Health Care Awards - 2012 by KPC Media Group

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Health Care Awards • September 2012 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

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A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GREATER FORT WAYNE

Business Weekly 3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 (260) 426-2640 Fax: (260) 426-2503 www.fwbusiness.com

ABOUT THE AWARDS The Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly's Health Care Awards recognize organizations, professionals and volunteers working to improve individuals' health and well-being in northeast Indiana. This is the fifth year for the awards. Nominations were received in five categories: advancements in health care; community achievement in health care; medical professional; physician and volunteer. Sponsors of the awards and Business Weekly staff chose two winners in each of the categories. Those receiving awards were honored at an event Sept. 14 that featured Dave McFadden, executive vice president of Manchester University and dean of the College of Pharmacy in Fort Wayne.

Terry Housholder terryh@kpcnews.net Publisher

Lynn Sroufe

TABLE OF CONTENTS ADVANCEMENTS IN HEALTH CARE

lsroufe@kpcnews.net General Manager

Barry Rochford barryr@fwbusiness.com

Indiana Vision Development Center PC.............................................................................page 5 Morrison Kattman Menze Inc. ...............................................................................................page 6

Editor

Mary Schmitz ftwayne@kpcnews.net Graphic Designer

Lynette Donley

COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENT IN HEALTH CARE Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana/Parkview Health..............................page 7

lynetted@kpcnews.net Sales Manager

Wolf Lake Free Health Clinic ................................................................................................page 8

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Brenda McLay Kelly Bransteter

George O. Witwer

MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL Angela Buckland ......................................................................................................................page 9

Publisher Emeritus

Connie Kerrigan.....................................................................................................................page 10 Terry Housholder President, CEO

Don Cooper Vice President of Sales/

PHYSICIAN

General Manager

Donna Scanlon

Dr. Michele Helfgott..............................................................................................................page 11

Chief Financial Officer

Dr. Philip McKean..................................................................................................................page 14 Bret Jacomet Interactive Director

VOLUNTEER Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly is a publication of KPC Media Group Inc.

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Kay Anderson .........................................................................................................................page 15 Cheryl Erickson......................................................................................................................page 16 Health Care Awards • September 2012 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

BARRY ROCHFORD

Carl Myers, the founder of Indiana Vision Development Center PC in Fort Wayne, works with children and adults to correct their vision problems.

Envisioning brighter futures BY BARRY ROCHFORD barryr@fwbusiness.com

Reading may be fundamental, but vision is the essential foundation upon which most human activity is based — whether it’s picking up a glass of water, giving directions to someone who’s lost or completing a chapter in that detective novel you can’t quite seem to put down. When people have problems with their vision, it can create a whole host of obstacles, particularly for children as they learn about and experience the world around them. It can affect their reading, which, in turn, can affect their performance in school and limit success later in life. For some children as they read, the words may start to move and dance on the page. They may have to reread sections

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Winner Advancements in Health Care Indiana Vision Development Center PC over and over again, pausing at points to rub their hurting eyes. Or they may simply become frustrated, give up and decide reading isn’t for them. Carl Myers, a developmental optometrist and the founder of the Indiana Vision Development Center PC in Fort Wayne, knows exactly what that’s like. As a child, he experienced those problems. He grew frustrated.

And he thought it was completely normal. “I didn’t know to tell anybody,” he said. “I thought this is what everybody went through.” But, in fact, most people don’t, although the number of people with vision problems may be higher than you think. The American Optometric Association estimated that one in four children in the average U.S. classroom has some sort of vision problem that affects school performance. Vision is different than eyesight, Myers explained, which is tested by reading at a distance. Vision includes how a person moves his or her eyes, how the eyes are aligned, their ability to focus and how well n

See VISION on PAGE 17

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Designed to provide that healing touch BY LINDA LIPP lindal@fwbusiness.com

The institutional delivery of healthcare services has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and the design of hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities has been an integral part of that transformation. The reasons are both practical and philosophical. “Hospitals want to be seen as a wellness place, not a sickness place,” said architect Ron Menze, partner in Morrison Kattman Menze Inc. MKM has been named one of the top 100 health-care design firms by Modern Healthcare magazine for six years in a row. Menze is one of just 14 architects in Indiana accredited by the American College of Healthcare Architects. With more than 30 years specializing in the design of health-care facilities, he is recognized as an expert on a variety of health-care and design topics. Among the alphabet soup of professional credentials that follow Menze’s name is EDAC, which stands for evidence-based design accreditation and certification. The acronym comes from the California-based Center for Health Design, a nonprofit devoted to advancing the use of evidence-based design practices in health-care architecture. For example, Menze noted, “It’s been proven if people can look out the window, their blood pressure goes down.” It may seem like a minor thing, but designing or renovating a facility to give people that opportunity can have a positive effect on their health and well-being. Enhancing privacy and preserving a patient’s dignity also contribute to his or her care and recovery. “It’s really respecting the care receiver,” Menze said. “It’s about providing the greatet level of dignity and privacy and self-worth. Even with the shorter stays (in hospitals), people are demanding control of their Page 6

LINDA LIPP

Architects Ron Menze, right, and Zach Benedict are involved in health-care design efforts that not only aim to improve outcomes at health facilities, but could help revive local business communities.

