The sale will be held from 9 am to 4 pm, with featured items including necklaces, purses, watches, bracelets, rings, sunglasses, wallets, ties and much more.

For more info: mybestfriendsjewelrybox.com.

As part of the World Book Night program, Bergner donated a dozen copies of the book, ”Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief.” The #1 New York Times Bestseller is the first in Rick Riordan’s mythology-inspired fantasy series. The books will go to pediatric patients or young visitors to the hospital.

The World Book Night program promotes the love of reading by enlisting volunteers to donate thousands of books each year on April 23.

Thank you, Ashley, for entertaining our young guests and promoting this healthy habit in our community!

Newton Medical Center is a sponsor of the event, which will provide children with the opportunity to learn about wellness through exercises and activities. NMC is sponsoring the snack station, which will include bananas, as part of an effort to encourage healthy eating. To reinforce the message of wellness at home, NMC has partnered with the Newton Recreation Commission to provide a take-home packet for each child, which includes a healthful granola bar, a flier on healthy snacks for kids and a flier from the Rec Commission about kids’ activities.

“Overall, our goal is to be the community of choice for health care,” said Todd Tangeman, NMC’s vice president of human resources. “We not only want to be the place you trust to come when you’re sick, but also proponents of health, wellness and vitality in the community. We see this as an opportunity to promote basic concepts of wellness and establish lifelong healthy patterns.”

The Newton participation of Kansas Kids Fitness Day is put on by Newton Public Schools, USD 373. For more information about Kansas Kids Fitness Day, please visit http://www.kdheks.gov/kkfd/index.html.

As the country honors volunteers in April, hospitals like NMC rely on volunteers like Niles to provide support in an increasingly complex health care environment. In fiscal year 2012, volunteers donated an estimated 12,000 hours in the form of running the gift shop, staffing the front information desk and knitting baby caps for newborns, among many other activities.

“I can’t overstate how much Newton Medical Center relies on our volunteers, who are often the first people that visitors interact with at the hospital,” said Steve Kelly, CEO of NMC. “Because we know they’re caring for patients and guests, we’re able to focus our attention on delivering the best medical and clinical care.”

The volunteers are coordinated through the Newton Medical Center Community Association, which was founded in 1999 with the purpose of serving and assisting in promoting the health care of the community in ways approved by the Newton Healthcare Corporation. In addition to volunteering their time, they have also made significant financial contributions to the hospital. In 2012, the association donated $18,000 to support the purchase of equipment for the maternity wing and outpatient infusion services.

Linda Tompkins, president of the association, says that volunteers often get as much as they give.

“Our volunteers find helping patients and the hospital is good for the soul,” Tompkins said. “Many of our volunteers are retirees and find that giving back to the community where they have lived for many years to be richly rewarding.”

She noted that there are many ways to serve, including from home. NMC distributes at least 500 baby caps a year, for example, and many housebound volunteers contribute to the cause with their knitting needles.

For Niles, volunteering is both personally rewarding and a chance to build on a tradition established by her mother, who ran the snack and gift shop at Bethel Deaconess Hospital a half-century ago.

“I’m just following her example,” said Niles, whose sister also volunteers at NMC. “The hospital has been important to all of us and anyway we could help or further the cause, we wanted to do.”

To learn more about volunteering opportunities at NMC, please call Traci Moe at (316) 283-2700, x1365.

Newton Medical Center is a comprehensive 103-bed hospital in Newton, Kan., offering full-service medical care in Harvey, Butler and northern Sedgwick counties. For more information about Newton Medical Center, please call 316-283-2700 or visit www.newtonmedicalcenter.com.

Horsch, the director of dietary at NMC, received the award in part for her presentations on nutrition and learning at teacher in-service days, as well as tutoring high school students through the Project Search program.

“Rhonda is a teacher at heart,” said Todd Tangeman, vice president of human resources at NMC. “She understands the personalities and strengths of each team member and works with each accordingly so that each team member is successful in his or her role.  I was pleased to hear that she was a recipient of the Friends of Education Award as she is deserving of such recognition.”

Stauffer, director of patient services, demonstrates the importance of education daily, according to her supervisor, Jeff Barton. As a nurse and unit director, Stauffer excels at helping both her nursing colleagues and patients succeed.

