LOVING CARE AWARDS AND EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION AT VNAIC’S ANNUAL MEETING

The VNAIC will be holding its annual meeting at the Riverside Convention Center on Monday, March 5, 2012 from 11:30-2:00. Included will be employee recognition awards that honor those employees with 5 -30 years with the Company, Leadership Awards and the “Yes I Can” Employee of the Year Award. The highlight of the meeting will be the Loving Care Awards that will recognize very special people for the extraordinary Loving Care they have given a family member, a friend or their community. Be sure to watch for in-depth coverage of the entire meeting in the near future!

VNAIC HOSPICE PATIENT AND PHELAN RESIDENT PASSES AWAY

The VNAIC’s program of remembrance of their patients that have passed and whose families have acknowledged their appreciation of VNAIC’s services within published obituaries continues by remembering Josephine “Jodi” Schultz of Phelan, who passed away on February 4, 2012 in Riverside after a strong battle with breast cancer. Born in Iowa, Jodi was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and is survived by her husband Ken of Phelan, a son, daughter, six grandchildren, a brother and a cousin. Jodi loved to knit, bake and decorate cakes, and served with the Riverside Rape Crisis Center, where she earned the Volunteer of the Year award. Jodi always lived life to the fullest and found the greatest joy in spoiling her grandchildren. Jodi’s services will be held at Riverside Community Church in Riverside on February 17 at 2 PM. The family would like to ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her name to the Visiting Nurse Association of the Inland Counties, Riverside branch.

DR. REDDY AND DR. HENDERSON TEAM UP IN HEMET AT APPLE MEDICAL GROUP

Dr. Surya Reddy is the Founder and Medical Director of Apple Medical Center in Hemet. He has been in practice in Hemet and Sun City since 1990. Dr. Reddy graduated from Osmania Medical College in India and completed his Family Medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL. Dr. Reddy is Board-Certified in Family Medicine and Geriatrics. He is a member of CMA, RCMA, AAFP and AAPI. Dr. Reddy is also the Chief of Family Practice department at Hemet Valley Medical Center. Apple Medical Center is located at 1001 South State Street in Hemet and can be reached by calling 951-925-2525. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8 AM – 5 PM. The website is www.applemd.com. Apple Medical Center also has a conveniently-located Urgent Care office in Hemet, located at 1207 East Florida Avenue and can be reached by calling 951-925-2523. The Urgent Care is open Monday through Friday 8 AM – 8 PM, Saturday and Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM. The website is www.appleurgentcare.com. Dr. Paula Henderson, the newest addition to Apple Medical Center in Hemet, has completed her Family Medicine at UCLA and subsequently served as Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Henderson has 18 years of experience in Women’s Health and Geriatrics. She is bilingual in Spanish and is a staff Physician at Hemet Valley Medical Center. Apple Medical accepts all private insurance plans including PPO’s and EPO’s as well as Medicare, Tri-Care, Exclusive Care and HMO’s.See More

 

BARSTOW WOMAN WALKS FOR FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS

Before coming to Rimrock Villa Convalescent Hospital in Barstow last summer, Terri Medina spent her days sitting idly in a wheelchair. But today the 50-year-old former mortgage loan professional is doing something she hasn’t done in a decade: She’s taking life one step at a time, literally. And for Medina, a double amputee who was overweight and with stage four kidney failure, the transformation the last five months has been more than a surprise. “Oh man, try a miracle,” Medina said. “Not only has Rimrock saved my life, but I’m walking again.” Her success is especially unexpected, she says, because some other health care professionals made her believe she would never get back on her feet. “I was told I wouldn’t walk again. I hadn’t really given up hope, but I had resigned myself to a wheelchair.” Ten years ago, an ambulance took her to Barstow Community Hospital where a doctor said she needed to see a vascular specialist. That’s when she knew she was in trouble. She had diabetes and Stage 4 kidney failure. She was sent to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where she was told they might have to amputate both legs at the hip. Doctors did their best to save her legs, but eventually they amputated her right leg above the knee. “Their efforts saved what she has,” said her mother Kathryn Reynolds, who Medina says was her biggest inspiration, next to her belief in God. Medina spent five weeks at Loma Linda and another two years traveling back in forth between Barstow and Loma Linda for physical therapy. Unfortunately for Medina, the health care workers said she couldn’t be fitted with a prosthesis. “So I opted for the wheelchair.” Confined to a wheelchair, Medina didn’t leave her house “unless I was going to the doctor or church.” During the next eight years, she tried to prevent the same fate for her left leg, but in spring of 2010 that leg too was amputated. “I was told I wouldn’t walk again.” For the next year and a half, she struggled and her health declined. Finally, in August of last year, she was admitted to Rimrock with kidney failure and other life-threatening ailments. “I got sick and landed here,” she said. “I found the answer in my own back yard. It’s changed my life. It’s saved my life.” Mary Lou Miller, executive director of the care facility, credits Medina’s enthusiasm for helping to make progress. “She’s young,” Miller said. “She’s worked hard.” “She has the most beautiful attitude,” added family friend Liz Mauk. With her mother’s encouragement, Medina also discovered Barstow Prosthetics, who fitted her with prosthetic legs. “He (Lynn Potter of Barstow Prosthetics) has been working on fitting my leg for five months,” Medina said. Using a holistic approach that addresses Medina’s psychological, physical, dietary and spiritual needs, the Rimrock staff has helped her accomplish what previously seemed impossible. Now she can walk 200 feet with her walker. Eventually Medina plans on leaving the convalescent facility and become a volunteer at Rimrock and motivational speaker, perhaps for armed service veterans injured in battle. “This is mine,” she said about her life. “It is what it is. It’s the cards that were dealt me. It’s OK to not have legs. Your normal, everyday routine has been tweaked a little, but you’ve got dedicated people literally holding you up.” She especially wants to give hope to others who come to the convalescent hospital. “These people are so dedicated, so loving and so skilled. You don’t come to Rimrock to die, you come here to live again.”

