children who are getting their teeth.

And it’s not true, she said, that dads can’t bond with infants who are nursing. Breast milk can be pumped and a father can feed his new son or daughter with a bottle.

Bey said that breastfeeding in public has become more acceptable in recent years, but Lazarus noted that seeing a mother nursing in public conApril 2015 •

tinues to spark controversy on occasion because of over-sexualization.

“It amazes me how people get in an uproar when they see a mother breastfeeding. To me you’re seeing more with the advertisement of bras and other clothing more than when you’re breastfeeding,” Lazarus said.

Reach CNY also sponsors Breastfeeding Connection, which consists of a regular business meeting once a month with members who are moms along with professionals. The group is a support group for professionals, Lazarus said, that seeks to advocate for higher breastfeeding numbers in the area. They put out a resource guide for breastfeeding moms and put on different events.

“What I encourage women who are considering breastfeeding to do is go to the Breastfeeding Cafe,” Bey said.

“Now we understand why this is so beneficial and we also know that we need to be supported in the process.

The Breastfeeding Cafe is making that community that women need.”

If You Go Participants of The Breastfeeding Cafe meet the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second floor of Reach CNY at 1010 James St. in Syracuse. For more information, call Selina Lazarus at 315-424-0009 ext. 106 or e-mail slazarus@reachcny.org.

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Women’s issues An All-Female Practice Spine care and interventional medicine have always been male-dominated work, except for CNY-based RSM Medicine

By Aaron Gifford

P

hysical medicine and rehabilitation is a male-dominated specialty across most of the nation.

But in Central New York, there is an entire group of female physiatrists.

RSM Medicine (Regenerative Spine & Musculoskeletal Medicine) is comprised of three women (two doctors and a physician’s assistant) with roots to Upstate New York who are board-certified in this field, said founding partner Renee Melfi.

She had worked for the former RSM Medical Associates at the same location on Widewaters Parkway before this physiatrist group replaced the multi-specialty clinic that was previously there. RSM also has a location in Clay and a satellite office is being planned in Auburn.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges 2012 Physician Specialty Data Book, 66.2 percent of the 8,502 physiatrists in the United States are men, while 33.8 percent (2,867) are women.

“It [all-female staff] wasn’t what I set out to do, but that’s just how the recruiting went,” Melfi said. “The intent was to round out this type of practice.

It’s almost unheard of. Spine care and interventional medicine have always been male-dominated work. I can’t say why. We’re also unique in that we’re the only [physical medicine] group that I’m aware of that’s not combined with surgeons.”

Physiatrists are defined as nerve, muscle, bone and brain experts who non-surgically treat illness or injury to restore functionality and decrease pain. Physiatrists treat post-operative patients as well as patients who have elected not to have surgery. Physiatrists

RMS physician Farah Siddiqui performing an electrodiagnostic test.

RSM Medicine’s founding partner Renee Melfi. can treat almost any type of disability, whether acute or chronic, that involves the spinal cord, brain or limbs.

They render services to those who are recovering from a stroke, those who need treatment for childhood disorders, and those who need continued care after sports injuries and orthopedic procedures.

Physiatrist residents train in all areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation before selecting a subspecialty.

Melfi chose spine and back pain treatment and is also certified in acupuncture. As for the other physician in the practice, Farah Siddiqui completed a fellowship in interventional spine medicine. All three are board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, which is not required of physicians who identify themselves as physiatrists.

‘Very robust’ academically

“We all chose the path of doing fellowships and earning multiple certifi-

Physician assistant Amy Gemelli (left) with physician Renee Melfi. cations,” Melfi explained. “I feel we are very robust in terms of our academic vigor.”

Both doctors spent a significant portion of their lives in Upstate New York before setting up shop here. Melfi is a Syracuse native and Westhill High School graduate who attended the University of Rochester before going on to medical training at Baylor University and Louisiana State University.

Siddiqui graduated from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences before completing her fellowship at Champlain Spine and Pain Management in Plattsburgh.

Their physician’s assistant, Amy Gemelli, is a Syracuse native with more than 15 years of experience in physical medicine, rehabilitation and orthopedics. She completed bachelor’s degrees at SUNY Cortland and Touro College in Long Island.

Staff at RSM Medicine.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

“We love to tell people that we’re home grown,” Melfi said.

She said the mission for this new group was to get a jump on future competition in the emerging field of regenerative medicine, which promotes natural methods of healing over the use of pharmaceuticals. Its concepts includes stem cell injections and platelet-rich plasma treatment where the patient’s blood is collected and put into a centrifuge machine that separates platelets from red and white blood cells before the platelet-rich plasma is injected back into the patient.

“You are harvesting your own natural defenses — your body’s own healing power,” Melfi said. “It’s natural, but it can still be an aggressive treatment. I’d say it’s a better value than pharmaceuticals because drugs are treating the inflammation, but healing the tear. There are also lesser side effects. Too many steroid injections can wear down cartilage.”

Melfi said there’s a tremendous amount of ongoing research in the field of regenerative medicine. She’s optimistic that within five years, doctors will have the ability to help patients re-grow discs in their spine.

In her role as an acupuncturist, Melfi also promotes non-pharmaceutical treatments in combination with exercise and an anti-inflammatory diet.

“I think patients are interested in having more options, and options that are more natural,” she said.

Less than 20 percent of RSM’s patients who are referred there by a primary care physician end up needing surgery.

Medicare covers about 35 percent of RSM’s patients. Melfi said many of those patients, men and women, got referrals to this practice after telling their primary care doctors that they would prefer to see a female physiatrist.

“I haven’t quite pinned down why,” she said.

Physical medicine and rehabilitation is a growing field, with the number of these specialists increasing by 26.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The New York State Board of Regents has identified 20 counties that have a shortage of physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, including Oswego, Cayuga, Herkimer, Chenango and Seneca counties.

Women’s issues Spirited Effort Crouse’s New Spirit of Women program gaining in popularity

By Matthew Liptak

C

rouse Hospital’s Spirit of Women program highlighting women’s health issues is the local extension of a national hospital effort.

Crouse’s goal was to persuade 1,000 women to sign up for the program in a year. They did that in less than two months and have gone on to sign up 5,000 local women since its start in June of last year.

“We have grown exponentially,” said the program’s director, Kathleen Miller. “We have one the most successfully launched Spirit of Women programs across the nation.”

The program is multifaceted and features outreach to women, special events, periodic e-mails and an online magazine.

“The philosophy behind it is that women make the majority of health decisions for their family. In addition, women tend to put themselves on the bottom of the list,” Miller said. “We take care of everyone else and then we take care of ourselves last. It’s a way to give women excellent health education information on the latest trends in health care so they can make informed decisions for their families.”

Spirit of Women does eight special events a year and outreach 25 to 30 times a year, Miller said.

“We could be anywhere,” she said.

“It’s pretty busy. We do as many as we can.”

One of the most recent events was the “Passport to Health” series. It was a four-part series with the theme of

different foreign countries: France, Spain, Greece and Italy. Each country represented a different women’s health concern that included gynecology, orthopedic, neurology and cardiac issues.

