The employees of Macon County Public Health participated in “Dress in Blue Day” on Friday, March 4. Dress in Blue Day is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

MedWest Health System donated $1,500 to Smoky Mountain High School to help the school reach a goal of $5,000 for the American Cancer Society. Attending the presentation to announce the launch of a new nurse navigator program at MedWest-Harris hospital were Dr. William Sims, a surgeon with Mountain Valley Surgery, and nurse navigator Mary Mahon.

“MedWest provides a team approach to addressing breast cancer,” said Mike Poore, MedWest CEO. “Our radiologists, surgeons, pathologists and oncologists work closely together to examine each case.”

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) announces the successful completion of its Recertification Examination by Gustav Crede Wilde, MD. Board certification confers a standard of excellence in knowledge and practice to physicians who not only certify via the examination process, but who also work diligently on the maintenance of these skills during the seven-year cycle between examinations.

To achieve recertification by the ABFM, a family physician must verify the completion of 300 hours of acceptable continuing medical education over the past six years, possess a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the United States and successfully complete a one-day, written examination of medical knowledge and problem solving abilities. This examination covers the disciplines of the specialty including, but not limited to adult medicine; care of newborns, infants, children, and adolescents; and more.

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A state agency has denied a local group’s application to develop an independent, inpatient hospice facility in Macon County.

The Hospice House Foundation had applied to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for a Certificate of Need (CON) that would have allowed them to build a new hospice facility in the county with six inpatient hospice beds. In a letter sent out last Friday, Feb. 25, that application was denied.

“We are very disappointed in the state’s decision not to approve our Certificate of Need application,” said Michele Alderson, president of the Hospice House Foundation of WNC. “We had hoped for approval but were aware that a Certificate of Need is not always awarded to the applicant during the first submission.”