Arundel Medical Center

Hospice of the Chesapeake names board member The board of directors of Hospice of the Chesapeake Inc. has named Catherine J. Brady-Copertino, executive director for the Anne Arundel Medical Center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute, as a member of its board. She has been executive director for the Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute since 2007, leading the hospital's Breast Center, Radiation Oncology, Nurse Navigation and other programs. Since 2005, she has served as vice president of corporate development and operations for Global Oncology Care, an Irish-owned company developing cancer centers in Ireland and Europe.

Edward Philip Loftus, a former logistics manager and plant supervisor, died Wednesday of heart failure at Anne Arundel Medical Center. The Annapolis resident was 73. Mr. Loftus was born and raised in Avoca, Pa., and graduated from St. John's High School in Pittston, Pa. He served as a gunner aboard the carrier USS Wasp from 1951 to 1954. He earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1974, then his master's degree in business from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1980. After working for Hercules Powder Co., he took a position as plant manager in the 1970s with Mack Trucks, in Bridgewater, N.J. He was transferred in the 1980s to the company's Odenton plant, where he was also plant manager.

Retreat set for cancer survivors The Anne Arundel Medical Center Breast Center and the Annapolis community support group Stepping Out for Breast Cancer will host the fifth annual Breast Cancer Survivors Retreat Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Aspen Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown. The theme is "Hope + Endurance + Strength = Survivorship!" It is designed for those who have completed radiation, chemical or surgical intervention for breast cancer. The program will include education about new developments in breast cancer therapy, living with a cancer diagnosis and the use of complementary healing techniques.

Students to get health screenings The Anne Arundel County Department of Health vision and hearing technicians and school nurses are conducting mandated vision and hearing screenings for children in pre-school, kindergarten and third and eighth grades and for new students. Special education students receiving speech therapy may also be recommended for screening. Vision and hearing technicians from the department also administer vision and hearing screenings at private schools, nurseries and day care programs to assure that the appropriate children are screened.

AAMC to add 600 parking spaces Anne Arundel Medical Center will add more than 200 spaces at the Sajak Garage early next month and a new 400-space garage at the Wayson Pavilion in March. Also, the Sajak surface parking lot -- primarily employee parking -- is closing this month for construction on a parking garage with more than 930 parking spaces. The new garage will accompany the hospital's new Ambulatory Services Pavilion, a building housing physician offices, a Health Sciences Institute and other health services.

Two teenagers were shot last night outside an Annapolis apartment complex by an unknown assailant, police said. About 10 p.m. police responded to reports of gunfire at Woodside Gardens apartments in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive and found Thomas Penn, 19, and Pedro A. Green Jr., 18, wounded in the legs and buttocks. The teenagers told police that they were standing outside when gunshots rang out. They were hit before they could seek cover, police said. Green, of Newtowne Drive, was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center, and Penn, of Cutter Court, was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Rockbridge Academy, a private school that offers kindergarten through 12th grade and is accredited by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools, will offer two open houses this fall. From 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 8 and Nov. 12, parents of prospective students can browse the curriculum and meet teachers, administrators and board members. The school is in the Baldwin Educational Building, at 911 Generals Highway in Millersville. Information: 410-923-1171. AACC to hold paralegal forum Anne Arundel Community College will hold a forum on its paralegal studies program at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Room 101 of the Florestano Building, 101 College Parkway, Arnold.

Garnett Yelverton "Junie" Clark, a retired Annapolis businessman who maintained a lifelong interest in the history of Anne Arundel County, died of pneumonia and heart disease June 20 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 91. Mr. Clark was born in Howard County and raised in Ellicott City. He was a 1932 graduate of the old Donaldson School and earned a bachelor's degree from St. John's College in 1936. After graduating from college, he sailed around the world as a merchant seaman onboard the Viking, a four-masted barque.

An eighth-grade girl and seven classmates were sent to Anne Arundel County hospitals yesterday after they ingested tablets of anti-anxiety medicine she handed out during lunch period, officials said.The 13- and 14-year-old pupils at Severn River Junior High School took Ativan, a drug prescribed for anxiety disorders that relaxes the muscles. Ativan's chemical name is Lorazepam."I was scared and I went and I told," said 13-year-old Kara Zoolakis, who told administrators that the group had eaten the white pentagon-shaped tablets during lunch.

The hulking eight-story Anne Arundel Medical Center tower has, for as long as anyone can recall, been an outcast on the leafy, residential blocks of old Annapolis.The bustle of nurses in scrubs, the flash of ambulance lights and the building itself -- drab and boxy -- have looked entirely out of place in a neighborhood where misty mornings greet residents in slippers, walking their dogs past century-old homes to the waterfront.So when hospital officials announced they would be moving to Parole after 99 years in downtown Annapolis, residents began hoping for a replacement that would blend in -- some muted, tasteful homes, unassuming townhouses, perhaps a few small shops.

