San Antonio Addresses Health Literacy Issues: Attend October Conference

Do you know about The Bexar County Health Collaborative? The Collaborative works to improve the health status of our community through collaborative means. They began informally in 1997 when the city’s major healthcare organizations agreed to put aside their competitive business practices to conduct a comprehensive health needs assessment. The group evolved into an incorporated entity with a long-range strategic plan to improve the health status of the community by working together.

This October (1-2) you can join the Collaborative at the 5th Annual San Antonio Health Literacy Conference at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. Health care professionals, educators, health plan administrators, community service providers and others involved in health literacy are invited to attend.

Find out more and register.

AirLIFE Base at North Central Baptist - See Video

Demand in North Central San Antonio drives AirLIFE Air Medical Service to move to North Central Baptist Hospital. WATCH VIDEO

Taste Wine and Sample some Delicious Food on Saturday, September 26th

Find out about a great event happening this Saturday at Northeast Baptist Hospital. See below for details.
You Are Invited to a Wine Tasting Gala

Metabolic Testing and a Healthy Potato Salad

We recently took part in an employee health and wellness fair at CPS Energy where we offered metabolic ate screenings, health education, and healthy cooking demonstrations. Watch North Central Baptist Hospital dietitian Jennifer Meachum making a delicious, healthy potato salad.

Watch Video

Be Careful in the Sun: Know the Risks of Skin Cancer

I had the privilege of introducing Morton S. Kahlenberg, M.D., F.A.C.S., as the keynote speaker to the San Antonio Rotary during one of their standing lunch meetings at the Bright Shawl.
Dr Kalenberg is the Medical Director of Surgical Oncology Associates of South Texas and the Baptist Cancer Center and presented on the risk factors for melanoma, how to recognize and diagnose it and how it is treated in the 21st century. Melanoma is a skin cancer of the melanocytes, the cells that make skin color and give moles their dark color. Dr. Kalenberg stated that the early diagnosis and accurate management of melanoma is crucial for enhancing patient outcomes. Melanoma continues to be a growing health concern with 62,500 new cases of melanoma diagnosed in 2008. There will be an estimated 8,250 deaths in 2009 as a result of this disease. In the U.S., the estimated lifetime risk is 1 in 55 for males, 1 in 81 for females. The incidence of melanoma is increasing more rapidly than any other cancer in men and is second only to lung cancer in women.

More about melanoma
Protect Your Skin: How to Avoid Sun Exposure
How to Do a Self Skin Exam

* Photo: Kristina Gillen, Baptist Health System, Director of Community Affairs, Morton S. Kahlenberg, M.D, F.A.C.S., Medical Director, Surgical Oncology Associates of South Texas, and David Nichols, President of the Rotary Club of San Antonio.

North Central Baptist Hospital Welcomes AirLIFE to new Home Base

This blog update is provided by Karen May, Director of Communications, Baptist Health System.

Watch virtually any TV newscast tonight to see coverage of the announcement that an AirLIFE helicopter will now be based at North Central Baptist Hospital. A news conference this morning at North Central Baptist Hospital in Stone Oak attracted coverage by KENS-TV (Ch. 5), KSAT-TV (Ch. 12) KABB-TV (Fox News), WOAI-TV (Ch. 4) KWEX-TV (Ch. 41), as well as WOAI Radio, and area community media such as StoneOakInfo.com and Neighborhood News.
NPR Radio also included the announcement in their newscasts today.

One of the San Antonio AirLIFE helicopters is now based at North Central Baptist Hospital, which speeds the dispatch of flights to the growing communities north of San Antonio.
This new location shaves life-saving minutes from air medical response time.

San Antonio AirLIFE was organized Sept. 1, 1990 as a not-for-profit community service to San Antonio and South Texas. More than 40,000 patients have been transported by its state and national-award winning crews. North Central Baptist Hospital opened its doors to patients Sept. 17, 1991, and has grown to meet the growing needs of the community around it. Students from Health Careers High School also participated in the news conference, with two students getting to fly from the previous base at Baptist Medical Center to North Central Baptist Hospital, and about 30 additional students participating in a demonstration of how the AirLIFE crew transports patients in the "intensive care units in the sky

Thank you to Jack Cleary, President, North Central Baptist Hospital and his staff, as well as to Dr. Wayne Hilliard, president and CEO of San Antonio AirLIFE, and his flight crews, as well as to the students who participated in the news conference.