X1-St.Lucie Living-Vol.562

TRUSTED ROOFER

"Excellent company. Got whole roof replaced from storm damage. Pleasant to deal with."

"Excellent company. Got whole roof replaced from storm damage. Pleasant to deal with."

-Alex D

-Alex D

"My rental property sustained minor roof and gutter damage during a recent summer storm from a displaced tree branch. Calls to several roofing repair companies, requesting expedited services, were not being met until I spoke with Bill at LBR. Costs and value were reasonable. Work teams on site were organized, safe and left the property clean." -M. Lacouture

"My rental property sustained minor roof and gutter damage during a recent summer storm from a displaced tree branch. Calls to several roofing repair companies, requesting expedited services, were not being met until I spoke with Bill at LBR. Costs and value were reasonable. Work teams on site were organized, safe and left the property clean."

-M. Lacouture

www.levelbestroofing.com

Fort Myers, Stuart. Sarasota

"Friendly, reliable and on time. I highly recommend this company."

"Friendly, reliable and on time. I highly recommend this company."

-David S

-David S

"We had an issue with a leaking roof, and we called Level Best Roofing to help us out. Mark was quick to call us back, get people out to examine the roof, and schedule the work. They were willing and accommodating to our schedule and our needs. We will consider them when it comes time to replace the roof. Thank you Level Best Roofing."

"We had an issue with a leaking roof, and we called Level Best Roofing to help us out. Mark was quick to call us back, get people out to examine the roof, and schedule the work. They were willing and accommodating to our schedule and our needs. We will consider them when it comes time to replace the roof. Thank you Level Best Roofing."

-David

L

-David L

Ok, so here’s the latest scoop on the medical situations regarding my last several columns, having to do with inability to get to a doctor from Cleveland Clinic in a timely manner. Yes, for those of you who insisted I name the dreaded hospital that I was writing about, it is, in fact, Cleveland Clinic. e reason I am now going to put a name to the place is because I was invited by Dr. Singh, the President of Cleveland Clinic to have a meet and greet this a ernoon. Just when you think you know how your week is going to go, wham, a personal invitation to speak with the president himself, who read my articles and wanted to talk. Okay, so I’ll admit I was nervous, anxious, worried, but also armed for bear in the event that he wanted to minimize the situation, but in fact, surprisingly, he was caring, open to suggestions, and transparent with regard to how Cleveland Clinic took over Martin Memorial North and South, and what he strived for going forward. I was impressed, and I’m not easily sold on lip service, but between him and the head of Patient Experiences, Karen Ludwig, who was also present, it was apparent that he knew and understood the frustrations the general public has been experiencing getting seen by a physician in a timely manner.

I have to give him credit. His information was forthcoming, addressing my concerns, sometimes even before I had

the chance to list them. Also to his credit, he was young-ish, a physician himself, and has only been the president of the hospital for one year. In that year, he and Karen had an earful of complaints and they had plans to address all of them by way of hiring almost 60 new physicians, twice as many nurses, and ongoing training for those people on the front lines, who take the calls and make appointments. I was shocked, in a good way. He never tried to make excuses, nor did he make false promises. He said getting things turned around was not going to happen overnight, but he does strive to make this hospital the best it can possibly be, within a reasonable amount of time. He is there to speak with, to read emails, and to even give out his cell phone number (No, sorry, I can’t pass it along, lol) but from what I understand, he has done that frequently to others as well.

He loves this community, he loves this hospital, and he loves medicine. He is not one of those people who sits in their ivory tower, having no pulse on medical practices. He wants to do better, and promises he will do better, but this is what he has been handed, well, that, and the pandemic, which has seen the resignation of good nurses and doctors who no longer wish to expose themselves and their families to infection. I get

it. Much as I loved hospital nursing, I have asked myself many times if I had stayed in nursing, would I quit? I feel like the answer is a hard “no” but it’s easy to say from the sidelines, and not in the midst of potentially deadly chaos.

My point is this. He wants things to change, and he has ideas to change them, many of which it is not my place to share. I came in with a list of suggestions, but before I could get my ideas out of my mouth, he already verbalized them. We were on the same page! So, the bottom line is this.

For What it’s Worth, he’s young, he’s enthusiastic, he wants to make things better, and he wants Cleveland Clinic, Stuart, to be exactly what we all want it to be, a place we can trust with our very lives. Let’s be fair and give him time to get it together. If I was a gambler, I think I’d put my money on him.

New Treatment for Alzheimer’s

The FDA approved Aduhelm in 2021 under accelerated approval. First approved June 7, 2021. A subsequent, poorly-explained controversy eventually resulted in MEDICARE to withdraw coverage for the drug. The company decided to support patients, and as of today, has active participation to help individual patients to obtain the treatment via a company support program.

As a result of Medicare not paying for the treatment, many providers stopped administering the drug in their office. Our office had difficulty finding a provider who would administer the drug intravenously.

After some thinking and brainstorming with my staff, I decided to start this I.V. service in our office at 100 US Hwy. 1, Suite 120, Vero Beach.

We are a cash-based practice and do not accept insurance. This is because of the prohibitive overhead billing from the insurance companies. So, we make it the patient’s responsibility to obtain the Aduhelm. We assist in this process, and Biogen has a PATH Enrollment (Patient Assistance Program) for financial assistance. The intravenous medications arrive in our office ready to go. We do charge for our expenses and for the services we render. We think our pricing is more than reasonable. My goal as a physician is to help patients who so desire to get access to the first rational therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.