The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile will be on the move throughout December. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
Child medical care on the move throughout Toledo
TOLEDO – If you are looking to access routine medical services for your child close to home, a visit to the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile clinic in your neighborhood could be a convenient solution.
Care Mobile provides a way for families to get immunizations, well-child checks, mental health assessment, nutrition counseling, and hearing and vision screening across the Toledo area on a drop-in basis.
All children from newborns to 17 are welcome, although the service is primarily designed for those aged six and younger.
“While this program is not meant to replace regular visits to a doctor, it does provide an entry point into a regular pattern of health care for children,” ProMedica says on its website.
One of the most popular services has been school and sports physicals.
“Right at the beginning of school is our busiest time,” Pamela Weber, office manager for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, said, explaining that local doctors are sometimes booked three months out for those appointments.
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile team from left: Stephanie Showers, pediatric nurse practioner; Latrease Boykin, medical assistant; Christina Cooper, driver; and Pamela Weber, office manager. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
Pamela Weber, office manager for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, points out the vital readings station in one of the two exam rooms. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
Ronald McDonald House Charities has been in the Toledo area since 1982, providing comfort and assistance to families whose children are in medical treatment.
The Care Mobile program was introduced locally in August 2023, and started making rounds in October 2023 with one stop a week. The schedule stepped up in January, and the tour dates are now three times a week.
The response from families has been very good, said Stephanie Showers, pediatric nurse practitioner for Mobile Care. “They like that we are in the community. Some maybe don’t have transportation.”
Locally, Care Mobile is a partnership of ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities, Northwest Ohio. The medical professional staff is through ProMedica. A grant from Ronald McDonald House Global Foundation provided a grant for the vehicle cost.
Community agencies that host clinic stops include Lucas Metropolitan Housing and Toledo Lucas County Public Library.
“We have the buildings. We already have the people coming to us. It was a natural fit from the start,” said Allison Fiscus, adult services coordinator with the library system. “We’ve seen quite a bit of positive impact all around.”
Logistically, the mobile medical clinic is similar to a recreational travel vehicle with its pop-out extensions, running water and electricity. Inside there are two private patient exam rooms with testing equipment, such as a vision screening chart and weigh scales. A small waiting area features a bench seat adjacent to the check-in desk. There is also a small bathroom.
Driver Christina Cooper said she pulls up to a site about two hours before the clinic opens to get the vehicle moved in and set up for the day.
Fiscus said the size of the vehicle is why clinic stops that would normally be at the South Branch Library have been relocated temporarily. Nearby construction has made it difficult, if not impossible, for the Mobile Care vehicle to get through to its usual location in that neighborhood.
Small gifts are available for children who get medical care from the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. The items include coloring books, stuffed animals and toothbrushes. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
Ronald McDonald Care Mobile clinic services are open to all families in the community, regardless of ability to pay. An insurance card, identification and primary care provider information will be asked for at check-in. Those who need help getting on an insurance plan will get referrals on how to sign up for Medicaid or other programs.
In fact, some of those referrals will be toward other services at the library, as its facilities are also available for Community Health Navigator appointments and the University of Toledo’s Mobile Health Unit.
“One of our overreaching missions is to be a community hub,” Fiscus said. “We are supported by Lucas County, and that’s not something we take for granted in any form.”
The Ronald McDonald Mobile Care stop schedule can be found at promedica.org/caremobile, and also is shared by Toledo Lucas County Public Library and community agencies as neighborhood dates are confirmed.
This wild turkey was spotted in the Oak Openings Preserve Metropark in Whitehouse. (TFP Photo/Art Weber)
The big birds make comeback after nearly disappearing in 1904
It has been almost 25 years since the first wild turkeys were reintroduced to Lucas County as part of an ongoing statewide effort to bring back a healthy population of the big birds.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife was responsible for the reintroduction, which started in the 1950s in southern Ohio. The program was so successful that it extended gradually to other Ohio regions. It started here in 2000 with the Division releasing a handful of adult birds in Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.
Those birds have since extended their range and have become well-established in a number of Metroparks Toledo, including Swan Creek Preserve, Brookwood, Wildwood Preserve and Oak Openings Preserve. It’s not uncommon in the winter months to see flocks of a dozen or more birds, occasionally many more.
It took time and dedication, but their comeback is a happy milestone in a story that hit its lowest time in 1904, when it was declared that the wild turkey had disappeared from Ohio.
