Health - Chestertown Spy

Choptank Health recognizes February as National School-Based Health Care Awareness Month

February 18, 2025 by Choptank Community Health Leave a Comment

Choptank Community Health System is joining the National School-Based Health Care Awareness Month celebration this February to highlight how school-based health centers help improve access to health care for children and adolescents.

School-based health centers bring essential healthcare services directly to schools, where students spend much of their time. By integrating health care with education, the centers ensure students can thrive, grow, and reach their full potential.

“All children and adolescents deserve the opportunity to grow into the young adults we know they can be,” said Choptank Health CEO and President Sara Rich. “But too often, barriers to health care stand in their way. School-based health centers bridge that gap, ensuring students receive the support they need to succeed academically and in life.”

Across the country, states are organizing activities throughout February to raise awareness, including legislative visits, state capitol events, youth advocacy efforts, and special recognitions. These initiatives emphasize the importance of SBHCs in improving health outcomes and making a lasting impact on the lives of young people.

“When health and education come together, great things happen,” says Choptank Health Director of Community-Based Programs Chrissy Bartz, PA-C. “Whether it’s through medical, dental, nutrition, or behavioral health services, we see firsthand how school-based health helps change lives for the better.”

Choptank Health’s school-based care journey began in 1999 with four school-based health centers in Caroline County Public Schools. Over the years, Choptank Health’s commitment to the community has expanded, with school-based health centers and programs now spanning all five of Maryland’s Mid-Shore counties.

Today, Choptank Health’s 18 school-based health centers and a mobile health unit reach more than 8,000 students each year, providing dental services in Dorchester County; medical, dental, nutrition, and behavioral health services in Caroline and Talbot Counties; and medical and dental services in Queen Anne’s and Kent Counties.

The school-based health centers are a partnership between Choptank Health, Maryland Department of Health, county health departments, and each county’s public school system. Care is coordinated with the student’s primary care provider and/or primary dentist.

Services include in-person, virtual, curbside, well, and urgent care during the school year and over the summer. Students can receive diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, behavioral health services, nutrition services, educational services, and more.

Choptank Health’s school-based dental programs include dental screenings and sealants, polishing/cleanings, oral health education, fluoride treatments, and dental emergency referrals.

Choptank Community Health System provides medical and dental services to more than 30,000 adults and children across Maryland’s Mid-Shore.

With a mission to provide access to exceptional, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare for all, Choptank Health’s services include primary healthcare, women’s health, pediatrics, behavioral health, chronic health management, lab services, care navigation, and more.

Student enrollment forms and more about Choptank Community Health System’s school-based health programs are at www.choptankhealth.org/schoolbased.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

For All Seasons Provides Tips on Healthy Teen Relationships

February 17, 2025 by For All Seasons, Inc. Leave a Comment

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. For All Seasons wants to share tips for parents and caregivers to share with teenagers in their homes about developing happy, healthy relationships.

“Adolescence is a key time for learning to form safe and healthy relationships. Unfortunately, many teens may lack the skills to develop and maintain healthy relationships or to break up appropriately when relationships become unhealthy. It is essential that parents and caregivers talk to teens. Even if you don’t know what to say, you can check in and keep lines of communication open. Your involvement in a teen’s life can make a huge difference and can help them recognize healthy vs. unhealthy relationships,” states Beth Anne Dorman, President & CEO of For All Seasons.

According to the website teensforcourage.org, there are several elements of a healthy relationship. It is built on mutual trust, honesty, and respect; includes good communication, compromise, and consent; encourages individuality and self-confidence; and involves staying calm during conflicts and supporting one another. Unhealthy relationships, on the other hand, can involve a power imbalance where trust, honesty, and compromise are lacking; feature poor communication and uncontrolled anger; may become physically, emotionally, or sexually violent; and often include manipulation, possessiveness, control, dependence, or disrespect.

