John Long Middle School students entered this photo into a nationwide contest bringing awareness to the dangers of drug use. You can vote for their entry at http://redribbon.org/vote/#view/43801/4183314.
Every year, students across the U.S. participate in “Red Ribbon Week” during the week of October 23-31, to pledge to be drug-free.
The theme for this year’s campaign was “YOLO – You Only Live Once.” Students at John Long Middle School in Wiregrass Ranch kicked off the event by inviting students and their families to paint “wise owls” at Pinot’s Palette, located in The Shoppes at New Tampa plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., south of S.R. 56. The owl paintings incorporated both the double-looped red ribbon that signifies Red Ribbon Week, and the “YOLO” theme.
Images of these paintings were then turned into a banner that will hang in the school. Gianna Ginsen, a student in John Long’s after-school photography club, took a picture of the banner — along with a group of students spelling out the theme “YOLO” with their bodies — to enter into the official annual nationwide photo contest. If Long proves to be the highest vote-getter in its region at RedRibbon.org/vote by Nov. 17, the school will win $1,000 and an iPad. The winners will be announced at that website, starting Friday, December 2.
“I don’t think a lot of students understand what Red Ribbon Week is really about,” says Angie Bastedo, the vice president of programs for the school’s PTSA and the event’s organizer. “This year, I hoped to bring more awareness as to why we’re encouraging students to wear a hat or crazy socks during Red Ribbon Week.”
Angie, who says she recently lost her nephew to drug use, says while conversations about not using drugs start at home, “it doesn’t hurt to bring the message to school, too,” she says. “Especially in middle school, kids sometimes listen to other people more than their parents. They need to know that all it takes is once. Don’t even try using drugs, because your first time could be your last time.”
The National Family Partnership created the National Red Ribbon Campaign in response to the 1985 abduction and murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Long Middle School is one of many in the area that recognize this week each year to encourage students not to use drugs.
Optimal Wellness Home Healthcare owners Andre (2nd from left) & Monique (2nd from right) Hikel, with their children (l.-r.) Alexandrea, Joshua & Alivia.
Andre and Monique Hikel own Optimal Wellness Home Healthcare, which has been located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center off Commerce Park Blvd. since August 2014. The company cares for patients in their homes in New Tampa and Hillsborough County, as well as in Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, and Polk counties.
Monique earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa in 1994, and has been a practicing Registered Nurse (RN) for 22 years. She also earned a combined Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration (MSN/MBA) degree from the University of Phoenix in 2004.
Monique also has worked as a clinical instructor for students earning their BSN degrees at both the University of Tampa and at USF. Monique works at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) as a labor and delivery nurse, which she says helps her to keep her nursing skills current as she also runs Optimal Wellness.
Andre was a tennis professional whose career took an unexpected turn when he was injured in a car accident.
He started working in the financial industry, and ended up continuing in that career for the past 11 years, until leaving recently to focus on building Optimal Wellness Home Healthcare with Monique.
They consider this business a merger of their skills. Monique’s title is Director of Nursing and Administrator, and she oversees the clinical and records-keeping side of the business. Andre handles the financial and marketing aspects. “This business allows us to combine our strengths,” says Andre. “It’s both of our passions to give back and to make a difference.”
Monique & Andre’s Story
Andre and Monique have lived in Wesley Chapel for 16 years and are now raising their three kids – Joshua, 7; Alexandrea, 9; and Alivia, 11 – along with their niece, Phylecia, who is 15.
“Based on our history, we want to make sure we are always giving great care to our patients,” says Andre. “Quality of care is very near and dear to our hearts.”
That history includes losing both Andre’s dad and Monique’s mom to cancer, and Andre’s mom being diagnosed as schizophrenic when he was a young boy in his native Trinidad. And, there’s this: The couple’s son was diagnosed with cancer in December of 2015 when he was five, but now he is in full remission.
“Joshua’s diagnosis of cancer gave us confirmation of the great need for home health care,” says Monique. “We started the business in August of 2014 and Joshua was diagnosed in December. It was hard to continue the business at that time, but God gave us the strength to forge through and opportunities presented themselves that gave us further confirmation during that difficult time.”