Wild turkeys can now be found in all 88 Ohio counties. The statewide wild turkey population is estimated to be over 150,000 birds.
OHIO – Gerald Bruce may have lost the first battle in his effort to radically overhaul Ohio’s system of assessing and collecting property taxes.
But the 64-year-old Groveport maintenance worker isn’t giving up his crusade – the first step of which involves trying to personally get 1,000 voters to sign his petition for a constitutional amendment that, among other things, would cap a property’s taxable value until it’s transferred or sold.
“I don’t go around to houses now, especially after dark. Some people just are really jumpy,” Bruce said.
I’m interested in Bruce’s story not because I think he’s likely to succeed but because I’m keeping an eye on broader grassroots efforts focused on property taxes and the real-world impact of property-tax increases.
There’s an ongoing property tax revaluation happening in phases around the state, which will be the first since the low interest rates of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic helped send home values skyrocketing. That means that, depending on where they live, Ohio property owners are likely to see significant increases in their tax bills soon, if they haven’t already.
Around 12 people – representing several different anti-property tax groups from the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas – held a rally at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to either reform property tax laws or eliminate them altogether.
We’re going to become a voting bloc, I know it. This is changing across the country … We’ve been mad by ourselves for far too long.
Sarah Wolf of Cincinnati
There are a bunch of bills pending in the Ohio legislature to limit property taxes. Some apply to certain groups – like military widows or senior citizens – while others are more broad. Some would require the state to pay to offset property tax hikes while others would reduce revenue for schools and other local government entities.
There’s even a proposal from lawmakers to amend the state constitution – which would require voter approval – to freeze annual tax increases at 4 percent. This proposal got its first committee hearing on Tuesday, roughly six months after it was introduced.
The bills seem unlikely to pass, given the disagreement over whether state or local government should foot the bill, so to speak. But I’ll be writing more on this topic soon.
Signal Statewide is a nonprofit news organization covering government, education, health, economy and public safety.
Toledo city council member Theresa Morris asks Jason Watson, transportation roadway team leader for Mannik Smith Group, how much property will be taken from homeowners during the I-475 expansion.
Commissioners, council members hold first hybrid meeting
Story and photos by Lori King
TOLEDO – To hear community feedback on a proposed 4-year, $217,000,000 I-475 improvement project, Lucas County commissioners and Toledo city council members held a special hybrid committee meeting inside council chambers at One Government Center.
It was the first time these two government entities sat side by side during a public forum.
The Nov. 18 joint meeting focused on the proposal by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to reconstruct approximately 4.5 miles of West I-475, from Douglas Rd. to U.S. 23. Details of the project, slated to begin in the summer of 2027, include reconstructing the pavement and infrastructure, correcting deficiencies, such as curbs and under drains, and adding lanes.
Lucas County commissioner Pete Gerken tells ODOT officials that the company has a reputation of not following through on promises, and the community remembers those broken promises.
Patrick McColley, ODOT District 2 deputy director, justifies expanding West I-475 during a joint public hearing with Lucas County commissioners and Toledo city council members.
The meeting began with presentations from two speakers: Pat McColley, ODOT District 2 deputy director, who claims the widening project will lesson congestion and improve safety, and Peggy Daly-Masternak, coordinator for the I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition, who vehemently opposes it.
Before introducing McColley, commissioner Pete Gerken stated that the purpose of the public forum was to “hear voices on both sides of this very important project, from ODOT and the citizens who’ve been very organized and very vocal.”
Gerken said one of the things he promised during conversations he had in West Toledo and in his office was to hold a public hearing on the issue, “and we are keeping that promise tonight. I think it’s appropriate public policy.”
Gerken noted this was an opportunity for ODOT and residents to be in the same room at the same time, and that it was “not run by you, not run by them, but by the representative government body.”
First up to give testimony was McColley, backed by a team of staff, engineers and consultants. He started out by saying that when you look at projects like this, one of the things to consider is interstate reconstruction, which hasn’t been done since the 1960s.
He said it’s not just about widening I-475, but also replacing water and sewer lines; reconstructing pavement and under drains; expanding ramp lengths; fixing curves, shoulders and sight distance issues; and even making it safer and less difficult for law enforcement to monitor and enforce traffic in that narrow corridor of highway.
“All of that will be corrected with this project,” McColley said.
