HALO Æ program

HALO Æ program

BOARDMAN

Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley is one of the first hospitals in the area to incorporate the HALO Æ Safer Way to Sleep Æ program in which wearable blankets are used for babies instead of loose blankets as a way to reduce the risk of accidental suffocation.

The program, used at Akron Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Elizabeth Health Center and Akron Children’s special-care nursery at its Beeghly campus in Boardman, also models safe sleep practices for parents. The hospital’s focus on wearable blankets not only comforts and stabilizes sleeping babies in the nursery, but it also eliminates loose blankets in bassinets, said Mary Ellen Michael, nurse manager of Akron Children’s NICU and special care nursery.

A $1,750 grant through last year’s Miracles and Promises radiothon enables all patients in the neonatal units the chance to take home the HALO SleepSack Swaddle and a packet of information for new parents about safe sleep practices.

Childbirth classes

SHARON, PA.

Sharon Regional Health System’s new childbirth educator is Kim Stephenson, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE) who is teaching childbirth classes for the Women’s Center. She is also the Healthy Beginnings Plus Care Coordinator for Family Planning Services of Mercer County and a certified Parent to Parent facilitator.

The series of four classes begins in August and November, and is designed for the mom-to-be and her support person in the second half of pregnancy. For information or to register, call 724-983-5518 or 800-346-7997.

Prima Health Care adds Gaetano, Kempe

COLUMBIANA

The Prima Heal th Care medical group has added Drs. Themelina Gaetano and Jeffrey Kempe to its staff.

Dr. Gaetano, a board certified pediatrician, will start practice Wednesday in Prima’s Columbiana facility. Originally from Campbell, she has practiced the last few years in the Dayton area.

Dr. Kempe, also a Valley native, will begin his primary care practice on Aug. 12, rotating between Prima Health’s Boardman and Columbiana facilities. He is board-certified in internal medicine and has practiced several years as a hospitalist.

Know Your Numbers

WARREN

A two-part Know Your Numbers Program, which includes screening to determine participant’s risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, is being offered from 9 to 11 a.m. Aug. 1; and a presentation on the subject will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 8, both at Grace AME Church, 1137 Main Ave. SW. Participants must agree to attend both parts of the program and must preregister by calling the Warren City Health Department at 330-841-2596. Sponsors of the program are the Warren Health Department, Grace AME Church and Humility of Mary Health Partners.

Bariatric specialist

SHARON, PA.

Dr. Sheetal Nijhawan, a specialist in bariatric surgery, advanced laparoscopic surgery, and a board certified general surgeon, recently joined the medical staff of Sharon Regional Health System. She is associated with general surgeons, Drs. Ravi Sachdeva and Gene Marcelli in General Surgical Specialists, 2425 Garden Way, Suite 101, Hermitage, Pa.

A member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Nijhawan completed a fellowship in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery at the University of California at San Diego and a general surgery residency at Cleveland Clinic.