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» A magazine for and about Oregon Community Hospitals.
Bay Area Hospital aims for early detection and prevention
Free cancer screenings at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay
always draw a crowd. With highly qualified surgeons
and other specialists donating their time, more than
1,100 people have taken advantage of the annual cancer
screenings since 2010.
In addition to screening events, Bay Area Hospital and
local doctors offer free screenings for other conditions
throughout the year, identifying such health conditions as
diabetes and high blood pressure.
People who otherwise lack access to health care make up a
large share of the participants, but everyone is welcome.
As an accredited Community Cancer Program, Bay Area
Hospital has a responsibility to offer screenings to all
community members. More importantly, early detection
saves lives.
One example of screening offered to the community is for
throat cancer.
“We’re seeing an epidemic of throat cancer, but it’s a silent
disease,” noted Steven Shimotakahara, MD, an ear, nose,
throat, head and neck surgeon at Bay Area Hospital. “People
don’t usually look in their own throats. The mission of the
hospital is to improve the health of our community, so it
makes a lot of sense that we check for throat cancer.”
Over the past five years, about one in four people attending
Bay Area Hospital’s cancer screenings was referred for
medical follow-up. Some underwent additional testing for
suspected malignancies. Others were treated for unrelated
medical conditions spotted by the volunteer providers.
Year-round screenings motivate South Coast residents to
get the care they need. In one year alone, Bay Area Hospital
provided 966 blood pressure screenings, 118 diabetes
screenings, 49 screenings for varicose veins, and 246
screenings for head and neck cancer.
“These services don’t make money,” said Paul G. Janke,
FACHE, President & CEO of Bay Area Hospital. “But that’s
okay. Bay Area Hospital was created in 1974 to improve the
community’s health, not turn a big profit.”
H
Grande Ronde Hospital ensures families affected by autism have support
and resources
Five-year-old Johnes Winn was properly diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD) nearly a year ago. He and
his sister, Rosie, are twins. As a first-time mom, Maree Winn
knew if she hadn’t had Rosie to compare, she might not
have realized there were significant delays in Johnes’ early
development. He didn’t respond when spoken to or make eye
contact, and there was no babbling or early effort at speech.
“When Rosie began to scoot and teach herself to crawl, then
stand and take her first steps, Johnes did none of that on his
own,” Maree said. “After he watched his sister, only then did
he pattern her behavior.”
The Winn family was the first to go through the local ASD
Early Identification Team Program, a broad community
partnership offered through the Grande Ronde Hospital
Children’s Clinic. They proudly refer to themselves as the
team’s guinea pigs and are still receiving support.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like without this program,”
said Maree. “There are so many steps along the way. Every
other month we have an evaluation of where we are and
what we need to accomplish next. That helps keep me on
task, so I accomplish my goals.”
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SPECIAL SECTION: A COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY