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Meritus Athletic Trainer Program helps students get back in the game
Tracy Kloos said it’s tough as a parent to watch your child play a sport knowing there’s a chance she might get hurt. But when that situation actually happened to Kloos’ daughter, Mackenzie, she said she was fortunate to have Meghan Gray there to care for her daughter. Gray is an athletic trainer with Meritus Health, which is contracted by Washington County Public Schools to work with its student athletes and coaches throughout the school year. “Had I not had Meghan there, Mackenzie would have had her season end at that point,” Kloos said. The point guard dislocated her shoulder twice in two separate games playing for the Williamsport High School Wildcats. What is the Meritus Athletic Trainer Program? The Meritus athletic trainers undergo expert training, are certified and licensed allied healthcare professionals onsite to treat the “athletic injury” for the student-athletes. As part of the Meritus team, they offer coordination of care that ensures student athletes get the healthcare they need when they need it. As part of the largest healthcare provider in the region, the trainers give immediate care to students at WCPS high schools, said Amber Shatzer-Moats, the athletic training program supervisor. But don’t let the program’s name fool you. Shatzer-Moats said she has worked with band and theater students, too. “We are responsible for anyone in the school who might need us,” she said. “We provide a lot of education and sharing of information with parents to coordinate care,” Shatzer-Moats said. “But our goal is to get the students back on the field. We are here to support them from injury to recovery, while working with a variety of healthcare providers. We are a team.” The athletic trainers are supported by Meritus Sports Medicine and Geoffrey Sanyi, D.O., and there are plans to expand the program. Meritus Sports Medicine is set to open a new location providing athletic training and rehabilitation at the Valley Mall later this spring. How did the athletic trainer help Mackenzie? The team was facing Brunswick High School at home when Mackenzie was fighting for a jump ball against another player. Her arm got caught in the tangle, Gray said. “I could see it pop out from across the court,” she said. “But she didn’t completely dislocate it. She partially subluxed it; where it came out slightly and popped right back into place.” Play was stopped, and Kloos said Gray took Mackenzie to the training room and checked her range of motion and put her through other tests. Though she was still able to move her arm, Gray and Mackenzie’s coach decided it was best for the senior to sit out the rest of the game. In fact, she didn’t play or practice for nearly a week. And when she did practice, Kloos said Gray was there watching and evaluating her. When Mackenzie was cleared to play again, Gray had a specific plan for playing time and watched Mackenzie while she was on the court. But then came the game at North Hagerstown High School. Mackenzie’s shoulder was hit off a screen and fully dislocated this time. Gray was at that game and took Mackenzie off the court to check her. What followed was two hard weeks of rehabilitation and treatments after school to get her ready to return to play for her team's playoffs. Mackenzie worked with Gray at Williamsport High after classes. Gray put her through a multitude of different range of motion stretching and exercises to return her motion to normal and to build her strength in that shoulder. Kloos sat out several games but slowly began to take part in drills during practices and then warming up with her team for games. "She needs to trust her own body again and know that she can do it, know what it feels like to do the things she requires of her shoulder," Gray said. What mattered most? The goal, Kloos said, was to make sure Mackenzie could play her last regular-season game on Senior Night, again against North Hagerstown High. Mackenzie did play, although it was for only about five minutes and with a well-taped shoulder. And again, Gray was there to keep an eye on her shoulder. With a record of 15-7, the Wildcats made it into the MPSSAA Regional Semi-Finals against Middletown High School. Kloos played a large portion of her final playoff game, but unfortunately, they lost in that round. But Mackenzie was invited to play in the 2024 Roundball Classic’s Girls Shooting Stars Game on March 23. She was the only girls’ player from Williamsport invited. The plan is for Mackenzie to see a specialist to examine her shoulder, now that the season is over. “As a parent, it’s really hard,” Kloos said. “I had all the trust in the world in Meghan in all she had done for Mackenzie. She missed a chunk of games, but she got to play in the ones that mattered to her.” To learn more about Meritus Sports Medicine, visit www.meritushealth.com/SportsMedicine.
