Page 30 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch November 29, 2013 Regional Digest Homeless Event Set For Berlin Dec. 4 BERLIN – The Worcester County Homeless Committee will host a Community Resource Day for homeless people or people at risk of homelessness from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Dec. 4 at Stevenson United Methodist Church in Berlin. The Community Resource Day is an opportunity for people to have one-on-one time with groups that provide services such as housing, counseling, treatment and health care. The church’s Spirit Kitchen will be open and offered that day. People attending the event will also have access to personal hygiene products such as soap and toothpaste that are not normally provided at food pantries. Atlantic General Hospital will be on hand to provide free flu shots. Donations are needed for the success of the event. Local businesses and individuals are encouraged to donate personal hygiene products, especially individually rolled toilet paper, paper towels, diapers and baby wipes. The items will be distributed at the Community Resource Day in December and at future Community Resource Days throughout the winter. Monetary donations are also accepted. To donate or for more information about donations, contact Melanie Windsor with Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services Inc. at 410-641-4598 or Jennifer LaMade with Worcester County Health Department at 410-632-1100, ext. 1154. City Department Raises Money For WSW Chapter Members of the Salisbury Fire Department presented the proceeds of a recent fundraising campaign to Women Supporting Women officials at this week’s Salisbury City Council meeting. Photo by Joanne Shriner By JOANNE SHRINER STAFF WRITER Bike Registration Open OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Police Department is offering a bicycle registration program for all residents of the resort. All riders and owners are encouraged to register their bicycles, scooters and mopeds as a deterrent to crime and to promote safety and accountability of these valuable items. The registration program is free of charge and all registration information is stored electronically for future reference. Unfortunately, bicycles are sometimes lost by young children or stolen. Stolen bicycles, mopeds and scooters are most often used only on a temporary basis and abandoned after a short period of time. Each year, the Ocean City Police Department receives numerous calls concerning abandoned bicycles, mopeds and scooters or officers find them while on patrol. The items are taken into the custody of the department for safe keeping and later turned over to the Property Section for disposition. In order to help identify the rightful owner, the department SEE NEXT PAGE SALISBURY – On the heels of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Salisbury Fire Department presented a check to Women Supporting Women superseding prior year donations. “This is year three of our efforts to support Women Supporting Women and breast cancer awareness, and this is our biggest year to date. We hope that is a trend that keeps moving forward,” Fire Chief Rick Hoppes said. Fire Department employees returned to Council Chambers this year wearing pink Salisbury Fire Department T-shirts, which were sold as part of the fundraiser. As in past years, the fire department also hosted a corn hole tournament where every department of the city was represented and participated. “This is a very special time that we get to commemorate the efforts not only of the Fire Department but of all of the city and our city employees who supported such a wonderful charity, and a wonderful cause of Women Supporting Women and breast cancer awareness,” Hoppes said. “It is not just the Fire Department that should be here, but we could have all the city employees lined up here and give them the same amount of recognition … we appreciate all of the leadership from the department’s heads and the participation from all of our peers in public service.” Hoppes identified Firefighter/Paramedic Aaron Colegrove, Firefighter/Paramedic Chris Truitt and Assistant Fire Chief Darrin Scott as those who spearheaded the fundraising initiative. “It has grown tremendous over the past three years. We raised $800 in the first year and two years later we are up to over $3,000,” Colegrove said. This year, the Fire Department raised $3,135 for Women Supporting Women local services. Last year, the department set a goal of $1,500 and exceeded that by raising $2,235. Women Supporting Women is a grass-roots local non-profit organization which was founded in 1993 by three area women, Harriette Fine, Carol Prager and Sue Revelle. They started the group out of their homes after discovering the need to help women through their journey with breast cancer. It has since grown to serve the entire Delmarva Peninsula, and currently has offices in Salisbury, Ocean City and Crisfield, with an additional support group in Cambridge. Women Supporting Women offers information tote bags for the newly diagnosed and their significant others, chemotherapy, radiation, recurrence, and for the children of survivors. The organization also offers postsurgery comfort “piglet” pillows that are soft under-arm support for postsurgery comfort, as well as a lift chair loaner program, which are automatic recliners for those recovering from double-mastectomies. Other free services provided are private and confidential mentoring by an individual matched in age and circumstances, support group meetings led by a licensed facilitator in several locations monthly, a monthly newsletter for both survivors and supporters, education materials for speeches, seminars, and health fairs, a lending library with over 500 supportive books and movies, and free wigs, hats and scarves to survivors of all types of cancer. For more information on Women Supporting Women visit www.womensupportingwomen.org or their Facebook page. There are also offices located Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset, and Dorchester counties. “It is our intent with the grace God given to us that we can participate in this year after year as fun as it has been to participate in, and it is such a worthy cause, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to support them,” Hoppes concluded. Salisbury Periodontist To Pay $340K In Damages By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR SALISBURY – Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler last week announced the state had reached an with a Salisbury periodontist requiring him to pay $340,000 in civil damages to Medicaid for making false claims to the insurance provider. Gansler announced the state’s agreement with Stewart Perim, D.D.S., of Salisbury, requires him to repay the Medicaid program $340,000 in civil damages for making false claims over a period of about five years. The investigation showed Perim, a board-certified periodontist who specializes in orthodontics, billed the Medicaid program for services that were not rendered including bite adjustments, fillings and appointments for office visits. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General conducted a five-year investigation into Perim’s practice in Salisbury after inconsistencies were revealed. The investigation conducted by the MFCU included numerous interviews with Perim’s former patients and staff as well as consultations with a variety of dental experts. Under the terms of the settlement, Perim will no longer be a provider in the Maryland Medicaid program as of Jan. 1, 2014. “The outcome of this lengthy investigation was worth the wait for Maryland taxpayers,” said Gansler. “Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit will hold accountable medical professionals who try to cheat the system.”