Prayer room named for Britt

by Jenna Mink, The Daily News, originally published on 7/17/2012

Chaplain James Britt has comforted patients and families at The Medical Center at Bowling Green for more than three decades, and now his name is a permanent part of the organization.

The community surprised Britt on Monday by unveiling the prayer room at the Hospitality House’s new name: Chaplain James Britt Prayer Room.

“This is an honor, a blessing. I’m honored by this,” Britt said through tears, adding that he was told to drop by the Hospitality House that day to visit a patient. “I didn’t know I was visiting so many people.”

A crowd gathered to support Britt, who has visited, prayed with and comforted patients and workers for 34 years. Britt’s daughter and son-in-law, Beth and David Bradford, and a friend, Covella Biggers, donated a total of $100,000 to Hospitality House and requested that the prayer room be named for Britt.

“It’s just in honor of a giant among men – one of the greatest men I know,” David Bradford said. “It’s just ... a very appropriate place for his name to last forever.”

Britt, who was a pastor before serving as a hospital chaplain, began consoling patients in 1978 when he worked as a full-time chaplain at the former city-county hospital.

He has encountered his share of tough situations, such as the sudden deaths of children. But he has also formed many, meaningful relationships, he told the Daily News.

“I’m just proud of the work and ministry of The Medical Center,” he said. “We have a great staff, caring people, and it’s just a joy to visit and see the staff and the people who come.”

The Hospitality House opened more than a year ago as a place for families and caregivers to stay when visiting patients who are hospitalized for an extended period of time. With 12 private guest rooms, it’s a service for many out-of-town visitors – so far, it has served people from 49 counties, 32 states and four countries.

And the prayer room – now the Chaplain James Britt Prayer Room – is an important part of the organization, hospital officials say.

“When you find you have an illness in your family, there’s a spiritual need that typically needs to be met,” said Cristi Pruitt, vice president of accounting and corporate controller for Commonwealth Health Corp., the parent company of The Medical Center.

It’s “befitting,” Pruitt said, to name the room after a man who has dedicated decades to prayer for the patients and family of the hospital.

“I’ve just been doing what I’ve been called to do,” Britt said, as a long line of people waited to embrace him.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Better to be safe than sorry: Screenings can bring early detection of vascular disease

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 7/14/2012

Mary Newby was traveling to Las Vegas for a vacation with her siblings in 2003 when she received an unpleasant surprise.

The Bowling Green woman got as far as New Mexico before she became ill enough to seek medical care. She found out she had an aneurysm in her carotid artery that can block blood flow to the brain.

“They found it by chance,” she said.

Newby made an appointment with Dr. Michael Byrne, a vascular surgeon at The Medical Center Heart Institute in Bowling Green, and had surgery to correct her condition.

“I did very well from the surgery,” she said. “I didn’t have any complications.”

In 2005, Newby decided to have a screening to see if there were any other blockages. This time she found out she had an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Once again, she went to Byrne for surgery.

Since that surgery, Newby has felt well, but she thought it was better to be safe than sorry. She decided to get her legs screened.

“Sometimes my legs feel kind of funny, like a tingling,” she said.

She had a screening Friday at The Medical Center Health and Wellness Center at Chandler Park. A vascular technologist screens for disorders such as stroke, aortic aneurysm and lower-extremity vascular disease and sends the results to The Heart Institute so they can be evaluated by a board-certified vascular surgeon.

“Vascular screenings are easy and cost-effective tools to identify patients at risk of stroke, amputation or mortality associated with complications of vascular disease,” said Dr. Shane O’Keeffe, a vascular surgeon at The Heart Institute.

A copy of the report is also sent to the patients and their physicians. The cost is $35 per screening or $90 for all three. Members of Senior Health Network, Men’s Health Alliance and The Women’s Center can get all three for $80.

Newby said she didn’t “want any surprises.”

“I’m a preschool monitor. This is my fifth year,” she said. “I want to have everything up and running before school starts.”

Charlotte English, a vascular ultrasonographer at The Heart Institute, does the screenings and said they are important. Men make up the majority of people with vascular disease, and it tends to run in families.

“We take anyone who comes in, but our target age we’re trying to reach is 50 and up,” she said.

Some people don’t go to the doctor until they begin to have symptoms, English said. Some vascular issues don’t even have symptoms, making them even more deadly.

“Screening for (abdominal aortic aneurysm) is especially important because there are no symptoms until a rupture occurs,” she said. “We have a high rate of deaths with ruptured aneurysms.”

English asked Newby to slip off her sandals and lie on an examination table. She put gel on one side of Newby’s neck and slid an ultrasound wand over the area. Black-and-white images began to appear on the screen. The machine whirred as English checked the velocity of the blood flow to her artery. Then she repeated the process on the other side.

“What’s that black thing?” Newby asked as her head was facing the ultrasound screen.

“That’s your artery that we’re looking at,” English explained.

English did an ultrasound on Newby’s carotid artery and did an ankle brachial index, in which blood pressure is measured on the arm and neck. She put gel on the lower and side of each ankle as she examined them.

When screening results aren’t good, English doesn’t let patients leave, calls a doctor immediately and lets the doctor tell her what the patient needs to do. In Newby’s case, English let her leave with a recommendation that she check in with her doctor.

Newby was happy to find out more about her health and plans to talk to a doctor soon about her results.

“I would advise anybody to have (screenings) done,” she said.

The next screening will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 27. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are taken if space is available. For more information, call 745-0942 or 877-800-3824.

Copyright 2012 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

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)