Martin Memorial Health Systems, which owns two hospitals in Martin County, has been recertified as a primary stroke center.

The non-profit health organization first received its certification two years ago from The Joint Commission, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that ensures hospitals meet national standards and performance measures.

The certification applies to both hospitals and an emergency clinic in St. Lucie West.

The commission’s certification program was developed with the help of the American Stroke Association.

Liberator Medical Holdings, Inc., of Stuart, added two well-known members to its board of directors.

They are: Joseph Farish, a West Palm Beach lawyer and former judge, and Robert Cuillo, a former West Palm Beach car dealer and restaurateur.

Farish was involved in several high-profile cases, including the 1982 divorce of Roxanne Pulitzer. Cuillo owned Palm Beach Lincoln Mercury in West Palm Beach and currently owns or co-owns two restaurants in Palm Beach County.

Liberator Medical Supply Inc., a subsidiary of Liberator Medical Holdings, sells more than 5,000 products to Medicare-eligible patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

STUART — A maintenance employee who was fired earlier this year is suing the Martin County School District, saying Superintendent Nancy Kline retaliated against him and other employees after her husband was denied a building official job there.

Javier Suarez, a maintenance manager, was one of two employees fired.

Kline recommended in March that Suarez and Larry Stonecipher, a mechanical specialist, be terminated after an internal investigation found they weren’t following school board policies related to bidding, purchasing and contracting. Their supervisor later resigned.

The school board OK’d the moves. (more…)

STUART — It may go down as the worst year in the history of the Martin County School District.

A year so bad that elected officials are loathe to recall its events, let alone try to explain them.

This is a year, after all, in which school board members wouldn’t allow Superintendent Nancy Kline to speak during their meetings unless spoken to. In which the board’s attorney accused Kline of having public records removed from his computer after hours. In which a staff member filed a harassment complaint against the entire board.

One teacher called it the “worst case of adult dysfunction” ever.

Even Kline, who would prefer to look on the bright side, is hard-pressed to explain: “I’m not suggesting that anything about this is normal,” she said.

Since Kline took office in November 2008 as the county’s independently elected schools superintendent, public squabbles have become all too common. The A-rated school system, a long-standing point of pride for its academic and athletic excellence, has seen its day-to-day operations stymied by a power struggle among elected officials.

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FORT PIERCE — An intoxicated man who swore at a pastor conducting his service Wednesday evening was taken to jail, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.

A deputy was called at 7:48 p.m. to Midway Baptist Church and encountered Dexter James Scott, 44, “who was outside of the church yelling at the pastor calling him a ‘stupid (expletive),’ ” the affidavit states.

The pastor was conducting his service inside the church, situated in the 1100 block of West Midway Road.
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STUART — An online neighborhood Web site is including the city of Stuart in its top 20 list of best places to retire.

NeighborhoodScout.com ranked the city No. 18 in the nation on a list of 20 cities where people can retire for less than $150,000.

The rankings were posted on the popular Web search engine AOL.com.

Corpus Christi, Texas is No. 1 on the list.
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STUART — Voters deciding this year’s race for the Stuart City Commission Group II seat will choose between a political newcomer promising fresh ideas and an incumbent with some 20 years of commission experience.

Jeffrey Callahan, a Martin County marine safety officer/emergency medical technician entered the political arena this year to challenge incumbent Jeffrey Krauskopf, who will be seeking his 13th term as a city commissioner.

Voters head to the polls for this year’s general election Tuesday, but early voting and mail-in ballots already have been cast. Early voting for city residents continues until 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Martin County Supervisor of Elections Office, 135 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Stuart.
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STUART — A Stuart woman was killed Thursday night as she was attempting to cross the southbound lanes of U.S. 1 in the 1700 block of Northwest Federal Highway.

Stuart police report Martha Clearwater, 42, was airlifted to Lawnwood Medical Center in Fort Pierce with severe injuries following the 7:15 p.m. accident and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
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Five years ago, Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. announced plans to close its Stuart plant, a move that would have ended more than 50 years of history at Witham Field.

Now, the Dallas-based airline parts manufacturer calls Stuart a success
story. The plant has won more company awards than any other site. It just announced its second major expansion in two years, and Vought¹s chief executive officer says Stuart “has offset” some of the company¹s losses with the downturn of the economy.

So how did the Stuart plant come back from the brink? (more…)

For Martin County’s largest employer, the seventh time is the charm.
Martin Memorial Health Systems learned last week that after seven years of trying it has been given a prestigious national title: Employer of Choice.

“This is a tremendous achievement,” said Dr. George Rittersbach Jr., chairman of the board of directors for Martin Memorial Health Systems, which owns two hospitals and numerous clinics on the Treasure Coast.

Martin Memorial is one of four Florida health care organizations to earn the designation. The others are Orlando Health, Lee Memorial Health System in Cape Coral and Baptist Health Care in Pensacola.
Martin Memorial got the award last week during a ceremony with about 90 employees at the Robert and Carol Weissman Cancer Center in Stuart. (more…)