Medical center opens peri-cardiovascular unit
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
As the administrative director of cardiology at Shawnee Mission Medical Center for the last seven years, Ivan Bartolome is invested in the success of the cardiology department.
So when the hospital recently opened its new peri-cardiovascular unit after nearly two years, Bartolome said he was as proud as a parent to see it completed.
“The hospital has been very generous in terms of giving us the ability to have the capital to do the project,” Bartolome said. “And now that it’s here and it’s operating, it’s almost unbelievable.”
The new unit is part of a $4.4 million project that included the redesign and relocation of a significant portion of the hospital’s cardiovascular facilities. Bartolome said construction began in December 2006, when the cardiac rehabilitation department was moved to one of the medical office buildings on the hospital’s campus.
From there, construction of a third cardiac-catheterization lab began.
Bartolome said the space was sorely needed because of the increasing number of cardiac-catheterization procedures the hospital was performing.
“Last year, we had 2,218 cath-lab cases,” he explained. “And we felt that two cath labs were not going to be able to handle any more volume.”
The project also allowed for a complete redesign of the hospital’s non-invasive cardiology area and an additional eight rooms for pre- and post-catheterization procedures. The rooms are next to the lab, which Bartolome said was important. Previously, patients undergoing such a procedure were carted back and forth between the catheterization lab and a short-stay recovery facility at the hospital before and after surgery.
“It just creates some efficiencies for the patients, so they’re not being pulled from all different parts of the hospital,” Bartolome said of the new unit. “They’re really starting in one area and ending in one area, and it’s all next to each other.”
A catheterization procedure typically involves a cardiologist passing a small, flexible tube through a patient’s heart on either the right or left side. From there, the doctor can do anything from taking blood samples to inserting a stent, helping to ensure consistent blood flow in the heart. Technology at the medical center makes this procedure, which used to require open-heart surgery, far less invasive.
Bartolome said the project was nearing completion.
“There’s just a little bit left to go,” he said. “We have a waiting room left to finish and a bathroom left to finish, but that’s essentially it.
“In terms of the operation of the unit, we’re completely done.”

Lenexa congregation continues spirit of giving this season
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
The true spirit of giving that is supposed to drive this holiday season can get lost amidst packed stores, frustrated shoppers, reams of wrapping paper and piles of presents.
It can be easy to overlook what’s important, to take luxuries like a warm bed and hot water for granted, let alone gifts of any kind.
Stan Nill understands this, and it makes him all the more grateful for the parishioners of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa. As parish life director, part of Nill’s responsibilities during the holiday season are to coordinate donations from his church with various agencies.
Nill said the congregation never failed to come through, especially during the holidays.
“I think our parishioners and our people in this community are pretty grateful for the things that they have,” he said. “And I don’t know that they (donate) because it’s expected of them. It’s part of their Christmas.”
In recent years, Holy Trinity has worked closely with Cindy Muehlberger and the Johnson County Human Services and Aging Department. Muehlberger and the department provide often help those afflicted with a disability or who have limited means. During the holiday season, Muehlberger offers local churches like Holy Trinity the chance to sponsor families and help provide them gifts and necessities they otherwise would not have.
“We would be nowhere without them,” she said of the churches. “Families would not be able to stay in their homes. It’s not just Christmastime; it’s throughout the year that we’re able to help families.”
Nill agreed and said all the churches in the area did their part to help the less fortunate.
“I think all churches probably do their share about reaching out,” he said. Unfortunately, Christmas gifts aren’t the only form of help people need. Some can’t afford to pay their rent or their mortgage, buy groceries or pay their electric bill. That’s where entities like Holy Trinity’s Saint Vincent DePaul Society steps in.
Supported largely by the church’s Knights of Columbus chapter, the Saint Vincent DePaul Society also works closely with Muehlberger. Together, the groups help provide assistance essential to everyday life.
“No questions asked,” said John Smith, the society’s coordinator at Holy Trinity. “We don’t care who they are, what their condition is or why, for whatever reason, they have a problem. We don’t judge at all.”
Smith said they handle as many matters internally as they can, but sometimes the need is bigger than their budget can handle. For example, if an individual would come to Holy Trinity seeking $500 to help pay that month’s rent, Smith would direct him or her to Muehlberger. Her office then would appeal to organizations like the local churches, including Holy Trinity, for a smaller amount, until the $500 total was met.
“(Muehlberger) is probably the busiest person that I can think of in this county, and she does not let anything slip by,” Smith noted. “She will take the time to take care of anybody.”
For the holidays, however, Nill said the people of Holy Trinity were coming through in the clutch as they always did. Last year, he said they filled requests from Muehlberger’s office until two days before Christmas. This year, early interest already has led to seven families being sponsored by Holy Trinity parishioners, with another four church families waiting in the wings to help. It’s a good thing, too, because Muehlberger said she expected to request sponsorship for about 15 families.
In Nill’s experience, these things always work themselves out.
“That’s just kind of the way the Holy Spirit works around here, and it kind of gets taken care of,” he said. “It’s really uplifting.”
For more information on the Johnson County Human Services and Aging Department, visit humanservices-aging.jocogov.org, and for more information on Holy Trinity Catholic Church, visit www.htlenexa.org.

