MEDFORD, Ore. — Many women are reacting to the news that a Hollywood icon has undergone a double mastectomy in the hopes of preventing breast cancer.

Dr. Margo Herron is the only female plastic surgeon in the Rogue Valley and practices at the Elizabeth Institute of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Ashland. She shares her insights on breast cancer and mastectomies in the video above.

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie announced that she carries the BRCA1 gene, which puts her at an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer.

Jolie says the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy, but did it to reduce the likelihood of developing cancer. The Oscar-winning actress had both breasts removed in February, and has since had reconstructive surgery.

The globe-trotting philanthropist hopes her going public will inspire other women to get tested for the cancer causing BRCA1 gene.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Running a marathon is a challenge for the average person, but for one local woman it will mean even more. That’s because just months ago, Rocio Mendoza suffered a stroke.

The 25-year-old is also a nurse at Providence Medford Medical Center. She says she suffered a stroke in September after a run. She describes being out of breath and being thirsty, but it wasn’t until her aunt and boyfriend pointed out her symptoms that she realized she was having a stroke.

“Your brain’s telling you, ‘open the door, lift your leg, walk…’ But you can’t walk. Something you don’t even think about, just going through your day, you don’t think about telling your feet to walk, ‘Move your leg, come on!’” said Mendoza.

Mendoza’s family rushed her to the hospital, which doctors say is exactly what you’re supposed to do if you start to see stroke symptoms. Due to that quick action, Mendoza has most of her abilities back, including her ability to run. She will run her first half-marathon later this month.

For more information on what you should do if you notice stroke symptoms, click here.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Providence Medford Medical Center made the switch to “EPIC” electronic health records over the weekend, which means all three major hospitals in the Rogue Valley use the same system.

Clinics within the Providence health system made the switch to “EPIC” last fall, and now the transition is complete in the Rogue Valley with Providence Medford Medical Center on board.

The hospital was previously using electronic health records, however, different systems were used in different parts of the hospital complicating communication. Now, they’re all under one umbrella and officials say the seamless communication has several benefits.

“So, it reduces our operating costs, it standardizes the care, it allows us to adopt best practice, not only locally, but across all of our hospitals in the Pacific Northwest,” explained Brian Herwig, the Chief Operating Officer at Providence.

Officials say it also eliminates duplicate forms and helps eliminate the possibility of human error.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Asante has been using the all-computerized record-keeping system, called “EPIC”, for three weeks now. The hospital says the children being born into the system will have few paper records.

For some, letting go of paper medical records and switching to all-electronic is slow going, but for others that’s all they’ll ever know.

Baby Trevor Siler arrived just as Asante Three Rivers Medical Center made the switch to EPIC. That makes him Southern Oregon’s first baby to have all-electronic records. Trevor’s mom, Jessica, says the electronic records have already made her job as mom easier.

“We had blood work done early one morning, and by the time we had his doctor appointment, his doctor across town had his blood work and was able to have it has his appointment,” said Jessica.

The hospital says that’s one of the benefits of EPIC, preventing delays with instant information updated in the system.

“Everyone can look at the record no matter where they are, other departments, other nurses, everyone can look at the record and see a complete record, and it’s up to date,” explained Linda Torres, with Three Rivers Medical Center.

The system is even available outside of the hospital in doctor’s offices like Women’s Health Center that don’t use EPIC.

“I delivered her baby, but she’s the patient of one of my partners. My partner was able to download the delivery summary, which is typed and legible and then he uses it in the office,” said Dr. Felicia Cohen, an OB/GYN at the Women’s Health Center.

With only three weeks of health history, baby Trevor’s is all there and will grow with him.

“He’s going to have a very clean record of what his immunization records are, what kind of tests he’s had, what types of labs have been drawn,” explained Dr. Cohen.

Asante made the switch to all electronic records on April 6th. Providence Medford Medical Center switched on Saturday.

MEDFORD, Ore. — A local doctor performed a specific type of heart surgery in Medford for the first time in the state.

When you hear the words ‘open heart surgery’, you’re heart might drop, but now a surgeon at Rogue Regional Medical Center says stopping a heart and cracking open a chest for surgery is no longer a must – thanks to a specific surgery called the Lariat technique.