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Winner Advancements in Health Care Morrison Kattman Menze Inc.

environment … Our collaborative partners focus on the healing aspect, and there’s that element of design that helps the healing along,” he added. MKM designed the new Cameron

Memorial Community Hospital being built in Angola, and also the new Wabash Community Hospital that will be built on the outskirts of Wabash. But 70 to 80 percent of its work involves renovations, modifications and updates to existing facilities. “It’s taking the structure and fabric that’s there and modifying it to improve it,” Menze said. The design and redesign processes require close communication between architect and client. “We work collaboran

See MKM on PAGE 17

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LINDA LIPP

Dr. Greg Johnson, associate chief medical officer at Parkview, worked with Connie Benton Wolfe, senior vice president, advancement, at Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana, to develop and refine the Care Transitions pilot program.

Home is where the health is BY LINDA LIPP lindal@fwbusiness.com

One of the biggest risks for older adults with acute and/or chronic health conditions is that they will be unable to regain and maintain their health and independence after returning home from a hospital stay. Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana partnered with Parkview Health on a pilot program designed to identify the Medicareeligible patients at greatest risk and provide a seamless transition from hospital to home that will reduce their likelihood of being readmitted to the hospital. Care Transitions, the program they developed, evaluates the risks each

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Winner Community Achievement in Health Care Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana/Parkview Health patient faces according to his or her medical condition and established evidence-based risk-assessment models. It also provides a coach to support the patient at the hospital and for the critical 30-day period after the patient is released. “It’s all focused on the patient,” said Dr. Greg Johnson, associate chief

medical officer at Parkview. “The work starts in the hospital and continues at home.” Early data show the program is working. Readmissions among the atrisk population who receive the services — people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, renal disease, heart failure, pneumonia and other conditions — have been reduced by about 5 percent to 7 percent. “All of our patients have case managers, and some of those have almost dreamt of this,” Johnson said. Aging & In-Home Services supplies the coaches, who work hand in hand with the patient, family members and caregivers, hospital discharge planners and n

See HOME on PAGE 18

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BARRY ROCHFORD

From left, Kay Luce, Gary Terrell and Margo Phillips are among the volunteers who provide free medical care to those in need through the Wolf Lake Free Health Clinic.

There will always be a need BY BARRY ROCHFORD barryr@fwbusiness.com

It can be tough sometimes to determine who benefits the most from the medical care provided by the Wolf Lake Free Health Clinic: the patients who come to the clinic, which operates out of the Wolf Lake United Methodist Church the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, or the clinic’s volunteers. “It’s very difficult to see people who need medical assistance and cannot afford it,” said Kay Luce, a church member who helped found the clinic. “That’s heartbreaking.” “It’s so rewarding to see the joy on people’s faces when they know they’re finally getting some treatment,” said Gary Terrell, who volunteers as the clinic’s office manager. “They don’t have jobs, they don’t have insurance, and they Page 8

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Winner Community Achievement in Health Care Wolf Lake Free Health Clinic

typically just let their health go.” And despite seeing about 1,500 patients since the clinic was founded in 2007, the need for its services remains as people, unable to afford insurance or medical care, struggle to stay healthy. “I think there’s always, always going to be a need,” said Margo Phillips a retired registered nurse who serves as the clinic’s executive director. When Luce along with former Wolf

Lake United Methodist Church pastor Wray McCalester, former clinic executive director Pat Rauh and Fort Wayne pulmonologist Dr. Tom Hayhurst, first discussed starting the clinic, they identified a particular need for medical services in the area. Many residents were either unemployed or underemployed, or if they did have a full-time job, it didn’t provide them with health insurance. “I think the importance (of the clinic) is the poverty in this area,” Luce said on a recent Thursday at the church. “You can see they’re gathering across the street for the food pantry, and it’s a huge number that comes every week over there to get food to provide for their families.” The clinic originally opened in Wolf Lake’s Luckey Hospital Museum. For the first year, it remained there until a roadn

See WOLF LAKE on PAGE 18

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BARRY ROCHFORD

Angela Buckland began working at Woodview Healthcare in 1985 and has served as administrator for both the Woodview campus’ health-care and assisted-living facilities.

Creating a continuum of care BY BARRY ROCHFORD barryr@fwbusiness.com

At the Woodview campus in Fort Wayne, the commitment to care isn’t just about providing the highest level of service, it’s also about providing a continuum of services that helps keep residents in their homes instead of being hospitalized. “We’ve had several families who have actually used every service across the campus,” said Woodview Healthcare’s administrator, Angela Buckland. “And several of them have expressed that they were so thankful that they didn’t have to go out and shop for other services, and that they had the same staff and the same philosophy of care across the campus.” That philosophy of care exists, in many respects, because it’s Buckland’s philosophy. And in the various roles she’s had at Woodview, she’s sought to expand the services available to residents.

AWA R D S Winner Medical Professional Angela Buckland

Woodview was established in 1981 when John August and Charlotte Miller bought a nursing home along East State Boulevard that was on the verge of bankruptcy. They quickly went to work improving the facility, and since then the Woodview campus has expanded across East State Boulevard. In addition to offering short- and long-term nursing care, the Woodview campus has added independent assisted living, a memory-care unit for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, rehabilitation services, wellness therapy and home-

care services. It has a total of 128 healthcare beds and 106 assisted-living beds. Buckland went to work at Woodview in 1985 as a certified nursing assistant. Her mother was a nurse, and Buckland’s first job had been as a CNA at the facility where her mother worked. She wasn’t really considering a career in nursing, but Miller provided some gentle prodding. “Mrs. Miller actually saw a lot of potential in me, and she kind of groomed me along the way. She encouraged me to go to nursing school,” Buckland said. As she juggled being married, starting a family and going to school, Buckland found herself gravitating toward geriatric nursing. “I like geriatric nursing. As I went through my clinicals, I knew I wasn’t a hospital nurse. I didn’t like pediatrics. And I knew I would come back to geriatrics as I was going through it,” she said. n