Fun and informative

The events are designed to be a fun girls’ night out for members, not just a sober lecture on health worries.

They often start with some massage and Reiki and women can mingle, Miller said. Businesses the hospital partners with are sometimes present too.

After the talk, the speaker and staff from Crouse are available for health-related questions.

Miller said the events usually draw over 200 women.

“The idea behind Spirit of Women is to make it a fun, memorable night out, not just come and sit and listen to a lecture like traditionally you would do,” she said.

A big event coming up is “Day of Dance” at Destiny USA. It occurs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 18.

Amy Robbins of radio station 93Q is the mistress of ceremonies.

“It’s a fun day,” Miller said. “It’s a family day. We do all kinds of different dances, including salsa and line dancing. We have a little bit of everything.

We want everybody to come out. We teach them different dance moves. We want you to get moving, get the heart pumping.”

Spirit of Women also does outreach at area events and shows. They were

in the Carrier Dome at the SyracuseDuke men’s basketball game. The program reaches out to providers in order to set up screenings and educate female patients. That has been very successful, Miller said.

Outreach efforts

“We go out,” she said. “We provide screening. We provide all the educational materials. We give them all the up-to-date information so they can do a really great job and take the time to talk to their patients. It empowers the patient to be asking the right questions.”

So why should women enroll to become a member of Crouse’s Spirit of Women program? Miller said it’s so they can get some serious information on health, but also have a “seriously good time.”

Miller said women are often like the chief medical officers in their family. They attend to the healthcare needs

of their loved ones. Spirit of Women is a chance to get some up-to-date info on health care. Just recently for the Passport to Health program, the event hosted a speaker on gynecology from Yale University.

But it is also a chance for women to get out for themselves and have a little fun. Women need to make sure they take care of themselves while they’re taking care of everybody else, Miller said.

“It’s a good opportunity to get out and have some fun,” she said. “It’s just giving them an opportunity to remember to focus on themselves because you’re a better caregiver if you’re healthy. If they fall apart and they’re not doing the things they need to stay healthy, then that’s going to trickle down to the rest of the family.”

For more information on Crouse’s Spirit of Women Program, go to www.

Crouse.org/spirit.

Demand for 3-D and 4-D ultrasound grows

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

fter the positive pregnancy test, the most exciting milestone of pregnancy is viewing the growing baby via prenatal imagery.

Compared with 2-D ultrasound’s fuzzy-looking sonograms, 3-D sonograms are a photograph of babies before birth, and 4-D sonograms offer video footage of babies moving.

While it’s exciting for parents to get to know their new little one, 3-D and 4-D imagery typically aren’t used medically because 2-D imagery offers a look inside the baby, such as organs and bones, but 3-D and 4-D imagery looks at the surface.

Doctors order 2-D ultrasound because it helps them know how the baby develops structurally. In some cases, providers can offer medication or surgery that can help improve the baby’s outcome. Or, at least families know what to expect for the rest of the pregnancy and after the baby’s birth.

3-D ultrasound can help providers identify issues such as a cleft lip or cleft

palate, missing or short fingers or toes, or other problems that require detail.

The demand for 3-D and 4-D ultrasound has grown so much that facilities such as Baby’s Debut in Syracuse and New Hartford provide non-medical ultrasound for entertainment only.

Owner and registered sonographer Shannon Nelson started the New Hartford location 15 months ago and opened her second location in Syracuse in February.

“It’s very popular,” Nelson said.

“Everyone wants to see what his baby looks like before he’s born.”

Though she occasionally receives phone calls from women whose doctors have ordered an ultrasound, Nelson doesn’t offer diagnostic ultrasound. Should she spot something problematic, she refers clients to their own providers.

Nelson does reveal the baby’s gender, if the parents desire.

“It’s a great bonding experience,” Nelson said. “It’s a nice atmosphere

with family and friends welcome. It’s not a medical atmosphere.”

About 70 families per month use her services, she said.

As for medical ultrasounds, Nelson thinks that some people feel disappointed that technicians seem too clinical.

“It’s hard to get across to people it’s a diagnostic test and not for entertainment,” Nelson said. “You can become a number in the medical world these days. The sonographer does so many babies a day that it’s not as exciting. Finding out if something is wrong with the baby is their job. But the medical ultrasound is number one.”

Since parents’ desire to see what their baby looks like has made 3-D and 4-D imagery very popular, some OB-GYNs purchase the equipment to attract more clients to their practice, even though the imagery really isn’t necessary for diagnosing most fetal problems.

While getting a “sneak peek” into April 2015 •

baby’s development can delight parents, Darcy Dreyer, associate director of Program Services for March of Dimes’ Central New York, Genesee Valley/ Finger Lakes and Western New York Divisions, cautions parents about 3-D and 4-D imagery taken at non-medical facilities.

“Sometimes there are false-negative or false-positives, which can be emotionally and financially taxing,” Dreyer said.

Avoid trying to diagnose from non-medical ultrasound and view it as a pre-birth portrait, not medical information. Rely only on medical imagery read by OB-GYNs for diagnosing prenatal problems.

“If you confirm the absence or presence of a problem, it helps families prepare,” Dreyer said. “It’s a resource and parents need to make the best decision with the information given to them based on their family health history and resources.”

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 13

Women’s issues A Woman on a Mission Elizabeth Wagner Bozeman, MD, graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts in psychobiololgy.

She attended medical school and completed her residency in urology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. She wast the first woman to complete the urology program there and the first woman to practice urology in the state. In private practice since 1995, she specializes in female urology, recurrent urinary infections, stone disease, interstitial cystitis and many other conditions of general urology.

Gary Douglas Bozeman, MD, MBA, graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in zoology. He received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas,. In 1995, he completed his residency in urology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2009, he went on to receive his MBA from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia. Dr. Bozeman’s area of expertise includes Da Vinci robotic surgical Technology and special interests in female urology, benign prostate enlargement (BPH) cancer, urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

Elizabeth W. Bozeman, MD Gary D. Bozeman, MD Board-Certified Urologists

806 West Broadway / Fulton, NY 13069 315.297.4700 / www.ampofny.com Page 14

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Local woman continues project to promote health care proxies

By Matthew Liptak

W

ho will speak for you when you are unable to do so?

That is the question a local health care proxy advocate is asking the public, reminding it that the process of getting a proxy done is free, fairly simple and may only take a few minutes.

Nancy Rae Aureli is a registered nurse who worked with cancer patients at Upstate University Hospital for six years. She said she has seen the results of people not having proxies multiple times. She is passionate about making people know that if they are over 18 they should have someone to speak on their behalf when they are unable.

Aureli started the Proxy Project of CNY two years ago but the inspiration for it came Aureli earlier. When she was working at Upstate the health of a woman named Karen quickly began declining. She was terminally ill with cancer and could no longer speak. Karen did not have a health care proxy.

In the absence of a health care proxy, Karen’s boyfriend of several years could not carry out her end-oflife wishes, even though he may have known them. A health care proxy form is a simple one-page document that takes three to five minutes to complete, but all her boyfriend could do was look on helplessly.

“He had no power,” Aureli said.

