For All Seasons recently participated in the festivities of the 2024 Military Bowl at Navy Stadium in Annapolis, MD as this year’s mental health partner. The Military Bowl Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates premier events in the National Capital Region to benefit the nation’s service members. Originally formed to operate the region’s first-ever college football postseason bowl game, the Foundation now not only operates the Go Bowling Military Bowl, but operates the DC Touchdown Club and Patriot Point, a retreat for recovering service members, their families, and caregivers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

As the mental health partner of this year’s Military Bowl, For All Seasons shared a PSA during the game with the message, “Game day and every day – take care of your mental health,” that will continue to be used in local media campaigns to reach athletes and veterans who may be dealing with mental health issues. Beth Anne Dorman, President & CEO of For All Seasons, also spoke at the “Salute to Heroes” at a special dinner the night before the Military Bowl game, sharing what her agency does and how to access its services.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with For All Seasons,” Military Bowl Foundation President & Executive Director Steve Beck said. “For our current and veteran service members, as well as the college football players and coaches who participated in the 2024 Go Bowling Military Bowl, mental health is a most important topic. On game day and every day, it is important for everyone to consider their mental health. We are very happy to team up with For All Seasons to devise strategies to achieve positive outcomes.”

Focusing on mental health in the veteran community is not new to For All Seasons. Over the past year, the agency has increased its mental health and sexual trauma services for military-connected individuals through its Veteran and Military Family Mental Health Program. This initiative tackles the most pressing gaps in care for military families by eliminating wait times through For All Seasons’ Open Access™ program; training 100% of the agency’s staff to be an environment culturally competent in serving military families; and combating stigma through its “Protect Your Mental Health” outreach campaign.

The backbone of the Veteran and Military Family Mental Health Program is its deep collaboration with other military-serving organizations. By partnering with trusted groups like the Veterans and Military Support Alliance (VAMSA), Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans, VFWs, and American Legion posts, For All Seasons ensures that military families receive the comprehensive support they need. The program has been made possible by seed funding from two key grantors: the Maryland Department of Health’s Sheila E. Hixson Behavioral Health Services Matching Grant Program and the Disabled Veterans National Foundation.

“We were thrilled to be a part of this year’s Military Bowl as the funds raised at the event support Patriot Point and the programming they do for veterans. We are excited for the opportunity to extend our reach to more veterans through this new relationship and look forward to seeing how we can help better reach this most vulnerable population,” adds Dorman.

For further information about For All Seasons Military Family Health Program, visit www.ForAllSeasonsInc.org/SMVF.

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.

Choptank Community Health System’s dental practice recently welcomed pediatric dentist Wayne Stephens, DDS to its Denton Health Center.

Dr. Stephens has more than 10 years of experience, including working with vulnerable populations as a pediatric dentist. He served as a pediatric dentist and as director of pediatric dental health and wellness at the Jessie Trice Community Health System in Miami, Florida. He completed his pediatric dental residency at Miami Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Stephens earned his doctorate in dental surgery from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. He also holds a master of public administration degree from Harvard Kennedy School; a master of public health degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School; and a master of business administration degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Business.

He is a former Joe L. Henry Oral Health Fellow at Harvard Medical School and served as the Samuel D. Harris Fellow in Research and Policy with the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

Dr. Stephens was elected national president of the American Student Dental Association and served on the boards of the Florida Health Justice Project and Foundation for New Education Initiatives, non-profit organizations in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Choptank Community Health System provides medical and dental services in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties to more than 30,000 adults and children—including school-based health in all five counties—with a mission to provide access to exceptional, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare for all. Choptank Health patients can schedule a dental appointment by calling 410-479-2650, with more at www.choptankhealth.org.

The University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) is hosting upcoming Safe Sitter® courses at UM Shore Medical Centers at Chestertown and Easton, and the 2025 dates were recently announced. UM SRH is a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System.