See BUCKLAND on PAGE 19

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Compassionate care is her life’s calling BY RICK FARRANT rfarrant@fwbusiness.com

Connie Kerrigan’s two favorite grandparents died within six months of each other when she was 5. When she was 7, her parents divorced. The pain of those early years growing up in small-town Dunkirk is still etched in her face when she talks about it. “That’s a lot of turmoil,” she said. “We went from being a normal, middle-class, two-parent family in the ’70s to a singleparent household. “Honestly, when my parents divorced, they were the first in town to get divorced. So, there were a lot of feelings that you were somehow less than normal. We were like this totally typical, normal family that just went kaput.” Kerrigan, manager of community nursing and women’s health services for Parkview Health, speculates that her compassion for people in her professional role stems in part from that difficult childhood. But she alternately believes that she may have, in fact, been born to care deeply about others. “I think that was my makeup from the beginning,” she said. “But I also think those early experiences helped shape me in being very accepting of people and meeting people where they’re at.” Meeting people where they’re at is a common theme for the affable Kerrigan, and it has led her to preside over a number of Parkview initiatives designed to improve the health of northeast Indiana citizens. n

See KERRIGAN on PAGE 19

AWA R D S Winner Medical Professional Connie Kerrigan

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RICK FARRANT

Connie Kerrigan, manager of community nursing and women’s health services for Parkview Health, has helped spearhead a number of wellness initiatives. Health Care Awards • September 2012 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

Doctor integrates her practice with her desire to help patients BY BARRY ROCHFORD barryr@fwbusiness.com

As a doctor practicing obstetrics and gynecology, Michele Helfgott loved the bond she formed with her patients. They were more than just the collective sum of their medical charts and histories. They were mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts and nieces. They were family. “I’ve always been the type of physician that wants to take care of the entire person,” Helfgott said. “To me, women are more than just a Pap smear. “That’s why I was always behind because if they had a cold, I wouldn’t say, ‘Go see your family doc.’ They just became my family, my patients. They really did.” But as years passed, she realized the limits of what she could achieve in her OB/GYN practice. She needed more time — more time with her patients, more time to find the true causes of the health issues they were dealing with. “OB/GYN is very fast-paced, and it didn’t allow me to go into depth with these patients, and that’s what they need,” Helfgott said. “I always believed there’s a reason that people don’t feel good, and rather than just give them a Band-Aid or medicine or say, ‘Go see a psychiatrist because you’re crazy,’ I would just try and find out what it was.” That desire to help her patients, no matter their symptoms, no matter whether those symptoms were strictly related to OB/GYN, caused a shift in Helfgott’s professional calling. Three years ago, she began practicing integrative medicine along with OB/GYN. In June, she turned all of her attention to her integrative-medicine practice. “Integrative medicine is just that: It integrates all facets of medicine and it truly finds the root cause for it,” Helfgott said. When she sees a patient, Helfgott

BARRY ROCHFORD

Dr. Michele Helfgott joined Parkview Health’s integrative-medicine clinic in June after practicing for several years in OB/GYN.

AWA R D S Winner Physician Dr. Michele Helfgott

weighs a whole host of factors that could be contributing to the patient’s poor health or illness: the person’s biochemistry, genetics, diet, exercise, environmental effects, stress and the amount of sleep the person gets, among others.

Diet and nutrition play a huge role in a person’s overall health, she said. They are the cornerstone in preventing or staving off illness and disease. “We believe that disease starts in the intestine, and if your intestine isn’t healthy, then nothing else is going to work or be healthy,” Helfgott said. Perhaps the most important part of Helfgott’s job is the simplest: She listens — to how the patient feels and what’s happening in his or her life. When she sees a patient, the visit typically lasts an hour, which is a luxury given the move-them-in, move-them-out n

See HELFGOTT on PAGE 20

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Awe inspired. We know you didn’t get here overnight. It takes hard work and dedication. Barnes & Thornburg salutes Parkview Health Systems and the other deserving recipients of the Health Care Awards. Their success is an inspiration to all of us.

btlaw.com

ATLANTA CHICAGO DELAWARE INDIANA LOS ANGELES MICHIGAN MINNEAPOLIS OHIO WASHINGTON, D.C. IN FORT WAYNE I 260-423-9440

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Dentist makes brighter smiles inside and outside the office BY DOUG LEDUC dougl@fwbusiness.com

Philip McKean is an upbeat, unassuming professional who has made it his mission to offer what might be considered basic life coaching inside and outside his dental office to patients and anyone else who seems to need a sounding board. A number of people have told him his blend of common sense and encouragement has taken them in a wonderful new direction, which changed everything for them. “I may not have all the answers but I try to encourage people to have strength and keep looking for answers no matter what it is in life,” he said. “And it’s amazing, when people really stop and go looking, they find life’s saving answers. “They’ll always come back and thank me, but I really didn’t do anything. They found their answer.” McKean recommends responsible curiosity and openness to new ideas and different ways of doing things, and said he has taken that approach to things for most of his 66 years. As an undergraduate at Indiana University, he double majored in zoology and chemistry. He graduated from the IU School of Dentistry in Indianapolis in 1972, then worked a year at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. After working for the state, he worked at dental practices in Ossian, n

See MCKEAN on PAGE 20

AWA R D S Winner Physician Dr. Philip McKean

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DOUG LEDUC

Not only does Dr. Philip McKean provide dental services to his patients, he also provides encouragement and emotional support for those who seek it. Health Care Awards • September 2012 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

VALERIE GOUGH

Kay Anderson, director of placement at PAWS Placement Services, right, and dog handler Jean Smith visit the Sycamore Village senior living facility in southwest Allen County. Smith owns Yukon and Yahtzee, both Bernese mountain dogs that are registered to provide assisted animal therapy.

