Health News

Hospital annual meeting

BANGOR – The St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary held its annual luncheon and meeting May 18. Special guest was Susan Conroy, author of “Mother Teresa’s Lessons of Love and Secrets of Sanctity.” Conroy spent a summer volunteering in one of Mother Teresa’s orphanages and the book is about Conroy’s experiences there.

At the meeting, the auxiliary presented a check for $28,000 to Sister Mary Norberta, president and CEO of St. Joseph Healthcare. The money is earmarked to offset costs of new monitors in the critical care unit. The monitors are able to record and store, by remote control, each patient’s vital signs. They also may be used to alert medical professionals is a patient’s vital signs become unstable.

The auxiliary oversees the operation of Helen’s Gift Shop in the hospital’s Broadway lobby. Proceeds from the gift shop and the auxiliary’s other fund-raising activities benefit St. Joseph Healthcare.

ALS support group

HERMON – The ALS support group, for those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, will resume meeting 1-3 p.m. Thursday, May 20, at OHI, 25 Freedom Parkway. Meetings will be held the third Thursday of each month. For information, contact Liz Irvine at 942-0919.

Rx assistance information

BANGOR – A prescription assistance information session and networking opportunity for health care and social service professionals will be held 9 a.m.-noon Friday, May 21, at the Bangor Public Library.

The meeting will go over state discount programs, the new Medicare prescription benefit and drug manufacturers’ patient assistance programs. Representatives from Maine’s Department of Medical Services, Legal Services for the Elderly, and clinics and other providers who manage successful prescription assistance programs will speak at the meeting.

The event is being organized by MedHelp Maine. For information or to register, call MedHelp Maine at 283-4461.