Loma Linda University & Medical Center news
- Public affairs staff wins five awards at annual Inland Empire PRSA dinner
- Junior high school students learn about health careers at LLU
- LLU Overseas Heart Surgery Team completes Penang mission
- LLU Center for the Treatment of Anxiety opens
Public affairs staff wins five awards at annual Inland Empire PRSA dinner
The Loma Linda University and Medical Center public affairs staff won five awards Thursday, March 25, at the Polaris Awards program, sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America, California Inland Empire Chapter. The annual awards program was held at the National Hot Rod Association Museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, Pomona. The LLU&MC office of public affairs is headed by W. Augustus Cheatham, MSW, vice president for public affairs and marketing.
The awards recognize the best in public relations practice through superior achievements and excellence in professional strategies and tactics.
Winning entries from Loma Linda included technology, marketing, multi-media, and community relations categories:
Polaris Award: "Innovative use of technology" for the LLU&MC Internet web site, Lonna Quast, web editor, and Scott Andress, MPH, associate web editor.
Polaris Award: "Marketing communications" for the Loma Linda University Viewbook/When you come to Loma Linda…, W. Augustus Cheatham, MSW, executive editor; Waldena J. Gaede, managing editor; and Nicole R. Cheatham, associate editor.
Polaris Award: "Multi-media presentation" for Loma Linda University Cancer Institute’s 5th Annual Making the Most of Me, Loma Linda University Health System marketing department team, Greg Williams, DrPH, administrative director.
Honorable mention: "Community relations" for the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Kids Care Fair 1998, Loma Linda University Health System marketing department team, Greg Williams, DrPH, administrative director.
Honorable mention: "Community relations" for Loma Linda University Cancer Institute’s 5th Annual Making the Most of Me, Loma Linda University Health System marketing department team, Greg Williams, DrPH, administrative director.
Junior high school students learn about health careers at LLU
Barbara Arguilez, a sophomore nursing student in the School of Nursing, gives eye screenings to junior high school students from Imperial Valley, Brawley, and Calexico. The students spent the day at Loma Linda University learning about possible careers in health care.
On Thursday, March 18, 100 junior high school students from Imperial Valley, Brawley, and Calexico traveled to the Loma Linda University campus.
The students spent the day at LLU as part of a program to teach them about possible careers in health care sponsored by Imperial Valley College (IVC).
According to LLU marketing director Tony Valenzuela, EdD, the request came to him from a guidance counselor at IVC, Betty Romero.
While at LLU, the students listened to general information about the University from Dr. Valenzuela and Mel Sundean, MBA, RT, director of marketing and recruiting for the School of Allied Health Professions.
The students then heard presentations and received dental screenings from School of Dentistry student Carlos Moretta (dentistry class of 2001), and dental hygiene class of 2000 students Paul Mendiola, Selena Ramos, and Jackie Tatum.
The seventh through ninth graders also learned about possible careers in public health from Juan C. (J.C.) Belliard, MPH, instructor, School of Public Health.
During the students' visit, Ernestine Dew, RN, director of admissions and recruitment, School of Nursing, spoke to them about possible careers in nursing. Ms. Dew was joined by Barbara Arguilez, a sophomore LLU nursing student, who recounted how Dr. Valenzuela had recruited her for the School of Nursing while she was attending school in Calexico. Ms. Arguilez gave her presentation in Spanish. After their presentations, Ms. Dew and Ms. Arguilez gave the students an opportunity to take part in vision and blood pressure screenings.
LLU Overseas Heart Surgery Team completes Penang mission
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| Some of the heart team pose with three staff members from Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH) for a group picture following church services at Penang Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pictured are (back row, from left) Mark Wenborne, CCP, perfusionist; Anees J. Razzouk, MD, associate professor of surgery; Jerry E. Daly, MS, heart team administrative director; Michael Hagelgantz, RT, respiratory therapist; Patrick Tan, MD, PAH anesthesiologist; (front row, from left) Joan Coggin, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and heart team director; a PAH intensive care nurse; Mary Tan, MD, PAH cardiologist; Ramesh C. Bansal, MBBS, professor of medicine; and Stanley D. Brauer, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology. |
The team, headed by Joan Coggin, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and special assistant to the LLU president for international affairs, traveled to Malaysia in January where they operated on 19 children ranging in age from 2 weeks to 12 years old. In addition, the team operated on two young adults--ages 17 and 22.
"It was a real pleasure for us to work at Penang Adventist Hospital," Dr. Coggin says. "The staff was exceptionally qualified, and it was nice to work with the same individuals in a hospital setting and then see them again at church services on Sabbath."
One of the most rewarding times during the mission was a surgery performed on 7-day-old baby girl, Cheah Suat Bee. Baby Suat Bee’s mother was born in Penang and her husband in Hong Kong. Mr. and Mrs. Cheah, who live in Hong Kong, returned to Penang so they could have their baby in Mrs. Cheah"s home city.
