News

One of the Shore’s wound centers received national distinction on Tuesday. The staff of Atlantic General Hospital’s Wound Care Center accepted their fourth consecutive Robert A. Warriner III, MD, Center of Excellence Award; the center is one of only nine in the entire country to be a four-time winner. “Our staff works very hard to provide the best possible care to our patients, employing best practices and truly working together as a team,” said Geri Rosol, program director of the AGH Wound Care Center. ...

“All teenagers are moody…It’s just a phase…She’ll get over it.” Maybe, maybe not. A 2012 Surgeon General’s report revealed that a fifth of teens experience profound depression before reaching adulthood, and a quarter of those suffer from major depressive disorder. The effects of a severe depressive episode can include substance abuse, destructive behaviors like cutting, poor school performance, risky behavior, even suicide. Over their lifetimes, teens who suffer from depression may struggle at their jobs...

 Every year, National Nurses Week focuses attention on the diverse ways America's 3.1 million registered nurses work to save lives and to improve the health of millions of individuals. The American Nurses Association (ANA) selected "Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care" as the theme for 2013. National Nurses Week began on May 6 and ended on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession. This is always a full week for Atlantic General Hospital an...

This May marks two decades since Atlantic General Hospital opened its doors to the community. The 62-bed acute care community hospital has come a long way in the past 20 years, adding more than 200 physicians to the medical staff and expanding outpatient services and its health system of primary care provider and specialist offices to meet the needs of area residents and visitors. None of it could have been accomplished without support from the community. To celebrate the hospital’s growth and honor this...

  The staff at the Diabetes Outpatient Education Program have helped more than 1,400 people with diabetes learn how to better manage their disease over the years, empowering them to stave off debilitating and life-threatening conditions like heart disease, blindness, and stroke. The program was originally launched in 2005 to address an overwhelming community need for this kind of education and received formal recognition from the American Diabetes Association in 2008 for providing quality diabetes s...

Atlantic General Hospital recently named Darlene Jameson, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, to the role of coordinator of their Diabetes Outpatient Education Program. Jameson, who became a diabetes educator in 2008, has been with the American Diabetes Association-recognized program since that time. Jameson has provided education and counseling for nutrition and diabetes in the community for the past 17 years. She served as the Director of Nutrition Services at Atlantic General for 1...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Junior Auxiliary Group is holding a Progressive Dinner in downtown Berlin on Monday, April 22. The event serves as a fundraiser benefitting the hospital to support programs such as community health education, the James G. and Nancy W. Barrett Nursing Scholarship Fund, and the AGH Foundation, and it’s also an opportunity to create new friendships and connect with others in the community. The event is just $45 and starts with hors d'oeuvres at Siculi at 6 p.m. Dinner will be ser...

Atlantic General Hospital, Berlin Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Worcester County Health Department are joining together to become a tobacco-free campus on May 1, 2013. The new tobacco-free campus policy comprises cigarettes, pipes, and cigars as well as all smokeless tobacco products, which are prohibited in all buildings, parking lots and grounds along Healthway Drive in Berlin as well as all Atlantic General Hospital and Health System facilities throughout the region. "This change will help...

On April 11, Atlantic General Hospital will hold Enroll Delmarva Day, a day its patient financial services department has dedicated to assisting the community with health insurance coverage. During this event, uninsured Marylanders can learn more about available health care coverage options and receive guidance in filling out plan applications. Atlantic General will have financial counselors on hand to answer questions and assist with the forms. “As part of our ongoing assistance to our community, financ...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Healthy Happenings program is offering its next Stepping On class to the community beginning April 9. Stepping On is a well-researched falls prevention program, and it’s free to all who want to participate. The prevention of falls is vital to maintaining personal independence. Older people understand that the threat of a fall can be a barrier to safely doing all the things they want to do at home and in their community. The Stepping On workshop meets for two hours a week for s...

