Health briefs

__HOSPITAL GETS RED CROSS HONOR__ STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital reached Gold Level status in the American Red Cross' Champions For Life campaign, reported the Ste. Genevieve Herald. Champions for Life is a health care initiative based on partnerships with area hospitals. Through partnerships like the one with SGCMH, the Red Cross strives to increase blood donations at hospital-sponsored blood drives and recognize hospital sponsors and their blood donors. The Ste. Genevieve hospital collected 117 pints of blood through four blood drives in 2010.

Dr. Ryne C. Wood

__WOOD JOINS LEET EYECARE__ Dr. Ryne C. Wood joined Leet EyeCare in Cape Girardeau as an associate doctor. A native of Oran, Mo., Wood attended the University of Missouri St. Louis College of Optometry and graduated May. He will also see Dr. James T. Hall's patients at Hall Eye Center.

__FARMER ATTENDS WOCN CONFERENCE__ POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Sheri Farmer, a nurse in the Patient Care Services/Nursing Foot Clinic at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, attended the 43rd annual National Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society conference in New Orleans. She assisted the speaker, Dr. Teresa Kelech, in her presentation on foot care, leading breakout sessions and serving on a panel of experts to answer questions from the 120 conference attendees.

__NAJJAR JOINS MDMC__ SIKESTON, Mo. -- Dr. Husam Najjar joined Missouri Delta Medical Center. He specializes in diagnosis and management of pulmonary disease, particularly COPD, asthma, bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, cough and interstitial lung disease, as well as allergy diagnosis and treatment. He works in the Barton-Jolly Physician Services Building at 1019 N. Main St. in Sikeston.

__SAINT FRANCIS ADDS GASTROENTEROLOGIST__ Dr. Wilfred Lee, a board certified gastroenterologist, joined Saint Francis Medical Partners. He has had a relationship with Saint Francis Medical Center for many years and now joins the team at Cape Gastroenterology Specialists. Lee will continue to see patients at his current office, 2907 Keystone Drive in Cape Girardeau, eventually moving to the Center for Digestive Diseases on the hospital campus.

Dr. Corey J. Sievers

__SIEVERS JOINS SOUTHEAST__ Dr. Corey J. Sievers joined Southeast Gastroenterology. Sievers, specializing in gastroenterology/hepatology, works with Dr. Emad M. Abuhamda and Dr. Matthew D. Gaeta in the Southeast Medical Plaza building on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

Dr. Kenneth A. DeCoursey

__DECOURSEY JOINS SOUTHEAST__ Dr. Kenneth A. DeCoursey joined Southeast Primary Care, specializing in family medicine with an emphasis on geriatrics. He will continue to practice in his current office in the Southeast Medical Plaza building on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

__MDMC HOLDS RIBBON CUTTINGS__ SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting July 12 for the newly constructed Bruce Medical Building at Missouri Delta Medical Center. The building at 201 Plaza Drive houses the hospital's new Wound and Hyperbaric Center and Missouri Delta Orthopedics. Doctors began seeing patients there July 18.

__NURSES ATTEND STATE SUMMIT__ Linda Brown, director of the Emergency Services Department at Southeast Hospital; Angela Selzer, emergency services lead nurse practitioner; and Tonya Buttry, president of SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing and Health Sciences, were among 200 nurses attending the Missouri Teamwork Summit held recently in Columbia, Mo. The summit, led by the Missouri Nurses Association, the Missouri Health Advocacy Alliance and the Missouri League of Nursing, was a response to a national call to action to improve health care through better use of nurses and nurse-led models of care.

Dr. Musa Wadi

__WADI RECEIVES RECERTIFICATION__ Dr. Musa Wadi, a Cape Girardeau pulmonology and critical care physician, has been recertified in pulmonology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Wadi is a member of the SoutheastHEALTH medical staff and is affiliated with Southeast Pulmonology. He is also board-certified in critical care and sleep medicine.

Rebecca "BJ" Whiffen

__WHIFFEN JOINS NURSING COLLEGE FACULTY__ Nurse practitioner Rebecca "BJ" Whiffen joined the faculty at SoutheastHEALTH's College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She is teaching courses in nursing skills and pharmacology, among others. Whiffen previously worked with Southeast Health On Wheels.