Dog therapy program has a PAWS-itive impact BY VALERIE GOUGH vgough@kpcnews.net

A crowd recently gathered in the memory care wing at Sycamore Village in southwest Allen County. It’s not uncommon for a group of residents to gather there. But on this particular day, their attention was not directed toward a book, a game, or the TV. Instead, residents cooed over two Bernese mountain dogs, brought to the senior-care facility for a visit by their owner, Jean Smith. Therapy dogs Yahtzee and Yukon

AWA R D S Winner Volunteer Kay Anderson

have been working with Pets Assisting Well-Being & Success (PAWS) Placement Services for about six months. The service is a Fort Wayne

nonprofit focused on placing dog handler teams with patients or students who could benefit from dog-assisted therapy intervention. Smith spends two Wednesdays each month at the facility. “These people remember their dogs. (They) may not remember anything else, but they do remember having dogs and loving their dogs,” Smith said as she watched some of the residents stroke Yukon’s fluffy coat. “I love my dogs and I’m going to be here someday, so I n

See ANDERSON on PAGE 21

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A dedication to serving others BY VALERIE GOUGH vgough@kpcnews.net

There is a lot more to being a volunteer coordinator than one might think. For the past year, Cheryl Erickson has organized the volunteer efforts of 30 University of Saint Francis family nurse practitioner (FNP) faculty and students at Charis House, a ministry of the Rescue Mission for homeless women and their children. “A lot of it is scheduling,” Erickson said. “And then it’s the maintenance of clinic supplies, restocking, making sure we don’t have expired medications. We’ve got to follow protocol and make sure we have certifications for all the testing that we’re doing.” Erickson, a board-certified FNP, has been teaching nursing students for more than 30 years. Even though she is a full-time associate professor of nursing at USF and practices one day a week in the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health’s infectious disease department, it was an easy decision to take on the role of volunteer coordinator for the Charis House clinic. But there was a lot of groundwork to lay out before she could even begin. After Charis House opened a new, 78-bed facility in 2010, organizers stressed the additional need for on-site, basic health-care services. During a one-month period after the opening, residents made 26 visits to the emergency room. “A common mentality of the poor is to go to the emergency room for almost everything,” said Toni Lovell, Rescue Mission program director. “Even if their child has a mild fever, they panic and take their child to the ER, acquiring all this debt. But they don’t have any other avenue — they don’t have insurance, they don’t have a regular provider — so a lot of it is just stopping that mentality and stopping the use of ER visits.” On-site health care was a longtime dream of former Charis House director Patty Crisp, who was inspired when a graduate of their intensive residential program announced her plans to obtain Page 16

VALERIE GOUGH

Cheryl Erickson, a board-certified nurse practitioner and University of Saint Francis associate professor of nursing, serves as volunteer coordinator for USF nursing faculty, students and alumni who regularly visit Charis House, a homeless shelter for women and their children in Fort Wayne.

AWA R D S Winner Volunteer Cheryl Erickson

a nursing degree and one day volunteer at a clinic in Charis House. So when the time came to build a new facility, Design Collaborative drew up plans to include a clinic space in the first-floor administrative offices. But staff had to find a way to obtain the necessary equipment, basic medical supplies and an arsenal of volunteers. The clinic stood empty at first — until Rescue Mission Volunteer Coordinator Lynn Isenbarger came on board. She was instrumental in teaming up Charis House with the University of Saint Francis’ FNP program to provide

volunteer staffing at the clinic. Various donations from area physicians provided them with equipment and basic medications, and Erickson took the helm as volunteer coordinator. That collaborative effort was why the Charis House clinic opened as quickly as it did on Aug. 1, 2011. “A lot of these women don’t have cars to get to a primary care doctor. Most of the residents coming in are just trying to get their life in order, let alone deal with health care issues,” Erickson said. “I had heard a lot about Charis House and the good things they were doing in the community and I thought it was something I could help out with.” The clinic saw 130 residents during 440 visits in the first year, and in August began serving residents from Rescue Mission’s Restoration House ministry for homeless men. Each week, about 30 registered n

See ERICKSON on PAGE 21

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VISION: Problems can be confused with ADD, ADHD symptoms

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they can track words and objects. A child may receive corrective lenses to improve his or her eyesight, but those lenses don’t solve an underlying vision problem. When a child is suffering from a vision problem, it often can present itself in a manner that’s similar to attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Myers routinely runs parents through a checklist of their child’s behaviors such as losing place while reading or copying, having a short attention span, daydreaming or becoming aggressive. Such behaviors are typical of an ADD or ADHD diagnosis — but they can also describe a child who has a vision problem. And if not treated properly, it has lifelong implications. “These fundamental vision problems are going to affect the rest of their life for them — it’s going to affect every aspect,” Myers said. Vision problems can be inherited, but in many cases the vision of the child hasn’t been developed adequately. Six muscles control each eye, and they are responsible for getting the two to work together.