      New system improves efficiency and patient safety   A year after beginning the project, Atlantic General Hospital has launched PERKS, or the Patient Electronic Record-Keeping Service. The new system, which went live today, digitally links all documentation and physician orders for care throughout the inpatient and outpatient units of the hospital. So, no matter where a patient’s entry point or how many services received, his or her caregiver has access to a full record updated ...

      Cardiovascular diseases are the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. On average, one American dies every 39 seconds of cardiovascular disease – disorders of the heart and blood vessels. Stroke, a disorder of the blood supply to the brain, is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the country, with nearly 800,000 new strokes occurring annually.   According to the American Heart Association, the total direct and indirect cost of cardiovascul...

A year after beginning the project, Atlantic General Hospital is ready to launch PERKS, or the Patient Electronic Record-Keeping Service. The new system, which is scheduled to go live January 28, digitally links all documentation and physician orders for care throughout the inpatient and outpatient units of the hospital. So, no matter where a patient’s entry point or how many services received, his or her caregiver has access to a full record updated in real time. Electronic records provide a number of b...

Guidelines released in light of Flu Epidemic In an effort to protect the community against the spread of seasonal flu, Atlantic General Hospital and Health System announced today a set of suggested guidelines for visitors to the hospital. The guidelines are as follows: • Patients should limit their visitors to no more than two to protect them and others. • Individuals with upper respiratory illness (cough, fever, etc.) are asked not to visit patients. • Children under the age of 18 and the elderly are e...

This past fall, as part of a hospital-wide update of all inpatient rooms, Atlantic General Hospital installed new multimedia units that allow patients to watch television, make phone calls, and surf the web all on one machine. The units were made available to patients this week, after thorough testing. The new technology, called care.connection, offers more than just entertainment value – giving patients an easy way to access health education and important messages from the hospital with a few taps of th...

  Berlin, Md. – The Tanger Outlet Center in Ocean City, Md., donated $1,472.06 to the Eunice Q. Sorin Women’s Diagnostic Center, for the battle against breast cancer. “Tanger is committed to supporting breast cancer research” stated Steven B. Tanger, President and Chief Executive Officer for Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. “I am proud of our Tanger Team members in Ocean City, Maryland for their continued hard work in fighting breast cancer and I thank our shoppers for supporting Tanger’s missio...

Average individuals weren’t the only penguins to jump into the Atlantic in Ocean City on New Year’s Day. Captain America, Elvis, a Na'vi clansman, Sherman the Shorebird, a bull and several princesses were also in attendance at the 19th Annual AGH Penguin Swim. The conditions weren’t optimal, with an air temperature hovering around 48 degrees and overcast skies, but that didn’t stop the more than 660 participants and countless spectators from enjoying the day. To date, the 19th annual event has raised mor...

While choosing a high performance knee replacement is central to anyone who wants to return to an active lifestyle, there is a new surgical procedure available that may extend the life of knee implants. And, it’s less invasive, with an easier recovery for patients. Visionaire Patient Match technology is a remarkable system that uses a patient’s MRI and x-ray images to design and build surgical instruments customized for his or her unique knee anatomy. While every person’s knee joint has subtle difference...

Atlantic General Hospital recently received $1.8 million from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) for achieving Stage 1 Meaningful Use. Meaningful use, by federal definition, is the use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of care while reducing health disparities. This EHR technology should be used to improve care coordination and public health while maintaining privacy and the security of private health information. Atlan...

Atlantic General Hospital is pleased to announce that Rabindra Paul, M.D., has joined Atlantic General Hospital and Health System to provide medical oncology and hematology services. In this role, he oversees treatments at the Outpatient Infusion Center and provides comprehensive care management for patients diagnosed with all types of cancer. Dr. Paul is a highly experienced physician with 11 years of training, including a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Howard University Hospital in W...

 Preeti Yonker, M.D., a neurologist with Atlantic General Hospital and Health System, was honored with the 2012 Ed Duggan Community Champion Healthcare Professional Award by the Maryland chapter of the National MS Society this month. The annual award is presented to a doctor, nurse, neurologist, physical therapist, home health specialist or other healthcare professional who positively impacts the care and health of people living with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Yonker joined Atlantic General Hospital an...

