Wound treatment unit part of hospital’s health, Blumenthal says

SHARON — “I wasn’t here in 1909 when Sharon Hospital was created,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal at last Thursday’s opening ceremony for the hospital’s new wound center (Sept. 29). “But I was here when the hospital almost closed, when it was struggling to stay open.”Blumenthal was Connecticut’s attorney general in 2002, when the small rural facility converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit, under the ownership of Essent Healthcare in Nashville, Tenn. “People said at the time that, this little hospital, it would never work,” Blumenthal said to a small crowd awaiting the wound center’s ribbon cutting. “There aren’t enough patients, they said. There aren’t enough doctors. Financially, it’s doomed, they said.“You proved the naysayers wrong,” he said. “You, in the community and on the hospital staff, have shown how this hospital can and will succeed in years to come.”The hospital recently announced a planned partnership between Essent and another small, Nashville-based health-care company, RegionalCare. The two companies hope to increase their strength and negotiating power by joining Essent’s three hospitals with the four owned by RegionalCare.The debut of the new wound care center, with two hyperbaric chambers, seems to be an indication of the hospital’s overall strength.The idea for the wound center was first presented about two-and-a-half years ago by Kimberly Lumia to then-CEO Charlie Therrien. Other projects came along that put the wound center idea on the back burner for a while.Therrien has since left Sharon to run a hospital in Maine; Lumia is now president and CEO of the hospital. And the Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine took its first patients on Monday, Oct. 3.“The dream has now become a reality,” Lumia said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She thanked all the staff members and building professionals who helped get the project done on time and under budget. She thanked the hospital’s surgical staff, who now have their offices in the wound center. And she said “We’re very excited to be partnering with Diversified.” Diversified Clinical Services is a company based in Jacksonville, Fla., that provides wound care services to about 325 hospitals across the country.Sharon’s new wound center will be on the ground floor of the rear section of the building, which is home to the recently completed Women’s Center. The general surgery office has 2,000 square feet in the center. The wound care facility will occupy 2,300 square feet, including one room dedicated to the two hyerbaric chambers. The goal of the center overall and of the chambers specifically is to provide aid to patients who have wounds that won’t heal, a particular problem for the elderly and for people with diabetes. This will be the first and only hyperbaric facility in Litchfield County. At present, patients have to travel to other facilities (most commonly to Poughkeepsie) for this type of intensive wound treatment. “When you survey the community for its needs, you find that there are a lot of people with diabetes and chronic illnesses that relate back to wound care,” said Jill Groody Musselman, the hospital’s director of marketing and public relations. “The number is higher than the average for other areas in the state, partly because there is a higher percentage of older people here. “When you have a chronic wound, until now you’ve had to travel long distances to get it cared for, and you need to get frequent treatment.”Patients can be referred for treatment at the center by their regular physician, or they can self-refer, Musselman said. Either way, the center will keep the patient’s physician in the loop on all care at all times.For more information, call the hospital at 860-364-4444.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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