Health

New Beginners Tai Chi & Taoist Exercises Starting in Putney.    

Taiji Quan, otherwise known as Supreme Ultimate Boxing, is an ancient form of martial art that has been practiced for both health and self defense. It can be practiced for recreation and to increase strength, flexibility, and vitality well into old age. Taiji Quan is not performed in the same manner as most western calisthenics or sports. It requires a tremendous amount of mental and physical concentration and control. Taiji Quan is often described as a moving meditation. After practice, one feels invigorated, clear-minded, and peaceful.

is moving to a new location in the Medical Office Building at 19 Belmont Avenue, Suite G102 on the ground floor, at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.

Situated just across the street from their old location at 16 Belmont Avenue, the new office provides larger space and updated facilities, including five exam rooms instead of four. The move will take place on Friday, February 14, with the office reopening in its new location on Monday, February 17.

Just So Pediatrics offers comprehensive care to infants, children, and adolescents. The pediatric group includes Dr. Valerie Rooney, Dr. Jane Katz Field, and certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Howes. Along with their staff, they share the goal of making your child’s visit a comfortable one.

Are you feeling alone and stressed taking care of a loved one? Would it be helpful to have a safe and confidential place to discuss your concerns and feelings related to being a caregiver? Would support, encouragement and connection to community resources help you in your role as caregiver?

Whether you are caring for a loved one full-time or part-time, please join us at our next Caregiver Support Group. You will be able to connect with others who are currently caring for loved ones (including long-distance) or perhaps are beginning to prepare for the responsibilities of care.

To raise awareness among local women that heart disease is their #1 health threat, the at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital today announces a series of events for February to promote the Heart Truth: a nationwide effort to spread information about women and heart disease, prevention and wellness.

The month long event will include:

• Radio series entitled Matters of the Heart (every Monday in February 9:15 AM on Live and Local)
• Red Dress breakfast with Phaedra McDonough, APRN (7:30 PM on February 26)
• Café Chats with Cardiac Nurses for Risk Factors of Cardiac Disease (February 11 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM)
• Love your Heart Blood Pressure Screenings (Mondays in February 12:00 – 1:00 PM)
• Rapid CPR Classes (February 19 & 26 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM)
• Walk this Way to Better Health fitness walks (Tuesdays at 4:30 PM and Thursdays at 3:15 PM)
• and more.
  

Have you heard of Barre or BarSculpt?  It’s a new fitness regime that has been sweeping the nation!  Think of it as “Pilates Evolved.”

BarSculpt is a unique combination of cardio, core strenghtening and stretching, that results in a strong, lean, flexible body.  It’s also a safe workout for people of any fitness level. 

BarSculpt classes have arrived in Putney and are being taught by Putney resident, Maria Ogden.  Maria has been involved in fitness activities for 30 years and brings her own love of this exercise to Hot Wheelz Cycle Studio.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is pleased to welcome Robert Gailey as the new Director of Organizational Improvement.

In this position, Gailey will work closely with the hospital’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kathleen McGraw in leading the hospital’s Organizational Improvement efforts. He will also work with BMH’s quality director and department managers in developing quality improvement teams for specific “service lines” within the hospital.

Gailey, who has a Master of Science degree in organizational effectiveness with a specialization in healthcare, comes to BMH with 15 years of experience in healthcare supervisory roles and quality leadership positions. Most recently, he worked as the Quality Improvement Outcomes Coordinator at Union Hospital of Cecil County, a 122-bed facility in Elkton, MD, along the Baltimore-Philadelphia metro corridor. He is also well versed in both LEAN and Six Sigma methodologies for streamlining business processes and eliminating waste.

The Center for Cardiovascular Health at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) was awarded funding of $5,000 from (VITL) for its participation in a pilot program. The pilot provided the Center early access to VITLAccess, which is designed to share patient health information through the Vermont Health Information Exchange (HIE), which is managed by VITL.

VITLAccess is a new, secure web based provider portal that allows healthcare providers to search and view information about their patients who may have received care from healthcare organizations across the state and in the surrounding area. This information includes radiology and lab reports, hospital admission, discharge and transfer summaries, medication history, and other health information. VITLAccess will be offered to all providers across the state beginning in the spring of 2014.

announced its diamond halo earring raffle raised $895.00 for Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s “Doorway to Exceptional Care” capital campaign.

“The winner was Danielle Lauria,” said Caitlyn Wilkinson, owner of Renaissance Fine Jewelry on Main Street in Brattleboro. “She came in almost every day and bought tickets in both her name and the name of her newborn daughter. And the day after the drawing, Danielle’s husband brought her into the store and we surprised her. She was totally shocked; she couldn’t have been more excited. She even wore them out of the store,” said Wilkinson.

Georgio’s Pizza and Pasta Restaurant announced fifty two customers participated in its special fund raiser to support the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Emergency Department renovation and expansion project.

During the month of November, for every pizza sold to a customer presenting a special coupon, Georgio’s made a donation to “The Doorway to Exceptional Care” campaign.

“This is my hospital and I wanted to support the project” said George Leristis, owner of the restaurant located at 419 Canal Street in Brattleboro. “We are happy that we could support the hospital’s efforts to improve its Emergency Department. It is important it remains available for anyone who needs medical care, all day, every day.”

