Health

Youth Give and Grow at CTMC

Posted by CTMC on June 30, 2008 at 12:55 pm • Print This Page • Share

Central Texas Medical Center (CTMC) is instilling the value of serving others in local youth. This summer 32 teenagers have selflessly volunteered their time to the hospital as part of its annual Junior Volunteer Program.

Each of the young students will spend five weeks assisting various departments at CTMC. The volunteers range from age 13 to 18 and each will spend approximately four hours per day, Monday through Friday, as they share their services with employees and visitors.

“These teenagers are learning important life skills such as community service, common courtesy and business etiquette,” said Belinda Gardner, Director of Volunteer Services.

The program is just one of the many outreach opportunities that CTMC offers. It provides an excellent opportunity for each young person to be exposed early on to the various fields in the health care profession. Several of the young men and women are returning volunteers from previous years.

By CLAY DESTEFANO
CTMC

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Back Row - Left to Right: Tanner McGhee, Gaige Musick, Zachary Lujan, Joey Botello, Sarah Martinez, Rachel Crawford, Anthony Avila

Second row from the back - Left to Right: Jacob Silva, Adrienne Acosta

Third row from the back - Left to Right: Jeremy Regalado, Brandon Lombardo, Emeri Lombardo, Tanisha Botello, Rebecca Cox

Front row - Left to Right: Gabby Medrano, Brandi Markert, Vania Shapiro, Kamrey Luza

Filed Under Health, News, San Marcos, Schools 

Single Stream Recycling - what are the facts?

Posted by CTMC on June 27, 2008 at 7:47 am • Print This Page • Share

In the brief history of city-wide recycling programs, most programs used source separation, which required residents to sort materials before putting their green or blue recycling bin on the curb alongside the trash can for pick-up or dropping it off at some place like Green Guy Recycling. That might soon change though with the idea of single stream recycling being considered by the San Marcos City Council.

Single stream recycling (SSR) lets people place all of their materials into one container without having to separate anything. Residents would get a single large container to place on their curb and the actual sorting would be done at a central location.

SSR in San Marcos will add materials that can be recycled through automated curbside collection. Currently only plastic resins #1 and #2 can be put in the bin, but, if implemented, the city will accept more. Green Guy currently accepts all plastic resins (1-7) but only in bottle form. Also, additional fiber products will be accepted, such as cardboard and junk mail.

Green Guy Recycling owner Kyle Hahn, the local recycling guru, said, “If you look at a graph of what composes a landfill, cardboard and other fibers are a large part.”

The idea is not without its respective pros and cons, though. Advocates of single stream point out that the ease of use will lead to greater community involvement. In a recent open letter to Mayor Susan Narvaiz and the council, Sustainable San Marcos, a local non-profit organization that seeks to promote local green policies, says, “More types of materials will be accepted, and no sorting is required. SSR will also decrease the volume of waste stored in garbage carts. As we move to once-a-week garbage collection, this gives people the equivalent of another (smaller) cart.”

Also, Sustainable San Marcos points out that elderly and disabled citizens will benefit from the use of larger wheeled containers instead of the traditional blue and green crates. Other benefits mentioned are less pollution by trucks, both through noise and emissions, and more available space in landfills.

However, a 2003 study conducted by Conservatree, a non-profit organization that seeks to convert paper markets to environmentally friendly paper, points out some flaws in SSR. For example, the report states, “Most paper manufacturers say that the quality of the fiber materials they’re getting from single stream systems is problematic, requiring landfilling of tons of plastic, glass, and aluminum cans from each mill every day.”

Furthermore, a report created by Tim Goodman & Associates for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on switching from dual stream recycling to SSR says that other problems are, “Greater levels of contamination of materials when they are mixed together including glass breakage and the contamination of paper and plastic with broken glass… An increase in residuals generated at [material recovery facilities] due to the larger amounts of contaminated materials and non-recyclable broken glass, and increased costs for processing as a result of the required investment in more sophisticated separation equipment.”

Many cities see SSR as the wave of the future though. Austin has already adopted the program and plans to implement it in October of this year. Other cities that have chosen SSR include Baltimore, Denver, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Lexington, Ky., and Napa, Ca. According to a story in the Christian Science Monitor in December 2005, Madison, Wis., saw a 25 percent increase in recycling by citizens with 8,100 more tons of materials being collected per week after implementing SSR.

Integrating a recycling system can boost the local economy by creating jobs. An estimated 28,000 jobs are linked to recycling in the St. Louis, Mo., area alone. A consistent recycling climate renews the economic benefit of a marketable product returning to a shelf in a store. Similarly, recycling provides marketable goods to recyclable end markets to offer future products made from recycled material, which translates into lower prices for consumers because of reduced packaging costs.

Hahn thinks SSR and Green Guy’s services will be complementary to each other. For example, Green Guy accepts several recyclable items that cannot be picked up in curbside recycling and will not be included in the new list for SSR: car batteries, tires, scrap metals, aluminum foil, petroleum products, rechargeable batteries and Freon recovery, to name a few.

Collection timing is another issue. Currently San Marcos has weekly pick-up, but with the implementation of SSR, collection will be curbed to every other week.

“Imagine if you have too much to fit in your new bin, or that you forget to put the bin out on your collection day. People will either throw that stuff in the trash or bring it to Green Guy,” Hahn said, adding that the majority of Green Guy’s business is from locations where curbside recycling is not in place.