“All he could do was stand there, because she couldn’t talk anymore.”

Karen eventually died, but, because she had not signed a proxy, her final wishes could not be represented.

It would have been such a simple issue to rectify, Aureli said..

“A health care proxy is a one-page, two-sided piece of paper that [is] fairly simple,” Aureli said. “You fill out your name, the person that you want to be able to speak for you, you fill out their name and address and then you sign your name and address. Two people have to witness you signing it.”

If a proxy doesn’t exist, medical staff must adhere to a list set by New York state law about who end-of-life decisions go to. Usually this falls to spouses, oldest adult children, parents, then friends. Relying on the law can lead to the wrong person representing the patient and even conflicts of interest.

“That’s not always a good thing because you may not have talked to your oldest child for years and you may not get along with them,” Aureli said. “Sometimes two people might be

married but they haven’t lived together or seen each other in 10 years, but if something happens to you and you’re still legally married, that person has every right and every control over your medical say. It’s a big deal.”

To encourage the public to get their health care proxies and similar directives in order the government started National Health Care Decisions Day on April 16.

This April 16 Aureli will be on hand at Liverpool Public Library to help people pick up or fill out a proxy and also answer questions.

“If they’ve never heard of them we just give them one so they can check it out,” Aureli said. “If they’ve talked to their proxy and they know everybody’s on the same page and they know what they want, we fill it out with them and then it’s done.”

Aureli said she has helped at least 50 people fill out proxies so far and she hopes to help another 100 to sign their forms this year. When a loved one is in a hospital bed and grave medical questions need to be answered it can be a relief to know the wishes of the patient.

“I feel like it’s a gift,” she said.

“When you give someone that knowledge that they need to help you they feel so empowered, but when everyone’s sitting there going ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do,’ you have that anxiety and that pressure and the guilt and everything else, but when you know what to do you can just move forward.”

For more information go to www. proxyprojectofcny.org

Getting a Health Care Proxy National Health Care Decisions Day will be celebrated April 16. Nancy Rae Aureli, a former registered nurse from Upstate University Hospital, who is an advocate for people to have their health care proxies prepared, will be on hand at Liverpool Public Library to help people pick up or fill out a proxy and also answer questions. For more information go to www.proxyprojectofcny.org

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By Anne Palumbo

The skinny on healthy eating calories per cup, as mentioned above, deserves a standing ovation.

Why Fennel Deserves a Fan Base

Helpful tips: Choose whitish to pale green bulbs that are firm and solid, minus any splitting, bruising or spotting. Fresh fennel has a fragrant aroma, smelling slightly of licorice. Although fennel can be stored in the fridge for up to four days, it’s best to consume as soon as possible. The longer it languishes, the less flavorful it will be.

W

hen my husband and I were first dating, he introduced me to a unique vegetable: fennel.

It was love at first bite!

Since then, I haven’t strayed.

I’m sweet on the taste (slightly licorice), I dig the texture (super crunchy), I’m crazy about the calorie count (only 30 per cup) and I’m smitten with its nutritious spunk.

While pale green fennel may never achieve the superfood status of some of its more brightly colored comrades, it can certainly march down the “goodfor-you” aisle with its feathery fronds held high.

Similar to other plant-based foods, fennel is packed with antioxidants — those magical molecules that can help prevent a host of maladies, from heart disease to arthritis. In animal studies, one of fennel’s antioxidants in particular, anethole, repeatedly reduced inflammation and helped prevent the occurrence of certain cancers. Go, fennel!

Fennel deserves a shout-out for its bounty of vitamin C. In addition to its antioxidant benefits, vitamin C, which is needed to build collagen, is super good for your skin. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical

Fennel Salad Nutrition, in fact, found that higher vitamin C intakes were associated with skin that had fewer wrinkles and aged better.

This bulb-shaped vegetable also boasts a decent amount of fiber — both soluble and insoluble.

Insoluble fiber promotes regularity, while soluble fiber helps us stay healthy by ferrying artery-clogging cholesterol out.

In addition to its fiber, fennel rocks with two nutrients that also promote heart health: folate (a B vitamin) and potassium. Folate helps to derail vessel-damaging homocysteine; and potassium can lower your risk of high blood pressure.

Lastly, this aromatic vegetable warrants a round of applause for having no cholesterol, next to no fat, little sodium and a smidge of protein. The 30

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

with Celery and Toasted Pine Nuts Adapted from Bon Appetit Serves 4-6

¼ cup pine nuts or chopped wal-

nuts 2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced 1 red pepper, thinly sliced ½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly chopped 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt, coarse black pepper (to taste) ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

minutes; let cool.

Toss fennel, celery, red pepper, parsley, and toasted nuts with lemon juice, zest, and oil in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Serve salad, topped with Parmesan.

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 6 to 8

Anne Palumbo is a lifestyle columnist, food guru, and seasoned cook, who has perfected the art of preparing nutritious, calorie-conscious dishes.

She is hungry for your questions and comments about SmartBites, so be in touch with Anne at avpalumbo@aol.com.

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Page 15

Pedaling with Purpose Kate Waltman bikes to support worthwhile causes

By Mary Beth Roach

K

ate Waltman pedals for a reason, melding her love of sports with her desire to do charity work in the community.

The 24-year-old master’s level business student has been involved in the local Pedal to Possibilities program and has done the long-distance Tour De Cure ride for the American Diabetes Association.

Now, she has decided to do the 100-mile Ride for Missing Children, a fundraiser for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

“When I thought about taking cycling a little more seriously, The Ride for Missing Children was at the top of my list for rides I wanted to participate in,” she said. “But there’s only one route option, and that’s 100 miles, so you don’t just jump into that.”

This is her first century ride, and although it’s not until September, she has already begun her training. As a lifelong athlete, she is no stranger to training, determination and being goal-oriented with regards to fitness.

She has been playing sports since she was a youngster, starting with Little League baseball when she was 6 years old. She played softball for Le Moyne College, where she earned her undergraduate degree.

Athletics has played such a large role in Waltman’s life. As she was preparing to graduate and leave organized sports, she was looking to fill the void.

She became involved in the Pedal to Possibilities program, an initiative started several years ago by her friend

and Le Moyne grad Andrew Lunetta to provide homeless men in Syracuse with a healthy activity.

Based out of the Brady Faith Center on Syracuse’s southwest side, the group rides seven to 10 miles a few times a week, and once they have completed 10 rides, the men receive their own bike, a helmet and lock.

It was a cause that Waltman cared about, so she dusted off her bicycle, brought it to Syracuse from her parents’ home in the Albany area and started riding.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is something I can do that will expose me to charity work in the community. Since then, the charity bike piece has been something that has really kept me involved. I think it’s a way to meet new people in the community but also contribute to causes you really care about.

“There’s this great social piece that goes along with it. I’ve met some of the best people in the community through cycling.”

When she first started cycling, the thought of doing 100 miles was not something she had ever imagined, but once she realized that cycling was going to continue to be a part of her life, it was something she set her sights on.

But 100 miles? To prepare for that kind of endurance would take some work. She had learned that first-hand.

When she attempted the 62-mile Tour De Cure Ride, she could have benefitted from more preparation, Waltman said.