He emphasized that no houses would be taken, which was a main concern brought up by several council members, including Mac Driscoll, Theresa Morris and Theresa Gadus; however, there will be limited strip takes for about 30 properties.
Council member Mac Driscoll, an urban planner, questions ODOT’s Patrick McColley about neighborhood concerns.Toledo city council member Theresa Morris asks Jason Watson, transportation roadway team leader for Mannik Smith Group, how much property will be taken from homeowners during the I-475 expansion.
McColley said that because of public recommendations, ODOT will institute a tree program to make the area better environmentally, connect communities with two bridge caps, and add multiuse paths and sidewalks where none currently exists.
He then showed a PowerPoint before taking questions from commissioners and council members.
Nearly 90 minutes into the meeting, McColley vacated his seat for Daly-Masternak, who arrived with a few dozen supporters of her own.
Peggy Daly-Masternak delivers her dissent against the interstate expansion.
Daly-Masternak started out by saying, “I truly tell you there is a commitment here on the part of the neighborhoods and other citizens to oppose this, and it’s growing.”
She added that Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz opposed it in a letter he wrote to ODOT in 2023. “He said, ‘This project is a solution in desperate need of a problem.’ It’s worse. The expressway is a nonproblem. ODOT’s solution creates far greater problems.”
She went on to list a few of the “significant harms” that would befall the people who live nearby:
The use of “precious” tax dollars that could be “well spent” on so many other things.
Climate concerns. “The entire project is in the historically rare Oak Openings region. The Nature Conservancy has said the Oak Openings region is one of the 200th last great places in America, and the entire footprint of the project will continue to decimate what’s already been decimated. It makes no sense.”
Not looking at alternatives to economic investments, which should be returned back to the City of Toledo and Lucas County.
The continuation of structural inequities. “The inequities began when interstates were first built to connect one city to the next … but were never supposed to be beltways, let alone ripped through cities that were red line districts and immigrant working class neighborhoods. Why would we continue those structural inequities by expanding I-475?”
Daly-Masternak told the commissioners and council members that “this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink what all damaging highways do. If this gets built, you will not be able to un-ring that bell.
“I really look at the critical importance of everybody who is sitting here, who has the opportunity, whether you can be the decision maker or not – you can definitely pass resolutions because city after city after city are standing up and opposing highways by their elected officials.”
After her presentation, which also included a PowerPoint, citizens took to the podium to voice their opposition or support for the I-475 expansion.
Toledoan Rick Baum opposes the I-475 expansion project. He is a member of the I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition.
“First, we don’t oppose the reconstruction; if the freeway is ending its useful life at its base, that’s fine,” reasoned Rick Baum. “We oppose the widening of it. We just want to be clear about that.
“We talked about congestion … it’s shown in that data that it’s laughable on its face. The director points to some projections of increased traffic. I don’t know where that’s coming from, given the decrease in population,” Baum said.
Other citizens who opposed the project brought up concerns regarding climate chaos and global warming; tree removal; sound walls that make more noise, not less; putting citizens deeper into car dependency; neighborhood segregation and inequity; and taxpayer money for the maintenance upkeep of a wider highway.
In support of the project was Brian Dicken, vice president of Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives for the Toledo Chamber of Commerce.
Sitting in the front row are ODOT staff, consultants and engineers who attended the Nov. 18 public forum.
“On behalf of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, which represents nearly 2,000 businesses across the region and employs nearly 120,000 people, many of which are your constituents, I’m asking that you support this project, not because it’s an economic development project, because it absolutely is … it’s about safety.”
Dicken told the story of when he was heading west on I-475 a couple of weeks ago, and there was an major accident in the east bound lanes.
“As I moved through and saw the congestion and the backup on the eastbound lanes, there were emergency vehicles stuck in traffic. You can only imagine – what if we had broader shoulders and a third lane to make it easier for people to get the help they need in cases like that?” he asked.
“I often hear from my colleagues who live in the Sylvania area, ‘Hey, we’re going to be late because backups on 475.’ This isn’t once every six months; this happens on a regular basis,” he said.
“This is also about reconnecting our neighborhoods that got split 60 years ago. So, with the bridge caps and what we’ve seen with the green spaces, it makes them more walkable, more bike-able, and I think that’s a goal we’ve been talking about for a long time in Toledo.
