Dr. Sacks dead at 82
Dr. Oliver Sacks, whose books like “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat” probed distant ranges of human experience by compassionately portraying people with severe and sometimes bizarre neurological conditions, has died. He was 82. Sacks died Sunday, August 30, at his home in New York City after announcing in February 2015 that he was terminally ill with a rare eye cancer that had spread to his liver.
As a practicing neurologist, Sacks looked at some of his patients with a writer’s eye and found publishing gold. In his best-selling 1985 book, he described a man who really did mistake his wife’s face for his hat while visiting Sacks’ office, because his brain had difficulty interpreting what he saw. Another story in the book featured autistic twins who had trouble with ordinary math but who could perform other amazing calculations. Discover magazine ranked it among the 25 greatest science books of all time in 2006, declaring, “Legions of neuroscientists now probing the mysteries of the human brain cite this book as their greatest inspiration.”
In a New York Times essay published two weeks before he died, Dr. Sacks wrote “And now, weak, short of breath, my once-firm muscles melted away by cancer, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual, but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life — achieving a sense of peace within oneself. I find my thoughts drifting to the Sabbath, the day of rest, the seventh day of the week, and perhaps the seventh day of one’s life as well, when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest.”
Click here to read a fuller account by the Associated Press.
Our New Care Manager
We invite you to join us in welcoming John Scruton, RN, BSN, to our office staff as our new Care Manager, replacing Babette Burgan. Supported by our clinical care teams and under-girded by the URMC clinical consortium we belong to, Accountable Health Partners, John brings his strong faith and a wealth of education and experience to our interdisciplinary position. As a Registered Nurse incorporating his Masters Degree studies in Public Health, he has been working with our care teams since March to identify and proactively manage the care needs of high risk patients in our practice. Among other tasks, his role includes providing assessment, care coordination, advocacy and coaching for identified patients that are at risk for hospital admissions or emergency room visits.
Click here to read a recent write-up in the AHP News in which John reflects on his nursing and complex care management experience. And here’s another article posted in the “Spotlight” section of his Alma Mater, Pensacola Christian College’s website.
Welcome aboard, John!
CCHF Conference
Dr. Mack and I just returned from a very encouraging national conference sponsored by the Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF) in Atlanta, Georgia, where we gathered with over 300 health professionals and students who are dedicated to “living out the Gospel through healthcare among the poor.” We heard inspiring plenary speakers, came together for fellowship in large and small groups, attended educational workshops, spent time in prayer, and returned with a renewed enthusiasm and sense of calling for the work we are doing in Rochester. We’re energized to bring a larger group, including both staff and students, to next year’s conference in Oklahoma City! If you would be interested, just give us a call.
Colon Cancer Awareness
March is National Colon Cancer Month! What does this mean? Getting the news out that screening is the number one way you can reduce your risk of colon cancer. Despite its high incidence, colon cancer is unique in that it is one of the most preventable and, if found early, most treatable forms of cancer. And the best part is, screening is easy! From colonoscopy to at-home stool tests, there’s an option for everyone. If you’re over 50, high risk or symptomatic, don’t put it off. Call our office to arrange an appointment to talk with your doctor about getting checked! In the meantime, click here for more information.
HBHS Update
Thanks to your ongoing support we’re in a season of active growth and reorganization at His Branches Health Services to improve the quality of the family medical care we provide, and we’re excited about the future! With our Care Manager and new, more robust electronic medical records software we’re already learning more comprehensive ways to follow and provide preventative care for patients at risk for diabetes, hypertension and other threatening conditions. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” really comes alive when you can clearly identify where that ounce of prevention is best applied!
In addition, our close collaboration with Embracing Options and other pregnancy care centers in the area continues to offer us rich opportunities to provide medical and maternity care for many of their clients. In keeping with our commitment to serve the whole person – body, soul and spirit – we offer to close all of our patient encounters with prayer asking the Lord for wisdom, healing and help. We are so thankful for the privilege of co-laboring with a God who hears and answers when we call.