“I wasn’t ready for it, I really wasn’t,” she said. “I completed the distance, but I didn’t have my hydration right. I wasn’t really sure how to balance my caloric intake throughout the ride. I got myself into some trouble. Sixty-two miles catches up with you toward the end. I remember those last 10 miles were a struggle.”

Critical aspects of training

Waltman said the training includes not only the physical aspects, but diet and a positive mental attitude as well. She’s put together a training program that touches on all three of these facets.

Designing the regimen for her has been an interesting process, she said. Having played organized sports for years, she explained that her training was already created.

“I always played competitive sports. My workouts and my fitness were structured for me,” she explained. “I didn’t have to put a lot of thought into it as far as designing a workout or training program. I played softball at Le Moyne, so for the four years of my undergrad career, I had a really solid structure there. For the last couple of years, I’ve had to do that on my own. It’s been a different experience.”

Her workout includes spinning, some outdoor cycling and core work.

To keep her cycling muscles Page 16

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Kate Waltman is training to participate in the 100-mile Ride for Missing Children, a fundraiser for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. To keep her cycling muscles in shape, she spins two to three times a week with the Onondaga Cycling Club at its training center in Shoppingtown Mall, and she cycles a few times each week with Pedal to Possibilities. in shape, she spins two to three times a week with the Onondaga Cycling Club at its training center in Shoppingtown Mall, and she cycles a few times each week with Pedal to Possibilities.

She also does the Px90 and Insanity workouts and core work.

Maintaining an appropriate diet allows for the endurance required in cycling, she said.

“For me, with cycling specifically, it has directed my diet over the last two years,” she said. “I’ve never done a sport or activity that requires the endurance that cycling does. With softball and being a high school athlete, most of the exertion is one to two hours. But cycling — especially 100 miles — is an all-day thing, and it is a new aspect of training for me. With that comes the nutrition.”

She has done research and talked with other cyclists, learning about the diets of endurance athletes and cyclists specifically.

“I’m such a fruit and vegetable person, but if you’re going to set out on a long day of riding, you definitely need some protein and carbohydrates.

Ultimately, it’s led me toward clean eating,” she said.

Properly hydrating and monitoring calories while cycling are two key elements that Waltman is also learning.

“The best advice that I’ve heard to this point is that you want to hydrate with one bottle every 15 miles,” she said. “Eat before your body asks for it. If you wait until you feel that you really need the calories, it’s probably too late.”

While training physically and eating the proper diet is key, Waltman also said the correct mindset is critical.

“Physically you can still have it

in you to finish the ride, but mentally if you let yourself go, it can be detrimental or it can be equally beneficial to you,” she said. “If mentally you’re there, and physically you’re starting to fail, a lot of times you can draw some strength from that. I’ve been on both sides of that.”

She has also developed a meditation practice, having lived and worked in Japan for a year following her graduation from Le Moyne.

“Every morning, that’s a big part of my routine now,” she said. “It’s something I’ve learned to translate to the bike to. On a long hill, a long climb, and you feel the pain from that, there’s a place in your mind you have to go to regain your focus and draw some strength.”

Devoting this much time and energy into training, Waltman said it was important for her to find the right race and cause.

“If you’re going to put in the time and training, the cause has to be something that’s going to motivate you to do that,” she said. “For me to be starting training now, it’s got to be a cause I connected well with.”

The various elements of this particular ride appeal to Waltman. Step one was researching the terrain, she said, and appreciate that it is relatively flat for her inaugural century ride.

Being in September, she has ample time to train. The route also includes pre-planned stops at elementary schools to speak about the cause as a means to build awareness, so she believes that this structure is helpful to her as a first-time century rider.

“I think this year I can train and be ready for it,” she said.

My Turn

By Eva Briggs

All About Arachnophobia Is there any hope for the spider fearers among us?

M

y coworker — lets call her Dr. J — was driving when she saw someone pulled over by the side of the road. It was another coworker, an M.D. He had gotten out of his car in the bitter cold and snow.

He was gyrating as if in pain. So she screeched to a halt and jumped out to help. Was he sick? Was he injured?

It turned out he was the victim of arachnophobia, an extreme or irrational fear of spiders. And he was trying to escape a spider that was in his car.

To those of us who are not spider-phobic, it’s almost hard to imagine.

Spiders seem such fascinating creatures, from their assorted shapes and sizes, varied techniques for building webs and capturing prey, and some fascinating mating rituals. But to arachnophobes, spiders are harbingers of terror.

What causes some people to be paralyzed by spider fear? Is it nature?

Or is it nurture?

No one really knows but there are several theories.

One possibility is that because some spiders are dangerous, our ancestors who feared spiders had a better chance of surviving. As a result, perhaps the fear of spiders is hard-wired

into the brains of the 18 percent of men and 50 percent of women with some degree of arachnophobia.

Studies found that children as young as 3, when shown pictures of spiders and cockroaches, were quicker to recoil from the spider pictures.

While some believe this supports the inborn fear theory, others pooh-pooh that suggestion. They assert it merely shows that children learn very young to be afraid of spiders. The prevalence of arachnophobia varies widely among different cultures, suggesting that it’s learned rather than innate.

Folks with arachnophobia are much more likely to overestimate the size of a spider when shown a picture. To them, the spiders appear HUUUUUGE! The greater their fear, the more they overestimate spider size.

Spider phobes are also much more likely to overestimate the speed of an approaching spider. Again, the greater the fear, the sooner they think the spider will charge into them. Of course, real spiders don’t typically charge like bulls toward people.

It turns out that there are actual rating scales to measure the fear of spiders, with catchy acronyms like the FSQ (fear of spiders) and SPQ (spider

phobia questionnaire). They’ve even been validated with something called the BAT (behavioral avoidance test).

This consists of eight items to observe the fearful person’s behavior, ranging from “walk toward the spider” to “let the spider walk on your hand.” I know that my arachnophobic coworker would be racing out the door long before he would permit any spider to crawl on him.

Is their any hope for the spider fearers among us?

One therapy, designed for people who are so fearful that they can’t even look at a photograph of a spider, is called SLAT — spiderless arachnophobia therapy. It involves desensitizing arachnophobes by showing them pictures that resemble spiders without actually being spiders: the bottom portion of office chairs with wheeled legs projecting from a central stalk, a tripod, an amusement park swing ride such as the Chair-O-Planes, etc. One of the images is a building that is supposed to resemble a spider, but looks more like a giant tinker toy construction to me. After several weeks of viewing such images, the treated patients could get closer to actual spiders.

More recently, a study showed

that a single intensive three to four hour session of gradually increasing spider exposure could cure some people. The treatment begins with education about spiders, then gradually progresses from spider pictures, to spiders inside terrariums, to touching spiders with a paint brush, then gloves, and ultimately bare hands.

So if arachnophobia is disabling you to the point that you will do a silly dance on the roadside on a subzero freezing morning, there is hope. After all, spring is coming, and the spiders will be out and about soon.

