Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
Credit: UC Davis Health. Some perks of telehealth are going away in Florida after the state’s public health emergency expired. Some people have learned telehealth can serve as worst-case scenario when going on a vacation. “I had been sick the week before, very sore throat, coughing, that sort of thing,” said Sammi Treglown, who used telehealth services. “I got a prescription, good to go. Then, my husband started feeling like garbage on our way there … Then, my daughter got sick as well.” To make matters worse for Treglown family, it happened during the pandemic. “Not knowing the area where we were staying in Keystone, Colorado, driving around while you’re not feeling well with another kid,” Treglown said. “It was a lot.” A walk-in clinic told the family to stay in the car for what could be a two-hour wait, so they looked for an alternative. “Found telemedicine through my husband’s insurance,” Treglown said. “Just click on a link and get you right to a doctor. We did it from the hotel room. It was perfect … Literally, in 10 minutes, we were diagnosed. A prescription was sent and we just had to go pick it up.” But the public health emergency declaration that expanded Florida’s telehealth services expired Saturday, taking some pandemic perks with it. Physicians can no longer use telephones for telehealth services. They also can’t use the platform to prescribe controlled substances or recertify medical marijuana patients. “The vast majority of the flexibility provided during the pandemic really focused on behavioral health services,’ said Mary Mahew, the president and CCEO of Florida Hospital Association. “We have seen skyrocketing availability and use of telehealth through the pandemic, beyond what we have ever seen for use of telehealth over the last 10 plus years. So we need to make sure that as we go into the next legislative session, if there is an opportunity to make some changes in policy that can continue to ensure that we have comprehensive availability to telehealth, particularly for mental health services for substance use disorder treatment.” Lee Health expanded its telehealth services during the pandemic, conducting 150,000 telehealth visits. It has rolled back the emergency provisions but will keep other perks to the platform such as having remote caregivers join consultations. “I think it’s great,” Treglown said. “I hope they keep it around because that would be convenient next time.” The emergency declaration also allowed doctors and nurses to cross state lines and work in Florida without a state license. That’s no longer allowed. MORE: FDOH – Florida Telehealth Lee Health statement “Last year (2020) we greatly expanded our Telehealth program from a few specialized practices to all of our LPG Physician offices and support services. Additionally, we expanded our inpatient telehealth to equip all units in the hospitals with Telehealth hardware to allow physicians to rapidly connect to patients. Lee Health will continue to appropriately utilize Telehealth as it provides ambulatory and inpatient patients greater access to healthcare. Over the last 18 months, we’ve leveraged telehealth to bring remote caregivers and loved ones in to the physician consultation, allow deployed service members the ability to see their newborn baby in our Golisano NICU from their phone, have patients perform urgent care and follow up visits from the safety and comfort of their couch and provide rapid specialty consultations inside our hospital walls. While the state did eliminate the emergency protocol, we will continue to utilize telehealth in a myriad of ways to connect patients with the care they need while complying with the exceptions as reported.”