Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Willie D. Bracken, 79, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, May 28, 2021 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born April 11, 1942 in Gaffney, SC and has been a resident of Lake Wales since 1959, coming from Chattanooga, TN. She was a homemaker and enjoyed crocheting and cooking. She loved spending time with her family and babysitting. Survivors include her husband of 63 years, James F. Bracken; daughters, Tammi Vaczi of Lake Wales, Terri Pruitt (Bernard) of Lake Wales and Tina...
Donald Peter Ahern, 77, of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, May 11, 2021 in the care of Vitas Hospice at AdventHealth Lake Wales. He was born June 9, 1943 in Cambridge, MA to the late Donald and Mary Ahern; he moved to Lake Wales from Lakeland 21 years ago. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force. Donald is survived by his wife of eight years, Kandi Ahern; daughters, Nicole Brimm (Cynthia Brimm) of Cape Coral, and Amanda Birdyshaw (Gregory Cross) of Jasper, Alabama; grandchildren, Callee Cross, Bella Brimm, Bly Brimm,...
About 300 people are hospitalized May 20 across AdventHealth's Central Florida hospitals, part of a recent "continual decline," said Dr. Steven R. Smith, chief scientific officer, on AdventHealth Morning Briefing. "Vaccinations are getting in arms and that's protecting us all from COVID-19," Smith said on national Clinical Trials Day, a fitting tribute to the doctors and volunteer patients who participated in trials at AdventHealth that helped bring the vaccines to market....
Richard Clarence Wertel, 61, of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. He was born June 2, 1959 in Hopewell, VA; and he was a cross country runner in his younger years. He and his wife recently moved here from Lanexa, VA looking forward to his retirement from Anheuser-Busch. He loved to hunt, drink beer and listen to hard rock music. He was good at repairing things and was a gun enthusiast. He will be remembered as a true family man, A-1 trouble shooter and wonderful friend. Survivors include...
Offering one of the most picturesque race routes in the country, the Carillon Classic 5K presented by AdventHealth returns to Bok Tower Gardens, Saturday, May 1 at 7:30 a.m. Registration for the event began Friday, March 12, and is available at www.boktowergardens.org. The cost is $30 per participant and includes an event t-shirt, event momento, and post-race refreshments (price increases to $35 week of race). Prizes will be awarded for the top three runners in each age...
Seat 2 on the Lake Wales City Commission will have a new occupant after the April 6 municipal election – either Ricardo Navarro or Daniel Williams. Incumbent Commissioner Curtis Gibson is not seeking re-election, but is instead considering a run for Lake Wales mayor in 2022. Navarro, 33, is an internal medicine physician, owner and president of Navarro Medical. He also is a consulting physician for Vitas Healthcare and medical director for the hospitalist medicine program a...
Editor's Note: Check out questionnaires submitted by the four candidates in our People section. Videos of a candidate forum can be viewed at The https://www.facebook.com/247504432355875/videos/3578357928879748 or on You Tube at https://youtu.be/CU5pQcxhnLw Four candidates have qualified to run for two Lake Wales City Commission seats in the April 16 municipal election. Dr. Ricardo Navarro and pastor Daniel Williams are seeking election to Seat 2, which is being vacated by...
Donna Lois Richards, 76, of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born January 5, 1945 in Altoona, PA to the late David and Grace Richards; she came here from Miami in 1992. She was a retired roofing contractor, but also worked as a secretary and office manager and was of the Lutheran faith. She liked to go to yard sales, she wanted to never miss a deal. She loved her grandchildren and her dogs, cooking for her family and friends and always wanted to help others. Donna was preceded...
Deborah Wingate Dill, 59, of Lake Wales passed away Monday, March 1, 2021 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born January 6, 1962 in Lake Wales and has been a lifelong resident. She was the property manager at Enchanted Grove Mobile Home Park and attended The Lord's Temple and Golfview Church of God. Deborah was preceded in death by her father, Troy Wingate and stepfather, Mike Fenby. Survivors include her sons, Jonathan Bush (Stephanie) of Port St. Lucie, Daniel Bush...
Howard W. “Bill” Carson, 75, of Ripley, WV passed away Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021 at AdventHealth Sebring. He was born July 24, 1945 in Clendenin, WV to the late Howard and Goldie Carson; he has been coming to the local area as a winter resident for 20 years. He was retired from Columbia Gas and an inventor of gas processing equipment. He was an avid fan of the West Virginia Mountaineers and enjoyed camping in his RV and to whittle footballs and baseballs. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Evelyn Carson; daughters, Apr...
Rafael Arrieta Moreno, 74, of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 at AdventHealth Heart of Florida in Davenport. He was born Jan. 7, 1947 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to the late Rafael Arrieta and Milagros Moreno; he came here from Puerto Rico in 2001. He retired from Energy Co as a customer service representative and a member of the Lake Wales Hispanic Church of the Nazarene. Rafael was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Santa Rodriguez-Saltar; sons, Rafael Arrieta Rodriguez of Lake Wales, Carlos Arrieta...
