Parish nurse program to host ‘Dinner with the Doctor'

WARWICK — The Parish Nurse Program at St. Stephen Parish, in collaboration with St. Anthony Community Hospital, will offer an educational lecture as part of its “Dinner with the Doctor” series. The program will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, in Monsignor O’Connor Hall at St. Stephen’s-St. Edward’s School on Sanfordville Road in Warwick. The guest speaker will be Dr. Petr Bezdicek, who will answer questions about influenza, avian flu, and pneumonia. Bezdicek is board certified in pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine and internal medicine. He received his pulmonary and critical care training at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and is currently in private practice in Goshen. The nursing programs at St. Stephen’s Parish include a blood pressure clinic for parishioners from 9 a.m. to noon every Sunday, a prayer shawl ministry for those who are ill or hospitalized, and “Food for the Soul” and “Dinner with the Doctor” presentations by inspirational speakers. Donna Kearns, R.N., and Maureen McDermott, R.N., both nurses at St. Anthony Community Hospital, serve as coordinators of the program. “The idea of ‘Dinner with the Doctor,” said Kearns, “is to answer the questions you leave the doctor’s office with. So many people are struggling to provide care to their loved one, their family, or maybe themselves, and possibly doing it alone. It is the commitment of the Parish Nurse Program to offer support in any form possible.” Call 987-5500.