As confirmed by Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell on June 11, the health system’s legal representatives have chosen not to file an objection regarding how a pre-election hearing was conducted. The National Labor Relations Board will now consider testimony to determine what nurses would be represented by the union, when the vote will take place and how employees will be allowed to cast ballots.
“Most breast cancers require a combination of different treatments, and the order and combination of those things is a whole lot more complicated today than ever before,” says Dr. Blair Harkness, a gynecological oncologist at Hope Women’s Cancer Centers, an arm of Mission Health. Xpress explores the state of modern breast cancer treatment in the region — including how it’s been affected by COVID-19.
Restaurants, pools and personal care services — including salons and barber shops — will be allowed to open at 50% capacity, while child care facilities, day camps and overnight camps can open with “enhanced cleaning and screening requirements.”
Area hospitals have taken somewhat differing approaches to the question of whether to stop performing elective surgeries and other medical procedures. There are worries nationally about whether there will be enough personal protective gear like masks and gloves for health care workers, but hospitals in the Asheville area say they have good supplies for now.
“Often we can reach folks better through technology than we can face to face,” says Shane Lunsford of the Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness. As telehealth service offerings and technological capabilities expand, providers around the region are excited about the possibilities of new models of seeing patients and providing care.
A celebration of the courage of pediatric cancer patients at Well Played Board Game Café on Wall Street in downtown Asheville will collect new and unused Legos and the card game UNO for patients. Attendees can also create greeting cards and paint “kindness rocks” for patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and Mission Children’s Hospital.
Fundraisers to support injured Hendersonville Fire Department Capt. Josh Poore abound, while Western Carolina presents a program exploring the connection between wilderness and wellness.
Grants to help agencies providing health care services and studying better ways to deliver those services continued to flow in Western North Carolina. Some recent examples include a grant to Project Dignity for feminine supplies, funding to expand how telehealth services might be expanded in rural areas and support for a study of resources available to kidney patients.
Antibiotic resistance has become a serious problem, causing infections that can’t be treated and thousands deaths every year in the U.S. as a result. Many hospitals, including several local ones, have created antibiotic stewardship programs, which develop strategies for the appropriate use of antibiotics while decreasing the chance of bacteria becoming resistant to them.
