News Room - Press Releases

News Release
For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Contact: Rick Spencer
Community Relations Manager
Telephone: 889-5554
Pager: 475-9319

Norfolk, VA (March 15, 2006) -- Bon Secours Hampton Roads will be celebrating seniors at the 2006 Successful Aging Forum (SAF). The event is scheduled for April 7, 2006, from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Virginia Beach Pavilion. The presenting sponsor for the Forum is Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital.

This year's theme, Ramp It Up, was chosen for two reasons. Ramp it Up was the title of the SAF annual community service project where volunteers built ramps for wheelchair-bound persons throughout Hampton Roads. In addition, the Ramp it Up theme at the forum is used as a rallying call for seniors.
"We want to provide older adults the skills needed to confront the challenges associated with aging," said Steve Zollos, administrator of the Senior Assessment and Memory Program.

Three keynote speakers underscore the Ramp it Up premise to get up, get out and get involved. They are:

• Hope Mihalap, an award-winning humorist, believes laughter
  should be used as medicine. She recognizes that in spite of our age, humor really is good medicine. The title of her presentation is Where There's Hope, There's Laughter.
• Joe Flanagan, WVEC-TV 13 reporter and host of Joe's Job, will
  take a "down-home, up-close and personal look at the impact that he sees seniors making in our communities."
• Zollos will take an insightful and sometimes amusing look at
  memory and aging.

Participants will have an opportunity to ask medical questions from a panel of leading physicians. These medical experts consist of Joseph S. Auteri, MD, FACS, cardiac surgeon and medical director, Bon Secours Heart Institute; Daniel R. Cavazos, MD, orthopaedic surgeon, Hampton Roads Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; William N. Hovland, MD, FACP, geriatrician with Granby Internal Medicine and medical director, Senior Assessment and Memory Program; and Cynthia L. Flick, MD, medical director, DePaul Acute Rehabilitation Center.

The cost of the Forum is $17 per person. This admission fee includes lunch, all presentations, door prizes and the physician panel.

On April 6, Senior Health will sponsor the 2006 Successful Aging Pre-Forum Dinner. The dinner will take place at from 6-8 p.m. at Nauticus, 1 Waterside Dr, Norfolk. This informal gathering, ideal for networking, will have Mihalap on hand with her special brand of humor, as well as Joe Flanagan. Also, the Calypso Nuts will perform Caribbean-style music on their steel drums. The cost of admission is $45 per person or $400 to sponsor a group of 10.

To register for the Forum and Pre-Forum Dinner, call 889-3378.

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Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System is a leading health care organization known for providing care for the whole person with grace and clinical distinction. Bon Secours brings together a network of hospitals, primary care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities to provide quality health care services to the residents of Hampton Roads. Bon Secours, which employs more than 4,500, includes: Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center and St. Francis Nursing Center.