Nicholas Anastasio, MD

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health and The Orthopedic Center have announced the addition of Easton-based orthopedic care provider Nicolas E. Anastasio, MD. Anastasio’s specialties include treating musculoskeletal and nerve-related conditions throughout the body and running-related injuries.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Nicholas Anastasio to our practice,” says Thomas Stauch, MD, president, The Orthopedic Center. “He provides a wide variety of nonsurgical techniques, including tailored physical therapy prescriptions, ultrasound guided injections and nerve conduction studies. He is also experienced with the newest regenerative medicine techniques, including Platelet-Rich Plasma and Prolotherapy injections. We look forward to having him available to provide these services to our community.”

“My emphasis is on treating the whole patient and maximizing function,” Dr. Anastasio says. “My training at the Runner’s Clinic of the University of Virginia has provided me with unique expertise in running-related injuries, orthotic and shoe evaluation, and running gait analysis. I am very excited to join the team at The Orthopedic Center and to be of service to the community.”

A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Anastasio interned with the University of Maryland-Mercy Medical Center. He completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Virginia.

The Orthopedic Center Physical Therapy (PT) and Performance Center is a collaborative venture between Shore Regional Health’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services and The Orthopedic Center in Easton, Md.

The Center offers specialized physical therapy and sports medicine services in conjunction with medical surgical specialists in bone and joint surgery, rheumatology and orthopedic rehabilitation medicine. The specialized professional therapy team works in close collaboration with the physicians to assure the most personalized and appropriate therapy plan of care to help patients avoid re-injury or setbacks.

Dr. Anastasio is seeing patients at 510 Idlewild Ave., Suite 200, Easton. Patients may make an appointment by calling 410-820-8226. For more information about The Orthopedic Center/Physical Therapy and Performance Center, please visit https://www.umms.org/shore/health-services/rehabilitation/services/orthopedics.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,500 employees, medical staff, board members, and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

If you’ve experienced sexual assault, you do not have to go through it alone. University of Maryland Shore Regional Health now has 11 nurses who have completed the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner  (SANE) program and are available to survivors who seek emergency care following a sexual assault. SANE team members work closely with a team of trauma-certified advocates at For All Seasons, Inc., to provide a full continuum of care for sexual assault survivors on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

According to Karen Denny, SANE program coordinator, the training involves 80 hours of classroom and clinical instruction taught by law enforcement officers, survivor advocates, state’s attorney representatives and crime lab specialists. The training includes how to conduct a full medical exam, collecting a rape kit (if desired by the patient),providing treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and offering contraception, and connecting the patient with an advocate from the For All Seasons Rape Crisis Center. SANE nurses also are trained to testify in court as needed.

SANE nurses work to ensure whatever sense of control has been taken away from the sexual assault survivor is restored from the moment they step in the door.

“My hope is that if someone has been assaulted and wants to be seen, they know how to report or at least where to go to get help and receive medical attention,” Denny said. “The most important thing for a survivor to know is that the exam is run by the survivor — not the nurses, the advocate or the police. We complete the exam or any part of the exam when and if the survivor wants. We give the control back to survivors because they’ve been in a situation where they’ve lost control during the assault. And if the survivor wants to report to the police, I want to be there or have one of our nurses there to support that decision 100 percent.”

Survivors who don’t want to report the assault have the option to have a “Jane/John Doe” rape kit collected. If the survivor comes into an emergency room within 120 hours (five days) of the assault, a kit can be collected and saved in order to report when and if the survivor is ready at some point in the future.Shore Regional Health offers emergency treatment at the UM Shore Medical Centers at Chestertown, Dorchester and Easton, as well as the UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown.

UM SRH SANE nurses standing, from left, are Marcia Shapiro, Trish Rosenberry, Karen Denny and Leslie Collier. Seated, from left are Tiana Miller-Breland, Jessica Fluharty, Kim Seward and Shannon Temple. SANE nurses not pictured are Helen Foxwell, Carol Rogers and Lindsay Gellert.

The SANE program began at Shore Regional Health in 1988, but until now has only had a handful of participating nurses at any given time.

