News

ATLANTIC GENERAL ER RECEIVES PATIENT SAFETY AWARD Berlin, Md. – Atlantic General Hospital was one of nine organizations to be included in the Circle of Honor for Patient Safety Innovation this year. The honor was presented at the 8th Annual Maryland Patient Safety Conference in April. A total of sixty Maryland healthcare organizations were considered for the honor. AGH received the award for the Emergency Department’s Triage Throughput Process Improvement project that was originally piloted during the s...

Atlantic General Hospital announced today that Sidney Barnes, MD, has joined the medical staff. Barnes, a general surgeon, has relocated his practice from Crisfield, Md., where he most recently served as the chief of surgery at McCready Hospital. He will provide general surgical services at Atlantic General Hospital, through his practice located within the office of general and bariatric surgeon Alae Zarif, M.D., in Berlin Main Place. He will also see patients at Atlantic General’s award-winning Wound Ca...

National Nurses Week celebrated May 6-12, 2012 On May 6, 2012, Atlantic General Hospital is joining the American Nurses Association in celebrating Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring, as part of National Nurses Week, which is held May 6-12, every year. The purpose of the week-long celebration is to raise awareness of the value of nursing and help educate the public about the role nurses play in meeting the health care needs of the American people. In honor of the dedication, commitment, and tireless effo...

Sleep apnea, a disorder affecting millions of Americans, can cause daytime fatigue and contribute to a host of serious health problems including heart disease. While the reasons for sleep apnea may vary, it is often caused by the collapsing of the soft tissues in the walls of the throat, which results in sleep interruption and loss of precious sleep time. A common treatment for this type of sleep apnea is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device that forces oxygen into the airway. A...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System is providing a series of free health screenings during the month of May at Atlantic ImmediCare in Ocean Pines and Millsboro, Del. Skin cancer is a serious problem on the Eastern Shore, in part because of the large number of individuals who make their living off the land and the sea. Skin cancer is very treatable if caught early, however. On May 9 and 23, Atlantic General Hospital medical staff will provide free skin checks and education to any interested indivi...

Atlantic General Hospital has announced that gynecologist Dolores Rhymer-Anderson M.D., FACOG, MBA has joined Atlantic General Health System’s Ocean Pines Primary Care and Women’s Health practice, as of May 1. Dr. Rhymer-Anderson is the fifth women’s health provider to join the medical staff for the health system physician offices and comes to Atlantic General with 24 years of gynecology experience. She will provide general women’s health services, gynecologic and minimally invasive surger...

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System’s volunteers were honored recently at the healthcare organization’s annual Auxiliary awards luncheon. Volunteers who donated between 100 and 1,200 hours of service to Atlantic General received recognition. This past year, the AGH Auxiliary donated 38, 966 hours of their time, saving the hospital more than $400,000 in wages and benefits. In addition to their time, the Auxiliary has also given financial support. Their annual fundraisers and socials have helped fu...

As construction of the east entry parking lot at Atlantic General Hospital nears completion, patients and visitors can once again enter the building through the Outpatient Services lobby as well as the entrance to the Outpatient Infusion Center. Those individuals who have an appointment for imaging or other diagnostics should continue to use the front lobby and meet with the communications specialist stationed there. Patients who come in for walk-in lab or imaging services as well as those arriving for a...

Gail S. Mansell, of Atlantic General Hospital and Health System, has been awarded Diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy Association. Diplomate status is reserved for those individuals who are able to meet the stringent requirements of the American Psychotherapy Association; in the area of knowledge, skill, education, training, and experience in the therapeutic process.   The American Psychotherapy Association is an international membership association developed to bring together profession...

Lisa A. Jeffers, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, CWS, a nurse practitioner at Atlantic General Hospital’s Wound Care Center, was recently published in the MEDSURG Nursing Journal; the article is titled “Raising Health Care Provider Awareness of Sexually Transmitted Disease in Patients Over Age 50.” The article, co-authored by Mary C. DiBartolo, PhD, RN-BC, an associate professor of nursing at Salisbury University, sheds light on a growing misconception: not only are more people over 50 having sex, but more of t...

