“Lights of Remembrance” raises funds, honors loved ones.

Bangor, Maine - Each December, St. Joseph Healthcare invites the community to remember and honor loved ones during the holidays by participating in their Lights of Remembrance program.

Donors may remember or honor a loved one through the display of a special ornament on a tree in the hospital’s Demaso lobby. Names of those honored or memorialized have the potential to be perpetually remembered on the Lights of Remembrance tree.

The lighting ceremony will begin on Thursday, December 1, 2016 at approximately 5:30 p.m. outside the Hospital main entrance on Broadway with a public ceremony that includes the official annual lighting of the hospital’s shining Christmas display, caroling by the St. John’s Children’s Choir, and a visit from Santa Claus.

All funds raised will benefit the patients of St. Joseph Hospital. Persons interested in additional information, or making a gift and honoring a loved one through Lights of Remembrance may contact the St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation office at 907-1740 or donate online at stjoeshealing.org/lights.

Life in a Jar - The Story of Irena Sendler

Bangor, Maine - The dramatic production "Life in a Jar - The story of Irena Sendler" is coming to the Bangor area this fall. Comprised of a seven-member volunteer cast from Kansas, this traveling stage production re-tells the story of Irena Sendler.  For 100 days in  1942 this young, heroic Polish Catholic social worker combed the war-ravaged Warsaw Ghetto, risking her life to save 2,500 Polish Jewish children from the Nazi death camps.

The production will be staged on November 8 at the Hampden Academy Performing Arts Center. There will be performances at 1:00 and 5:00 p.m.

There is no admission charge, but donations will be accepted to benefit the Life in a Jar Foundation, which seeks to spread the story of this heroic woman.

Sendler convinced countless Jewish parents and grandparents into making an agonizing, heart-rending decision -- to relinquish their children to her in order that she might secret them away to a safe place, lest they die in the Ghetto or in the death camps. Many of these parents knew that the Nazis were coming to take them all away, and their best hope in at least saving their children was to give them up to Sendler -- knowing full-well they might never see them again.

Sendler smuggled the kids and babies out to safe convents, orphanages and adoptive homes, often hiding them in coffins or boxes, risking her life in the process.  She and her network made lists of the childrens' real names and put the lists in jars, then buried the jars in a garden, so that someday she could dig them up and find the children to tell them of their real identity.

Her story was unearthed in 1999, as a result of a group of Kansas school students' work on a year-long National History Days project.  It has been re-told in a bestselling book and in a Hallmark Hall of Fame T.V. motion picture.

Sendler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. She died in 2008.

St. Joseph Occupational Medicine Physician Earns Top Honors

Bangor, Maine - Craig Curtis MD of St. Joseph Healthcare has been named to DownEast Magazine’s annual list of Top Doctors for 2015. The fourth annual “Top Docs” peer survey is based on voting by physicians state-wide. The listing of all winners is published in the January issue of the magazine.

The survey lists top Maine physicians by specialty, based on the survey question: “If you or a family member had a problem in the following areas, who would you select as the best specialist in Maine?”

Dr. Curtis is medical director of St. Joseph WorkWell, an Occupational Medicine practice which provides occupational healthcare services for employers in the Bangor region. He earned his MD at St. Louis University School of Medicine, completing a residency in Family Medicine in Pittsburgh, PA. A Maine native, he returned here in 1996 after serving in the Air Force as a physician, attaining the rank of Major. Since then he has specialized in Occupational Medicine in the greater Bangor region.

DownEast Magazine will host a reception in January to honor all of the 2105 “Top Docs” in Scarborough, Maine.

St. Joseph Healthcare Hosting Free Prostate Health Screening Checks‏

Bangor, Maine  – St. Joseph Healthcare, in conjunction with Richard Batstone MD and the Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer, will hold a free prostate health screening check event on Thursday, November 14 at the urology office of Dr. Batstone at St. Joseph Hospital.

Come enjoy healthy snacks, educational materials, giveaways and a raffle for a Hannaford gift card!