“It’s matter of being able to control all of the muscles in concert,” Myers said. For many years, doctors have advocated corrective surgery, which attempts to adjust the muscles to get the eyes back in proper alignment. But such surgeries often require follow-up procedures, Myers said, because the brain is still sending signals causing the muscles to misfire. But beyond that, he said, you wouldn’t cut off the tip of the tongue of someone who had a speech impediment, so why should a person undergo eye surgery? “They do not need surgery, and, in fact, we should always do the noninvasive therapy,” Myers said. Myers works with children and adults to help them retrain their eyes. Initially, he administers a number of tests that gauge an individual’s vision; for example, by having a patient don a sort of high-tech mask and read a series of words on a computer monitor, Myers can see how much time the patient spent on each word and whether the patient had to reread words. To help patients essentially relearn how to see, Myers employs a multitude of different techniques. They include placing a small bean bag on patients’

heads while asking them to follow an object with their eyes. Or walking along a balance beam while attempting to strike balls suspended from his office’s ceiling. Or placing golf tees on top of a spinning wheel, and then placing pingpong balls on top of the tees. Myers usually sees his patients once a week, and patients are given activities to practice at home throughout the week. A treatment program can last six months to a year, with most patients noticing improvements soon after they begin treatment. Once the child or adult retrains his or her eyes and brain, the changes are permanent — like riding a bike, he said. “Once you learn to ride that bike, you don’t forget to ride that bike,” Myers said. For Myers, who is one of only seven fellows in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development in the state of Indiana, the payoff for his work is knowing that he’s giving his patients a second chance at reading and learning. Their stories — the words now in focus — have a happy ending. Myers said: “Just seeing the changes and the positive impact that I know that I’m having is, I guess, what makes me come into work every day.”

MKM: Planning for aging populations could help communities

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tively with our clients,” he said. “We don’t lead our clients, we collaborate with them.” Basic to that is an understanding of how the facility will be used. A rural community hospital such as Cameron, for example, provides about 80 percent of its services on an outpatient basis. “You have to be ready for the critical, but it’s not the norm,” Menze said. Therefore, it made more sense to put the largest waiting room areas near the labs and other diagnostic services that will get the most use. “It is process- and people-led as opposed to just technology-led,” Menze said. Architect Zach Benedict, who, like Menze, graduated from Ball State University, has taken the health-care design thought process a few steps further. His exploration of urban soci-

ology — the study of people in the built environment — is expanding the discussion of how health care and related services for the aging are delivered in the community. Benedict has lectured across the country on the subject of aging in place and how small towns could be revitalized to provide support services for the growing elderly population. He received the Communities for a Lifetime Award of Excellence from Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana for his work. The need to develop these support systems is critical, Benedict noted. Between 2005 and 2040, the population of the U.S. in general is expected to grow 15 percent, but the senior population will increase by 90 percent. “We’re doing a lot of planning work and research to help rural communities prepare,” Benedict said. “What health

care is trying to do is respond to civic responsibilities.” In small towns, in particular, “what they’re finding is they have people who are very isolated,” Benedict said. Many of the elderly don’t drive, and the days of neighborhood grocers and restaurants within easy walking distance are long gone from most communities. There is an alternative to directing the elderly into all-encompassing assistedliving facilities, however, that could help maintain and even rebuild small towns. Rather than trying to offer all services and amenities within the facility — a small theater, a coffee shop, a hair salon, for example — facilities could contract with businesses in town that offer those services and provide transportation as needed. “It uses the aging population to stimulate local business,” Benedict said. “I think for a lot of (communities) it’s the only thing that will save them.”

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HOME: Program can be expanded to community hospitals

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medical staff. One is stationed at each of Parkview’s two hospitals in Fort Wayne, and the goal is to expand to all the other hospitals in the Parkview system. One of the things the coaches do is start a personal health journal for each patient to help in understanding the medication routine that has been prescribed and any red-flag changes in condition that should alert the patient to a possible problem. The coach also provides information on, and assistance with, decisions on nonmedical support services, making arrangements and even helping access funding if needed. Coaches make sure patients are sent home with supplies of their prescribed medications, and help prepare the patient for post-hospital doctor visits,

local funds, the partners had more flexibility in its design, Johnson said. Beyond that, the partners found they worked well together as they created and developed their pilot program. “I think that one of the things that’s hard to capture is we’ve had such an easy partnership,” Wolfe said. “It has been incredibly easy because of aligned goals and expectations,” Johnson agreed. The Parkview Physicians Group also has played a significant role, Johnson added, by taking the lead in making sure each patient is set up with a primarycare doctor. “We’ve really created that continuum that I think is really important for the patient,” Wolfe said. “We feel very fortunate that Parkview was open to the partnership.”