Cooperation among police remains strong
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Sometimes, it’s good to have friends.
The Lenexa Police Department recently called on its fellow law enforcement officers in Shawnee, Overland Park and Leawood to help ensure public safety when one of its officers couldn’t.
It was an example of area police departments’ longstanding cooperation.
Early on Nov. 28, a Lenexa officer recognized a vehicle near College Boulevard and Lackman Road as one he previously had attempted to pull over on a traffic violation. The officer tried to stop the driver again, but the driver instead hit the gas.
The short chase carved a path through rush hour traffic from Lenexa to Overland Park, ending near 105th Terrace and Westgate Road. The driver and one of his two passengers fled, and the officer chased the driver on foot.
“The suspect was running and our guy was not right behind him, but just a little bit of distance behind him,” said Capt. Don Krone of the Lenexa Police Department.
The pursuit ended abruptly when the officer dropped off an unseen retaining wall, which Krone said was approximately 12 feet off the ground. Injuring his knee and no longer able to pursue, the officer requested an ambulance. That’s when the Lenexa police dispatcher put out an “assist the officer” call.
“Upon hearing that, Shawnee sent several cars, Leawood sent cars, and Overland Park sent cars over to help in the search for the suspects,” Krone said.
Capt. Larry Larimore, a member of the Shawnee Police Department for 21 years, said such a response was standard procedure.
“In this case, our dispatchers heard where their officer was and sent any of our available units in that direction,” he explained. “And so pretty much they’re there to help out and get there as soon as possible.”
Police apprehended the suspects a short time later, and the injured officer was treated and released from a local hospital later that day.
Krone and Larimore agreed the proximity of the municipalities in Johnson County made the high level of cooperation between police departments a necessity.
“In this particular case, we share the same borders, we share the same streets, we share the same interstate and state highways,” Krone said. “We absolutely have to (cooperate) because if someone’s on an interstate they’re only going to be in Lenexa on I-35 for a few short minutes.”
Larimore added that the departments had cooperated for as long as he could remember.
“You know, I’ve been around for 21 years and I wouldn’t say that (the level of cooperation has) increased or that it’s gotten better,” Larimore said. “It’s always been this way.”

Student’s invention receives national attention
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Sometimes, good news can come in the strangest of places.
Take for instance, the doctor’s office. Patty Iverson’s daughter, McKenzie, was having her blood pressure taken, when her phone rang. It was a representative from the National Museum of Education calling for McKenzie.
“It was pretty funny,” Patty Iverson said. “I said ‘She’s in a doctor’s appointment,’ and she goes ‘Please, can you just hand her the phone?’”
As it turns out, McKenzie Iverson had been selected as a semi-finalist in the BubbleWrap Competition for Young Inventors, sponsored by the National Museum of Education and Sealed Air. According to a press-release, this year’s competition attracted more than 1400 entries from 39 different states. Entrants are asked to design and employ a creative use for Sealed Air’s “BubbleWrap” brand cushioning.
McKenzie Iverson, who entered the competition as part of a class assignment, said that her entry was inspired by a friend afflicted with a difficult medical condition.
“A friend of mine has muscular dystrophy, and me and my mom were just talking about it, trying to think of something that could help him,” she said.
After sifting through a couple of initial ideas, including a type of wheelchair cushion, the seventh-grade student at Trailridge Middle School settled upon finding a way to help those who find it difficult to speak, as could be the case with someone battling muscular dystrophy, communicate a set of basic needs.
The “Popping Servant” was born.
The original design consisted of a piece of posterboard decorated with colored stars. These stars were covered in BubbleWrap, and a specific need or statement, such as “I feel sick,” was written above each star.
In order to communicate the need, an individual would simply pop the corresponding bubble.
Since being named a semi-finalist, McKenzie Iverson was told by a representative from the competition that she had a chance to spruce things up, and get ready for the next round of judging. Already slated to receive a $500 savings bond, if she should be named one of the competition’s three finalists, she would earn a three-day trip to New York City. The winners will be revealed on National BubbleWrap Appreciation Day on Jan. 28.
Linda McQuain, the teacher who assigned the project, said this wasn’t the first time the school had one of their submissions selected as a semi-finalist. Last year, during the first annual competition, another student achieved that honor as well.
She said she was impressed with the creativity she saw in this year’s crop of inventions and thought that the “Popping Servant” had a great shot at being named a finalist.
Among other things, she felt that a competition like this helped develop her students’ critical thinking skills.
“It kind of makes (the students) extend themselves, and come up with usable inventions to solve problems,” McQuain said.

