Shawna Strickland

Deborah Pierce

Linda Twigg

Trisha Miller

Betsy Thomason

Steve Cosey

Laura Lusky

Donna Hawk

Mike Crabb

Joe Rohling

Terry Volsko

• RT student Nehal Patel’s recent trip to Washington, DC, with the AARC PACT is covered in this press release on ReadMedia.com. Nehal, whose award-winning essay earned her the trip, is also pictured along with AARC CEO Thomas Kallstrom and President George Gaebler. (Stay tuned for more on Nehal in your June issue of AARC Times.)
  
  Tom Kallstrom, Nehal Patel, and George Gaebler

• AARC Associate Executive Director-Education Shawna Strickland shares her asthma expertise in this article in the Wall Street Journal, noting that asthma attacks can be caused by exercise, cold, or other triggers.

• For the ninth year in a row Deborah Pierce’s rehab patients embarked on a virtual journey aimed at increasing their cardiopulmonary fitness, this time “traversing” 200 miles over the Great Lake-to-Lake Trail. “The intent is to provide motivation and fun to all cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation patients,” Deborah was quoted as saying in this article in the Battle Creek, MI, Enquirer.

• RT student Linda Twigg and her fellow students went all out for the annual Great Strides Walk to benefit cystic fibrosis this year, and their efforts were covered in this article in the Appalachian Independent out of Maryland. “My goal is to be part of this walk in the future and to see upcoming respiratory therapy students holding this event on a yearly basis,” she was quoted as saying.

• Students in Trisha Miller’s program were also gearing up to participate in the Great Strides Walk, and they invited the public to join them in this article in the Carteret County News-Times out of Morehead City, NC. “The cost of this research continues to rise as sophisticated, new technology is being developed to save these precious lives,” Trisha was quoted as saying.

• Betsy Thomason is credited with educating the physician author of this article in the New York Amsterdam News about the role BreathPlay exercises can play in the treatment of people with chronic lung disease.

• Vanessa Vasquez’s hospital just received a grant of more than $34,000 from the Will Rogers Institute to purchase new equipment for its NICU. “It’s a piece of equipment that is going to decrease the work of breathing for these babies so that they can use their extra energy and work on growing and developing,” she was quoted as saying in this article in the Bakersfield Californian.

• Steve Cosey is running for country coroner, and he outlined some of the objectives he would pursue should he be elected in this article in the York, PA, Daily Record. Steve has served the country as a deputy coroner for the past 15 years.

• Laura Lusky advises people to monitor air quality before going outside in this article in South Coast Today out of Massachusetts about the failing grade her county got in the recent American Lung Association (ALA) report.

• Donna Hawk weighs in on her county’s poor showing in the ALA report in this article on a local television station website, noting that she and her colleagues take special precautions to let their patients know when air quality is bad.  “We actually have things we call summer-snow days, where we call our patients and tell them it is an unhealthy breathing day,” she was quoted as saying. “We tell them it’s a day to stay home.”

And we can add these hospitals to the long list of those who have gotten great coverage this year for earning the AARC’s Quality Respiratory Care Recognition –

• Thomasville Medical Center in this article in the Lexington, NC, Dispatch. “We are proud to provide remarkable healthcare,” manager Mike Crabb was quoted as saying.
• Orange Park Medical Center in this article on the HCA South Atlantic website.
• Grand View Medical Company in this article on the Grand View Hospital website.
• Ministry Health Care’s Saint Clare, Good Samaritan, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Michael’s, Stevens Point, Saint Mary’s, and Rhinelander Hospitals, and Door County Medical Center, in this article in the Merrill, WI, FOTO News. “The QRCR program was started by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) in 2003 to help consumers identify those facilities using qualified respiratory therapists to provide respiratory care,” Ministry Saint Clare manager Joe Rohling was quoted as saying.
• South Georgia Medical Center in this article on the hospital website.
• Samaritan Regional Health System in this article on the hospital website.
• Akron Children’s Hospital in this article on the hospital website. VP for patient services and CNO Lisa Aurilo credited RT director Terry Volsko and her team for their excellent work, noting that “Patient safety is our highest priority and QRCR places Akron Children’s Hospital in the same company as other hospitals recognized for the highest level of care.”
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth in this article on the health system website.
• The University of Miami Hospital in this article on the health system website.
• Sturgis Hospital in this article in the Sturgis, MI, Journal.