WOLF LAKE: Clinic is open to everyone — not just local residents

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widening project for State Road 109 reduced the number of parking spaces available to the clinic. The clinic found a “temporary” home at the Methodist church. It’s still there today. Medical equipment is packed inside the office of the church’s new pastor, Matt Bock. Supply cabinets take up space in the church’s community room, while even more equipment is kept downstairs in the church’s basement. Clinic organizers had considered purchasing a house next door to the church, but the property was sold. Now the goal, Phillips said, is to acquire a trailer that could sit behind the church that would be used for equipment storage. On the second and fourth Thursday of each month, the equipment is rolled out and the doors of the church are opened for patients. Volunteer nurses assess patients in the church’s sanctuary, with a stained-glass image of Jesus silently watching over them. The clinic’s volunteer doctors then see each patient in Bock’s office. The clinic will see patients from anywhere; it doesn’t restrict its services to those living in Noble County. If more Page 18

making appointments and providing follow-up. “That’s where the coaching really comes in,” said Connie Benton Wolfe, senior vice president, advancement, at Aging & In-Home Services. The nonprofit agency came up with sufficient local funding to support the pilot project. It will look for federal funding to expand the program, and the success of the pilot will help in obtaining that funding. “Not only do you have to have the expertise, you need to have the track record,” Johnson said. “We’ve learned a lot and we’ve been able to tweak it,” Wolfe said. “Our plan is to pretty much take the model we’ve designed and drop it into those community hospitals.” Because the program was started with

“We really try to let those doctors know how much we appreciate them, their kindness and their charity. We don’t want them to think that we take them for granted for one bit, because we don’t.” Margo Phillips Wolf Lake Free Health Clinic

testing or additional treatment is needed, patients are referred to places where they can receive that care. Phillips said the clinic recognizes the value of what it asks of doctors who volunteer their time and the health-care organizations that provide services to those in need. “We really try to let those doctors know how much we appreciate them, their kindness and their charity,” she said. “We don’t want them to think that we take them for granted for one bit, because we don’t.” That’s because what they do can mean the difference between life and death — literally. For example, one woman had come into the clinic asking for an inhaler because the one she’d borrowed from a

neighbor was used up. The doctor who examined her said her lungs sounded OK, but he sent her to a hospital to have her blood tested. The test results showed the woman didn’t need an inhaler, she needed blood transfusions. Another woman, who had brought her husband in for treatment, offhandedly told clinic volunteers that she thought she was diabetic, Phillips said. Tests indicated she was, and a clinic doctor prescribed oral medication for her diabetes and talked to her about changing her diet. “She’s already lost 80 pounds,” Phillips said. “And this isn’t someone who can say, ‘Alright, I’m going to go to fresh food market.’ I mean, she has worked really, really hard to do that. And what she’s going to wind up doing is working herself right off diabetic medication. She’s not going to be diabetic anymore.” It’s stories like those — and 1,500 more — that keep Phillips, Luce and Terrell coming back to the clinic. “I’m not a medical person. There’s not a lot that I can do in that area. But I can work on the sidelines,” Luce said. “I feel we’ve been instrumental in helping a good number of people in the area.”

BUCKLAND: Woodview has added memory-care unit, home care

Continued from PAGE 9

“I like their life history,” she added. “I like their experience. I think we can help them on a journey that is different than dealing with pediatric patients. “With geriatrics, we deal with them clear to their life’s end.” As a licensed practical nurse at Woodview, Buckland was given more and more responsibility by Miller, becoming in-service director of nursing and then assistant director of nursing. Eventually, she became Woodview’s director of nursing, working in that position for several years before life changes caused her to reconsider her career options. She had a new baby — and a newfound desire not to be on call 24 hours a day — so in 1997 she went to work as a surveyor for the Indiana State Department of Health, inspecting longterm care facilities. That, she said, was beneficial as she gained additional respect for the regulatory side of geriatric care.

In 2004, August asked her to return to Woodview as director of nursing, and asked her to obtain her administrator’s license. Buckland then served as administrator of Woodview’s assisted-living facility, which opened in 2008 and offers apartment-style living. Two years later, a 30-apartment memory-care unit was added to the assisted-living facility. Following August’s death in 2010, Buckland succeeded him as administrator of the health-care side of Woodview. As an administrator for Woodview’s assisted-living and healthcare facilities, she’s championed adding services so the campus’ more than 200 residents, in many cases, don’t have to be admitted to a hospital. “I think really what’s happening with health care, the trend is coming back to you’ll provide whatever care you can manage in your facilities, and (residents will) only go to the hospitals as their conditions truly warrant a hospitalization,” Buckland said. “It won’t be the practice that everybody just goes to the

hospital because that’s what you do. “My philosophy here is that we want to provide those services here. They’ll certainly go to the hospital if they need to go, but we’re certainly capable of managing a whole range of services.” Under Buckland, Woodview began providing home-care services in its assisted-living facility “so our people didn’t have to go to the hospital, they could get an IV, they could get some of those kinds of services right in their apartments,” she said. And because Woodview provides rehabilitation services, residents can then transition back into their homes — all without leaving the campus. Buckland hasn’t done it alone. She credits her staff as well as August’s sons Jason and Justin, who now own Woodview, for continuing the mission of its founders. “I think we’ve built our reputation through the years,” she said. “We provide quality services here. We provide outstanding patient care.”

KERRIGAN: Family physician encouraged her to be a nurse

Continued from PAGE 10

There is the Safe Slumber program aimed at reducing the number of infant deaths; diabetes education and prevention programs; asthma education and assistance programs; digital vision screenings; flu vaccine clinics; and the latest initiative — Parkview Live — promoting healthier lifestyles. One of the first projects of Parkview Live is designating parking spaces at the edges of lots and encouraging people to walk farther to their destinations. Stenciled on the spaces are the words: “Park here to walk farther and be healthier.” Parkview Health and the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne have created such spaces, and it is Kerrigan’s hope that many more companies and organizations will participate. Kerrigan’s work doesn’t stop with her Parkview job. She also serves on the boards of the Allen County Drug and Alcohol Consortium, the Indiana Perinatal Network and the Lutheran

Foundation, and she is the co-executive director of the Midwest Alliance for Health Education. It is a heavy load for a devoted mother of four girls ages 24, 13, 11 and 4. But there are two more things that drive Kerrigan besides an innate compassion: She loves challenges, and she is everpersistent. Those challenges include her own struggles with weight, as well as the sometimes grudging realization that, in general, “you can’t change everything.” “That was something I had to learn early on,” said Kerrigan, 48. “That it’s not all going to be perfect. And not everybody’s going to like you. But I also learned that your interaction with people serves a purpose. Whether it’s solving a problem or helping people get to the next phase of their lives. “It’s not always easy and life in general is not always easy. If it were easy,” she said, “we would just do it.” She learned such perspectives first as a licensed practical nurse and then a registered nurse.

