University of Maryland Shore Regional Health joins The Living Legacy Foundation (The LLF) in dedicating a rose for the 2020 Donate Life Rose Parade Float to honor the patients and their families who have given the gifts of life and hope as organ, eye, or tissue donors. The rose dedicated by UM SRH President and CEO Ken Kozel will accompany several others dedicated by The LLF as part of the Donate Life Float in the 2020 Tournament of Roses® Rose Bowl Parade. The parade will take place in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day with the theme “Light in the Darkness.”

From left, Chris Wright, in-house Eastern Shore coordinator for the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, stands with Ken Kozel, president and CEO, University of Maryland Shore Regional Health as he signs the rose that will be dedicated by UM SRH and become part of the Donate Life Float in the 2020 Tournament of Roses® Rose Bowl Parade that will take place in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day.

Rose dedications enable hospitals to express their support and gratitude for those who have given the gift of life and also thank their staff, who make that gift possible by facilitating organ donations. The float will highlight the power of unity, light and love through organ, eye and tissue donation, and the many lives touched by donation. As the world’s most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye and tissue donation, The Donate Life Rose Parade® float inspires viewers to help the more than one million people nationally who are in need of organ, eye or tissue transplants each year.

UM SRH is passionate about saving lives. Each April, National Donate Life Month, the health care system joins The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland in honoring patients and families who made the gift of life possible for others through eye, organ and tissue donation.

During the past 30 years, UM Shore Regional Health has facilitated 40 organ donations and 133 tissue donations.

Additionally, hospital staff in Cambridge, Chestertown and Easton all honor organ donors and their families through “Walks of Respect” and a unique local program, Quilts of Honor, which provides special quilts, created and donated by local quilting guild, Peggy’s Quilters, as gifts to families of organ donors.

UM Shore Medical Center at Easton 2 East nurses Colby Hall, Mary Collins and Dawn Ruby, as well as Laura Moore were among participants in the Family Fun Walk hosted by Living Legacy on September 14. According to Ruby, “2 East Gives Back” also recently held a bake sale in the hospital cafeteria that raised $669 for the Living Legacy Foundation.

A moving tribute that a patient’s family may elect, the Walk of Respect is provides honor and gratitude to a donor as he or she is making the final journey in the hospital. Hospital staff members line up to show their silent respect for a difficult decision as the patient passes by on the way to the operating room.

“It is a very moving reminder of our mission, purpose and calling,” Kozel says. “I am so moved by the power of what I witness during these Walks of Respect — the compassion, care, respect and the shared bonds between the patient, family and staff.”

The Quilts of Honor program began as an idea in fall 2018 and was implemented early this past spring by Shore Regional Health senior leadership and Peggy’s Quilters, a quilting group from Centreville that provided SRH with 12 quilts to give to organ donor patients and families in 2019.

Owned by Peggy Patterson, Peggy’s Quilters, a group of about 20 women who get together once a month to quilt at Peggy’s Quilting Center in Centreville. The group makes quilts and pillowcases for a number of charitable organizations, including those that provide health care to veterans in military hospitals. They also provide blankets for children in local hospitals through Project Linus, pillowcases filled with needed items for families who have lost their homes to fire or have been victims of crime, blankets for hospice patients and quilts for patients undergoing treatment at the Cancer Center in Easton.

From left are University of Maryland Intensive Care Unit staff nurse Patty Tindall, ICU Nurse Manager Alicia Fuchs, ICU staff nurse Dionne Walker, ICU Clinical Nurse Coordinator Jessica Caraker and ICU staff nurse Mary Anne Luschinski holding a couple of the handmade quilts donated to UM SRH donor patients and families.

“Giving and charity is a big part of what quilters do,” says Shirley Seward, a member of Peggy’s Quilters member and family nurse practitioner with UM Shore Medical Group-Primary Care at Easton.. “Taking care of others and ‘wrapping around’ someone in need is important to us. When we found out about the Walk of Respect, we jumped at the chance to be a part of this unique tribute through the Quilts of Honor program.”

“We have been touched to see the beautiful work Peggy’s Quilters have done for those patients and families who have chosen to be organ donors at the end of life, helping others to have a second chance at life,” Kozel says. “Peggy’s Quilters has enabled us to provide a very tangible gift in memory and honor of a patient, which helps us share our gratitude and support with the family.”

The Living Legacy Foundation collaborates and facilitates donation and transplantation in area hospitals, provides support to donor families and educates Marylanders about the life-saving power of donation.