Middle school band gives the gift of music
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
At the Kansas City Rescue Mission, 1520 Cherry St. in Kansas City, Mo., the holidays can be a time both for joy and sadness.
Though the mission strives to provide hope and purpose to those who may have previously found both in short supply, the KCRM’s clients are often alone, separated from family and friends.
So when members of the Mill Creek Middle School eighth-grade band played a free concert at the mission on Nov. 2, it proved that a little cheer can go a long way.
“The music is just a gentle way to lift their spirits, especially if they’re dealing with depression or the weight of the world is on top of them,” said Greg Sanders, KCRM chaplain.
Mill Creek band director Bob Ball said that the idea to perform at KCRM actually came from Ja’Zan Brecunier, the mother of one of his students. Her church was involved with the KCRM, he said, and she saw an opportunity for the students to do some good.
“I said ‘Absolutely, yes, this would be a wonderful opportunity,’” Ball said. “So between her and I, we got this thing put together and took the kids down. It was a fantastic performance.”
Sanders agreed, and said that there were roughly 150 attendees; a mix between the mission’s clientele and the parents of the 22 band members who performed. He said that musical acts were a regular occurrence at the KCRM, which he thought provided their residents a moment to enjoy a simple pleasure during a tumultuous time in their lives.
“Sitting there, listening to music just kind of gives them the chance to relax, not necessarily to focus on their problems but actually be here and kind of take a breath between their situation,” Sanders said.
Ball said that the band performed a mix of seasonal and popular tunes, and that the students derived a great deal of benefit from the experience. He said it was important to understand how great an impact a simple act of kindness can have on someone in need.
“One of the things that they learned was how much it helped them giving of themselves to help others,” he said. “That whole spirit of giving selflessly of oneself, giving their time, efforts, and talent to others who may not have that in their lives at this moment.”
The concert was such a success that Ball said he had already spoken with one of the mission’s coordinators, in the hopes that Mill Creek might bring a jazz band to perform sometime during the Spring. He said that the De Soto School District did an excellent job of making these performances possible.
“With the push towards ‘No Child Left Behind’ in academics, sometimes fine arts get kind of left out,” Ball said. “But here in the De Soto district there’s a huge push for support in the fine arts, because I believe they understand the importance of a well-balanced education.”

City completes 2030 forums with Lenexa residents, next step is task forces
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Since its inception, Vision 2030 has been touted by the city as a community-driven process; a way for the citizens of Lenexa to have a direct hand in plotting the course for the city’s future.
To that end, the city hosted community forums on Nov. 27 and 29, open to anyone who cared to voice their opinion on the issues relevant to Lenexa in the coming years.
Craig Denny, co-chair of the Vision 2030 project, said that the forums were a great success, and thought that the approximately 50 residents who attended on each night represented an accurate cross-section of the Lenexa community.
“I thought we had a pretty diverse group,” he said. “It’s probably not 100 percent diverse, but it certainly, I think, represents Lenexa.”
Danny Neely is a sophomore at Shawnee Mission West High School, and at just shy of 16 was the youngest resident in attendance. He said that he would like to see more involvement from his age group because the decisions made by this Vision 2030 committee would ultimately affect them well into their adulthood.
“I’d like to see (more involvement) because the people who are in high school, and even a little bit younger now, are the people who are really gonna see the results and the outcome of the whole process,” Neely said.
Denny thought the forums were valuable in part because they helped the individuals at the city involved in the early stages of the process, such as himself, co-chair Mandy Stuke and assistant city administrator Molly Deckert, confirm their opinions about what residents thought were critical issues for Lenexa.
“I think this process was very helpful in helping us center on ‘What are the issues that we, as a community, ought to be talking about?’” Denny said. “Where do we have to get our issue task forces centered, and let them do their work?”
Some of those issues included transportation, both within Lenexa and to the other areas of the metro region, housing, and education. Denny said that the next step would be to sift through the numerous applications submitted by citizens looking to become part of the steering committee, and have that group chosen by the end of the month. From there, task forces will be assigned to each issue upon which the steering committee decides to focus.
Neely said that he wasn’t sure if he was going to apply for a spot on the steering committee, but that attending the forums, at least, was worthwhile .
“I liked the way the whole thing went, and I think they ran the presentation very well,” he said. “It’s just nice to know that what you have to say matters.”

