ON THE CALENDAR – Sep 18

Sept. 17: The sad reality is that one in six kids in the U.S. goes hungry every day. No Kid Hungry is a national nonprofit organization created to alter that reality. Through its fundraising efforts, No Kid Hungry supports school breakfast programs, after-school meal programs, summer meal programs, and food-skills education programs to help parents sustainutrition efforts. Each dollar raised by No Kid Hungry provides 10 meals to at-risk children and supports education programs for parents.

No Kid Hungry Golf, a local affiliate, will sponsor a golf tournament at Longmeadow Country Club to raise money to help feed these hungry kids. A number of generous businesses and organizations have already joined the effort as sponsors, including Janney Montgomery; Shatz, Schwartz, and Fentin, PC.; CBS, a Xerox Company; Monson Savings Bank; Disability Management Services; and Business Networkivng International, Wilbraham Chapter.

The event will feature many opportunities to help these kids. You can register to golf, be a sponsor or donor, or come to the cocktail hour/dinner and auction. For more information or to register, visit www.nokidhungrygolf.com or contact Dr. Fred Kadushin at fkadushin@comast.net or (413) 893-9677.

 

Sept. 20 to Dec. 20: Registration is now open for the next Emergency Medical Technician training program at Holyoke Community College.

The fall HCC EMT Training Program consists of 13 weeks (170 hours) of in-class lectures and additional online study, training, field trips, and workshops designed to prepare students for the state certification exam. The training takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m. and select Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at HCC’s Center for Health Education, home to the college’s Nursing and Radiologic Technology programs.

The course, taught by local EMT Mike Marafuga, covers all aspects of emergency care, including patient handling, extrication, and communication, and makes extensive use of the medical simulation labs in HCC’s Center for Health Education on Jarvis Avenue in Holyoke.

For more information or to register, contact Ken White at (413) 552-2324 or kwhite@hcc.edu, or visit www.hcc.edu/workforce.

 

Sept. 21: The Springfield Regional Chamber, in partnership with the Greater Easthampton and Greater Chicopee chamber of commerce, will present a program, “How the Nurse Staffing Mandate Is a Prescription for Higher Costs,” starting at 7:30 a.m. at the TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Assoc. President Eileen McAnenny; Mike Sroczynski, vice president of Government Advocacy for the Massachusetts Hospital Assoc.; and Christine Klucnik, Baystate Medical Center’s chief Nursing officer, will take part in a moderated panel discussion on how the proposed law will directly impact the ability of local hospitals to treat patients, while also driving up healthcare costs and taxes.

Registration, a continental breakfast, and networking begin at 7:30 a.m., with the program set to follow at 8 a.m. To register, visitbusiness.myonlinechamber.com/events.

 

Sept. 27 to Nov. 15: Thinking of going back to school, but don’t want the hassles of homework, tests, and endless reading and writing? Baystate Medical Center’s Mini-Medical School will give area residents an inside look at the expanding field of medicine.

While it is not difficult to be accepted into the program, slots are limited, and early registration is recommended by calling (413) 794-7630 or visiting www.baystatehealth.org/minimed. Tuition is $95 per person and $80 for Senior Class and Every Woman members.

The Mini-Medical School program is an eight-week health education series featuring a different aspect of medicine each week. Classes this fall will include sessions on various medical topics such as surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, and several others.

The goal of the program — offered in the hospital’s Chestnut Conference Center — is to help members of the public make more informed decisions about their healthcare while receiving insight on what it is like to be a medical student — minus the tests, homework, interviews, and admission formalities.

Each course is taught by medical center faculty who explain the science of medicine without resorting to complex terms. All classes are held Thursday nights starting at 6 p.m. and run until 8 or 9 p.m., depending on the night’s topic. No basic science knowledge is needed to participate. Each participant is required to attend a minimum of six out of eight classes in order to receive a certificate of completion.

 

Sept. 28-30: The Austen Riggs Center announced the winners of its 2018 Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media: Turtles All the Way Downby John Green, and NPR’s Hidden Brain, hosted by social-science correspondent Shankar Vedantam.

The Austen Riggs Center Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media recognizes a select group of professional journalists, writers, and media professionals who create exemplary work that contributes to the public’s understanding of mental-health issues. Each prize carries an award of $3,000 and is presented at the center’s annual Fall Conference held in Stockbridge. This year’s conference, “Duality’s End: Computational Psychiatry and the Cognitive Science of Representation,” will be held on Sept. 28-30.