Atlantic General Hospital is partnering with Ocean City Recreation and Parks to provide a series of health education seminars to the Ocean City community. The first in the series, “Childhood Obesity,” will be held at the Northside Park Recreation Complex on January 25. Munna Garg, MD, a board-certified pediatrician with Atlantic General Health System’s Ocean Pines Primary Care and Women’s Health Office, will speak from 6 to 7 p.m. The topics for upcoming seminars will include sports-related head injuries...

The official tally is not in, but event planners for the 18th Annual Penguin Swim anticipate exceeding their fundraising goal of $88,000. Nearly 1,000 people charged into the Atlantic Ocean at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day to raise funds for the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation. “This was yet again an incredible show of support for AGH from our community. I cannot thank everyone enough – from the event sponsors, to our participants, to our crew of volunteers for making this possible,” said Amy Unger, dire...

While some think it is rare, mouth cancer is newly diagnosed in roughly 100 individuals each day in the United States alone, and a person dies from oral cancer every hour. When found at early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80 to 90 percent survival rate. Unfortunately, this cancer is typically found in the late stages, and account for a death rate of about 45 percent. Late stage diagnosis is due to a lack of public awareness. In an effort to combat this problem, Atlantic General Hospital and...

ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL LEADER NAMED FELLOW BY AMERICAN COLLEGE OF HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES Berlin, Md. – Colleen Wareing, MS, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, vice president of patient care services at Atlantic General Hospital, recently became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders. Fellow status represents achievement of the highest standard of professional development. In fact, only 5,400 healthcare executives hold this...

As people around the country wrap up their Christmas shopping and start making plans for ringing in 2012, many on the Shore are preparing for a very different sort of New Year’s Day tradition – the18th Annual AGH Penguin Swim. Amassing a group of people to run headlong into icy cold water is not an event unique to the East Coast, but the AGH Penguin Swim is a special experience near and dear the hearts of many on the Shore -- and places much farther flung. Like Craig Kettler, who will be coming to Ocean ...

Smart phone users who have downloaded Atlantic General Hospital’s wait time app now have access to three more wait times – for Atlantic ImmediCare, the hospital’s walk-in health clinics located at the Rite Aids in Pocomoke, Ocean Pines and Millsboro, Del. Atlantic General launched the original app to improve the patient experience for individuals seeking walk-in treatment. With a few taps of their thumbs, smart phone users were able to pull up the wait times for the ER as well as x-ray and laboratory ser...

Today marks a week since Atlantic General Hospital’s ER went live with Allscripts Sunrise Clinical Manager, the new electronic medical record for the hospital. Spirits are high at the organization because the transition from paper to computer has gone more smoothly than anyone could have hoped. “We’re very excited about the go-live,” said Colleen Wareing, vice president of patient care services for Atlantic General Hospital. “Making this change to a completely electronic environment in the ER has require...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Imaging Department is home to a new Symbia S HD detector, the latest in nuclear medicine technology that again makes AGH a leader in imaging services on the Shore. The new camera and accompanying software solution, installed this fall, allows the nuclear medicine staff to perform certain studies in half the time of commonly-used technology. And, perhaps of more concern to patients and the physicians who refer them for testing, the Symbia S, made by Siemens, is capable of produ...

Atlantic General Hospital announced today that demolition of the east entry parking lot near the Outpatient Services entrance will begin on Monday, November 14. The activity marks the commencement of an improvement project that will include making the surface of the parking lot more level, eliminating most curbing and providing easier access to the Outpatient Services and Infusion Center entrances of the hospital. The project is being undertaken to improve ease of access for hospital patients and visitor...