“It’s a huge accomplishment to have 11 SANE nurses who have completed the training program. All of our SANE nurses work full-time jobs in departments throughout the hospital system,” Denny said. “Completing the SANE training and being available 24/7 when someone who’s experienced a sexual assault needs you is a real commitment… our SANE nurses do this because they care.”

UM SRH SANE nurses also attend Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) meetings, held every other month in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties. Denny coordinates these meetings, which also include survivor advocates, parole and probation officers, and representatives from law enforcement, the State’s Attorney’s Office and social services agencies.

“We come together to discuss past and current cases, what we’ve done right and things we can improve upon,” says Denny. “Is there something that a survivor needs that maybe someone else or a different agency may have a better handle on? Is there a witness who can be contacted by one of these agencies? And in terms of educating the public about the support and resources available to sexual assault survivors, are there community educational events where we can be getting the word out?”

For Denny and the SANE nurse team, an important goal is to make sure health educators and the community are aware of their options following a sexual assault, and more specifically, what to expect when a survivor comes to the hospital following a sexual assault, so people aren’t afraid to get care if and when they need it.

“I want to be there to be a resource for educators if they need information about care following a sexual assault,” Denny says. “With the trauma-certified advocacy team at For All Seasons, we are really trying to get the word out. We know rape and sexual assault are happening in our communities. It can happen to anyone.”

For All Seasons’ trauma-certified advocates are available 24/7, according to Ivy Garcia, director of victim services for the Easton-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to offer the five counties of the Mid-Shore comprehensive and integrated therapy, advocacy, education, and psychiatric care in a safe environment. The advocates stay with the patient at the hospital, if desired, arrange therapy for him or her, and attend court proceedings if needed. Garcia’s team of seven advocates includes men and women, five of whom are bilingual.

Advocates from For All Seasons also bring a Comfort Kit to the survivor in the Emergency Department and, in addition to making arrangements for therapy, ascertain any other needs the survivor may have, including housing and communicating with family members. The advocates work closely with the survivor and the SANE nurse to make sure all needs are met.

Denny said every year, SANE nurses complete additional training in order to maintain their SANE license with the Maryland Board of Nursing. In order to stay licensed as a SANE nurse, staff participants have to take three cases a year, take 200 hours of on-call duty for the program and have at least eight hours of additional education annually.

“This really is something we do because we care. These nurses are called out from their kids’ soccer games or called from bed in the middle of the night,” Denny said. “We care, and we want you to know that we’re here for you.”

“The collaboration between For All Seasons and Shore Regional Health to help survivors of sexual assault is essential to the community,” Garcia says.“One in four girls will be sexually assaulted and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted before the age of 17, with the majority of these assaults happening between the ages of 7 and 17. We want survivors to know —  we believe you, we are here for you, we support you and you are not alone.”

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

Shore Regional Health has announced that it will prepare a modified Certificate of Exemption (COE) application to the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) to move inpatient behavioral health beds and services in 2021 from UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester to UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown. If submitted and approved, the move would occur when the freestanding medical facility (FMF) opens in Cambridge in summer 2021.

Preparation of the modified COE is anticipated to take 60 to 90 days, with possible final approval by the Shore Regional Health and University of Maryland Medical System Boards to submit the COE in September 2019. After approval by the MHCC, construction of the inpatient unit at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown could begin, toward a 2021 opening.

The modified COE will affect only the behavioral health beds; plans remain in place for the Dorchester hospital’s medical-surgical beds to be relocated to Easton when the FMF opens in summer 2021.

This timeline also enables UM Shore Regional Health leaders and behavioral health providers to develop a staffing transition plan and work with community partners to develop an expanded network of outpatient community-based support services throughout the five-county region.

“We are grateful for the physicians, advanced practice providers and team members at Shore Behavioral Health who provide such compassionate, quality care for our patients,” said Ken Kozel, CEO.  “Their dedication and healing work benefits patients under the most challenging circumstances.”

