Disaster response is given a boost: Mobile health care sites will be funded by grant

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 7/11/2012

The Barren River region has acquired new means of responding to disasters affecting the local and state health care system.

A $56,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has helped set up Alternative Care Sites that can be dispatched to areas across the state in times of disaster and during hospital evacuations. The grant was received by Area 4 Healthcare Emergency Area Response Team, a group of health care and community organizations that work together to plan and coordinate health disaster preparedness and response.

“With the latest grant cycle, one of the things that had been noticed in health care was the lack of means to directly provide care during a disaster,” said Jim Williams, The Medical Center at Bowling Green’s Emergency Medical Services field operations manager. “This is more for disaster-type situations.”

The need for such sites has been seen in disasters such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and regionally with ice storms and tornadoes, Williams said. “It has been recognized as an issue for several years. It’s now it’s becoming a more focused priority,” he said.

The mobile trailers and equipment – which will be used among all hospitals and long-term care facilities in the region or state in times of need – are maintained by The Medical Centers at Bowling Green and Scottsville, T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow and Logan Memorial Hospital in Russellville.

“They are stationed in four counties in the region, but all the mobiles can come together in the same county. They can be hooked up to trucks and can go to wherever the problem is,” Williams said.

Rita Tabor, clinical manager at the emergency room at The Medical Center at Scottsville, agreed.

“Three of the trailers are placed in the largest counties, but the one in Allen County was placed there because of its central location,” she said, adding that the site there borders Warren, Simpson, Barren and Monroe counties.

The trailers could be used to help more people, Tabor said.

“If our building was damaged in some way and we had to move someone else or had a disaster or epidemic, we could set up the alternative site trailer at an alternate location and see patients there,” she said. “We’re setting up with all the other regions so that if they have something we need, we can call them and if we have something they need, they can call us. We live in a great state.”

The Alternate Care Site can also be used to decompress hospitals if it became necessary, Williams said.

“We could take patients who are already in the hospital and are in stable condition but still need medical care (to have alternative sites so we could) have beds for patients who need more care,” he said.

The trailers would use regular hospital staff, although off-duty staff might have to be called in at times, Tabor said. The supplies include items that staff members use regularly.

“You’d have everything you’d need to start your own little hospital at another site,” she said.

Williams said the equipment will be a big help to the region and state.

“It’s expandable with all the resources we have. We can respond to a lot of different types of issues,” he said. “It gives us a lot more options to help take care of people. We realize the importance of it.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

10K Classic around the bend: Registration begins Aug. 1 for race, which features challenges for churches and businesses

by Justin Story, The Daily News, originally published on 7/7/2012

Preparations are under way for extensive community involvement in the 33rd running of The Medical Center 10K Classic.

The annual race, which will be run Oct. 13 through downtown and will start and finish on the campus of Western Kentucky University, attracts thousands of runners, volunteers and spectators.

In addition to the 10K race that headlines the event each year, this year’s classic will also feature a 5K competitive run, a 10K wheelchair race, two Children’s Classic races for runners from kindergarten through sixth grade and the 1.5-mile Fun Walk.

Last year, a total of 1,369 competitors were in the 5K and 10K races.

Registration for the race begins Aug. 1, though businesses and churches can get a jump on getting involved through corporate and church challenges.

In these challenges, businesses and churches spearhead efforts to encourage their fellow employees or church members to participate in the event, and family and friends can count toward corporate participation.

Doris Thomas, vice president of Commonwealth Health Corp., which operates The Medical Center, said the corporate and church challenges are a way to motivate people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

“It’s never too early to start, and if you’re not on a fitness program already, this is a good, fun way to get started,” Thomas said.

Those who register through the corporate or church challenges receive a $5 discount off the registration fee, with those registrations and payments to be made online by Sept. 14.

The businesses and churches that recruit the most participants will have their names or logos added to the event’s website and on a special team T-shirt, recognition at the awards ceremony and an option to display a banner with the winning business’s or church’s logo at the finish line and at the Health and Fitness Expo that will take place Oct. 12 at Sloan Convention Center.

“The whole purpose would be for businesses to encourage their employees to become active, and this is a good initiative for businesses to get their employees and churches to get their members involved,” Thomas said.

Harman Becker Automotive Services of Franklin won last year’s corporate challenge among employers with 250 or more employees, while Nasco was the winner among employers with fewer than 250 employees.

