Health briefs: Inclusion Resource Fair set
Families looking for a day of fun and play as well as the opportunity to engage with community, health and wellness resources are invited to an Inclusion Resource Fair presented by Mercy Health.
The event will be held Saturday, June 11 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Perrysburg Inclusive Playground at Rotary Community Park, 26350 Fort Meigs Rd.
Mercy Health is a proud partner of the Inclusive Playground, which opened in 2020 with the goal of providing a safe and stimulating environment for all children, specifically those with disabilities or special needs. To further that commitment, Mercy Health and our partners have come together to create a resource fair for a variety of family-focused services.
A key partner in the event is Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which assumed ownership of Mercy Health – Children’s Hospital and related services earlier this year.
There will be multiple food trucks on hand, and Bay Creek Farm will have goats and miniature horses on site within a petting enclosure.
Also look for resources from area organizations including:
• The Ability Center of Greater Toledo.
• Avenues for Autism.
• Down Syndrome Association of Greater Toledo.
• Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
• Mercy Health Outpatient Rehabilitation and Therapy.
• MobilityWorks.
• National Seating and Mobility.
• Orthotic Prosthetic Center.
• Sara’s Garden/New Horizons Academy.
• iDance Adaptive Performing Arts Center.
• TARTA.
• Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
• Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce.
• Dusty Boots/The Special Horseman Connection.
• Harbor.
This event is free and open to the public – all are welcome to join and enjoy.
Volunteer open house
The Ability Center will host a Volunteer Open House designed to educate community members who may be interested in fostering an assistance dog in training on Wednesday, June 15 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Voluntary time commitments can vary; volunteers are required to attend weekly training covering basic obedience and manners which lay the foundation for assistance dog work. Food, vet care, and puppy essentials are covered by The Ability Center.
Service, therapy, and school facility dogs are trained by expert training staff with the support of a volunteer network. Volunteers can reside anywhere in the center’s seven-county service area, which includes Lucas, Ottawa, Wood, Fulton, Henry, Defiance, and Williams counties.
Assistance dogs support individuals with physical and developmental disabilities.
Yoga for Caregivers
Community members are invited to a four-week yoga class series aimed at connecting the mind, body and heart of those who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
Gentle Yoga for Grief will be held Saturdays, June 25-July 16 from 10-11 a.m. at the Perrysburg Hospice Center, 30000 East River Rd.
Grieving is a holistic journey. Yoga can help participants find their center and ease the pain of grief. All people regardless of fitness level, age and flexibility are encouraged to attend. This class offers yoga for all bodies and abilities.
Conducted by a certified yoga instructor who specializes in yoga for everybody, participants will work through the energetic and emotional blocks of grief to find peace.
The classes are free and open to anyone in the community, whether or not they have had a prior relationship with Hospice of Northwest Ohio, however, advance registration is required. Attendees should wear comfortable clothing and bring water, a mat and small towel or pillow. Masks are required.
For more information or to register, call the Hospice Bereavement Department at 419-661-4001.
To learn more about grief and loss or Hospice of Northwest Ohio, visit hospicenwo.org or follow on social media.
ProMedica hospitals
recognized for safety
ProMedica Toledo and Flower hospitals received an “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for spring 2022. The national distinction recognizes the hospitals’ achievements in protecting patients from preventable harm and error in the hospital.
“We are honored to be recognized for excellence in patient safety,” said Dawn Buskey, president, ProMedica Toledo Hospital. “Our employees are committed to cultivating an environment that puts patients’ health and safety at the forefront.”
The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harms to patients. According to Leapfrog, the grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.
To see ProMedica Toledo and Flower hospitals’ full grade details and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org.
Synthetic opioid
warning issued
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is warning Ohioans of the increased prevalence of nitazenes, a group of dangerous synthetic opioids that can be up to 40 times more potent than fentanyl.
“Frankenstein opioids are even more lethal than the drugs already responsible for so many overdose deaths,” Yost said. “Law enforcement and the public need to pay attention to these emerging hazards.”
A bulletin recently issued by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) says that nitazene compounds – from a drug class known as benzimidazole-opioids – were originally synthesized in the 1950s to research their analgesic effects. They are not approved for medical use anywhere in the world but are currently being made in clandestine labs.
In the first quarter of 2022, BCI reported 143 nitazene cases in Ohio, up from 27 cases in the same quarter of 2021.
In some instances, nitazenes are being found in combination with other drugs, primarily fentanyl and fentanyl pharmacophores but also tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and PCP analogs.
Recent studies show that nitazine compounds can be anywhere from 1.5 to 40 times more potent than fentanyl.
Additional doses of naloxone may be required to reverse overdoses involving nitazene. Officers and first responders, BCI cautions in its bulletin, should handle all items suspected of containing nitazenes or fentanyl-related substances with caution and proper personal protective equipment.