“Local donors save local lives,” Kozel says. “In Maryland, there are 3,353 people on the transplant waiting list. A single organ donor can save up to eight people and a single tissue donor may enhance the lives of up to 75 people. Of the 170,000 people we serve in our five-county community, an amazing 92,688 are registered as eye, organ and tissue donors. That’s just incredible. ”

“At Shore Regional Health, we are committed to patients from birth to death, and also to those who make the renewal of life possible for others,” Kozel says. “We support and stand behind the families and loved ones of these patients who have selflessly donated life so that others may have a second chance at it.”

Now in its 17th year, the Donate Life Rose Parade Float is the centerpiece of a national effort to reach a broad audience with the simple, life-giving message that organ, eye and tissue donation saves and heals lives. Nationally, 113, 222 people are in need of a life-saving transplant. Register today to become an organ, eye or tissue donor by visiting DonateLife.net.

iFrog Digital Marketing recently set up collection containers in its Easton office for its staff and visitors to donate to the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. iFrog Digital Marketing team members donated $500 to benefit equipment and services at the Breast Center. “Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness during October was something that our team felt passionate about and we wanted to make sure we gave back to our local community,” says iFrog digital analyst Jamie Marvel. “We couldn’t be happier to give back to the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center and are thankful for all that they do when it comes to treatment, education and patient support.”

Pictured, from left, are F. Graham Lee, vice president, Philanthropy, UM Shore Regional Health; Amy Lowe, development assistant, UM Memorial Hospital Foundation of Shore Regional Health;  Kyle McCracken, chief product officer for iFrog Digital Marketing; Dr. Roberta Lilly, medical director, Clark Comprehensive Breast Center at UM Shore Regional Health; Brittany Krautheim, nurse practitioner, Clarke Comprehensive Breast Center at UM SRH; Jeanie Scott, manager, Oncology Services, UM SRH; and iFrog Digital Marketing team members Dorian Mitchell, Jamie Marvel, Michael O’Connor, Travis Belt, Chelsea Lindner, Jaclyn Langwost, Sarah Natovitz, Morgan Dailidenas, Sarah Bulgaris, Erin Williamson, Teri Bildstein, Robb Falkenheimer, Audrey Wozny and John Perkinson.

The Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital at Easton will celebrate the 36th Annual Tree of Lights Campaign with a tree-lighting ceremony set for 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 19, in the front circle of University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton.

According to Tree of Lights Chair Nancy Espenhorst, the event is the first holiday tree lighting ceremony of the year, and is open to the public as well as hospital staff, Auxiliary volunteers and donors.

“The goal of this year’s Tree of Lights Campaign is to raise $6,000 to fund the purchase of a new AccuVein device for use at the Diagnostic and Imaging Center (DIC)in Easton,” says Espenhorst.

AccuVein is a device that works to highlight a person’s veins for the drawing of blood or the administration of contrast material in order to perform an imaging study. At present, when a patient presents at the DIC for a contrast injection for CT scan, MRI or other imaging test, if the veins are difficult to visualize (as is often the case, particularly for older patients), the patient has to go over to UM Shore Medical Center at Easton to have the AccuVein visualization conducted and then return to the DIC for the imaging test.

“Having the AccuVein device available in in the Diagnostic & Imaging Center will eliminate the inconvenience that some patients now experience,” says Espenhorst. “It also will reduce delays and increase efficiency in the provision of tests requiring contrast injection, and that will improve patient satisfaction overall.”

Until December 31, community members may make donations to the Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital at Easton to purchase either red lights as tributes to family or friends, living or deceased, or gold lights honoring those in the military, for $10 per light. White “life lights” that will be illuminated each year may be purchased for a donation of $100 or more.

The names of those honored or memorialized are inscribed on scrolls that will be displayed in the main lobby of the hospital throughout the holiday season.

The Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital at Easton is a volunteer organization that raises funds to benefit programs and services at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton and various outpatient locations at UM Shore Regional Health.

For additional information about the 36th Annual Tree of Lights Campaign or to request a donation form, contact Nancy Espenhorst, 443-746-3338 or nlehre@goeaston.net.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

The Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital at Easton celebrated service milestones of many of its members on Thursday, October 17, at their annual luncheon at the Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford.

At the luncheon, UM Shore Regional Health President and CEO Ken Kozel thanked Auxiliary members for their countless hours and generous support for UM SRH initiatives and provided an update on the health care network’s accomplishments during the past year. Keith McMahan, chairman, UM SRH Board of Directors, was introduced and expressed his admiration for Auxiliary and its support for UM Shore Medical Center at Easton, the Cancer Center at UM Shore Regional Health and UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown. Graham Lee, vice president, Philanthropy, thanked the Auxiliary members for providing two event sponsorships during 2019, $10,000 for the Fourth Annual Clay Shoot at Pintail Point benefiting the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center and $25,000 for the Annual UM SRH Golf Tournament benefiting Surgical Services at the hospital. Auxiliary President Liz Hannegan provided a review of the Auxiliary’s highlights in 2019, including the adoption of the organization’s new blue uniforms and the renovation of Maggie’s Gift Shop in the hospital.