Paul Dean is a handy man. He’s on the clock nearly full time.

“I work at least four or five days a week, sometimes six,” he said.

In February, he took some time off, following doctor’s orders. Dean is the first patient in Oregon to receive the lariat procedure. He says its been awhile since he’s been first in anything.

“I used to be a fast runner when I was in high school when I was a kid, a long time ago,” said Dean.

Dean has internal bleeding risks, so he can’t take blood thinners. He’s among 3 million Americans who have atrial fibrillation.

“When you’re in atrial fibrillation, the top chambers of the heart are not beating and squeezing. They’re fibrulating at about 300 to 500 beats per minute,” explained Dr. Pena.

It’s the most common form of an irregular heart rhythm, but there are other symptoms.

“Some people just feel shortness of breath, some people pass out, some people feel light headed, and some people just feel weak,” Dr. Pena said.

Those symptoms cause clots to form in the part of your heart called the atrial appendage. So, Dr. Pena performed an operation to take away that part of Dean’s heart, because he’ll be better off without it. Using magnetic wires inserted through a tube in dean’s chest, Dr. Pena cut off circulation to the atrial appendage. The surgery took two hours and Dean went home the next day. Now, more than a month later he’s back to work.

“I’ve actually gotta put a safe in for somebody tomorrow and then I think I do something in the afternoon, so I’ve got a busy day scheduled tomorrow,” said Dean.

The recovery time is incredible. Dean stayed in the hospital overnight and left the next day. He’ll remain on blood thinners until his surgery’s three month anniversary. Eventually, that part of his heart that no longer has circulation will just disappear and there’s no risk living without it.

The order overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17.

The FDA said it couldn’t comment on an ongoing legal matter. But the U.S. Justice Department indicated an appeal of the ruling was under consideration. “The Department of Justice is reviewing the appellate options and expects to act promptly,” department spokeswoman Allison Price said.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended last year that oral contraceptives be sold over the counter in an effort to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the United States. Opponents of prescription requirements say prescriptions can delay access to the drug.

In 2011, Teva Women’s Health Inc., maker of Plan B One-Step, had asked the FDA to make the drug available without prescription to all sexually active girls and women. Sebelius overruled the FDA’s recommendation, saying, “I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application.”

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman said in his order, “The decisions of the Secretary with respect to Plan B One-Step and that of the FDA with respect to the Citizen Petition, which it had no choice but to deny, were arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

Friday’s order came in response to a lawsuit launched by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The group was seeking to expand access to all brands of the morning-after pill over the counter, such as Plan B One-Step and Next Choice, so that women of all ages would be able to purchase them without a prescription.

“Today science has finally prevailed over politics,” Nancy Northup, the center’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “This landmark court decision has struck a huge blow to the deep-seated discrimination that has for too long denied women access to a full range of safe and effective birth control methods.”

In a press briefing, Northup said that according to the order, within 30 days, the pill would be available over the counter without “point of sale restrictions,” such as needing to show identification or being a certain age.

There may be other settings besides drugstores where the morning-after pill will be sold, Susan Wood, associate professor at the George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services, told reporters.

“We no longer have to find, on a Sunday morning or a Saturday night, an open pharmacy counter with a pharmacist on duty,” she said.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine also supported the decision, applauding the stance that “science should guide policy.”

But other groups, including the Family Research Council, expressed concerns about the order.

“There is a real danger that Plan B may be given to young girls, under coercion or without their consent. The involvement of parents and medical professionals act as a safeguard for these young girls. However, today’s ruling removes these common-sense protections,” Anna Higgins, director of the organization’s Center for Human Dignity, said in a statement.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights also disagreed with the ruling, citing what he sees as a “contempt shown for parental rights.”

“A 12-year-old girl in a New York City school cannot be given an aspirin by her teacher, even if she has a fever. The same girl cannot buy a large soda during lunchtime because Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decreed that it is not good for her. But she can be given a pill, unbeknownst to her parents, that could arguably abort her baby,” he said in a statement.

The FDA approved Plan B in 1999. The key ingredient in Plan B is a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel.

This drug stops an egg from being released from the ovary, or preventing fertilization of the egg by sperm.