Maryland reports sixth death from swine flu Maryland health officials reported Thursday a sixth death associated with swine flu. Officials would not release details about the death, except to say it was an adult from the Washington suburbs with an underlying medical condition. As of last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 436 deaths and 6,506 hospitalizations associated with the virus, known as H1N1. As infections continue to spread widely, the federal agency and state health departments have stopped recording confirmed flu cases that do not result in deaths or hospitalizations.

Lyme disease, a highly preventable bacterial infection, strikes nearly 20,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The peak incidence of Lyme disease will occur from May through early October, so now is the time to guard against the tick bites that transmit the infection. Dr. Thomas F. Hattar, of the Annapolis Center for Integrative Medicine and Anne Arundel Medical Center, offers five things to know about Lyme disease going into the summer season: * Lyme disease can usually be prevented by avoiding areas of tall grass and brush where ticks reside.

Hospice of the Chesapeake names board member The board of directors of Hospice of the Chesapeake Inc. has named Catherine J. Brady-Copertino, executive director for the Anne Arundel Medical Center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute, as a member of its board. She has been executive director for the Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute since 2007, leading the hospital's Breast Center, Radiation Oncology, Nurse Navigation and other programs. Since 2005, she has served as vice president of corporate development and operations for Global Oncology Care, an Irish-owned company developing cancer centers in Ireland and Europe.

Kyle Herring, a 17-year-old high school junior, sat down yesterday in Anne Arundel Medical Center's blood mobile to donate his fifth pint of blood in the past year. The blood mobile is becoming a regular fixture at the Center for Applied Technology-South in Edgewater since medical center administrators realized that Herring and other return donors have made the school the largest contributor to the blood mobile in Anne Arundel County. Since the medical center launched the blood mobile in July 2007, students at CAT-South have donated 189 pints to the program.

The doctor in Sudan told the young mother she was expecting. At least three babies, the doctor said, maybe four. Adwai Malual, a 28-year-old married bank teller, considered following the doctor's advice and going to Jordan for medical care. But then she thought of her older sister living in Prince George's County and her mother-in-law in Minnesota. Malual's mother, Anne Abyei, explained yesterday how her daughter decided to head to the United States. The trip would allow Malual to accomplish two goals: get medical care for herself and her unborn children, and meet with her mother-in-law before giving birth, the custom in Sudan.

Bobbie Burnett proudly displays the different designs her stained-glass angels have taken over the past 26 years. She gave her first angel as a gift to a friend with leukemia. Then she started selling angels to pay for Susie Lyttle's care. Burnett contributed only $200 to Lyttle before she died in 1983. Now Burnett has a loftier goal spelled out in gold lettering in the middle of the wall where her angels stand watch: to reach $1 million in total donations. Her 90 volunteers, who rotate shifts in her Annapolis studio three days a week, make angel figurines and pins, along with sun catchers of birds, flowers and other images.

Anne Arundel Medical Center has appointed Dr. Barry R. Meisenberg, the former head of the hematology-oncology division at the University of Maryland's Cancer Center, as the new director of its Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute. Martin L. Doordan, president and CEO of Anne Arundel Health System, said the hiring of Meisenberg reinforces the medical system's commitment to excellence in oncology care. "Recruiting a physician of national caliber such as Dr. Meisenberg was only possible because of the overall excellence of our programs, talent of our medical and nursing staffs and investment in our facilities," Doordan said.

The contractions started slowly, but soon the pace quickened, and Rachel Tice knew the baby was coming. A mother of two boys, Tice, a former labor delivery nurse, began making plans: She called her midwife, arranging to meet at the hospital in Annapolis. She called her baby sitter to look after her boys, still fast asleep. She woke her husband, Eddie Tice, also a nurse, and thinking they had plenty of time, the two headed north late Sunday night in their blue Toyota minivan from their home in Calvert County to Anne Arundel Medical Center.

Free flu shots available The Anne Arundel County Department of Health will offer immunization clinics to provide free flu vaccine to county residents starting Oct. 15. The injectable and nasal-spray vaccines will be provided at Health Services Building clinics Oct. 15, Nov. 19 and Dec. 9. The nasal-spray vaccine is designed for healthy people ages 2-49 but is not appropriate for pregnant women. Clinics will be held at other locations this month and next. Pneumococcal vaccine, recommended for those ages 65 and older and people with chronic health problems such as heart or lung conditions, will also be available.

Maryland Natural Resources Police continued last week to investigate a fatal hunting accident that occurred Sept. 20, on private property near Davidsonville. Joseph Philip Adams, 46, of Glen Burnie was hunting deer from his tree stand, on property in the 2400 block of Rutland Road, when he fell approximately 15 feet to the ground, according to the Natural Resource Police, who said the man was not wearing a safety harness. Adams and a friend were archery hunting from tree stands approximately 80 yards apart when the friend heard Adams call for help.