Cy-Fair Lifestyles and Homes magazine Jan 2010: Business News in Cy-Fair

Northwest Assistance Ministries has been awarded a $75,000 grant for emergency funding from The Meadows Foundation. The Meadows Foundation is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948 by Algur H. and Virginia Meadows to benefit the people of Texas.

“We are honored to have been chosen by The Meadows Foundation for a grant,” says Carole Little, NAM president and CEO. “At a time when the community needs our services more than ever, it is very encouraging to receive support from our neighbors in Dallas. The Meadows Foundation has a long history of bettering the quality of life of Texans through its philanthropic mission. ”

Northwest Assistance Ministries was awarded a grant of $30,000 from the Alliance of Community Assistance Ministries of Greater Houston. The funds will be used for capacity building and operations, and for board and staff development.

“During this challenging economy, NAM has no funds to build its infrastructure or to provide its staff and board with professional development. The ACAM grant will enable us to work on these important areas, ” said NAM President and CEO Carol Little.

=Deahna Ortiz, Cy-Fair High School senior, won first place in the speech competition at the Texas Association of Future Educators 2009-10 regional competition.

Deahna took top honors for her speech on “TAFE: Making A Splash Into Teaching,” and will advance to the 26th annual TAFE State Conference in San Marcos.

The regional competition featured more than 300 students from 10 schools with 40 or more students competing for placement in speech competition, count on character story books and educational skits. With the permanent merging of Future Teachers of America into TAFE in 2009, students attended the conference from both Regions 4 and 5.

Deahna’s speech focused on the impact that Cy-Fair ISD’s Ready, Set, Teach! program has made on her life and her decision to become a teacher. Now in its second year, the RST! program pairs upperclassmen students who are aspiring teachers with elementary and middle school classes within the district, giving them hands-on classroom experience prior to enrolling in college.

She is an alumna of Adam Elementary School, and has served as an intern at the school. Within a few days of her internship, she was teaching mini-lessons and assisting her cooperating teacher as needed three days a week.

Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital announced that it received three CIGNA quality designations and two Centers of Excellence designations for 2009. This recognition means that Cy-Fair Hospital has met rigorous quality criteria based on nationally recognized medical standards.

Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital received the following designations: CIGNA quality for Caesarean Section, Adult Pneumonia and Vaginal Delivery; and CIGNA Centers of Excellence for Laparoscopic Gallbladder Removal and Gastric Bypass.

The designations are awarded based on the hospital’s effectiveness in treating the selected condition or performing the procedure. The designations are based in part of a hospital ’s CMS Hospital Compare measures, Leapfrog Patient Safety Measures, mortality and complication rates.

“Being recognized by CIGNA is a testament to the level of care our staff and physicians provide to patients every day and is evidence of our hospital ’s commitment to providing high quality care,” said Terry Wheeler, chief executive officer for Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital.

Glenda Arnold has been named the new assistant dean of student learning at Lone Star College-Fairbanks Center.

She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a dual master’s in human resources management and human resources development and a third master ’s in computer resources management.

Among her goals for spring are in-service sessions earmarked for LSC-Fairbanks Center adjunct faculty; more professional development for adjuncts; increasing the number of adjuncts certified to teach online courses; adding discipline-specific mentors and incorporating a Caring Behaviors model in the classrooms to help with student retention and success.

Bill Morris was sworn into office for Position 3 of the of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees and will begin his first term; Lida Woodul, beginning her fourth term, was sworn into office for Position 4. Both will serve three-year terms that will expire in 2012.

Cindy Wright, notary public and secretary to the superintendent of schools, administered the oath of office to the two winners. Following

the oath, the board reorganized by electing a president, vice president and secretary in accordance with Board Policy BDAA (Local).

Trustees voted for the following Board officers: Dr. John Ogletree was elected as the new board president; Bob Covey was elected as the new board vice president; and Lida Woodul was elected as the new board secretary.

Cindy Hudgens, RN, BSN, CNRN, cardiovascular and stroke coordinator at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital, was honored by Specialists on Call with the Nursing Champion Award.

Hudgens, a part of the Stroke Team at Cy-Fair Hospital, helps provide a patient-centered approach to assessing and diagnosing stroke to promptly begin appropriate treatment during the critical early stages of a stroke. When a stroke patient arrives at the hospital, an alert system called “Code Brain” goes into effect to provide early intervention that may mean the difference between a return to normalcy or a life with disability.

To help diagnose and plan a course of treatment for stroke patients appropriately, Hudgens and the hospital ’s Stroke Team can access Specialists on Call, a tele-neurology service that allows emergency room doctors to work with neurologists around the clock via advanced videoconferencing technology.