The Junior Auxiliary Group of Atlantic General Hospital will be holding a ladies’ night out for holiday shopping on Friday, November 30. Santa’s Shopping Spree, featuring more than 15 local vendors, will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at Captain’s Table Restaurant inside the Courtyard by Marriot on 15th Street in Ocean City. Admission is free and there are drink specials all night. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served and all will have a chance to enter the Basket of Holiday Cheer raffle. Shop with participa...

There’s one more thing to add to that holiday to-do list, and it doesn’t involve a turkey dinner or gift wrapping. It’s signing up for the 19th Annual AGH Penguin Swim. Individual and team participants can register now to start gathering donations in preparation for the annual New Year’s Day event, which has become a local tradition on the Shore. For more information or to register, individuals and teams can visit penguinswim.atlanticgeneral.org, find them on Facebook at facebook.com/penguinswim or call ...

As the health care provider shortage continues to top the national agenda, it is important that the public be aware that there are more than 155,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) in the United States who provide high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered care to patients across the country. NPs are licensed, expert clinicians with advanced education (most have master’s and many have doctorate degrees) and extensive clinical training who provide primary, acute and specialty health care serv...

The main entrance to the hospital will be closed temporarily on Friday, November 2 at 9 pm due to renovation and construction work. It will re-open in the morning on Monday, November 5. The entry will be closed to maintain a safe environment while construction crews finish demolition, install flooring, paint and install a new information desk in the foyer. Visitors and patients should note that all entry to the facility will be through the Emergency Department/Outpatient Services Entr...

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Atlantic General Hospital’s Eunice Q. Sorin Women’s Diagnostic Center will be holding a Girls Night Out for area women. The free event, scheduled for Thursday, October 18, will have screenings for osteoporosis, clinical breast exams, free massages, reflexology and educational discussions. Enjoy a taste of Berlin, refreshments provided by The Globe and Baked Desserts. All are invited. The Details: Girls Night Out At the James G. Barrett Medical Office Building 102...

Atlantic General Hospital was recently ranked forty-sixth out of 46 hospitals in the state of Maryland on the MHACs scale. This is one time that being at the bottom is positive and, for patients in Worcester County and the surrounding area, it’s a very good thing indeed. Just what is an MHAC? It stands for Maryland Hospital Acquired Conditions and this particular ranking, announced this month by the Healthcare Service Cost Review Commission (HSCRC), is given to the hospital in the state with the lowest p...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Healthy Happenings Program and Peninsula Regional Medical Center in conjunction with the Ocean Pines Association are holding their 3rd Annual Ocean Pines Health Fair on Saturday, October 6. The fair will be held in the Ocean Pines Community Center on Ocean Parkway. Atlantic General Hospital will be providing various screenings, including blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, foot screening, hearing, diabetes, carotid screening, stroke assessment, pulse oximetry, and Derm...

Frequent handwashing and avoiding close contact with those who are sick certainly helps but, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the best way to prevent the flu is getting a flu vaccine each year. Influenza and complications resulting from the virus kill an estimated 20,000 people each year, according to the CDC. Although rates of influenza vaccinations have increased in recent years, health surveys indicate that less than half of the high-risk population receives a yearly ...

Atlantic General Hospital will begin renovating its main lobby at the south entrance to the facility in October. The project is being carried out in conjunction with the construction of a larger cafeteria adjacent to the lobby to better serve patients and visitors. The project, which will include repositioning the main desk closer to the entrance, replacing the flooring, upgrading the restrooms, and updating the wall finishes and lighting, is expected to be completed by December. The work will be carried...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Diabetes Outpatient Education Program will hold its next group class series September 18, 20, 25 and 27, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The series is taught by a nurse certified diabetes educator and a dietitian certified diabetes educator. The classes will cover meal planning, blood glucose monitoring, physical activity/ exercise, diabetes medications, high and low blood sugar, coping with diabetes, proper foot care and more. Diabetes education is covered by most insurance plans...

