Announcements: Health, March 5

'-LAKEVIEW REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER ANNOUNCES "CLASSROOM" LINE-UP FOR MARCH, 2009 -LSUHSC STANLEY S. SCOTT CANCER AWARDED GRANT BY AVON FOUNDATION FOR RURAL BREAST CANCER OUTREACH -Ochsner Becomes Medical Partner for Health Center at Bonnabel High School

LAKEVIEW REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER ANNOUNCES "CLASSROOM" LINE-UP FOR MARCH, 2009

Lakeview Regional Medical Center announces the line-up for its March classes:  including a Breastfeeding Support Group, a Newborn Care Class, a Breast Feeding Class, and a Lamaze Childbirth Class.   All classes are located at the hospital, 95 East Fairway Drive in Covington, Louisiana, in the first floor conference room or third floor classroom.

To register for any of these classes, please call:  1-866-4-LAKEVIEW.

Lakeview Regional Medical Center is proud to announce its sponsorship of professional tri-athlete Caroline Smith. Smith, who is a 2007 Amateur Ironman 70.3 World Champion, kicked off 2008 as Rookie Pro Tri-athlete and is a member of the ZOOT Ultra Triathlon Team. On April 5, 2009 she will compete in Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, the first major triathlon in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina. As part of her partnership with Lakeview, Smith will conduct a free Wellness Lecture Series in conjunction with the Lakeview Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Center. Topics will assist area athletes in preparation for New Orleans Ironman 70.3 on April 5 2009.

Overuse Injuries in Tri-athletes:  Diagnosis and Prevention – Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Women’s and Children’s Classes
March 5, 6:30pm to 9:30pm
A series of 4 sessions, covering the natural childbirth process, including relaxation and breathing techniques,
signs and symptoms or labor, and post partum care.

March 14, 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Breastfeeding Class
Topics include the benefits and process of breastfeeding, holding and positioning baby and breast,
what to expect at first feeding and dietary suggestions.

March 14, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Newborn Care Class
Learn all aspects of taking care of a new baby.

March 21, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Sibling Class
For children ages 3 to 12.  A 1-time, 2-hour class for big brothers and big sisters to be.  Topics include jealousy,
delivery of new baby, hospital care and newborn care.  Also included is a tour of Labor and Delivery.

Educational Classes
March 6 and 20, 8:00am
Total Joint Replacement Class
Class conducted by a Physical Therapist, discussing preoperative and postoperative care for
patients undergoing total joint replacement surgery.

For Healthcare Professionals
March 3, 9 and 25, 8:30am to 4:30pm
Basic EKG Recognition – CNE 19.75 HRS
A 3-day course for healthcare providers, which will cover normal and abnormal electrocardiograms and monitor tracings

March 11, 8:15am to 12:30pm
BLS for Healthcare Providers
AHA program for basic life saving techniques

March 20, 8:00am to 3:00pm
Non-Violent Crisis Prevention
CNE 7.25 HRS – A 1-day program.

March 27 and 28, 7:30am to 5:15pm
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
AHA 12-hour program.  Day one is 8 hours.  Day two is 4 hours. For healthcare providers.

March 31, 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
Recertification course for healthcare providers in neonatal resuscitation.

For details on Healthcare Provider classes, call Education Department, (985) 867-3967.

LSUHSC STANLEY S. SCOTT CANCER AWARDED GRANT BY AVON FOUNDATION FOR RURAL BREAST CANCER OUTREACH
 
            New Orleans, LA – For the second year in a row, the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Fund (AFBCF) has awarded LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans a $50,000 grant to enhance breast cancer outreach at the River Region Cancer Screening and Early Detection Center in Sorrento, a freestanding cancer screening clinic serving the rural communities between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The funded activities will provide information about breast cancer screening and breast health issues to underserved women throughout the river parishes, emphasizing minorities and women who are forty years and over. 

           According to the Louisiana Tumor Registry at LSU Health Sciences Center, although breast cancer mortality rates have been declining among Caucasian women and US African-American women, in Louisiana, breast cancer mortality rates are rising for African-American women. African-American women in Louisiana are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease than those in the US (41% vs. 37%) so continued efforts to expand early detection programs followed by timely and appropriate treatment will improve survival.

           The mission of the River Region Cancer Screening and Early Detection Center is to detect and help patients find treatment for cancers before they become life threatening. The clinic offers underserved women free cancer screening, including mammograms, clinical breast exams, and personalized instruction on self breast exams. The AFBCF funding supports outreach activities at health fairs, schools, churches, and other civic groups, as well as in the workplace. In addition, it supports an educational program for community lay educators, women from the clinic’s target population who will serve as health advocates their friends, family, and other members of their community. The course provides the lay educators with culturally sensitive information on nutrition, clinical trials, cancer prevention and screening, and other activities recommended for improving breast health, including self breast exams. This training is available to anyone interested in impacting the communities in which they live.  Cancer prevention, early detection, and screening programs have been shown to increase breast cancer survival rates dramatically.  