Teens struggling with whether to stay in an unhealthy relationship or leave should seek the help of a trusted adult or professional. Having someone to support them when relationships are unhealthy is essential to helping them care for themselves and create a framework for a better understanding of what is happening.

For All Seasons offers services through virtual and in-person “walk-in” appointments during select hours if a teen or adult needs support. Further information is available on its website ForAllSeasonsInc.org.

For All Seasons provides the highest quality mental health and victim services to children, adults, and families across the Mid-Shore and throughout the state of Maryland. Services are offered in both English and Spanish and include therapy, psychiatry, victim advocacy, 24-hour crisis hotlines, outreach, and community education. For information about For All Seasons walk-in hours, contact For All Seasons at 410-822-1018 or visit ForAllSeasonsInc.org.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Catherine Halen, SPHR, joins University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

February 14, 2025 by UM Shore Regional Health Leave a Comment

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System, recently welcomed Catherine “Katie” Halen as Vice President of Human Resources.

In a distinguished career spanning more than 25 years as a human resources executive, Katie most recently served as the chief human resources office for Montgomery County government in Pennsylvania, where she developed and implemented comprehensive compensation and workforce initiatives and a DE&I strategic plan focused on employee retainment and recruitment.

Prior to her role with Montgomery County, Katie spent most of her career with Delaware-based Beebe Healthcare where she developed workforce recognition and retention programs and led a team through a rapid onboarding initiative resulting in a 45% increase in new hires in Fiscal Year 2022.

“Katie’s strength lies in successfully developing and implementing workforce strategies aligned with organizational and business goals, and her experience should prove to be a strong asset to University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s future and growth,” said Ken Kozel, President and CEO, UM SRH. “We are excited to welcome her to our team.”

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

A member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of five counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. UM SRH consists of approximately 2,000 team members, including more than 600 health care providers on the Medical Staff, who work with community partners to advance the values that are foundational to our mission: Compassion, Discovery, Excellence, Diversity and Integrity. For more information, visit https://www.umms.org/shore.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Let’s Talk About It: A Different kind of Valentine with For All Seasons CEO Beth Anne Dorman

February 13, 2025 by For All Seasons, Inc. Leave a Comment

For All Seasons is bringing love and generosity with its annual Valentine’s Day Silent Auction, running online from February 8 to February 14.

Featuring exclusive experiences and unique getaways, this exciting event supports the organization’s mental health and victim services, helping those in need. Bid on incredible items like sports tickets, spa packages, luxury vacations, and local experiences—all with starting bids below their actual value! Don’t miss this fun, meaningful way to celebrate Valentine’s Day while giving back.

The Spy chatted with For All Seasons CEO Beth Anne Dorman last week about the plans.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. To preview and bid please go to ForAllSeasonsInc.org

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Your Side of the Bed by Jamie Kirkpatrick

February 11, 2025 by Jamie Kirkpatrick Leave a Comment

You’re probably aware that we—that is to say, my wife and I—have a small home in Chestertown, so small, in fact, that we call it SRO: Standing Room Only. One of the by-products of our housing situation is that when anything new comes into the house, the question one of us inevitably asks is, “Where are we going to put this?” The answer is always, “On your side of the bed.”

That’s easier said than done. There’s already a lot on her side and my side, everything from our computer printer to suitcases, shoes, two outdoor plants wintering over inside, a stack of books, a humidifier, and a large cedar chest full of next/last (take your pick) season’s clothes. To make matters worse, even the space under the bed is already claimed: storage bins, some artwork that has yet to find a permanent home on a shelf or a wall, even the bulky case where my bagpipes have resided, unused, since the onset of COVID. Sigh.

The attic might be a solution, but it involves a pull-down staircase and some careful footholds that are increasingly difficult for us to navigate. Plus, a lot of Christmas paraphernalia lives up there for eleven months of the year. To be blunt, there’s just not very much freeboard, anywhere.

