Healthcare

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Know your risk factors of stroke and how it can be prevented, identify how to recognize the signs and symptoms and how to minimize the effects of stroke by acting FAST. During the months of May and June, Southcoast Hospitals Group will be sending out free recipes, bilingual tip cards and magnets to help you live a healthy lifestyle.

It’s ten o’clock at night and you’ve had a busy day.  You’re brushing your teeth to go to bed and you notice that you’re drooling a little out of the right side of your mouth.  You wipe it away and find that it feels a little numb… just like at the dentist.  But you haven’t been to the dentist.  You reach for the glass of rinse water and it slips from your hand.  You check yourself.  Your hand is numb and apparently weaker than it should be.  You don’t know what to think.  This has never happened before.  What should you do?

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - St. Luke’s Hospital today unveiled a new location for patients and their families to find tranquility and stop for reflection during a hospital visit. The Shapiro Healing Garden was made possible by a generous donation by Dr. Gilbert and Frima “Timmy” Shapiro.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The Southcoast Health Van provides free education and screenings for the community addressing cardiac disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. It also serves as an off-site blood donation center for the Southcoast Blood Bank.

FAIRHAVEN, Mass. - Southcoast Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care & Infusion Services was recently recognized by Masspro, the Medicare quality improvement organization for Massachusetts, for significantly reducing the number of home care patients who need to be readmitted to a hospital over a 30-day period.

New Bedford, Massachusetts - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded an $83,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) to New Bedford Emergency Medical Services.

During this election season, the significance of a candidate’s voice is both literal and figurative. The race for the White House reminds us that one single voice can influence a nation and change the course of history. It is with this spirit that Northeast Ear Nose and Throat and ENT physicians throughout the South Coast region and the country celebrated World Voice Day on April 16. The theme this year was “Let Your Voice Be Heard.”

Southcoast Health System today announced plans to create a comprehensive center for the treatment of cancer and blood diseases in Fairhaven to address the growing need for state-of-the-art cancer services in an area of the South Coast region that currently has none.

 
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Southcoast Hospitals Group is sponsoring a series of free vascular screenings to be held on Tuesdays, April 29, May 13, 27, and June 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. at St. Luke’s Hospital, 101 Page Street, New Bedford.

Free T-Shirt when you donate blood on Wednesdays in April Add a free Southcoast Hospitals’ “I’m a Donor” t-shirt to your spring wardrobe

Free Head and Neck Cancer Screenings April 23 Southcoast Hospitals Group and Northeast Ear Nose & Throat Surgeons team up with Yul Brynner Head & Neck Cancer Foundation on Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The Southcoast Health Van provides free education and screenings for the community addressing cardiac disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. It also serves as an off-site blood donation center for the Southcoast Blood Bank.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The St. Luke’s Auxiliary will host a “celebrity” fashion show on Thursday, April 24, at 6 p.m. at Rachel’s Lakeside in Dartmouth to benefit digital mammography services at St. Luke’s Hospital.

First-rate breast care services are available to women no matter where they live in the South Coast region of Massachusetts.  However, according to the Women's Health Network of the Mass. Department of Public Health and Radiation, more than half of all women in Southeastern Massachusetts do not receive yearly mammograms. 

FAIRHAVEN, Mass. — Southcoast Hospice & Palliative Care is looking for volunteers in the greater New Bedford and Wareham areas to provide emotional support to patients and their families.

“Camp Angel Wings is a free two day event for children and teens who have lost a loved one.  Fun filled activities provide an opportunity for them to explore and express their thoughts and feelings in a healthy environment.”

Children in the Day School classroom # 7 have been very busy. Jean Arbec, teacher in that classroom, states that “for the past two weeks the children have been busy preparing and baking for this big day.”

The Schwartz Center for Children hosted the Kiwanis Club of New Bedford’s recent weekly meeting on Tuesday, February 12. The Kiwanians presented the Center with snack goodies for the Center’s children and a Spinoza Bear for the Speech Therapy Department through it’s “Buddy Bear Project.”

Brennan Srisirikul, a current physical therapy client at the Schwartz Center for Children, is not deterred one bit by having cerebral palsy. This ambitious youth, like others his age, recently received his drivers license.

Born premature at 3 pounds and 30 weeks old, six-year-old Sabine Charles faced a myriad of complications including a complex heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and Pulmonary Artesia. Since her birth, she has had a total of three open heart surgeries at Children’s Hospital in Boston, a stroke and a series of seizures.

Each Monday morning Mara Evans and Christine Reilly, teachers from the Perkins school for the Blind, arrive at the Schwartz Center for Children to host an innovative integrated educational partnership program with the Schwartz Center for Children.

FAIRHAVEN, MA (2.26.08) - - Marion resident Bill Fuller is one of Community Nurse & Hospice Care’s many success stories. Even so, he holds a special distinction among the countless people who have benefited from the skilled, compassionate care of the organization’s home healthcare nurses. In an out-of-the-ordinary turn of events, Bill went from hospice patient to hospice volunteer.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Southcoast Hospitals’ RAPPP (Responsible Attitudes toward Pregnancy, Parenting & Prevention) program honored 12 local fathers and the children who nominated them at its third annual Heart of Fatherhood awards dinner held earlier this month.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The Southcoast Health Van provides free education and screenings for the community addressing cardiac disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. It also serves as an off-site blood donation center for the Southcoast Blood Bank. Primary services offered on the van include health screenings, blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, vaccines, pregnancy testing, educational teen programs, medical physical referrals and health education. Tetanus diphtheria (Td) and Pneumococcal Vaccine are also offered.

A “Shocking” event is quickly approaching.  Learn about AEDs (Defibrillators) during a free informational session hosted by Medical Survival Consultants will help local businesses and families save lives.

Some may pass it off as Murphy’s Law or perhaps it’s an outcome of that dreadful day on 9/11. Regardless, now more than ever employers and workers must think about and pre-plan for the unexpected, a fire, injury, violence, or some other emergency which strikes while we’re at work. 

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women.  One of every 3 American women dies of heart disease.  The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts is holding its 5th Annual Red Dress Fashion Show & Silent Auction to raise awareness of heart disease in women.  The event will be held on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 5:30 pm at the Century House in Acushnet. 

Heart attacks strike both men and women. The warning signs should never be ignored. Call 911 immediately if you think you are having a heart attack.

During the month of February will hear (hopefully) a lot about women being at high risk for heart disease.  When you ask any women what the leading cause of death in women is, she will usually respond breast cancer. Not so.

Five-year old, Kensey Waskiewicz is a star!  She plays an Afghan refugee in the now-playing movie “Charlie Wilson’s War.”  Alerted to the fact that the organization “Helping Hands” was in search of amputees for an upcoming movie, the Waskiewicz family thought that there daughter would be excellent for the movie.  After submitting, different photos of Kensey, they were notified that she was in fact accepted as a film extra and that she would be filming April 10 – 21st, just a few short months away. 

The Schwartz Center for Children is teaming up with the New England Deafblind Project to host the third-part of a Massachusetts Four-Part Deafblind Training series.  This training is being hosted by Holyoke Community College, Worcester Public Schools, Schwartz Center for Children, and Perkins Training Center.