- News & Press ReleasesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogThis is no ordinary ‘A.’ With patient safety always a top priority, Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center (LHAAMC) is proud to announce it has earned its 13th consecutive ‘A’ Grade from the Leapfrog Safety Grade. This national distinction reflects more than 120 years of trusted high-quality healthcare in the Annapolis region and across the Eastern Shore. According to Leapfrog, LHAAMC has earned ‘Straight A’s’ for every grading period since 2018, making it the only hospital in Maryland to achieve this prestigious honor, and one of 95 hospitals nationwide. “This consistent recognition for patient safety is no easy feat and reflects the dedication and expertise of our entire team of caregivers, all of whom are committed to patient-centered care,” said Sherry Perkins, president of LHAAMC. “As we prepare to celebrate Nurses Week and Healthcare Week, I encourage our community to join me in thanking our physicians, residents, nurses, advance practice providers, technicians, therapists, support staff, and volunteers for always prioritizing the care of our patients.”Luminis Health is dedicated to upholding best practices that prioritize quality, safety, and accountability across all operational areas. Our commitment is demonstrated through safe staffing, safety huddles, multi-disciplinary communication, a focus on well-being and retention of the health care team, workplace safety, community partnerships, and collaboration with patient family advisors. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety. Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent, free to the public, and is updated twice a year, in the fall and spring. LHAAMC’s ‘A’ Grade for this grading period places it among the top 32 percent of hospitals nationwide. This achievement builds on the hospital’s recent accolades, including being honored with Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award for the third consecutive year, recognized as one of Newsweek’s Best Hospitals in the United States, and named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Best Hospitals in Maryland, particularly for maternity care. Additionally, the hospital received Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians.0
- Men's Health, Weight Loss, Women's HealthGeneral Page Tier 3BlogThe majority of our decisions about what to eat are on autopilot and often happen without us even thinking about them. Did you know that when you decide to change your diet, over 200 food-related decisions per day are impacted? From eating out to grocery shopping, all of these decisions are well rehearsed. On average, a grocery store will carry over 39,000 different items. Though variety is considered the ‘spice of life,’ the vast amount of food variety plays a role in overconsumption in our society. Research on food variety and its effects is emerging. In one interesting experiment done with M&M’s candy, researchers wanted to see what would happen if they gave moviegoers more color choices. They found that those who were given 10 different colors ate 43 percent more than those given the same amount of M&M’s in seven colors. READ MORE: What’s for dinner? New school year brings new pace of life You make fewer decisions over the course of the day when you automate your healthy choices , which helps you make it easier to choose healthier options. One way to eat healthier is to automate by meal planning. Too often, we let convenience, busy schedules and mindless eating derail our best intentions. Willpower is a resource that gets used up as the day goes on. The more decisions you have to make, the less willpower you have by the end of the day. If you automate your healthy choices, you make fewer decisions over the course of the day, which makes it easier to choose healthier options later in the day – a prime time for overdoing it. You are ahead of the game because you can choose something automatically instead of trying to use willpower. Here is a helpful guideline on how to automate by meal prepping: Eat the same breakfast and lunch every day. At least the template should be similar – a protein, fruit, vegetable and milk or starch. For breakfast, you could have oatmeal with fruit or a veggie omelet and fruit. For lunch, you could warm up some soup or a sandwich and pair it with some fruit. Alternatively, you could have some leftover chicken and green vegetables with seasonal fruit. You can mix things up at dinner and use the remaining willpower. Make meal planning and grocery shopping a given. Pick a block of time for planning your meals (perhaps in the car when commuting or transporting kids to activities) and then make your grocery list. Try to shop and prepare meals about the same time every week so it becomes part of your routine. Prep food ahead of time. Sundays are usually down days, which leaves time to tackle the preparation. If you really dislike cooking or prepping, consider purchasing prepared foods that fill the bill, such as already cooked chicken breast or various vegetable salads. Freeze meals. While prepping on Sundays, also pull out the crock-pot and make chili, a hearty soup, spaghetti sauce, lentil stew, etc. This will help you freeze and fill any unexpected gaps. Find foods you enjoy and that fit in the five food groups to slowly build a repertoire of satisfying meals. The effort in the beginning will be more time consuming, but the payoff will be worth the effort and repetition leads to balanced, healthy meals. Enjoy! Authors Ann Caldwell and Maureen Shackelford are nutritionists and registered dietitians at Anne Arundel Medical Center. To reach them, call 443-481-5555. Originally published July 8, 2019. Last updated Sept. 16, 2025.0
