Summa Western Reserve Hospital welcomes Pamela Banchy, RN-BC, PMP, to the role of Chief Information Officer for the hospital.

Carrie Raupach, a 41-year-old Cuyahoga Falls wife and mother, has always enjoyed baking. One day her co-worker at Casnet told her about an amazing dessert she had at a baby shower. It was a kind of cake and a kind of popsicle but it was all fun.

Raupach decided to try to make it. “I thought it was a great idea for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, actually any holiday or celebration," she said. “The following weekend I tried it, and passed them out to friends and family. There was not one person that did not like them.”

(Click to story for cake pop recipe and directions.)

Summa Western Reserve Hospital recently hosted a sleep disorder seminar entitled “Understanding and Treating Sleep Disorders."

The free, public event was part of Summa Health System’s “Sleep Week” events to raise awareness about common sleep disorders, their effects and treatment practices to remedy them. The event featured special guest speaker, Dr. Lawrence Saltis, Medical Director and Neurologist of the Summa Western Reserve Hospital Sleep Medicine Center.

Saltis discussed sleep structure and how the body is impacted by sleep and a lack thereof. Disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome (RLS) and common deviations from sleep patterns were discussed as well as treatment methods currently used to aid sleep disorders.

Guests were provided with a free lunch at the hospital, a free sleep kit gift and enjoyed a raffle drawing featuring a “Sleep Well” basket.

Training scheduled for March 6, 8 and 13 at Summit County Educational Service Center

The Summit County Educational Service Center is sponsoring a series of three programs related to child welfare during the month of March as an early kickoff to the 25th Annual Child & Family Awareness Month celebration coordinated by Summit County Children Services and numerous other community organizations in April.

The March in-service training programs on child welfare will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on March 6, 8 and 13 at the Educational Service Center, 420 Washington Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. This series of three, two-hour programs will provide teachers and other professionals throughout the county with a comprehensive overview of issues related to child welfare, including: recognizing and reporting child abuse; bullying; suicide prevention and substance abuse; and positive youth development.

State’s increased network bandwidth speeds will solidify Ohio’s standing in cutting edge medical research, innovation, patient care and education

Summa Western Reserve Hospital was one of four sites that recently joined a live video conference with Gov. John Kasich to discuss a ten-fold boost to OARnet’s statewide network bandwidth, an initiative to bolster an accelerated network to serve as a technological pipeline for the latest advancements in medical research and technology within Ohio’s medical corridor.

The extensive broadband network will benefit the state for training doctors on the newest clinical procedures, network physicians to allow experts to share their advances and innovations such as the ultrasound guided pain relief procedures pioneered by Dr. Samer Narouze, chairman, Center for Pain Medicine at Summa Western Reserve Hospital.

In honor of Black History Month, Summa Western Reserve Hospital recently teamed up with actors from Hale Farm and Village to present a special performance of "A Fugitive’s Path" Feb. 23.

The event took place at the hospital auditorium and hosted students from Richardson Elementary School. Special guest Rev. Carl P. Wallace of Trinity United Church of Christ also addressed the audience regarding the significance of this pivotal time in the nation’s history.

"The history of the Underground Railroad is a history of our great nation coming together for freedom," said Wallace. "In the 1800s, it is estimated that more than 100,000 slaves were aided by patriotic Americans to seek freedom from their enslavement by relocating to Canada and Mexico. It is has been documented that there are more than 700 locations in Ohio of these Underground Railroad stops where ‘conductors’ risked their very lives so others may be free. This story must not die and for Summa Western Reserve Hospital to enable the students of Richardson Elementary to keep this history alive speaks to the very spirit of America, a place of freedom for all."

Summa Western Reserve Hospital recently launched its new Lung Health Program. One of the only lung health and smoking cessation programs of its kind in the area, the program offers collaborative care for smokers (both current and those who have quit) or those exposed to secondhand smoke.

A unique feature of the program is the inclusion of a rapid, non-invasive, pain-free low-dose CT scan that produces a three-dimensional image of the lungs. This screening measure has been proven extremely accurate for early detection of cancers and abnormalities in the chest. Individual or group consultation sessions for smoking cessation are also provided.

The act of giving for the Community Outreach Resources Exchange (CORE) began in 1998 with a truck filled with furniture.

Now, tucked behind the Marc’s building on State Road is an attached, adjacent full warehouse. Every Saturday morning, 20 to 25 families sit in a waiting room, ready to pick out items for their homes for free.

“We get people coming from all different situations—horrible situations like a fire or a foreclosure,” said Jodie Macchione, Director of Advertising and Furniture Acquisition for the CORE Furniture Bank.

Crafty Mart, an alternative craft show founded by J Hudson, of Cuyahoga Falls, and Juniper Sage, of Akron, is heading into its third year and will take place Nov. 26 from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. at Musica, which is located on Market Street near High Street.

Sage, who owns Square Records in Highland Square with her husband Dave Ignizio, was a vendor at a similar show called Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland  in 2007 when she met Hudson, who stopped by her booth and wondered out loud why Akron didn’t have an alternative craft show of its own.

Hudson had been making the trek to Cleveland with his three children for the show for several years .

Visitors to the Mary Campbell Cave at Gorge Metro Park in Cuyahoga Falls read about an adventurous story of a young girl who was kidnapped by Indians, all of whom took up temporary residence in the cave. Local lore describes Campbell as the "first white child of the Western Reserve." In the essay below, local historian Michael Cohill dissects the legend from fact:

Was Mary Campbell a real person?
Yes. At age 10, Campbell was taken from Cumberland County, Penn., by the Indians, on May 21, 1758. She was repatriated by Col. Bouquet at Muskingum in November of 1764 at age 16. These are well documented facts. ANSWER: TRUTH

Did Mary Campbell ever live in the cave named for her?
For anyone who’s ever visited the site, imagine attempting the feat of carrying water to and from this "cave." It would require walking, crawling and climbing down the steep rocky ravine to the river and then carrying back up the many gallons of water that was needed per day in order to drink, wash and cook for an entire village.