The course will be taught by UM SRH Women and Children’s Department skilled nurses and is designed for children ages 11 to 13.  Dates and times for the courses are: Saturday, January 18, April 26 and June 21, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton’s Health Education Center, 219 South Washington St.; and Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the conference room at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, 100 Brown St.

The course is designed to prepare students to be safe when they are home alone, watching younger siblings or babysitting other children. The instructor-led class is taught using games and role-playing exercises so that students can practice rescue skills. Participants in the program can also expect to learn safety skills, including how to prevent unsafe situations and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies; child care skills, such as tips to manage behavior that will help sitters stay in control of themselves and the children in their care; first aid and rescue skills, including CPR and choking rescue; and life and business skills to help sitters screen potential childcare jobs, discuss fees and greet employers.

“Safe Sitter helps pre-teens gain skills and confidence in caring for a sibling or babysitting, while learning in a supported and hands-on environment,” said Stephanie Blades, MSN, RNC-OB, clinical nurse educator, Women and Children’s Services, UM SRH. “The Safe Sitter course is a nationally recognized program that provides up-to-date information about caring for younger children in today’s world, including teaching CPR, choking rescue, and basic first aid skills. The course is nurse-led and designed to be interactive, through a mixture of learning and game play. My own children took this course more than 10 years ago and now I get the opportunity to teach it to the next generation.”

The cost of the program is $50 and a Safe Sitter kit will be provided to all student participants. Students should bring a lunch on the day of the program.

To register for the course, email Gladys Peeples at [email protected]. Early registration is encouraged, as class size is limited. For questions, call Stephanie Blades at 410-822-1000, ext. 5234. 

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.

For All Seasons announced the appointment of Giovanni Wynn of Cambridge and Carl Pergler of Easton as the newest members of its Board of Directors.

Wynn currently works for Talbot County Public Schools. For the past six years, she has worked in education and enjoys every moment spent helping children learn.  She also enjoys spending time with her husband and three children at the beach or watching a baseball game. She volunteers regularly with her children’s sports teams, in their schools, and in the community.

“I chose to join the For All Seasons Board of Directors because I truly believe that taking care of your mental health is of the utmost importance for everyone. I believe in the mission and purpose of For All Seasons and all the wonderful events and opportunities the organization offers our community,” she comments.

“I also believe that everyone needs someone to talk to when they are struggling with their mental health and traumatic events in their lives. I want to continue to help our community find and utilize the services that For All Seasons offers. It is always ok to ask for help and I love being part of an organization that can offer solutions.”

Pergler is a retired executive from the U.S. Federal Government Office of Intergovernmental/External Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, SAMHSA, Health and Human Services after spending nearly 30 years in administrative and management positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and related agencies. Since then, he has consulted and assisted with the start-up of several small companies. He has served on several boards of directors and volunteered for many civic organizations. He served for 21 years in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, is a lifelong tennis player and sailor, and has traveled extensively.

“I have been particularly impressed by For All Seasons’ growth and success in serving the Eastern Shore community, and leadership in providing mental health services and innovation in their approach.  They have been nationally recognized for their success and hailed as a model for other communities and organizations,” Pergler shares.

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.

University of Maryland Shore Medical Group (UM SMG) – Surgical Care has welcomed general surgeon Faiz Khaja, MD, to its provider team. UM SMG is an affiliate medical practice of the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System.

Dr. Khaja earned his medical degree from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. and his undergraduate degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He completed his surgical residency at ChristianaCare in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Khaja has a special interest and skill in robotic surgery and has a wealth of medical volunteer experience abroad.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Khaja to our practice,” said William Bair, MD, Medical Director, UM SMG. His extensive expertise in a diverse range of surgical procedures, including robotic surgery, is an asset to our team.”

To make an appointment with Dr. Khaja, patients can call 410-822-4553.

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.

