Eastern Plumas Health Care held its latest diabetic retinopathy screening day on Sat., Sept. 19. This screening is essential for diabetic patients who don’t have easy access to an eye care provider for a complete vision exam. The statistics on diabetic retinopathy are staggering. The disease threatens forty percent of diabetic patients with eye disease and possible blindness. Further, patients often don’t know anything is wrong until it’s too late to stop the disease. With this simple screening, however, over ninety percent of patients who have the beginnings of the disease can be treated and their eye sight saved. The...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care had reason to celebrate as they closed the books on the month of July. Their AR (accounts receivable) days were down to 51, which for a small hospital with a large influx of Medi-Cal Managed Care patients, is a significant achievement. Accounts receivable days measures the average amount of time from the point when a bill comes in to the business office to the time the hospital is paid. Payment, not what is owed, is what matters. And, in a small hospital like EPHC, cash in the bank is critical to keeping the doors open. According...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care’s (EPHC’s) July 23 Board of Directors meeting focused on financials as the fiscal year winds down. (A detailed financial review will be presented by the independent auditor at the September board meeting.) Skilled Nursing Successes Board member Paul Swanson, MD reported that the hospital’s skilled nursing facilities in Portola and Loyalton contribute significantly to the hospital’s bottom line. This is because the state reimburses rural hospitals like EPHC for some overhead costs. What this means practically, explained Chief Financial Officer Jeri Nelson, is that while essential services such as ambulance and emergency room don’t make money, the...

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As reported in the July 20 issue of this paper, Eastern Plumas Health Care’s skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have made a healthy comeback from the dismal scene three years ago when the state was attempting to reduce rates significantly and also take back that amount retroactively. The hospital and the community joined together in a David and Goliath fight against the state and won. The fact that the two SNFs—one in Portola and one in Loyalton—are doing so well, is a testament to both hospital staff and the community at large. But, what makes these facilities so vital to this small...

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Cancer is everywhere, it’s the epidemic we skate around until it hits close to home. So, when an MRI outed a suspicious nodule on my thyroid, and when further testing confirmed it was a point of concern, I was surprised, and then I thought, “Ah, now this.” Thyroid nodules are generally nothing to worry about, I was assured, but it turned out mine was not one of those. A biopsy at Tahoe Forest Hospital turned up a tumor just large enough, and weird enough to be of even more concern. Hurthle cell tumors are rare; the cells can function like...

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Below is a Feather Publishing (Portola Reporter) Letter to the Editor from local resident Jan Tew. She was instrumental in our fight against the SNF cuts several years ago: There are many counties in the state of California that you would expect to see the most money budgeted, grants generously donated and dedicated for the care of the elderly needing assistance. We have had many elderly friends and relatives that have had to rely on such facilities in Marin and alameda counties. Of those, none even came close to the unrivaled quality care we have here in Portola. Eastern Plumas Health...

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EPHC is looking for STUDENT VOLUNTEERS from 7th – 12th grades (age 12+) to work in our skilled nursing facilities by: visiting with residents from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm; assisting with activities; reading to residents and helping them feel good about themselves by fixing their hair, etc.; helping in the garden, going on walks, and more. Here’s a great opportunity to give back—you’ll also receive a hospital certificate, be able to fulfill your school community service hours, and add something special to your college applications! Please call Regina: 832.6510 or email rmartinez@ephc.org. Also, our EPHC AUXILIARY welcomes new volunteers to: help...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care has joined forces once again with Portola Jr./Sr. High School in an effort to help not just the local community, but the global one as well. On Earth Day, April 22, 2015, members of the high school Leadership Class (from left Tabi Martinez, Hope Gallup, and Jocelyn Bates), principal Sara Sheridan, and EPHC’s Alanna Collier-Wilson and Linda Satchwell, joined together to begin a joint recycling program. The recycling bin arrived from Intermountain Disposal just in time for Earth Day. Members of the Leadership class will have recycle boxes in every classroom, and they’ll empty them into...

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Eastern Plumas Health Care has scheduled live emergency evacuation drills at its skilled nursing facilities in Portola and Loyalton from 2:00 – 3:00 pm April 9. The California Department of Health requires EPHC to have at least two disaster drills each year – one live and one tabletop exercise. Given the severity of the brutal storm that ripped through northern California last February, officials opted to go live twice in 2015. EPHC’s Regina Martinez said this is the first time the hospital has taken the lead on organizing such an event by itself. “We’ve always participated in the county’s drills in the past,”...

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Mary Morrison, FNP, will be honored by the Soroptimist International of Quincy. She'll be receiving their Women Helping Women Award for her contribution to women's health. There will be an recognition dinner and awards ceremony on Thursday, April 16th at the Plumas-Sierra Fairgrounds. For more information on the dinner, please call Joyce Scroggs at 283.0795.