A Week In Business

A Week In Business
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Controller Appointed

SALISBURY – The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore is pleased to announce the appointment of David A. Plotts to the position of Controller.

Plotts is taking over the duties of Gary Martin, who recently retired after over 10 years of service to the foundation. Plotts will oversee the foundation’s financials, investments, human resources, information systems, and facilities management.

New Board Members Named

BERLIN – Atlantic General Hospital recently appointed the following new members to the Board of Directors.

Harriet L. Johnson has served as an instructor at New Jersey State Hospital at Marlboro, Jersey City Medical Center Hospital School of Nursing, Hospital of Joint Disease, New York University Medical Center and Rutgers University College of Nursing.

G. Marvin Steen is a member of the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Eastern Shore Builders Association. He is a custom home builder and real estate broker with Steen Associates Inc.

Thomas D. Beck, Jr., D.O. is an Orthopaedic Surgeon on staff at Atlantic General Hospital. Prior to joining Atlantic Orthopaedics in Berlin, Beck was in private practice in Philadelphia for almost four years. Beck is currently the Vice Chief of Staff and Director of the Center for Joint Surgery at Atlantic General Hospital.

Appointed as new corporate members at AGH were Heather Stansbury, Frank Gunion, Helen Bartus, Robert Purcell, Ross Bergey, Haskin U Deeley, William Greer, MD., Cathi Coates and Michele Houck Knopp.      

Certification Announced

FRUITLAND — Apple Discount Drugs announced the certification of Donald Ruark as a Certified Orthotic Fitter (COF).  Ruark passed a comprehensive written exam given by the Board of Certification/Accreditation, International (BOC), which is accredited by the National commission for Certifying Agencies.

As a certified orthotic fitter, Ruark will provide and/or supervise the assessment, treatment plan development and implementation, follow-up and practice management of people using prescribed, prefabricated orthotics. An orthotic fitter properly fits, dispenses and adjusts prefabricated orthotic devices.

“This certification means a lot to the quality of care our customers receive when they walk through our door,” said Jeff Sherr, president of Apple Discount Drugs. “As a trained and certified orthotic fitter, Donald can effectively tend to the physical and emotional well-being of our customers by providing training and instruction on how to properly use and maintain orthotic devices.”

Hospital ER Care Recognized

SALISBURY — Emergency medical care provided at Peninsula Regional Medical Center’s (PRMC) Robert T. Adkins, M.D. Emergency/Trauma Center has been ranked among the top 5% in the nation for a third consecutive year according to a new study released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading, independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings.

PRMC is the only recipient of the HealthGrades Emergency Medicine Excellence Award™ on the Delmarva Peninsula in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and one of just 19 hospitals in Maryland, Washington, DC and Delaware to receive the designation this year. PRMC’s emergency medicine care was also 5-Star rated in the same study.

The findings are based on an analysis of more than seven million Medicare patient records from 2008 to 2010. HealthGrades Emergency Medicine in American Hospitals study focused on 12 of the most common and life-threatening medical emergencies among that patient population including heart attack, stroke, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.  As a group, Medicare patients treated at PRMC and the other award-winning hospitals had, on average, a 41.5% reduced risk of death compared to those treated at non-recipient hospitals.

“Not only are we the most experienced emergency/trauma team on the Delmarva Peninsula, we also serve the most patients, with nearly 85,000 visits to our Emergency Department each year,” said Susan Patterson, director of Emergency/Trauma and Critical Care Services at PRMC. “Being ranked among the top hospitals in the nation the past three years and being in that elite 5% in the nation is extremely rewarding for us, but it’s even more important for our patients who should take great comfort in knowing that exceptional emergency and trauma care is being provided here to our community we serve every day.”