Baby Suat Bee was born on December 28, 1998, with two severe heart defects, according to Anees J. Razzouk, MD, associate professor of surgery in the School of Medicine, and surgeon for the Penang trip.
"Without interventional surgery, Baby Suat Bee would have died within days," Dr. Razzouk says.
The team operated on one of Baby Suat Bee’s heart defects on January 8.
"We were hoping that this surgery would help alleviate the other problem so that the baby could grow older, then undergo a second surgery," Dr. Coggin relates.
However, that was not the case. Two days later the team had to operate on the baby again for her additional defect.
"Baby Suat Bee was extremely sick," Dr. Coggin explains. “However, she did extremely well.
"The mother and father were both ecstatic that the team was in Penang when their baby was born," Dr. Coggin continues, "and that their baby was born in Penang Adventist Hospital. If it hadn’t been for that set of circumstances, the baby would most likely have died." Other parents had similiar stories. Eleven-month-old Mohd Aidil Nazrin Mohd Nor underwent open-heart surgery on January 8, 1999.
Mohd Aidil's mother, Mohd Che Ah, was extremely worried when she took baby Mohd Aidil to a government hospital and was told that the cost for the surgery would be RM13,000 (approximately $3,100 in U.S. dollars). Her fisherman husband earned only about RM500 ($120) a month.
Her hopes were rekindled when she read in the local newspapers that Penang Adventist Hospital was going to have a special program to offer at "minimal or no cost" heart surgeries for infants and children.
"At first I could not believe it," Mrs. Mohd says, "but I called the hospital and found out that it was was true.
"We are most grateful to the Loma Linda team and Penang Adventist Hospital for giving us our son back."
All of the heart surgeries were performed free of charge, according to Dr. Coggin. However, some of the patient’s families were able to help with hospital expenses; others were helped through the Penang Adventist Hospital's heart fund.
The purpose of the visit was to assist Penang Adventist Hospital expand the existing open-heart surgery program to include small children and infants, according to Khor Thean Heng, director of marketing for Penang Adventist Hospital.
"Penang Adventist Hospital has had an open-heart surgery program for adults for several years. This program, headed by Alfred C. Poey, MD, was the first at a private hospital in the northern region of Malaysia to offer open-heart surgery, and was also the first hospital in Malaysia to offer laser heart surgery," Mr. Khor says.
"The team was invited to Penang Adventist Hospital to help celebrate our 75th anniversary which begins next year," comments Teddric J. Mohr, president and chief executive officer of the hospital.
Team members traveling to Penang included Dr. Coggin; Dr. Razzouk; Ramesh C. Bansal, MBBS, professor of medicine, a cardiologist; Stanley D. Brauer, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology; Oliver Githea, MD, anesthesia resident; Michael Hagelgantz, RT, respiratory therapist; Mark Wenborne, CCP, perfusionist; Karen Ann Rode, RN, cardiac intensive care nurse; Jolanda Jones, RN, cardiac intensive care nurse; and Jerry E. Daly, MS, administrative director of the Overseas Heart Surgery Team.
Penang Adventist Hospital, a 146-bed facility operated by the Southeast Asian Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, was established in 1924 by Jonathan E. Gardner, MD, a 1919 graduate of Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
The Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team was established in 1963, when a group of seven specialists, traveling to Pakistan under the auspices of the United States Department of State, spent six weeks at the Karachi Seventh-day Adventist Hospital where they operated on 44 patients.
In 1967, the team received an invitation from the Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, Greece, to help them establish an open-heart surgery program in that country. In the fall of 1967, and again in 1969, the team traveled to Athens where they performed a total of 61 open-heart surgeries over two seven-week periods. In 1970, the team began a continuous program in Athens training Greek health-care personnel in all aspects of open-heart surgery. By 1975, when the team’s involvement was completed, the Evangelismos Hospital was recognized as the foremost heart center in all of Greece.
In 1974 and 1975, the team traveled to the Republic of Vietnam where they performed more than 100 surgeries--in two seven-week trips--at Saigon Adventist Hospital.
In January, 1976, the team was invited by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense and Aviation to begin a heart program in that Middle Eastern country. The Loma Linda team assisted the Saudi Arabians in developing their own open-heart surgery program.
In 1982, the Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team traveled to Suzhou in the People’s Republic of China as part of a medical exchange program. As an outgrowth of this trip, the Fu Wai Hospital in Beijing asked the team to assist them in establishing or upgrading heart surgery programs in regional medical centers throughout China. In 1986, the team traveled to Inner Mongolia as the first effort in this new enterprise. In succeeding years the team has traveled to several locations in China including Baotou, Hefei, Huhehaote, Jining, Mudanjiang, Nanching, Urumchi, and Yinchuan.