Woodburn Baptist Church won the church challenge among churches with 250 or more members and Community Church of Christ and Plano Baptist Church shared top honors for churches with fewer than 250 members.

— For more information, visit www.themedicalcenter10kclassic.com.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Health Tune-Up set for Saturday during Minor League baseball game

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 6/14/2012

Gary Payne strives to attend as many health-related events as he can.

“They have a lot of valuable information. I’m getting up in age, so any information I can get will be beneficial,” the Bowling Green man said.

Payne is considering going to The Medical Center’s Men’s Health Tune-Up, which will be Saturday during the Bowling Green Hot Rods game against the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Bowling Green Ballpark. Gates open at 6 p.m., and the game starts at 7:05 p.m. A game ticket, which is $10, is required for entry.

“A ticket to the game is a ticket to get those screenings done,” said Linda Rush, community wellness director for The Medical Center. “We’ll be set up when the gate opens for men who want to get their screenings early. We’ll be set up with different screenings where they can do it at any time during the game.”

Nine booths will be set up during the game. Screenings that will be offered include those for blood pressure, grip strength, lung health, sleep apnea, body fat analysis, hearing and the prostate-specific antigen tests for prostate cancer for men over age 40, Rush said.

Screenings and participation are for men ages 18 and older.

Men can get free memberships to the Men’s Health Alliance, which addresses men’s health concerns. The membership, which usually costs a one-time membership fee of $10, includes free health screenings, discounts on select screenings and exercise programs offered through The Medical Center, a quarterly newsletter and access to special events.

“Over the last 10 to 15 years, we’ve had a men’s health event in June,” Rush said. “We’re taking the health information to where the men already are.”

Men will get a scorecard that they can present to each booth. Those under 40 who go to the PSA screening booth will receive information to help complete their card. Participants who complete the card can be entered into drawings for prizes provided by the Hot Rods, including the grand prize, a Hot Rods luxury suite valued at $600.

“It’s a fun evening. We had 150 (participants) last year, but the ballgames bring in such a large crowd,” Rush said. “It will be interesting to see how many men participate.”

The Hot Rods provided prizes for last year’s Tune-Up, which was at the National Corvette Museum, said Ryan Gates, the Hot Rods’ general manager.

“We saw the turnout and demographic of men and thought it would be a good fit,” he said.

The games average about 3,500 people, but Gates expects more than 4,000 for Saturday’s game.

“I think (men) tend not to always do little things to check on our health. We get to address a lot of different categories in one small area,” he said. “We encourage men to come out, all families to come out. Men’s health is families’ health.”

Payne said he enjoyed last year’s event. He was interested in learning about prostate cancer and what’s available now to test for and treat it.

“My wife encourages me to go because of the seriousness of prostate cancer,” he said.

Payne appreciates the way that health information is easily accessible in Bowling Green.

“I’m from Massachusetts by way of Oregon. I appreciate all the functions for men and women,” he said. “I think they’re very professionally done.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Medical Center-WKU Health Sciences Complex: Officials Break Ground for Project

by Robyn Minor, The Daily News, originally published on 6/13/2012

As many as 150 people at a time will help build the new Medical Center-WKU Health Sciences Complex in the 700 block of First Avenue.

Ground was broken today on the project, which will generate a bevy of activity during the next 13 months as crews from Scott, Murphy & Daniel and subcontractors go to work on the 73,000-square-foot building.

Company President Mike Murphy said it will be a tight deadline to meet. “Plus we’ve got the winter to contend with,” he said.

Work will begin as soon as possible. During that time those workers will be joining an already large workforce from The Medical Center campus – about 2,000 – many of whom will eat in nearby restaurants for lunch.

“Hardly anybody brings their lunch anymore,” Murphy said.

The workforce downtown will grow again when Western Kentucky University occupies the building, bringing in staff for its School of Nursing and two new programs: the doctor of physical therapy and doctor of nursing practice.

Connie Smith, president and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Health Corp., The Medical Center’s parent company, said the hospital also will use about 20 percent of the building’s space for staff training and other purposes.

Smith told the 300 people gathered for the groundbreaking that CHC and WKU came together to “to solve what separately seemed insurmountable” – a critical shortage of nurses.

WKU President Gary Ransdell said the university will double the number of nurses it can educate, growing even more the number of WKU graduates who find jobs at The Medical Center and other area hospitals.