The city council will consider this issue at their July 15th meeting at 7 PM at city hall. All citizens are invited to attend. You can also see a segment on SSR through the Newstreamz video update at http://newstreamz.com/2008/06/15/newstreamz-video-update-061508.

WHAT ARE THE PLASTIC RESIN CODES?

  1.  - Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) of (PET): soft beverage bottles, mouthwash bottles, peanut butter and salad dressing containers, ovenable film and ovenable prepared food trays.
  2. - High Density Polyethylene (HDPE): milk juge, juice containers, trash and retail bags, liquid detergent bottles, yogurt and butter tubs and cereal box liners.
  3. - Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC): clear food packaging, shampoo bottles, medical tubing, wire and cable insulation
  4.  - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE): bread bags, frozen food bags and squeezable bottles (e.g. mustard, honey)
  5.  - Polypropylene (PP): ketchup bottles, yogurt and butter tubs, medicine bottles
  6. - Polystyrene (PS): compact disc jackets, aspirin bottles, cups, plates
  7. - Other: Use of this resin code indicates that the package in question is made either of a resin other than the previous six, or is a combination of resins. Examples of this are three- and five-gallon reusable water bottles, some citrus juice and ketchup bottles and clear baby food containers.

By SEAN WARDWELL & KELLY MERKS
Correspondents

Filed Under Hays County, Health, News, San Marcos 

CTMC helps fight hunger & heat

Posted by CTMC on June 26, 2008 at 1:43 pm • Print This Page • Share

The onset of summer has caused depleted shelves at the food bank and unbearable living conditions for many area elderly. After an urgent call for help, Central Texas Medical Center associates rallied to help raise food, funds and fans.

“In my five years at the food bank, this is the worst economic times I’ve seen,” said Albert Garcia of the Hays County Food Bank.

Hospital associates donated five new fans, more than 60 lbs. of food and $125 in monetary donations to assist with the crisis. At 13 cents a can, Hays County Area Food Bank will be able to purchase 961 additional cans of food. Pictured here, local EMS techs are joined by Albert Garcia and CTMC’s Marco Perez, Sande Herbelin and Clay DeStefano.

By CLAY DESTEFANO
CTMC

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Filed Under Business, Health, Local Businesses, Medical 

CTMC hosts July blood drive

Posted by CTMC on June 24, 2008 at 1:39 pm • Print This Page • Share

Central Texas Medical Center will hold a blood drive on Wednesday, July 9th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the first floor in the hospital’s main classroom.
CTMC sponsors five blood drives a year in conjunction with the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas.  Blood drives are an essential part of providing health care to the community.  In order to maintain a blood supply that will support the surrounding area, 55,000 units of blood must be donated quarterly.  An individual donation can save the lives of two other people.

“People don’t realize the impact that their donation alone can make,” said Lisa Moore, CTMC Blood Bank Supervisor, “as a member of the community, it is an easy, quick way to potentially help your friends and neighbors.”
You may find the link to sign up before the event or find answers to any questions you may have about donating blood, at www.ctmc.org <http://www.ctmc.org/> .  Be sure to use Sponsor Code: CTMC and remember to bring your photo I.D. and Social Security number.

For more information about this event, please call Lisa Moore at 512.753.3533

About Central Texas Medical Center
CTMC is a 113-bed acute-care general hospital providing a wide range of healthcare services in San Marcos, Texas and neighboring communities. The hospital, which originated in 1923 as Hays County Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Memorial Hospital, was restructured in 1960. The present facility was opened at its current Wonder World Drive location in 1983. The CTMC staff of over 600 employees works with more than 170 active and consulting physicians to provide quality services to patients and their families. In addition, over 100 community members and interns from Texas State University – San Marcos volunteer their services to the hospital. As part of Adventist Health System, CTMC brings a long tradition of Christian healthcare to San Marcos. Adventists opened their first health center in 1866 in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Now with 36 hospitals located across the United States, the Adventist Health System is the largest not-for-profit Protestant hospital system in the country.

By CLAY DESTEFANO
CTMC

Filed Under Business, Health, Local Businesses 

Helpful tool or big brother?

Posted by CTMC on May 23, 2008 at 11:23 am • Print This Page • Share

Google has announced a service that keeps track of all your medical history. According to google.com/health, the main goal behind Google Health is organizing your medical records into one place so that patients and doctors can have easy access. Ultimately the service should help prevent cases of drug interactions caused by lack of information, as well as better diagnose illness by being able to chart symptoms over a long period of time.

This kind of technology is already being used on a smaller scale according to Clay Destefano, Public Relations President at Central Texas Medical Center, “People are enjoying using this system. It is a great way to keep up with immunizations and a good place for you to put this kind of health information.”

People outside the health profession aren’t so eager to participate in this new technology. Texas State University student Cody Cheves is one of many who are apprehensive. “[Google Health] seems to be one of those things that could be good but there is a high potential for abuse.” Local San Marcos resident Fets Benavides agrees, “I don’t think this is necessary, I think they will just use it to sell pharmaceuticals. I think the plan is: Do you feel like you have a headache?…yes…click…here are five pharmaceuticals to help.”

Destefano defends the system for its many benefits. “When people visit the doctor they are usually under a lot of stress and not as clear headed when they fill out forms for the doctor. The program is designed to build as you go, at home, when you are not under stress.” As for the potential for abuse by Google and other companies Destefano said “The records are not kept by a physician or a lab like ours, it is a personal health record and in that context it is a great thing.”

By CHRIS COPPLE
Correspondent

Filed Under Health, News 


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