LOCAL 12: Medical Edge Reports

New Priority Care Facility Opens in Mason

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:20:12 -0400

A new place for medical care opened in Mason today. It's designed to provide many of the same services you can get in an emergency room, without the same expensive co-pay. Local 12's Liz Bonis, asks the experts at TriHeath to tell us more about it.

It is a newer trend in health care. Priority care it is called and this week we ask the experts what's the difference between urgent care, emergency care, priority care and just a walk in clinic? The biggest difference from many walk in clinics, according to emergency medicine specialists at this Priority Center here in Mason, is that you can see a doctor, not another health care provider and you can see them at odd hours. "We have a physician always on staff and we are filling a niche for those extended hours on evenings, weekends and holidays," says Dr. Matt Birkle, an emergency medicine specialist.

You can also get everything from x-ray services, to a lab draw at this location, but compared to the emergency room, "Our biggest difference that we have is that our business model is set up as a physician office, which means that our copay is as a physician office, which is frequently much less than and urgent care or a specialty office."

The quick tour shows you there, they have everything needed to provide immediate care that is not immediately life-threatening. "We take care of such things as strains and sprains, need an x ray, or a small laceration or a minor wound or burn we can take care of those kind of things."

The team here can share information electronically with community providers, even if you are not a diarrhea patient. The goal is to have you follow up with your own doctor, but also give you a place to go that might be open at times your personal provider is not. "Monday through Friday is 8 am to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 5 pm and open most holidays."

In addition to those extended hours, you need to know you do not need an appointment. You can just walk in for care and you do not have to have medical insurance, but they do take all types of insurance.

There is also a Priority Care Center open on Glenway Avenue, now on the West Side too.

Grief Counseling For Kids

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:55 -0400

A local family says a big thank you today to some very special people. They run a grief counseling program for kids.

"September third of 2011, we lost our daughter Peyton. She was three and a half, in a drowning accident." As these pictures show, little Peyton Olivia was full of love and laughter, that her family lost when she died. Her brother Noah said he loved play time with her every day. "Since she passed away I can't do that anymore."

Noah's parents were extremely worried about him after Peyton died, even though at times, "He was kind of our rock. For a long time, he would kinda see me and mom, not keeping it together, and he would sort of stick his face in ours and just smile and say it's okay."

But they realized sometimes it wasn't okay, so they reached out to Fernside here in Blue Ash. Fernside runs grief counseling programs for kids at no charge to families as part of Hospice of Cincinnati. "I remember the first phone call and it's like these people get it, and these people are willing to help, and it's been a blessing ever since."

Part of what they do here is ask children and families to actually put their feelings into words and artwork. For example, this is hope and worry and story, and what they want them to do is talk about something nobody ever does, what it feels like to lose someone. "We want them first to know that they are not alone, that there's other people who have experienced the same thing they have,and that we're here to help em."

They have really helped Noah. "Since I really rolled out my feelings, I don't have to hold it in anymore."

He now also has a new baby sister named Harper and a family who can once again feel Peyton's joy.

Terrace Park Woman May Be Oldest Dual Organ Survivor In The World

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:57:00 -0400

A woman from Terrace Park is making history and it's all thanks to a special transplant team at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. They performed an experimental surgery on her more than 30 years ago.

Local 12's, Liz Bonis, shares the story and says the hairstyles were a little different, the medical records not electronic and the surgery one rarely done by any team anywhere in the country, other than by one led by doctor Rino Munda. "We transplant both organs, the kidney and the pancreas."

Doctor Munda's team, gave Linda Bingham back her life with these two donor organs back in 1981, when childhood diabetes took it's toll on her body."It didn't get too bad until I had my daughter. She was born at 27 weeks."

Bingham remembers it well. "They said it would be experimental. They said if we do have a pancreas do you want it?"

She said yes, and doctor Munda performed one of the few kidney pancreas transplants ever done. He too remembers it well. "I do remember because we worked so hard at that time, every case was important, every case was a new event , new discovery, so I remember her very well."

As you might imagine, a lot has changed since then, but as far as we are able to document, she may be the oldest living, dual organ transplant survivor in the entire world. "The average half life, which means at least half of the arteries are expected to live is about to 12 to 14 years for kidney and pancreas transplant. As far as we know, there is no one that's survived more than she has as far as arteries are concerned."

Doctor Amit Govil says nearly 32 years out, Bingham has defied transplant odds. She's is now not just a mother, but a grandmother too. "It's amazing, because my daughter was five and I didn't know if I would live to raise her, let alone see my grand-daughter."

To the medical team that has given her this life she says,"It's amazing, it's amazing."

And to the grand-daughter she almost didn't know it's, "LOVE, just love. She's the greatest, just like her mommy."

Doctors say this long term survival is likely due to good medical care and good patient compliance. Pancreas transplant patients no longer have diabetes.