John Green is the award-winning, bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), and The Fault in Our Stars. In his book Turtles All the Way Down, 16-year-old Aza confronts her roles as daughter, friend, and student while also living with her own troubling thoughts.

NPR’s Hidden Brain uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior. Hidden Brain began in 2012 as a regular series on NPR’s Morning Edition before launching as a podcast in 2015, then as a radio program in 2017. The show is now the number-one science podcast in the nation, and is heard on more than 200 public radio stations across the U.S.

 

Sept. 29: The Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice will host its sixth annual Hospice Meadows Run at Three County Fairgrounds. Registration begins at 8 a.m., followed by the 5K run at 9 a.m. and a two-mile walk at 10 a.m.

The cost to participate is $30 online, $35 by mail, and $80 for a family of three or more. Proceeds benefit end-of-life and bereavement programs at Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice.

Register online at www.runreg.com, or download a registration form at www.cooley-dickinson.org/events/6th-annual-hospice-meadows-run. For more information, contact Trina Weiswasser at (413) 582-5365 or tweiswasser@cooleydickinson.org.

 

Oct. 1: The 12th annual Baystate Wing Golf Classic will be held at the Country Club of Wilbraham.

Each year, this tournament provides support for programs and services or for critical enhancements to the hospital. In recent years, the tournament has raised $136,000 for the community campaign that helped Baystate build a new Emergency Department at Baystate Wing Hospital. The new, larger facility will open in mid-September.

Golfers will enjoy a day out at one of the area’s premier golf courses, have the opportunity to win contest prizes throughout the day, and enjoy 19th-hole festivities including cocktails, dinner, and a lively auction.

To register or receive information about sponsoring the 12th annual Baystate Wing Golf Classic, call Stephanie Johnson at (413) 794-7853.

 

Oct. 3: Loomis House offers a free dementia support group on the first Wednesday of each month from 4 to 5 p.m. The support group is open to families, friends, and all caregivers in the community. For information, call Brenda Mendoza, Memory Support Program director, at (413) 568-4551, ext. 26.

Loomis House, which joined Berkshire Healthcare Systems in 2017, offers a range of housing and healthcare options to meet residents’ changing needs. Residents enjoy a supportive retirement lifestyle with personal-care services and skilled nursing available if needed.

 

Oct. 18-19: Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech will hold its 39th annual Conference on Mainstreaming Students with Hearing Loss at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough. This year’s event carries the theme “From Access to Achievement: Empowering Every Child to Succeed in the Mainstream,” and, for the first time, it will include a social hour for conference attendees, presenters, and exhibitors.

This is one of the only conferences of its kind in the country that offers resources and support to professionals who work with, and parents of, students who are deaf or hard of hearing who are in the mainstream — meaning they attend school with peers with typical hearing. The materials and topics are suited to teachers of the deaf, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, professionals in inclusive settings, and students who are deaf or hard of hearing and their parents. CEU and professional-development points are offered.

There is no deadline for registration, and walk-ins are welcome. For more information or to register, visit www.clarkeschools.org/services/annual-mainstream-conference.

 

Oct. 25: The second annual class of Healthcare Heroes will be honored at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m..

Healthcare Heroes, a recognition program involving the Western Mass. healthcare sector, was launched last spring by HCN and BusinessWest. The program was created to shed a bright light on the outstanding work being done across the broad spectrum of health and wellness services, and the institutions and people providing that care.

The seven winners are profiled on the pages of this issue, and will be feted at the Oct. 25 gala. Tickets cost $90, and tables of 10 are available. To order tickets, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or visit www.healthcarenews.com. call Healthcare Heroes sponsors include American International College (presenting sponsor), Baystate Health/Health New England (presenting sponsor), National Grid (partner), and supporting sponsors Renew.Calm, the Elms College MBA program, Bay Path University, and Mercy Medical Center/Trinity Health Of New England.

 

Oct. 29 to Feb. 6: Holyoke Community College, in collaboration with the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corp. and Emergency Medical Training Solutions, is offering an EMT training program at the E2E: Quaboag Region Workforce Training and Community College Center at 79 Main St. in Ware.

The EMT-B Emergency Medical Technician Basic Course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on select Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 13-week program consists of more than 170 hours of in-class lectures and additional online study, training, field trips, and workshops designed to prepare students for the state EMT certification exam. The course covers all aspects of emergency care, including patient handling, extrication, and communication; working with law enforcement; legal issues; ethics; medical equipment; and safe transportation of patients.

The course fee is $1,099 plus $200 for texts. For more information or to register, contact Ken White at (413) 552-2324 or kwhite@hcc.edu, or visit www.hcc.edu/workforce.