Do you have a chronic disease or condition or do you take care of someone with a chronic condition? If you do then you should consider making your life better by attending the Living Well workshop. The model for this program comes out of Stanford School of Medicine and is a chronic disease self-management course. The workshop is facilitated by two specially trained leaders, some of whom are healthcare professionals and some are not, one or both with chronic diseases themselves. It teaches participants ho...

The Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest breast cancer organization and provider of funds to aid in the awareness, prevention, treatment and research of breast cancer, will host an educational symposium as a celebration of sisterhood and survivorship. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about breast health and wellness, hear from local breast health medical experts and connect with valuable community resources. The event is free and open to the public. Advanced ...

Atlantic General Hospital will be offering two free diabetes clinics to residents of Worcester and Somerset Counties (18 years & older) with limited resources. The service is not intended to substitute for a physician’s recommendations or treatment, but program facilitators hope it will help certain individuals take charge of their diabetes. The clinics include limited education and: • Glucometer and test strips for those who qualify • Medication voucher (some restrictions apply) • HgbA1C finger stic...

The Atlantic General Hospital Foundation’s 19th Annual Fall Golf Classic will take place on Thursday, September 27 on the Newport Bay and Seaside courses of Ocean City Golf Club. Last year’s golf event raised more than $119,000 for the Foundation, which enables the not-for-profit hospital to advance the health of the residents and visitors of our community by way of a coordinated care delivery system that provides access to quality care, personalized service and education to improve individual and commun...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System has announced that Lawrence Kemp, M.D., will provide neurology care in their Selbyville Medical Center location. Kemp, who previously provided care in independent practice, has been a member of the hospital’s medical staff for five years. He will continue to see patients at his office in Lewes, Del., until August 1 when he is scheduled to join internist Nhu Tran, M.D., at the Selbyville Medical Center. “We’re thrilled to have Dr. Kemp join Atlantic General Heal...

Atlantic General Hospital, McCready Foundation and Peninsula Regional Medical Center have teamed up to partner with the Healthy Communities Institute (HCI) to offer an online resource of health and population data for residents of the Delmarva Peninsula, called Creating Healthy Communities. Backed by research developed at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, the web-based Creating Healthy Communities is designed to help healthcare providers, hospitals, local health departm...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System announced that pulmonologist Peter Costantini, D.O, joined their medical staff to provide outpatient pulmonary care in their Berlin Primary Care office. Costantini has been providing pulmonary and intensivist care for nearly 35 years. Prior to joining Atlantic General, he was the director of the Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit and the Respiratory Care Department at Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, N.J. He is board certified in internal medicine with c...

ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL RECEIVES $1 MILLION GRANT FOR PATIENT CENTERED MEDICAL HOME Atlantic General Hospital is among the grant recipients of The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ Healthcare Innovation Award. A total of $1,097,512 over three years will be provided to the healthcare organization, which they will use to extend their patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program to patients in their primary care practices in Berlin, Ocean Pines, Snow Hill, Pocomoke, and Ocean City, Md. and Selby...

The Junior Auxiliary Group (JAG) of Atlantic General Hospital will be hosting their 4th Annual Summer Solstice Fashion Show next week, benefiting Atlantic General Hospital’s James G. and Nancy W. Barrett Nursing Scholarship Fund, which allows talented nursing students to go to school cost-free. Models will showcase fashions from Body Double, Bruder Hill, Crazy Ladyz, Ruddo’s Golf, and Under The Banyan Tree. The event will feature a runway show, cocktails, and a plated dinner, plus a Chinese auction, a 50...