         Because Louisiana ranks as one of the highest states in obesity, another goal of the outreach program is to educate women about the link between obesity and cancer.  All outreach activities will be co-directed by Elizabeth Melancon, MSN, FNP-C, and Leigh Anne Kamerman Burns, MS, LDN-RD, who have also developed the course for lay educators.

           The clinic received its first AFPCF funding last year.  Within the first six months, the number of women receiving mammograms increased by 69%, the number receiving clinical breast examinations by 60%, the percentage of minority clients increased from 40% to 51%.  This year’s goal is to further increase the number of women screened and also to increase the percentage of clients who are of African American descent and/or 65 years of age and older.  To boost community involvement, the lay health educator program is being expanded, due to a new partnership with the Sisters Supporting Sisters, the Baton Rouge chapter of the Sisters Network, whereby members will work within their community to develop breast cancer education and increase prevention efforts. 

       LSUHSC MD/PHD STUDENT AWARDED NIH GRANT
 
David Stark, an MD/PhD student at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has been awarded a grant by the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $28,594. A training grant for individual predoctoral students, the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award is an individual fellowship (F30) given to "promising applicants with the potential to become productive, independent, highly trained physician-scientists."  Stark is the only new recipient of the F30 award in Louisiana so far this year.

           Stark is conducting research at the LSUHSC Neuroscience Center of Excellence in the laboratories of Dr. Nicolas Bazan. The goal of his project is to determine how specific molecules derived from the omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), can protect the brain under conditions of stress associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

           Neurodegenerative diseases are conditions marked by loss of function or death of neurons, a certain type of cell in the central nervous system. Understanding the balance of molecular level processes leading to cell death or survival is critical to improving patient outcomes in these diseases, and neuroprotective signaling of DHA-derived messengers is a new and important horizon on the biomedical research landscape.

Ochsner Becomes Medical Partner for Health Center at Bonnabel High School

A ribbon-cutting will be held at the Bonnabel High School Health Center next
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 to officially commemorate the opening at 10:30am.

The fifth school-based health center (SBHC) in Jefferson Parish recently
opened at Bonnabel High School in Kenner.  Numerous SBHCs are in place
across the country to provide convenient comprehensive, preventive and
primary physical and behavioral health services for public school children.
"Ochsner Health System is proud to be the medical partner for the Bonnabel
Health Center and is excited to put ideas and programs in place to help
ensure that students at Bonnabel are healthy and educated on issues that
could affect their health," says Avery Corenswet, Ochsner Health System Vice
President of Clinical Community Outreach.

The project is one of several SBHCs being launched by the Louisiana Public
Health Institute with funds from an $8.7 million grant from the Kellogg
Foundation.  The center will be funded in part by annual state grants as
well as support from the Jefferson Parish School Board.  As part of its
partnership, Ochsner Pediatrician Dr. Russell Steele will serve as Medical
Director of the center.  Additionally, Ochsner will provide in kind dollars
to the center by staffing it with a full-time Nurse Practitioner.

This full-service clinic will be open only to students of Bonnabel High
School whose parents give signed consent for their children to be able to
enroll in the SBHC.  The center will provide physicals, screenings, wellness
checks and immunizations in addition to seeing students who are suffering
with the common cold, stomach problems, headaches or minor injuries.  "High
school aged kids often feel like they are too old to see a pediatrician, yet
too young to see a family practitioner," says Corenswet.  "We hope that this
clinic will give students an easy, convenient place to go where they feel
comfortable seeking medical care and advice."

The health center at Bonnabel has numerous benefits in addition to its
accessibility.  Everyone involved feels that it will reduce student
absenteeism and parental leave from work for doctor visits, encourage family
and community involvement and work with school personnel to meet the needs
of the students and their families.

The health clinic is not the only thing that Ochsner plans on taking part of
at Bonnabel.  "As a community partner in Kenner, Ochsner is going to go
above and beyond the traditional role of medical partner at a SBHC," says
Corenswet.  Bi-monthly health screenings will be held for the teachers.
Ochsner employees will be working with students interested in a career in
healthcare with internships and job placement.  Ochsner-owned Elmwood
Fitness Center will also play a role at Bonnabel.  Elmwood dieticians will
be working with teachers in culinary classes to introduce ways to cook
healthier.  Elmwood trainers will also get involved, working with PE coaches
to improve student exercise and organized sports.

 

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