And it shouldn’t be a problem getting students to fill the new slots since WKU turns away about half the qualified applicants who apply each year, he said.

Ransdell said WKU turns away the students because it doesn’t have the space or staff to accommodate them and doesn’t have the bonding capacity to construct a new building on its own.

The doctor of physical therapy program will begin next year with its first 30 students – that also will help solve a critical problem in the region, Ransdell said.

More nursing homes, hospitals and small communities are without physical therapists at a time when many in the aging population could use such help.

Construction of the $18.4 million three-story building will likely put investment in the Tax Increment Financing District over the top of the $150 million required before tax revenues can begin coming back to the community. Those tax revenues help provide infrastructure for such projects and allow developers to get a return on their investments.

Smith said the project will be ready for occupancy in fall 2013, in time for WKU to begin the semester in the building.

“And I know you will have us in on time ... and even early,” Smith said to Murphy.

WKU will lease its space from CHC for 25 years, and CHC will use that money for operational expenses and to help pay off industrial revenue bonds that will be sold for the project.

While there are no immediate plans to make the building even larger, it has been designed to accommodate future expansion needs.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Proponents, medical community disagree on juicing’s impact

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 6/9/2012

The film “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” changed Lauren Culbreth’s life.

The documentary shows Joe Cross’ journey to regain his health by trading junk food for juicing – using an appliance to extract the juice from fruits and vegetables – for two months.

“It was every meal, every day,” she said. “He started losing weight. His health problems disappeared. It shows how he affected another man’s life.”

The Bowling Green woman decided to try juicing, although not nearly to the extreme that Cross did. She has been juicing for a year and has seen benefits without fasting.

“I’ve lost more than 30 pounds, and I exercise,” she said. “It’s really a good cleanse. If you’re going to do a juice fast, consult a physician.”

Culbreth led a class at the Warren County Public Library’s Bob Kirby Branch recently to share what she has learned. Julie Speer, a library assistant at the branch, is also an avid juicer and helped with the class.

“I got a juicer in September for my birthday,” she said. “I love the bright, beautiful colors.”

Culbreth prefers to use her juicer because bottled drinks are full of artificial sugar, but only makes enough to drink that day and the next because it can go bad faster than bottled juice and tastes better fresh.

“You get all the vitamins and minerals as soon as you drink it,” she said.

Culbreth suggested a mix of fruits and vegetables, but less fruit because of the sugar content. She also warned people to be ready for digestive changes.

“It might mess with your system a little bit,” she said. “It may cause your body to go through a healing process, especially if you eat a lot of junk food.”

Linda Howsen, registered dietitian with The Medical Center Medical Nutrition Therapy Program, cautions against juicing. Several well-known medical resources such as the Mayo Clinic and WebMD also don’t support it, she said.

“It’s not something I would necessarily advocate. It’s a kind of fad,” she said. “There’s no benefit to juicing that eating fruits and vegetables won’t give you.”

The idea that people are getting enzymes because they are drinking “live food” is false, Howsen said.

“The enzymes in a plant are only effective for the plant. They don’t work in your own body,” she said. “They’re taken apart and digested. Our body makes all the enzymes it needs unless there’s a medical problem.”

While juicing may help those who won’t eat fruits and vegetables except in liquid form, they will be missing fiber. It can be found in the pulp, but many people throw it away, Howsen said.

“The pulp is something many of the juicers don’t use. It’s very important,” she said. “There are many nutrients in the skin. They can use it in soup broth, muffins and fruit bread.”

Juicing doesn’t cleanse or remove toxins as claimed, Howsen said.

“The liver and kidneys take care of that,” she said.

There is also a calorie issue, Howsen said. Fruit juice can pack in the calories, especially if you use a lot of fruit.

“A 16-ounce drink can be 250 calories. If you chew a piece of fruit, it will fill you up,” she said.

Howsen said it’s better for people to eat whole foods, such as eating apples instead of applesauce, Howsen said.

“I’m not sure you’re going to process juice the same way as a whole food because it has been processed,” she said.

Cathy Prebe has wanted to try juicing ever since her daughter saw an iridologist, a person who determines health by studying the eye.

“He said she’s not absorbing her food,” the Bowling Green woman said.

When Prebe heard about the class, she thought it would be a good way to help her daughter and herself.

