Berkeley Medical Center Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVU Medicine Reopens Diabetes Self-Management Program In Martinsburg

WVU Medicine is accepting new applications for its diabetes self-management program based in Martinsburg at the Berkeley Medical Center. The program runs for six weeks in February and March.

WVU Medicine is accepting new applications for its diabetes management program based in Martinsburg. The program helps participants learn strategies for independently managing their condition.

During the program, participants will explore topics like healthy eating, exercise, stress management, meal preparation, nutrition and healthcare access, according to a press release.

Dana DeJarnett, health promotion coordinator for WVU Medicine, said the self-management program also helps participants develop problem-solving and action-planning skills, which makes program lessons more effective.

“It may not sound like anything specific to diabetes, but it really helps you focus on what are the most important things you need to take care of,” she said. “The things that you need to know to manage your health on a day-to-day basis.”

As part of the program, participants will develop action plans each week, incorporating new habits they hope to implement and community resources they are going to integrate into their daily routine.

WVU Medicine’s Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center assumed oversight of the program last year, running it in partnership with Quality Insights.

But originally the program was overseen by the Berkeley-Morgan County Health Department, funding it through a state grant beginning in 2013.

From DeJarnett’s perspective, the program is valuable as a supplemental resource for individuals already receiving primary care for their diabetes.

“It helps you take control of your health. It helps you learn that there are steps that you can take, and that you can have control of,” DeJarnett said. “And it doesn’t take away from what you’re doing what your physician tells you to do.”

WVU Medicine’s new program will run six weeks, meeting every Thursday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. from Feb. 22 to March 29 at the Dorothy McCormack Center, located at 2000 Foundation Way in Martinsburg.

The program is free but requires advance registration. Individuals living with or caring for someone with diabetes are eligible to apply for the program through Feb. 14.

Prospective participants can register or seek further information by contacting DeJarnett at dana.dejarnett@wvumedicine.org.

Chronic Disease, Pain Treatment Clinic Free In Eastern Panhandle

WVU Medicine’s Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers are hosting remote workshops to help teach Eastern Panhandle locals how to treat chronic diseases and pain.

The program is called Living Well and it teaches how to take care of chronic conditions like pain, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety and depression on a day-to-day basis.

Promotion coordinator Dana DeJarnett said the program allows for each person to find out what works for them, with the social aspect playing a big part in treatment.

“You’re going to meet other people who are kind of going through the same things as you are and you can learn from others about how they cope with it,” DeJarnett said.

The program covers broader techniques to help participants take control of their health. These include communication with health care providers, basic nutrition and physical activity exercises. It also helps participants come up with their own ways to help cope with chronic pain.

“It could be things like relaxation exercises,” DeJarnett said. “Distraction can be things like thinking of different types of birds or how you use your mind for distraction, but then there’s also ways to be active to take your mind off of what you’re going through. So you might organize your paperwork, or listen to music or read a book.”

The chronic disease workshops are scheduled every Tuesday from Feb. 28 through April 4 over Zoom. The chronic pain workshops are in-person at the Charles Town Library every Wednesday from March 1 to April 5.

To register, call 304-264-1287, ext. 31814 or email dana.dejarnett@wvumedicine.org for more information.

The deadline to register is Feb. 24.

WVU Medicine Lifts Zero-Visitation Policy At Eastern Panhandle Hospitals

WVU Medicine’s two Eastern Panhandle hospitals have lifted the zero-visitation policy put in place to combat the coronavirus.

Hospital inpatients and emergency department patients at Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center are now permitted to see visitors.

WVU Medicine East announced the policy shift this week.

Visitors will be allowed between noon and 7:00 p.m. at both Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers. They must be screened upon arrival, wear a mask and remain in a patients’ room for the duration of the visit. Patients are also only allowed one adult visitor per day.

Visitors are still not permitted on the Behavioral Health Unit.

“Our ambulatory surgery, outpatient services, physician clinics and urgent care centers will continue to discourage visitors with some exceptions,” said Samantha Richards, WVU Medicine East interim president and CEO, in a press release. “These visitation changes were made after a thorough review of the current COVID-19 pandemic in our area, and our continued response efforts keeping staff, patients and their families at the forefront of our considerations.”

