David Vines

Patrick Dunne

Aprilyn Hilton

Jackie Richards

• David Vines explains why respiratory therapists are in such big demand these days in this article in the Chicago, IL, Tribune, noting that the profession plays a role in everything from acute care to rehabilitation centers and more. “There is always something exciting and innovative coming out,’’ he was quoted as saying.

• Patrick Dunne talks about the need to reduce the number of hospital readmissions for COPD patients in this article in the Mansfield, OH, News Journal. “You’ll never get those COPD readmission rates to zero, but if you get it to the low teens or single-digit numbers, you’ll be doing a good job,” he was quoted as saying. Patrick was speaking before a group of RTs and home health workers at a local hospital.

• Valerie Boyd’s newly remodeled outpatient cardiopulmonary unit was dedicated to a patient who benefited from its services for more than 20 years and the ceremony was covered in this article on Hillsdale.net out of Hillsdale, MI. “He had such a positive attitude and he was so committed to not only improving his own health, but encouraging others,” she was quoted as saying of Randall Wigent, who passed away in 2011. “He made it like a big social hour.”
  
  
  Valerie Boyd, center, and some of her RT team, counter-clockwise from left to right, Tracy Taylor, Rene Spahr, Christopher Scouten, Carl Strachn, and Andrea Johnson Irwin.

• Debbie Gurnari advocates for clean air in this letter to the editor in the Bethlehem, PA, Patch. “I’ve seen first-hand the impact of air quality on those patients who lived in cities with a large amount of smog or air pollution,” she was quoted as saying.

• Craig Johnson comments on the newly expanded cardiovascular health services at his hospital in this article in The Paper Magazine out of Texas. “By providing our heart patients with comprehensive follow-up care, we are furthering the continuum of quality care for the mind, body and spirit,” he was quoted as saying.

• Todd Cross explains how his patients benefit from his pulmonary rehabilitation program in this article and video on UpNorthLive.com out of Michigan. “We teach them how to breathe, we teach them how to control their anxiety because when you can’t breathe you instantly panic,” he was quoted as saying.

• Aprilyn Hilton demonstrated respiratory care skills to a group of middle school students, and the event was covered in this article in the Freeport, IL, Journal Standard. Said one student who took a turn at intubation after watching Aprilyn demonstrate the procedure on a mannequin: “I think I can do this someday.”

• Jackie Richards has been running Camp Nota-Gonna-Wheeze for many years now, and the latest session was covered in this article in the Evansville, IN, Courier & Press. “The nurses tell us that after the asthma camp, they can tell the kids went to asthma camp because they will come back and use their medication, their spacers and their inhalers properly,” she was quoted as saying.

• Sinai Hospital receives kudos for earning the AARC’s Quality Respiratory Care Recognition for the third year in a row in this article on the LifeBridge Health website.