A Week In Business

A Week In Business
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Wor-Wic Adds Instructors

BERLIN- Curtis Satterfield of Salisbury was recently hired as instructor of computer studies at Wor-Wic Community College.

Before joining Wor-Wic, he was an information systems infrastructure specialist at the Celeste Industries Corp. in Easton. Satterfield received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Frostburg State University and his master’s degree in information systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

In addition, Amy Oneal-Self of Pocomoke City was recently hired as instructor of English at Wor-Wic Community College.

 She has been a part-time English and speech instructor at Wor-Wic, as well as executive administrative assistant and part-time communication arts instructor at Salisbury University.

Oneal-Self received her associate degree from John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill., her bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and her master’s degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

PRMC Organ Donor Program Honored

SALISBURY- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) honored five Maryland hospitals, including Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, with the Medal of Honor for Organ Donation for substantially raising the organ donation rates of eligible donors in their facility during a 26 month award period ending in June 2009. 

The medals were awarded during a ceremony at the National Learning Congress on Organ Donation and Transplantation in Dallas, Texas.  The other honored hospitals included Anne Arundel Medical Center, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, The University of Maryland Medical Center, and Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown.

“The commitment by these hospitals, and many others in Maryland, to increase organ and tissue donation at their institutions has helped many transplant recipients in our community and will continue in assisting the 1,884 hopeful recipients who are currently waiting in Maryland,” said Charlie Alexander, President and CEO of The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, a non-profit organization which helps facilitate the donation and recovery of human organs and tissues for transplantation and research along with providing advocacy, family support and comprehensive public and professional education.

The Medal of Honor is presented to hospitals and organ procurement organizations nationwide who achieve lifesaving organ donation rates of 75 percent or more for a sustained 12-month period. The Medal of Honor Award is one element of the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative, a national initiative to increase the number of lives saved through transplantation.

In 2008, the Living Legacy Foundation facilitated 119 organ donors.  From the generosity of those donors, 329 people were given a second chance at life through organ transplant. Additionally, 373 Maryland citizens became tissue donors resulting in thousands who will benefit from life enhancing tissue transplants of bone, skin, vein and eyes.

With more than 103,000 people nationally waiting for a life-saving organ, of which nearly 2,000 are in Maryland alone, and hundreds of thousands more are in need of tissue transplants to restore their health, mobility and sight, The Living Legacy Foundation encourages Marylanders to say ‘yes’ to organ, eye and tissue donation by registering online at www.donatelifemaryland.org, completing a donor designation form or by checking  ‘yes’ to organ donation when applying for or renewing a Maryland driver’s license.

AGH Conducting Community Needs Survey

BERLIN- In mid-October, Atlantic General Hospital began conducting a two-week long community needs assessment. The hospital has secured the assistance of RKM Research and Communications, Inc., a market research firm to conduct the research on the hospital’s behalf.

The 15-minute telephone survey will be administered to randomly selected households in Worcester County, Md., and portions of lower Sussex County, Delaware, eastern Wicomico County, Md., and northern Accomack County in Virginia. The purpose of the survey is to obtain opinions concerning healthcare in our communities so that Atlantic General Hospital and Health System can better plan to meet residents’ healthcare needs in the future. 

All responses to the survey will be kept confidential, hospital officials state. Atlantic General will receive only summary information with statistics in its report from RKM. The information is crucial for planning strategic initiatives and for providing health education to the public.

“We want to know what residents think about their healthcare options and what services they would like to see offered in the future,” said Kim Justice, vice president of planning and operations. “We value their opinions and hope that anyone called by RKM will choose to participate in the survey.”