Media Releases

HANCOCK – The Guilded Rose Gift Shop, located inside of Portage Health’s main campus, is now open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Our gift shop is completely ran by volunteers, and we were lucky enough to find someone to work Saturdays for us,” said Ronda Bogan, who manages the gift shop.

The gift shop sells a variety of gift, baby, gourmet, accessories, candy and cards, with proceeds benefiting the Portage Hospital Auxiliary.

“Since 1998 the Guilded Rose has raised more than $400,000 for the auxiliary,” said Bogan. “All of the volunteers take great pride in being able to give back to our community hospital.”

That money has helped fund hospital purchases such as equipment for mammograms, the oncology department and helped to buy new furniture in several hospital waiting rooms.

“The majority of the auxiliary’s money comes from our sales at the Guilded Rose,” said Nancy Fenton, who serves as the gift shop’s co-manager.

The Guilded Rose Gift Shop is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call (906) 483-1565 or visit portagehealth.org/giftshop.

HANCOCK - The OB/GYN clinic received great news earlier this summer as the staff was recognized by Press Ganey for a six-point increase in overall satisfaction scores.

“The group has worked hard to try and provide comprehensive, complete care,” said Diane Gadomski, vice president of the Portage Health Medical Group. “These scores prove that what the clinic is doing, is working.”

The department has been infused with new staff highlighted by Dr. Rebecca Baudoin and Dr. Charles Rollison during the past year.

“The fresh faces have helped a lot, but it’s not just the doctors,” said Gadomski. “We’ve seen our nursing and support staff take a lot of pride in what they’re doing.”

The clinic received a certificate from Press Ganey, which compiles feedback from Portage Health patients.

“Your scores have increased by six, which is statistically significant,” a letter from the organization said. “The change in score was not random, but due to some change within your facility, and your patients have recognized this change.”

The surveys are sent to all patients and help Portage Health find ways to continue improving its healthcare offerings.

HOUGHTON – Michigan Technological University and Central Michigan University (CMU) are partnering to offer CMU’s doctorate of physical therapy program at Michigan Tech, to help meet a critical need for additional physical therapists in the Upper Peninsula.

“This partnership between CMU and Michigan Tech provides an innovative learning environment for physical therapy,” said Jason Carter, chair of Michigan Tech’s kinesiology and integrative physiology program. “In 2006, Michigan Tech launched its Exercise Science degree, and we now have over 90 undergraduate students enrolled in that degree. A large percentage of those students aspire to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy, but also want to stay in the Upper Peninsula; this new degree program will help them do both.”

Students will take classes at both campuses, taught in an innovative distance-learning format. Clinical education experiences will take place primarily at medical facilities in the Upper Peninsula. Enrollment for the inaugural class will begin in the summer of 2013, with classes starting in June 2014, pending accreditation review by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.

Support from community partners includes a matching gift of $125,000 from the Upper Peninsula Health Care Network and $25,000 from four UP hospitals – War Memorial, Portage Health, Aspirus-Keweenaw and Dickinson County Healthcare System.

“Physical Therapy is an integral component of the overall healthcare delivery system,” said Jim Bogan, president and CEO of Portage Health, the first local hospital to financially support the creation of the doctorate in physical therapy program. “This collaboration between educational and healthcare institutions will not only provide practical, experiential education, but will also foster the institutional networking that is vital to our ability to recruit and retain well-trained allied health professionals.”

The two universities have been working on the collaborative degree over the past two years. Carter cited Herm Triezenberg, Central’s chairperson of the School of Rehabilitation and Medical Sciences, as being instrumental to their progress.

Central Michigan University established its master of science in physical therapy program in 1994. It made the transition to the doctor of physical therapy degree in 2004.