Ascension Sacred Heart’s Parkinson’s Disease (PD) support group and JaxHope will be hosting Rockin’ with PD on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Bayview Senior Center, 2000 E. Lloyd St. in Pensacola. This free event for individuals who have been diagnosed with PD will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes lunch.
Ascension Sacred Heart is partnering with JaxHope, a PD advocacy group based in Jacksonville, Fla. JaxHope provides education, resources and services to families living with PD.
Speakers include:
- Greg Ritscher, author of “Rising Above Parkinson’s,” who will share his powerful message of hope as a person living with PD.
- Pat Bautz, drummer with the band Three Dog Night, who will share his experience of living with PD and undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation, an established treatment for people with PD, essential tremor and dystonia.
- Dr. Deborah Boland, an Ascension Medical Group Sacred Heart neurologist who specializes in movement disorders at the Advanced Brain and Spine Institute at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola. Dr. Boland also serves as the director of the Deep Brain Stimulation clinic at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola.
“We are excited to be part of this outreach to people living with Parkinson’s Disease, and there’s a rumor that there may be a surprise performance at our event,” said Juan Suarez, a speech pathologist with Ascension Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Services and coordinator of the PD support group. “Parkinson’s Disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease. Nearly one million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s. This figure is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030.”
In addition to this in-person event, the program will be broadcast live online via Zoom. To sign up for the in-person event or the online broadcast, please contact Alaine Keebaugh, 770-356-6410, or Juan Suarez, 850-746-4901.
About Ascension Sacred Heart
Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast includes Ascension Sacred Heart based in Pensacola, Florida, Ascension St. Vincent’s based in Jacksonville, Florida, and Ascension Providence in Mobile, Alabama. Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast operates ten hospitals and more than 200 other sites of care, employing more than 13,000 associates. Across the region, Ascension Providence, Ascension Sacred Heart and Ascension St. Vincent’s have served North Florida and South Alabama communities for more than 165 years. In fiscal year 2022, Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast provided more than $265 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty. Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As one of the leading non-profit and Catholic health systems in the U.S., Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension operates more than 2,600 sites of care – including 139 hospitals in 19 states – while providing a variety of services including clinical operations, venture capital investing, investment management, biomedical engineering, facilities management, risk management, and contracting through Ascension’s own group purchasing organization. Visit www.ascension.org.