Eva Briggs is a medical doctor who works at two urgent care centers (Central Square and Fulton) operated by Oswego Health.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Parenting

By Melissa Stefanec melissa@cnyhealth.com

Boys’ Toys I

t was a typical Saturday filled with errands. My family was pushing our usual two shopping carts around the store, because once you fill a cart with a baby seat and a toddler, there is no longer room for the important stuff like fruit snacks, fish-shaped crackers, and beer.

We were walking past the toy section (mistake number one), when my daughter started into her usual observational lament. As she rattled off her favorite picks, the pink of the shelves almost blinded me. Then a softer, more pleasing blue hue started to take over.

My daughter stopped her lament and flatly remarked, “Mommy, these are boys’ toys.”

I broke stride and stuttered for a moment, before I very plainly stated that there was no such thing as boys’ toys. Any kid can play with any toy he or she wishes to. It seemed like an obvious and simple response, but the more I thought about it, the more I started to question whether or not I had been entirely truthful with my favorite 3- ½-year-old.

It seems the more equal we strive to be, the more gendered we become.

How can this incongruent statement be true? What kind of society tells people they are equal and then does everything to divide its members into two very separate categories? The answer is ours.

As I raise a son and a daughter, I think about gender inequality more than I ever have before. We live in a highly gendered society, and bucking the social norms is tricky business.

Teaching a child that it’s great to break free of some social norms and totally unacceptable to break others, well, that’s even trickier. It’s a fine line between supporting my daughter’s choice to play with dump trucks in the dirt, while silencing her outdoor voice in a very indoor place. Sometimes it’s OK to break the rules, and other times it’s not. This contradiction is especially difficult when confronting social norms regarding gender in our society.

As parents, we owe it to our children to raise them in a less gendered society. This is no small charge considering our fruit snacks are as gendered as bathrooms. Changing the way our kids will view their lives inevitably means confronting inconsistencies and wrongdoings in our own childhoods and adult lives. Gender equality has come a long way since I was born (the early 1980s), and there are many aspects of my childhood that I find embarrassing when scrutinized from the present. I was raised with “he” as the default pronoun. I was raised where it was assumed people in high-level jobs were men, and people in lower-level jobs were women. This list goes on and on, but these experiences forever shaped our psyches. We parents know that that we are passing gender biases on to our children, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and it’s not a good thing.

It shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be

this way. The sex you are born as plays a very important role in your life, but it shouldn’t define or limit your life. Every time we default to he, read another story with a male lead, buy the corresponding colored toy for the gender of our child, or treat a child differently because of his or her anatomy, we are doing that child a gross and damaging injustice.

The burden is on society, which ultimately begins with each of us. We need to recognize boys and girls for who they are. We need to recognize their emotions, skills, inherent gifts and natural tendencies. We need to have the courage to not worry about what other parents, family members or society think. We need to nurture our children to be themselves unabashedly.

We need to let them know that being yourself isn’t always easy, but it’s the best option you’ve got. We need to stand by them when the bullies and hecklers arrive. We need to be stern when they inevitably bully and heckle. We need to be as brave as we are teaching our children to be. We need to acknowledge that boys and girls are different, but that shouldn’t ever limit the people they will become. We need to teach our kids to give that difference a subtle nod, and tackle the rest of their lives.

What other choice do we have? The alternative doesn’t make for a future this momma wants her children to live in.

So back to semi-lying to my daughter and telling her there were no boys’ toys. I did feel a tad bit dishonest, and maybe you have to be that way with a child her age.

How can I explain to her that she can play with a fake venomous spider or plastic backhoe all she wants, but that she is going to pay a price for that choice? How can I explain to her that her sex will determine what people expect of her, and when she falls short of those expectations that people may be cruel? How can I expect her to understand she can be and do anything she wants, but she will face adversity when she strives to do this? How will I explain all these concepts to my son?

Right now, I can’t. So, I told a little white lie, and then I promised we would go shopping for a toy in the blue section.

Then I promised myself I would do better for both of my kids by modeling the sort of society I hope they will live in someday. We need a society where a boy can push a toy doll carriage and a girl can drive a toy racecar, all without adults and the children they are raising judging them.

Maybe I’m a dreamer, but when I was little I learned some important things. Some of those important things had to be unlearned, but one thing I will never stop believing in is that dreamers have the power to change the world.

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How Medicare Covers In-Home Care

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Because of my illness, my doctor suggested I get home health care, but I want to find out how it’s covered before I proceed.

Need Some Help Dear Need, Medicare covers a wide variety of intermittent inhome health care services (usually up to 28 hours per week) to beneficiaries, if you meet their specific requirements. Here’s how it works.

In order for you to secure coverage for home health care, Medicare first requires that you be homebound.

This means that it must be extremely difficult for you to leave your home, and you need help from a device (like a wheelchair or walker) or a person in doing so.

You will then need your doctor to approve a “plan of care” confirming that you need skilled-nursing care or skilled-therapy services from a physical or speech therapist on a part-time basis. Your doctor can also request the services of an occupational therapist and a home health aide to assist with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing and using the bathroom.

Your doctor must renew the “plan of care” once every 60 days.

You will also need to use a home health agency that is certified by Medicare.

If you meet all of the requirements, Medicare should pay for your in-home care.

But be aware that Medicare will not pay for home health aide services (such as bathing, dressing or using the bathroom) alone, if you do not need skilled-nursing or skilled-therapy services too. Homemaker services, such as shopping, meal preparation and cleaning are not covered either.

You also need to know that Medicare has recently changed their home health care policy regarding degenerative diseases. They will now pay for in-home physical therapy, nursing care and other services to beneficiaries with chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s

disease in order to maintain their condition and prevent deterioration. In the past, Medicare would only cover home health services if the patient were expected to make a full recovery.

If you have original Medicare, you can locate a Medicare-certified home health agency by calling 800-633-4227 or by visiting medicare.gov/homehealthcompare. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you should contact your plan directly and ask which home health agencies work with the plan and are within the plan’s network of providers.

For more detailed information on how Medicare covers in-home health, see the “Medicare and Home Health Care” online booklet at medicare.gov/ pubs/pdf/10969.pdf.

Other Options

If you don’t qualify for Medicare coverage, there are other coverage options depending on your situation, including: Insurance: If you happen to have long-term care insurance, check to see if it covers in-home care. Or if you have a life insurance policy, see if it can be utilized to pay for care.

Medicaid: If your income is low enough, all states offer Medicaid programs that will pay for some forms of in-home care. To investigate this, contact your local Medicaid office.

Veterans Assistance: If you’re a veteran, some communities have a veteran-directed home and community based service program, which give veterans a flexible budget to pay for in-home care.

Also available to wartime veterans and their spouses is a benefit called “aid and attendance” that helps pay for in-home care, as well as assisted living and nursing home care.

To be eligible, you must need assistance with daily living activities like bathing, dressing or going to the bathroom. And, your annual income must be under $21,466 – minus medical and long-term care expenses. If you’re a surviving spouse of a veteran, your income must be below $13,794 to be eligible. Your assets must also be less than $80,000 excluding your home and car.