In-Home Specialists
“We can take care of anything in the home,” says Monique, explaining that Optimal Wellness provides health care professionals such as CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants), home health aides, or RNs, depending upon what level of care is needed.
Currently, the company specializes in care for patients with Alzheimer’s, hypertension, diabetes and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, an umbrella term used to describe progressive lung diseases), and also offers respite care, to give caretakers a break from their responsibilities.
Another area of service is infusion care, such as antibiotics or other medications that needs to be administered via injection.
Monique says each condition requires specific training and care, which Optimal Wellness provides. For example, for patients with Alzheimer’s, “We go through extensive training to be sure our providers are equipped for these patients,” she says. “There’s a way to speak to them and to approach them. For example, sometimes they become aggressive, so you have to stay calm and not take it personally. It’s part of their disease.”
If a patient needs full-time care but doesn’t want to live in an assisted living facility (ALF), Optimal Wellness can provide 24-hour care in his or her own home.
“It’s a good option for someone who doesn’t want to go into an ALF,” says Monique.
Some of the company’s clients are leaving the hospital or rehab facilities and need temporary care in their homes.
“We also have long-term clients in assisted living facilities who need 24-hour care, seven days a week,” says Andre. “The families of these clients have hired us to provide supplemental care during ‘down times’ at the ALF. The patient needs extra attention, so the family pays out of pocket.”
For now, Andre says all of the company’s clients are self-pay. Optimal Wellness has gone through the application process to be able to accept Medicare, and has received confirmation that the company meets all of the stringent regulations, but a moratorium is currently preventing them from being approved as a Medicare provider.
Optimal Wellness is in the process of working with several insurance companies to be approved providers with individual companies and expects to begin accepting insurance soon.
Quality, Personalized Care
“We are quality people giving exceptional care, and we want to treat everyone as family,” says Monique.
To ensure each patient receives exceptional care, Monique and Andre say Optimal Wellness follows a specific routine with the family and caretaker, and has a weekly “quality call” to ensure everything is going according to plan.
That call helps to makes sure everyone is on the same page. If a caregiver was a few minutes late, or if there was a minor issue that needs attention, it can be dealt with immediately. “We want our clients to be assured they’re getting the best care possible, and these calls seem to put them at ease,” explains Andre.
Optimal Wellness creates an individual care plan that is gone over with each patient’s family. “We address specific, individual needs and match each patient to the caretaker who suits them the best,” he says.
Monique explains that the company is accredited through CHAP (Community Health Accreditation Partner), which is a many-months-long process that ensures compliance with stringent standards. While accreditation is required for home health companies, it is not required for all staffing companies or registries.
“We want to be known as a company that gives exceptional quality care,” says Monique, and she knows that starts with the professionals who are in their patients’ homes, providing that care.
“We ask our professionals to look at their patients and see their own mom or dad, and proceed accordingly,” Monique adds. “Treat them the way you would want someone to treat your mom or dad.”
They start with hiring only well-qualified, experienced caretakers. Monique says CNAs and home health aides must have at least one year of experience, and RNs must have at least two years of experience.
The company also does a “Level 2” background check, which means that the new employee’s background is searched in all 50 states, not just Florida. Monique says they will not send a healthcare professional out to a home until that background check comes back clear.
And then, they are trained. “Prior to going out to any of our homes, the nurses, CNAs and home health aides that work for us receive training,” says Monique. “Even if a health care provider is an RN with years of experience, we ensure they are trained by us and understand the specific care plan of the patient they will visit before they are sent out to someone’s home.”
Optimal Wellness provided care for Celsa Villanueva, who lives in Cross Creek. She is a diabetic with multiple health issues, and her nephew, Carlos Velazquez, says Monique provided great care for her during a time when she was in need.
“She taught my aunt a lot about what to do when her sugar was low, or high, and helped her organize her medication,” he says. “She explained all the medications and their side effects, and taught her how to tell the difference between pills that look alike.”
Carlos added, “I would recommend her in a heartbeat. She was very professional and caring, and very good to my aunt.”
Optimal Wellness Home Healthcare is available for care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Office hours are Mon.–Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, see the ad on page 46, call 381-5415 or visit OptimalWellnessHomeHealthcare.com.
