‘K-P’ is Wayne Woodlands Employee of the Year 2020 and more

What's going on in health, wellness and community April 1 to 7

Posted 3/31/21

What's going on in health, wellness and community April 1 to 7

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‘K-P’ is Wayne Woodlands Employee of the Year 2020 and more

What's going on in health, wellness and community April 1 to 7

Posted

‘K-P’ is Wayne Woodlands Employee of the Year 2020

WAYMART, PA — “I enjoy what I do, I enjoy my residents, I enjoy my co-workers,” says Kathy Piorkowski, RN, a longtime employee at Wayne Woodlands Manor. Known informally as “K-P,” Piorkowski was officially voted the skilled nursing facility’s Employee of the Year 2020 by the employees of the month of the year before, 2019.

Piorkowski, who resides in Honesdale, has been at Wayne Woodlands since 2008. The mother of five daughters, she admits that 2020 was a challenging year.

Wayne Woodlands Manor, a 121-bed residence and part of Wayne Memorial Health System, offers both short- and long-term rehabilitation as well as long-term care.

For more information, visit www.wmh.org.

Honesdale VA Outpatient Clinic adds nurse practitioner

HONESDALE, PA — Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) has announced Jessica Woodmansee, MSN, FNP-BC as the newest primary care provider at the Honesdale VA Outpatient Clinic. The clinic, located at 600 Maple Ave., was established in 2014 to offer eligible veterans a continuum of care within their own community.

Woodmansee looks forward to “providing care in a rural community” where she can “develop relationships not only in the office but in the community with patients.”

For more information, visit www.wmchc.net or call 570/251-6543.

Wayne Memorial to re-open Tafton Lab Services

HONESDALE, PA — Due to a decrease in the rate of COVID-19 cases in the region, Wayne Memorial Hospital is able to return staff to operate its laboratory services site in Tafton, PA (Pike County) beginning April 5.

A sharp increase in cases last fall forced the hospital to re-allocate staff primarily to meet increased demand for COVID-19 testing. The site is located adjacent to Pinnacle Family Health at 123 Manly Rd., Rte. 507, Tafton, PA and will be open Monday to Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone number is 570/226-2643. 

Two other closed lab sites, in Waymart and Forest City, are expected to open later in April.

Garnet Health Doctors launches new electronic health records feature for patients

MIDDLETOWN AND HARRIS, NY — Garnet Health Doctors (formerly Orange Regional Medical Group and Catskill Regional Medical Group) has announced it has launched a new feature within its electronic health records platform called Visit Notes. Garnet Health Doctors uses MyChart, a secure electronic health records portal, which offers patients the ability to communicate with their doctor, access test results, request prescription refills, and make appointments and more, any time of day. The newest feature, Visit Notes, allows patients to easily access and review their doctors’ comments and notes from their visits.  

Visit Notes are written by doctors, nurses and other health professionals to provide information about visits and to describe the interactions with patients. Garnet Health Doctors’ MyChart accounts are also accessible from the MyChart app which can be downloaded on iPhones or via Google Play.

For more information on Visit Notes, and to view its benefits, visit www.garnethealth.org/notes. To learn more about Garnet Health Doctors, visit www.garnethealth.org/doctors.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of medicine student has successful residency match

SCRANTON, PA — Nathan Anton Hoff of Honesdale, PA, along with other medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth), learned their residency placements during the National Resident Matching Program’s “Match Day,” an event at which all fourth-year M.D. students around the country simultaneously open their envelopes to learn where they will spend the next three to seven years training in specialties. Residencies typically begin July 1.

Hoff matched into psychiatry at the Wright Center for graduate medical education.

According to the National Resident Match Program (NRMP), the 2021 Main Residency Match was the largest in NRMP history. There were 38,106 total positions offered, the most ever, and 35,194 first-year positions offered, an increase of 2.7 percent over 2020. Forty-one Geisinger Commonwealth students matched into primary care fields and seven into psychiatry. He also said 37 members of the Class of 2021 matched into programs in Pennsylvania, including 31 local students.

For more information, visit www.geisinger.edu/gcsom.

Monticello Kiwanis thank public health staff and volunteers

MONTICELLO, NY — On March 24, the Monticello Kiwanis Club, in conjunction with Miss Monticello Diner, delivered 60 lunches to the SUNY Sullivan Paul Gerry Fieldhouse to say thank you to the Sullivan County Public Health Services professional staff and volunteers who were administering COVID-19 vaccinations. Public health director Nancy McGraw stated that the salads were truly appreciated. The Monticello Diner co-sponsored the meals in memory of Stavros “Papou” Niforatos, the late owner of the Blue Horizon Diner.  

Last month the Monticello Kiwanis Club delivered lunches to the nursing staff and volunteers administering vaccinations at the Public Health Nursing location in Liberty, NY. Kiwanis President Marvin Rappaport stated the club will continue to support the community in these trying times and pay tribute to the essential workers and volunteers. 

Resilient PA Grassroots Network to help Pennsylvania communities grow beyond trauma

HARRISBURG, PA — United Way of Pennsylvania announced that it is launching a statewide network to connect local organizations that want to help support individuals through a trauma-informed approach that recognizes various forms of trauma and adverse events. This coalition, called Resilient PA – Growing and Flourishing Together, strives to foster resilient Pennsylvania youth, families and communities by promoting trauma-informed care and systems across sectors, raising awareness of the impact of trauma, and advocating for resilience-building policies and funding.

Trauma generates both a neurological and emotional response, and trauma may also have physical symptoms. Trauma can result from a single stressful event, like an accident or a sexual assault. Prolonged exposure to highly stressful events also causes trauma, like witnessing community violence or drug abuse in the home, social isolation during the pandemic, or the uncertainty of poverty. Secondary trauma can also be experienced by people who have close contact with someone who has experienced a traumatic event.

In May of 2020, the Governor’s Office of Advocacy and Reform announced a volunteer leadership team who would develop a plan to make PA a trauma-informed state, called HEAL PA. Resilient PA is a separate but complementary initiative that will help scale trauma-informed care across the state while leveraging training and educational resources developed by HEAL PA and connecting communities to share and replicate promising practice.

Anyone who would like to learn more and get involved with Resilient PA is invited to sign up at  www.www.uwp.org/resilient-pa.

Bon Secours Community Hospital earns top ratings

PORT JERVIS, NY ― Hospitals vary on meeting performance metrics and patient satisfaction measures. Using data-led, quality-comparison rankings can be helpful in determining at which hospital to seek care. Three member hospitals of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) participate in Healthgrades, a leading resource for comparative analysis and information about physicians and health systems. These three hospitals—Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY, St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick, NY and Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY—have each earned five-star ratings for multiple service lines from Healthgrades.

For more information, visit www.BonSecoursCommunityHosp.org and www.partners.healthgrades.com/Quality/Quality-Methodology.

Wayne Woodlands, Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers, Tafton Lab Services, Garnet Health Doctors, Monticello Kiwanis, United Way of Pennsylvania, Bon Secours Community Hospital

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