__TWO HONORED BY CAREGIVER GROUP__ Karon Schmidt of the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau received the Member of the Year Award from the National Association of Health Care Assistants. She was honored at the 17th annual "Key to Quality" awards banquet June 30 in Tulsa, Okla. Award recipients must exemplify the values and goals of the organization; Schmidt is a member of the group's national steering commission. Becky Hoover, also of the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, received the National Association of Health Care Assistants' Humanitarian Award. The award is given to a CNA or direct caregiver who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to assist a resident with lifesaving procedures, made observations that have enhanced the quality of life or provided additional care and attention to a resident during the dying process.

__SAINT FRANCIS ADDS CYBERKNIFE__ Saint Francis Medical Center is now using the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, a noninvasive alternative for treating cancerous and noncancerous tumors anywhere in the body. The only of its type in the region, the CyberKnife system delivers beams of high-dose radiation with extreme accuracy, making it ideal for patients with inoperable or surgically complex tumors.

__PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINIC OPENS IN PERRYVILLE__ PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dana Christisen, a certified raindrop practitioner and licensed spiritual healer, opened a new business called Essential Answer Pain Management. Located inside Convenient Healthcare on Old St. Mary's Road in Perryville, the business uses therapeutic-grade essential oils, various aspects of conventional massage, adaptations of Oriental acupressure and reflexology, Native American healing techniques and aromatherapy. Treatment is designed to help remove back pain, stop colds and flu, relieve stress or anxiety, reduce pain, boost energy and create feelings of euphoria.

__ULRICH JOINS JACKSON DENTAL__ Dr. Cyndi Ulrich joined the staff at Jackson Dental in Jackson.

__THREE ATTEND WOUND SYMPOSIUM__ Dr. Julie Anderson, clinical wound specialist, and nurses Brenda Venable and Renee Hinkebein represented SoutheastHEALTH's Wound and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at the 24th annual symposium on advanced wound care in Dallas. More than 2,000 physicians, podiatrists, nurses, therapists and researchers from across the globe attended. Subjects covered included wound care, limb preservation and wound therapeutics.

__BJC MEDICAL ADDS DOCTORS__ FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dr. Saima Ghazal and Dr. Phillip Kintner joined BJC Medical Group's Medical Arts Clinic in Farmington. Ghazal is board-eligible in obstetrics and gynecology, and Kintner is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. Both doctors are also on staff at Parkland Hospital.

__EYECARE SPECIALISTS ADDS NEW DOCTOR, DIVISION__ Dr. Linn M. Mangano joined Eye Care Specialists LLC in Cape Girardeau. She is fellowship-trained in pediatric opthamology. The practice also added a new division, Eye Care Specialists 4 Kids.

__PINKSTON RETURNS TO CLARKSON__ MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Dr. Megan Pinkston returned to Clarkston Eyecare's Marble Hill location. She fills the position formerly held by Dr. Ryan Sutterer, who took a residency in Texas. Pinkston is seeing patients at both the Marble Hill and Perryville, Mo., locations.

Stephen Byrd

__BYRD JOINS JOHN'S PHARMACY__ Stephen Byrd is a new staff pharmacist at John's Pharmacy in Cape Girardeau. He lives in Jackson and completed an internship at John's Pharmacy in 2010.

__CROSS TRAILS ADDS DENTIST__ Dr. Christine Schoolman is a new dentist on staff at Cross Trails Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She provides general dentistry services for patients of all ages.

Seth Hudson

__HUDSON JOINS PURSLEY__ Seth Hudson joined Pursley Chiropractic in Cape Girardeau. He is providing family chiropractic wellness care and treating sports injuries and rehabilitation.

__KLEE EARNS CERTIFICATION__ Deeanna Klee, a care coordinator in the Southeast Hospital Case Management Department, passed the American Case Management Association certification exam and is now an accredited case manager. Just over 1,000 hospital case managers nationwide have earned the credential. Klee, a registered nurse since 1984, joined Southeast in 2006 as house supervisor and has been part of the case management team since 2008.