Everything you should know about urinary tract infections

Chambersburg Hospital No Longer Admitting Pediatric Patients: What To Know

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Community Health Pediatrics Gets A Makeover And New Providers

"We did a complete makeover of the office," said Anne St. Clair, Practice Manager Community Health Pediatrics. "We added two exam rooms, a new waiting area, a conference room, and a private flex room that can be used for education or for nursing moms."

The rooms are equipped with new exam tables and painted in warm neutral colors. And each has a fun theme: animals, robots, dinosaurs, underwater ocean scene, a travel map.

Why the makeover?

"We knew we needed to add providers so we could see more patients," St. Clair said. 

"And we needed more exam rooms. We now have 14."

"The kids really like the new murals," said Allison Adams, MD, Community Health Pediatrics Medical Director. "There is one where they have to find the matching robot out of a bunch of robots. The themes even seem to be popular with the teenagers." During the 18-month renovation, the office was reconfigured to provide more exam rooms and child friendly features with fresh, new, safe and comfortable furniture.

In 2022, Community Health saw a rise in the number of children at Express Care when pediatric office visits were unavailable. (Community Health's Express Care in Rutland and Castleton serve adults and children who have minor injury or illness when a primary care provider isn't available.) The demand for pediatric services was growing, and Community Health Pediatrics is one of the only practices in Rutland and Addison counties that is explicitly for pediatrics.

"We are pediatric specialists," said Dr. Adams. "There are two pediatric nurse practitioners at Community Health Castleton but everyone else in the county is family practice." Community Health Pediatrics providers make visits to the hospital to see the newborns and children hospitalized at Rutland Regional Medical Center. "We have always had newborns come to us for initial visits," said Dr. Adams. "About 300 come from Rutland Regional Medical Center. But we also get some from Porter, Dartmouth and UVM." 

Meet our new providers

With the additional exam rooms, the practice could accommodate more providers for more visits. Two of the recent additions are:

Eva Mayer, MD, joined Community Health Pediatrics from St. Luke's University Hospital Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she was named 2017 Physician of the Year. She's a graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Pediatric Residency Program.

Rebecca Merrifox, MD, a graduate of Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and Pediatric Residency Program, is a hospitalist, meeting families and newborns at the hospital, and provider at the pediatrics practice. A native Vermonter, she is dedicated to advancing medical education and health sciences by improving communication between providers and patients. 

Ages and stages focus on developmental screening

"Early intervention is essential," said Dr. Adams. "If you miss the opportunity to develop the neuropathways to develop speech, for example, it's harder to catch up. We started with an 'Ages and Stages' questionnaire for parents to fill out," said Dr. Adams. "It only takes about 20 minutes." During the first three years of a child's life – at 9, 18 and 24 months – providers focus on how a child is developing using the Ages and Stages screening.  

"It's one of our quality improvement measures to encourage families to fill out the questionnaire so their provider can address the results," Dr. Adams said. A month before their scheduled appointment, the questionnaire is mailed to the parents. They bring it along with them to the next appointment where a nurse will review the results and then discuss the status of the child's development.

"If there are any areas of concern, we can recommend close monitoring, or make referrals for speech, physical or occupational therapy," she said. "The objective of the screening is to pick up on things maybe a parent or provider might not notice."

Catching up after covid 

"A lot of patients didn't come in for well visits during covid because it wasn't safe to do so. We are encouraging them to come into our new and welcoming environment," said Dr. Adams. "With our two new providers we can see most kids for same-day appointments."

"Covid impacted a lot," St. Clair said. "We had to do catchup with immunizations too. We want to see everybody get back on track and keep the momentum going."

"During last winter, Covid was slowing down, and RSV was hitting hard with adults too.  We are bracing ourselves for this January and February," St. Clair said.

Community Health Pediatrics providers encourage immunization for flu. "Any child coming in for an appointment, medical check or physical, is offered a flu shot and covid vaccine," St. Clair said. "Or call and we can set them up for the flu or covid shots during a nurse visit."