“Shore Regional Health’s Service Delivery Plan includes a commitment to join with our community partners to create a robust behavioral health continuum of integrated inpatient and outpatient services to serve the region. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of this plan and the positive impact it will have on health care in all five counties, including this opportunity, among others that may emerge in support of rural health care,  to enhance the stability of  inpatient services at Shore Medical Center at Chestertown,”said Kozel.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,500 employees, medical staff, board members, and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

The recent 5th annual Sporting Clays Classic was a great success, netting $77,227 to benefit the breast imaging and biopsy equipment and program needs of the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health.

Offered by UM Memorial Hospital Foundation at The Point at Pintail in Queenstown on June 9, 2019, the Sporting Clays Classic attracted 226 registered shooters who enjoyed morning competition, lunch for participants, various prizes, raffles and a silent auction of items donated by local businesses and community members.

“It was really a perfect day, sunny and breezy, and we had a great group of competitors,” said F. Graham Lee,vice president for philanthropy at UM SRH. “I am very grateful to this year’s Sporting Clays Committee and to our sponsors, both the businesses and the individuals who stepped up to support the event.”

Sponsorships from community members and businesses played a vital role in the success of the event. Key sponsors included Auxiliary of the Memorial Hospital at Easton, Paul and Joanne Prager, Preston Automotive Group, Jack and Susan Stoltz, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Doug James Real Estate Services, Attraction Magazine, The Point at Pintail, APG Chesapeake, Willow Construction, Bullock Construction, Inc., CBIZ MHM, LLC and BSC Group, LLC, Chaney Enterprises, Gillis Gilkerson, Roberta Lilly, MD, Nancy Morton, R. Scott and Courtney Clark Pastrick, Shore Radiology, Shore United Bank and Tidewater Anesthesia Associates, PA.

Last year, the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center team provided breast care to more than 2,100 patients, diagnosing more than 100 new cases of breast cancer and performing 452 breast biopsies. These numbers reflect a significant increase in patient volumes over previous years.

The goal of the 2019 Sporting Clays Classic was to raise $85,000 for an MRI Breast Coil, which will be used to fully image breast patients and perform MRI-guided breast biopsy. The $77,227 raised during the event means the UM Memorial Hospital Foundation is well on the way to reaching that $85,000 goal.

“All of us at The Clark Comprehensive Breast Center appreciate the continued support of our local community,” says Roberta J. Lilly, MD, medical director, Clark Comprehensive Breast Center. “Diagnostic and treatment technologies in cancer care are continually evolving, and we are very grateful to the Foundation, the volunteers and participants in the Sporting Clays Classic for their help in ensuring that we have state-of-the-art equipment to provide the best possible care for our patients.”

Prizes were given to each of the winners of the highest overall (HOA) score in their category, as follows:  Mike Parkhurst (men’s), Diane Sorantino (women’s), Jackson Eschelman (juniors’) and Team Jack Stoltz #1 (team). The top three of each Lewis class also received prizes, as follows: Lewis Class One, 1st place – David Collins, Sr., 2nd place – Bruce Jones, and 3rd place – Joseph Carroll; Lewis Class Two, 1st place – Mark Helmick, 2nd place – Daniel Carroll and 3rd place – Richard Blanchard; Lewis Class Three, 1st place – Carter Stanton, 2nd place – Lee Hurd, and 3rd place-Chris Wright.

Other winners were Ferris Butler, gun raffle winner; Jesse Hammett, game prize winner; and Dennis Green, Clay Conservation Award winner.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

‘Channel Marker presents the Kevin Hines Story’, an evidenced based suicide prevention, free speaking engagement open to the public.  Kevin Hines is a national suicide survivor, public speaker, award winning documentary filmmaker, and best-selling author. In the Year 2000, Kevin attempted to take his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Many factors contributed to his miraculous survival including a sea lion which kept him afloat until the Coast Guard arrived. Kevin now travels the world sharing his story of hope, healing, and recovery while teaching people of all ages the art of wellness and the ability to survive pain with true resilience.

The event will be held at the Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College, on Thursday September 19, as a two-part speaking engagement. The Suicide Prevention Education for Professionals session begins at 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm.  CEUs will be provided by Mid Shore Behavioral Health, Inc. Mid Shore Behavioral Health, Inc. is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland. This session is ideal for school professionals, first responders, veterans, healthcare and human service professionals.