But somehow we make do. I like to think that whatever furniture or artwork or dinnerware or knick-knacks that we use or display have risen to the top, cream-like. In these cramped quarters, if you’re used and enjoyed, it means you have passed muster and become part of the family. You’ve proved yourself worthy. You’ve won. In Darwinian terminology, you’ve survived by being the fittest!

There is, of course, attrition. Styles change, things break. Like the player who has toiled for years in the relative obscurity of the minor leagues, suddenly there’s an opening on the big league roster and its your turn to shine. You better be ready to make the most of that opportunity because if you’re not, someone or something else will come along and take your place.

But back to the issue of one side of the bed or the other. The truth is that if we want something to be part of our lives at SRO, we’ll find a place for it. There’s always room chez nous. We’re a naturally inclusive couple and we have no intention of abandoning our DEI roots. Exclusivity and minimalism may have its place somewhere in this crazy world, but not at SRO. That’s not to say we’re hoarders. We have standards. There is a certain set of dinnerware left over from my bachelor days that has been on my wife’s chopping black for a few years, but so far, I’ve been able to hold her at bay. Like faith, hope, and love, my old dinner plates and pasta bowls abide, and they’re not even on my side of the bed. Yet.

Cramped as it is, we love SRO. We’ve talked about finding bigger quarters that can give some extra space and accommodate the grandkids, but the conversation always returns to what we love most about our small house: our in-town location, our welcoming front porch, and our wide and warm circle of friends. There’s always more than enough room for them!

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon and in local bookstores.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

New laboratory equipment purchase for University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown funded by Chester River Health Foundations

February 11, 2025 by UM Shore Regional Health Leave a Comment

Shown with the chemistry analyzers in the Chestertown hospital’s Laboratory Services are Medical Lead Scientist Anderson Griffith; Chester River Health Foundation Chair Libby Woolever, SMC at Chestertown Executive Director/VP of Rural Health Zack Royston; and Chestertown Lab Site Coordinator Karen Bitter.

The Laboratory Services Department at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center (UM SMC) at Chestertown is now home to two new chemistry analyzers, made possible by more than $300,000 in funding provided by the Chester River Health Foundation. UM SMC at Chestertown is University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) hospital; UM SRH is a member of organization of the University of Maryland Medical System.

“These new analyzers represent a significant technological advancement compared to our previous equipment,” said Julianna Hospodor, Director of Laboratory Services at UM SRH. “They provide overall faster processing and better cardiac readings, as well as some technologies we did not have before. We are so grateful to the foundation and its many donors for their generosity in making this new technology a reality for our hospital and our patients.”

Installing the analyzers first required significant updates to the Chestertown laboratory facilities, which began in 2021. “It was a lot of work to get the space ready,” said Hospodor. “Now that the new analyzers are installed and operational, this state-of-the art technology is consistent throughout our laboratory sites, and that consistency supports quality patient care.”

“The Board of Directors of the Chester River Health Foundation recognized the significant need to update the hospital’s laboratory equipment and we were happy to commit the necessary funding,” said Libby Woolever, foundation chair. “The lab team was a great partner in this project, working through the process with grace and commitment. It’s gratifying to see it come to fruition and to know that patients are benefiting from access to state-of-the-art laboratory services here in Chestertown.”

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

About the University of Maryland Medical System

###

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Soul Café: a WIN for everyone By Lisa J. Gotto

February 10, 2025 by Spy Desk 3 Comments

From left to right, store associate, Sondra Mack, Admin, Cheryl Hurt, and WIN’s director Karen Dionisio

Just one of the things we love about Chestertown is our small business community. We love to frequent and support our local shops, restaurants, and service providers whenever we can, and we certainly love when we hear about a new business opening up.

As part of our recent travels in and around town we stumbled upon a sweet, new little spot called The Soul Café. Perhaps, you have yet to hear about the Café, but before you start asking how good and affordable the food is, we have to tell you it’s more of a BYO-type place, and it isn’t exactly new.