In 1984, the team traveled to Chile, and in 1985 the group assisted Hong Kong Adventist Hospital in establishing their new cardiac surgery center.
Another country to be assisted by the Overseas Heart Surgery team is Zimbabwe. In late 1987, the team was issued an invitation from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health to assist Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare with the development of its heart team. In February of 1988, the team made its initial visit.
In June of 1988, the team traveled to Narobi, Kenya, and in 1989, the team returned to China where they worked at heart centers in Mudanjiang and Hefei.
In March of 1992, the team traveled to the Kingdom of Nepal, where in 12 surgical days, the team operated on 15 children--14 of them under the age of 15. Shortly after the completion of their trip to Kathmandu, the government of Nepal extended an invitation to the team to help establish a permanent heart surgery program for children.
In 1995, the team traveled to Yangon General Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar, where they operated on 15 patients.
Prior to this year, the team's most recent international was in November, 1996, to the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, where they operated on 34 patients.
LLU Center for the Treatment of Anxiety opens
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| The Loma Linda University Center for the Treatment of Anxiety, staffed by (pictured above, from left) J. Stephen Maurer, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry; Carlos Fayard, PhD, clinical coordinator of the Center and associate professor of psychiatry; Deborah Buckwalter, MA, clinical psychology intern; and Khushro Unwalla, MD, chief resident at the Center, opened in January to help people suffering from anxiety disorders. Individuals wishing to know more about the Center may call (909) 558-4505. |
"I would look at myself in the mirror and see someone I didn’t recognize," she says.
A victim of anxiety disorder, she was plagued by recurring fears that she couldn’t rationalize away no matter how hard she tried. Overcome with horror that someone might discover her fears, she was often afraid to leave her house.
"I always had this feeling that my insides had all frozen and were dropping out the bottom of the world," she says.
"You feel detached from yourself, like some part of your brain has gone crazy and the rest of you has not. Because the fears are so irrational and so alien, you don’t recognize yourself."
Like Kris, 30 to 35 percent of Americans will suffer from some type of anxiety disorder during their lifetime, according to the Epidemiological Catchment Area study conducted by the U.S. Department of Mental Health. Fifteen percent will have symptoms severe enough to require treatment.
The Loma Linda University Center for the Treatment of Anxiety opened in January to offer specific treatments to help people suffering from anxiety disorders.
According to Carlos Fayard, PhD, clinical coordinator of the Center and associate professor of psychiatry, patients can make one stop at the Center and receive everything they need--from thorough evaluations to crystal-clear treatment plans.
This comprehensive approach involves assessing all aspects of the illness, such as the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual.
"The holistic, multidisciplinary approach is what our anxiety clinic is geared [toward]," says Khushro Unwalla, MD, chief resident at the clinic.
The clinic also offers help for those with substance abuse issues related to their anxiety disorder.
Under the direction of Donald Lee Anderson, MD, chair of the psychiatry department and associate professor of psychiatry, the Center treats patients who have:
• Generalized anxiety disorder--chronic, extreme worry and tension about health, money, family, or work.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder--anxious thoughts, impulses or pictures in a person’s mind, accompanied by rituals often times designed to get rid of the anxious feeling.
• Panic disorder--panic attacks that may cause the person to believe that they are having a heart attack, that they are losing their mind, or that they are going to die.
• Phobias--intense, irrational fears of situations or certain things. Phobias may be so intense that they stop people from doing things they need to do.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--persistent frightening thoughts and memories of a terrifying event. Among other things, PTSD may cause people to feel emotionally numb around those close to them, or feel increased arousal (difficulty falling asleep, increased irritability, and outbursts of anger).
• Anxiety associated with a medical illness--difficulty coping with an illness, treatment, or results of a treatment which may result in frequent visits to a doctor "just in case," or avoiding a needed visit to the doctor because of fear.
The Center offers several forms of treatment for anxiety disorders.
One treatment, called cognitive behavioral therapy, helps the person learn how to think about their anxiety more realistically and develop coping skills that reduce levels of physiological arousal.
Another treatment, biofeedback, is a way of teaching people how to reduce their physiological response to anxiety using special equipment that measures their reactions.
An important part of the treatment, says Dr. Fayard, is a family consultation aimed at educating the family about the illness and how to best help their loved one.
“I'd like patients to know... that there is hope when you're struggling with anxiety. A comprehensive evaluation and treatment [plan] can indeed bring you back to the life you knew before the [problem began]," says Dr. Fayard.
To make an appointment at the Center for the Treatment of Anxiety, call (909) 558-4505. The Center for the Treatment of Anxiety is located at 11375 Mountain View Avenue in the Dover Building in Loma Linda.
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