Members of the Easton Auxiliary pause for a group photo after their annual luncheon at the Tred Avon Yacht Club.

Patti Willis, senior vice president, Strategy and Communications, announced the Auxiliary members honored for passing service milestones this year. They are:

For 100 Hours: Peggy Carusso, Bonnie Foxwell, Donald Goodliffe, Mark Greene, Beverly Hahn, Frances Mason, Merry McNeil, Marie Mueller, Joyce Mumaw, Nancy O’Connor, Sharon Ostrye, Ruth Renkenberger, Jim Robertson and Cressy Spence

For 250 Hours: Jane Ernst, Pepper Holmes, Midge Kroll, Jack Lane, Gabrielle May, Krishan Patel. Cornelius Potter, Barbara Shearer, Frederica Shirey, Judy Smith, Barbara Watters and Edward Wildasin

For 500 Hours: Karen Collins, Antoinette Cooper, Gloria Douma, Jane Holly, Kathy Hotz, Kirstie Kingston and Elaine Rippel

For 750 Hours: Diane Daffin, Richard Hill, Sherry Spencer and Mary Young

For 1000 Hours: Barbara Gardella, JoAnn Martin, Phyllis Matthai, Ronald Weber, Penny Womack and Mike Scheidt

For 1500 Hours: Judith Coffren, Thomas Cronshaw, Pauline Figliozzi, Virginia Ann Harvey, Jean Hobbs, Cecelia Laufert, Janet Pfeffer and Susan Silver

For 2000 Hours: Robert Savoie and Gervois Wooters

For 3000 Hours: William Hough and Emilie Joshi

For 4500 Hours: Doralice Cassidy and Liz Hannegan

For 4000 Hours: Nancy Espenhorst and Margaret Green

For 5000 Hours: Regina Holland and William Jenkins

For 5500 Hours: Anita Rowan

For 6000 Hours: Art Cecil

For 6500 Hours: Barbara Brown, Janet Granger and Bertha B. Wilson

For 8000 Hours: Carolyn Behr and Joyce Kent

For 9500 Hours: Gail Jenkins and Neal O’Shea

For 11,000 Hours: Terry Stephan

For 11,500 Hours: Debbie Hayes

For 12,500 Hours: Elva Pierce

For 15,500 Hours: Joe Shultz

For 16,500 Hours: Margaret Blair

For 21,500 Hours: Pauline Lane

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health recognized the loyalty, dedication and service of 367 team members at the annual service recognition lunch and dinner celebrations, held October 10 and 11, 2019 at The Milestone in Easton.

Team members who had reached their 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th and 45th years of service, along with those who had retired during the past year, were honored at the dinner event on October 10, while those celebrating their 10th and 15th years attended the luncheon on October 11. All told, this year’s honored team members represented more than 4,250 years of service to UM Shore Regional Health.

Honored for 45 years of service to UM Shore Regional Health were, l. to r., Vonnie Mende, Roxanne Ward, Lorraine Brice and Sadie Reveron.

“Shore Regional Health is indeed fortunate to enjoy such loyal dedication from its team members,” says Ken Kozel, UM SRH president and CEO. “Nationally,the mean tenure in a health care position is just four years and the average annual turnover rate in hospitals is estimated at 19.1 percent. I am both grateful and proud that in non-clinical as well as clinical areas, our turnover rate is much lower, around 13 percent, and that so many Shore Regional Health team members at all levels choose to be part of the ongoing care we provide our families, friends and neighbors.”

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

To promote early detection of prostate cancer and honor Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the Cancer Program at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) scheduled free screenings in Chestertown and Easton during September. UM Shore Medical Group – Urology physicians Christopher Parry, MD, provided free screenings during a September 23 event held at Mt. Olive AME Church in Chestertown, which was part of a partnership with the Kent County Health Department, and R. Duane Cespedes, MD, John Foley, MD, Andrew Riggin, MD, and Christopher Runz, DO, provided free screenings during a September 24 event at UM Shore Medical Group – Urology in Easton.

