Special-care nursery at St. Joseph Warren

Special-care nursery at St. Joseph Warren

WARREN

Akron Children’s Hospital opened its special-care nursery at St. Joseph Warren Hospital, 667 Eastland Ave. SE, last week. The six-bed unit has been designated a Level II special-care nursery, which increases its ability to care for sick and premature babies.

Specially trained doctors and nurses can care for babies born up to 8 weeks premature who weigh at least 3 pounds, and who are physiologically immature, such as those who have breathing problems or are unable to feed orally.

Akron Children’s partnered with St. Joseph Warren Hospital two years ago to operate its special-care nursery as well as a 5-bed inpatient pediatric unit that went into effect earlier this year. Akron Children’s has operations at its Beeghly hospital campus in Boardman, its growing network of primary-care offices, and a range of pediatric subspecialty services to provide care for infants, and teens in the Valley.

Scientific excellence

PITTSBURGH

John F. Alcorn, assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, was awarded the 2015 Parker B. Francis Jo Rae Wright Award for Scientific Excellence. Alcorn’s research focuses on T-cell mediated immunity during influenza infections, and secondary bacterial pneumonia, as well as the role of T-cells in severe, steroid-insensitive asthma.

The Parker B. Francis Jo Rae Wright Award for Scientific Excellence is given annually to a recent graduate of the Fellowship Program whose research shows creativity and promise, mentoring and professional leadership qualities.

Alcorn also received $5,000 to support research costs. The award has been established by the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program and the Francis Family Foundation to honor Jo Rae Wright, a world-renowned scientist who served as dean of the Graduate School of Duke University.

Reducing chest-pain hospitalizations

COLUMBUS

Physicians at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mount Carmel Health System believe the number of Americans who go to the hospital for chest pain can be reduced. The symptom sends more than 7 million to the emergency department, with about half of them admitted for further observation, testing and treatment.

Researchers concluded that it’s a low short-term risk for life-threatening cardiac events among patients with chest pain who have normal cardiac blood tests, vital signs and electrocardiograms. The researchers looked at data from 45,416 emergency department visits for chest pain at three Columbus- area hospitals between July 2008 and June 2013, with 11,230 who met the criteria for the study.

Sharon Regional gets sports-medicine OK

SHARON, PA.

Sharon Regional Health System’s Sports Medicine program recently earned approved provider status from the Board of Certification Inc., which now allows Sharon Regional to offer BOC-certified educational programs for athletic trainers in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

BOC has been involved with athletic trainers’ certification since 1969. BOC establishes and regulates both the standards of practice for athletic training and the continuing-education requirements for BOC-certified athletic trainers. With locations in Hermitage, Pa., and Hubbard, Sharon Regional Sports Medicine provides care for all levels of sports injuries. For information about sports medicine, call 724-983-5970.