A Week In Business

Businesses Partner
On Diabetes Care

SALISBURY — Peninsula Home Care and Apple Discount Drugs are teaming up to offer specialized diabetes services to help home care patients, often isolated due to medical issues, manage the disease and take steps to prevent other health complications prompted by the disease.

“Early diagnosis is critical to successful treatment and delaying or preventing some of its complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, stroke, amputation and death,” said Nancy Bagwell, Peninsula Home Care branch director. “Our nurses and therapists are the eyes and ears in the homes of the patients we serve. We often identify diabetes-based issues in patients in the course of treating other challenges, and partnering with Apple will give us access to extensive diabetes counseling and resources that we can offer our patients in the comfort of their home as they recover from an illness, injury or surgery.”

The partnership involves Apple Certified Diabetes Educator John Motsko making visits to homebound patients to counsel them on how they can change their lifestyle to better manage the disease. Training will focus on healthy eating, glucose testing and medication management therapy.

“Being in the healthcare profession, we care about the health and well-being of the people in our community,” said Motsko, who also serves as coordinator of the Apple Drugs Diabetes Center. “With the rate of people living with diabetes on the Shore almost doubling the national rate, we know there is a need for specialized diabetes services and counseling. By teaming up with Peninsula Home Care, we can bring our diabetes expertise, services and counseling to homebound patients so they can become more independent in managing the disease.”

Through the month of March, Peninsula Home Care is also promoting Diabetes Alert Day, which be held on March 26. The day is geared to be a “wake-up call” and encourages people to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. You can find the test at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/

Credential Earned

OCEAN CITY — Connor Braniff of Ocean Point, Ltd, of Ocean City, recently joined the elite group of community association managers who have earned the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM®) credential from Community Associations Institute (CAI).

Braniff is one of more than 2,200 managers worldwide who have earned the highest level of professional recognition in the community association field. More than 60 million Americans live in an estimated 315,000 association-governed communities.

Braniff is a property manager with Ocean Point, Ltd. an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) based in Ocean City. Ocean Point, Ltd manages properties on the Delmarva Peninsula including Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. He is a 2004 graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and a 2008 graduate of the University of Delaware. Braniff has worked as a property manager at Ocean Point, Ltd for five years.

To earn the PCAM credential, managers must have five years of community association management experience and complete more than 100 hours of course work. In addition, credentialed PCAMs must fulfill continuing education and service requirements, as well as adhere to a code of ethics. After completing these requirements, PCAM candidates must complete the PCAM case study which demonstrates adequate knowledge of relevant subject matter. PCAM case studies have to be completed in a 30-day time frame, and their length can encompass a hundred pages.

“Professionals who earn CAI credentials maximize the value they can provide to their community association clients,” said CAI Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Skiba, CAE. “Not only have these professionals demonstrated a personal commitment to self-improvement, but they have also elevated their practical knowledge and expertise. That’s what all community associations need, and what board members and residents deserve.”

Top Agents Recognized

OCEAN CITY — The Mark Fritschle Group of Condominium Realty, LTD recently announced the company’s sales, settlement and listing leaders for February 2013.

Top listing agents by unit were Sheri Smith, Clint Bickford, Nick Bobenko, Kevin Decker and Rusty Molnar.

Top listing agent by volume were Kevin Decker, Sheri Smith and Nick Bobenko.
Top pending sales by units went to Sheri Smith, Rusty Molnar and Grant Fritschle.

Top selling agent by units were Sheri Smith, Bud Cumberland, Bob Hammond, Kevin Decker and Rusty Molnar.

Top settled agents by volume were Sheri Smith, Bob Hammond and Nick Bobenko.

Oncology Program Honored

SALISBURY — Becker’s Hospital Review recently named Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury and its Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute among "100 Hospitals and Health Systems With Great Oncology Programs."

The 100 hospitals were chosen for being on the cutting edge of cancer treatment, prevention and research, and the Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team selected them based on clinical accolades, quality of care and contributions to the field of oncology. Peninsula Regional was one of just five hospitals recognized in Maryland, and joins Christiana Care in Wilmington, Del. as the only two hospitals to earn the designation on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Becker’s concluded that each hospital selected has demonstrated a focus on patient-centered cancer care and emphasis on continual innovation in treatments and services. Many also hold a place in the history of cancer prevention and research, as they’ve driven groundbreaking discoveries and achieved clinical milestones.

The Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute at Peninsula Regional Medical Center is nationally accredited and recognized for its performance and outcomes, and is the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

The program, Delmarva’s largest and featuring the region’s most experienced team, offers complete cancer treatment with an emphasis on advanced medicine and technology, comprehensive services and compassionate care.

Leading Producers Named

BERLIN — RE/MAX Premier Properties and Broker Dr. Carl E. Ortman, has announced the top producers for the month of February.

Top listing agent from the Ocean Pines office was Marlene Ott, while the top producer for sales, also from the Ocean Pines office, was Jerry Richards.

Award Presented

SALISBURY — Irene Schultz, a Peninsula Regional Medical Center registered nurse, has been honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, a national program to recognize the outstanding efforts of nurses in their daily work.

Schultz works in PRMC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where she cares for premature newborns and other infants with serious health challenges. She was nominated for the award by the mother of a patient, who wrote, “Along with her kindness, she was swift to respond whenever a monitor showed signs of trouble. Her insight into his health was always clear and focused during grand rounds, where she helped shape his care plan with the rest of the health care team. And it wasn’t just my family — she showed true affection for all of her patients. Not even the most inconsolable preemie seemed to daunt her positive humor and patience.”

The DAISY Award honors nurses like Schultz, who demonstrate extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care. At a presentation given in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients and visitors, the honoree receives a certificate commending her or him for being an extraordinary nurse, a bouquet of daisies, cinnamon rolls and a sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

“We are proud to be among the hospitals participating in the DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes every day,” said PRMC Chief Nursing Officer Mary Beth D’Amico. “It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued.”