More than 50 artists will exhibit in the 2021 Lake Wales Arts Festival on the shores of Lake Wailes lake Feb. 20-21. The event is even more special this year as the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary. "We're one of the first art shows back in the whole country, especially in the state of Florida," said Andrew Allen, executive director of the Lake Wales Arts Council. "The quality of art will also go up dramatically since we're not taking as many artists." The free...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Curtis Gibson has been chosen as one of 20 participants in the 2021 Central Florida Political Leadership Institute, a regional, nonprofit program sponsored by the Orlando Economic Partnership. The program prepares business minded leaders throughout Central Florida for future leadership opportunities – as political candidates or appointees to government boards or commissions. Since its inception in 2008, 29 PLI graduates have served in public o...
AdventHealth Lake Wales is having no major issues in handling Covid-19 patients, according the Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Brewer, and expects to have vaccinations available to city residents 65 and older in the "upcoming weeks." Brewer updated city leaders during a regularly scheduled commission meeting Jan. 8, noting that as of that date, the local hospital had 11 patients who had tested positive for the Coronavirus, and only one of those was in the intensive care unit....
AdventHealth will be a testing site for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson's Phase 3 clinical research study, ENSEMBLE trial, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Janssen's investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate, JNJ-78436735, also known as Ad26.COV2.S. The Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a single vaccine dose of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate versus plac...
Thomas (Tom) Ancil Freeman, 94, of Lake Wales passed away on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at Palm Garden Health and Rehabilitation Center in Winter Haven. He was born in Lawrenceburg, TN on October 19, 1925 and lived a very full and active life. He will always be known for his magnificent artwork of Florida landscapes, nearly 1,000 originals, and his murals throughout Polk County in Lake Wales, Frostproof, and Lake Placid. Those who knew him personally, remember him as a...
AdventHealth's facilities across Central Florida have sufficient capacity to care for patients, including those with COVID-19. Our hospitals are designed in such a way that spaces are flexible and expandable. We have sufficient supplies of ventilators, monitors and other specialized equipment in order to quickly convert spaces in the hospital to both standard and ICU level rooms. We did a significant amount of planning in March and April to identify areas that could be...
Michael McCaskill, 56 of Lake Wales, died May 22, 2020 at AdventHealth South Hospital in Orlando. He was born Oct. 21, 1963 in Boston, GA. Services are incomplete. Epps Memorial Funeral Home in Lake Wales is handling arrangements....
Thomas "Tommy" Ward, 63, of Lake Wales passed away Sunday, May 3, 2020 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. He was born July 5, 1956 in Liverpool, England to the late Jerald and Eileen Ward; he moved to Lake Wales from Lakeland in 2016. Tommy worked as a delivery and set up driver for Apex Office Supplies. He enjoyed miniature war gaming, painting, photography, and playing the guitar. He was a member of Wayside Baptist Church. Tommy is survived by his brothers, Michael Ward of North...
Faith communities around Central Florida are making decisions about re-opening for services and one church in Lake Wales has decided this Sunday, May 17, is the time to re-open their Sunday Morning Worship Celebration to the public. This service, which begins at 10:30 a.m. has been live-streamed since before the pandemic and will continue to be shown on four platforms. The lead pastor at First Baptist, Dr. Scott Markley, reports the views on those platforms have been good...
As physicians face rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, they're trying innovative new solutions - such as repurposing existing drugs to target the deadly virus. At AdventHealth, two such treatments are now being deployed to treat the most seriously ill COVID patients: remdesivir and sarilumab. To receive these medications, patients must be in the intensive care unit and receiving oxygen support. The hospital group owns 10 hospitals in Central Florida, including AdventHealth Lake...
Q: Are we prepared for a surge in patients? AdventHealth has aggressively been planning since February for a surge in patients. We have made significant investments in services, infrastructure, personnel and technology so we can best serve our community. We've been a trusted community partner for more than 110 years and will continue to be. Some of the ways we are planning for a surge: • We have task force teams dedicated to evaluating all aspects of their disciplines – fro...
Charles David "Dave" Smith, 89, of Lake Wales passed away Monday, March 23, 2020 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. He was born December 11, 1930 in Independence, VA to the late Grant and Ethel Smith; for the last 27 years was a permanent resident of Lake Wales and spent his summers in Boone, NC and Michigan. He was a retired administrator for Appalachian State University, a member of the Boone United Methodist Church in North Carolina and attended the First Presbyterian Church of...
A team of Florida Polytechnic University faculty, staff, and students is working to build critical personal protection equipment for clinicians treating patients amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. The effort is in partnership with AdventHealth and will help address the shortage of protective supplies facing healthcare organizations nationwide. The group is using 3D printers on campus to create components for protective face shields. After the 3D-printed headbands and other...
Patients with severe cases of COVID-19 may find help in an unlikely source – the blood plasma of patients who've recovered from the disease. It's called convalescent plasma, and the idea is that antibodies in the donated plasma will help fight the disease in patients who are suffering through it. "This is an extremely exciting development that shows promise in helping our sickest patients," said Dr. Juliana Gaitan, who is leading the project. "We're among the first h...
