Have you really planned for everything?
❑
ESTATE PLANNING
❑
PREPARING A WILL
❑
HEALTH CARE DECISIONS
❑
FINAL NEEDS
❑
FUNERAL PRE-PLANNING
If you haven
’
t, attend a
FREE SEMINAR
Everyone attending will receive aFREE Planning Guide
Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 2:00pm
Seating is Limited • Registration Required
128 REVERE ST., REVERE, MA
781-284-3376 781-284-2042
All Care VNA & Hospice
Serving your community for over 97 years. Call us for all of your home care and hospice needs. For more information on All CareHospice and our award-winning home care services please call:
781-598-7066 or 800-287-2454
Dear Dr. Hays:
Is Hospice only for patients who are close to death or actively dying?
Unfortunately, the widely held per-ception is just that—that patientsneed to be close to death to beconsidered for hospice. Current-ly, the average length of stay onhospice is only 14 to 20 days. Thereality is that patients become eli-gible to access hospice care if, likely,they have less than six months to live.When earlier and more appropriatereferrals are made to our hospice,most of the work that we do with pa-tients and families is not focused onhelping our patients die but ratherhelping them live out their lives asbest they can, keeping them comfort-able and maximizing their functionfor as long as possible. The more timethe hospice team has to work withpatients and families, the more ef-fective we are at meeting their needs.Patients and families usually thrivewith the team approach that hospiceprovides—the medical care as wellas the psychosocial and spiritual carethat hospices can provide. Ideally, fora hospice to provide it’s best care, weneed to care for our patients for at least30 to 60 days.
Dear Dr. Hays:
Is there an age requirementfor Hospice services? I thoughtHospice care is only for older people.
Although the majority of hospicepatients are older, hospices serve pa-tients of all ages. Age plays no role indetermining who is eligible to receivehospice care Anyone with a terminal
illness qualifies to receive hospice
services. However, to be admittedto a hospice program, two physi-cians, the attending physician and thehospice medical director, must certifythe patient is terminally ill, with asix-month or less life expectancy if the disease takes its normal course. Inelecting hospice care, the patient andfamily must be aware of the progno-sis and elect palliative care (pain andsymptom management) rather thanactive curative measures.
Lewis Hays, M.D., M.P.H
.
All Care Hospice Medical Director
Lewis Hays, M.D., M.P.H., is the Medical Director of All CareHospice. He welcomes the opportunity to answer anyquestions you may have about hospice care. Email your questions to Dr. Hays at: drhays@allcarehospice.org.
*Marital Counseling *Divorce*Alcohol & Chemical Dependency *Stress *Weight Loss*Depression, Anxiety Disorders*Personality Disorders*Children with ADD, AD/HD*Eating Disorders
136 Boston St. • Lynngate Plaza, Lynn
781-595-6710
SAS SALE
With over 160 sizes available,
We can fit you - instant comfort!
We have your size and width
$
15
00O
FF
With this ad
Men’s &
Women’s
Cannot be combined withanyothersale oroffer.Sale from4/11/09 to 4/26/09
If you are in need of assisted living but afraid of the costs,Prospect House wants to help you!
Sign a lease before April 30
th
2009,and receive half off the activity fee,and free cable for one whole year!!
Contact Angela Warren for more details at 781.853.0005 or awarren@hallkeen.comProspect House is an affordable housing community
Prospect House Assisted Living420 Reservoir Ave., Revere • 781-853-0005
GOOD OIL CHEAP
$
1
.67
PERGALLON
Pricesubjecttochangewithoutnotice
100 Gallon Minimum • C.O.D.Full Service
P
ERLEY
B
URRILL
O
IL
,I
NC
.
781-593-9292
MIKAMAREQUIPMENT CORP.
