CRESTVIEW — Bridgeway Center Inc.’s Crestview and Fort Walton Beach offices now have two buses for transporting adults who need it. 

Okaloosa County commissioners donated the decommissioned buses after the vehicles reached their county-wide service life limit.

BCI’s Wellness Centers in both cities serve adults experiencing persistent mental illness or substance use and addictive disorders.

“Transportation to treatment services is always a challenge. This generous donation by Okaloosa County will allow BCI to provide accessible daily transportation services for these individuals with one bus in the Fort Walton Beach area and one in the Crestview area,” a media release states.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa County donates buses to Bridgeway Center

CRESTVIEW — North Okaloosa Medical Center is among the first in the United States, and one of four Florida hospitals, to offer a new treatment that relieves peripheral artery disease patients’ pain.

A build-up of plaque blocks blood flow in the legs’ or feet’s arteries, and causes the disease. An image-guided device, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved,  allows physicians to see and remove this plaque during atherectomy, a minimally invasive procedure that cuts and clears plaque from the artery to restore blood flow.

Northwest Florida’s first FDA-approved case in using the new technology was performed at North Okaloosa Medical Center by Marcello Borzatta, M.D., a vascular surgeon and medical staff member, according to an NOMC media release.

“Peripheral artery disease is a common, costly and deadly disease that greatly impacts quality of life, with patients experiencing cramping, numbness, discoloration and pain,” Borzatta said. “We are excited about the availability of this new and innovative technology, which is a significant step forward for the treatment of the condition, enabling a more precise removal of the plaque that is the cause of the symptoms of PAD.”

Because the device incorporates real-time optical coherence tomography imaging on a therapeutic catheter — like having a small camera on the device’s tip — physicians can remove this plaque more precisely than before, with less risk of damage to the artery walls, which could result in scarring that increases the risk of restenosis, or re-narrowing of the artery. In the past, physicians had to rely solely on X-ray, as well as touch and feel to guide their tools while they tried to treat complicated arterial disease.

“This safe and more-precise treatment option may potentially reduce the need for follow-up procedures and stents for patients,” Dr. Borzatta said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NOMC among few hospitals with new peripheral artery disease treatment

FORT WALTON BEACH — The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County has announced water quality test results for local parks. 

Three Okaloosa parks have potentially hazardous bathing water, the Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County stated March 28.

Liza Jackson and Garniers Parks in Fort Walton Beach and Lincoln Park, Valparaiso failed tests based on EPA-recommended enterococci standards. Enteric bacteria's presence indicates fecal pollution from stormwater runoff, pets and wildlife or human sewage.

Three other parks that passed the test but are listed as having moderate (instead of good) water quality this week are Marler Park, Okaloosa Island; Poquito Park, Shalimar; and Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, Niceville.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa health department releases water quality results

GAINESVILLE — A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher will return to Brazil to study the ability of two mosquito species to transmit the Zika virus.

The yellow fever mosquito – Aedes aegypti – and the Asian tiger mosquito – Aedes albopictus – are considered the main culprits behind the transmission of chikungunya, dengue and zika viruses.

Among other outcomes, this work will provide real-time information about the involvement of the Asian tiger mosquito in the outbreak, as most scientists are focusing on involvement of the yellow fever mosquito, said Chelsea Smartt, UF/IFAS associate professor at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, Florida. Information gathered by Smartt and her colleagues would improve the ability of mosquito control officials to respond to these viruses ahead of human cases.

“This would aid disease control efforts by being able to detect the virus ahead of human cases,” she said.

Smartt will use a $10,000 UF/IFAS Mid-Career International Travel Award to take her research team back to Brazil, the origin of the recent Zika virus outbreak. Last year, there was a simultaneous outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses in Salvador, Brazil. Some Brazilians reported being infected with up to three virus – one right after the other, Smartt said. That’s when Smartt initially went to Brazil and started her Zika investigation.

When they return to Brazil, Smartt and her colleagues will collect mosquitoes of both species in houses where people have contracted Zika, chikungunya and dengue viruses. They want to see which mosquitoes are infected with any of those viruses.

Then, they’ll find viruses on cards upon which the mosquitoes have fed that provide a safe way to store RNA at room temperature.

“We will work out detection of the virus on the cards that can be used as a proxy measure of the ability of a mosquito to transmit the virus to man,” Smartt said. “We hope to find which mosquito species, Aedes aegypti or Aedes  albopictus, is actually involved in the circulation of these viruses. We also hope to determine if the cards are useful in measuring transmission of these three viruses in the absence of a sentinel animal.

