Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains will hold support group meeting in April for people recovering from traumatic brain injuries and those who have had amputations.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Support Group will meet at 6:30 p.m. April 21, 2011 at the hospital, 785 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains.

The group, for brain injury survivors and caregivers, meets the third Thursday of every month in the Harris Parlor of the Wood Pavilion, Building #7.

For information, contact Janet Goodman, at 914-597-2237.

The hospitals’s Amputee support group will hold its next meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., April 26 in the Harris Parlor of the Wood Pavilion, Building #7.

The group brings together those who have a situation in common and provides the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences.  For information, call Laura Toohig at (914) 597-2389.

Support Connection  in Yorktown has announced the recipients of its 2011 Spirit Awards. The award presentation will take place during Support Connection’s 14th Annual Gala on Saturday, April 16. The Spirit Awards are given each year to honor those who contribute to the organization’s mission by providing inspiration, time, talent and other resources.

This year’s Spirit Award recipients are:

SPIRIT OF HOPE AWARDS: Gerri Babiarz, Amawalk; Linda John, Amawalk; Carmen Marrinan, Wappinger Falls, honored for being an inspiration to so many cancer survivors. By taking their own experiences and translating it into an opportunity to reach out to others and raise awareness, they give people the tools to find their inner strength.

MARIA RUBINO JENNINGS SPIRIT OF CARING AWARD: Mike and Susan Dardano, Tuckahoe, honored for embodying Maria’s spirit of kindness and caring. By participating in our events and informing people about our services, Mike and Susan’s generosity has helped us touch many lives.

SPIRIT OF PHILANTHROPY: Co- Communications, Mount Kisco; The GYM, Armonk, honored for their dedication, support and commitment to us and the community. By promoting our Walk and holding events on our behalf, their generosity has translated into raising awareness as well as funds to support our programs and services.

SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY AWARD: Vinny Gavigan, Gavigan Graphic Designs, Yorktown Heights, honored for his creativity in helping us reach out to the community and helping us promote our events. Due to his talents and efforts, we have gained new ways to reach people in need of support.

SPIRIT OF GIVING AWARD: Tiffany’s All At Once Foundation, Dobbs Ferry, Honored for their power of love and caring. Founded in memory of their daughter Tiffany, this foundation makes a difference in the day-to-day lives of other families dealing with cancer.

HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR: Mark Franzoso, Franzoso Contracting, Croton-on-Hudson, honored for his continuous support of our programs throughout the years. Mark possesses the attributes of a person who cares about making the world and his community a better place.

Free flu shots are available for Rockland residents over the age of 9 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday in February. The immunizations are available from the Rockland Department of Health in Building D at the Dr. Robert L. Yeager Health Complex at 50 Sanatorium Road in Ramapo.

Flu season typically peaks in January or February and can last as late as April or May.

For additional information call 845-364-2997.

Dr. Robert M. Hecht of New City has been named director of Women’s Health and director of Gynecologic Ambulatory Surgery at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center.

He has also been appointed Assistant Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. As director of women’s health, Hecht will be overseeing a clinic and network of outpatient facilities that provide over 70,000 visits per year to women in the Bronx.

As director of gynecologic ambulatory surgery, he will be overseeing the ambulatory surgery center within the hospital. He will also be teaching residents, midwives and nurses from Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center and medical students from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Hecht previously served as director of obstetrics and gynecology at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

The Rockland Department of Health is offering a free flu vaccine clinic for any resident over the age of 9 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14.

A second free clinic will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 28. Both clinics will be held in the Building A Exhibition Hall at the Robert L. Yeager Health Center at 50 Sanatorium Road in Ramapo.

This year’s flu vaccine protects against three different flu viruses that are likely to cause illness this season: an H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus and the H1N1 virus. No appointment is necessary. For additional information call 845-364-2997.

Putnam County Department of Health is holding a free public seasonal flu vaccine clinic from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on December 9 at 1 Geneva Road in Brewster.

The vaccines are free and available to anyone older than six months old who lives or works in the state. Children under 18 must come with a parent or guardian.

