There were smiles all around when representatives of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) and Lehigh Valley Health Network cut the ribbon for PMMC’s newly renovated 10-bed inpatient pediatrics unit on February 2.  The partnership between the two health care organizations involves Lehigh Valley Health Network providing two full-time pediatric hospitalists at PMMC. Pediatric hospitalists are pediatricians who care for children who are hospitalized with a wide variety of illnesses and medical conditions. Besides inpatient coverage, the hospitalists will give consultations for children coming through PMMC’s emergency room and newborns in the Maternity and Women’s Health Center, and attend high risk deliveries.  If there is a need for more specialized care, pediatric patients at PMMC now have a direct link to Lehigh Valley Health Network’s comprehensive pediatric services.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network specialists who annually provide emergency care during Pocono Raceway NASCAR events received national recognition for their outstanding work. (L-r) NASCAR nurse liaisons Jennifer Partee and Pam Talbert joined NASCAR president Mike Helton to present the NASCAR Teamwork Award to Lou Puentes, Mike Wargo, Jeff Kuklinski, DO, Robert Tomsho, DO, Lori Sheppard, NASCAR nurse liaison, and Denise Meeks, NASCAR nurse liaison, during the 2012 NASCAR Safety Summit in Charlotte, NC. The award is given annually to an infield care center that has an outstanding group of medical professionals who exceed NASCAR’s medical standards and demonstrate excellent teamwork on a daily basis.

To help moms in our community have healthy, full-term pregnancies, Lehigh Valley Health Network is sponsoring the March of Dimes’ March for Babies Walk on Sunday, April 22, 2012. The 3.5-mile walk begins at 10 a.m. at Dorney Park in Allentown. Money raised from the walk supports programs in our community that fund research and programs that help babies begin healthy lives. To join us in the March for Babies Walk, visit marchforbabies.org or click here and select “Lehigh Valley.”

The CITGO Petroleum Corporation recently named Lehigh Valley Health Network a CITGO Fueling Good Fall 2011 winner. The health network was recognized for ongoing efforts to provide dental care and education to low-income children through the Miles of Smiles mobile dental clinic. CITGO representative David Laughner (left) presented the $5,000 award to S. Clarke Woodruff, DMD, chair of the health network’s department of dental medicine. The award is part of CITGO’s Ripples of Good program. The Miles of Smiles mobile dental clinic program was chosen from more than 1,500 charities through a nationwide online vote.

You see them all around the Lehigh Valley—Stop Texting magnets on vehicles to educate the community about the dangers of distracted driving.  One in every 80 Americans dies in a motor vehicle collision. About 6,000 of those people die in car crashes caused by distracted driving—and cell phone use is by far the greatest distraction.  Now Lehigh Valley Health Network is partnering with The Morning Call and Viamedia to continue to spread the message of the public awareness campaign begun in late 2010 by asking everyone to take the pledge. You can do your part to make the community safer by pledging to stop texting.

Log on to mcall.com/stoptexting, or take the pledge at any of the upcoming events:

March 31 – April 3, Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Show

April 22, March of Dimes March for Babies

Lehigh Valley Health Network is partnering with Keystone Villas at Fleetwood, a retirement community in Blandon, Pa., to provide on-site care for its residents. (L-r) Joselito Ouano, MD, and Roland Newman II, DO, of Blandon Medical Group, helped dedicate a state-of-the-art medical office suite at Keystone Villas. They spoke to residents about the benefits of seeing a physician inside the facility, their goal of hosting wellness programs and educational presentations there in the future, and how rewarding it feels to care for residents and link them to Lehigh Valley Health Network services.

Burn survivor Shannon Anderson of Ephrata, Pa., knew “the big question” was coming, but she wasn’t exactly sure when her boyfriend David Kurtz, also of Ephrata, Pa., would ask her to marry him. She thought he might ask during the holidays. She also thought it would be a private moment between just the two of them. So she was surprised when he got up in front of the crowd during the recent Lehigh Valley Health Network burn survivor celebration, and dropped to one knee. When he asked for her hand in marriage, she said yes. The newly engaged couple met at a nursing home where Anderson worked while Kurtz was there visiting a friend. You can learn more about Shannon’s story here.

Heather Rodale believes strongly in the healing power of art. She founded a non-profit organization called Healing Through the Arts (HTTA) after her own experience with stage 3 melanoma. “After my treatment, I just wasn’t the same anymore,” she says. “I didn’t know how to live my old life, and the only thing that made me feel whole again was art.” HTTA provides information and resources to encourage and support individuals, caregivers and their families. In 2011, HTTA held its first annual juried art exhibition for high school students in the region. Students were invited to create art based on the theme of “hope and healing.” Area hospitals were invited to choose pieces from the exhibition, held at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, to install in cancer-related public areas. Lehigh Valley Health Network chose six pieces which were recently installed in the main corridor of the John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center.  The students represented are Edward Hozza, III, Emily Smith, Angela Anatalio, Samantha Quinones, Nicole Gencarelli and Hannah Bankos.

Before his concert at the Croc Rock in Allentown, Pa., season seven American Idol winner David Cook stopped by Lehigh Valley Health Network’s pediatrics department to bring good will and holiday cheer to the children. The children enjoyed the visit, and so did parents and health network colleagues. Pediatrician Kris Rooney, MD, and sisters Gabby and Brittney contacted Cook and asked him to come to the hospital. Earlier in 2011, the sisters also brought Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly fame and Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers to the hospital to visit with children.