Kernan Hospital

The death of a man who was severely beaten outside a West Baltimore store Oct. 23 has been ruled a homicide, city police said yesterday. The victim, Lonnie E. Foote, 58, of the 6000 block of Park Heights Ave., died Nov. 6 at St. Agnes Hospital, according to his former wife, Arlene Clark. Police said an autopsy was performed Nov. 7 and, after an investigation, his death was ruled a homicide by blunt-force trauma Dec. 2. The case was turned over to the city homicide investigators the next day. But the homicide ruling was not revealed until yesterday.

The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene must continue to pay for care for uninsured rehabilitation patients who are now served at Kernan Hospital, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran said in an opinion.The ruling was requested after a series of changes in the way rehabilitation patients were served.The health department used to operate its own rehabilitation facility, Montebello Center. The legislature in 1992 turned Montebello over to University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS).

LOYAL FRIENDS, family support and overwhelming community generosity have helped make Derek Taylor's transition home as smooth as can be expected after months in the hospital.The 1996 South Carroll High School graduate was severely injured in a diving accident in August while working a summer job as a lifeguard. Derek broke his neck and was paralyzed from the chest down after plunging headfirst to the bottom of a pool.After spending the past three months at Kernan Hospital in Baltimore, Derek has limited use of his shoulders and arms.

Louis Bassett, whose rector described him as a "gentle soul" who devoted his life to the care and needs of patients at James Lawrence Kernan Hospital, died Monday of a stroke at Northampton Manor Nursing Home in Frederick. He was 81.Mr. Bassett, known as "Whitey," came to the hospital near Dickeyville as an orphan of 14 and remained there for the rest of his life, working as an orderly.A familiar figure dressed in his hospital whites until retiring in 1982, Mr. Bassett continued living on the grounds of Kernan's until he entered the Odd Fellows Home in 1992.

Goodbye, Montebello. Hello, Kernan.The William Donald Schaefer Rehabilitation Center at Kernan Hospital opened for business yesterday with about 100 patients -- including the last 60 from the Montebello Rehabilitation Hospital in Northeast Baltimore.The $30 million Schaefer Rehabilitation Center, on an 88-acre campus at the city's western edge, replaces the aging Montebello. The old hospital closed yesterday and will be converted into offices for Morgan State University.With 128 beds, the Schaefer center becomes the state's largest facility dedicated to rehabilitation, officials said.

It's difficult for John Unitas to be anything but realistic. No highs or lows. An even balance to all aspects of his life. Never the trace of an alibi nor a boast or brag. Maybe a mere shrug of the shoulders to express frustration but nothing more.This time a year ago he underwent what was a routine knee-replacement operation but, suddenly, without a hint of warning, it became a life or death emergency. Family, friends and admirers from around the world awaited the next bulletin on his condition.

After having an office tower, airport terminal and several campus buildings named after him, Gov. William Donald Schaefer will soon be able to visit a hospital wing bearing his name as well.The University of Maryland Medical System is about to begin construction of the William Donald Schaefer Rehabilitation Center at Kernan, a $30 million, 128-bed medical facility on the grounds of the James Lawrence Kernan Hospital near Woodlawn.The two-level building will replace Montebello Rehabilitation Hospital on Argonne Drive, the state's largest and only free-standing rehabilitation facility.

The world of stars met the world of stitches yesterday -- and left its mark."I'm saving this side for Shirley MacLaine," said X-ray technician Laura Smith, indicating the still-blank right side of a lab coat that flaunted a freshly scrawled "Nicolas Cage" on the left. "But she seems very guarded."Which is appropriate, since Ms. MacLaine is the "Tess" and Mr. Cage is the "guard" in the coming movie, "Guarding Tess," that is being filmed in and around Baltimore.Yesterday, the filming took them to Kernan Hospital, an orthopedic rehabilitation facility in the Dickeyville area of West Baltimore and "a pretty quiet place until this happened," according to Ms. Smith.

Former Baltimore Colts quarterback John Unitas underwent coronary bypass surgery early yesterday at the University of Maryland Medical Center, his family said.Unitas, 59, was listed in serious condition last night, the normal post-operative condition after cardiac surgery."We're encouraged about his early signs," said John Unitas Jr., who visited with his father yesterday. "He's a man of great heart."The operation, directed by a team headed by Dr. Alejandro Sequeira, lasted three hours and was precipitated by a breathing difficulty and chest pains while Unitas was resting at Kernan Hospital after a successful Thursday operation for a right knee replacement, performed by Dr. Kenneth Spence.

Creating reusable activity booklets and a flannel board to brighten the days of pediatric patients at Baltimore's Kernan Hospital helped Laura Larrimore of Mount Airy shine as a top Girl Scout.Laura, 16, recently earned Girl Scouting's prestigious Gold Award. Her family, friends and fellow members of Senior Troop 514 honored Laura for her many Scouting achievements during a Gold Award celebration yesterday at St. James Episcopal Church in Mount Airy.Completing the community service project for Kernan Hospital in March was the last of several requirements Laura needed to earn Girl Scouting's top award.

