Officiallyopen—With Florida Hospital staff and members of the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce & Orange City Alliance in attendance Sept. 29, a ribbon is cut to mark the official opening of the Florida Hospital Sleep Center in a professional office park across from Florida Hospital DeLand. In the front row, from left, are Dr. Stephanie Carinci, Dr. Hendrik Dinkla, DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar, Chaplain Beth Grant of Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, Sleep Center manager Marlyn Moir, and DeLand City Manager Michael Pleus. Partially hidden behind Grant is Sleep Center director Debra Allison.
BEACON PHOTO/JOE CREWS
Many people drag through their daily routines, or have trouble falling or staying asleep at night. Or they may snore loudly enough to disturb their partners or others in the household.
These people may not realize they have some form of sleep disorder, but a new Florida Hospital Sleep Center can help diagnose and treat those kinds of problems.
The new facility is at 744 W. Plymouth Ave., in a professional office park across from Florida Hospital DeLand.
“Sleep is not something we [as a society] get enough of,” Florida Hospital DeLand’s chief operating officer, Hector de Jesus, said Sept. 29 at a ribbon-cutting with the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce & Orange City Alliance. “This Sleep Center can help identify sleep-related problems.”
It’s the only hospital-affiliated sleep center in Volusia and Flagler counties, de Jesus said.
The new facility combines a sleep center that used to be on the fourth floor of the hospital, with one that was relocated from Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, said Debra Allison, director of the merged center, which actually opened Sept. 19.
“We moved out of the [DeLand] hospital because we needed more room for inpatients,” Allison said. “This is for outpatients, and it’s not a hospital setting and is more relaxing.”
The center features four hotel-like sleep rooms, where patients will be connected to sensors that measure respiration, heart rate and other vital signs, and movement of limbs and facial features during the course of their overnight study.
Technicians sit in a separate room to monitor readouts on computer screens where they can see what’s going on with the patient during his or her sleep. The results determine what kind of treatment and specialist are appropriate for the particular disorder.
Upon completion of the treatment, patients are referred back to their physician.
For more information or to schedule a study, call 386-943-4777.
SleepCenter’sdreamteam
A multidisciplinary dream team runs the Florida Hospital Sleep Center: Dr. Hendrik Dinkla, a neurologist, is the medical director, while Drs. Stephanie Carinci, also a neurologist, and Albert Razzetti, an internal-medicine specialist, round out the board-certified medical staff. Debra Allison is the director, Marlyn Moir is the manager, and Ann Anderson is the patient navigator.
Sleep-disorderfacts
One in five women, and one in four men, have some kind of sleep disorder.
Sleep disorders can cause all kinds of medical problems, such as cardiovascular issues, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, a lack of healing, or other chronic illnesses.
Common sleep disorders include restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, parasomnia, seizures, grinding of teeth, and other improper sleep patterns.
The average adult needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
- Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com