Photo: Volunteers during the evening event included Irene Cancio, Walter Chase, Walter Black, Teresa Green, Russet Jackson, Otis Sampson, Jerry Newnam, Suzanne Carley, Vernette Seward, Chanelle Lake, Leigh Mingos, Sylvia Potter, Charles Warner, Trish Pinhero, Faith Brown, Chanelle Lake, David Henry, Margot Spies, Roland Jones, Kevin Johnson, Childlene Brooks and Whitney Anders.

The free screenings, which included Spanish language translation services, attracted 57 participants. Volunteers assisted with greeting, directing and registering patients, and included Irene Cancio, Walter Chase, Walter Black, Teresa Green, Russet Jackson, Otis Sampson, Jerry Newnam, Suzanne Carley, Vernette Seward, Chanelle Lake, Leigh Mingos, Sylvia Potter, Charles Warner, Trish Pinhero, Faith Brown, Chanelle Lake, David Henry, Margot Spies, Roland Jones, Kevin Johnson, Childlene Brooks and Whitney Anders.

Prostate cancer screening does not end with September. Those interested in being screened are encouraged to discuss the testing with their primary care providers to determine if a blood test will benefit them in the early detection of prostate cancer and other prostate health issues.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) congratulates the members of its Medical Staff who have been recognized as 2019 Top Docs through What’s Up Media. These expert providers, who live and work in communities across our five-county region, help make UM SRH “Where the Health of the Eastern Shore Comes First.”

During the past year, What’s Up Media direct mailed more than 3,000 surveys to local doctors and offered an online survey open to any licensed doctor practicing in the region. The Top Docs listed below represent UM SRH doctors who have received the highest number of nominations within each specialty. The awards were announced at the beginning of October and take place every other year.

Peer-reviewed nominations recognized 23 providers affiliated with UM Shore Regional Health: Drs. Stephen Lemke, Kevin Nebab and John Snell for Anesthesiology; Dr. Robert Hanna Jr. for Cardiovascular Disease; Dr. Peyman Otmishi for Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Apnea; Dr. Bayan Mesmar for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; Drs. George John, Volkan Taskin and Matthew Troshinski for Gastroenterology; Dale Jafari, DNP, for Gynecology; Dr. Mary DeShields for Hematology and Oncology; Dr. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan for Hospice and Palliative Medicine; Dr. Carolyn Helmly for Internal Medicine; Dr. Anish Hinduja for Nephrology; Dr. Khalid Kurtom for Neurosurgery and Back Pain; Dr. Patricia Scripko for Neurology; Dr. Richard Mason for Orthopedic Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (Knee); Dr. Jason Jancosko for Orthopedic Surgery; Dr. David (Greg) Oliver for Pulmonology; Dr. Kimberly Oster for Radiology; Drs. Christopher Runz and John Foley for Urology; and Dr. Roberta Lilly for Breast Cancer.

What’s Up Media also held a Reader’s Choice “Best Of” in providers of health services. During the past year, magazine readers were asked to write in their recommendations in many categories.

UM Shore Regional Health doctors who are What’s Up Media “Best Of” winners are Dr. Richard Mason for Orthopedic Knee Surgery, Dr. Myron Szczukowski Jr. for Orthopedic Hip Surgery, Dr. John Snell for Best Anesthesiologist, the Birthing Center at UM Shore Regional Health for Best Birthing Center, Dr. Jeffrey Etherton for Best Cardiologist, Dr. Michael Fisher (retired) for Best Colon and Rectal Surgeon and Best Gastroenterologist, Dr. Roberta Lilly for General Surgery (Breast Surgery), Dr. William Katz (retired) for Best Gynecologist, Dr. Khalid Kurtom for Neurosurgery, Dr. Thomas Stauch for Orthopedic Hand Surgery and Dr. R. Duane Cespedes for Best Urologist.

For more information about UM Shore Regional Health’s awards and honors, please visit https://www.umms.org/shore/news/awards-honors. For more information about UM SRH providers, please visit https://www.umms.org/find-a-doctor?si=shore.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

Gary Bolis, 78, of Norristown, Pa., thought living a healthy lifestyle spared him from worries surrounding the health of his heart.

“I always eat right. I exercise. I don’t eat processed foods. A heart attack wasn’t even on my mind,” Bolis says.

As regular visitors to Kent County, Maryland, Bolis and his wife, Marian Sherwood-Bolis, keep their Catalina Morgan sailboat at Worton Creek Marina in Chestertown. They were on the boat in the marina on the afternoon of Saturday, July 6, when everything changed. “I’d just gotten over pneumonia,” says Bolis. “But I was hot, sweating and I just didn’t feel good. I knew something wasn’t right.”