Special programs and services

In addition to well child, developmental and sick child visits, Community Health Pediatrics healthcare teams provide special services, education and counseling for children, new parents and families. Some of them include:

Lactation specialist. A trained RN is available to work with nursing moms and provide counseling and support.

Developmental screening. Trained providers track and review developmental characteristics of toddlers and provide feedback and referrals to parents to keep their child on track for their age.

Community health team and nurse care managers. Children and their families receive medical and social support to ensure that they are growing up in a healthy environment. The teams offer many types of support, connections to community programs and services as well as or educational, medical and behavioral health referrals. 

Community Health Behavioral Health pediatric specialists are embedded in the pediatric programs. Providers make referrals to Community Health pediatric psychiatrists and assist with referrals for pediatric behavioral health counseling.

Pediatric dentistry. Pediatric providers make referrals to Community Dental where pediatric specialists and hygienists are available to address the oral health and dental development of children ages 0-20.

Community Health is Vermont's largest FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center), a network of primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, dental and pharmacy services with offices in Rutland, Brandon, Castleton, West Pawlet and Shoreham. Community Dental offices are located in Rutland and Shoreham; Community Health Pediatrics is in Rutland; and Behavioral Health services are available at all of our locations. Community Health Express Care centers, open 7 days a week, are located at the Rutland and Castleton Community Health Centers.

Community Health Pediatrics is taking appointments and accepting new patients. 

Learn more about career opportunities, hours and Community Health locations on our website, chcrr.Org. To reach Community Health's Patient Access Center call 802-779-9169.

World-renowned Climber Makes Nail-biting 6,600-foot Ascent On Limestone Ridge

Footage captured the nail-biting moment a world-renowned climber crossed a razor-thin limestone ridge during a daunting 6,624-foot climb up a mountain in eastern Switzerland.

Swiss extreme mountaineer Dani Arnold, 39, came across the ridge — which was no wider than his shoulders —about two hours into his six-hour trek up Kreuzberg mountain, SWNS reported.

Video captured the unnerving moment the experienced alpinist scrambled up the "rare" rock formation alongside fellow climber, Michi, 55.

Arnold, wearing a bright orange hoodie and beanie, can be seen carefully trekking over the unusually shaped mountain — at some points clasping his arms around taller rocks while he maneuvers his body around the obstacle.

The aerial footage shows the skilled climber pulling himself up onto tall, narrow rocks with ease, barely taking a moment to catch his breath before continuing on his ascent.

Harrowing footage shows Arnold climbing across narrow mountain tops. Dani Arnold / SWNS Arnold can be seen carefully trekking over the unusually shaped mountain — at some points clasping his arms around taller rocks while he maneuvers his body around the obstacle. Dani Arnold / SWNS

At one point in the heart-stopping trek, Arnold extends his arms into the air while stepping across an extraordinarily narrow portion of the uniquely shaped rock.

The three-minute video shows Arnold hoisting himself up another large rock with ease before yelling out to his hiking companion down below.

Following the extraordinary climb, Arnold noted what made the experience special was how different the mountain was shaped from what he typically climbed.

The experienced mountaineer said the unique rock formation was "amazing" to climb. Dani Arnold / SWNS

"What's very unique is the big size of this piece of rock. It was amazing to climb it," he told SWNS.

"I enjoyed it very well. You're so exposed when you're up there. Every rock is unique but it's nothing very very special," he said, adding that the type of rock formation was "fairly rare."

The world-famous mountaineer said he chose this particular climb because he had never done anything like it before.

"The climb took me one day including the approach. I chose it because I had never done it before."

Arnold came across the razor-thin ledges about two hours into his six-hour trek up Kreuzberg mountain. Dani Arnold / SWNS Arnold holds two of the three records of the Matterhorn's North Face. Dani Arnold / SWNS

Arnold has broken multiple climbing and alpinism records and currently holds a worldwide speed-climbing record.

In 2015, he completed the fastest solo ascent of the North Face of the legendary Matterhorn, finishing in just under two hours.

He holds two of the three records of the Matterhorn's North Face and has broken several other records in Europe.

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