Eastern Plumas Health Care begins its “Secrets to Healthy Living,” a free series of monthly informational talks on June 23, 6:00 p.m., in the Education Center on its Portola campus. Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Mary Morrison, the driving force behind the series, wanted community members to know how much their health care providers appreciate them.

She and Dr. Colin Kopes-Kerr are planning the series together. Morrison, Kopes-Kerr, and their colleagues, want to impart some of their trade “secrets” to getting healthy and staying healthy—especially in ways that won’t break the bank in tough economic times such as these.

They feel it’s time for the doctors and family nurse practitioners to “give back” to their community. What better way, than to help the people they care for understand and deal with their health issues more effectively. With certain conditions–such as Hepatitis C, which is one of Morrison’s specialties–patients may have fears, or they may have heard rumors about the condition or its treatment, that keep them from doing what they need to do to get better, said Morrison.

Dr. Kopes-Kerr will launch the series with the topic that is near and dear to his heart, “Five Simple Steps to Better Health.” His secret is simple and, while we won’t divulge the specifics here, we will say he’ll tell you the five things you need to do to feel better, stay that way, and save quite a bit of money in the process.

This community health education series will offer a new topic every month. The first four topics and speakers are as follows:

1. Five Steps to Health, Dr. Colin Kopes-Kerr, Thursday, June 23, 6:00 p.m.
2. Love Your Liver, Mary Morrison, FNP, Thursday, July 21, 6:00 p.m.
3. Peripheral Vascular Disease, Dr. Milind Dhond, Thursday, August 18, 6:00 p.m.
4. Getting Ready for Baby, Christina Potter, FNP, Thursday, Sept. 15, 6:00 p.m.

Future topics include the following:

1. Attention Deficit Disorder
2. Immunizations
3. Osteoporosis and Vitamin D deficiency
4. Rashes and other skin issues
5. Which labs are important for everyone?
6. Cancer Prevention
7. Diabetes
8. Obesity

Members of the public are encouraged to suggest topics of interest, as well. Please call: 832-6597, or email lsatchwell@ephc.org.