NEWS & UPDATES
At 6 months, Meritus Crisis Center key in local addiction fight
Since it opened Sept. 15, the Meritus Crisis Center has seen 204 patients. Dalton Jones was one of them. “They are amazing,” he said of the staff at the six-bed inpatient Crisis Center. “They basically saved my life.” Meritus Health opened the facility to support the needs of those struggling with addiction as part of its mission to improve the health of the community. The facility builds upon the success of a pilot initiative, which featured three crisis stabilization beds, launched in August 2022. The Maryland Department of Health recently reported that the rate of fatal overdose deaths in Washington County between November 2022 and November 2023 decreased by 22 percent. Local healthcare leaders attributed part of that drop to the creation of the crisis stabilization beds. The program is for patients 18 and older who have experienced an overdose and are willing to go to long-term treatment for addiction. A dirt bike accident when he was 20 led Jones to being prescribed oxycodone. Once the prescription ran out, he was buying pills off the street. One of those was laced with fentanyl, which led to his full-blown addiction. “I lost my wife, I lost my three kids, I lost my house, I lost everything,” he said. Jones, who has been sober since Jan. 1, was dropped off at the Crisis Center by his mother, who no longer wanted him in the house. “I had nowhere else to go,” he said. The Crisis Center program provides supportive counseling and evaluation of patients, and initial stabilizing and monitoring. Jones credits the Crisis Center for helping him detox. While working the drugs out of his system, the counselors made him comfortable with food and shelter. “If you're not comfortable while going through withdrawal, you'll never get clean,” he said. Patients are generally allowed to stay up to 72 hours until they can be accepted into a rehabilitation program. “Doing what we can to get people on the path to sobriety and rehabilitation is our goal,” said Allen Twigg, executive director of behavioral and community health at Meritus. “We will work with patients to get them the care that they need.” Jones said he was able to use the center more than once because the first rehabilitation program he entered was not a good fit. At the suggestion of the counselors at the Crisis Center, he entered a treatment program in Baltimore County. It’s been a success. “I get to see my kids now. My family is starting to talk to me again,” he said. “Life has been phenomenal.” Jones’ success story is one of many since the Crisis Center opened in the fall. Statistics show patients stay for an average of two days, and 68% have been admitted to substance use disorder treatment, which is above the national average. So far, only 15% of people cared for have returned within 30 days. “The Crisis Center is here to help our neighbors battling addiction, regardless of their ability to pay, who want to get themselves free,” said Meritus President and CEO Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H. “Through partnerships with community members, we offer this resource for the community as another front in the battle against the opioid epidemic.”
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It’s not your imagination: Allergy season more severe, lasting longer
Spring often means new beginnings, but for allergy sufferers as of late, their springtime symptoms started well before the vernal equinox. Paul Mauriello, M.D., with Meritus Allergy & Asthma Specialists in Hagerstown said that, over his more than 37 years of counting pollen in Western Maryland, the spring allergy season seems to be shifting earlier. He has been finding pollen in February in recent years, he said. This year, in fact, he found a count of 23, which is considered medium level, on Feb. 12. It mostly has to do with the temperature at which different vegetation buds, Dr. Mauriello said. Different families of trees bud at different temperatures. Then come grasses. Then come other plants. And each one releases their own brand of pollen. “If we have a cold spring, and it warms up all at once, then everything will bud all at once and we’ll have pollen counts up into the thousands,” he said. “But then, it’s over in two weeks.” The past few winters and springs have not been as cold, which leads to successive waves of vegetation budding from mid-winter into early summer, which means a prolonged pollen season. “Most everybody can live through a horrible but short allergy season,” Dr. Mauriello said. “But more people are going to be bothered for longer if that season is from February through June. And if they’re sick for that long, it feels more severe.” However, it’s the end of April into the beginning of May that Dr. Mauriello says his practice sees the most patients seeking relief. “The moment to strike is now,” he said. “The pollen count is coming up, and we’re starting to see more people calling in for help.” For those coming in with new allergy symptoms, a nasal steroid is most likely the remedy. “Antihistamines are helpful, but they’re not always as effective as steroids,” he said. In extreme cases, injection treatment might be in order if the allergies are prolonged and repeated year after year. Dr. Mauriello welcomes children, adolescents and adults to reach out for an appointment if they are struggling with allergies. Do you want to know what the pollen count is? Dr. Mauriello checks the gauge daily at his office in Hagerstown. Updated counts can be found by going to www.meritushealth.com/allergies and scrolling to the bottom. Meritus Allergy & Asthma Specialists treat adults, children and adolescents for more than just seasonal allergies. To learn more about the practice or to schedule an appointment, go to the website or call 301-790-1482.