While some think it is rare, mouth cancer is newly diagnosed in roughly 100 individuals each day in the United States alone, and a person dies from oral cancer every hour. When found at early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80 to 90 percent survival rate. Unfortunately, this cancer is typically found in the late stages, and account for a death rate of about 45 percent. Late stage diagnosis is due to a lack of public awareness. In an effort to combat this problem, Atlantic General Hospital and...

Atlantic General Hospital has partnered with Sharing the Harvest, a local organization with a mission to help families in crisis by delivering free food, to distribute food during its next free community flu clinic. On Wednesday, October 26, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sharing the Harvest will be set up in the AGH parking lot to offer food to anyone in need. There is no eligibility requirement to receive the free food, and recipients can receive their flu shot in Atlantic General’s main lobby during the visit...

On October 17, Atlantic General Hospital’s pharmacy will begin offering a multitude of enhanced services to patients and the nurses and physicians who care for them during a stay in the hospital. This includes expanding hours of operation for the pharmacy on weekdays by six hours, to run from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. “Many of our patients are admitted after 5 p.m., and they have medication needs that include complex therapies as a result of the treatment ordered,” said James McGinnis, director of pharmacy at...

Atlantic General Joins Healing Hands Chiropractic to Offer Chronic Disease Self Management Class “Living Well …Take Charge of your Health”. Do you have a chronic disease or condition or do you take care of someone with a chronic condition? If you do then you should consider making your life better by attending the Living Well workshop. The model for this program comes out of Stanford School of Medicine and is a chronic disease self-management course. The workshop is facilitated by two specially trained l...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Pastoral Care Department is holding a remembrance service honoring first responders for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. All first responders and community members are invited to attend. The service will be held at the front entrance of Atlantic General Hospital by the flagpoles at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, September 9. Refreshments will be served. About Atlantic General Hospital Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the res...

More than 50 million Americans are uninsured: Nearly a third of them are children and more than eight out of 10 are in working families. They are our friends, neighbors and colleagues -- forced to gamble every day that they won't get sick or injured. On May 5, Atlantic General Hospital will hold an open enrollment event as part of the national Cover the Uninsured project. During this event, uninsured Marylanders can learn more about available health care coverage options and receive guidance in filling o...

Chronic wounds affect more than 6.5 million people each year. They are the bane of the elderly and those with diabetes or compromised immune systems. And their related health complications cost between $20 and $25 million annually in the U.S. They can necessitate amputation and, in the most serious cases, lead to death. Since Atlantic General Hospital’s Wound Care Center opened its doors more than three years ago, its dedicated staff has treated more than 1,100 patients, healing 1,157 chronic wounds that...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Visions for Total Health Program has taken its show on the road for the second year in a row, visiting kindergarten classes across Worcester County to teach students about the hospital. Until 2010, it had become a tradition for bus loads of five- and six-year-olds to walk the halls of Atlantic General, looking at x-ray equipment and visiting the hotel room-like Sleep Disorders Diagnostic Center to wave at the technician’s cameras, all the while learning about the importance of...

Do you have a chronic disease or condition? Or, do you take care of someone with a chronic condition? If you do, then you should consider making your life better by attending the Living Well workshop. The model for this program, which is a chronic disease self-management course, comes out of Stanford School of Medicine. The workshops are facilitated by two specially trained leaders, some of whom are healthcare professionals and some who are not – one or both with chronic diseases themselves. The workshop...

Berlin, Md. – Mary Lou Belcher, a registered nurse with Atlantic General’s palliative care program, recently received her hospice and palliative care certification from the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses. Mary Lou Belcher is the only registered nurse providing care in the hospital environment to receive this certification in the region. “The palliative care team is very proud of Mary Lou and all she has accomplished in the past year,” says Chaplin, Gail Mansell, who se...

