The Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation (ACMSF) will present Northside Common Ministries with a 2014 Benjamin Rush Community Organization Award during its annual community awards and fundraising gala, Saturday, March 7, 2015 at Heinz Field – East Club Lounge.

Established in 1947, the Benjamin Rush Community Organization Award recognizes a company, institution, organization or agency that is successfully addressing a community health issue.

Northside Common Ministries (NCM) is a non-sectarian, non-profit, community based organization that was established in 1982 by a collaboration of 30 independent, local churches.  These individual congregations recognized the plight of economically disadvantaged people in urban communities that became so evident in Pittsburgh after the decline of the steel industry.  These concerned individuals pooled their creative, financial and human resources to form NCM with the purpose of addressing the needs of the hungry and homeless in Pittsburgh and on the Northside in particular. 

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The Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation (ACMSF) will present ACHIEVA and its Disability Healthcare Initiative (DHI) with a 2014 Benjamin Rush Community Organization Award during its annual community awards and fundraising gala, Saturday, March 7, 2015 at Heinz Field – East Club Lounge.

Established in 1947, the Benjamin Rush Community Organization Award recognizes a company, institution, organization or agency that is successfully addressing a community health issue.

ACHIEVA is a not-for-profit organization and is Southwestern Pennsylvania’s largest provider of comprehensive services and supports for people with disabilities and their families.  ACHIEVA serves more than 14,600 individuals with disabilities and their families and is the only agency of its type in Southwestern PA that provides lifelong supports.  ACHIEVA provides a full spectrum of services for people of all ages and abilities and their families, from early intervention therapies for infants to in-home support for medically fragile senior citizens.

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The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) is proud to announce that a Wilkes University Nesbitt College of Pharmacy student, Colleen Herman, was the winner of the Know Pain Know Gain Pharmacy Patient Counseling Competition for pharmacy students. The Know Pain Know Gain Competition took place during the 2014 PPA Mid-Year Conference, held January 24-26, 2014 in Bedford, Pa. Herman is a 2014 PharmD Candidate, from Lancaster, Pa. 

The Know Pain Know Gain Pharmacy Patient Counseling Competition consisted of two rounds, a rapid fire question elimination round, and a patient counseling round. The competition was sponsored by National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) and Purdue Pharma, L.P.  Herman was a finalist, along with Benjamin Andrick, Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy, a 2015 PharmD Candidate and Kyle McGrath, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, a 2015 PharmD candidate.

Founded in 1878, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association is a professional membership organization of more than 2,000 pharmacists and pharmacy students across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representing almost all facets of pharmacy practice.  As the leading voice of pharmacy in Pennsylvania, it promotes the profession through advocacy, education, and communication to enhance patient care and public health.

The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) is proud to announce that the Temple University School of Pharmacy team recently won the annual Student OTC Competition at the association’s 2014 Mid-Year Conference. The Student OTC Competition was the signature event for the 2014 PPA Mid-Year Conference, held January 24-26, 2014 in Bedford, Pa.

Teams from all seven schools of pharmacy in Pennsylvania participated in the competition. The competition is a “Jeopardy-Like” question and answer informational session about Over The Counter (OTC)/Self Care medications and treatments. Program materials are provided by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA), the Non-Prescription Medicine Academy (NMA) and Proctor & Gamble.

The winning Temple University School of Pharmacy team was compromised of team captain, Patrick Haar, a 2014 PharmD candidate from Philadelphia, Pa, and team members Hasan Al-Hasani, a 2015 PharmD candidate from Bensalem, Pa, and Justin Nixon, a 2014 PharmD candidate from Hanover, Pa.

Founded in 1878, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association is a professional membership organization of more than 2,000 pharmacists and pharmacy students across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representing almost all facets of pharmacy practice.  As the leading voice of pharmacy in Pennsylvania, it promotes the profession through advocacy, education, and communication to enhance patient care and public health.

With more and more seniors wanting to stay at home as they age, the homecare field is growing exponentially to meet the demand for in-home services. To promote high quality and innovative care, the Pennsylvania Homecare Association is calling on home health, hospice and homecare providers across Pennsylvania to submit their best practices for consideration in the 2013 Best Practices in Homecare and Hospice Awards program.

Awards are presented in four categories: Care & Services, Community Outreach & Advocacy, Human Resources Management and Operations Management. Entries must effectively demonstrate process and/or planning, staff involvement, measured improvement and an ability to be replicated.

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The Allegheny County Health Department honored three students with awards for outstanding projects at the 73rd annual Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair held in March at the Carnegie Science Center.

The Health Department, in its 21^st year as an award sponsor, recognized the following students:

• Julia Zenkevich, an 8^th grader at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Shadyside, in the environmental health category, for a project titled “Acid Rock.”
• Aditi Chattopadhyay, a 7^th grader at Fort Couch Middle School in Upper St. Clair, in the public health category, for a project titled “Reckoning the Effectiveness of Flu Vaccine.”
• Jennifer Hofmann, a 10^th grader at North Allegheny Intermediate High School in McCandless, in the air quality category, for a project titled “Study of the Relationship between Atmospheric Ozone and UV Radiation.”

The winners and their projects are posted on the Allegheny County Health Department’s web site at www.achd.net.

 

The trustees of the Lee Initiatives’ Health and Wellness Endowment announced a grant has been awarded to Windber Medical Center in the amount of $25,000 for additional colonoscopy equipment and community outreach education. The goals of the project are to raise community awareness and educate the community on the need for regular screenings for colorectal disorders.

The Little Sisters of the Poor, who are celebrating their 140^th year of serving Pittsburgh, received another reason to celebrate this week—their Home, in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood, was named to the 2012 Honor Roll for Best Nursing Homes by U.S. News and World Report. The Home was one of only 39 Homes in the nation named to the list out of more than 15,500 that U.S. News reviewed.  Achieving this honor was a result of the Little Sisters’ Home receiving four straight quarters of perfect five-star ratings from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in all three areas including health inspections, nurse staffing, and quality of care.

Sister Judith Meredith, Administrator of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home in Pittsburgh, was thrived to hear the news. “I am so proud that our Home has received this achievement.  Everyone involved in the care of our Residents—from the staff and volunteers, to the benefactors who help us carry out our ministry—should be thanked for helping our Home attain this special recognition.”

The Pittsburgh community invited the Little Sisters of the Poor to establish a home for the elderly poor in 1872. Over the years the Sisters have cared for more than 12,000 aged poor regardless of race or religion. Their Home on Benton Avenue provides personal care, nursing care, and independent living apartments for low income seniors.