More of a traditional concept with a new twist, the Soul Café is located in a place that you’d least expect, tucked into about 230 square feet of the existing 10,000 square-feet of display space of the Women in Need Vintage & Thrift store at 106 Philosopher’s Terrace—a store and a community stalwart celebrating 25 years in operation in 2025

Soul Café Coffee Bar

The Café, which has actually been open for well over a year now, is in-part the brain child of the thrift store’s director, Karen Dionisio. Designed initially to be a space for local artisans and craftspeople to display and sell their offerings within the confines of the greater thrift store, Dionisio fleshed the concept out further, added a donations-encouraged coffee bar and enhanced the space with some cozy little seating areas and curtains. With a lot of ingenuity and some existing (and charming) donated goods and furnishings, Dionisio created a place where “thrifters” can take a break from shopping and neighbors can sit and chat a bit when they inevitably run into one another there.

What is novel, is the concept of converting some of a thrift store’s square footage into a multi-use community gathering space that, Dionisio says, is attracting a respectable amount of repeat patrons. Those patrons could be among the many who support Women In Need, WIN, with their tangible donations on a regular basis, or those looking for items in the store, or basically anyone who enjoys the sense of community fostered around a cup of coffee and a space curated to encourage conversation and connection—and there has been a lot of both over the years at WIN.

It was connection that inspired Dionisio about three decades ago, to assist a friend in need who was struggling to find a way forward from an emotionally abusive marriage with little to no resources. Dionisio, who is a Chestertown native, said she was living in Virginia at the time with her young family, when she and some other friends saw their friend floundering and they all decided that they would pitch in in some way to get her back on her feet.

“We helped pay her rent, we helped find her a new place to live because she had to get out of where she was in Fairfax, Virginia, which is very expensive,” says Dionisio.

Thrifting at Win

“So, it took a lot of us. There was a group of us. And to make a long story short, we carried her through her situation for about two years,” after which, Dionisio adds, she felt the need to come back to Chestertown to address some issues with her own family homestead. What was supposed to be just a temporary stay, turned into a much bigger mission.

It turned out that Dionisio’s friend would also relocate to Chestertown, and in doing so, would shed light on the larger issue of women who are at-risk and low on opportunities when leaving untenable relationships.

“We recognized that this was a ministry basically, that there were many women like her that we needed to provide that kind of support and resources to. That’s really what started it, and so then we incorporated Women in Need,” explains Dionisio.

Many from the original group who assisted Dionisio would relocate to Chestertown, as well, and would play an integral role in the formation of the 501 C3 nonprofit as board members.

“They all loved it over here, so they relocated, which was great, because that made it much easier for us as board members to meet and to plan,” says Dionisio.

Those plans included assessing what the greatest needs in our local, rural area were. From those assessments several of the concern’s first programs were developed. One would address the issues that living and getting around in a widely rural area present if you don’t have access to an automobile.

In that first effort, Dionisio says, they received four or five donated vehicles.

“We provided the insurance, we kept them on the road, we lent them out to the women who were living outside of town who needed them to get their kids to school or needed them to get to jobs.

“And then we began to look at housing. We wanted to have a home where people could transition,” Dionisio explains. They wanted to ensure that access to a roof overhead was always available at least in the short-term so women could transition back to safer lives where they can start building agency for themselves and their children; lives where they would have access to the key things that everyone needs to perform life’s most basic, but necessary functions.

The programs that WIN was able to establish at that time would help people pay their rent, utilities and even prescription medication, when necessary. One of the ways they raised money to fund these programs was to hold a silent auction. Dionisio recalls a responsive community who were willing help make the auction a success.

“People donated a bunch of stuff to this silent auction.” It was from this effort, Dionisio says, they realized the funds that could be raised from goods liquidation, and they had so much to liquidate at that time, they asked the landlord of their present space, which was sitting empty at that time, if he would consider letting them use it for just a few weeks so they could house and sell the goods they collected for the good of others in the community.

And so began the relationship between that 10,000 square-foot storefront on Philosopher’s Terrace, the Women in Need organization, and the community at-large.