Lawnmower &Outdoor Power EquipmentService & RepairsVisa & Mastercard Accepted
Phone:
617-549-1787
Boulevard project receivesa shaky response
A 55-unit, 14-story building projectat the site of the Castle-Mar Lodge onRevere Beach Boulevard got a shakyresponse from city officials Mondaynight, and was recently rejected by thePlanning Board.Attorney Larry Simeone is repre-senting the owners, who would liketo have three stories of parking and11 stories of residential units with aclubhouse on the top floor.The project would be next to asimilar project already approved forthe Shipwreck Lounge site. The proj-ect would not be built by the owners,but would be for sale to a developer.Chief among the detractors for theproject is City Planner Frank Stringiwho dislikes the project because itis very dense and because the sewersystem in the area cannot handle it,he said.“Don’t set precedent on floor arearatios for some pie in the sky develop-ment that won’t be built and is onlyfor putting more value in the owner’spocket,” he said.The owners are requesting a floorarea ratio, which has to do with densi-ty, of 5.47 - the highest ever proposedfor the beach. Currently, there are nodevelopments on the beach with aratio higher than 3, which is the limitallowed by zoning.Also, the sewer system in the areais at issue.DPW Superintendent Don Goodwinsaid that the system is taxed to themax as it is, and it would cost manymillions to upgrade it - so much sothat it would basically be impossible.The line runs from the Beach toEliot Road and to the new PoliceStation.“We have [overflows] all overBeachmont and we have them onEliot Road, sometimes where it goestwo or three feet off the ground andwe have toilet paper in the streets,”he said. “We’ve had to go down therewith front-end loaders and trucks toremove debris from the street. Thepeople shouldn’t have to live like that.We already have a system that can’thandle what we have now.”On the other side of the coin, theold motel site has been vacant forseveral years and, while operating,was a constant source of trouble. Aredevelopment of the property wouldbe an improvement to the currentconditions.
Hearing on contraceptionset for April 16
The School Committee will holda hearing on Thursday, April 16, attheir regularly scheduled meeting todiscuss the newly approved FamilyDistribution Contraception Policy.Superintendent Paul Dakin saidthat the Committee and MGH staff would be there to answer questionsand hear concerns from parents andthe general public.Last month, the Committeeapproved a measure that would allowstudents signed up for the School-based health center to get contra-ception services, including condoms,birth control and the morning afterpill.
Teachers Union
The Revere Teacher’s Association(RTA) voted this week to make somechanges to the way that they’re paid,changes that will save the city quitea bit of money if all unions approvethe idea.According to a source, the RTAvoted to be paid bi-weekly and to haveeveryone on direct deposit payments.A third point, which was makingconcessions on health insurance co-pays, was not approved.“I think this vote sends a clear mes-sage that the Teachers Union’s iswilling to share the burden in less-ening the city’s financial shortfall,”said Susan Lanza, president of theRTA.Several months ago, Mayor TomAmbrosino asked all of the city’sunions to discuss changing their pay-ment methods and increasing theirhealth insurance co-pays.
Council and pensions
City Councillors briefly took upthe controversial pension matterMonday night in response to a Globearticle that appeared over a weekago and accused several Revere CityCouncillors of “feathering their nest”with pension loopholes.Council President Dan Rizzo putin a motion Monday night that wouldlook to eliminate the long-standing,but recently controversial, one-day,one-year provision in the state pensionsystem. That provision allows work-ers to get credit for one year of serviceif they work just one day in the year.Other councillors had also put inmotions, including some dealing withCouncil longevity and another dealingwith expense payments.Councillors agreed to put off thediscussion for later this month, butdid breach the subject Monday - inwhat started out okay, but turned intoa lovefest and then a rant on “outsid-ers.”“Certainly this one day rule, anyregular person could say that’s not afair rule to have,” said Rizzo. “That’s arule put forth by state legislation...Forour retirees, though, on the Councilto be put on the carpet for longevity, just because we are elected officials,wasn’t fair.”Councillor Arthur Guinasso alsospoke on the matter, saying he wasunfairly singled out.“Every single comment made itseem like we were doing somethingwrong,” he said.Then, the lovefest began to trans-form into allegations that CouncillorGeorge Rotondo had somehow engi-neered the story. Several accusa-tions were made to that extent, withRotondo not being there to defendhimself, as he was in Florida dealingwith a family emergency.“There’s a Judas among us whodoesn’t care about the reputation of Revere,” said Superintendent DonGoodwin, in very animated fashion.“It’s just about me...This is a hit piecefor a guy who has a personal agendaand doesn’t care about the city, butonly himself...He’s not a Revere guy.He’s an outsider. He doesn’t knowwhat it is to be a Revere guy and henever will because he’s an outsider.”Rotondo, for the record, said thathe had nothing to do with the articlewhatsoever.“For the record I had no involve-ment nor knew of the article until thefollowing Monday after it cameout,” he said via e-mail. “For the pastseveral weeks I have been dealingwith a family health crisis and franklyI had no clue about it. The simple factis, I had no involvement, but agreethat changes need to be made.”