Atlantic General Hospital announced this week the opening of its new Eye Surgery Center. This Center of Excellence, which utilizes existing hospital space, offers comprehensive surgical services to treat cataracts and glaucoma as well as illnesses and injuries of the retina and vitreous. The Eye Surgery Center required the purchase of specialized surgical equipment to outfit one of the hospital’s OR suites as well as the recruitment of retina specialists to complement the scope of services already provid...

Berlin, Md. – Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States – it takes credit for one of every 18 lives lost. In most cases, just a tiny blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain, robbing it of the oxygen supply it must receive continuously to function. Just one minute without this crucial blood flow can kill 2 million nerve cells and 14 billion synapses. If proper treatment is begun immediately, however, the devastating effects of stroke can be halted, even reversed, for many pa...

Earl Bethards, project manager with NASON Construction, Inc., presents a $1000 check for the Atlantic General Hospital 17 th Annual Penguin Swim to Chris Anderson, plant operations manager and Colleen Wareing, vice president of patient care services, in support of the AGH Flapping Flamingos Team. There is still time to start a team and begin collecting donations in support of the popular New Year’s Day event. For more information about participating or sponsoring the Penguin Swim, visit www.penguinswim....

The November 2010 issue of the Baltimore Magazine featured  Top Doctors in the region. This year Baltimore Magazine published two lists, one “Top Docs” and a separate list of top doctors at the beach. Atlantic General Hospital was well represented. To determine the top docs, a peer survey of 5,500 physicians in Baltimore and seven surrounding counties were asked where they would send their family in each of 86 specialties. Among the staff at Atlantic General Hospital, the following were on the list ...

Atlantic General Hospital announced today that women in Worcester County and the surrounding region can now receive digital mammograms at the hospital’s Eunice Q. Sorin Women’s Diagnostic Center. The facility recently purchased and installed the Selenia™ digital mammography from Hologic™ to afford area residents the best mammography services possible. The Women’s Diagnostic Center is very excited to be able to offer the newest technology for breast cancer detection. Digital mammography allows for improve...

Due to the threat of inclement weather for Thursday, September 30, the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation has decided to postpone their 17th Annual Fall Golf Classic originally scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. on the 30th. The tournament will now take place on Monday, October 11 at the Ocean City Golf Club. Anyone with questions can call Amy Unger, Director of Development, at 410-641-9644.

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System announced today that they have received their supply of this year’s seasonal flu vaccine. Flu shots are available to patients of the health system by making an appointment at any one of their primary care offices. It is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that anyone at increased risk for influenza-related complications receive the seasonal flu vaccine each year. This year’s serum contains vaccine to protect against the H1N1 virus as well as ot...

In August, Atlantic General Hospital joined other Eastern Shore employers in signing the Healthiest Maryland commitment board at a ceremony at Salisbury University, one more milestone in the efforts the organization has undertaken in recent years to improve the health of its employees. Healthiest Maryland is a voluntary statewide initiative launched by Governor Martin O’Malley in May to promote health management practices in the workplace. Through the Associates Getting Healthy Wellness Program formally ...

Atlantic General Hospital’s Visions for Total Health Program is collaborating with the Ocean Pines Association Communications Advisory Committee to offer a new health fair to the community. The event will be held September 18, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., in the Ocean Pines Community Center on Ocean Parkway. Atlantic General Hospital will be providing various health-related screenings, including lab testing for cholesterol, glucose (12 hour fast required) and PSAs (for men), hearing screenings, foot checks and bon...

Free apps for the most popular smart phones on the market, the Android, iPhone and Blackberry, are now available for download to get the most-up-to-date information about Atlantic General Hospital’s outpatient services. Individuals with these mobile devices can access the wait times – already posted on the hospital’s web site – for walk-in lab work and x-ray services as well as the emergency room with just the tap of an icon. Atlantic General Hospital is the first hospital in the state of Maryland to off...