It was a career that seemed predestined. Her mother, Joanne, worked in the business office of a hospital and would often say to Kerrigan: “You want to be a nurse, right? When you grow up you want to be a nurse?” In truth, Kerrigan wanted to be a social worker. But then at 16, fate in the form of encouragement intervened again when her family physician told her she should be a nurse. It was, she reflected, the right choice: “I just can’t imagine not doing what I do. I can’t imagine not being a nurse. To me, it’s a calling.” And one of the best parts about receiving recognition for the work she does, besides helping people, is sharing achievements with the 23 people she oversees. Even then, she is thinking of others. “I’m honored,” she said. “that my team is getting recognized. I have some of the most dedicated people you could ever imagine, and I’m just really part of the team. I just happen to be the leader of the team.”

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HELFGOTT: Integrative-medicine clinic will hold women’s day

Continued from PAGE 11

nature of modern medicine. Then she tries to find a solution, while also educating the patient on how to take control of his or her health. It isn’t always easy, and there are precious few quick fixes, but Helfgott’s goal with each patient isn’t to just treat the symptoms. She wants to make their lives better. Helfgott, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., knew in high school she was destined to be a doctor. Her brother, eight years older than she was, was a doctor, and she volunteered with other doctors. “I just knew in high school it’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to help people and take care of people,” she said. She also knew she liked the Midwest, particularly Chicago. So, after going to college in upstate New York, Helfgott attended the Chicago Medical School. She completed her residency at a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., and eventually set

patients don’t need to be referred to the clinic by another doctor. Helfgott and LaSalle are planning on holding a women’s day event near the end of October, during which a nutritionist, counselor and exercise trainer will be available to talk to women about their health. “We want it to be like a one-stop shop where patients can get everything that they need at one place,” Helfgott said. Now with her integrative-medicine practice firmly established, Helfgott is fulfilling the dream she first had in high school to care for and educate people. She wants to do everything she can to help them — because they are part of her family. “I want patients to understand that even if they don’t come to see us, (they should) understand the importance of doing everything they can do to be as healthy as they can be,” she said. “And if you don’t understand, ask. And if you’re not sure why the doctor is telling you to do whatever, ask.”

MCKEAN: He has provided volunteer dental care at Matthew 25

Continued from PAGE 14

Fort Wayne, Durango, Colo., and South Whitley, before returning to Fort Wayne and eventually working at his current practice at 6605 E. State Blvd. He said marrying late in life has kept him active, as he must keep up with a 14-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. Both of them became competitive figure skaters before they were 4 and have won gold medals in national invitational competitions. Over the course of his life, McKean has learned to enjoy many outdoor sports, including roller skating, ice skating, fishing, hunting, skiing and scuba diving He has found an outlet for an interest in service through a variety of community groups, such as Matthew 25 Health and Dental Clinic, where he has worked as a volunteer providing free dental care to area residents who can’t afford it. He said he has found joy and satisfaction providing encouragement to others since he was in college. It started Page 20

up a practice in Munster. Her specialized training includes bioidentical hormones, perimenopause, menopause, da Vinci surgery, and nutrition and hormones. While in Munster, she heard about Northeast OB/GYN in Fort Wayne, which is part of Parkview Physicians Group. She joined the practice in 1998, and since then, she’s become a wellknown advocate for women’s health. She’s served as a medical adviser for the Parkview Women’s Health Center, she’s been an Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne summer program mentor, she’s been a guest lecturer at events, she’s written about health care for magazines and she’s appeared on locally produced television shows focusing on health. With her move into integrative medicine, Helfgott has joined Parkview Health’s integrative-medicine clinic run by Dr. Angela LaSalle on the Parkview Regional Medical Center campus. The clinic sees men and women and accepts all types of insurance, Helfgott said, and

with his brother, who was looking for something to do to help people and was thinking of setting up a youth ministry. “I encouraged him to do something I wasn’t so sure about … but the standard thing we all want people to do isn’t always the best, and in his case he took a different path, a difficult path to take,” McKean said. “He ended up doing a prison ministry and setting up halfway houses from it. He was invited to Washington and honored by President Kennedy for his efforts.” Good things also came of counsel he provided a friend in college who wanted to follow his dream and start a garage band. McKean said he was tempted to tell his friend he ought to forget about it and focus on his studies. “But a lot of times you have to encourage people and listen to people, and so I bit my tongue. His little brother, John, who was conned into playing with the band, later joined it and really went places with his music. Joe Mellencamp got out of the band and became an engineer.