Coach: Team is a work in progress
Garth Sears | Special to the Lenexa Centennial
The Shawnee Mission Northwest girls basketball program expects to have a junior and two sophomores start on varsity this year. That says a lot.
Cougars coach John Reiff has two seniors, Julia Valentine and Becca Medis, leading a young team with junior Alicia Watson and sophomores Haylee Allen and Sydney Jones.
“We’re a work in progress this year,” Reiff said.
They certainly are younger. Reiff said this year’s squad is a first for him in that regard.
“I’ve been a head coach for 21 years around different programs, and this is the first time I’ve ever had no varsity returners,” he said.
Reiff said he is returning players with a total of 10 varsity points from last year’s scoring.
While SM Northwest is younger, Reiff still expects some positive things from his team.
“We’re faster this year; we do have a lot of speed,” he said. “We’ll have to use the speed to get to the bucket.”
On a team that went 9-10 last year, some new blood isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“We’ll have to be patient enough to control the game,” Reiff said.
That will be key if the Cougars are able to stifle their inexperience and pull out some wins.

Girls look toward next step
Garth Sears | Special to the Lenexa Centennial
The St. James girls went 10-11 last year — no small task for only sophomores and freshmen.
The Thunder returns every starter, and coach Greg Hohensinner said that’s how he will build his program.
“It takes talent and girls who really want to work hard for three and a half months to continue to build a program,” he said. “We want those girls to play for four years. That’s a challenge in itself.”
Hohensinner acknowledged that his team’s record last year was a pleasant surprise for him. But now that the girls have proved they can compete, St. James is looking for a successful year.
“The girls came ready to start to work,” he said. “The upperclassmen know that when they step onto the floor, to achieve what they want to they have to work every day. We joke and have fun, but at the same time you have to work hard to achieve success.”
The girls lost in the first round of substate last year.
“It’s hard to contend against other 4A and 5A schools with just sophomores and juniors,” Hohensinner said. “But we’re in a building process. They work really, really hard. They don’t let anything get in their way.”
Hohensinner isn’t looking at the numbers this year. He simply demands better play and harder work.
“I expect to see progress,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean in wins and losses. That means seeing the program get better and better. We look at everything at the end of the year — the wins and losses as well as the young ladies growing from one year to the next.”

Boys team returns every starter
Five names come out of coach Andy Tylicki’s mouth: Joe Kelling, Jordan Bichelmeyer, Mike Huppe, Kevin Lysaught and Anthony Smith.
Those are the five returning starters for the St. James boys basketball program.
“We’re hoping to build on what we had last year,” Tylicki said. “That’s always a really good thing when you can have five returning starters.”
The team went 9-11 last season and is in only its second year of varsity competition.
“I think last year we focused on it being a three-year process, but now we expect to compete at the highest level and expect to go get wins,” Tylicki said. “I think we’ll compete every night we go out and play.”
They will use their year of experience and take their mediocre record and expect bigger things this go around.
“Coming into this year, it’s very nice to have a year of experience under our belt,” Tylicki said. “We’re hoping to build on what we had last year. We’re a year older, a year stronger, a year faster.”
Tylicki mentioned defense as a strength he’s looking forward to honing while the Thunder works on developing offense.
“Our kids work very hard and put in the time,” he said. “We’re learning to play five guys as one on the defensive side of things. The defensive side of basketball is what is going to make us better.”
One disadvantage — especially in a school without seniors — is lack of interior strength.
“They’re just not seniors, and we’re playing against a lot of seniors,” Tylicki said. “The physical nature of the game of basketball is going to be a challenge for us this year. We’re hoping our experiences and our ability to practice hard every day will make us a stronger team.”