(L.–r.) Visiting Angels office assistant Jeannine Konrad, office manager Wendy Blackmon & owner Christal Becton will make sure your loved ones get the best care possible when they need to be cared for at home.
Christal Becton opened Visiting Angels to serve New Tampa and other parts of Hillsborough County in 2004. As the franchise owner and director, she says she feels blessed to be in the business of helping senior citizens and their families.
Visiting Angels provides home care services as an alternative to moving into a nursing home, retirement center or assisted living facility, allowing seniors and others in need to maintain the independence of their daily routines in the comfort of their own homes. It is a nationally branded company, headquartered in Pennsylvania, with 500 locations across the U.S.
“When my 84-year-old aunt, who lived in Columbia, SC, needed assistance, I had to hire a caregiver for her because I was unable to keep traveling back and forth to care for her,” Christal explains. “I believe that’s what started me on the road to in-home care. After my husband retired from the military, and I was ready to get out of my job in corporate America, I began looking into franchises. That’s when I found Visiting Angels.”
Christal opened the Visiting Angels office on N. 56th St. (south of Fowler Ave.) in Temple Terrace, minutes from most of New Tampa.
She has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix campus in Albuquerque, NM. She also has a wealth of previous nursing home experience, having served as Chief of Recreation Therapy at a nursing home in Albuquerque.
While the business has grown over the past 12 years, Christal says that what hasn’t changed is her passion for helping people and for matching clients with caregivers to give them the help they need in their homes.
“I enjoy working with seniors in need,” says Christal. “So, this is the perfect profession for me.”
She says every aspect of running Visiting Angels is rewarding. “The challenges are learning experiences and never a burden. We really have very few issues.”
Services
“Most of our clients are seniors who need some extra help,” Christal explains. “We also can help anyone over 18 who needs assistance. Younger people sometimes need help, too, due to their own physical challenges or health issues.”
Available services include everything from helping someone temporarily recover from an illness or surgery to providing ongoing companionship to a senior who just needs a friend.
“We also go grocery shopping and run errands, prepare meals, assist with personal care and do light housekeeping,” Christal adds. She says some clients require help with bathing or shaving, some just need a hand getting up in the morning and starting their day, while others may need clothes laundered and linens changed.
One difficulty common for many seniors, especially those who don’t drive or have a relative nearby, is arranging transportation to their doctors’ appointments. Visiting Angels’ staff will transport clients to and from their appointments, and always remain on site throughout their clients’ visits.
“We provide the vehicle,” Christal says, adding that the service is a relief to relatives who find it difficult to take time off from work to drive their loved ones to their medical appointments.
Visiting Angels accommodates its clients’ schedules, whether they need a few hours of assistance a week or even 24-hour-per-day, 7-day-per-week care. Day or night, weekends or holidays, temporary or long-term, Visiting Angels can help.
Care Providers
Visiting Angels’ healthcare providers include about 50 Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and Home Health Assistants (HHAs). Christal says that her company serves about 40-60 clients in New Tampa, Temple Terrace and other surrounding areas.
She adds that the company runs a comprehensive background screening on all caregivers. Christal says she is very selective about who she chooses to help her clients. Many are graduates of medical academies that specialize in home care and/or have worked at assisted living facilities or in other health care environments. Christal says Visiting Angels caregivers choose to specialize in home care because they enjoy the personal interaction with only one or two clients.
“One of my CNAs has been with the same client since 2004,” she says. “In hiring, I make sure my staff has a passion for doing what they do, and that they have a strong employment history in caring for seniors.”
Christal also interacts with each new family who calls Visiting Angels and requests a free, in-home assessment.
“I personally do each new client assessment myself,” she says. “I like to make a connection with the family. I get to see how they live and learn about their background, which makes it easier to connect them with the right caregiver.”
During the in-home assessment, she reviews each client’s needs and asks about the types of services desired, noting the patient’s daily routine, meals, proximity to doctors’ offices and number of regularly scheduled appointments. She then prepares a care plan and selects the caregivers who are best suited to meet your needs.
After personally meeting all of the available caregivers, you get to choose the candidate you prefer.
“One of the things that sets Visiting Angels apart from other home care services is that our clients get to choose their caregivers,” Christal explains. “People don’t just show up and say, ‘I’m here to take care of you.’ Our clients actually meet the caregivers beforehand, so they already feel comfortable with the person who will be caring for them.”