- Orthopedics, Weight Loss, Women's Health, WellnessGeneral Page Tier 3BlogStrength training exercises are key to burning calories, increasing metabolism and preventing injury. But you don’t need a gym membership or equipment for a proper strength routine. You can try these five exercises at home. Push-up Make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart. Angle your hands against the ground in whichever way feels most comfortable. Keep yourself straight. Think of your entire body as a straight line from your shoulders to your feet, and don’t stick your behind in the air. If you have trouble pushing yourself up, clench your glutes, abs or both. Your strength doesn’t have to come entirely from your arms. For a modified version, position your knees on the ground. Squat Spread your feet slightly wider than your hips. Point your toes slightly outward. Keep the weight on your heels and the balls of your feet. As you squat downward, push your behind and hips backwards. Think of it less about bending your knees and more about pushing your body backwards, similar to how you sit down in a chair. Make sure your hips go even with or lower than your knees. Otherwise, you won’t feel the full benefit of the exercise. Plank Forearm planks are more common and slightly easier than extended arm planks. For the forearm version, place your elbows on the ground at shoulder-width, and use the muscles in your abdomen to keep your body elevated parallel to the ground for as long as you can. For a slightly more difficult variation of the plank, extend your arms and keep your body in a straight line for as long as possible. For a modified version, position your knees on the ground. Tricep dip Find a chair or coffee table that is about the same height off the ground as your knees. Place your hands on the edge of the surface and slide yourself forward, keeping your arms straight and your body close to the chair. Lower your body until almost sitting on the floor and make sure your arms — not your legs — support your weight. Repeat as many times as you can. Originally published Dec. 5, 2016. Last updated Oct. 11, 2019.0
- Orthopedics, Weight Loss, Women's Health, WellnessGeneral Page Tier 3BlogFrom Zumba® to barre to breakdancing, the fitness industry has seen a growing trend in dance fitness. Whatever dance fitness trend you choose, you can lose or maintain weight, become more active and have tons of fun with this type of exercise. But dance fitness can also cause injury if you aren’t careful. Problems like shin splints, knee pain, back strains and ankle sprains can take the spring out of your step. The good news: You can take steps to prevent injuries with these tips, says Apryl Riggins, physical therapist at AAMG Physical Therapy. GO EASY. “Always start slow. Try one class, or even half of a class, and see how your body responds,” Apryl says. “Injuries don’t typically occur from a single movement or class. Injuries more often occur as a result of repetitive movements over several days or weeks, and especially when you’re tired.” If you experience pain or fatigue, take a day or two off, make sure you’re pain-free, then resume your dance class to make sure you’re comfortable. WARM UP WISELY. Warm-ups should include a cardio component. Start with gentle arm and leg movements for five to 10 minutes, gradually picking up your pace. Once your muscles are warm, try some dynamic stretches, such as high knees, butt kicks or leg swings. COOL DOWN CORRECTLY. Slow your dance movements for five to 10 minutes. Then stretch your body, including your arms and legs, holding each stretch for 30 seconds to one minute. MIX THINGS UP. Try cross-training, or doing more than one form of exercise. Doing other types of exercise in addition to dance works different muscle groups. Cross-training can help you avoid overuse injuries. “Pilates and yoga are excellent additions to dance training,” says Apryl. “They focus on core strengthening and stabilization of your abdominal, pelvic and back muscles, which helps prevent injury.” TREAT YOURSELF RIGHT. “General muscle soreness is normal after a workout, but sharp pain is not,” Apryl says. “If you experience intense pain, talk to your doctor.” Conditioning and physical therapy can help relieve pain and prevent injuries from returning. For more information, call 443-481-1140 or visit AAMGPhysicalTherapy.com. Author Apryl Riggins is a physical therapist at AAMG Physical Therapy. Originally published Feb. 15, 2017. Last updated Jan. 7, 2019.0