Atlantic General Hospital names Nurse of the Year and Support Staffer of the Year Registered nurse Beverly Ward and nurse technician Sean Sullivan were recently recognized by Atlantic General Hospital for their outstanding service in healthcare. Ward is the recipient of the 2010 Nurse of the Year Award; Sullivan received the Support Staffer of the Year Award. Ward has been a nurse at Atlantic General for 12 years, where she worked in the intensive care unit and, currently, the Women’s Diagnostic Center....

Mobile web site and downloadable apps to quickly follow Just 18 months after launching online wait times for its emergency room, Atlantic General Hospital is introducing real-time waits for two other services: x-rays and outpatient lab work.   The mechanism used to track and post the wait times for the emergency room translated very well to these other walk-in outpatient services because patients are in an even better position to time their visits.   “When a physician orders x-rays or blood wo...

Ophthalmologist Jason Yonker of Chesapeake Eye Associates now performs the outpatient procedure at Atlantic General Hospital His patients have been asking if he would perform the procedure for the past year, but glaucoma specialist Dr. Jason Yonker wanted to wait until more research was complete on canaloplasty, the new alternative to traditional glaucoma surgery. Now, their wait is over. Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness, is most commonly caused by increased pressure in the eye resulting ...

Atlantic General Scores Above 90% on 15 Key, Clinical Performance Indicators The Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Maryland, has awarded the 2010 Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for Quality Improvement to Atlantic General Hospital. “Delmarva is proud to recognize Atlantic General Hospital as recipient of the Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for Quality Improvement,” said Nancy Jane C. Friedley, MD, Delmarva Medical Director. “Recipients of t...

Atlantic General Hospital was recently awarded the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Silver Performance Achievement Award at the association’s International Stroke Conference 2010. The award recognizes Atlantic General’s commitment and success in implementing a high standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to evidence-based guidelines. “With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and this award demonstrates Atlantic...

Just four years after opening its doors, the Atlantic General Hospital Thrift Shop has celebrated an expansion of the store. The popularity of the bargain hunter’s boutique, solely managed and staffed by the AGH/HS Auxiliary, was almost instantaneous upon opening in early 2006. Additional volunteers have come on board through the years to keep up with the generous number of donations from the community and the steady influx of shoppers. In May, a grand re-opening ceremony was held to mark the expansion o...

Murray Oltman, chief information officer (CIO) of Atlantic General Hospital has been credentialed as a certified healthcare chief information officer (CHCIO) by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). CHIME’s focus is on developing and recognizing healthcare information technology leadership roles. “We believe CHCIO status is now the standard that organizations must use when determining who leads healthcare IT projects and initiatives,” said Tim Stettheimer, Ph.D., chair of C...

As part of National Nurses Week, celebrated May 6 through 12 each year, Atlantic General Hospital is bringing former healthcare professional and current motivational speaker Lon Kieffer to associates to talk about “Defending the Caregiver!” “Defending the Caregiver!” is a one-man, comedic, dramatic program that has achieved national ANCC approval for continuing education hours by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Lon is an internationally known speaker and educator and has developed “Defending th...

The Atlantic General Hospital Foundation has received overwhelming support from the local business community through sponsorships of the 17th Anniversary Celebration. The annual event will take place this year at the Ocean City home of Dr. William Allen on Thursday, May 20. “We are so grateful to all of the sponsors supporting the 17th anniversary event. This is going to be a spectacular cocktail party, with excellent food and drinks. Whether you’re inside enjoying the architecture or outside on the deck...

BB&T, in coordination with Atlantic General Hospital and Health System and Shore Stop, will host a community fun day at its Ocean Pines financial center on Friday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet Impala driven by Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be on display and BB&T will have racing-themed giveaways. Local BB&T representatives will be on hand to answer questions about BB&T products and services, and refreshments wi...