The free check includes a digital rectal exam, urine analysis, prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Prostate health checks look for urological issues, enlarged prostate and cancer.

It is common for the prostate to grow larger with age which increases the chance of developing Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. As per the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 60% of men over the age of 60 and 80% of men over the age of 80 have been diagnosed as BPH patients and is the most common disorder of the prostate gland.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men and strikes one in six American men. The American Cancer Society estimates that each year 1,100 Maine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 150 will die of the disease. Prostate cancer presents few symptoms and a screening is the best way to catch the disease early.

Patients must sign-up in advance. To register for the free health screening check, call Dr. Batstone’s urology office at 907-1977. The screening check-ups are limited to the first 30 men who sign up.

St. Joseph Healthcare Makes Donation to Habitat for Humanity

Bangor, Maine – St. Joseph Healthcare is pleased to make a donation of building materials and $1,000 check donation to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor. The materials are being salvaged from a St. Joseph Healthcare property adjacent to the St. Joseph Healthcare Park at 900 Broadway, which will be the site of a new Medical Office Building. The site was chosen after a comprehensive survey and taking environmental concerns into consideration.

The new 23,000 square foot Medical Office Building is being constructed to better meet our area’s unique healthcare needs. Many of the St. Joseph physician practices will be consolidated in one location for patient convenience. This location will ultimately be transformed into a vibrant gathering place focused on health and wellness activities. St. Joseph Healthcare is committed to improving the health of the people who rely on our services, focusing on prevention and innovative care.

The Clift Darling House property was home to St. Joseph Community Networks and Foundation, which is relocating to the former Felician Sisters residence on Congress Street. The new suite of offices will retain the Clift Darling House name. The new location is more spacious and convenient to the main Hospital, and will be available by appointment for special hospital functions.

We are pleased that materials from the site will be used to help area families in need through Habitat for Humanity. Habitat uses donated items to build new homes and refurbishes many goods to sell in their ReStore facility. Proceeds from ReStore help fund future home building projects for local low-income families in need.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor says this area of the State has a serious issue with substandard living conditions for low-income families. Habitat is dedicated to creating homes for those in our community who could not otherwise afford homeownership. We’re proud to be supporting this important work.

An official groundbreaking event for the new Medical Office Building at the St. Joseph Healthcare Park will be held Saturday, October 12. The community is invited to join us from 1-3:30 at 900 Broadway for a fall celebration with popcorn, hot cider, fun activities for the kids and more! Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details about this event coming soon!

Diabetes Support Group

Bangor, Maine – The St. Joseph Diabetes and Nutrition Center sponsors a free diabetes support group. The group meets the first Wednesday of March, April, May, September, October and November from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Willette Conference Center, Building 1, St. Joseph Healthcare Park, 900 Broadway in Bangor.

The September meeting, Wednesday, September 4, will feature Registered Dietitian Julie Benoit RD and Diabetes Educator Lori Downs RN, CDE.

Group members share tips on diabetes management. The public is invited. For more information, contact St. Joseph Healthcare’s Diabetes and Nutrition Center at 907-1187.

St. Joseph Healthcare Earns an 'A' in Patient Safety‏

Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare was recognized with an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The ‘A’ score was awarded in the latest update to the Hospital Safety Score, the letter scores assigned to U.S. hospitals are based on preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The Hospital Safety Score was compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety.

“Earning an ‘A’ on the Hospital Safety Score demonstrates that this hospital has exhibited excellence in our national database of patient safety measures,” said Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I’d like to congratulate St. Joseph Healthcare for your achievements and encourage you to continue to put a priority on the safety of your patients.”

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s eight-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, medical and medication errors.

St. Joseph Healthcare is committed to the healthcare needs of the greater Bangor community. We provide the fundamental healthcare services needed in the course of an individual’s life, including primary care, screening and diagnostic imaging, diabetes management, orthopedics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, and much more. Our mission embodies wellness promotion and healing of the whole person – mind, body and spirit.

St. Joseph Healthcare was also a 2012 recipient of the Grade ‘A’ award from the Leapfrog Group.

