Department Of Health

Health newsletter available online Learn to Live at Fifty-Plus, a newsletter from the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, explores dietary supplements and provides tips for evaluating their benefits. It also examines low-fat diets, exercising without injury, smart ways to eat out and the dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke. There is also a list of community health resources. For a free copy, call the Learn To Live Line at 410-222-7979, or download the newsletter from the Department of Health Web site, www.aahealth.

Johns Hopkins University faculty will offer 32 presentations covering issues in prevention, treatment and diagnosis of diseases affecting women from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. today at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Topics of the 13th annual health conference, titled "A Woman's Journey," include aging, heart disease, breast cancer, global warming, stress, weight loss and depression. The keynote speaker is Leslie Mancuso, president and chief executive officer of JHPIEGO, a Johns Hopkins affiliate and international health organization that works to improve health care conditions in 50 countries.

IGNORANCE is not random," exclaimed Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Minnesota Democrat, earlier this year as he pleaded in vain for support of his amendment that would have required the Department of Health and Human Services to track the well-being of former welfare recipients.Since the 1996 welfare reforms were initiated, an estimated 4.6 million Americans, mostly women and children, have been forced off the welfare rolls.A study by the General Accounting Office found that most adults who left public aid in recent years were able to find work, but the actual well-being of families after welfare remains unknown.

Anne Arundel County Department of Health workers inspected 134 food service establishments between Jan. 16 and Jan. 31 and found 21 critical food safety violations that were immediately corrected.They did not find violations at any of the establishments that would have warranted closing them.They found multiple violations at one place.Piezano Pizza and Restaurant, 2019 West St., Annapolis, was cited for cross-contaminating ready-to-serve foods and for not keeping food at its proper temperature.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health made no emergency closures of food service establishments during inspections between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15.Health workers inspected 169 restaurants and other food service establishments during the period and found 25 with critical food safety violations that were immediately corrected. They found multiple violations at one place.Fairlaines Ritchie at 6608 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie was cited for not holding food at the proper temperature and for not adequately cooking and reheating food.

Emanuel Kaplan, who was called one of the "Heroes of Public Health" for his efforts to focus national attention on lead poisoning in children and other biochemical and infectious diseases, died Monday of heart failure at his Pikesville residence. He was 89.Dr. Kaplan became intrigued by the high incidence of lead poisoning in children in Baltimore after he joined the city Health Department in 1934.After studying the new dithizone technique for detecting blood lead that was developed by Dupont Chemical Co. and German chemists, the Health Department, under his direction, began a free diagnostic program that assessed the lead levels of anyone suspected of having the disease.

Deborah I. Chang, a federal health official from Silver Spring, has been named a deputy secretary at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She will oversee state Medicaid and other health care programs.Chang's appointment, which follows Dr. Georges C. Benjamin's recent promotion to department secretary, was announced yesterday by Gov. Parris N. Glendening. State officials said her appointment is part of an overall reorganization of the department.Chang works for the federal Health Care Financing Administration as director of benefits, coverage and payment for the HCFA's Medicaid and state operations section.

State licensing officials are taking the unusual step of moving to revoke the license of a residential care provider that treats troubled teen-agers at six homes in Baltimore County.The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene alleges that Residential Care Network of Pikesville altered records, did not properly report runaways, failed to give adequate dental care to one client and violated clients' rights by taking their shoes and coats and restricting access to the refrigerator and telephone.

Need some health information? Try the Healthfinder Web site. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this Internet site does a nice job of organizing the often-confusing mass of health and nutrition information from federal and state agencies. An exhaustive list of subjects is covered in several sections: www.healthfinder.gov.Pub Date: 02/14/99

The federal government helped put Christopher Vogelmann through chiropractic school in the mid-1980s, but a decade after graduating, the Rockville doctor owes more than $95,000.Vogelmann is among more than 1,400 doctors and other health professionals -- including 29 from Maryland -- whom the Department of Health and Human Services hopes to shame into paying back their federally guaranteed health education loans. This week the names were posted on the Internet.As a group, the defaulters owe more than $107 million -- an average of $76,000 per person, including penalties.

Bone marrow donor drive The Zoe Quinn Francis Fund along with Be the Match Registry and the Big Vanilla Athletic Club is sponsoring a bone marrow drive from 11 am. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the upstairs community room at the club, 26 Magothy Beach Blvd., Pasadena. Participants should be between ages 18 and 60 and be in good health. A cheek swab will be taken. Go to bethematch.org for more information. To join online through Oct. 31, go to: join.marrow.org/ND119. FluMist vaccine for students Free FluMist vaccine will be offered to all Anne Arundel County public school students through a partnership with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, Monday through Oct. 15. Administered to healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11, the nasal spray vaccine contains the live but attenuated flu virus.