“So, as we improve our infrastructure and reconnect our neighborhoods, we have an opportunity maybe to do something about these projections that we’ve heard (about),” Dicken said. “Start to increase our population and get back to the community we’ve all been striving for for 20 and 30 years.”
Dicken added that the project will create jobs for our region; provide Toledo significant income tax revenue that can be used toward other projects within the community; and generate sales and hotel tax for the county to help with their projects.
“Again, support this because it’s not just economic development; this is community development, and that’s what we all should be striving for,” he pleaded.
Jason Watson, Transportation Roadway team leader for the Mannik Smith Group, explains how noise walls could be added during Phase II of the I-475 expansion.
In a phone interview with the Toledo Free Press several days after the Nov. 18 joint session, McColley said he thought the public forum went well.
“I think we were able to properly explain and articulate the reasons why we’re looking to do this. It’s good for the city and the county, and for the elected bodies that represent both to understand what we’re trying to do.
“I don’t know that everybody fully understood what we are trying to do, as well as what our processes are,” Dickens said. “I think the public input, though, has been valuable and very important as far as what we want to see out of this.”
This was the fourth public hearing ODOT has attended for this project; the first was back in 2020. And it might not be the last.
Parents are often very confused on why an antibiotic is not prescribed when their child is clearly ill. Here are the common questions or statements I often hear in my practice:
I took my child to the urgent care/emergency room, and they were diagnosed with a virus but not put on an antibiotic.
My child has a really bad cold. Why will you not prescribe an antibiotic?
The nose is draining green now, so they need an antibiotic.
Can we just give an antibiotic to prevent this turning into a bacterial infection?
So, why are antibiotics prescribed? Antibiotics are given for bacterial illnesses, which include the following: strep throat caused by Group A Streptococcus; walking pneumonia caused mycoplasma pneumoniae; and UTI’s caused by E.coli. These are some of the more common bacterial infections we see in pediatrics, though there are others.
An antibiotic is not effective for an illness caused by a virus. There are multiple different viruses, some of the most common being mononucleosis, RSV, influenza A and B, and COVID.
The majority of the illnesses that children have are caused by viruses. If your child is diagnosed with a viral infection and given an antibiotic, it will not prevent a bacterial infection or resolve the viral infection. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses; antibiotics are given if you have a bacterial infection, not to prevent a bacterial infection.
Another important reason not to give an antibiotic when it is not needed is the prevention of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change and are no longer responsive to antibiotics. This occurs when antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed, therefore allowing the bacteria to change and become less responsive to the antibiotics.
When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, the infections they cause can be difficult or impossible to treat. In some cases, they can even be deadly, according to the National Institute for Health (NIH).
It’s also worth noting that yellow or green mucus in the nose does not mean antibiotics are needed. During a common cold or viral infection, it is normal for mucus from the nose to get thick and to change from clear to yellow or green. Actually, this most often is from a viral infection, which can last for 10-14 days, according to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics).
The symptoms for both a bacterial infection and viral infection can be the same, and in office testing can help us to determine if an antibiotic is needed. For both viral illness and bacterial infections, common symptoms are headaches, cough, runny nose, fevers, sore throats and, at times, body aches, nausea and vomiting.
A simple search indicates that the vast majority of childhood illnesses are caused by viruses, with estimates suggesting that around 80-90 percent of all children’s illnesses are viral in origin, while only 10-20 percent are bacterial. So, if your child has a viral illness, an antibiotic will not be needed or indicated for good evidence-based medicine.
Treatment for viral illnesses include symptomatic care like increasing fluids, using Tylenol and Motrin, cool mist humidifiers and rest.
I hope this has been informational and helpful as we are going into the sick season for children. Have a great holiday season, wash your hands, cover your mouth when coughing, and be safe!
Loud, melodious songs nice respite from our quiet winters
WHITEHOUSE – Winter may be just around the corner, but that doesn’t make much difference to Carolina wrens.
Though they’re not common, this species is here to stay, probably not far from where they nested earlier in the year.
In warmer weather they love to gorge themselves on spiders and insects, but come winter they turn to fruits and berries, as well as visiting backyard feeding stations for peanuts and suet. Look for them, especially if we experience severe winter weather.
Carolinas are large by wren standards, and, in winter months when many birds go silent, they are a notable and welcome exception. If these chunky birds visit your feeders, you could very well have the silent winter landscape interrupted with welcome choruses of their loud and melodious song.