St. Joseph Healthcare Participating in Fit & Fab Festival

Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare is proud to participate in the American Heart Association’s inaugural Fit and Fab Festival on Saturday, March 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hollywood Casino. Join us for a fun, interactive and educational day of health and wellness. Vendors, fitness instructors, beauty consultants and medical representatives will be sharing the latest and greatest in health and beauty. Check out Tai Chi, Hula Hooping, Zumba and other unique demonstrations to get your heart pumping. Free blood pressure screenings and stretching demonstrations will be provided by St. Joseph Hospital staff. Kids will enjoy face painting, heart healthy snacks and fun activities!

Entrance fee is by donation. People who attend wearing red will automatically receive a raffle ticket for one of the hourly drawings.

Diabetes Support Group

Bangor, Maine - The St. Joseph Diabetes and Nutrition Center sponsors a free diabetes support group. The group meets the first Wednesday of March, April, May, September, October and November from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Willette Conference Center, Building 1, St. Joseph Healthcare Park, 900 Broadway in Bangor.

Meetings are facilitated by a Certified Diabetes Educator. The March meeting, Wednesday, March 6, will feature Marian Benner MD of the St. Joseph Hyperbaric and Wound Care Center. She will speak about diabetic ulcers and skin care.

Group members share tips on diabetes management. The public is invited. For more information, contact St. Joseph Healthcare’s Diabetes and Nutrition Center at 907-1836.

St. Joseph Healthcare Builds Impressive Tree of Cans

Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare’s Mission Outreach Committee is wrapping up its year-long efforts to improve food security for Maine people by donating hundreds of cans of food to the Salvation Army’s food pantry on Thursday, January 17. St. Joseph Healthcare employees, volunteers and visitors have generously donated cans to build an impressive Tree of Cans in the Hospital’s Broadway Lobby.

Throughout 2012, Mission Outreach activities have included collecting pet food for the community’s senior population, filling children’s backpacks full of food so they wouldn't be hungry on the weekend, providing and serving meals at the Bangor Homeless Shelter and Salvation Army, educating people about growing their own vegetables and sharing them through our summertime Vegetable Exchange Stand. The St. Joseph community has proven once again that our mission extends beyond our walls and that we each are called in our own way to help one another.

St. Joseph Healthcare Celebrating Top 100 Status

Bangor, Maine – St. Joseph Hospital is celebrating its Top 100 Hospital status with an employee picnic. St. Joseph is the only hospital in Maine to earn the Thomson Reuters Top 100 distinction this year for demonstrating high-quality patient care and overall organizational excellence. In appreciation of the tremendous work and dedication of the St. Joseph Healthcare staff, a picnic including food, raffles, games, speeches from Maine dignitaries and more will take place, rain or shine, in Broadway Park on Sunday, September 30.

Thomson Reuters uses objective research and independent public data to distinguish the 100 best hospitals in the United States. St. Joseph Hospital was chosen from nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals, and was one of only 20 recognized in the medium community hospital category.

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in a variety of areas, including patient safety, average patient stay, expenses, medical complications and patient satisfaction. The study uses public information from Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website.

St. Joseph Hospital is committed to the healthcare needs of the greater Bangor area community. We provide a comprehensive range of health care services, including primary care, specialty services, screening and diagnostic imaging, diabetes management, inpatient and outpatient surgery, and much more.

St. Joseph Hospital, under the umbrella of St. Joseph Healthcare, is a 112-bed acute care community hospital. The Hospital is consistently recognized for its quality of care and patient satisfaction scores. This praise along with being distinguished as a lower cost provider in the State of Maine, makes St. Joseph Healthcare an excellent choice for the people and businesses of Bangor.

Diabetes A1C Champion to Visit Bangor

Bangor, Maine - Ruth Charme, a diabetes educator from New York City, will be the guest speaker at the September meeting of St. Joseph Healthcare’s Diabetes Support Group. The meeting will be held Wednesday, September 5 from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Willette Conference Center, Building 1, St. Joseph Healthcare Park, 900 Broadway in Bangor.