Smoking is addictive, and it kills. These were the stark messages that speaker Patrick Reynolds imparted to middle school students at Worcester Preparatory School and Most Blessed Sacrament School in late May. But, he also wanted area youth to know they’re not alone. If they smoke, they can get help to quit. And, they can help their loved ones quit as well. Reynolds, a grandson of big tobacco company founder RJ Reynolds, delivered compelling arguments against the decision to pick up a cigarette or a can ...

In an effort to support colleagues serving in resource-poor communities around the world, Atlantic General Hospital partnered with Pittsburgh-based international medical relief agency Global Links to collect gently worn scrubs for donation. The scrubs were collected during National Hospital Week at Atlantic General Hospital and will be shipped to primarily rural hospitals and clinics in Latin America and the Caribbean where the need for basic supplies is great. Caption: Members of the Professional Nursin...

Atlantic General Hospital physicians, leaders, and clinicians gathered recently to celebrate the Robert A. Warriner III, M.D., Center of Excellence Award, which was given to the AGH Wound Care Center because it has met the Center of Distinction quality standards for at least two consecutive years. This marks the fourth year that Atlantic General met the standards, which include patient satisfaction rates over 92 percent and at least a 91 percent healing rate in 30 median days, among other quality standar...

Atlantic General Hospital is pleased to announce that psychiatrist Kenneth Widra, M.D., has joined Atlantic General Hospital’s Behavior Health Program. He works in coordination with the program’s licensed clinical social worker and mental health nurse as well as the telemedicine services of Sheppard Pratt Health System to provide outpatient mental health and substance abuse services to the community. Widra served for nearly eleven years as outpatient psychiatrist and medical director for the Harrisonburg...

In November 2011, AGH participated as a pilot site in the second phase of a national research study focused on the quality of care provided for patients who had experienced pain within the last 24 hours. The study was sponsored by the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). The report for the second phase of the study shows that Atlantic General Hospital’s patients trust their nurses when it comes to pain management, with 100 percent of patients surveyed stating that they felt their nurs...

ATLANTIC GENERAL ER RECEIVES PATIENT SAFETY AWARD Berlin, Md. – Atlantic General Hospital was one of nine organizations to be included in the Circle of Honor for Patient Safety Innovation this year. The honor was presented at the 8th Annual Maryland Patient Safety Conference in April. A total of sixty Maryland healthcare organizations were considered for the honor. AGH received the award for the Emergency Department’s Triage Throughput Process Improvement project that was originally piloted during the s...

Atlantic General Hospital announced today that Sidney Barnes, MD, has joined the medical staff. Barnes, a general surgeon, has relocated his practice from Crisfield, Md., where he most recently served as the chief of surgery at McCready Hospital. He will provide general surgical services at Atlantic General Hospital, through his practice located within the office of general and bariatric surgeon Alae Zarif, M.D., in Berlin Main Place. He will also see patients at Atlantic General’s award-winning Wound Ca...

National Nurses Week celebrated May 6-12, 2012 On May 6, 2012, Atlantic General Hospital is joining the American Nurses Association in celebrating Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring, as part of National Nurses Week, which is held May 6-12, every year. The purpose of the week-long celebration is to raise awareness of the value of nursing and help educate the public about the role nurses play in meeting the health care needs of the American people. In honor of the dedication, commitment, and tireless effo...

Sleep apnea, a disorder affecting millions of Americans, can cause daytime fatigue and contribute to a host of serious health problems including heart disease. While the reasons for sleep apnea may vary, it is often caused by the collapsing of the soft tissues in the walls of the throat, which results in sleep interruption and loss of precious sleep time. A common treatment for this type of sleep apnea is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device that forces oxygen into the airway. A...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System is providing a series of free health screenings during the month of May at Atlantic ImmediCare in Ocean Pines and Millsboro, Del. Skin cancer is a serious problem on the Eastern Shore, in part because of the large number of individuals who make their living off the land and the sea. Skin cancer is very treatable if caught early, however. On May 9 and 23, Atlantic General Hospital medical staff will provide free skin checks and education to any interested indivi...