Please pray for us as we learn better ways to connect with and love our neighbors as Christ would have us do in today’s complex world.
Upgrading to Medent
Get ready!
After months of planning and extensive preparation, we’re on the verge of converting over from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) that we’ve been using for the past 10+ years to a more robust system called Medent. The decision to change was made last spring after months of prayer and research into our future needs for a more sophisticated system to handle the increasing patient care requirements of our Patient Centered Medical Home as well as the complexities of clinic billing. For the past 7 months we’ve been working extensively behind the scenes with both our current vendor and Medent to prepare 10 years of patient care data so that it can be transferred without loss to our new EHR.
Everyone on our staff has been undergoing training this month, and a cut-over time has been set: our last full clinical day using our current system will be this coming Thursday, January 29; 10 years of patient records will be downloaded and exported to Medent on Friday, January 30 and over the weekend; Medent will be up and running on all our computers on Monday, February 2 so we can set up our schedules and test it out to make sure everything is operating; and on Tuesday, February 3 we will “go live” and get back into the swing of patient care on Medent. It’s going to be a learning curve for all of us, so please pray for us and be patient!
Special thanks go out to our neighbor and brother in the faith Gary Passero, who has been faithfully donating his time and expertise to tailoring our “export” process so that our data can be seamlessly “ingested” into Medent at the time of cut-over. We’re also deeply grateful for the support we’ve received from our current vendor and the staff at Medent during this time of preparation. And it’s our privilege to report that, by God’s grace, the costs of our transition have been almost completely underwritten by a substantial grant from the University of Rochester Medical Center and support from our CMMI grant and generous donors!
Focus on Missions
Focus On Missions
Are you a health care professional? If so, please consider setting aside the date and signing up now for the MCCF Winter Missions Breakfast coming up on Saturday, January 24th, from 9-11 am at the Rochester Academy of Medicine, 1441 East Avenue.
We’re looking forward to some inspiring presentations (see list below) so mark your calendars and respond now using the MCCF RSVP page.
Dr. David & Hannah Hough (Internal Medicine) – Nepal
Dr. Chris Borghi-Cavallaro (Family Medicine) – Update from Managua
Gratitude
Christmas card received from a grateful patient:
“The Lord has brought me through the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” into Light & Life. He has used you very significantly and the ministry of His Branches. May the Lord continue to use you to bring Light & Life to the Arnett neighborhood and the Rochester area.
“I thank the Lord for you often.
“Happy Holidays and a Most joyous Christmas Celebration. Where would we be without our Victorious Savior, the Eternal God and Everlasting King of Kings !!”
We thank God also for the privilege of serving others in His Name. God bless you all!
Loving Your Neighbors
We hosted a wonderful day-long planning visit/retreat with a group of colleagues from the Jericho Road Community Health Center this past Monday. Starting with a small family medicine practice in inner city Buffalo, NY over 15 years ago, Jericho Road has grown into a rapidly-expanding Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with 2 locations that serves a large population of inner city residents and refugees. Their experience matches ours in so many ways that we’re feeling called to work in mutually supportive ways as we grow and reach out to our respective communities. We’ll keep you posted as we move along!
All Saints’ Eve Fun
The sense our staff has of working together side by side day after day has come to resemble that of a family that appreciates and enjoys each other’s company and support. Today was no exception. In cheerful recognition of Halloween (or Hallowed Evening, the day before All Saints’ Day on the traditional church calendar), Dr. Mack showed up in his usual professional attire but was soon discovered to have worn his true colors underneath, those of Super Doctor!
Meet Our CEO, Dr. Morehouse
I'm a happy person who loves getting to know and being able to help people of all ages. I connect with little children (and the little child in most adults) almost immediately. Sharing the joys and trials of relationships, pregnancy and delivery, and family life are the things about family practice that really light my fire. I've found that having a sense of humor and seeing God's love at work can see us through some of life's most difficult times, if we can keep the faith and hang in there together. 