“Sometimes we plant seeds and we just don’t know where they’re going to go. We can’t take credit for them,” McKean said. “A lot of things just happen in life, and you have to just go with the flow and get in the water and let it take you.” A patient who encountered him by chance during a family crisis at a local hospital said McKean managed to pull her severely disabled husband through an emotional breakdown that could have been serious with a hug and some welltimed words of encouragement. “I never imagined I would be sent an angel to help us through this time of need,” she said in a letter nominating him for a Health Care Award. “Dr. Philip McKean will always be considered a ‘hero’ in my heart.” “I get to know patients quite a bit, and in this particular case just my presence — somebody else who cared — seemed to be enough to give him hope,” McKean said. “I think just by listening to people, it gives them courage and hope and they manage to move on.”

ANDERSON: 35 teams visit health-care, social-service facilities

Continued from PAGE 15

would want someone to bring me a dog I could pet.” Sycamore Village Activities Director Diane Finley said residents always look forward to therapy dog group visits. “What Jean doesn’t get to see is after she’s gone how long they talk about the dogs,” Finley said. “They might talk about it for the rest of the day.” It’s something Kay Anderson, PAWS founder and director of placement services, said happens a lot at facilities where dog-assisted therapy can be used — which is pretty much anywhere. It all started in 1998, when a dog trainer asked if Anderson and her rottweiler, Carl, would take part in a therapy dog class. After she and Carl graduated and registered with Therapy Dogs Inc., they began making regular visits throughout the community, assisting in therapeutic intervention and building one-on-one relationships with patients and children. “It was so amazing,” Anderson said. “People could be sitting in their own world, but when we brought the dog in they responded to him. They started talking to the dog, then interacting with me. Pretty soon, they were talking to each other and the therapist group leader. It just brought everybody out. It was like seeing miracles happen everyday.” Carl even became a sort of celebrity,

with stories of his hospital visits appearing in local newspapers. “I always think of (Carl) as my teacher because he opened all the doors for me,” Anderson said. Anderson established PAWS Placement Services in 2006. Today, the organization has 35 teams visiting area health-care facilities and social-service agencies. “Kay works tirelessly to bring joy and comfort to young and old alike through visits with therapy dogs and their handlers,” Judy Archer-Dick, dog trainer and behavior consultant at My Best Friend Dog Training, said. “Even before evaluations, Kay often counsels potential therapy dog handlers on the temperament and training necessary for success in the field.” Each team is registered with Therapy Dogs Inc. or Delta Society and are covered with liability insurance in the event of injury or illness caused by contact with a dog. After completing various training activities, dog handler teams are evaluated during three simulated sessions in the field. Anderson, who is also a Therapy Dogs Inc. evaluator, ensures the dog is comfortable working under certain conditions — being petted by a crowd of people, moving around large equipment or experiencing unfamiliar smells, for example. Once teams have passed evaluations, Anderson decides where to place them

based on the handler’s preference and her own observations. Anderson spends many hours advocating in the community to help others understand the benefits of animalassisted therapy and its versatility. The program has even proved beneficial for children with reading disabilities, which is why the Allen County Public Library teamed up with the organization to create the PAWS to R.E.A.D. program. “Dogs are therapeutic just by being themselves. They operate from a higher being than we do. They give you unconditional love and if you have disabilities, they don’t judge you for that,” Anderson said. “That’s why people who have had different injuries or different surgeries are totally accepted by the dog, whereas people might not be as accepting. That’s why it works so well in the reading program. The dog’s non-judgmental, so if they read to (a dog) and stumble over their words, it doesn’t matter and they gain confidence.” Like people, Anderson said, dogs need a job to do, and the program brings the animals as much joy as the people served by PAWS. “I believe we all have a purpose in life. Our goal is to find what that purpose is and to be able to fulfill that and help others while we’re doing it,” Anderson said. “I feel so fortunate with what I’m doing. I just feel so blessed with this.”

ERICKSON: Students complete services hours as part of curriculum

Continued from PAGE 16

nurse and family nurse practitioners rotate shifts on Monday and Wednesday at the clinic, conducting physicals, tuberculosis testing and basic health-care services. Volunteers also spend time reading TB tests on Fridays at the clinic. “I’ve been a nurse for a long time and I like to volunteer wherever I can,” said Carol Greulich, a volunteer and member of the nursing faculty at USF. “I see people here who are the same age as my daughters, and I think, ‘Oh my gosh, it could be my family member.’ It’s very much needed in the commu-

nity. At Saint Francis, there are five Franciscan values that we follow and one is serving others. This is a nice way of paying back our community, helping them out and serving the population.” Said Erickson: “It’s also been a place where (USF) students have helped out. They’re completing service hours there as part of their curriculum. It’s been a really good learning experience for them.” The most common ailments volunteers see within the clinic — hypertension, upper respiratory infections, musculoskeletal problems, smoking cessation, headaches, allergies and problems caused by stress — can be

treated on site. To avoid duplicating services already established within the community, residents are educated about what resources are available to them, and volunteers may refer them to Matthew 25 or Neighborhood Health Clinics Inc. for nonacute care. “The good thing is we’re up and running, and we’ve been pretty successful,” Erickson said. “Now, it’s just how do we continue because there is no funding. “I think as providers, we’ve just been blessed. The residents are just so appreciative of what we do. They’ve just been very gracious. It’s been positive both ways.”

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Page 22

Healthy Mouth. Healthy You.

As many as 120 medical conditions can be detected by an examination of the mouth, throat and neck1,2, making a routine oral exam with your dentist an important part of maintaining good overall health.

We do dental. Better. 1 J Am Dent Assoc, Vol 134, No suppl_1, 41S-48S. 2003 American Dental Association. 2 Dental Management of The Medically Compromised Patient, 7th Edition, 2008, Mosby Elsevier, St. Louis, MO.

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