WIN was able to officially begin renting the space in 2000, and it has been a beehive of community-supported activity ever since.

Soul Cafe

“I have been patronizing the store ever since it opened,” says long-time Chestertown resident, Sue Caswell.

“I’ve always been committed to recycling and re-using, and that piece of what WIN’s mission is, struck a responsive chord, and I am also very committed to any woman who has encountered challenges, and could use a hand in meeting those challenges in a variety of ways.”

Beyond the obvious give-and-take going on at the store, Caswell says, she also appreciates how involved Dionisio, and her organization have been on many levels and with many people throughout the area.

“Karen helps out on the periphery, as well,” Caswell continues, pointing to the subtle ways the organization supplements their mission by working with other businesses and organizations throughout the community to address needs.

“For example, if the theatre is doing something at the Garfield or the high school, and they need props or furniture, Karen is more than willing to lend anything that she has in her inventory.”

Caswell relays that while she often shops the store for fabrics for the quilting and crafting she does, she sees the experience of shopping there as something much more, and she has also donated her own time to assist WIN with special projects and events.

“It’s that small-town awareness, liaisons, and comradery that happens in a community like Chestertown.”

And it is that sense of comradery that encouraged Dionisio to want to create The Soul Café, which she hopes will become that great little spot where small local groups can gather, grandmas can compare their WIN “finds” and where good friends can just sit and share a moment, a smile, and a cup of coffee.

When asked what her favorite “find” at WIN has been over the years, Caswell posited, “You mean besides friendship?”

And a better find we do not know.

To learn more about all the ways WIN works within the community, visit win-foundation.org. Store hours are Thursday & Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lisa J. Gotto has written for What’s Up Annapolis, Star Democrat, and Kent County News, among other publications.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

A call for fairer taxes: A talk with Chestertown Mayor David Foster

February 8, 2025 by James Dissette Leave a Comment

http://

Chestertown Mayor David Foster continues to fight for a fairer tax balance between the town and county and he’d like your support at the County Commissioners meeting at 3pm on Tuesday, February 11 at the County Commissioners Building, 400 High Street.

For Years, Foster has appealed to the county to consider a re-evaluation of the tax relationship between the county and municipality. Kent County remains one of only three counties in Maryland where residents and businesses are taxed twice for public services, including street maintenance. Unlike most counties in the state, Kent has not implemented a tax set-off to address duplicative taxation, leaving municipalities like Chestertown burdened with both county and municipal taxes for the same services.

Kent County has the highest property taxes on Delmarva and the highest municipal property taxes in the region. However, he expressed frustration with local officials’ lack of action on the issue.

To date, 18 out of Maryland’s 23 counties provide some form of tax relief to municipalities. Kent County, Wicomico and Worcester counties are the only three counties who do not. Kent County already imposes the highest property taxes anywhere on Delmarva and the highest property taxes on town in Maryland.

At A February 6th special public meeting Foster discussed a tax study conducted for the Town by the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland. The study found that the county is overtaxing Chestertown by 10-15 percent.

Complicating the county’s financial landscape, however, is the implementation of The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, also known as the Kirwan Plan, a multi-billion-dollar initiative aimed at improving public education. The program is expected to cost Kent County an additional $1.3 million, adding pressure to an already strained budget.

Foster points to Centreville in Queen Anne’s County as a model for Kent to follow. Queen Anne’s successfully negotiated a 15% reduction in county taxes through a tax differential set-off, offering relief to municipal taxpayers.

The Mayor urges Kent County officials to consider similar measures to ensure fair taxation for its residents.

The Spy recently talked with the Mayor about the upcoming meeting and the need for the community’s support.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The “Quad God” by Bob Moores

February 7, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

I’ve always enjoyed watching figure skating on TV. Though not a skater myself, I admire the artistry, technical precision, and personal qualities of the performers. There is drama. There is risk-taking. There is beauty. There is excitement, anticipation, and surprises in discovering the impossible that humans are somehow able to achieve.