- Women's Health, Pediatrics, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogKristen DeBoy Caminiti has a photo she loves. Actually it’s more than that. “It’s my favorite picture, ever,” she insists. In the photo, taken by her husband, Matt Caminiti, Kristen cradles her son just seconds after his birth. She has her cheek against his, their eyes are closed and Kristen looks wrapped in grace. It’s a beautiful photo. Yet for many mothers it might not seem that unusual. That’s because when a healthy baby is delivered vaginally, he or she is usually put right on the mother’s chest. Early skin-to-skin contact is good for both mom and baby, and, as an added benefit, it makes for a great picture. But for generations now, immediate skin-to-skin contact hasn’t been an option for women giving birth by cesarean section. In a traditional C-section, after the baby arrives, he or she is briefly held up for mom to see, then whisked off by the neonatal team while the obstetrician finishes surgery. It can take close to half an hour before mother and child are reunited. Kristen and Matt know the routine well. Their first two boys arrived this way. While they still remember the births fondly, Kristen says she never got the birth experience she’d dreamed about. “You know, I’d always imagined that moment of my baby being born and being put on my chest and getting to hold and kiss and love him,” Kristen says. Then, a couple of weeks into her third pregnancy, a friend posted a video that caught Kristen’s attention. It was about family-centered cesarean techniques catching on in Britain. The techniques were relatively easy, and the goals simple— including letting mom see the birth and getting the baby onto mom’s chest as soon as possible. After viewing the video, Kristen was elated. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ I decided I’d do everything I could to make it happen for me.” AAMC adapts AAMC is committed to patient- and family-centered care. So when Kristen asked her OB-GYN, Marcus Penn, MD, whether he’d be open to a family-centered cesarean, the answer was yes. While the techniques had never been tried before at the hospital, that didn’t bother Dr. Penn. “I knew it would be different than the norm, but I didn’t think it would be that hard to do,” says Dr. Penn. “So I met with the hospital’s clinical team, and we started setting it up.” Kristen was an ideal test case. Since she was having a scheduled cesarean, there was plenty of time to plan. Also, she’d done her research. If all went well, Kristen had this wish list: She wanted her head lifted and the drape lowered so she could see the birth. She wanted the baby placed immediately on her chest. She hoped her husband might be able to cut the umbilical cord. That was it. Of course, this list meant changes to cesarean routines that hospitals and doctors have honed to perfection over the decades. EKG leads would have to be on Kristen’s side instead of her chest and the pulse oximeter on a toe instead of a finger. She’d need the IV in her non-dominant hand so she could hold her baby, and everyone needed to be careful not to break the sterile operating field. Because it would be a first for all involved, the Caminitis and hospital staff crafted a written birth plan together. “It was super-positive,” Kristen says. “Everybody was on board.” Still, there were concerns. Anesthesiologist John McAllister, MD, says he fully supported the effort but wanted to be sure caregivers could still do their jobs and that the mother was aware plans might have to change. “Our primary goal is always patient safety,” he says. Success story On Oct. 1, 2014, Kristen’s son Connor was born. The birth went exactly as planned. “When Dr. Penn pulled Connor’s head out, it was so amazing,” Kristen remembers. “He had dark hair!” After delivery, the baby was passed straight to Kristen. Matt was at her side. “It was magical,” she says. And Connor stayed there, on Kristen’s chest, for the rest of surgery. “It was so great to be able to share the experience of meeting our baby together rather than me going with the baby to a separate room,” says Matt. “They were sewing me up and there were all those people there, and yet it was the most peaceful experience I’ve ever had. It was just me and my baby and my husband. That is all that mattered.” First change in years Betsey Snow, RN, the senior director of Women and Children’s Services for AAMC, says the birth represents the first big change to cesarean procedures in years. The last big change, she says, “was in the 80s, when dads were finally allowed in the operating room.” Besides the advantages of early skin-to-skin contact, Betsey says a family-centered C-section may be particularly helpful to women who’d hoped for a vaginal delivery but couldn’t have one. “A lot of women feel like they failed because they couldn’t have a vaginal delivery,” says Betsey. “This is a way to give them another option.” Having your baby at AAMC If you meet the following criteria, you will have a family-centered c-section: 1) Medically necessary, scheduled C-section AND 2) Healthy mother and baby. Your first step in the process is having a conversation and agreement with your doctor. We want to ensure your experience is the best for you and your family. Please know our very first priority is safety for you and your baby. C-section deliveries can be life-saving procedures when medically necessary; they carry a higher risk of negative outcomes for mothers and babies when not medically indicated. AAMC still recommends vaginal delivery as the standard. The Caminitis’ story was featured on NPR’s Morning Edition. Click here to read the story and listen to the broadcast. Expecting? Get ready for your big day with birth and parenting classes at AAMCevents.0
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