Gary Bolis, third from right, and his wife, Marian Sherwood-Bolis, far left. Staff shown are, from left, Brande Burke, Melissa Thomas, Amy Iseman, Rebecca King and Sandy Prochaska.

Even after taking a nap and having something to eat, he felt his condition was worsening. He was still sweating, but now he noticed an abnormal, slow pulse. At the same time, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Thunder, lightning and rain pounded northern Kent County and throughout the Mid-Shore that evening.

The Bolis’ called 911 around 8 p.m. The emergency medical technicians and paramedics arrived swiftly and began to assess Bolis’ condition. His heart rate was 40 beats per minute. He was rushed to the Emergency Department at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown.

The Emergency Department team assessed Bolis’ condition and immediately identified that he was having a STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction). They initiated a STEMI protocol (set of treatments and interventions) and consulted the on-call cardiologist at Shore Medical Center at Easton.

Bolis needed immediate transport, but unfortunately, helicopters were grounded due to weather. A critical care transport team was contacted, but their estimated time of arrival was too long. Time is heart muscle and every minute counts for patients experiencing a heart attack. In order to expedite transport to the Cardiac Intervention Center in Easton, a local Emergency Medical System transport unit was contacted. A Chestertown Emergency Department nurse accompanied Bolis during the transport to Easton.

The Cardiac Cath Lab team was ready and waiting for his arrival. During their initial contact with Bolis, they discovered his heart rate had dipped to just 30 beats per minute. The team immediately got to work on opening Bolis’ main artery, which they discovered was 100 percent blocked. Dr. Gabriel Sardi inserted a stent to open the artery.

“I joke that Dr. Sardi, since his first name is Gabriel, is my angel,” Bolis says.

Gary Bolis, far left, and wife, Marian Sherwood-Bolis, center, recently returned from a trip to Vermont.

Following surgery, Bolis says he felt like a brand new man. “I was kayaking a week before this happened. It made me realize a heart attack can happen to anyone. I’m happy to be alive,” Bolis says.

Bolis experienced STEMI, which occurs in about 15 to 20 percent of all heart attack patients. Before the Shore Medical Center at Easton’s designation as a Cardiac Intervention Center by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) in February 2018, patients in the region experiencing STEMI heart attacks had to be transferred by ambulance or helicopter to hospitals in Annapolis, Salisbury, Seaford, Del., or University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Travel times often exceeded the desired target time of less than 90 minutes, and optimally within 60 minutes. Accepting heart attack patients from the three hospitals and four emergency departments operated by UM SRH, the CIC in Easton is a life-saving medical resource for residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.

“Our ability to provide this high-level of care to our community is completely dependent on ensuring that these services are available 24/7, 365 by our dedicated CIC staff, who are always on call to respond within 30 minutes of a STEMI emergency,” says Gary Jones, director of the Heart and Vascular Center at UM SRH.

Bolis credits fast action times, good decisions and excellent inpatient and outpatient care and follow up with his positive outcome and continued good health.

“I was very confident during this whole event — I never thought I was going to die. I knew I was in good hands,” he says. “If the Cardiac Intervention Center in Easton wasn’t there, I probably would have died because all the helicopters were grounded that night due to the severe thunderstorms.”

Bolis was so happy with his care — from the EMTs and paramedics who cared for him during the initial transport and the emergency department staff and nurses who cared for him at UM SMC at Chestertown to the Cardiac Cath Lab team — that he and his wife made thank-you baskets for Dr. Sardi and for the care team at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, and delivered them in person. He also donated a dinghy to the Kent and Queen Anne’s Rescue Squad.

Today, Bolis is back to living his best life, with slight changes to his medical regimen. He’s still kayaking, sailing, getting exercise and eating right, and he recently returned home from a trip to see the fall foliage in Vermont, where he and his wife followed the Mt. Olga Trail in Molly Stark State Park to its summit. “I’m doing great,” Bolis says. “And I feel great.”

During a MIEMSS follow-up survey this past spring, UM Shore Regional Health was issued four-year accreditation as a Cardiac Intervention Center. The CIC also recently received the Mission: Lifeline® Silver Plus STEMI Receiving Center Quality Achievement Award and the Mission: Lifeline® NSTEMI Bronze Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks.

“This is the first year that we have been eligible to receive AHA awards and we have received two of them — an excellent testament to our commitment to our communities and to the skill of our team,” Jones says.

The Bolis’ are looking forward to continuing to live their best lives, knowing that without the help of dedicated staff from the Kent Rescue Squad, UM SMC at Chestertown and the CIC in Easton, Gary Bolis may not have been here today.

“I’ve still got my husband with me, so I’m a lucky lady,” Sherwood-Bolis says.

About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.