[caption id="attachment_29968" align="aligncenter" width="1731"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SChreffler-Will-NP-Provider-Directory-Photo.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-29968"><img class="size-full wp-image-29968" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SChreffler-Will-NP-Provider-Directory-Photo.jpg" alt="William Schreffler, NP-C" width="1731" height="1800" /></a> William Schreffler, NP-C[/caption]

<b>Schreffler joins BMH </b><b>Orthopaedic Specialists </b>

William Schreffler, NP-C, formerly a Beaufort Memorial perioperative nurse, has returned to the hospital after earning his master’s degree and certification as a family nurse practitioner. He began working this month with board-certified orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Jones at Beaufort Memorial Orthopaedic Specialists.

A graduate of East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, Schreffler brings 10 years of operating room experience to his new job. He worked for three years as a perioperative nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, N.C., before joining the staff at BMH in 2009.

Two years ago, he left the hospital to pursue family nurse practitioner studies at Frontier Nursing University in Kentucky. Schreffler graduated from the program this April with a GPA of 3.9. As part of his clinicals, he worked at Carolina East Medical Center and Craven County Health Department in New Bern, N.C. He also did a stint with Pizer Family Practice in Otway, N.C. Most recently, he served as a traveling perioperative nurse at Haywood County Regional in Clyde, N.C.

Beaufort Memorial Orthopaedic Specialists is located at 1251 Ribaut Road in Beaufort. Jones and Schreffler also see patients in Bluffton at Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Medical Services at 11 Arley Way in Westbury Park.

To make an appointment with the practice, call 843-524-3015.

<b>Collins Construction </b><b>to renovate birth center</b>

Collins Construction has been chosen to renovate Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s Birthing Center. This project will include the labor and delivery rooms including a waiting room addition. It is scheduled to be completed in 18 months.

Collins Construction has been in business since 1992 and was purchased by Morgan in 2009. Services include design, renovation, and new construction for industrial, commercial, residential, education and healthcare.

Local projects have included the Roundhouse Museum, Armstrong Atlantic State University and projects for the Georgia Ports Authority. Visit www.collinsconstructioninc.com.

<b>Diabetes management </b><b>classes being offered</b>

A free diabetes self-management education program for seniors will be held starting Thursday, Oct. 6, at St. John’s Lutheran Church at 157 Lady’s Island Drive. The five-week class, presented by the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence, a part of the Atlantic Quality Innovation Network, will cover a variety of topics that will help participants better manage their diabetes and pre-diabetes. To register and for more information, call 800-922-3089, ext. 7585.

<b>State gets grant to address overdoses </b>

The S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services has received a federal grant totaling $3,192,772 to reduce the number of prescription drug/opioid overdose-related deaths and adverse events in the state.

South Carolina is one of 12 states to receive funding through the five-year grant, which was awarded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Through the new South Carolina Overdose Prevention Project, first responders and opioid use disorder patients and their family members will be trained to recognize an opioid overdose and to administer naloxone when overdose occurs.  The development of a statewide distribution system will make naloxone available and easily accessible to trained first responders and to at-risk citizens, regardless of their ability to pay for the medication.