Atlantic General Hospital has announced that gynecologist Dolores Rhymer-Anderson M.D., FACOG, MBA has joined Atlantic General Health System’s Ocean Pines Primary Care and Women’s Health practice, as of May 1. Dr. Rhymer-Anderson is the fifth women’s health provider to join the medical staff for the health system physician offices and comes to Atlantic General with 24 years of gynecology experience. She will provide general women’s health services, gynecologic and minimally invasive surger...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System’s volunteers were honored recently at the healthcare organization’s annual Auxiliary awards luncheon. Volunteers who donated between 100 and 1,200 hours of service to Atlantic General received recognition. This past year, the AGH Auxiliary donated 38, 966 hours of their time, saving the hospital more than $400,000 in wages and benefits. In addition to their time, the Auxiliary has also given financial support. Their annual fundraisers and socials have helped fu...

As construction of the east entry parking lot at Atlantic General Hospital nears completion, patients and visitors can once again enter the building through the Outpatient Services lobby as well as the entrance to the Outpatient Infusion Center. Those individuals who have an appointment for imaging or other diagnostics should continue to use the front lobby and meet with the communications specialist stationed there. Patients who come in for walk-in lab or imaging services as well as those arriving for a...

Gail S. Mansell, of Atlantic General Hospital and Health System, has been awarded Diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy Association. Diplomate status is reserved for those individuals who are able to meet the stringent requirements of the American Psychotherapy Association; in the area of knowledge, skill, education, training, and experience in the therapeutic process.   The American Psychotherapy Association is an international membership association developed to bring together profession...

Lisa A. Jeffers, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, CWS, a nurse practitioner at Atlantic General Hospital’s Wound Care Center, was recently published in the MEDSURG Nursing Journal; the article is titled “Raising Health Care Provider Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Disease in Patients Over Age 50.” The article, co-authored by Mary C. DiBartolo, PhD, RN-BC, an associate professor of nursing at Salisbury University, sheds light on a growing misconception: not only are more people over 50 having sex, but more of t...

Atlantic General Hospital is partnering with Ocean City Recreation and Parks to provide a series of health education seminars to the Ocean City community. The first in the series, “Childhood Obesity,” will be held at the Northside Park Recreation Complex on January 25. Munna Garg, MD, a board-certified pediatrician with Atlantic General Health System’s Ocean Pines Primary Care and Women’s Health Office, will speak from 6 to 7 p.m. The topics for upcoming seminars will include sports-related head injuries...

The official tally is not in, but event planners for the 18th Annual Penguin Swim anticipate exceeding their fundraising goal of $88,000. Nearly 1,000 people charged into the Atlantic Ocean at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day to raise funds for the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation. “This was yet again an incredible show of support for AGH from our community. I cannot thank everyone enough – from the event sponsors, to our participants, to our crew of volunteers for making this possible,” said Amy Unger, dire...

While some think it is rare, mouth cancer is newly diagnosed in roughly 100 individuals each day in the United States alone, and a person dies from oral cancer every hour. When found at early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80 to 90 percent survival rate. Unfortunately, this cancer is typically found in the late stages, and account for a death rate of about 45 percent. Late stage diagnosis is due to a lack of public awareness. In an effort to combat this problem, Atlantic General Hospital and...

ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL LEADER NAMED FELLOW BY AMERICAN COLLEGE OF HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES Berlin, Md. – Colleen Wareing, MS, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, vice president of patient care services at Atlantic General Hospital, recently became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders. Fellow status represents achievement of the highest standard of professional development. In fact, only 5,400 healthcare executives hold this...

As people around the country wrap up their Christmas shopping and start making plans for ringing in 2012, many on the Shore are preparing for a very different sort of New Year’s Day tradition – the18th Annual AGH Penguin Swim. Amassing a group of people to run headlong into icy cold water is not an event unique to the East Coast, but the AGH Penguin Swim is a special experience near and dear the hearts of many on the Shore -- and places much farther flung. Like Craig Kettler, who will be coming to Ocean ...