A small hospital with a big vision, Eastern Plumas Health Care has just completed its first year of dedicated telemedicine services, logging over 300 patients to date. On a recent day, telemedicine services were utilized by 18 patients with three providers at three separate sites. EPHC’s Telemedicine program has recently added the following new programs/providers: Dr. Xiong, Psychiatry; Dr. Chung, Rheumatology; Michael Johnson, PhD, LCSW, Behavioral Health Counseling; Donna Guyot-Johnson, RN, FNP, MFT, Behavioral Health Counseling. The following services will be added to the program shortly: Dr. Heifitz, Tahoe Forest Hospital, Oncology; and, Cardiology consultations in the Emergency Room and...

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In an effort to make health care services more accessible to their patients, Eastern Plumas Health Care now offers walk-in appointments in its Graeagle and Portola clinics. That’s good news when you have a child with a splinter in his throat, as happened the first day that Graeagle put out its Walk-Ins Welcome sign. According to Clinic Director, Mark Schweyer, “We’re very sensitive to meeting the needs of our community. We’re prepared to meet unfortunate circumstances that come up where our patients don’t have an appointment, but can’t wait to get care.” While EPHC has been offering the walk-in service for...

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Check out our new therapy puppy, Sparky, at the Portola Skilled Nursing Facility via the Facebook link below. Today was Sparky's first day on the job and he was a big hit with his new roommate, SNF resident Kevin Curran. Remember Sparky and Kevin, today's the beginning of a great adventure! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.394080320641260.83322.166832636699364&type=1¬if_t=like

The year-end figures are in and Eastern Plumas Health Care administrators are pleased with what they see. “I’m really proud of this; we did it,” said Jeri Nelson, the district’s chief financial officer. This is a strong balance sheet that shows $1.6 million in combined savings and 34 days cash on hand. Account receivable days are below budget at 53, and accounts payable are at their lowest level of $833,760. “This is a very, very good balance sheet,” she told the board of directors during its monthly meeting July 26. Chief Executive Officer Tom Hayes said that this year’s figures are remarkable especially when compared...

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The Association of California Healthcare Districts (ACHD) currently features EPHC on its homepage under legislative news: "Eastern Plumas Healthcare District Sets a Positive Example" July 30, 2012 Eastern Plumas Health Care District recently formed an Advocacy Working Group to create a more effective advocacy and public relations outreach program. Ideally this working group will work toward highlighting the unique perspective of rural healthcare for local representatives and State Legislators. The new working group is starting by focusing on partnerships with "seasoned" local officials who have been successful, developing a district Fact Sheet and establishing contacts with legislators and candidates. Larry...

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1. Newly Appointed Leadership Sub-Committees: the three sub-committees formed previously and filled by Leadership members have all met and begun setting priorities and getting concrete work accomplished. - The Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee has met several times and had its first event with new physician, Dr. Michelle Kim. They have plans for a small dinner party for Michelle and her husband after she starts seeing patients. Kathy Davis has put together a welcome basket complete with map and trail guides, local products, and more. Committee members are making themselves available to Dr. Kim to help her integrate into the community once...

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From Where I Stand - 18 July 2012 (first published in Feather Publishing's Plumas County newspapers) Why in the world would hospitals want to collaborate? Maybe to reduce costs, save money, improve services offered to the community, improve quality, better serve the residents of our county, survive ongoing and inevitable cuts to our reimbursement--all of the above, and much more. I was mystified by Doug Lafferty’s comment in last week’s article entitled, “Hospital CAOs see ‘collaboration’ differently.” He is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to talk collaboration until we know what we need to...

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Gloria LaPlant, President, Portola Rotary Club, Ralph Taylor, Ann Taylor, Van VanDer Veen, Rachelle Ramelli, Steve O'Neill, Toni Carl, and Steve Clifton worked through a hot Saturday to pressure wash and treat the Skilled Nursing Facility deck and ramp. They plan to come back through the summer to get the job done. They'll also return every 5 years to maintain the deck and ramp, said Ralph Taylor, adding, "Anything to help the hospital." EPHC thanks the Rotarians At Work program for all of your hard work--we really appreciate it!

EPHC lab hours will now be listed along with clinic hours under the "Contact Us" pull down tab at www.ephc.org. The current lab draw hours are: Portola Hospital: M - F: 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sat: 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Graeagle Medical Clinic: M & W: 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Indian Valley Medical Clinic: M - Th: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Loyalton Medical Clinic: M & W: 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The Indian Valley Medical Clinic will be closed on Monday and Tuesday for regular appointments. Dr. Walker, our chiropractor, will see scheduled patients on Tuesday. For information or to schedule an appointment, please call 832.6600. Thank you for your understanding.