“Her patience and empathy, coupled with acute listening and persuasion skills, create an excellent environment for education to thrive,” said Barton, vice president of patient services. “There could be no greater example of, advocate for or friend of education.” 

The program will be offered at NMC’s primary care clinic, Medical Plaza of Park City. It is an expansion of a service that NMC launched in 2008 at its main campus, 600 Medical Center Drive, Newton. The program has also been available at the Medical Plaza of Valley Center since 2011.

The program is administered by Registered Nurses who specialize in diabetes management and education. The RNs work in tandem with primary care physicians to overcome barriers that may exist in managing the disease.

“Diabetes is a unique disease in that we ask the patient to do pretty much all the work,” said Lindsey Elder, BSN, RN, CDE, a diabetes educator at Newton Medical Center. Elder noted that with diseases like cancer, patients come to a hospital where a surgeon removes a tumor and an oncologist administers chemo.

“That’s not how it works with diabetes,” she said. “The patients are the ones who have to make the day-to-day decisions and they have to have the basic knowledge in order to make the right decisions daily.”

With the ADA accreditation, NMC can accept insurance for the services when applicable. Patients must receive a doctor’s referral before an appointment can be scheduled. The appointments may include everything from properly monitoring blood sugar to managing the disease through diet and exercise.

Elder said they will work with patients who have both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, as well as pre-diabetics.  She said that motivated patients can see marked improvement in the disease.  A few months ago, a patient who was hospitalized with a leg complication joined the program after battling the disease for more than five years. After adjusting insulin and changing habits, his blood sugar dropped to normal levels with the help of medication. Furthermore, he has avoided additional hospitalizations related to the disease.

 Since patients with diabetes are at a higher risk for a number of other diseases, such as heart failure, kidney disease and loss of eyesight, Elder says that proper management is key.

 “When a person has a stressful event in their life, diabetes care can really go out the window,” she said. “We’re here to help problem solve and support people in their effort to fight this disease.”

Read about another NMC resource that can help you fight diabetes.

2011 VolunTeen Carissa Case (middle) with Jeff Barton (left), NMC vice president of nursing services, and Tina Vicars, nursing secretary.

Newton Medical Center is now accepting applications for the “Summer VolunTeen Program,” scheduled June 3 through August 2.

VolunTeens are teenagers, 14 through 18 years of age, who volunteer their time and services to Newton Medical Center.  VolunTeens are a vital part of the health care team, lending a helping hand in many areas of the medical center.

Registration forms are available at high school offices or from the medical center front information desk.  Participation in the summer program is limited to 15 applicants. Completed registration is due in the nursing service office no later than May 20.  An orientation for participants is scheduled the evening of June 3 at 6:00 PM in the Prairie Room at the medical center.

Please contact Jeff Barton, vice president of patient services, at 316-804-6004, or Tina Vicars, nursing secretary, at 316-804-6005 (local call in Newton) for further information.

Newton Medical Center hosted a groundbreaking for a new clinic slated to open this summer at 520 N. Commercial Ave. in Sedgwick. The Medical Plaza of Sedgwick will provide primary care to a community that currently does not have medical facilities within city limits.

“This has been a longtime dream of the city of Sedgwick to have medical services in the community,” said Val Gleason, vice president of physician services at Newton Medical Center.

“It’s really a blessing that we can do this for our community,” agreed Keith DeHaven, Sedgwick mayor. “We’re just looking forward to it being done.”

The Sedgwick clinic will join two other clinics — the Medical Plaza of Park City and the Medical Plaza of Valley Center — that make up Newton Medical Center’s family of primary care facilities. Spencer Duncan, DO — who is currently serving as a member of Newton Medical Center’s emergency medical team — will provide primary care at the clinic.

Jaci Reimer, Sedgwick city administrator, praised local officials for being forward-thinking and looking for ways to grow the community, despite a tough economy.

“The council really has been progressive within its economic restraints to constantly add amenities in the community,” Reimer said.

Steve Kelly, CEO of Newton Medical Center, said having the clinic means people will no longer have to travel outside the community to receive care.

Accessibility to quality education and health care are important amenities for those looking to move into a community; Kelly said Sedgwick already has a good school system, and will now be able to offer health-care services, as well.

“It is exciting,” he said. “… I think it indicates that small town Kansas is alive and well.”