This year, the CDC is encouraging everyone six months and older to get vaccinated for influenza.

To more through the line quicker, you may download the required vaccine consent form available at www.putnamcountyny.com.

Additional seasonal flu clinics may be scheduled in the future. Check the Putnam County Department of Health Flu Vaccine Hotline at 845-808-1390 for more information.

Phelps Memorial Hospital Center is pleased to announce the addition of the Look Good, Feel Better program to the menu of programs in its Healthy Life series. The first session will be held Monday, December 6, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Walkway Conference Room at the hospital, 701 North Broadway in Sleepy Hollow.

The program, presented by cosmetologist Sheri Silver, is for women who are going through treatment for all kinds of ca ncer. Look Good, Feel Better teaches beauty techniques to cancer patients to help them manage the appearance-related side effects of their treatment. Makeup kits donated by cosmetic companies are given to each participant to take home.

Carol Greiner, LMSW, the Look Good, Feel Better coordinator at Phelps, says, “This is a wonderful program for patients to help them feel better about their appearance while they are going through the physical trials of cancer treatment.”
The sessions will be held once a month, generally on the first Monday of the month, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Walkway Conference Room. The program is free but advance reservations are required and may be made by calling 1-800-227-2345.

Look Good, Feel Better is a free, non-medical, product-neutral program offered in partnership with the America Cancer Society, The National Cosmetology Association, and the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA) Foundation. More information about the prog ram can be obtained online at www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org.

Information about Phelps Memorial Hospital Center and the Healthy Life Series is available at www.phelpshospital.org.

State Medicaid inspector general James Sheehan yesterday gave Westchester County more than $61,000 from money recovered through the Medicaid Antifraud Demonstration Program.

The money is part of $3.4 million the state agency recovered after an audit of more than 40 health-care providers in Westchester County. It is the first of several payments the county will recieve, after upstart costs and the federal government are repaid, Sheehan said.

In 2006, the state and New York State Association of Counties launched the auditing program to weed out waste and abuse of Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Open Door Family Medical Center and Hudson River HealthCare will lose money that pays for testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and childhood vaccinations in the county executive’s proposed budget.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s 2011 budget cuts about $1.9 million from the three community health centers and closes four of the county’s mental health clinics.

“It’s so intolerable I can’t even think about it. We just have to fight this like crazy,” said Lindsay Farrell, chief executive officer of Open Door Family Medical Centers, serves about 40,000 patients in Ossining, Port Chester, Sleepy Hollow and Mount Kisco. HTe majority of the patients have incomes under $44,000 for a family of four.

Farrell said the money helps the community health centers vaccinate for diseases like tuberculosis, influenza and measles. Since the beginning of the recession, Open Door has seen a 20 percent uptick in the number of patients, especially the uninsured, seeking primary care at the centers.

“I’m horrified. I think its unbelievably short-sighted and misguided,” she said. “We all interact in society. We have tuberculosis in our communities and we have AIDS in our communities.”

In a release to the press, Astorino said the previous administration tried to make the same cuts only to have them restored by the county Board of Legislators. Astorino also noted that the community health centers got money through the federal health reform law.

“But those were one-time funds we received last year and earlier this year,” Farrell said.

A $22,000 grant from the Westchester Community Foundation will help expand a caregiver coaching program to train more family caregivers in Westchester County.

The Liveable Communities Caregiver Coaching Program is a private/public partnership administered by the county’s Department of Senior Programs and Services. It is part of the larger Liveable Communities initiative, which helps residents stay in their homes as they age.

The grant will allow the program to hire a part-time Spanish-speaking person who has a master’s degree in social work.

The coaching program professionally trains volunteers who give family caregivers one-on-one support so that they can better care for an older or disabled person. Their role is to set priorities and make more informed decisions to handle their responsibilities.

There are an about 33,000 family caregivers in Westchester, according to the state’s Office of the Aging. For more information about the Caregiver Coaching program, call 914-813-6441 or e-mail cap2@westchestergov.com.