VNAIC HOLDS OSTOMY CARE IN-SERVICE AT MANOR CARE IN HEMET

The VNAIC’s Hemet branch held an ostomy care in-service on Wednesday, 2/1, 2012 at Manor Care in Hemet for the facility’s staff. In attendence from the VNAIC were Clinical Account Manager/LVN Nunzia Lopez and RN/WOCN Steve Tardy. The VNAIC offers continuing education that is available not only to facilities but also to the public on a variety of clinical and non-clinical subjects pertaining Home Health, Palliative Care and Hospice Care. For more information, please call the VNAIC’s Hemet branch at 951-306-3120 and visit the website at www.vna-ic.org.

PROCEDURE TO FIX HEART CONDITION WITHOUT OPEN HEART SURGERY INTRODUCED

A minimally-invasive procedure that fixes a pediatric heart condition without the need for open-heart surgery has been introduced at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Pediatric cardiologists at the medical center’s International Heart Institute recently implanted Melody Valves on three pediatric patients with narrowed valves in their hearts. The minimally-invasive procedures may be the first such procedures for the Inland Empire, according to a news release from the hospital. “We are very pleased to be able to offer this technology and procedure at Loma Linda University Medical Center,” said Dr. Micheal Kuhn, chief of pediatric cardiology at the LLUMC International Heart Institute (shown at right in photo with Dr. Brent Gordon, LLUMC pediatric cardiologist and Aritzai Barragan, who recently underwent the Melody Valve procedure). “Some children are born with critical narrowing of the valves in their heart. What this does is take the place of open heart surgery in a less invasive way, with no surgical incisions, bleeding and surgical scars.” The Melody Valve, manufactured by Minneapolis, Minn.,-based Medtronic Inc., is the first FDA-approved transcatheter heart valve procedure for children with failing pulmonary valves. During the procedure, the catheter (a thin, hollow tube) holding the Melody Valve is inserted into a vein in the leg and guided to the heart. The heart valve is attached to a stent (a wire frame) that expands with help of a balloon to push open the blocked pulmonary conduit. Specialists at Loma Linda University Medical Center spent about a year training and preparing before making the procedure available at the hospital.

NEW GARDEN FOR VETERANS TO OPEN IN SAN BERNARDINO PARK

A new garden dedicated to veterans is on the horizon. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday, January 27th for the new Veterans Exploration Garden at Speicher Park at 1535 Arden Avenue in San Bernardino. Veterans will have a hand in maintaining the garden, and will be allowed to offer gardening workshops to their families and young people. The Disabled American Veterans, San Bernardino Chapter 12 will cover all costs of operation and maintenance of the garden. The chapter has secured a $15,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation to build and operate the garden on the northeast section of Speicher Park. Garden hours will be Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on select Saturdays and Sundays for specialized programming. Earlier this month, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the veterans chapter and the city of San Bernardino and the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department to establish and maintain the garden so disabled veterans could use it as a therapy and improve their mental and physical health. The program will have three developmental phases: including botanical cultivation, training in sustainable agriculture and working with the community through sharing and teaching gardening methods. “What a wonderful opportunity it is for the city of San Bernardino to be able to provide space for such an important and worthwhile program,” said Mayor Patrick Morris said in a statement. “The city is proud to support programs that reach out to our veteran population.” For more information on the garden, call 909-862-4467.