Meritus president and CEO to chair board of Maryland Physicians Care
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Board of Directors of Maryland Physicians Care, a locally managed care organization that provides insurance and health benefits to vulnerable and low-income community members, has named Meritus Health President and CEO Maulik Joshi, Dr. P.H., chair of the board. “It is an honor to be named chair of MPC, which has been helping to make receiving health care possible for many across the state of Maryland,” Joshi said. “Everyone deserves access to the health services they need. MPC allows so many of our neighbors to access health and dental care, resources and health education. The health of our communities relies on neighbors being able to afford needed care.” Maryland Physicians Care is jointly owned by Meritus Health, Ascension Saint Agnes, Holy Cross Health and UPMC Western Maryland. Its goal is to ensure that Maryland Medicaid recipients have access to quality healthcare services while also promoting preventive care and wellness initiatives. MPC has more than 240,000 members. Over the last 12 months, MPC has donated more than $2 million to its local owners’ communities. These donations have targeted social determinants of health and provider access issues within these communities. The donations include: Meritus Health in Hagerstown, Md. — $75,000 to Horizon Goodwill Inc. in part to support the health hub on North Prospect Street in downtown Hagerstown. The building, owned by Horizon Goodwill, features a Meritus primary care office, as well as a job training facility. Plans call for a grocery store, filling a crucial need in the downtown area. Also donated was $200,000 toward the creation of the Meritus Mental Health Walk-In Care center. The facility on the Meritus Medical Center campus is a partnership between the health system and Brook Lane, serving as a crucial resource for individuals aged 6 and older. The center caters to children, adolescents and adults facing mild-to-moderate mental health crises. Ascension Saint Agnes in Baltimore — $675,000 to Roberta’s House for school-based grief and emotional wellness programs; $60,000 to UEmpower of Maryland to support The Food Project; $150,000 to Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake for its Excel Center training; $40,000 to support Saint Joseph’s Monastery Parish’s community outreach; and $75,000 to Action in Maturity for an ADA compliant vehicle. Holy Cross Health – Montgomery County — $450,000 to Primary Care Coalition to complement Nexus Montgomery workforce development by providing wrap-around services to address social needs of the students. UPMC Western Maryland in Cumberland, Md. — $120,588 to Western Maryland Food Bank for food assistance and roof repairs; $25,000 to the Allegany County Department of Social Services for food assistance and holiday meals; $30,000 to the Salvation Army in Cumberland to assist with medical travel outside of the greater Cumberland area; $25,000 to the Union Rescue Mission in Cumberland for food assistance; and $50,000 to Associated Charities of Cumberland for medication assistance. “MPC is very excited to have Dr. Maulik Joshi as our new chairman of the Board of Directors,” said Jason Rottman, CEO of MPC. “Dr. Joshi brings a wealth of knowledge to this role with extensive experience in the healthcare industry. Dr. Joshi’s commitment to serving the community and, in particular, the Medicaid population, fits perfectly with the MPC’s mission. I look forward to the ideas and energy he will bring to the role.”
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