These caregivers become an important part of each patient’s routines, and often, families let Christal know the significance of the care their loved one received in their time of need.
“Thank you for the wonderful care you provided,” said a grateful family in a letter to Visiting Angels. “You were more than a caregiver to us, you quickly became a friend… [Mom] so appreciated your presence and friendship, as we all did… It was always a relief to us to know that when we needed you, we had no worries at all about Mom being taken good care of.”
Christal says that technology also allows her to keep in close contact with the families of her clients — whether they are out of town or busy working, a quick text or email keeps Christal, the caregiver and the family all on the same page regarding a patient’s care.
In addition, technology allows Visiting Angels to provide information to the community, even those who aren’t her clients.
Christal sends out a newsletter and also provides information on the company’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/VisitingAngelsTampaFL, informing people about dementia, caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, fall prevention and other issues that affect seniors.
“The greatest change I’ve seen as a business is our ability to communicate with the community and use technology effectively to reach out to the community and be a resource,” she says.
Visiting Angels is located at 9812 N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace. And, for a special offer just for readers who mention the Neighborhood News, call Christal at 929-7067.
Giana gets checked out by nurse practitioner Evie Roque at the new Community Health Center, which is located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary, but available to all students.
After spending the weekend moving from Naples to Heritage Isles, Shane (who asked we use only his first name) walked into Heritage Elementary to register his daughter Giana for fifth grade. He brought a stack of paperwork with him, trying to guess what he would need.
Turns out, he guessed wrong. He didn’t have her record of vaccinations, and he didn’t have a record of a recent physical.
“To get into school in Hillsborough County, or anywhere in Florida, you have to have a physical,” says Evie Roque, MSN (Master of Science in Nursing), a nurse practitioner who works at the new community health center located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary. Shane and Giana were referred to the health center to get her physical and immunization records so that she could start school.
“I called her doctor in Naples five or six times and I never got a call back,” Shane says. “If it wasn’t for these ladies, I would still be trying to get her shot records.”
Being new to the area, Shane didn’t yet have a primary care physician for Giana. The referrals he had gotten from her pediatrician in Naples didn’t pan out, and he wanted to start her in her new school as soon as possible.
Dr. Maria Russ, supervisor of school health services for Hillsborough County Schools, says Giana’s situation isn’t unique.
“Sometimes we see kids who are out of school three or four months waiting to enroll because they don’t have access to healthcare to get their school physical and vaccines,” she says. “So, our health centers are a surrogate for people until they find a permanent medical home.”
Roque explains, “We’re not primary care health providers. We don’t do treatments, and we’re not prescribing medications. Our goal is to get students into school, so we do physicals and make sure immunizations are up to date.”
While they don’t provide immunizations, the health care professionals at the clinic have access to statewide immunization records, and they refer people to the State of Florida Health Department if immunizations are needed.
Hunter’s Green Elementary has been the site of a school-based health center for more than 10 years, but the building it was housed in was dilapidated. Dr. Russ and other school officials wrote a grant to request money available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They received $500,000 for the construction and outfitting of the new, modular building.
It was officially opened on August 19, when Hillsborough County school officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We had the support of the superintendent and the School Board for this project,” says Dr. Russ. “And, (U.S.) Representative Kathy Castor and Senator Bill Nelson were instrumental in that money being appropriated for this project.”
Dr. Russ also says that every high school in the county has a health center, but the Hunter’s Green Community Health Center is unique. It is one of just a few located at an elementary school, and most health centers are within the school campus. The Hunter’s Green health center is housed in a stand-alone modular building on campus, but completely outside of the school, so that it is easily accessible to families who need to use its services.
The grant even paid for additional parking spaces right outside the building.
Inside, the clinic features a waiting room, four treatment rooms, and a classroom equipped with smartboard technology for training nurses. Registered nurse Angella Eikenberry does patient intake at the health center, and also is responsible for training all new Hillsborough County Schools nurses in electronic medical records.
While a student doesn’t need a referral to visit the health center, many school principals and registrars refer families to the school-based health centers, including the one at Hunter’s Green.
