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FROM This year I'm taking my turn as Chief of Staff at Eastern Plumas Health Care. It is a great honor for me to have been Chief of Staff on the date we opened the new Skilled Nursing Facility at Eastern Plumas Health Care. In my practice I have a special interest in the area of geriatrics. Many of the residents of the skilled nursing facility are my patients and my friends. I couldn’t be more pleased with the quality and spaciousness of our new facility. Caring for the skilled nursing and other medical needs of our patients is only part of what we do here. In addition, we pay a great deal of attention to the patients’ emotional and spiritual needs and their quality of life in general. The new facility, with an expanded activities area, library, roomy visiting area and two separate dining rooms, adds capabilities that we've not previously had. From a medical perspective, I'm very clear that we are now able to provide better care to our patients. At the same time, with the new beds on line, we now have greater capacity to serve the skilled nursing needs of our community. For the first time in many years, we actually have beds available. I know that this community has waited a long time for this facility and I, along with them, are very glad that it’s finally operational. Burnell
Vassar, M.D.
EPHC
CARDIOLOGIST Eastern Plumas Health Care’s Cardiologist, Dr. Mil Dhond authored two recently published scientific papers. One examined changes that the heart undergoes during valvular leakage and was performed in collaboration with the U. C. Davis School of Medicine where Dr. Dhond is a professor. It was published in the November issue of Experimental Physiology. The second paper looked at assessing heart performance in critically ill patients using contrast ultrasound, a new cutting edge technology. That paper was published in the October issue of the journal CHEST. Contrast ultrasound technology is currently available at EPHC. Call (530) 836-1122. |
EPHC FOUNDATION BENEFIT GOLF TOURNAMENT IS A HUGE SUCCESS
The tournament is the primary fund-raising activity of the foundation each year, and this year's focus was funding emergency services and equipment. Since thousands of local residents and tourists are served every year by EPHC ambulances and the emergency room, EPHC hopes to continue to expand services and upgrade equipment in that area. In addition, the staff is pursuing cooperative working relationships with the volunteer fire departments in our service area. As a small part of that effort, the volunteer fire departments with first responders within the EPHC service area will all receive a part of the proceeds from this tournament to use for their equipment or training needs. In addition to this gift of funds, EPHC has made work physicals, TB tests and immunizations available at reduced rates to members of the volunteer fire departments within the service area. EPHC MEDICAL STAFF HOLDS COMMUNITY FORUM ON BIO-TERRORISM While it is unlikely that our rural community would be directly attacked using biological weapons, many residents, particularly those who travel, have expressed growing concern. In response to the many questions being received at the medical facilities operated by EPHC, our medical staff recently organized and presented a community seminar on bio-terrorism. The seminar was the idea of Dr. Christopher Stanton who was assisted by Drs. Whitley, Raeder and Vassar and by Tara Rothwell, Physician’s Assistant and John Evans, Family Nurse Practitioner. Officer Larry Goldsmith of the CHP and Martin Schafer, DVM also assisted in the presentation. Several dozen people attended the program. Unfortunately, Dr. Stanton was called out of town by a family illness and was not able to attend the program he had helped organize. Speakers covered the origin, mechanism and treatment for various biological agents thought to have been developed since World War II for possible use as weapons of terror. Anthrax, botulism, plague, and smallpox were among the topics discussed. Dr. Schaefer provided insight into those diseases often found in the animal kingdom, such as anthrax and plague, while Officer Goldsmith gave an update from the law enforcement perspective on current anti-terrorism measures. Attendees learned that these biological agents are not particularly effective as weapons, especially since many of the illnesses caused by these agents are treatable. Also, it is hard to spread many of these agents among large groups of people. Still, vigilance is the watchword of the day. Attendees were cautioned to use care in opening mail from unknown sources and to seek immediate medical attention at the first sign of illness if recent travel has involved a visit to an area of high risk. NEW SKILLED NURSING WING OPENS
The new wing includes 15 beds in a combination of private and semiprivate rooms, a great room, an additional nurse’s station, two patient dining rooms, an activity room, library, and offices. On the lower level there is space for expanded physical therapy services, mechanical equipment and storage. The project also has Portola’s first commercial elevator, providing access between the patient rooms and physical therapy. Plans are being drawn for a “restorative” garden adjacent to the building. Patients will be able to enjoy the sunshine while sitting in the garden, walking the flower lined paths, or tending their own plants in the waist-high garden beds. Work will begin on this project next spring. The building project also included a new central plant designed to meet the needs of a growing hospital for at least the next twenty years. The new plant includes additional boiler capacity, a high capacity chiller and a new 350KW capacity diesel generator for emergency power. EPHC FOUNDATION SEEKS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NEW 4-WHEEL DRIVE AMBULANCE At Eastern Plumas Health Care, our mission is to care for the health of our community. We are hoping that you will consider a gift or pledge to the EPHC Foundation to help us continue to serve our community. This has been a busy year for the staff of EPHC. We