A few fine people are at the forefront of a great idea that we urge the Highlands County School Board to embrace. Diane Juve, who is a parent of a district student, as well as Highlands Regional Medical Center CEO Robert G. Mahaffey and hospital Chief of Staff Vinod Thakkar are advocating for the International Baccalaureate Program in our schools. We can't think of a better idea to instantly propel our school district into a new league. The International Baccalaureate program is a college prep program recognized internationally. It has rigorous academics and extracurricular requirements. Our district's best and brightest would compete on a level playing field with students from the best schools in the country. Successfully completing the program is the first step into gaining admittance to the best colleges and universities in the country. The program, which students must earn the right to enter, involves less memorization of facts and more critical thinking and in-depth study in various areas of study. It's a strong liberal arts education, but also stresses math and sciences. It's the same thing prep schools in the Northeast provide their students, and that's why many of them are considered the best in the country. In fact, most of the best high schools in America are part of the International Baccalaureate program. ...more

December 2, 2007

SEBRING — Could this year's advanced ninth-graders graduate high school with an International Baccalaureate Diploma? We'll have a better idea come March when the School Board of Highlands County decides whether to pursue the program. Then paperwork to start a feasibility study needs to completed by Sept. 1, 2008, said parent Diane Juve. The IB program is well known nationwide, and is a highly regarded college prep program, Juve added. Juve's child is in middle school and she played a big part in getting the Advanced Academics program to Highlands County. Parents curious about the program will have a chance to get some information. An informational parent forum on the IB program is scheduled at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 10 at Hill-Gustat Middle School. ...more

November 23, 2007

SEBRING — Thursday's grand opening of the Highlands Regional Wound Care Center was a chance for partners Highlands Regional Medical Center and Florida -based National Healing Corporation to show off the new 1,800-square-foot facility. Converted from former surgical suites, the spacious wound center features four treatment rooms and two hyperbaric oxygen chambers. More than 100 well-wishers attended the opening and received guided tours. The center at 7200 S. George Blvd. underwent $300,000 worth of renovations and offers state-of-the-art specialized wound healing care, especially for diabetics. ...more

November 2, 2007

You recently published a picture of a group of women who had made heart shaped pillows for Florida Hospital. This is a great source of comfort for hospital patients, and it was great that you recognized them. As a hospital volunteer at the hospital, I was often told by patients that these pillows really helped alleviate pain following surgery. There are several groups who make pillows for Highlands Regional Medical Center, as well as two individuals who make baby blankets and bonnets. The hospital honored them with a lovely appreciation luncheon last year. There is one woman, though, who rates special recognition for the work she has done. Eileen Houser, a resident of Francis 2 Mobile Park, celebrated her 90th birthday recently and in the last year she made over 500 heart shaped pillows for Highlands Regional. She might have made more, but she was sick for a while. Thank you, Eileen. ...more

October 22, 2007

SEBRING — A Sebring woman was seriously injured Friday afternoon at the intersection of Skipper Road and U.S. 27, after driving her mini-van into the path of a southbound mini-van, a Florida Highway Patrol report stated. ...more

October 12, 2007

SEBRING — Everything is about teamwork at Highlands Regional Medical Center's new Center for Orthopedic Surgery. Since Tuesday, the 12-bed unit center has separated orthopedic patients from the regular hospital community. Those recovering from hip and knee replacement surgery have a place all of their own. ...more

October 4, 2007

SEBRING — As far as doctors go, Dr. Raymond Veras does not get out much. He spends his work hours mostly inside Florida Hospital, checking on the more ill children and infants, some of them hospital-bound. Like him. The pediatric hospitalist is a new breed of doctor in the area. Hired two months ago, he is the first pediatrician to not only visit Florida Hospital or to refer the sick children there, he also stays there, he says. Along with Dr. Cathy Lee and Dr. Ronald Fronda, who switch back and forth between the hospitals in Lake Placid and Sebring, the three from Florida Hospital and two others from Highlands Regional Medical Center are doing what several hospitals across the country began doing 11 years ago. With outside doctors getting slammed with patients and other patients being too sick for a simple office visit, both Florida Hospital and Highlands Regional Medical Center began hospitalist programs less than a year ago. ...more

September 23, 2007

If we keep doing what we're doing today, what will Highlands County look like in 50 years? ...more

September 21, 2007

SEBRING — Official autopsy reports have determined the cause death of Anton Young, an inmate at Highlands County Jail, was hypertensive heart disease and the manner of death was ruled natural, Sheriff Susan Benton announced Thursday. ...more

September 6, 2007