 A case of H5N1 found in on a Caroline County chicken farm marks the first case of avian flu in Maryland since 2023. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Researchers monitoring H5N1 say risk to public currently low, but could evolve into more serious public health concern

Maryland has recorded its first case of bird flu in more than a year, after the virus was confirmed at a Caroline County farm through “routine sampling of a broiler operation,” according to a statement Friday from the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

It comes after the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) virus was detected recently on two farms in Kent County, Delaware, the department said.

“This marks the first case of H5N1 at a Maryland commercial poultry operation since 2023 and the third commercial operation in the Delmarva region in the last 30 days when two Kent County, DE returned positive results,” the agency said Friday.

State officials have quarantined the affected properties, which are undergoing “depopulation” procedures – meaning chickens, usually thousands, will be killed in order to prevent the spread of the disease.That’s important, say state officials, public health researchers and farmers’ representatives, as bird flu has the potential to evolve into a harder-to-manage virus that, in the worst case, could lead to another pandemic.

The last time a commercial chicken farm in Maryland had a bird flu outbreak was in November 2023, also in Caroline County, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Delmarva Chicken Association, a trade association for chicken farmers in Delaware, Virginia and Maryland, said in an email Wednesday, before the latest Maryland case was detected, that whenever H5N1 is detected on a chicken farm, “the chickens on the farm are depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease from farm to farm.”

Health officials said bird flu is not currently a major public health concern for the most people, either in the food supply or as a potential ailment. But they have been watching it more closely, as there have been cases where it spread from birds to mammals and recently led to the death of a backyard chicken farmer in Louisiana, the first U.S. death of a person from contracting H5N1.

“The risk is still low to everybody. Our food supply in terms of eggs and poultry are safe, because these infected animals never make it into the food supply,” said Andrew Pekosz, a professor and virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“They shouldn’t be overly concerned at this point in this time with these infections, but it’s very sobering to public health officials and virologists like myself,” he said.

Pekosz said researchers are monitoring bird flu closely for signs that it could develop into the next pandemic.

“It’s something that we’re trying to prepare for,” Pekosz said. “We know that H5N1 has signatures that would classify it as a virus that could cause a pandemic, were it to infect and start to spread among humans.”

Bird flu has been around for many years, but has been of particular interest within the past two years as more migratory birds have been infected than in previous years, and more cases of bird flu are being detected in mammals

“From a public health perspective, the issue is every time this virus sees a mammal, it has the potential to pick up mutations to make it better able to replicate in mammals, and as it does that, it will also pick up mutations that will probably make it better at infecting humans,” Pekosz said. “That’s when it becomes a real pandemic threat.”

At the moment, however, the threat to the general public is still low. Those most at risk are workers on chicken farms or those who work with backyard flocks. Pekosz said those handling birds or responsible for depopulation should adhere to already established biosecurity measures, which include wearing protective gear and washing hands when exposed to flocks.

“This is one of those things where the general public is relatively safe – it’s an example of how the system worked in terms of detecting these viruses early,” Pekosz said.

The Delmarva Chicken Association said that broiler chickens, those raised for meat production, are routinely tested for bird flu before slaughter.

“It’s also important to note that on Delmarva, every broiler chicken flock is tested for HPAI before harvesting – so there is constant HPAI testing happening even when there is no active HPAI situation in the region,” the association said in a recent email. “That’s done to ensure that only healthy broiler chickens enter the food supply.”

Should bird flu develop into a full-fledged pandemic, Pekosz noted that scientists know much more about how H5N1 works than they did when COVID-19 first arrived a few years back.

“We’re actually much better prepared … We have some sense of how it’s spreading,” he said. Pekosz added that there is currently a H5N1 vaccine under development, and that some antiviral treatments for seasonal influenza also work on H5N1.

“When SARS‑CoV‑2 first emerged, we knew nothing about it — we had to go from zero up to some level of understanding and response,” Pekosz said. “We’re not starting from zero here. We’re fairly well prepared. It’s really more of a matter of how efficiently we can roll out responses to H5N1.”

by Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters
January 10, 2025

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [email protected].