You and the Patient-Centered Medical Home: What is it? How does it affect you?

These are open Putney community sessions focusing on how health care reform in Vermont is affecting the way in which health care services are organized and delivered. Come learn about how the Vermont Blueprint for Health, the statewide initiative designed to improve the health of Vermonters, is using a model for health care delivery called the “Patient-Centered Medical Home”, or “PCMH” for short to enhance the way your health care is managed. 

Learn what a PCMH is and what your rights are as a patient receiving care in a PCMH.  Both medical offices in Putney, HeartSong Health in Community and Putney Family Health Care, are now certified PCMHs, all of the BMH medical practices either have become certified as PCMHs or are in the process of becoming certified.   If you receive care in Putney, you are now part of a PCMH.  If you receive care in a BMH practice in Brattleboro, you are, or will soon be, part of a PCMH.  Make sure that you know what this means for you and your family.

Brattleboro OB/GYN is pleased to welcome new midwife Heather Ferriera, CNM, WHNP, to the practice. A board-certified nurse midwife, Ferriera is a graduate of Ohio State University with a master’s degree in midwifery. She will provide both full scope midwifery services as well as gynecologic services. Ferriera, who resides in Brattleboro with her husband and son, will begin seeing patients as of January 6, 2014.

 Brattleboro OB/GYN is a group of obstetrician-gynecologists and certified nurse-midwives who practice collaboratively to provide comprehensive care in partnership with patients. Specializing in women’s health, obstetrics and gynecology, they strive to offer patients the most professional attention in healthcare.

Biologic Wellness Center will be hosting a photography exhibit and open house, during Gallery Walk, on Friday, January 3rd. Stop by our space on the ground floor of the Merchant’s Bank Building. Meet the featured exhibitor, Brattleboro resident, Dave Eagle, and enjoy his creative, edgy photographs. He describes himself as “a father, writer, photographer, irritable tech guy, forklift operator, ironist, socialist gubernatorial candidate, and a proponent of the Oxford comma.” Dave’s images, occurring at the “intersection of growth and decay,” remind the viewer that technological advance is fleeting and human triumph only temporary. This stunning, thought-provoking exhibit is on display throughout January.

21 Day Slimdown: A NEW YEAR: A NEW YOU! January 6th!

Accountability Partners and a Private Facebook Group will help you KEEP your New Years Resolutions!

Green Mountain Community Fitness helps Brattleboro stay healthy. Join us! We’re more than a gym.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital officials announced the October 27 “” event organized by Brattleboro Ford raised $3,240.00 for “The Doorway to Exceptional Care” capital campaign.

Drive 4 UR Community is a Ford Motor Company program that enables local dealerships to support community groups and nonprofit organizations. The automobile manufacturer donated $20 for every test drive taken by an individual during the day-long event on the BMH campus. The proceeds will support the hospital’s efforts to raise $3.5 million from the community to renovate and expand its Emergency Department.

Bicycling – Same roads, same rules.

Obey traffic laws. On the roadway, a bicycle is a vehicle. Bicyclists have the same rights as drivers, but they also have the same responsibilities, including having to stop at stop signs and red lights. 

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital officials announced the receipt of a $30,000 grant from for patient safety improvements to its Emergency Department.

Coverys is one of the nation’s leading providers of medical professional liability insurance and is represented locally by Cathy Coonan, CIC, at . The Boston-based company established the Coverys Community Healthcare Foundation, Inc. tosupport charitable endeavors that provide healthcare services, thus improving patient safety and care. 

As Brattleboro Memorial Hospital wraps up it’s Doorway to Exceptional Care Capital Campaign for the Emergency Department we wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU. Thank you to all who have given so generously and worked so hard to help bring about a new Emergency Department for our community.

We are also most to our $3.5 million goal. Many of you have made verbal commitments and have pledge cards sitting on your desk or table at home. Please fill them out and get them in so your support can be recognized and you can help get us over that last hurdle and to our goal.

Orthopaedic surgeons Elizabeth McLarney, MD, Jon Thatcher, MD, and William Vranos, MD, announce they have joined the BMH Physician Group, changing their practice from Southern Vermont Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine to BMH Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. Their office location remains the same at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s Richards Building, First Floor, 17 Belmont Avenue, but their phone number has changed to 802-251-8611.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is pleased to announce the transition of its travel clinic services to the new Tri-State Travel Clinic under the direction of Dr. George Idelkope, effective immediately.

The BMH travel clinic was created in 2011 as part of the hospital’s Occupational Health Services department, with Dr. Idelkope as the medical advisor and Jean Bristol as one of the registered nurses on staff at the clinic. Bristol has moved with the travel clinic to Dr. Idelkope’s office, providing continuity of care for patients. Bristol has more than 20 years of experience in travel medicine and is a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital officials announced that The Trust Company of Vermont has made a pledge in the amount of $25,000 to “The Doorway to Exceptional Care” capital campaign.

With almost three out of every four patients admitted to the hospital first coming through the Emergency Department, BMH is seeking a total of $3.5 million to expand and renovate the 31-year old facility. The additional 2,500 square feet of space will increase the number of treatment rooms and enable the medical staff to provide care with greater efficiency and privacy.