Home|Blog | July 2021 Health e-Connection


Summer’s warm temperatures and longer days offer a great opportunity to get active for better health and well-being!

The Golf Simulator at Griffin’s Center for Healthy Living is a fun and convenient way to be active on rainy or extremely hot days this summer. The Center for Healthy Living also offers videos on healthy eating like Understanding How to Read Food Labels to help kick-start healthy habits in the summer and as well as live-streamed cooking demonstrations to help you increase the nutritional value of your meals. Watch the latest cooking demonstration, Healthy Twists on Soul Food.

For individuals diagnosed with diabetes, managing low blood sugar is vitally important to health and the included article from Griffin Faculty Physicians’ Endocrinologist Dr. Chi Tang tells you what to do if you or a loved one is experiencing low blood sugar.

Adding activity to your wellness plan can require extra precautions. If you or a loved one plan to increase your regular cardio exercise or strength-training and haven’t had a wellness check in a while, making an appointment with a primary care physician like Griffin Faculty Practice’s Dr. Kornelia Thomas is a good first step before increasing your fitness routine. If you are experiencing aches and pains while being active, Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Tiana Larsow and Griffin’s Physical Therapy Service can help you safely get the most of your summer.

Primary Care with a Focus on Preventive Health

Dr. Kornelia Thomas values building a partnership with her patients in order to promote a lasting commitment to overall wellness through preventative care.

Meet our Sports Medicine Expert

Dr. Tiana Larsow specializes in diagnosing and treating injuries and nagging aches and pains for the competitive and recreational athlete. Learn More

Don’t Let Injury or the Offseason Keep You from the Game

The state-of-the-art TrackMan Golf Simulator at The Griffin Center for Healthy Living offers personalized and precise golf-centric physical therapy. See What We Offer

How to Manage Low Blood Sugar

For individuals diagnosed with diabetes, it is important to know when their blood sugar is considered low and how they can increase their blood sugar to a safe level. Learn More

Explore New Ways to Get Active in Your Community

What better way to beat the boredom of a gym routine or your usual walk around the neighborhood than exploring the outdoors? Learn More

Griffin Health Physicians Named Top Doctors

Connecticut Magazine has named 12 Griffin Health doctors and affiliated physicians to its 2021 Top Doctors list. The June edition of the magazine lists seven Griffin Health physicians and five affiliated physicians with a variety of specialties including primary care, cancer care, gastroenterology, urology, endocrinology, orthopedics, neurology, ophthalmology, and plastic surgery. Learn More

Valley Volunteers Needed for Study of Diabetes Prevention Program

The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital, 130 Division St., Derby, is offering a free online Diabetes Prevention Program to eligible adults in the Lower Naugatuck Valley as part of a research study. Learn More

Start a New, Healthier Lifestyle with Griffin’s Wellness for Life Program

Griffin Health is helping individuals get a fresh perspective on well-being with a new session of its Wellness for Life program starting Aug. 17 in Oxford. Learn More

Griffin Offers Mobile COVID-19 Vaccinations and Passes to Quassy Amusement!

Connecticut’s COVID-19 Mobile Vaccination Teams provide no-cost, walk-up vaccinations across the state in addition to its vaccination centers in Shelton and Naugatuck.

The highly visible yellow Mobile Vaccination SUVs, provided by the CT Department of Public Health and run by Griffin Health, can administer 100-125 shots per day in a six-hour window of time. The shots are available to individuals 12 years and older without an appointment. It is not necessary to have health insurance or a state-issued ID. All residents are welcome and no one will be turned away for lack of insurance or ID.

Griffin is giving out free day passes to Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury for everyone who comes to a Griffin Mobile Vaccination Clinic to receive their first dose COVID-19 vaccination. Day passes include all of the rides as well as the waterpark.

Visit griffinhealth.org/Coronavirus-COVID19-Information/COVID-19-Vaccination for a schedule of upcoming mobile vaccination clinics. Additionally, Griffin’s COVID-19 vaccination center at 10 Progress Drive in Shelton is currently open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The Naugatuck vaccination center at 727 Rubber Ave. in Naugatuck is currently open from 12 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Starting July 6, the Shelton location will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The Naugatuck location will be open from 12 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

Virtual Presentations on Joint, Hip Replacement

Griffin Health will offer a free virtual presentations joint replacement options and on minimally invasive hip replacement surgery in August and September.

On Wed., Aug. 18 at 6 p.m., Orthopedic Surgeon Philip Minotti, MD, will discuss the advanced direct anterior approach for hip replacement, which offers important advantages over standard surgical procedures. Direct anterior hip replacement patients generally experience less pain along with a shorter length of stay in the hospital and faster recovery.

On Tues., Sept. 14 at 6 p.m., Orthopaedic Surgeon Gary R. Richo, M.D., PhD, will present “Advances in Joint Replacement, an open discussion of the causes of joint pain, conservative treatment options, total joint replacement techniques, post-surgical recovery and the return to normal activities. The presentation will also include information about Griffin’s advanced surgical technology, including 3D Mako SmartRobotics™ which provides unmatched precision in knee procedures.

These seminars are offered monthly. For more information about joint replacement or to get log-in information for the virtual presentation, contact Vivian Ramia at vramia@griffinhealth.org.