Tickets are now available for Atlantic General Hospital’s 17th Anniversary Celebration. Invitations were just dropped in the mail for the exclusive gala, which is hosted by a different community member each year. This year, the celebration will be held at the north Ocean City home of Dr. William Allen on Thursday, May 20th. Kelly Foods Corporation has signed on as the title sponsor, and the event will be catered by Micky Fins. “We appreciate the continued support from Kelly Foods Corporation, who has bee...

On June 3, the partners of Worcester County’s new outpatient mental health services program will present at the 36th Annual National Alliance for Rural Mental Health Conference in Denver, Colo. The NARMH Conference has been a celebration of the innovation that is the cornerstone of success in supporting recovery for persons challenged by mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Atlantic General’s Krista Conway, the clinical leader of the mental health program, and Jeanette Troyer, the hospital’s Mag...

Dr. Nhu Tran to begin seeing patients this month – Open house and ribbon cutting set for April 26 Atlantic General Hospital and Health System is pleased to announce the opening of a new internal medicine practice in Selbyville, Del., conveniently located within the Strawberry Center on Rt. 113. AGHS Internal Medicine/Selbyville will be the new office of Dr. Nhu Tran, a board-certified internal medicine physician with twenty years of experience in providing adult healthcare. Dr. Tran takes a holistic app...

Berlin, Md. – Atlantic General Hospital’s Associates Getting Healthy Program is again bringing Weight Watchers at Work to its associates and, this time, they are extending the program and its discounted rates to the community. Because this program is offered at a discount, weekly payments are not eligible. The 17-week program begins on April 7 with an hour-long meeting in hospital conference room 1 from 4:30p.m.-5:30p.m. The discounted cost is $186 for the entire program, and anyone who joins during wee...

From the top of your head to the tips of your toes: Dozens of Atlantic General Hospital and Health System providers and physicians will be on-hand to provide health screenings and answer questions at this year’s Worcester County AARP Community Health Fair on March 31, 2010 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City. Visitors age twelve and older are invited to take advantage of the wide variety of tests and health screenings that will be offered to guide them to a healthy lifestyle. Atlantic...

AGH asks the uninsured to sign up Maryland hospitals are helping the uninsured get covered in March and April On Thursday, April 1, Atlantic General Hospital is hosting an open enrollment event for uninsured Marylanders to learn more about health coverage options and help them fill out the forms. Atlantic General joins other hospitals in this statewide initiative, coordinated by the Maryland Hospital Association, which is designed to get more Marylanders access to care. “While our politicians in Washing...

Dear Editor: On Monday, March 29, 2010, and throughout the week, Atlantic General Hospital will celebrate DOCTORS’ WEEK. Doctors’ Day is celebrated annually, but Atlantic General Hospital began a tradition several years ago of celebrating the entire week by providing something special each day to recognize the doctors. This annual event is met with much joy and excitement as the staff plans this week of celebration. The medical staff office will personally recognize the physicians with a cruise ship them...

A group of hospital volunteers recently celebrated their second year of service to Atlantic General. These men and women did not begin working in healthcare just two years ago, however. They’ve been doing it their entire careers. Each one is a retired nurse. Jackie Todd, the director of nursing, was instrumental in reaching out to retired nurses in the area to assist in volunteer roles that require knowledge of medicine. Originally, the members were to help with the paperwork involved in the patient admi...

Murray Oltman, Chief Information Officer of Atlantic General Hospital, has been selected to serve on the Governance Board for Maryland’s statewide health information exchange – Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP). CRISP is Maryland’s statewide health information exchange (HIE), which allows clinical information to move electronically among disparate health information systems. The goal of HIE is to deliver the right health information to the right place at the right time—anywh...

This year’s Forum to address current healthcare climate with presentations on patient safety, childhood obesity, chronic conditions, health information technology and medical home The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) today announced that Dawn Denton, community education manager at Atlantic General Hospital, has been chosen to speak at NICHQ’s 2010 Annual Forum for Improving Children’s Healthcare and Childhood Obesity Congress, being held March 8-11 in Atlanta, Ga. The Annual...