Charme, who has Type 1 diabetes, travels extensively as a representative of the A1C Champions program, which advocates control of diabetes through education. She says that since being devastated by a diabetes diagnosis in 1986, she has changed how she looks at her disease. "Now I simply consider my diabetes to be one more facet of who I am," she says. "I have accepted it."

The Diabetes Support Group meets the first Wednesday of April, May, September, October and November. Each meeting is facilitated by a certified diabetes educator from the St. Joseph Diabetes & Nutrition Center. The public is invited. For more information, phone 907-1836.

St. Joseph Healthcare’s Regional Breast Care Center Earns Gold Seal Accreditation

Bangor, Maine -  St. Joseph Healthcare’s Regional Breast Care Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in mammography as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Mammograms are used to aid in early detection and diagnosis of breast disease in women. Discovering breast cancer in its earliest stages increases a patient’s treatment options as well as their chances for survival.

The Regional Breast Care Center is equipped with state-of-the-art full-field digital mammography equipment. St. Joseph’s Breast Center was the first in Maine to introduce this technology in 2000, and is now completely digital. In addition to providing precise and detailed images, digital technology means faster results, since there is no film to be developed. The images can be viewed instantly and transferred electronically to the radiologist, reducing the wait times for both doctor and patient to receive test results.

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed.

For more information about St. Joseph Healthcare’s Regional Breast Care Center, call 907-1841.

St. Joseph Healthcare to Hold Annual Golf Tournament

Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare will be holding its 23rd Annual Frank C. Chapman Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday, August 3 at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course.  The tournament is St. Joseph Healthcare’s largest fundraiser, allowing the Organization to further its mission of compassion, competence and community through the purchase of new equipment and the addition of new services and space.

This year, funds raised through the Frank C. Chapman Memorial Golf Tournament will be used to support the much-needed refurbishing of public and patient areas throughout the hospital.  These improvements will incorporate elements of nature to create a calming environment and better reflect the state-of-the-art technology and healing services provided by St. Joseph Hospital.

Participants will enjoy a grand day of golf, followed by a fantastic lobster bake and awards ceremony.  There will also be both a live and a silent auction held with many wonderful items to bid on, including a Florida vacation package, Bar Harbor Whale Watch tickets, sky box tickets to UMaine Hockey, a golf around Maine package and much more!

Governor Paul LePage is scheduled to play in this year’s tournament.

St. Joseph Healthcare Adopts New Cardiac Care Management Model

Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare is implementing a new Cardiac Care Management Program to offer a comprehensive health management program for individuals with cardiac conditions. The Cardiac Care Management Program is a progressive model in line with the new era of health care delivery.

The Bangor Beacon community grant has provided a successful foundation and model for care management of individuals struggling with heart conditions as well as COPD, asthma and diabetes. At St. Joseph Healthcare this program is led by Jessica Taylor as the Lead RN Care Manager. Taylor has had incredible success at improving the lives of participating patients through personal one-to-one coaching and medical guidance. Patients actively participating in a care management program, both locally and nationally, show reduced hospital stays, reduced emergency department visits and improved overall health status. Based on these very successful results, St. Joseph Healthcare is adjusting the current Cardiac Rehabilitation programs to a Cardiac Care Management Program.

The Cardiac Care Management Program involves the continuum of care including the participation of the patient’s primary care provider and/or cardiologist. Patients will be assigned a Care Manager who will work with them on an individual basis, reviewing their particular healthcare needs and goals. The Care Manager will work with cardiac patients, creating a unique and ongoing program of education, guidance, lifestyle changes, exercise programs and more as appropriate for each patient. The Care Manager will utilize communication tools that the patient finds most helpful; these could be home visits, office visits, email, phone calls or a combination of these methods.

Currently, St. Joseph Healthcare offers traditional Cardiac Phase II and Phase III programs. Individuals currently enrolled in the Cardiac Phase II program will have the opportunity to complete their 12-week program. Individuals currently enrolled in the Cardiac Phase III program will continue at St. Joseph Healthcare during a transitional period in which the organization will assist them as they move to a community-based Phase III program.  Individuals enrolled in both the Phase II and Phase III programs are invited and encouraged to enroll in the Cardiac Care Management Program.

