Are you tired all the time?  Does snoring keep you awake all night?  Do you ever wake up gasping for breath?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 40 million Americans suffer from some type of sleep disorder. 

Diagnosing and treating sleep disorders can reduce your risk for health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression.

The Sleep Center at Blake Medical Center has a credentialed staff and an established facility to diagnose and treat your chronic sleep disorder including some of the most common disorders:

• Sleep apnea: an interrupted breathing pattern during sleep. It can occur as many as several hundred times per night, causing a lack of oxygen and resulting in poor quality sleep.
• Narcolepsy: frequent attacks of drowsiness and sleep throughout the day. These “sleeping spells” are uncontrollable.
• ·         Nocturnal Myoclonus: characterized by fragmented sleep, patients usually experience spastic leg movements during sleep.
• Insomnia: difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep. The reasons for insomnia are varied including psychological factors, such as stress or depression; environmental factors such as noise; or physiological factors which could include difficulty in breathing or physical pain.
• Parasomnias: this disorder can masquerade as bedwetting, night terrors, sleepwalking and sleep talking because it occurs at random times during the night.

“Sleep disorders are grossly underdiagnosed,” said Laura Lenzen, MBA, director of respiratory therapy and the Sleep Center at Blake Medical Center. “If you are tired all the time, wake up gasping for breath, snore heavily, or have a family history of sleep disorders, talk to your physician about being tested for a sleep disorder.”

The Sleep Center conducts overnight sleep studies—or daytime studies for third-shift workers. Patients will sleep in one of four bedrooms with amenities like private baths while blood pressure, brain activity, eye movements, heart rate, and other data are recorded.

American Academy of sleep medicine board-certified sleep specialists and registered polysomnographers conduct and analyze each test. A diagnosis of sleep apnea may require additional testing to ensure proper functioning of the most effective treatment: sleeping with a continuous positive airway pressure machine.

So don’t let sleep disorders keep you awake!   For a physician referral or to learn more, call 1-877-4-HCA-DOCS or visit our website at www.blakemedicalcenter.com.

Many people who live with chronic pain in their hips and knees endure the discomfort longer than necessary.  They often consider having joint replacement surgery as a last resort and worry about the lengthy recovery process.

The Joint Care Center at Blake Medical Center offers comprehensive care with world-class physicians and the latest treatment technology and rehabilitation options, to improve outcomes of orthopedic patients.

Available procedures include:

• Knee Replacement
• Partial Knee Replacement
• Shoulder Replacement
• Reverse Shoulder Replacement
• Hip Replacement
• Hip Resurfacing

All of this is offered in a beautiful, hotel-like setting designed is provide comfort and healing while improving the patient’s quality of life.  The post-operative private suites are specially designed to meet the needs of patients and their families.

Amenities include:

• On-site dedicated lounge for patients and families
• Concierge Service
• Java Joint – Gourmet coffees
• Hot breakfasts, soups, fresh baked cookies, fresh popcorn
• Computer access in our cybercafé
• Flat screen TVs
• Sleeper sofas or recliners for family members

Blake Medical Center is also offering several free hip and knee pain seminars, including the two listed below, to help you find your latest options for help with your aching hips and knees.  We’ll also review the most commonly recommended medications, therapies, exercises and surgeries.

When:  Tuesday, January 5, 4:30-5:30 p.m.Where:
Healthcare America Walk-In Clinic
6110 SR 70 East, Bradenton

When: Wednesday, January 6, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Where: AMF Bradenton Lanes
4208 Cortez Road West, Bradenton
To pre-register for the seminars, call 1-888-359-3552.  Or for more information about the Joint Care Center, visit Blake Medical Center’s website at www.blakemedicalcenter.com.

When you have to make an unexpected trip to the emergency room, you want to be treated right away so waiting to see a physician can be stressful.  And the dangers of your condition could worsen the longer it takes you to get treated. 

For heart attack and stroke patients, a few minutes of delay in treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

Did you know the national average wait time in the emergency room is an hour?  At Blake Medical Center we know every minute matters to you.  We are continually striving to beat the national average, and we’ve taken the guess work out of the time it takes to be seen by a physician with innovative technologies.

When a patient arrives at the ER, a system records the amount of time it takes for him or her to see a qualified medical practitioner.  Wait times are then updated electronically approximately every 30 minutes, using an average of the previous four hours.

And you don’t have to wait until you’re sitting in the ER to know how long the wait will be.  Patients can access the current wait times through a number of technologies.  Here’s how!

• Blake Medical Center website 

Current ER wait times are always posted on our hospital website at www.blakemedicalcenter.com

• Texting

From your cell phone the ER wait time is right at your fingertips by texting ER to 23000. 

For more information about any of the information provided, call (941) 782-7585.

Heart disease is leading cause of death in the United States, and this year alone 500,000 American women will die from cardiovascular disease.

At Blake Medical Center’s Heart Institute, we have award-winning programs and advanced technology to increase a patient’s chance of surviving a heart attack with fewer complications.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is interrupted. This deprives the heart muscle of oxygen, causing tissue damage or tissue death.  A STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) is a deadly type of heart attack.

Time is critical to saving a STEMI patient’s life.  The American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Joint Commission have determined that a patient’s blood flow should be reestablished in 90 minutes or less from the time he or she arrives in the hospital’s emergency room.  Blake is proud to meet and very often beat that goal.

Blake is also home to the West Florida Mitral Valve Repair Center, where our highly-skilled cardiac team is able to give patients a better quality of life by often repairing rather than replacing the mitral valve.

“Here at Blake we have repair rates that are way above the national average,” said cardiothoracic surgeon and Mitral Valve Specialist Dr. Alessandro Golino.  “Currently we have a 96 percent repair rate.”

If the surgery is performed quickly enough, the patient can be returned to a normal life expectancy often without the need for anti-coagulation medication (blood thinners) or additional surgeries.

We also provide a cardiac rehabilitation and exercise program to help return patients to a healthy lifestyle after a heart attack through continued monitoring, exercise and  risk-factor modification

Blake has also received the following awards and recognitions for cardiac care:

• 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospital by Thomson Reuters
• Accredited Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) by the Society of Chest Pain Centers
• Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) Designation from the Joint Commission

• Blue Distinction for Cardiac Care by Blue Cross Blue Shield

For more information about the Heart Institute, visit our website at www.blakemedicalcenter.com or call 1-877-4-HCA-DOCS (1-877-442-2362).

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