Two years ago next month, Hope Wodzisz was born with a rare, serious heart problem that is fatal unless treated with three complex operations.
After the first two of those surgeries were performed at the Cleveland Clinic, the Medina County toddler now is thriving.
“She is doing everything developmentally she is supposed to be doing, other than speech,” her mother, Paula, said in an email. “She is walking, running, playing and is advanced in her fine-motor skills. Her speech is slow, but we are thinking that is because she has two older brothers that talk for her all the time. She can’t get a word in with them around.”
Now her mother wants to help bring hope to other families facing heart defects by organizing Northeast Ohio’s first Congenital Heart Walk.
The inaugural event will take place Sept. 17 at Wade Oval Park in Cleveland’s University Circle. Registration will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the walk an hour later.
Money raised will benefit the Adult Congenital Heart Association and the Children’s Heart Foundation.
Organizers estimate there are about 100,000 people in Northeast Ohio affected by congenital heart defects.
Anyone who raises $100 or more will receive an event T-shirt.
The 1-mile walk also will include a tribute ceremony and butterfly release to honor children who have died from congenital heart defects.
The walk is sponsored by University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and Step2.
For more information or to register, visit http://congenitalheartwalk.kintera.org/NOH, email paula.novak@oracle.com or call 330-662-4043.
Akron-based SS&G expands
SS&G Healthcare Services LLC of Akron recently expanded west with a new joint venture.
The health-care business consulting firm recently entered a venture with Professional Business Consultants Inc. of Chicago, according to a news release. Under the deal, the new SS&G Healthcare-Chicago will provide physician management and revenue cycle services to hospitals and doctor practices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and northern Indiana.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The company has been providing management consulting, accounting and financial services to health-care entities throughout the Midwest since 1986.
“This venture reaffirms SS&G’s commitment to growth and expansion in Chicago and the Midwest and helps further position the firm in the national marketplace,” Thomas J. Ferkovic, managing director of SS&G Healthcare Services, said in the news release. Professional Business Consultants’ managing director, Jay Sanders, said the deal with SS&G “is a logical and strategic complement to PBC’s strong base of existing physician practice management capabilities.”
SS&G Healthcare Services has 75 employees in its Akron headquarters and another 30 at locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Solon, Middleburg Heights, Zanesville, Columbus and Miami.
Sleep apnea, dementia link
A new study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests elderly women with sleep apnea have twice the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes pauses in breathing during sleep.
Researchers from the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco followed 298 women with an average age of 82 who didn’t have dementia, according to Bloomberg News. Nearly 45 percent of the 105 who had sleep apnea developed mild cognitive impairment or dementia after five years, compared to 31 percent among the 193 women who didn’t have sleep apnea.
“It does appear having healthy sleep is important to health,” Katie Stone, a study author and sleep disorders specialist, told Bloomberg. “The prevalence of sleep apnea definitely increases as people age. In many of these women, it’s possible it has been going on for many years. It’s really important when people first notice they’re having problems with their sleep, they get it addressed.”
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