St. Joseph Healthcare is excited to approach cardiac services from this new and progressive model and feel confident that participating individuals will have a greater opportunity to improve their health and lifestyle.

Biggest Loser’s Sherry Johnston to Speak in Bangor

Biggest Loser’s Sherry Johnston to Speak in Bangor


Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare’s Center for Sleep Medicine will co-sponsor a visit by Sherry Johnston, contestant in season 9 of the NBC reality series The Biggest Loser. Johnston will keynote an educational seminar Wednesday May 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It is open to the public at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bangor. Johnston will share her experiences using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy to help her control her sleep apnea.

Additional speakers at the seminar will be Dr. Ganesha Santhyadka, a pulmonologist with St. Joseph Respiratory Care, who will speak on the signs and symptoms of OSA; and Bangor dentist Dr. John Hauge, who will discuss the use of dental appliances for treating OSA.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep by a blockage in the airway. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, which can lead to oxygen starvation, daytime drowsiness and other complications.

This event is free to the public, but pre-registration is necessary. For additional information or to pre-register, phone 907-1630.

Additional co-sponsors of this event are Philips Respironics, Coastal Med Tech, Inc. and Apria Healthcare.

SJH Appoints New Administrator of Quality and Safety

SJH Appoints New Administrator of Quality and Safety


Bangor, Maine - St. Joseph Healthcare is proud to announce Stacy Norris as the new Administrator of Quality and Safety/Corporate Compliance Officer, overseeing infection prevention, patient advocacy, quality improvement, patient safety and risk management.

Norris, of Plymouth, earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Husson University, and worked as a nurse and Health Services Consultant, investigating complaints and conducting surveys at the state and federal level for hospitals, home health agencies and more. At St. Joseph Hospital, Norris was integral the hospital’s recent recognition as a Thomson Reuters Top 100 Hospital.

The Top 100 Hospital study uses objective research and independent public data to distinguish the 100 best hospitals in the United States. St. Joseph Hospital was chosen from nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals for demonstrating high-quality patient care and overall organizational excellence.

“We are constantly improving and striving to exceed patient expectations,” says Norris. “It’s part of our culture here at St. Joseph Hospital and it’s engrained in each of our employees. We’re so proud that St. Joseph Hospital is the only hospital in Maine to earn this distinction this year, and one of only 20 recognized in the medium community hospital category.”

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in a variety of areas, including patient safety, average patient stay, expenses, medical complications and patient satisfaction. The study uses public information from Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website.

Through their survey, Thomson Reuters found that if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities, more than 186,000 additional lives could be saved and more than $4.3 billion could be saved in healthcare costs. If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.

SJH Recognized for Making Medicine Mercury Free

SJH Recognized for Making Medicine Mercury Free

Bangor, Maine – Preserving the environment and supporting good health go hand in hand, which is why St. Joseph Healthcare is committed to going green! St. Joseph Healthcare is the proud winner of a 2012 Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth. SJH won Practice Greenhealth’s Making Medicine Mercury Free Award, recognizing facilities that have virtually eliminated mercury from their facilities and have made a commitment to continue to be “mercury free.”

Winners of Practice Greenhealth awards must prove success in improving their environmental performance and showing dedication to a higher standard of sustainability. St. Joseph Healthcare has worked hard to make positive changes for the environment, including implementing a policy of purchasing no products containing mercury (except with proper approval) and eliminating all mercury-containing thermostats with digital. The main Hospital Laboratory has also gone mercury-free, eliminating certain chemicals containing mercury and all mercury containing thermometers in their equipment.

St. Joseph Healthcare is sponsored by Covenant Health Systems, winner of Practice Greenhealth’s System for Change Award. That award recognizes health systems that are working cohesively to set system goals, track data, benchmark and share successes in environmental performance. St. Joseph Healthcare was also the winner of the 2011 Partner for Change Award.