Reardon’s
Several people have mentionedthat a potential restaurant proposalmight be in the works for the formerReardon’s Pub on Beach Street.The pub was shut down more thana year ago, and has sat vacant everysince.In the last few weeks, it appearsthat a manager from Abe & Louie’sRestaurant in Boston has an idea tostrike out on his own and open a fam-ily-style restaurant on the Reardon’ssite.Nothing is certain as of yet,though.
Overlook Ridge withdraws
Overlook Ridge withdrew theirzoning overlay district proposalMonday night, saying they just didn’thave enough time to address all of theconcerns before the deadline ran outfor their petition.“I’d just like to let the time runout so we can come back with a newapplication that addresses all of theissues brought up,” said Joe Shea, of Roseland.Councillors voted to approve thewithdrawal, but still weren’t veryreceptive to any plan that increasesthe number of housing units.“They can withdraw and comeback, but I still won’t vote for anyproposal that calls for 300 moreapartments up there,” said CouncilPresident Dan Rizzo.
Street sweeping
The Street Sweeping programbegan last Wednesday with the usualOperation Clean Sweep.The program will continue throughNovember.Ward 1 Councillor Jim Kimmerlewould like to remind all residents of the City of Revere that with the startof the street sweeping program if itis possible for the residents to assistthe DPW by sweeping their sidewalksinto the curb and doing their part inkeeping the City clean.
Garfield needs help
The Garfield Middle School needsyour help. This past fall, RecycleBankgave schools the opportunity to applyfor an environmentally friendly grant.We at the Garfield Middle Schoolapplied and our grant was approved.As of now, we have been only par-tially funded.The original proposal was for$5,000 (50,000 points), which willbe used to purchase a WeatherBugweather station for GMS.We have already earned 25,000points, but are only half way there.So, we reapplied to earn the addi-tional 25,000 points ($2,500.00) andthis application was also approvedby RecyleBank. We are asking that,if you participate in the RecyleBankprogram, please consider donatingsome of your points to our project. Wehave until April 14 to earn the pointswe need for complete funding.The process is easy. Go to www.recyclebank.com and sign into youraccount. Then “Redeem Rewards,”then “Donations” there you can scrolldown to the Garfield Middle Schooland donate.We appreciate your support.If you have any questions, pleasecontact Stacey Livote at 781-485-2751 or slivote@revere.mec.edu
Canoe on Belle Isle
The Department of Conservationand Recreation (DCR) is sponsoringa Belle Isle Reedbed Exploration byCanoe on Saturday, April 11th 9 a.m.to 11 a.m. They will be installingswallow boxes in areas normally inac-cessible at this time.Pre-registration required. PhoneGeoff Wood at 617-727-5350
Overdue book amnesty
The Revere Public Library is offer-ing its patrons a period of amnestythe weeks of April 6 through April18. During this time, anyone withoverdue library materials may returnthem to the library without penalty.No fines will be charged during thisperiod, provided that the library booksand materials are returned in goodcondition.The primary goals of the amnes-ty period are to encourage librarypatrons to return their materials and tovisit the library.Those wishing to take advantageof the program can also use the con-venient drop box located near theChildren’s Library entrance.The Revere Public Library wouldlike to encourage everyone to visittheir library as we celebrate NationalLibrary Week April 12-16.For a schedule of events, pleasevisit www.reverepubliclibrary.org/ orcall the library at 781-286-8380.
Leave a Comment