John Jerome "Jack" Tansey, a well-known Baltimore orthopedic surgeon who was also an accomplished horseman and gardener, died Monday of lung cancer at the Charlestown retirement community. He was 89. Dr. Tansey, the son of a dentist and a homemaker, was born and raised in East Hampton, Mass., and graduated in 1939 from the Williston Northampton School in his hometown. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1943 from Brown University in Providence, R.I., he graduated in 1945 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Betty Loretta Pruce, a former Kernan Hospital volunteer and homemaker, died of heart disease May 3 at her Northwest Baltimore home. She was 97. Born Betty Loretta Fox in Windham County, Conn., she moved to Baltimore in 1929 and soon met her future husband, Earl Pruce, who became librarian of the old News American. Friends said Mrs. Pruce was talented in arts and crafts. Over the years she donated much of her handiwork to charitable institutions for sale in their gift shops. She was also a gift wrapper for Hutzler's department stores in the 1960s and 1970s.

Zoe M. Parrott, a former longtime Dickeyville resident and World War II veteran, died of pneumonia Monday at the Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 96. Zoe McFadden was born and raised in Roanoke, Ind. She attended Butler University in Indianapolis, and earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1940. In 1942, she enlisted in the Navy WAVES - Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service - and served in Washington as a member of the Judge Advocate Corps.

The death of a man who was severely beaten outside a West Baltimore store Oct. 23 has been ruled a homicide, city police said yesterday. The victim, Lonnie E. Foote, 58, of the 6000 block of Park Heights Ave., died Nov. 6 at St. Agnes Hospital, according to his former wife, Arlene Clark. Police said an autopsy was performed Nov. 7 and, after an investigation, his death was ruled a homicide by blunt-force trauma Dec. 2. The case was turned over to the city homicide investigators the next day. But the homicide ruling was not revealed until yesterday.

Three-time All-Metro selection Vince Taweel of Hammond, winner of three Class 2A-1A state titles and 149 career bouts, has committed to Duke University, he said yesterday. "I spoke to their coach, Clar Anderson [on Friday night], but it was a tough decision between them, American and Maryland because of their combinations of academics and wrestling," said Taweel, who became Hammond's second four-time Howard County champion and earned his fourth 2A-1A South regional title. Taweel, who went 40-2 this season at 135 pounds, failed to win his fourth state title when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee in the state quarterfinals.

Gladys M. Brown, an artist, author and composer who wrote the official Calvert County song, died in her sleep Sunday at Calvert County Nursing Center in Prince Frederick, where she had lived since 2001. The former Huntingtown resident was 91. Gladys Mogck was born and raised on 41st Street in Baltimore. She developed an interest in music early in her life and studied violin from 1922 to 1930 at Peabody Preparatory. After graduating in 1932 from Eastern High School, she attended Strayer Business College and worked during the late 1930s as a nurse's aide at Kernan Hospital.

A car accident that crushed Karen Muranaka's spine two years ago and left her a paraplegic threatened to take away one of her favorite pastimes: gardening. But in Kernan Hospital's rehabilitation garden, she learned how to plant forsythia and hyacinths from her wheelchair. And in the process, she found new hope: "I look for it harder now -- the birds, colors, greenness of grass every spring," says the 46-year-old Eldersburg resident who visits Kernan every three months for therapy. "That re-growth ... gives my body new strength and renews my inner spirit."

In Baltimore City Detectives investigate killings of two men in separate incidents City homicide detectives were investigating two fatal shootings that occurred Saturday night - one near Green Mount Cemetery, the other in West Baltimore. In the first incident, Taji Hawkins, 26, of the 2500 block of Eutaw Place was shot in the chest about 8:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of N. Carey St., in the city's Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, police said. The other victim, identified as John Esrael, 22, of the Bronx, N.Y., was shot in the head about 11 p.m. in the 1500 block of Latrobe St., about two blocks west of the cemetery.

A Baltimore Circuit Court jury deliberated just over an hour yesterday before awarding a Woodlawn man more than $6.2 million for injuries suffered in a 1999 accident that caused him to go blind. Kojo Oseitutu, 58, won the judgment against Grimes Tire Service. The incident happened May 18, 1999, as Oseitutu was putting a truck wheel on a chassis, said one of his attorneys, Bernard J. Sevel. "The truck wheel exploded, throwing the wheel into him, causing severe head fractures, brain damage, rendering him totally blind and also depriving him of his sense of smell and taste," he said.

Despite a difficult year in which federal regulators forced an overhaul of research safety procedures, Johns Hopkins Hospital has topped the list of the nation's best hospitals for the 12th straight year in a magazine's annual rankings. The rankings, to be published in next week's issue of U.S. News & World Report, brought expressions of pride and relief yesterday at Hopkins, where leaders greeted employees reporting for work and a jazz ensemble played at the main entrance. "This is a reaffirmation that we're doing well among our peers," said hospital President Ronald R. Peterson, noting that a hospital's reputation weighs heavily in the ratings.