To learn more, see va.gov/geriatrics or call 800-827-1000.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit www.savvysenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 19

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Taxes, Ex-Spouse Benefits — And You

A

pril 14 is both Ex-Spouse Day vorced spouse benefits and delay benand the eve of tax day. These two efits on your own record until your full observances are doubly importretirement age, which may translate to ant if you are an ex-spouse, because a higher monthly amount for you. If, Social Security pays benefits to eligible however, you decide to wait until full former spouses, and you may need to retirement age to apply as a divorced claim this income on your tax forms. spouse, your benefit will be equal to If you are age 62, unmarried, and half of your ex-spouse’s full retirement divorced from someone entitled to amount or disability benefit. The same Social Security retirement or rules apply for a deceased disability benefits, you may be former spouse. eligible to receive benefits based The amount of benefits on his or her record. To be eligiyou get has no effect on the ble, you must have been married benefits of your ex-spouse’s to your ex-spouse for 10 years or and his or her current spouse. more. If you have since remarVisit “Retirement Planner: If ried, you can’t collect benefits You Are Divorced” at www. on your former spouse’s record socialsecurity.gov/retire2/ unless your later marriage ended divspouse.htm to find all by annulment, divorce or death. the eligibility requirements Also, if you’re entitled to benyou must meet to apply as a efits on your own record, your Banikowski divorced spouse. Our benefits benefit amount must be less planner gives you an idea of than you would receive based on your your monthly benefit amount. If your ex-spouse’s work. In other words, we’ll ex-spouse died after you divorced, you pay the higher of the two benefits for can still qualify for widow’s benefits. which you’re eligible, but not both.

You’ll find information about that in a You can apply for benefits on your note at the bottom of the website. former spouse’s record even if he or she Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/ hasn’t retired, as long as you divorced retire2/divspouse.htm today to learn at least two years before applying. You if you’re eligible for benefits on your can also elect to receive only the diex-spouse’s record. What you learn may bring a smile to your face … even on tax day!

Q&A

Q: My father receives Supplemental Security Income. He recently moved, but he hasn’t reported his new address to Social Security yet. What’s the easiest way to do that?

A: You can check your address online by using your personal my Social Security account at www.socialsecurity. gov/myaccount. It is very important that Social Security has your father’s most up-to-date information, including any change in income, resources, or living arrangements. This will guarantee that he is getting the benefit amount to which he is entitled. You can learn more about the rights and responsibilities of Supplemental Security Income recipients at www.socialsecurity.gov/ ssi.

Q: Someone stole my Social Security number, and it’s being used repeatedly. Does Social Security issue new Social Security numbers to victims of repeated identity theft?

A: Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, so you aren’t alone. If you’ve done all you can to identify and fix the problem, including contacting the Federal Trade Commission, but someone is still using your number, Social Security may assign you a new number. If you decide to apply for a new number, you’ll need to prove your identity, age, and U.S. citizenship or immigration status. You’ll also need to provide evidence you’re having on-

going problems because of the misuse of your current Social Security number.

You can read more about identity theft at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

Q: My father collects disability benefits, but he is interested in trying working again. Is there a program that helps disabled people find work while they’re collecting Social Security disability benefits?

A: Social Security’s Ticket to Work program can help beneficiaries go to work, get a good job that may lead to a career, save more money, and become financially independent. This program doesn’t affect your disability benefits — you can keep collecting your benefits while participating. Ticket to Work is a free and voluntary program that gives beneficiaries real choices to help them create and lead better lives.

You can learn more about our Ticket to Work program at www.socialsecurity. gov/work or www.socialsecurity.gov/ work/home.html.

Q: I served in the military, and I’ll receive a military pension when I retire. Will that affect my Social Security benefits?

A: You can get both Social Security retirement benefits and military retirement at the same time. Generally, we don’t reduce your Social Security benefits because of your military benefits.

When you’re ready to apply for Social Security retirement benefits, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/applyonline.

Preventing Bad Dog Behavior Yes, you can teach old dogs new tricks, experts say

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

B

ad dog behavior like chewing furniture, barking incessantly or jumping frustrates many owners.

But it doesn’t have to. You can teach old dogs new behavior and prevent pups from picking up bad habits.

Many times, jumping up begins in puppyhood when the youngster receives positive attention for jumping up to greet its owner. It’s cute then.

After the dog grows to 75 pounds, the animal can knock adults to the ground with the same behavior. The dog doesn’t realize why it’s now wrong to jump. Scolding an older dog for jumping only confuses the animal.

Amanda Fitzgerald, licensed vet technician at Liverpool Veterinary Hospital, encourages owners to train with positive reinforcement.

“Tell him he’s good when he stays down [instead of jumping on you],” she said.

She tells owners to teach their pup-

pies to sit and stay. Only when the dog remains calm can it receive attention.

Fitzgerald added that some bad dog behavior stems from chemical imbalances or nutritional problems.

That’s the premise behind the ProNutra supplements sold by John Byrne, owner of Enhance Animal Wellness in Mexico. He believes that a deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids contributes to ill health in animals, and in some cases, poor behavior.

“Lots of dog foods say they have omega in them, but there may be too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3,” he said.

Instead of enduring incessant barking, you can help your dog to remain quieter.

Andrea Giordano, owner of Dogs Among Us in Scriba, said that dogs bark for many reasons: anxiety, boredom and distractions represent a few

How to Talk to Your Dog Tips from Stephanie Perotti, owner of Critter Sitters in Syracuse • “Dogs are creatures of habit, so you can curb bad behavior with training.

It’s all in the tone of your voice when you’re giving commands.

• “Be consistent.

• “Use eye contact with the dog.

• “Use a tall posture and stand in front of the dog while training and giving commands.

• “When giving a command, use the dog’s name and then the command, like, ‘Serena, sit.’ Just say it once. It gets the dog’s attention and that’s when the eye contact is most important.

• “Say the command in a stern voice.”

examples.

“You have to determine why the dog is barking, then seek to resolve it,” she said. “If it’s just boredom hire a dog sitter or walker to get the dog out and have a physical break.

“Give the dog appropriate activity, like a long walk or game before you leave. Some toys will mechanically deliver a food treat at a certain time.”

Scatter three or four toys around the house.

Hollow, rubbery Kong toys may be filled with peanut butter and kibble.

Freeze the toy in advance for a greater challenge. Rotate toys with different types to avoid boredom.

Inside dogs may be distracted from outside sounds if you leave a radio on all day.

Regular feeding times and exercise periods help dogs understand what happens next and relieve anxiety instead of leaving the dog to tear up the household as a stress reliever.

Leaving random objects lying around invites bored dogs to destroy them, so look for items on his level that he might want to chew, and then put them away.

Crate training can solve many of these problems, as it offers a cozy “den” where the dog is off-duty. Plus, dogs in crates can’t see squirrels, stray cats and the mailman.

But don’t expect a dog to do nothing for 10 hours and remain content to curl up all evening.

“I challenge my students to take a

day off work and go through their day doing nothing for 10 hours, not using the bathroom,” Giordano said. “They look at me like I’m crazy and then the light bulb goes off.”

As Fitzgerald alluded, sufficient exercise also helps dogs burn energy positively.

Dogs tossed in the backyard often lie around because they have nothing to do. Or, they expend their energy by destroying the fence, digging holes or barking for hours.

