Annie Tate, a fixture at Eastern Plumas Health Care and in Portola, is retiring from the hospital after serving as a housekeeper for 46 years. Throughout her time at EPHC, Annie’s name became synonymous with loyalty, kindness, and selfless giving. Her spirit was contagious, and many people over the generations feel that they have not only been recipients of Annie’s generosity, but also that they’ve been made better people by her example. In looking back through articles written in the Portola Reporter about Annie, it’s telling that when the Williams House Museum had a display for Women’s History Month in 2009,...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care was recently awarded a $12,000 telemedicine cart as part of acceptance into UC Davis’s Pediatric critical-care telemedicine program. The program, which usually requires a nearly $10,000 membership fee in addition to the price of the cart, was free of charge to EPHC under a grant provided by UC Davis. EPHC now has access to UC Davis’s Pediatric Intensive Care physicians 24/7, utilizing a top of the line, high-definition video conferencing mobile telemedicine cart. Now, when a child comes into EPHC’s emergency room with severe breathing difficulties, for example, the hospital’s ER doctor can connect with a...

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This monthly community education series continues on July 21 at 6:00 p.m. with, “Love Your Liver, Love Your Life.” Mary Morrison talks with you about liver health, Hepatitis C, and Cirrhosis. According to Morrison, whether they know it or not, everyone knows someone with liver disease. Bring your questions—here’s a chance to learn more. This event takes place in the Education Center on the Portola Campus, 500 First Ave. Please call 832.6597 for more information.

Digital Mammography Open House: please join us as we celebrate our new digital mammography system. From 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. on July 21, you can tour the imaging facility and ask any questions you have. At noon, we’ll have a ribbon cutting ceremony. Refreshments will be served. For more information or to schedule your digital mammogram, call 832.6516.

Sports Physicals: parents, call 832.6600 to schedule your child’s sports physical. Appointments are on July 21 for only $25 at the Portola Medical Clinic, 480 First Ave. Payment is due in full on the day of service, and insurance will not be billed. Please have your child wear shorts and a t-shirt. Those eligible for Medi-Cal CHDP are asked to schedule their appointments on another day.

“Mammograms save lives, period, end of story. But it takes decades to appreciate just how many,” announced ABC News Medical Unit correspondent Courtney Hutchison, reporting June 28, 2011 on a 29 year long mammogram study in Sweden. “The researchers found that seven years of mammograms made for 30 percent fewer breast cancer deaths years down the road, when compared with women who didn’t receive mammograms.” According to Dr. Laurie Margolies, chief of breast imaging at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, the longer follow-up period is essential, because a number of breast cancers are very slow growing, and they...

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$80 June Mammo Special - No Referral Necessary Higher quality! Radiologists can focus on and evaluate areas of concern utilizing magnification and contrasting. Faster! Digital images are interpreted by the radiologist and returned within 24 hours. Safer! 50% less radiation than film mammograms; less radiation than any other digital mammography system in our region. More comfortable! Requiring less time, the new mammography is a gentler way for women to stay current on their breast screenings. EPHC is the only health care provider to offer digital mammography in Plumas or Sierra Counties. For further information or to make an appointment in our Imaging Department,...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care’s Annual Sports Physical days are Thursday, July 7 and Thursday, July 21 in Portola; Tuesday, July 12 and Tuesday, August 2 in Loyalton. Call now to make an appointment for your child’s discounted Sports Physical: 530.832.6600 at our Portola Medical Clinic, 480 First Avenue, Portola; 530.993.1231 at our Loyalton Medical Clinic, 725 Third St., Loyalton. Only $25, payment is required on the date of service; insurance cannot be billed. Please have your child wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt to their appointment. If you are eligible for Medi-Cal CHDP, EPHC asks that you call and schedule your...

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EPHC Welcomes Much Needed Dermatology Specialist Melanie Buckley, Physician Assistant, is the newest addition to Eastern Plumas Health Care’s staff. Her specialty, dermatology, is so in demand, weeks before her arrival she already had a full schedule of patients for her first day here. Buckley said she expects to see a lot of skin cancer patients—much of this from sun damage. She’ll determine whether skin lesions are benign or malignant, and she can do small skin surgeries in EPHC’s Portola office. According to Buckley, past skin damage (that’s all of us who lay our bodies out every summer and baked them to...

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Women who undergo routine mammograms at EPHC’s Imaging Services now have the latest diagnostic technology available to them, digital mammography. EPHC is the first healthcare provider in this county and beyond to feature this state-of-the-art digital mammography system together with the breast cushion, mammopad for greater comfort. EPHC is very excited to be able to offer the newest technology for breast cancer detection. Digital mammography is different from conventional mammography in how the image of the breast is acquired and, more importantly, viewed. The radiologist can magnify the images, increase or decrease the contrast and invert the black and white values...

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