Helping doctors in Kenya help others
Dr. Parag V. Patel knows that the cost of a $150 stethoscope can equal an entire month's wage for a new physician in Kenya.
Patel, who serves as director of the cardiac care unit and cardiology fellowship program at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, wants to ease that burden for doctors in his native Kenya.
And he wants your help.
He recently sent 10 EKG (electriocardiogram) machines, 16 dialysis machines and other medical supplies to Kenya -- enough to fill two big shipping containers.
His organization, Afya, which means health in Swahili, is an international non-governmental organization that works to provide durable medical equipment, medical education, training and resources to improve the quality and accessibility of health care in developing countries.
Patel will visit Kenya Feb. 15 to train staff to implant pacemakers, stents and use stress-test machines, monitors and EKG machines. He also hopes to train physicians to implant the first implantable cardiodefibrillator, or ICD, in East Africa.
Patel is looking for donations to help offset shipping expenses to Kenya (about $14,000).
He can be reached at paragvpatel@comcast.net.
Village wonderland: Elk Grove Village will turn into a Winter Wonderland starting this weekend.
Elk Grove Park District will welcome Santa Claus for its annual Winter Wonderland event outdoors at the Pavilion Gazebo, 1000 Wellington Ave.
Enjoy the holiday trees, absorb the lights and visit Santa and Mrs. Claus.
While the Winter Wonderland will continue through Jan. 2, Santa will only make a jolly appearance from 5 to 8 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.
Capturing the Santa visit with a photo will cost $3.
Pets will get to join in the fun, too. They are welcome from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday. And they can get a picture taken with Santa for $3.
For information, call Debbie at (847) 690-1184.
In/out: It's either in the budget or not, right? Don't count on it being that simple in Des Plaines.
There are countless line items listed in the city's proposed budget, including one setting aside $8 million for land in the Five Corners taxing district.
Still, some city officials kept insisting that it really wasn't in the budget. By the time it got to the full council last week, the Five Corners expenditure had been reduced to $3.5 million.
Even as aldermen decided last week to remove the $3.5 million from the proposed budget, there still seemed to be some confusion regarding whether it really was in the budget.
Well, the latest memo from city hall seems to settle the disagreement.
By removing the $3.5 million, the proposed $129.1 million spending plan is reduced to $125.6 million, Finance Director Bob Simpson said in the Dec. 7 memo.
Until next year: Due to our end-of-the-year retrospectives, my column will be on hiatus for three weeks. So, enjoy the holidays -- and see you next year.