With 50 years at Willis-Knighton behind him, CEO and President James K. Elrod foresees the best is yet to come for one of the community’s leading health care facilities.

Susan Belanger said her husband’s story with Parkinson’s disease is nothing short of a miracle after the treatment and support they received from numerous local health care professionals.

Just like shopping for a house takes into account your personal wants and needs, so does shopping for medical insurance. Some insurance plans require you to have everything approved and referred by a primary doctor, and some plans only cover a certain host of local providers.

Although it’s wonderful so many are willing to assume that responsibility, it’s also important they take steps to make sure the home is a safe place, said Kerry Mills, co-author with Jennifer Brush of the book “I Care: A Handbook for Care Partners of People With Dementia” (www.

People facing a fatal illness may find their situation made worse by their lack of control and the “poking and prodding” of treatment and testing despite certain knowledge of their advancing fate. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization statistics show that approximately 1.