“It can be an obstacle to being in school if parents can’t afford co-pays or have gaps in their insurance,” says Dr. Russ. So the staff at the clinic helps with needed services and connects families with health care providers.
Melanie Hall, executive director of the Family Healthcare Foundation in Tampa, says, “The Hunter’s Green clinic is ideally situated in an area that has a high concentration of uninsured children who need access to care.” She says that, according to data from the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, the 33647 ZIP code has just under 9% of children who are uninsured, and the greatest number of uninsured kids in Hillsborough County are in the neighboring zip codes, 33592 (Thonotosassa) and 33559 (Lutz).
“We’ve found that school grades go up when kids are in school,” says Dr. Russ. “That’s our focus, to keep kids in school.”
It worked for Giana. After being referred to the Hunter’s Green center, she and her dad were thrilled with their experience. “These ladies are so personable,” says Shane. “Giana is afraid of the doctor, afraid of the dentist, but they made her feel so comfortable, and the way they interacted with her made me comfortable, too.”
And, that paperwork he needed?
“They were so helpful,” he says. “Angella came out from behind the desk and sat down with me and helped with each thing that needed to be filled out.”
And best of all, Giana was able to start school right away.
Dr. Yogi Goswami, pictured here with his wife Lovely, was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame on the USF Tampa campus at an Induction Ceremony & Gala on September 16.
Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. Yogi Goswami.
These three are among the 20 inventors who have been inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame since its inception in 2013. Only one, though, lives in New Tampa.
Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., P.E. (Professor Emeritus), is a University of South Florida Distinguished Professor and director of the university’s Clean Energy Research Center. The Cory Lake Isles resident is one of seven inventors honored at an induction ceremony and gala at the Inventors Hall on the USF Tampa Campus on September 16.
Dr. Goswami has lived in New Tampa with his wife Lovely for 10 years, since he left his position as director of the University of Florida’s Solar Energy Research Lab in Gainesville. He came to USF because he says it gave him, “more opportunities for doing groundbreaking research.” For example, Dr. Goswami says, “To establish a new research lab, you need space to do that, and USF was able to give me that space. Because the university is newer, it is open to a lot of things that may be harder to do at a (more) well-established university.”
The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame chose Dr. Goswami for his work in solar energy and indoor air quality. “I have 18 patents,” he says. “Some are related to solar energy, some to energy storage, and six are related to indoor air quality and the technology to disinfect and clean air.”
He says the key to being chosen for this honor is for those patents to be in use and helping people.
“My inventions are being used around the world,” Dr. Goswami says, “especially my invention to disinfect
When his now-grown son, Dilip, was much younger and suffering from allergies and asthma, Dr. Goswami began to look for a way to help him. He used his expertise to develop the technology that actually destroys the pollutants in the air that were making his son sick.
“The air inside homes and offices has a lot of pollutants, not just bacteria, viruses and mold,” says Dr. Goswami, “but also volatile organic chemicals that come from paints and other materials we use inside our buildings. Those things make us sick. Before air conditioning was so widely available, we used to have open windows so we would have fresh air. Now, these pollutants concentrate inside. This technology is the first on the market that destroys them.”
Dr. Goswami and Dilip co-founded Molekule, the company that is now producing an indoor air purifier that uses this technology. The first two production runs of the device, also called Molekule, have completely sold out, and the company currently has a waiting list for the next batch of air purifiers, which are expected to be available for sale in November.
He says many of his other inventions are related to making solar energy conversion more efficient, to bring the cost down.
“Costs have come down quite a bit over the last few decades in solar energy,” says Dr. Goswami. “We can make it more efficient and bring the cost down even further in the future.” He also has inventions related to storing energy more effectively, since solar energy is “intermittent,” meaning it’s not available at night or when it’s cloudy. His work in this area is directed toward large- scale power plants that produce solar energy.
“The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is very prestigious,” says Dr. Goswami. “I feel honored to be inducted, especially seeing the people who were inducted before me, such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Dr. Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade.”
The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is located in the USF Research Park at 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, and is online at FloridaInvents.org.
For more information about the Molekule air purifier, visit Molekule.com.
Roque explains, “We’re not primary care health providers. We don’t do treatments, and we’re not prescribing medications. Our goal is to get students into school, so we do physicals and make sure immunizations are up to date.” 