The ‘Kevin Hines Story’ concludes the second session with a FREE Public event from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm.

Channel Marker welcomes you to partner with us as an event sponsor to help increase awareness of the importance of suicide prevention and education, encourage the community to start talking about the topic of suicide, and to promote healthy healing as well as shining a light on hope for individuals and their communities.

Our Mission

Channel Marker creates a healthy Mid-Shore community through mental illness prevention programs, wellness support, and adaptive community services to individuals and their families.

For more information about this event or to register for the Suicide Prevention Education for professionals session visit www.channelmarker.org.

Dermatology physicians, advanced practice providers and volunteers from the Kent County Health Department, Easton Dermatology Associates and Shore Dermatology in Cambridge, along with staff and volunteers from the Cancer Center at UM Shore Regional Health screened 119 people for skin cancer during screenings held during May and June.

“It is really gratifying to work with our community partners, including the physicians and advanced practice providers and their staff, to provide these potentially life-saving screenings every year,” said Jeanie Scott, Cancer Center manager. “This year, the screenings resulted in 37 recommendations for biopsies or other follow up and two cases of melanoma were diagnosed, which really shows the value of taking advantage of screening opportunities.”

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

Lesa Lee, LCSW-C, and Clinical Director at For All Seasons

For All Seasons received a grant from the Queen Anne’s County Local Management Board that will provide a four-day training in Theraplay for over 35 members of For All Seasons clinical team. Theraplay is a child and family therapy for building and enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement. It is based on the natural patterns of playful, healthy interaction between parent and child and is personal, physical, and fun.

Theraplay interactions focus on four essential qualities found in parent-child relationships: Structure, Engagement, Nurture, and Challenge. In treatment, the Theraplay Practitioner guides the parent and child through playful, fun games, developmentally challenging activities, and tender, nurturing activities in each of the four dimensions.

According to Lesa Lee, LCSW-C, and Clinical Director at For All Seasons, who was the first to be trained in Theraplay, “The most common use of Theraplay is to build on the attachment between child and caregiver. It can also be used in individual therapy, especially in assessing and building a child’s capacity to manage challenges and tolerance for structure.”

Lee adds, “It assesses the strengths and vulnerabilities of child and family and can be used from a state of pre-pregnancy through adolescence. For at-risk mothers, it can help how a mother feels about her baby – creating an early attachment to her child.”

Theraplay sessions create an active, emotional connection between the child and parent or caregiver, resulting in a changed view of the self as worthy and lovable and of relationships as positive and rewarding.

For All Seasons serves Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne, and Talbot counties. For All Seasons Rape Crisis Center offers certified sexual assault victim advocates; counseling and support groups, free and confidential services in English and Spanish, support in the hospital, police department, and court, and referrals to social and legal services. For All Seasons English Hotline is 1-800-310-RAPE (7273) and Spanish Hotline is 410-829-6143.

The new GE Revolution EVO CT scanner is now in use at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown. While the majority of the purchase of the GE Revolution EVO CT scanner and the suite renovation is being funded by UM Shore Regional Health’s Board-designated fund, SRH Fund for Kent County, the Chester River Health Foundation has committed to raise $250,000 toward its cost. The Foundation is in the early stages of that endeavor, according to Maryann Ruehrmund, executive director.

This new scanner serves as a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool for patients in emergency and acute care, and also for outpatients. CT scans help diagnose illnesses as well as damage involving the brain and other soft tissue in patients suffering strokes, heart attacks, trauma to the abdomen, shortness of breath, blood clots in the lung, gastrointestinal bleeding and generalized pain. It offers advanced imaging capacity as well as its shorter scan times that reduce the patient’s radiation exposure, and provides the capability to perform significantly advanced brain profusion studies so that patients can either be treated immediately with a clot-busting drug or if necessary, transported to a neurosurgery center.

Also, because CT scans provide more detailed images than X-rays, the GE Revolution EVO CT scanner is used in the diagnosis of many types of cancer.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,500 employees, medical staff, board members, and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.