“I don’t eat a lot of vegetables, so this would be a good way to eat more vegetables,” she said. “I needed to really chew the food. I definitely will try it.”

John Foti of Bowling Green said he has juiced, but not for a long time.

“It’s a lot of work,” he said.

Culbreth agreed.

“The hardest part of juicing is the cleanup,” she said, looking at her juicer after she did a demonstration. “There’s a lot of cleanup.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Bond issue for health science complex OK’d

by Katie Brandenburg, The Daily News, originally published on 6/9/2012

Warren County Fiscal Court approved the first reading Friday of an ordinance to issue industrial revenue bonds for the construction of a health science complex to house Western Kentucky University’s School of Nursing.

Fiscal Court also voted to approve the first reading of a budget of about $33.7 million for fiscal year 2013, as well as an agreement with Connected Nation to look into the best way to make high-speed Internet available at competitive rates to all Warren County residents.

The bond ordinance would allow for the issue of up to $48 million in industrial revenue bonds for the construction of a building adjacent to The Medical Center complex to house WKU’s School of Nursing and physical therapy program.

The hospital will be solely responsible for repaying the debt, according to Ron Sowell, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Commonwealth Health Corp. and The Medical Center.

The medical science complex is expected to cost a little more than $18 million, he said.

The bond issue will also allow for the refinancing of some corporation debt.

“This project is very exciting for us and for Western Kentucky University,” Sowell told members of the Fiscal Court.

The facility will allow WKU’s nursing program to double in size, he said. “It will benefit not only The Medical Center, but it will generate nurses of the future for all the health care facility in southcentral Kentucky,” Sowell said.

A groundbreaking for the facility will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday, he said. It is set to open in August 2013.

The complex wouldn’t have been possible without the formation of the Tax Increment Financing district, Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon said.

It will be a benefit for not only Warren County but the region in meeting the demands on the area’s health care system, he said.

“This is really a godsend to this region of Kentucky,” Buchanon said.

Fiscal Court also approved an agreement with Connected Nation to provide broadband mapping, a policy impact assessment and help with a digital literacy program for Warren County in an effort to determine how best to make high-speed Internet available to all residents at competitive rates, according to the contract.

The contract is for $26,790 over a six-month period.

The county expects a final report from the company by the end of that contract period, Buchanon said.

Brian Mefford, Connected Nation CEO, said Connected Nation is eager to move forward with the project in Warren County.

“People want to be able to live anywhere in Warren County and have access to high-speed broadband Internet,” he said.

The availability of high-speed Internet is increasingly important to people, and not having access can be a disadvantage, especially for school-age children, Buchanon said.

Many people rate it in importance along with services such as water and sewer, he said.

“It think this broadband high-speed Internet is almost a right,” Buchanon said. “It has almost become a right.”

One goal for the county is to create more competition in the county among high-speed Internet providers, Buchanon said.

Competition can translate into wider coverage, along with better service and more competitive prices for Warren County residents, he said.

Expanding access to high-speed Internet has been a priority in the county for about two years, Buchanon said.

“This is the kind of thing that sets us apart from other communities throughout Kentucky and throughout the nation,” he said.

Fiscal Court also approved the first reading of an ordinance approving the fiscal year 2013 budget.

Buchanon said spending in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget is on par with the previous budget.

The approximately $33.7 million budget includes about $17.7 million in general fund spending. The budget is about $410,700 more than last year’s approved budget, with about $386,800 more in general fund spending.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

TIF district nearing key $150M status

by Robyn Minor, The Daily News, originally published on 6/2/2012

Even before ground is broken this month for two Bowling Green development projects, the investment in the Tax Increment Financing district is fast approaching its $150 million signature TIF status.

So far, $143.65 million has been spent on projects.

And as work progresses in the next two months on projects under construction such as Bowling Green Municipal Utilities’ new office building, the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority will ask the state to certify that signature TIF status, according to its chairman, Doug Gorman.

Nearly $30 million more in projects are under construction in the TIF now, which would count toward that certification. The TIF runs from Western Kentucky University to the river and is bounded in part by U.S. 31-W and Adams Street, but does not include Fountain Square.

When you consider the commercial project to be built on two sides of the parking garage and WKU’s School of Nursing, both of which will begin construction this month, the total will then amount to more than $200 million, according to TIF documents. Work has to be finished before it can count toward the status.