If there has been fertilization, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from embedding in the uterus. But if the egg has already been implanted in the uterus, the morning-after pill will not work.

Emergency contraceptives are intended for use within 72 hours after sex but are most effective if taken within 24 hours.

Many developed countries require a prescription for oral contraceptives, including Canada and most of Europe, but other countries sell the pill without a prescription even formally or informally.

A 2012 study in the journal Pediatrics found that there is misinformation about emergency contraception, including about what age women can obtain it without a prescription, and who can take it in general.

As far as pricing, the morning-after pill goes for about $50, said Susannah Baruch, interim president and CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project.

MEDFORD, Ore. — The workers at Asante hospitals aren’t only taking care of their patients, they’re also watching their own health; that’s why Asante is being recognized for having a fit-friendly work site.

Berl Gilworth works at Rogue Regional Medical Center and has for the past 11 years. Last summer, she took took part in Asante’s leadership walks, getting employees and leaders out walking.

Setting up walking paths isn’t the only thing Asante is doing for its employees. It’s also doing things like offering smoking cessation programs and creating challenges. It’s those kind of challenges and programs, along with biometric screenings and cooking demos, that is giving Asante hospitals some recognition.

The American Heart Association is giving the company “The Fit Friendly Workside Gold Award.” It’s health, for the people who make a living keeping you healthy.

Asante sponsors the Heart and Sole 5K at the Pear Blossom Run. It’s happening April 13th. You can register for the run through Sunday, by clicking here.

MEDFORD, Ore. — Providence Medford Medical Center brought in a pediatric specialist from Seattle Friday to teach parents about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Specialist, Julian Davies, says when mothers drink alcohol, even moderately during their pregnancy, the child will likely have some form of the syndrome.

“It can affect a child’s growth, a couple of facial features, and most importantly their brain,” she stresses. Doctor’s say alcohol can damage the brain at any point during pregnancy. During the first trimester drinking could cause the baby to have deformed facial features, but drinking in the first few weeks could cause the most detrimental damage.

“Major organ systems and major brain structures are getting formed early in the first trimester and those facial features I was mentioning that’s maybe day 18 or 19 of a pregnancy.”

Doctor Davies says FAS first becomes noticeable during early childhood, “The average age that people come into my FAS clinic is around first or second grade because that’s when people sort of stop saying, ‘oh he’ll outgrow it’ and start to realize it’s a bigger problem.”

Bylle McCulley realized her child had a bigger problem thanks to explosive behavior cues. She goes to seminars to learn more about FAS and meet other parents, “It’s very isolating as a parent, to parent children such as this because they’re in a wheelchair in their brain but you can’t see the wheelchair so you don’t realize it as an outsider that they are in fact handicapped mentally.”

Doctor Davies teaches parents how to do their part for an FAS effected child during his seminar. She says, “You know, if I can’t change the child, how can I change the environment around the child or change my expectation in ways that they can be more successful?”

That potential for improvement and success gives parents like McCulley hope. “Being with other parents and professionals, you have hope because you see what’s working and not working.”

MEDFORD, Ore. — A local man is thanking a smartphone for helping him survive a heart attack.

Earlier this month, Kenny Smith started experiencing chest pains. He checked his heart rate using the app “Cardiograph” on his smartphone. When his heart beat came up irregular, he headed to Providence Medford Medical Center where he had a heart attack.

“Lucky, there was definitely some divine intervention there…to get me to the hospital on time,” Smith recalled. “I’m not one that normally goes to the doctor for very much.”

“In Kenny’s case, that app was lifesaving, because it provided just enough encouragement for him to the come to the emergency department, and that’s what saved his life,” explained Dr. Chris Cannon at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Doctors say although the smartphone app can be a useful tool, you should never ignore other signs of a heart attack because of a reading on your smartphone.

The company is investigating how this occurred. It says it was first discovered in its bakery in Clackamas, and it has not heard from any customers about it.

Fred Meyer says the products were delivered on Friday, Feb. 22, Sunday, Feb. 24 and Monday, Feb. 25.

It has since pulled the following products. If you’ve purchased any of the products, you can bring them back for a refund or exchange.

If you have any questions about the recall, call 800-KROGERS (800-576-4388).