Today’s Meeting: – Jim Foreman and Bob Bilger of We Care/Procare
Future Speakers:
November 28th – Scott Maginella – Precious Life
December 5th – Jonathan O’Harrow – Interim Director of Strategic Communication and Marketing – Penn State Altoona
December 12th –
December 19th – Christmas Party – No noon meeting
December 26th – No noon meeting
Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week:
…..Last week the speaker was Dr. Bert Altmanshofer – discussing cold laser treatments and a new means of wound healing. The first portion of his discussion was on the emerging use of lasers in surgery and treatments. Dr. Altmanshofer uses lasers as a means to treat various painful and debilitating foot conditions. Its use can provide rapid relief of pain and due to its anti-inflammatory effect, can reduce the need for stronger drugs and additional surgeries. While not covered by insurance, Dr. Altmanshofer stated that he can often work with the patient’s co-pay to make the procedure cost effective. He went on to say that over 3,500 clinics world-wide now use this effective technology. The second part of his talk centered on his use of an unconventional treatment of wounds…..using cod fish skin as a skin graft. The product comes from an Icelandic company called Kerecis, which began commercial export of the fish skin in 2013. The skin is rich in Omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and its use in skin grafts recruits the body’s own cells, ultimately converting it into living tissue. According to Dr. Altmanshofer, this skin offers improved circulation and provides a good barrier to MRSA. The cod fish skin graft material costs about $35 per square centimeter which is much less expensive than conventional stem cell skin and is applied directly to a wound with just glue and tape. The Nason Hospital currently is the procurer of this product locally and along with Dr. Altmanshofer, is being used by about 18 doctors nationwide.
Guests of the Day:
Paul Dick introduced his guest, Terry Albright of M & T Bank.
News of the Week:
…..President Rachael reminded everyone about our annual Christmas candy sale. Orders are due December 5th with delivery set for December 12th. If you want to sell a carton of chocolate covered pretzels or Peanut Butter Meltaway bars, contact Kathy. Speaking of Christmas, mark your calendar, as the annual AMBUCS Christmas party will be held on Tuesday evening, December 19th at Park Hills. Cash bar will begin at 6:00 PM, dinner at 6:30 and a visit from Ol’ St. Nick himself around 7:00. A sign-up sheet will be distributed soon. There will be no noon lunch that day or on December 26th.
…..Our Christmas Candy sale always features an opportunity to participate in what’s referred to as the “500 Club”….named this due to recognition of those members who sell $500 worth of candy. Since our profit on $500 of candy is around 40% or $200, a member can become a “500 Club” member by selling $500 of candy, making a $200 donation or some combination of sales x 40% and a cash donation, the two totaling $200. All “500 Club” members enjoy a recognition steak dinner at one of our regular lunch meetings during the first quarter of the year.
…..Congrats to two of our fellow Ambucs….Tim Parnell was chosen to receive the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association’s Vincent Imperatrice Private Practice Special Interest Group Award by his peers in the field. Alex Seltzer was recently named to a three year position on the Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s board. Way to go Tim and Alex!
…..If you are wondering who that young lady was that videoed our Open House meeting several weeks ago….the answer is Jillian Lemme, daughter of Karen Lemme. Jillian was nice enough to do the filming and Doug Ickes has agree to take the video and edit it for future use by the club and to post it on our AMBUC Facebook page. Once finalized, Doug will let us know when we can view the final result. A big thanks to both Jillian and Doug for their expertise.
…..We have 33 Club winners again this week! The Patriots scored 33 against their opponent, the Raiders, earning Lisa Drzal $30 and Andy Miller and Tony Miller with $10 each. But wait…….there’s still Monday night football, they may have to share!
…..Last week Dean McKnight’s raffle number was chosen. Striding confidently to the head table, Dean made his selection which turned out to be the Ten of Diamonds. You could almost hear the two Jokers chuckling! This week you can have the chance to take home a pot of around $265 by picking a Joker out of the remaining 41 cards. With the two Jokers remaining, your chances are about 1 in 20 to take home some holiday cash.
In Closing:
