Tag: Johns Hopkins

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News

WB Grant Enables IVF Treatment for Women with Severe Fertility Challenges 

Thanks to a grant from the Women’s Board, the first successful egg retrieval for In Vitro Fertilization has been completed at the east Baltimore Johns Hopkins Hospital!  

The Johns Hopkins Fertility Center routinely provides services at Greenspring Station where the embryology laboratory is located.  For some women, however,  complex medical conditions, require advanced hospital-based anesthesia care  for the small surgical procedure needed to remove eggs from the ovaries.  Prior to receiving the Women’s Board grant, the Fertility Center was not able to perform egg retrievals at the main Johns Hopkins hospital due to lack of specialized equipment needed for egg retrieval and transport to the laboratory at Greenspring Station.

Eggs retrieved from the ovaries are highly precious and extremely fragile. They must remain at exactly 37 degrees Celsius. Any shifts in temperature can destroy their viability.  To perform hospital-based egg retrievals requires an incubator with a microscope in the operating room to identify and isolate the eggs, a warmer to maintain temperature, a transport incubator to safely transfer the oocytes to the embryology lab, and a specialized ultrasound to safely perform the procedure.

Now, thanks to Women’s Board funds for purchase of this equipment, the Center has successfully begun its hospital-based egg retrieval IVF program.  There is a waiting list of patients for this service that includes women with special anesthesia requirements because of heart defects, sickle cell disease, and a history of organ transplants.  While many of them cannot carry a pregnancy themselves, they can safely undergo the small surgical procedure for removal of eggs from their ovaries under the guidance of Johns Hopkins multidisciplinary teams.  Then their dreams of having a biological child will become a reality with the help of a gestational carrier. 

Funds from the Women’s Board provided the incubator and scope, ultrasound, and mobile isolette that made this program a reality.  The Fertility Center is grateful to the Board for the generosity that made this possible.

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Carry On Shop Events News

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Hosts Event at Carry On Shop

The Carry On Shop hosted an after-hours event for  the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation on Oct 24.  It was a time to eat, drink, mix and mingle, and comb the treasures of the shop. The event introduced the Carry On Shop and the Women’s Board to members of the Johns Hopkins community who may not be aware of all the Shop  and the Board  do to help support patient care at Johns Hopkins.

If interested in having an event such as this, please email The Carry On Shop at [email protected] and someone from the committee will be back in contact with you.

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Carry On Shop Logo Merchandise News

In midsummer, members are working to further our mission!

Several who are involved with the Carry On Shop sponsored a stand selling Johns Hopkins logo wear as well as cups, lanyards, and refillable bottles at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Farmers’ Market. Guests to the stand eagerly took recently printed flyers for the new WB online logo wear shop.  All had such a good time, they’ve recruited other WB members to join them on August 24, and September 28, when the COS group returns to the Market.

The Market is held every Thursday from 10 am until 2 pm on the walkway between the Outpatient Center and the Cancer Research Buildings.  The beverages, food, plants, produce, and products available are awesome and delicious!  Most important, the Market educates and encourages health, recycling and sustainability, the very same goals the Women’s Board has had since 1927!

Thanks to Bert Ficke, Pam Hindsley, Joan Quinn, and of course, John Sizemore, Carry On Shop manager.  See photo below.

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Grants Awarded

Funding to Burn Unit

Ultraviolet Light (UVL) has been shown to kill dangerous bacteria which frequently cause infections in burn unit patients including Staphylococcus aureus (staph), Pseudomonas, and Clostridium difficile spores. In 2017, the Women’s Board purchased one of these UVLs for The Johns Hopkins Burn Center at Bayview, the only adult burn center in Maryland verified by the American Burn Association, to be used for the potential improvement of infection rates in burn patients.

This six-foot tall robotic-looking device can reduce bacteria in patients’ rooms in merely five minutes. (View video.) While patients are out of their rooms daily cleaning with the UVL device easily and quickly helps prevent medically significant illness. With 20 patient beds at full capacity in the Burn Unit, this keeps our robotic friend busy!

The UVL bought by The Women’s Board for the Burn Center is one of several modalities used to decrease infection rates in burn patients. Its use correlated with a huge reduction in blood infection rates of patients, which was their biggest problem. Healing and grafted skin infections are also a concern for burn patients. Reducing infection rates with UVL can lead to faster healing, faster skin grafting, faster discharge to rehabilitation, and consequently decreased costs.

The immense success of the UVL device in the Burn Center started a trend at Bayview to purchase more of these lights for other areas of the hospital where infections can also be problematic, such as the Intensive Care Units and inpatient floors. When patients have less infections, they require less antibiotics, and healing and discharge from the hospital can occur faster. One UVL purchase by The Women’s Board led to a revelation in patient care that has multiplied its beneficial effect throughout Bayview hospital.  

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Carry On Shop

Cocktails for a Cause

The May issue of Guilford Stroll features Cocktails for a Cause, an event to
encourage donations for the Carry On Shop. The COS team hosted Guilford neighbors in March for a night out, showcasing the shop and the impact high-quality donations has on its success. The beautiful photography of the article includes many smiling faces familiar to the Women’s Board. The Everhart Veterinary Medicine ambulance, on hand to collect contributions, was background for several fun pictures as it was filled with contributions. Thanks were given to sponsors Everhart Veterinary Medicine, JTC Jewelry Design and Maryland Eye and Face.

Cocktails for a Cause draws on the important theme of Resale for a Cause,
highlighting the importance of community support and donations to the Women’s Board fund raising efforts on behalf of Johns Hopkins. The Carry On Team and the Women’s Board are grateful to Stroll Guilford for the continuing coverage. This includes complimentary ads and now six articles!

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Carry On Shop Renewal

WYPR and Sustainable Fashion

On WYPR, Midday with Tom Hall, Joan Quinn and Susan Posner did a fantastic job of promoting sustainable fashion and the Carry On Shop and Renewal Upscale Resale.   Click here to listen what they had to say, and hear the words of a woman who called in.  A dedicated “thrifter” who praised hospital resale shops as being the best for great finds, excellent prices, and clean, welcoming environments.  When Tom asked Joan and Susan what they wished for the shops — a steady stream of generous donors and new and returning shoppers!

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Events

Dreams of the Golf Classic Team 2023

Monday, May 8 dawns a gorgeous day with blue skies and perfect temperature for golf.  The full complement of 100 golfers are ready for a great round of play on the beautiful course of the Greenspring Valley Hunt Club.  Women’s Board volunteers are in place, greeting and organizing. The continually growing 50-50 raffle kitty is approaching $12,000.  The golfers must feel a bit unlucky because they are buying as many mulligans as possible.  Those feeling lucky are looking forward to winning the silent auction golf get away! This adds up to a successful day to add to the over $2 million the Golf Classic has contributed to Johns Hopkins through the years!