OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and the Illinois Neurological Institute are pleased to announce Lori Augspurger RN, BSN, CNRN has been awarded the Melanie Minton Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) of the Year by the American Board of Neuroscience Nursing.
Augspurger works in the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at INI, primarily as the permanent charge nurse where she has taken ownership of advancing certification on the Neuroscience Units. She collaborated with two colleagues to pioneer the CNRN Review Course at OSF Saint Francis in 2005. In addition, she has co-authored “The CNRN Test Review for Neuroscience Nursing.”
Augspurger, of Peoria, is a member of both the local and national American Association of Neuroscience Nurses.
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is pleased to announce the most recent winners of the DAISY Award, which recognizes outstanding nursing care. Winners are nominated by patients and their families.
The February 2012 DAISY Award was presented to Carol Unes of East Peoria. She is a Surgery nurse and was nominated by a patient.
Her nomination reads: “It has been a long roller coaster ride for me. While being worked up to donate one of my kidneys to my brother, it was discovered that I had a lesion on my lung. The excitement that I was going to help improve the quality of my brother’s life suddenly dipped to an all time low. My emotional ride of ups and downs came with each additional test to determine MY OWN prognosis. MRI, PET scan, oncology doctor to surgeon all took me on a wild ride. The ultimate peak was the day of surgery, and my guardian angel came along with me for the ride. She paved the way making sure that the best people were in the operating room to take care of me. She was in the OR holding my hand and keeping me from losing my grip on the roller coaster ride of emotions. I had so many emotions to deal with and so many “what if’s?” going on in my mind. Carol gave me so much support to minimize my anxiety before I received anesthesia. I could not have done it without her. Thank you. My guardian angel continues to ride with me while I am healing.”
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is the first hospital in the Midwest to participate in the DAISY Award, a national endeavor. The hospital receives approximately 180 DAISY nominations each month. From those nominations, a panel of five judges from the Professional Nursing Congress Recognition/Communication Committee at OSF Saint Francis chooses a monthly winner. Nurses who win a DAISY Award receive an award pin as well as a hand-carved Shona sculpture from Zimbabwe, an award certificate, a bouquet of daisies, cinnamon powder called “DAISY dust”, and cinnamon rolls for their entire unit.
The Peoria City/County Health Department will be hosting the new director of the Illinois Department of Public Health for a meet and greet on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 9:00 am in the Board Room of the Peoria City/County Health Department, 2116 N. Sheridan Road, Peoria, Illinois. There is the potential for a quorum of the Peoria County Board of Health members to be present; however, no official public action will be taken at this meeting.
William Nolden’s “Summer Sunday,” a gouache painting of the 1957 Peoria Post Office (now the Federal Building on Main St.) received the $300 Best of Show at the Peoria Historical Society’s 48th annual Rennick Juried Art Competition.
Marianne Bibo-Russel, long-time gallery owner in Peoria, served as the judge.
Mary Hildebrand received the First Place ribbon for “President Lincoln,” a mixed media work. Marjorie Schwebel received the Second Place ribbon for her photo entitled “Historic Giant Oak Park on High Street.” Prabhakar K. Bhosale’s pastel of “Bethel Lutheran Church” in Bartonville received the Third Place ribbon.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Loni Wenzel for her photo “The Door;” Connie Andrews for an oil painting, “My Father’s Hand;” and Elijah Sansom for his photo “Time Traveler.”
All works are on display through May 31 in the downtown Peoria Public Library’s lower level 1 gallery. Percival G. Rennick, for whom the award is named, was the first president of the Peoria Historical Society.
The Proctor Health Care Foundation continues its Financial Wellness Seminar Series on Thursday, May 31, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in Classroom 1 of the Proctor Professional Building (adjacent to hospital) at 5409 N. Knoxville Avenue.
Attorneys David L. Wentworth II and David B. Wiest of Hasselberg, Williams, Grebe, Snodgrass & Birdsall, will present “Give Your Estate Plan and Retirement Plan a Checkup.” Key topics of discussion include the current estate tax landscape, retirement account basics, such as beneficiary designations, trusts, and Roth conversions, new Illinois laws regarding property and healthcare powers of attorney, and transfer on death instruments.
Following the presentation, participants are invited to tour Proctor Hospital.
Seats are free, but limited. Reservations can be made by calling Laura Schoon at 309-693-0414 or email your name, address, phone number, and the number in your party to foundation@proctor.org. Refreshments will be provided.
Learn about the speakers at www.proctorgiving.com.
Media contact: Laura Schoon, Executive Director, Proctor Health Care Foundation, 693-0414
Have a blast during your summer break from school at the RiverPlex Summer Day Camp! Our extended hours allow parents to drop off as early as 7:00 am and pick up by 5:30 pm. This camp is for children ages 5 to 12. Each week has a theme and includes activities based on the theme. Children should bring their own lunch and we will provide a snack & drink in the afternoon. Don’t forget a swimsuit and towel.