celebrated the hospital’s 30th anniversary in August. We also opened the new skilled nursing facility wing at the end of the summer. And we are now completing the refurbishment of the other skilled nursing rooms. The Foundation’s fund-raising efforts this year have been to expand and improve our emergency room and ambulance equipment. Beginning with this campaign, the Foundation Board of Directors will now focus on fund-raising to purchase a 4-wheel drive ambulance. As our population continues to grow in the eastern part of Plumas County, the emergency medical professionals at EPHC are seeing increased demand for our emergency services. The addition of a 4-wheel drive ambulance will assist in emergency calls to remote locations and in inclement weather. Please consider Eastern Plumas Health Care Foundation in your year-end tax planning. A tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $100 or more would make a difference in fulfilling our mission of caring for the health of our community and in the purchase of this much needed ambulance. Thank you for your consideration and for your continued support of Eastern Plumas Health Care. MEDICAL INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The content includes brief descriptions and answers to particular medical inquiries, and contains an abundance of medical information and related links. As part of this informational resource, the EPHC newsletter, “Partners In Health,” can now be viewed online. Missed or lost issues of the newsletter can be accessed simply by navigating to the Newsletter Section of the web site. The extensive Health Resource Section which is the primary focus of the web site will be further addressed in the next issue of the newsletter. Visitors can look forward to the many insights this section has to offer. It is all part of EPHC becoming your medical resource for both medical care and health related information. GIVING MY THANKS FOR GOOD SERVICE
There I was seen by an emergency room physician, Dr. Frank Long who called in Dr. Mil Dhond, EPHC’s specialist in cardiology. He promptly began a series of tests to determine if I had a heart attack. Throughout the process, Dr. Dhond and the emergency room staff made me feel at ease, despite the discomfort I was experiencing. During my conversations with Dr. Dhond, I was delighted to find out he had recognized my name and affiliation as a former Mayor and current City Council Member for Sacramento. Somehow this big wide world did not seem so big after all, and I felt more at ease because of this level of personal caring. Two days later, I was released from the hospital with the reassurance that I did not experience a heart attack. I am thankful for the professional and very personalized care I received at EPHC that day. I think it is important to pay attention to the little things in life, especially when it comes to saying thank you for a job well done. Your community should be very proud of this fine medical facility. Sincerely, I WAS HERE TO PLAY GOLF
The ironic part of my situation was that as the President of an insurance company, I had just handled a case regarding a patient who had gall bladder surgery with an unfavorable outcome. The investigation focused on the surgical equipment and surgical technique, which was later deemed faulty. So now that I found myself in need of gall bladder surgery, I was much better informed than the average patient. I began asking numerous questions regarding the surgical equipment, making sure it was state-of-the-art technology and in proper working condition. I also inquired about Doctor Charles’ own experience with gall bladder surgery. After being completely satisfied with his answers and assured that the equipment was state-of-the-art, I confidently decided to go ahead with the surgery, from which I had an outstanding outcome. From beginning to end, my experience at EPHC is the way all medicine should be practiced. I believe that our society, as a whole, has become complacent and expectations have diminished for quality service in all facets of our lives. It was good to see that this is not the standard at EPHC. Sincerely, |
EPHC
Foundation’s annual benefit golf tournament at the Golf Club
at Whitehawk Ranch on September 27 was declared a success by the
foundation’s board of directors. This year’s tournament
urged area golfers to “swing into action to help support our
local hospital, clinics and emergency services.”
After
many delays, the new Skilled Nursing Facility wing has been opened
and patients are moving in. Plans were approved and construction
began in 1999. Completion was anticipated in the spring of 2001,
but delays caused by the seemingly ever-changing building requirements
of OSHPD (the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development)
delayed the project through the summer. The 30th anniversary celebration,
marked the completion of the hospital building project.
In
addition to the medical services available at EPHC, medical information
can now be easily found on the EPHC web site. With the latest redesign,
visitors can get more detailed information on medical topics. Charles
Guenther, CEO said “the idea behind the redesign was to create
an informational medical resource that would allow patients to become
proactive and improve their health by being better informed.”
While
on a retreat at Gold Lake, I began to have difficulty breathing
and shortness of breath. My first thought was that I might be experiencing
a heart attack. I quickly got to the nearest community hospital,
EPHC, to find out what was happening to me. 
On
vacation from my residence in Guam, I came to the beautiful high
Sierra to play golf and take in the scenery. But sometime during
my game I began to experience increasingly uncomfortable pain in
my abdomen. Before long, I was whisked through the emergency room
doors of Eastern Plumas Health Care where I was seen by the emergency
room physician, Dr. Mike Sotak. He then called in Dr. Byron Charles,
General Surgeon who diagnosed me with a gall bladder attack and
in need of surgery. He gave me several options, like having the
surgery here or postponing it until I returned home.