More than a month ago, other hospitals in West Virginia began easing their own restrictions, such as Mon Health System and Charleston Area Medical Center Health System.

At that time, the Eastern Panhandle region, specifically Berkeley County, was seeing the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in the state.

Recently, Monongalia County has taken that lead with more than 800 coronavirus cases to-date, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Meanwhile, other hospitals in West Virginia, including Boone Memorial in Madison, have reinstated a no visitor policy.

Similarly, some nursing homes in West Virginia have also had to reinstate visitor restrictions after outbreaks of COVID-19. Most recently, Princeton Health Care Center in Mercer County, currently has a confirmed total of at least 30 COVID-19 cases, according to Gov. Jim Justice’s office.

Visitation restrictions at nursing homes were lifted on June 17 in West Virginia, but only if a facility has had no cases of COVID-19 for the 14 consecutive day period following that date.

Some Hospitals In W.Va. Will Remain Under A ‘No Visitor’ Policy As State Continues To Reopen

Updated on June 19, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.

As West Virginia continues to ease coronavirus-related restrictions this week under Gov. Jim Justice’s safer-at-home order, including nursing home visitations, some hospitals in the state are choosing to keep their doors shut to most visitors.

This week, WVU Medicine announced it would begin easing visitation restrictions at their hospitals statewide ⁠— except WVU Medicine East in the Eastern Panhandle.

A zero visitation policy remains in effect at Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center, with exceptions for end-of-life care, pediatrics, the neonatal intensive care unit, and obstetrics patients. To enter the hospital, everyone is required to wear a mask at all times.

The two medical centers are the only hospitals to serve Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, with the exception of the Martinsburg VA Medical Center.

WVU Medicine said in a news release the decision to keep the no visitor policy in place in the Eastern Panhandle was because the region continues to see an increase in coronavirus cases.

Berkeley County has seen the highest number of new positive cases in the state for weeks.

Charleston Area Medical Center Health System has had a no visitor policy in place since March, but that changed on Jun. 15, 2020 when the health system began implementing a phased reopening for visitations. The health system will enter phase II of its reopening on Monday.

Mon Health System, however, began easing its visitation restrictions on June 9, requiring all visitors to wear masks and to be screened at the entrance. To date, visitors under 18 are still prohibited, and visitors will be asked to use hand sanitizer before and after visiting a patient’s room or the facility.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.

Ebola Seminar Helps Ease West Virginians' Worries

In an open seminar at the Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, Ebola preparedness was the focus of discussion. It’s been in the headlines across the country for a while now, but should West Virginians really feel at risk of contracting the disease? Doctors in the state say West Virginians have little to fear.

To help the public understand what’s really going on with Ebola, a public seminar hosted by the University Healthcare Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers was held at the West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Martinsburg.

The first half of the seminar explained Ebola and the second, how prepared area hospitals are to handle it. Wayne Selzer is one of the 100 community members who attended the seminar.

“Level of preparedness can never be high enough, and the best level of preparedness is self-preparedness,” said Selzer, “So more seminars like this, along with public involvement as well will help calm who have fears against those with no training whatsoever.”

Dr. Matthew Simmons, the infectious disease specialist at Berkeley Medical Center, was one of the speakers. He says he felt like the seminar helped calm any fears the community might have, but they don’t need to feel like they have to be prepared.

Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Medical Center.

“There’s very little that a person in the community has to do to protect themselves from Ebola at this point, because the risk of transmission is so low,” noted Simmons.

Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, the chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Medical Center says you only have to worry about the virus if you’re showing symptoms.

“It really is very, very important as to where you have been, because it’s really not a widespread epidemic. It’s not at all spreading in the United States,” said DeBiasi, “So unless you had those symptoms, and you were in contact, like you were a nurse or a doctor and took care of a patient who had Ebola, then we would not worry that you had Ebola virus.”

DeBiasi tried to help put it into perspective that more people die from influenza in the US than Ebola.

“I think it’s just human nature, if it’s unusual we’re a little more nervous about it, even if it’s not really a thing you should be worried about,” said DeBiasi.

The final message the doctors gave the audience was simply…to stay calm.