Clinton, Chris and Ed Mills are the private subdevelopers for the commercial project on the parking garage wrap, and Commonwealth Health Corp. will sell bonds for its building that will contain WKU’s School of Nursing.

The TIF actually has until December 2014 to reach the $150 million level. The significance of reaching that signature level is that the city and developers of many of the projects in the TIF then would start to receive a portion of the taxes created by the new jobs and sales made in the 49-block TIF area.

That money would be used to repay both groups for their work thus far.

Gorman said once the state certifies that signature status, it would calculate those payments. Any additional development in the district over the next 27 years will allow those tax returns to continue coming back to the TIF.

Some have been critical of the perceived lack of private funding that has gone into the project, something that rifles Gorman a bit.

“We had a man from Massachusetts spend $8 million of his own money to bring a baseball team here,” Gorman said. “This community has been blessed by Mr. (Art) Solomon.”

Having that baseball team here created 20 full-time jobs and 120 part-time jobs and has been the impetus for some of the development since, he said.

There has been private investment in medical facilities, residential housing, fraternity housing and other projects totaling more than $46 million that has already been spent, according to TIF documents.

More than $3 million in private funding is being spent to purchase and renovate the old Bowling Green Junior High School. While part of the property had an apartment building on it, the remainder had been a perpetual construction site with little work going on for years.

Since the purchase last fall, construction fences have come down but work has steadily progressed, with the lease-a-bedroom housing facility to be ready for WKU students in the fall.

One of the largest private projects was the nearly $24 million expansion and improvement of The Medical Center.

The Medical Center’s parent company, CHC, will add even more to the total of private funds invested when it breaks ground this month for a nursing building. The project is expected to cost $16 million to $18 million, with WKU’s lease of the space being primarily paid with tuition fees from the new students that an expanded program can serve.

WKU’s alumni also are funding the Augenstein Alumni Center, which is in the TIF and adjacent to WKU’s campus.

“The alumni association has raised $5 million for the project so far and would like to raise $1.5 million to $2 million more to pay for furnishings,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “That is all being paid for with private funding.”

The funds will be used to pay for the lease on the building, just as the WKU Student Life Foundation will pay for the lease on the housing wrap around the parking garage.

“Western won’t actually own any buildings in the TIF, but it is contributing to its development through lease payments,” Ransdell said.

The center is expected to be completed in late December with a move-in date of January.

Ransdell said on hold for now are WKU’s plans to build campus police offices and a bookstore on the other side of the parking garage that has the student housing on two sides of it now.

“We had wanted to use New Market Tax Credits for that, but Kentucky didn’t get enough ... allocated for us to use them,” Ransdell said. “So we are seeing if there are credits from somewhere else we can use.”

Ransdell said if the university can’t find the credits, it will look for other funding to at least build the campus police offices, something that is a priority.

Ransdell said he is still working with a single developer to build a hotel in the block next to campus and the alumni center.

“That talk had been quiet for a while ... but now the developer is back and engaged,” he said. “We are hopeful, anxious and optimistic. But we are going to be patient and work with this one developer.”

Has there been public money spent? “Yes,” Gorman said. “And now we are seeing private investment.”

Some of the public projects include parking garages, the ballpark and the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center.

SKyPAC bonds are being repaid in part with a special motel tax, and other projects will be paid for when the TIF revenue comes back. The TIF revenue also would be used to pay off a portion of the SKyPAC debt.

More than $5 million in public funds was used to purchase land and improve infrastructure that includes more than $1 million to improve stormwater drainage in the area, Gorman said. There is a large underground drainage system that was installed under the parking garage, and a few months ago a retention basin was installed off Adams Street.

The city also received a Community Development Block Grant to improve drainage in the area, according to city public works Director Jeff Lashlee. That project, which cost about $126,000, was near the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.

Since those projects were completed, the flooding that previously occurred at intersections on College and State streets’ lower blocks has mostly disappeared, Lashlee said.

People outside Bowling Green are starting to see the fruits of the labor here, Gorman said.

Outside companies have requested information about the commercial space that will be available on the ground floor of the wrap of the parking garage.

Both Gorman and Ransdell are excited that the signature status will be reached well ahead of the deadline.

“It’s a terrific tribute to the leaders across the community,” Ransdell said. “So many people have been important to its success.”

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)