The celebration of our 25th anniversary continues, and we are excited to hear so many people telling us that they have seen our commercials on Comcast. This is our first ever major marketing campaign on cable TV. You can see our ads on ESPN, CNN, Headline News, The Weather Channel, History Channel and TNT to name a few. Keep a look out for us while you are channel surfing.

We welcome feedback on topics that you might have a special interest in, or any other question that you may have. Please email us at news@essmc.com and we will get right back to you. Enjoy this edition, and don’t forget the quiz.

Perfect Attendance Award

Congratulations to Judith Murray from our Monroeville office who won the Perfect Attendance Award for the weeks surrounding the Labor Day Holiday. Throughout the entire practice we had over 150 patients qualify by scheduling and keeping ALL of their appointment the week before and the week of the holiday. Judith was randomly selected and won a $100 gift certificate to a restaurant of her choice.

Wagner House Golf Classic

For the 10th consecutive year, ESSMC has been a lead sponsor of this outing held in August at Edgewood Country Club.  Wagner House , located in Penn Hills, is a non-profit organization that provides child care services for at-risk children. The majority of the care makes it possible for single parents to remain in school to complete their education. This year the outing raises over $10,000!

Jonathan Houy Golf Outing

We are proud to be a sponsor of this special outing, held earlier this month at Grandview Golf Club. Jonathan was a patient of ours when he was battling cancer several years ago, and was always a joy to be around. This memorial outing raises money for cancer research. Our congratulation to the Houy family and the committee for putting on a wonderful, fun-filled day of golf and fellowship.

Important Insurance Reminders

As was reported this week in the Post-Gazette, metro Pittsburgh ranks 2nd (behind only Boston) for the percentage of people insured. We have 92% of the population insured as compared to the national average of 85%.

We urge patients to be good advocates for their healthcare and to have a good understanding of the insurance plan provisions. One of the most significant points to remember is that you ALWAYS have a choice of providers for any service that you need. More often than we would like, we hear that patients are being directed away from our practice by physician groups owned by UPMC. Be aware of this and insist on choosing our practice especially if you have had a successful result in the past.  

Co-Pay difficulties?

If you or someone you know is in need of our service, but is hesitating to schedule because of rising co-pays or other issues, please call the office and discuss the matter with our staff. We DO have options for you. Your conversation will be held in the strictest confidence.

We have helped our group of participants lose over 356 pounds in 9 months!

Join us for an informational meeting on Healthpointe
Monday, September 28th at 7pm
in our Murrysville office to be part of our wellness initiative to help
patients stay healthy and avoid injury,

We continue to promote fitness and wellness as an adjunct to the traditional physical therapy interventions that we have had success with.

Please pre-register by calling, 412-399-3499 or by emailing us at MNovic@hotmail.com

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Joe Vargo takes a break from the rigors of air traffic control at St. Louis airport to enjoy some R&R with the Vargo’s in sunny Florida. Joe is caught dreaming of finding his Cinderella at the Magic Kingdom. Good luck Joe. Keep those planes flying and all the little blips on the screen in the right order!

Cancer prevention is everyone’s business. John’s Hopkins University is a leader in cancer research, and they recently published a newsletter detailing very practical ways for people to prevent cancer. The article is posted on the What’s New page of our web site. Please share this with as many people as you can. Now for the quiz:

Please indicate which TWO statements are true:

1. A strong immune system can fight cancer cells from growing in our bodies.
2. It is OK to put plastic bottles in the freezer.  
3.  Green tea is a good beverage and has cancer fighting properties.