Brad Buck is a science writer for the University of Florida IFAS Communications department.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: University of Florida researcher heads to Brazil for Zika virus studies

NICEVILLE — A seminar on healthy lifestyles for women is 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 22 at the Niceville Community Center.

Cost is $30 ($25 before April 8) per person for registration, which includes breakfast, lunch, presentations, complimentary H2U membership, door prizes and more.

Register at womenonwellness.org.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Women on Wellness Symposium planned

PENSACOLA — Sacred Heart Health System is now providing care through the Veterans Choice Program, giving veterans the choice to receive care at Sacred Heart locations throughout the region.

As part of Ascension, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit healthcare systems and world’s largest Catholic health system, Sacred Heart joins its facilities in serving as an official provider of veterans care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Qualified U.S. veterans who face wait times in excess of 30 days at the VA or have to travel farther than 40 miles from their home can receive care from Sacred Heart doctors at 50 sites between Gulf Shores, Ala. and Apalachicola.

The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 established funding to pay for healthcare services provided to veterans by private healthcare providers. Through the partnership, Sacred Heart physicians and other caregivers are authorized to provide primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty care, and mental health for eligible veterans outside of VA.

Ascension has established a contractual agreement with TriWest Healthcare Alliance, a federal contractor to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. TriWest is designated by VA to implement the Veterans Choice Program and provide eligible veterans access to care in their community when the local VA facility cannot readily provide care.

Nearly 9 million veterans received the Veterans Choice Card and its use is strictly voluntary. Veterans who qualify for VA healthcare can continue to receive care at a VA medical facility of their choice, as they have in the past. The program will end when the allocated funds of $10 billion are used, or no later than August 7, 2017.

Veterans can determine eligibility for the program at www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/ or by calling: 1-866-606-8198. Persons interested in learning more about VCP may visit www.ascension.org/veterans.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Veterans can participate in Sacred Heart Veterans Choice Program

FORT WALTON BEACH — The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County has announced water quality test results for local parks.

No Okaloosa County parks have potentially hazardous bathing water, the Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County stated March 21.

The tests are based on EPA-recommended enterococci standards. Enteric bacteria's presence indicates fecal pollution from stormwater runoff, pets and wildlife or human sewage.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa health department releases water quality results

FORT WALTON BEACH — Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida will host a 12-week group for people with anxiety.

Attendees will learn more about anxiety, thinking and self-talk that lead to them, disorders and healthy ways to cope.

The program, with space for 10 people, is taught in three modules over four weeks each. New people may join at the beginning of each module.

Meetings are 2-3:30 p.m. and start April 4 at 11 First St. SE, Fort Walton Beach.

For details, call Shari Adams, 417-7886.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Catholic Charities hosts anxiety group meetings

MIRAMAR BEACH — Dr. Olivier Broutin will host a Dentistry From The Heart Event providing adults with free dental care.

The event is 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 25 at Smileology Implant, Cosmetic & Family Dentistry, 12273 Highway 98, Suite 117, Miramar Beach, in Holiday Plaza.

The first 75 people to show up will be treated, a spokesperson said, and will receive a free cleaning, extraction or filling.

For more information call 897-4488 or email bwb@smileology.com. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Free adult dental care outreach scheduled (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Pediatric nurse practitioner Emily Lieser has joined Sacred Heart Medical Group’s regional network of healthcare providers and will be based in Crestview.

Lieser received her associate’s degree in nursing from Pensacola State College, and she graduated magna cum laude with her master’s degree in nursing from the University of South Alabama, where she was a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

She is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and a member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Lieser has served as an adjunct clinical professor at Pensacola State College.

Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, she served as a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit of The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart and in the Sacred Heart Maternity and Women’s Center.

Lieser joins the office of Sacred Heart Medical Group Pediatrics at Crestview, which includes board-certified pediatricians Dr. Joseph Peter, Dr. Jennifer Heegard and Dr. Lisa Currier and advanced Registered Nurse practitioner Lindsey Mann-Badyrka.

Sacred Heart Medical Group Pediatrics is accepting new patients, newborns through age 18, at its office, 332 Medcrest Drive, Crestview.

Most major insurances are accepted, and same-day appointments are often available. For more information or an appointment, call 683-5100.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Nurse practitioner joins Crestview pediatrics group