Health Care and Wellness

Clinic on wheels brings better hearing to rural areas

Amie Heasley Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Hearing Bus is a state-of-the art mobile clinic that's traveling Southwest Michigan. Amie Heasly talks to Dr. Gyl Kasewurm about why the bus has been put on the road.

Neighborhoods pour energy into marathon excitement zones

Amie Heasley Thursday, March 28, 2013

As marathoners race through the neighbohoods the neighbors cheer them on. And by cheer we mean playing music and waving colorful signs to wearing costumes and handing out bacon products. Amie Heasly reports on what it means to be in an "Excitement Zone."

Talking beds help caregivers talk the talk and walk the walk

Amie Heasley Thursday, September 20, 2012

Imagine a bed that talks and soothes with music and other restful sounds. Well, they did at Stryker and now 30 of the talking beds are in use at Borgess Medical Center. Amie Heasley has the story.

PharmOptima explores new directions, keeps growing

Kathy Jennings Thursday, September 20, 2012

Great places to work and play are what makes communities places where people want to live. In Portage, they have both in abundance. Kathy Jennings offers a look at an employer that's keeping the community vital: PharmOptima.

Doctor, serial entrepreneur, finds better ways to help patients

Howard Lovy Thursday, May 03, 2012

If you can envision a solution where others see a problem, you might have the makings of an innovator. So far, that's how it's worked for Dr. Tim Fischell, one of a family of doctors who make devices that help patients live longer. Howard Lovy reports.

Kalamazoo gets up off the couch and gets moving

Amie Heasley Thursday, March 22, 2012

"Running a marathon," Blain Lam says with a laugh, "I personally wouldn’t recommend it." The joke is that the comment comes from a man who has run five in his lifetime and is organizing Kalamazoo’s second marathon. Perhaps only those who have braved the rigorous physical and mental challenges of a marathon could truly appreciate a comment like Lam’s and appreciate how deeply he truly cares about a healthier Kalamazoo.

A push to influence WMU med school curriculum

Jane C. Parikh Thursday, February 02, 2012

Western Michigan University is developing the curriculum for the medical school scheduled to be open to students in 2014. Ideas on what its curriculum should look like are perculating up. Dr. Janice Werbinski talks to Jane Parikh about what she sees as a real opportunity for the university to be ahead of its peers.

Taking more than time to heal all wounds

Amie Heasley Thursday, January 26, 2012

As diabetes, and the associated chronic wounds, become an increasingly serious problem for the nation, doctors are seeking out new therapies. That's where the Borgess Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center comes in. Amie Heasley talks to those helping patients with the latest in wound care for those patients and others with wounds that don't heal.

Education reformer challenges community to save its children

Kathy Jennings Thursday, August 25, 2011

Geoffrey Canada has a theory: If you want poor kids to be able to compete with their middle-class peers, you need to change their schools, neighborhoods, even the child-rearing practices of their parents. Second Wave editor Kathy Jennings shares the evidence suggesting nothing short of the nation's future may depend on it.

Learning and growing go together in urban garden

Kathy Jennings Thursday, August 18, 2011

It doesn't take long for a youngster to find the joy in growing something he or she can eat. At the Fair Food Matters Garden on Westnedge programs are tailored to teach them what they need to know.