In the technical category, one of the moves for many years thought to be impossible was the “Quad Axel” jump, a spin requiring four-and-a-half revolutions in the air before landing. The Quad Axel is the most difficult jump in figure skating, having a base value in the International Judging System (IJS) of 12.50 points, the highest of all jumps.

But reward is accompanied by risk. The IJS, using Grade of Execution (GOE) guidelines, deducts points for a poorly performed jump, so many young men (at present the “4A” is only achievable by men), who may be able to perform it in practice, will not chance it in competition.

Only one young man has ever performed the Quad Axel in competition. He is Ilia Malinin, a 20-year-old hailing from Vienna, Virginia. Malinin, the current world champion, won his third consecutive US title at the US Figure Skating Championships at Wichita, Kansas on Sunday, 26 January, 2025.

The Axel jump is named for the first man who performed it, Norwegian Axel Paulsen, in 1882. His was a single Axel of 1.5 revolutions. The first double Axel was performed by American Dick Button at the 1948 Olympic Winter Games. Button was also first to complete any sort of triple jump (triple Loop) in 1952. The first triple Axel was performed by Canadian Vern Taylor in the 1978 World Championships in Ottawa.

Forty-four years later, on 14 September 2022, Ilia Malinin performed the first Quad Axel jump in history at the US International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid, New York. His latest four-minute “free skate” at Wichita can be viewed at normal speed here.

Malinin’s Quad Axel is the second of the seven quad jumps he attempted. He fell on number four, a Loop jump. If you have trouble, like I do, of counting revolutions, you can view his earlier (Lake Placid) Quad Axel in slow motion here.

If you are watching the running score in the upper left corner of the screen, note that there is a delay of a few seconds from when the previous move was judged/recorded and what is currently being performed.

If seven quad jumps wasn’t enough, note that he finishes with a back flip which few skaters can do. Note also his breathing rate as he lies on the ice at the end.

There are moments in history when you realize you are watching the best that has ever been, a “Usain Bolt” moment. This was one of those.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Kent SCOT wins award from Chamber of Commerce

February 7, 2025 by UM Shore Regional Health Leave a Comment

Kent Shore Community Outreach Team (SCOT) has been honored by the Kent County Chamber of Commerce as recipients of its Community Excellence Award – 2025 Organization of the Year. Kent SCOT is a population health initiative of University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System.‌

‌Presented at the Kent County Chamber’s annual meeting at the Chester River Yacht Club,,the award recognizes the outstanding community service and contributions of SCOT members Emily Welsh, MSN, RN, nurse coordinator; social worker Michelle Matthews, LCSW-C and community health advocates Amanda Webster, CCHW and Serenity Kelly, CCHW. The award is designed to highlight a non-profit or community organization that has “significantly enhanced the quality of life for Kent County residents through exemplary effort that contributes to the overall well-being and vitality of the community.” In addition to a commemorative plaque, the award includes a $1,000 gift from the chamber to support SCOT’s continued health care outreach and services for residents of Kent County.‌

‌Since January 2024, SCOT members have provided 60 free health screening events (blood pressure and diabetes) and 988 home visits and case management support for 166 patients. Patients served by SCOT may benefit not only from improved access to health care services, but also fewer emergency department visits and hospital admissions, as well as reduced health care costs.

‌“On behalf of the entire Shore Regional Health team serving Kent and northern Queen Anne’s Counties, I am proud to congratulate our Kent Shore Community Outreach Team on this well-deserved recognition from the Kent County Chamber of Commerce,” said Zack Royston, Vice President, Rural Health Care Transformation and Executive Director, UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown. ”The team has been a driving force in transforming rural healthcare by delivering services to individuals where they are — whether in patients’ homes, trusted community sites, or through our partnerships with other community organizations. Through these efforts, the Shore Community Outreach Team is not only improving access to care, but also making a profound, positive impact in communities we serve.”

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

« Previous Page

Sections

More