The first shipments of swine flu vaccine should start arriving in Maryland by Tuesday, but the initial batch will be so limited that the doses will be offered mainly to health care workers in hospitals and clinics, state health officials say. The state is getting just 31,600 doses of vaccine to start, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - only about 1 percent of what's needed to vaccinate all the children and vulnerable adults that...

County partners with HHS on Web site Howard County Executive Ken Ulman says Howard government will be the first local jurisdiction to pilot a Web content syndication project with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The content, "Quick Tips for Healthy Living" was developed by ODPHP for its Web site. Through the partnership, the content is now available on Howard County's Department of Health, Wellness Works Web site at howardcountymd.

Lead certificate requirement The Anne Arundel County Department of Health reminds parents that all children newly enrolled in county pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade are required to have a lead testing certificate. The certificate ensures that children living in high-risk areas are being tested for lead poisoning, which can cause young children to have difficulty learning, behavioral problems and developmental disabilities. High-risk ZIP codes in Anne Arundel are 20711, 20714, 20764, 20779, 21060, 21061, 21225, 21226, and 21402, because they have a greater proportion of older homes that may contain lead paint.

Lead certificate requirement The Anne Arundel County Department of Health reminds parents that all children newly enrolled in county pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade are required to have a lead testing certificate. The certificate ensures that children living in high-risk areas are being tested for lead poisoning, which can cause young children to have difficulty learning, behavioral problems and developmental disabilities. High-risk ZIP codes in Anne Arundel are 20711, 20714, 20764, 20779, 21060, 21061, 21225, 21226, and 21402, because they have a greater proportion of older homes that may contain lead paint.

Dining out to support multiple sclerosis society The Original Steakhouse and Sports Theater at routes 2 and 214 in Edgewater will sponsor a benefit for the MSbusters fundraising team, Maryland chapter, on Tuesday. Throughout the day, the restaurant will donate 10 percent of the day's sale (dine-in and carryout) to the national society. Call 410-956-0790 for reservations or additional information. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is the only voluntary health organization dedicated to the prevention, treatment, alleviation and cure of MS. The Maryland chapter serves more than 5,000 men, women and children living with the daily challenges of MS. Volunteer honored Martin "Chip" Doordan, president and CEO of Anne Arundel Health Systems, was awarded the United Way of Central Maryland's Bernard Cook Meritorious Leadership Award for his volunteer work throughout the county.

Free newsletter/magazine Presented by the Anne Arundel County Department of Health's Learn to Live program, the newsletter Building Blocks discusses ADHD in young children and provides tips and resources to help child care providers and parents. Free copies of HIM (Health Ideas for Men) magazine are available at the Department of Health, J. Howard Beard Health Services Building, 3 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis. The magazine features articles on exercises that encourage fitness, eating healthy while dining out, quitting smoking and preventing skin cancer.

Free newsletter/magazine Presented by the Anne Arundel County Department of Health's Learn to Live program, the newsletter "Building Blocks" discusses ADHD in young children and provides tips and resources to help child care providers and parents. Free copies of HIM (Health Ideas for Men) magazine are available at the Department of Jealth, J. Howard Beard Health Services Building, 3 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis. The magazine features articles on exercises that encourage fitness, eating healthy while dining out, quitting smoking and preventing skin cancer.

Former Virginia Department of Health official Dr. Edward Van Oeveren was named the new Anne Arundel County Health Officer, according to the county government. Oeveren, who has a law degree, is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is experienced in pandemic planning, having worked for 10 years as preventive medicine officer and district director in Virginia. Van Oeveren began his post in the new position Thursday, succeeding Fran Phillips and interim director Doug Hart. "I am looking forward to working with the extremely capable staff at the Anne Arundel County Health Department, who have benefited from 15 years of leadership under Fran Phillips," Van Oeveren said in a statement.

BW Medical Center joins in Day of Dance The Baltimore Washington Medical Center will join other health providers around the country in the fifth annual national Spirit of Women Day of Dance for Health, to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Severna Park Community Center, 623 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, Severna Park. The event will celebrate the benefits of dance and exercise in preventing heart disease and help raise awareness of cardiovascular health. Country line dancing, belly dancing, hip-hop, zumba, salsa and yoga demonstrations will be offered by local dance studios.