New this year: The RiverPlex is partnering with the OSF MarketPlace located on site to offer lunch to day camp children for only $5 a day. Included in the lunch is a sandwich, (Turkey or Ham), string cheese, apple, animal crackers and a juice box. All lunch orders will need to be placed a week in advance in order to fulfill requests. Codes to register are located with the weekly description below. When registering, please indicate whether your child would like turkey or ham.
Codes to register for summer day camp, extended care, and lunch orders are located in the Peoria Park District Playbook, on the RiverPlex website at www.riverplex.org, or at the RiverPlex facility. Registrations are being accepted at the RiverPlex, 600 NE Water Street, between 8:30 am – 4:00 pm Monday thru Friday. For more information on camp programming, please contact Andrea Steffens at (309) 282-1508 or email her at asteffens@peoriaparks.org.
The RiverPlex is hosting a Girl’s Summer Basketball Camp, for ages 8 to 12. The two-day camp, coached by Jonelle Polk McCloud, former assistant coach at Florida State University and Bradley University, will focus on dribbling, passing and shooting. These are skills that they can practice and work on all summer before the upcoming basketball season while improving their overall play and boosting their self-confidence. Emphasis is placed on sports basics, team play and sportsmanship. Cost is $45 per player and includes a t-shirt. The camp will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, June 19 and 20, from 6-8 pm at the RiverPlex.
The RiverPlex will also host a Girl’s Summer Basketball League for girls in 7th through 10th grade. The purpose of the league is to build sportsmanship and confidence and to provide an organized experience to learn and enjoy the game of basketball. All coaches are instructed that players should receive equal playing time. The league, run by the RiverPlex and Jonelle Polk McCloud, will play on Thursdays in July (5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th) from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.
The emphasis of the league is placed on the values of hard work and trying your best. Cost is $160 per team. Individuals may register as well and will be placed on a team. Games will include two certified officials.
Registrations are being accepted at the RiverPlex for both the camp and league.
For more information please call Jonelle Polk McCloud at 309-673-9183 or email her at jmccloud@peoriaparks.org
Proctor Recreation Center, a Peoria Park District facility, has scheduled a FREE event to celebrate the beginning of a safe summer for area youth. “The Streets Belong to Me” event will be held beginning at noon on Wednesday, May 30 with a Scavenger Hunt for youth ages 14 to 18 and a Pool Party for youth under age 14.
The Scavenger Hunt will consist of teams of 5 who will search for Peoria Park District related clues. One team will win prizes, including cash, iPods, digital cameras, and gift cards. Teams must pre-register by May 16 for the scavenger hunt.
The pool party will be held at Proctor Recreation Center’s swimming pool at 309 S. DuSable in Peoria. No registration is required for the pool party.
All events begin at 12 noon with lunch served to all participants. Come celebrate summer with us! Please call Proctor Recreation Center at 673-9183 for more information.
Proctor Recreation Center is an official Safe Haven Site for Peoria’s community.
Next week, the large reptiles at the Peoria Zoo will be returned to their newly renovated exhibit and ready for public viewing on May 17th when the Zoo opens at 10 am. During the renovation, which began this February, most of the animals were kept in off-exhibits areas.
The original intent of the remodel was to enlarge the doors which the keepers use to clean the exhibits and care for the animals. However, the Park District saw it as a way to further upgrade the Zoo and put the resources into the project needed for a dramatic overhaul. Doug Holmes, the Zoo’s resident herpetologist, said, “After 25 years of climbing in and out of the smaller doors, it is going to feel strange not having to bend and twist so much. I am also very excited to see the animals in larger and more complex environments.”
The original 5 exhibits have been redesigned into 3 larger exhibits:
• The South American Exhibit will house a pair of red-footed tortoises and 6 male common boa constrictors.
• The Desert Southwest Exhibit will house a gila monster and a bearded lizard: the only two venomous lizard species in the world.
• The Asian Exhibit will house 2 Burmese pythons. The female “Jezabel” weighs over 80 pounds and is over 10 feet long. The male “Spike” is slightly smaller and has been at the Zoo since 1983.
The prehensile-tailed skinks, which were previously housed in the area, have been relocated to the Conservation Center in a new exhibit.
For more information on the new herpetology exhibit, please contact Yvonne Strode at 309-681-3509.
The Peoria Park District’s Luthy Botanical Garden will hold a “Tapas: Small Plates with Big Flavor” class on Thursday, May 31, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Garden Conservatory.
Learn about the history of tapas with OSF Dietetic Interns Anna Binder, Crystal Casper and Stefanie Djuric as they show you how to make a variety of these tasty, bite-sized dishes with flavors ranging from sweet to savory. And the best part is sure to be the tasting!
This class does require pre-registration. The cost is $6 for residents, $7 for non-residents and $5 for Garden members. Register online at www.peoriaparks.org or for additional information, please contact Luthy Botanical Garden at (309) 686-3362.