“Send them to doggy daycare,” said Stephanie Perotti, owner of Critter Sitters in Syracuse. “Increasing exercise helps them spend energy. Off-leash exercise can help, too. Playing fetch with the dog and retrieval games.”

Walking your dog daily for half an hour or more (depending upon its size) should help him feel healthier and happier.

Health Benefits of Moderate Drinking Overblown: Report Not all factors considered in previous studies, researchers say

A

ll that talk of red wine and other alcoholic beverages being good for your health if consumed in moderation is just plain wrong, a new analysis contends.

A review of nearly 53,000 British people found little to no health benefit linked to alcohol consumption, once the results were adjusted for a range of personal, social, economic and lifestyle factors, the researchers reported.

“Based on the findings from this study, alcohol consumption appears to confer little to no protection against mortality [death] in most age-sex groups,” said study author Craig Knott, a research associate in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London.

Previous research has shown that light alcohol consumption may confer some degree of protection against early death and illness, with people who have fewer than two drinks per day living longer than both those who drink more and those who don’t drink

at all, the researchers said.

But these earlier studies were flawed because researchers lumped former drinkers in with people who’ve never touched a drop, calling all of them non-drinkers and then comparing them to people who imbibe lightly, Knott said.

“Importantly, former drinkers appear to be less healthy and at greater risk of mortality than never drinkers,” he said. “With existing research having largely grouped former and never drinkers together, there was the possibility that protective effects seen among lighter drinkers may be less a consequence of a real biological relationship and more a statistical artifact arising from their comparison against people who are simply less healthy.”

In this study, published Feb. 10 in the BMJ, researchers compared interview data from the annual Health Survey for England with national death records, analyzing the drinking habits and health of almost 53,000 people

aged 50 and older.

Compared with people who never drank, any protective benefits from alcohol were largely limited to men aged 50 to 64 who reported having an average 15 to 20 drinks a week, and women 65 and older who had an average 10 drinks or less per week, the investigators found.

And even for these groups, the benefits are so minimal that they might be explained by so-called “selection bias” -- “including but not limited to the possibility that individuals participating in a study are healthier than those who do not,” Knott said.

Most of alcohol’s benefits evaporated after factoring in various definitions of occasional drinking, as well as a range of other personal and social influences, the study authors said.

“On this basis, it seems sensible for current drinkers to consider moderating the amount of alcohol they consume, and for non-drinkers to remain abstinent,” Knott said.

April 2015 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 21

H ealth News Abrams named Crouse’s communications director Cheryl Abrams was been named director of communications and digital media for Crouse Hospital. With the hospital for nine years, Abrams most recently served as manager of communications.

In her expanded role, Abrams will oversee all digital media activity for the 506-bed health system, including website and social media platforms.

She will also continue the hospital’s efforts in the area of brand journalism by telling the Crouse ‘story’ through its various communication channels. Abrams will also continue to serve as a member of the creative team for major service line campaigns.

Abrams Prior to joining Crouse, Abrams served as director of public relations at the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Everson Museum of Art. A graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse, Abrams holds a bachelor’s degree in English/communications from Le Moyne College and graduates in May from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University with a master’s in communications management.

She’s won a number of local and national writing awards and was recently named to the editorial advisory committee of American Hospital Association’s communications arm, the Society for Healthcare Marketing and Development.

A resident of Camillus, Abrams also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Newhouse.

LungGPS technology now at Oneida Healthcare Oneida Healthcare now offers a minimally invasive procedure that may help with earlier diagnosis in patients with lung lesions, so those with cancer can get treated as soon as possible and patients with benign conditions can

potentially avoid surgery.

Physician Pedro Del Pino and the Oneida Healthcare surgical team recently launched the hospital’s navigational bronchoscopy program as part of the hospital’s comprehensive lung health program.

Oneida Healthcare is the only hospital in the Mohawk Valley region using this state-of-the-art technology to navigate inside a patient’s lungs.

All four initial cases were completed within one hour, including pathology analysis, and the surgical team won high praise.

These electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy™ procedures, also known as ENB procedures, which are performed with a device known as the superDimension navigation system with LungGPS technology, allow physicians to navigate and access difficult-to-reach areas of the lung from the inside.

Lung cancer accounts for about 27 percent of all cancer deaths and is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

Curtiss joins pathology department at Upstate

Physician Christopher Curtiss has joined the pathology department at Upstate Medical University as assistant professor, providing services in pulmonary pathology and general surgical pathology.

Curtiss received his medical degree from Upstate Medical University after earning undergraduate degrees from SUNY Geneseo and Finger Lakes Community College.

He completed an anatomic and clinical pathology residency at Upstate, and was named chief resident for the 20122013 academic year.

He completed a Curtiss surgical pathology fellowship at Upstate, gaining expertise in pulmonary pathology, and received additional training with international experts in lung cancer pathology at Me-

Crouse Hospital Recognized for Quality, Cost-Effective Bariatric Surgery

E

xcellus BlueCross BlueShield has recognized Crouse Hospital as one of the first healthcare facilities in the nation to receive its Blue Distinction Center+ designation in the area of bariatric (weight loss) surgery by the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities shown to deliver quality specialty care based on objective measures, which were developed with input from the medical community, for patient safety and better health outcomes.

To receive the Blue Distinction Center+ for Bariatric Surgery designation, a healthcare facility must demonstrate success in meeting patient safety as well as bariatric-specific quality measures, including complications and readmissions, for gastric stapling procedures. A healthcare facility must also have earned national accreditations at both the facility level and the bariatric care-specific level, as well as demonstrate better cost efficiency relative to its peers.

Program performance is based on the expertise of the medical team, number of times the facility has performed the procedure and the facility’s track record for procedure results. There are just eight Blue Distinction Centers+ for Bariatric Surgery in New York State.

morial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

He is board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology.

Curtis resides in Baldwinsville.

St. Joe’s gets accreditation for bariatric surgery

The bariatric program led by physician William Graber at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center has achieved the status of a “Comprehensive Center Accreditation for Bariatric Surgery” on behalf of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Metabolic and Bariat-

“We are pleased to be recognized

by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield for meeting the rigorous selection criteria for bariatric surgery set by the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program,” said physician Seth Kronenberg, Crouse chief medical officer.

“We are especially proud of our holistic, patient-centered approach, which not only includes pre-operative support and education, but long-lasting support after the procedure, which ensures successful outcomes over time and makes the Crouse program unique,” adds Kronenberg.

Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S., which provides a significant opportunity to improve quality and efficiency within the healthcare system. There were 179,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2013, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the average cost is more than $28,000 per episode, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Furthermore, it is estimated that 72 million Americans are obese and 24 million suffer from morbid obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimated annual healthcare costs of obesity-related illnesses are $190.2 billion, or nearly 21 percent of annual medical spending in the U.S., according to the Journal of Health Economics. ric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), in partnership with the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

MBSAQIP works to advance safe, high-quality care for bariatric surgical patients through the accreditation of bariatric surgical centers. A bariatric surgical center achieves accreditation following a rigorous review process during which it proves that it can maintain certain physical resources, human resources, and standards of practice. All accredited centers report their outcomes to the MBSAQIP database.

Corrine lost 80 lbs. and found her sense of adventure.

Corrine couldn’t find the courage to step out of her comfort zone. Since having weight-loss surgery, she’s stepping into her harness and finding comfort high above the trees. And at Crouse, she’s discovered a support group, along with trusted surgeons and nutritional experts who encourage her quest for a happier, healthier life. Come to our next weight-loss surgery seminar and discover what you can find.

crouse.org/weightloss

Page 22

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015

Is Weight Loss Surgery Right for You? Upcoming Free Seminars: April 6 • April 16 To register: crouse.org/weightloss 315/472-2464

“This accreditation formally acknowledges the hospital’s commitment to providing and supporting quality improvement and patient safety efforts for metabolic and bariatric surgery patients,” said Graber, Weight Loss Surgeon and director of bariatrics at St. Joseph’s.

“As an accredited program, we have demonstrated that our center meets the needs of our patients by providing multidisciplinary, high-quality, patient-centered care.”

Auburn Community named one of safest hospitals Auburn Community Hospital has been recognized as one of the 2014-2015 100 SafeCare Hospitals for achieving the best overall performance among 3,500 acute care, nonfederal hospitals.

This distinction uniquely identifies the country’s best healthcare institutions based on robust, evidence-based criteria of the Affordable Care Act. “We have a long-standing commitment to the highest quality care, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in patient compliments, awards and recognitions,” said Scott Berlucchi, president and CEO of the hospital. “We are proud to have earned this recognition, and especially to be ranked so high on this list — Auburn Community Hospital was named the 23rd safest hospital (under 100 beds) in the nation.”

The SafeCare Group analyzed hospitals for the overall lowest risk-standardized 30-day mortality rates, lowest 30-day readmissions, lowest complications rates in medical and surgical care and other factors.

“Our greatest resource at Auburn Community Hospital is by far our employees, including doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers,” Berlucchi added.

“They work to deliver patient-centered quality care with compassion and respect, and are focused on continuous improvement.”

Crouse appoints two new directors Mary Jane Allen Boss has been appointed Crouse Hospital’s director

of medical/surgical nursing. In other organizations, she previously served as a patient service line director for ambulatory surgery; director of inpatient surgical services; and coordinator of quality improvement and utilization review. She comes to Crouse from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, where she held the position of director of care management for the past three years.

Paula Dendis has been appointed director of information technology. She comes to Crouse Hospital from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, where she held the position of director of strategic program management within its IT department.

Dendis holds a master’s degree in telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder and bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University.

In her new role, she is responsible for the leadership, management, strategic direction and coordination of infrastructure, operations and development of information systems and technology solutions at Crouse and the hospital’s affiliate, Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton.

Michael Connor now coordinator at St. Camillus Michael Connor of Syracuse has joined The Centers at St. Camillus and will serve the professional, nonprofit health care organization as its new relationship development coordinator.

Connor will work to maintain and increase relationships with donors and event underwriters, enhance relationships with family members of residents and patients, and encourage overall support by developing loyalty and helping to publicize and promote the needs of the facility throughout the community.

Connor is well-known in Central New York for his professional experience in health care as well as the performing arts.

He served as director of public relations for Loretto from 2005 to 2012, and currently enjoys a more than 30year association with Syracuse Opera both on stage as a principal artist and administratively, most recently as director of advancement.

“I’m tremendously excited to be working in the health care field again, especially for The Centers at St. Camillus“, Connor stated. “I live nearby and have always thought of The Centers at St. Camillus as my neighbors; now it’s my privilege to work with them.”

Dr. David Murray to Be Honored by Eldercare Foundation For his dedication and commitment to Central New York and to the people he has inspired throughout a 40 year medical career, the Eldercare Foundation will honor physician David Murray as a “champion” at their annual fund raising event, “The Gift of Age Cabaret,” on Saturday, May 2, at the Sheraton Syracuse University.

The Eldercare Foundation is a division of VNA Homecare, a full-service home health care agency based in Syracuse.

“Dr. Murray is a class act that has contributed so much to both medicine and the community,” said Kate Rolf, president and chief executive officer of VNA Homecare. “He is a humble man whose good deeds are done without a want or need for recognition or praise.

Dr. Murray did, and continues to do his work with a true spirit of giving and for the betterment of the people he cares for.”

Murray Murray brought distinction to SUNY Upstate by building one of the premiere orthopedic surgery departments in the world and by his international recognition as a gifted surgeon, physician-scientist and service to his profession, according to a news release. While at SUNY Upstate, Murray graduated more than 120 orthopedic surgeons from the department of orthopedic surgery’s residency program.

The Eldercare Foundation also benefited from the physician’s vision and eagerness to succeed.

He chaired the first event known as “The Gift of Age Cabaret” in 2008 and again the most recent event of the “Cabaret” in 2014 helping to raise thousands of dollars for the seniors.

“I believed in the mission of the foundation and what it does for the elderly population,” Dr. Murray said. “When you are asked to take the lead on something so meaning-

ful to so many, you must succeed.

People are counting on you.”

Murray was elected the 50th president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in 1982, and the 77th president of the American College of Surgeons in 1998.

In between, he served as president of the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation, the Knee Society, the Onondaga County Medical Society, Patients Choice Inc., and the Martin Memorial Foundation. All of these organizations were the benefactor of many hands-on contributions

by Murray as he served on numerous committees, councils and advisory boards before being elected as their presidents.

Murray attended Cornell University and received a medical degree from the School of Medicine of Washington University in St. Louis in 1955. He completed a surgical internship at Vancouver General Hospital in 1956. After service in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, Murray resumed general surgery training at SUNY Upstate from 1958 to 1959. He then completed residency training in orthopedic surgery at the State University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1962.

Murray joined the SUNY Upstate faculty in 1962 and was promoted to professor in 1969. He was named chairman of the department in 1966, a position he held for 30 years.

Murray has three sons and six grandchildren. He resides in Syracuse with his wife Judith Sayles, who is a practicing attorney.

The Gift of Age Cabaret will be held at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at Sheraton Syracuse University. Tickets are $150 per person and can be purchased by calling 315-477-9301 or emailing amariani@477home.org.

WELCOMING NEW PATIENTS!

Internist Associates OF CENTRAL NEW YORK

Affiliated with Crouse Medical Practice, PLLC

CNY Medical Center 739 Irving Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

A

s the area’s largest internal medicine practice, we welcome you and your family to our practice of more than 20 highly qualified, board-certified primary care/internal medicine providers — all affiliated with the Crouse Medical Practice care network and conveniently located across from Crouse Hospital.

Monazza Ahmed, MD

Soubhi Azar, MD

Lisa Dorsey, MD

Matthew Marvel, MD

Family Medicine

Internal Medicine

We are pleased to welcome these new physicians to our family, each of whom is currently accepting new patients!

Family Medicine

Internal Medicine

CA L L 315/479-5070 TO S C H E D U L E YO U R A P P O I N T M E N T TO DAY! April 2015 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 23

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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • April 2015